Page 168 - The Exceptional Harley Fetterman

JUDY K JOHNSON

Figure 129: Great friend, Cricket Bridleman.

In 2015, she dedicated herself to a full six weeks of practice prior
to the Braille Challenge. Harley reported to her that he was just
relaxing in Austin during this time unless the mood struck him to
practice. Harley and Cricket, when placed next to each other during
the challenge, stole each other's Brailler and threw paper at each other
for revenge. Later, results showed that there were only a few points
separating their scores. Cricket felt pride at her accomplishment until
Harley reminded her that he never really practiced much anyway.
Their friendship expanded at other times during the year by texting—
sometimes in class when they should have been paying attention.
Although, they drew the line at texting during tests.

Cricket and Harley later attended a Leadership Academy at the
Jernigan Institute in Baltimore together. Cricket's flight was greatly
delayed so she didn't arrive until 1 AM. Yet, it appeared to be no
coincidence that Harley came wandering down the hall “looking for a
bottle of water” just as she arrived. Cricket noticed that Harley
greeted her with friendly conversation before he turned and went back
to bed without actually getting the water. During that trip, Cricket was
impressed when Harley brought out his guitar and figured out how to
play the song “Landslide” in only three minutes.

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