Jarrid Harlen

Jarrid Harlen is a fictitious character in the Dreams to Reality continuity who has appeared in all three forms of the series. He began as a minor character in the novellas before becoming a much larger player in the web series and novel series. He was for quite some time intended to develop superpowers similar to those of his good friend Michael Bennett, but no such powers ever manifested themselves during the run of the web series and he is not currently expected to develop superpowers in the novel series. He begins the web series as the bitter ex-boyfriend of Nicole Halloway, but in the novel series, he is still in a relationship with her at the beginning of the series, so the end of their relationship will presumably be chronicled in the events of the novel series. Not much was revealed about Jarrid's home life in the web series, but it has been confirmed that in the novel series, Jarrid's grandfather, Sam Harlen, is Lawrence Bennett's lawyer, and that more of Jarrid's family will be developed in the novel series.

The End of Jarrid's Relationship with Nicole Halloway
On October 30, 1999, Jarrid was visited at his home unexpectedly by a distraught Melinda Flint, who was crying rather hysterically. Jarrid asked her what was wrong, and Melinda explained that she had just walked in on her boyfriend, Josh Poncek, in bed with Jarrid's girfriend, Nicole Halloway. Jarrid would later break up with Nicole, despite her claims that Melinda was lying about her having sex with Josh, which never actually happened. Jarrid felt so betrayed that Nicole would go on a date with Josh while she was dating him that he didn't want to continue with his relationship with her and broke up with her as a result. He would spend the next several months feeling rather bitter toward Nicole for betraying him, and whether he belived Melinda's claims that she saw Josh and Nicole having sex or not, the fact that she went on a date with Josh at all hurt him deeply. (DtRW #1)

Old Feelings Resurface
By late May 2000, Jarrid was still upset with Nicole over their failed relationship, and as the date of an upcoming school dance approached, Jarrid still had no date. He discussed the situation with Dustin Finley, Jack Brock, and Mandy Marin, with Mandy still being sympathetic to him about the situation. Jarrid would say that it isn't Mandy's fault that Nicole did what she did, but Jack asked him if he was sure that Melinda didn't lie to him, citing that Nicole's best friend, Michael Bennett, claimed that Nicole swore to him that she didn't have sex with Josh that night. Jarrid wanted to believe her, but pointed out that Nicole had plenty of opportunities to tell him about her date with Josh and didn't, so he had little reason to believe Nicole's claim that nothing happened on the date when Melinda says that she saw the two of them having sex. Mandy pointed out that just because Melinda says she saw that happen doesn't mean that she's telling the truth, but Jarrid reminded her that it didn't meant that Nicole was telling the truth either. Jarrid decided he was going to try to get on with his life, figuring that if he and Nicole were meant to be together, then they would be, and she is with Josh now anyway. Nicole arrived at this point and said that the only reason why she was with Josh was because Jarrid broke up with her. Jarrid told her that if she really wanted to be with him, she wouldn't have gone out on a date with Josh in the first place, but Nicole insisted that she didn't have sex with Josh. Mandy's attempts to play devil's advocate got her snapped at by Nicole, so Jack, Dustin, and Mandy left Jarrid and Nicole to argue in private, with Jarrid telling Nicole that going out with Josh was a big enough mistake. Nicole admits to making a mistake, but insists once again that Melinda lied to him when she said that she had sex with Josh, and added that Jarrid knew she wouldn't do that. Jarrid said that he didn't know anything about her and walked away from her to his next class on that note. (DtRW #1)

However after his next class ended, Jarrid would be shocked to see Nicole lying unconscious at the bottom of a flight of stairs and was very concerned for her well-being. Along with Danielle Grayson (who found Nicole first) and Josh, Jarrid tried to revive Nicole before the paramedics arrived, but was upset to learn from Lisa Walker arrived on the scene and informed everyone that Nicole had gotten into a physical altercation with Melinda during science class, shortly before Nicole must have fallen down the stairs. After the paramedics took the still-unconscious Nicole out of the school on a stretcher, Jarrid asked Lisa if she was positive that Melinda was behind this. Lisa admitted that she wasn't absolutely positive, that Nicole's fall could have been an accident, but added that Melinda left the science classroom after Nicole did, and that even if Melinda had gotten ahead of Nicole on their way up the stairs, surely Melinda would have heard Nicole fall down the stairs and would have checked on her if she didn't cause her to fall. Mandy pointed out that this would have been the perfect place for Melinda to try to finish Nicole off after they were trying to kill each other right before they came up the stairs, and pointed out that if Melinda had nothing to do with this, she should have helped Nicole when she fell, and is nowhere to be seen right now. Jack said that they wouldn't know for sure what happened until Nicole wakes up, with Nicole glumly adding, "Yeah, if she wakes up," which upset Jarrid. Jarrid insisted that Nicole would wake up and be fine too emphatically for everyone's comfort. Brandon Danber arrived on the scene at this point, with Mandy telling him that Nicole had just been taken out of the school on a stretcher while Jack noticed that there was a second ambulance at the school. Brandon reported that Nicole was pushed down the stairs by Melinda, and Jarrid didn't want to believe it. Brandon said that Melinda has gone completely over the deep end, but that luckily, Mrs. Manning was "trying to bring her down a couple of pegs right now." Brandon then informed them that Mark Shane was injured during a baseball game during physical education in an incident in which Brandon hit a line drive right back at Mark after he pitched the ball, and the ball struck Mark in the chest, knocking him backward and causing him to hit his head off the ground and lose consciousness. Jack asked if Mark would be okay, and Brandon said that he would be fine but said that also felt awful for being responsible for Mark being hospitalized. Lisa would give Brandon a small hug before he left the group to head back outside to get an update on Mark, while Jack reminded Jarrid and Mandy that they were supposed to meet Dustin at his locker between classes. Jack said that Dustin probably thinks they've all disappeared by now, so he and Jarrid and Mandy quickly gathered their belongings that they had left on the floor around the scene and head to their next class. (DtRW #1)

During that class, Jarrid, Jack, and Mandy would fill Dustin in on what happened to Nicole and Mark. (DtRW #1)

At the end of the school day, Jarrid, Jack, and Dustin met up with Michael and Rachel McCarey at Rachel's locker, where Rachel quickly noticed that Jarrid was concerned about something and asked what was wrong. Jack explained that Nicole and Mark had been injured earlier and were both on their way to the hospital, and was surprised when Michael and Rachel didn't know about it. Rocky Fronset approached the scene at this point, having heard Jack explaining Nicole and Mark's accident to Michael and Rachel. Michael asked what had happened, and Jarrid explained that Brandon had told them that he had hit a baseball during gym class, which hit Mark in the chest and knocked him unconscious for a few minutes, and so he was taken to the hospital. Rocky asked if Mark was okay, and Jarrid said that he probably would be. Michael acknowledged this was good news, then asked what happened to Nicole. Jarrid looked away from the others, obviously worried about Nicole and was trying not to show it, but Rachel noticed and took a mental note of it. Jack realized Jarrid wasn't up to telling the story and proceeded to tell Michael, Rocky, and Rachel about Nicole and Melinda's fight during Mrs. Jackson's class, who then sent the two to the principal's office, but while they were going up the stairs, Melinda attacked Nicole and pushed her down the stairs. A shocked Rachel asked if Nicole was all right, and Dustin said that Nicole was still unconscious when the paramedics took her away. Michael asked where Nicole was taken, and Jack responded, "Probably Portage General." Michael said that he needs to see Nicole and asked Jarrid, Jack, and Dustin if any of them were going to the hospital right now. Jarrid replied that he was and asked Michael if he wanted a ride. Michael asked if his parents would care, but Jarrid doubted they would. Rachel then asked if they could take her as well, and Jarrid agreed. Michael then excused himself to call his father  and clear it with him first. Rachel wondered aloud why Melinda would do something like this, and Jarrid responded that Nicole "must have p[ushed her too far or something, and she just snapped or something." Rocky asked if they knew what happened to Melinda as a result of her attack, and Dustin replied that apparently Melinda had been suspended for the remainder of the school year. Jarrid added his opinion that Melinda deserved it. Rachel asked if Josh knew about this, and Jack replied that Danielle had found Nicole first, and then Josh showed up. Rachel realized that Josh would be "really ticked," and said that Melinda had better watch her step today if she knew what was good for her. Michael soon returned announced that he was ready to go whenever Jarrid was. Rachel asked him if he had a problem getting his father to let him go, and Michael responded that he just needs to be ready at 5:10 to go home because his father's girlfriend, Jeannette, was cooking dinner tonight and "she gets really ticked off if she gets the impression nobody wants to eat her precious cooking." Rachel asked him even if he was at the hospital checking on a friend. Michael didn't know, having only known Jeannette for seven months, "and she is nice and everything, but she is rather... I don't know. Let's just go." Jarrid, Jack, and Dustin then began walking away from the scene, and did not hear Rocky stop Michael to speak with him privately. (DtRW #2)

Rachel caught up with Jarrid, Jack, and Dustin outside the school building as they walked towards Jarrid's mother's car, where Jarrid asked Jack and Dustin if they would meet them at the hospital. Dustin revealed that his mother was waiting for them in another part of the parking lot. Jarrid then asked Rachel where Michael was. Rachel replied that Rocky had to talk to him about something and that he would be coming in a few minutes. Jack then wondered if Mark and Nicole would be able to have visitors when they get to the hospital, and Jarrid figured that Mark would, at least. As the teens were talking amongst themselves by Jarrid's mother's car, they did not notice that a man wearing a skull mask was standing near the school building, concealed by some bushes. The masked man aimed a crossbow at the teens that was armed with an arrow that had a note attached to it. The man shot the arrow at the teens, which embedded itself in Jarrid's mother's car, frightening the teens. Jarrid's mother got out of the car and demanded to know what had happened, and Jarrid then noticed the arrow with the note embedded in the side of the car and pointed it out. Michael then arrived on the scene and asked what had happened. Rachel explained that they had just been talking, and somebody shot the arrow at them. Michael asked who did it, but Rachel didn't know. Dustin traced the trajectory of the arrow back towards the bushes near the school building, but the skull-masked man was no longer there. Jarrid then dislodged the arrow from the car and took the note off of the arrow and read the note, which was alarming to him. When Jack asked him what the note said, Jarrid simply handed the note to him to read himself. Jack was similarly alarmed, and handed the note to Michael when he asked what it said. Michael read the note aloud--"Jarrid, your girlfriend Nicole is dead. Get in my way, and you'll be next." Rachel asked who would do this, and Michael vowed to find out. Dustin wondered if this meant that Nicole was now dead, and Jack added that she must have been murdered. Jarrid was visibly upset at the notion of Nicole being murdered, and the note is revealed to have been written in blood. (DtRW #2)

A short time later, Jarrid, Michael, Jack, Dustin, and Rachel met up with Josh, Mandy, David Richards, and Travis Sirlon at Portage General Memorial Hospital. Jack asked Travis what he was doing there, as he had been absent from school today and wanted to know how Travis had known about Nicole and Mark. Travis explained that Josh had called and told him about it, and that Josh's mother had picked him up, and here he was. Michael then asked Josh how his confrontation with Melinda went, and Josh asked him how he knew that he had confronted Melinda. Michael had simply figured Josh would, and Josh confirmed that he had and that he had nearly pushed Melinda down the stairs at school. Josh was tired of defending himself, and explained that he had only tried to scare Melinda, and had succeeded. Michael then changed the subject to the note that was shot at Jarrid, Jack, Dustin, and Rachel back at school, and showed the note to Josh to read. After Josh read the note, he asked who shot the note at them. Jarrid told him that he didn't know and asked if Nicole was really dead. Josh revealed that he had just seen Nicole a couple of minutes ago, and that she had regained consciousness. Jarrid was very relieved to hear this, and Michael asked Josh when exactly he had seen Nicole. Josh said it was just a couple minutes ago, at about 2:55. Jack said that they got the note right after school, so whoever shot the note was lying. Rachel wasn't so sure, and Josh asked her what she meant. Rachel said she didn't want to think this, but whoever shot the note at them had to have been at the school at the time, so maybe the person shot it at them, thinking it would scare them to death, then came to the hospital, killed Nicole, and got out of there before they came to check on her. Jack told Rachel she had seen too many horror movies, and said they shouldn't start worrying until they started seeing Jason Voorhies or Freddy Kreuger skulking around Eagle Creek. Jack suggested that this was just a "stupid prank." Michael wasn't so sure, however, saying that whoever shot the arrow obviously had no qualms about hurting someone because they could have hit one of them with the arrow and likely planned to do so anyway unless he or she is a sharpshooter. Josh thought Michael had a point and suggested that there was a full-fledged psychopath running around Eagle Creek who may want to hurt one of them. Mandy suggested that they should call the police, but Travis agreed with Jack that this was likely just a stupid joke, and granted that it was a sick joke. Travis was sure, however, that no one was going to kill Nicole or Jarrid and that they shouldn't worry about this unless they saw Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette in Eagle Creek, they shouldn't worry about this. Josh then changed his mind, saying they should just wait and that this was probably just an isolated incident. However, the teens then heard Nicole screaming from inside her hospital room down the hall. Michael and Josh then ran down the hall towards Nicole's room to check on her, leaving Jarrid and the others in the hallway. (DtRW #2)

A short time later, Jarrid, Jack, Mandy, Dustin, David, Travis, and Rachel watched an episode of The Jerry Springer Show in the hospital waiting room, where Rachel said that the show was so stupid it's funny. Jack made fun of the show, to Dustin's amusement. Danielle would arrive in the room at this point and ask for an update on Mark and Nicole. David told her that they hadn't yet heard about Mark, but that Nicole was conscious, much to Danielle's relief. Rachel then took Danielle aside to speak with her privately while Jarrid and the others returned their attention to the television. Soon, Danielle loudly proclaimed that she couldn't believe that Michael asked Rachel to the dance, and David was visibly worried, and Jack asked him why. However, Danielle would soon loudly proclaim that she needed to talk to David, and then she walked over to David and asked him if she could speak to him alone. David protested that Jerry Springer was about to bring out a guest's sister that he had been sleeping with. However, Danielle cried, "Now!" and grabbed David by the arm and dragged him away from the others, to Jarrid, Jack, and Dustin's amusement. David would soon return to his seat, where Dustin would ask him what that was about. David told Dustin not to worry about it, but Jack wasn't giving up that easily, saying taht Danielle just came in here and about dragged him out of there like she was his mother and demanded to know what was going on. However, before David could explain what happened, Rocky arrived in the waiting room and asked for an update on Mark and Nicole. Dustin told Rocky that Nicole was conscious now, which Rocky said was good. Rachel added that they may have a psychopath running around trying to kill Nicole. Rocky asked what Rachel was talking about, and Jarrid explained that the got an arrow and note from "a deranged Cupid" shot into the side of his mother's car that told him that Nicole was dead and that if he got in the way, he would be the next to go. A confused Rocky asked if they had said that Nicole was conscious, and Jack explained that she wasn't really dead, and that they were thinking and hoping that it was simply a sick joke, but they didn't know fore sure. Jarrid suddenly had an idea and said he thinks he may know who did this. When Rachel asked him who, Jarrid excused himself to a pay telephone to make a phone call. Jarrid then called Melinda, asking her to explain why he received a disgusting note from some sicko telling him that Nicole was dead and that he was next if he got in the way before revealing that Nicole was actually fine. Melinda had no idea what Jarrid was talking about, and asked how Nicole was doing. Jarrid responded, "Like you care," and Melinda admitted to Jarrid that he was right, that she didn't, but did reveal that she thinks that his note might have been sent by "this guy," then played a message on her family's answering machine that had come through at 2:34 PM that day. A distorted voice played over the answering machine, claiming to be Melinda's father, who said that he was coming for her, and that they could get rid of "that pest Nicole" forever. The distorted voice laughed as the message ended and Melinda returned to the line, telling Jarrid that it was probably from him. Jarrid asked Melinda who her father was, but Melinda revealed that she didn't know, that she hadn't met him and her mother had never told her. Melinda went on to say that every time she asked, her mother changed the subject and refused to tell her. Jarrid told Melinda that she needs to call the cops, but Melinda wanted to tell her mother about this first. Jarrid told Melinda to call the cops now, however, and Melinda agreed to before asking Jarrid if she was off the hook for being his mystery psycho. Jarrid ended the call at this point and returned to his friends in the waiting room. Rachel asked Jarrid who he had called, and Jarrid revealed that he had thought it might be Melinda, but it wasn't. Jack asked him what was the matter, and Jarrid explained that while he was grilling Melinda, she told him something pretty strange, and proceeded to tell the others about his call to Melinda. (DtRW #2)

Nicole Halloway
For some time prior to October 1999, Jarrid was in a relationship with Nicole Halloway, but this relationship ended after Nicole went on a date with Josh Poncek. Josh's girlfriend at the time, arrived at Jarrid's house and claimed to have seen Josh and Nicole having sex. This would lead to Jarrid breaking up with Nicole, even though she never actually had sex with Josh. Jarrid was upset that she would go on a date with Josh while she was dating him in the first place, and used that as an excuse to break up with her. He would spend several months feeling very bitter toward Nicole after that, but when she was pushed down a flight of stairs by Melinda at school, he was extremely concerned for Nicole's well-being and was very upset at the implication that Nicole wouldn't ever wake up after being knocked unconscious. (DtRW #1)

Jarrid was very concerned about Nicole's well-being for the remainder of the school day, and even more so when Skullface shot a note into Jarrid's mother's car with a note attached to it claiming that Nicole was dead and threatening his life if he got in the way. Jarrid was visibly upset at the prospect of Nicole being injured and/or killed. (DtRW #2)

Background & Trivia

 * For quite some time since the end of the web series, Jarrid was intended to recieve superpowers much like Michael and Nicole in the novel series. However, a recent revision to the series has eliminated Jarrid as a potential recipient of the powers. He will remain an influential character even without the addition of supernatural powers to his character, however.
 * Nearly seven months had passed since Jarrid broke up with Nicole and the conversation between Jarrid, Dustin, Jack, and Mandy at the beginning of episode 1 of the web series, but it was heavily implied that a much shorter amount of time had elapsed, with Dustin asking what Jarrid was planning to do for a date about an upcoming school dance, Mandy being sympathetic about him hurting afer breaking up with Nicole, and Jarrid talking about it not being Mandy's fault that Nicole "did what she did," and talked at length about how she shouldn't have gone out with Josh to begin with, so it doesn't matter whether Josh and Nicole actually had sex, as Melinda had claimed. This is an extremely unrealistic conversation to have after so much time had gone by since these events are purported to have happened, and there is no in-canon explanation for the irregularity. In reality, the discrepancy is simply a result of poor writing due to the differences in the time of year depicted at the beginning of the series and the previous Halloween, which is when it was depicted that Melinda super-glued a witch mask to Nicole's face during a Halloween party. It would have implied that Melinda had held a vendetta against Nicole since at least the previous Halloween, which meant Josh and Nicole had to have been a couple for at least that long. However, no real story was written for what happened to Jarrid in that time span, and it somehow was just written as if he was still extremely bitter over the ordeal seven months later as if it had happened to him very recently. The situation will be better handled in the novel series, when the scenes depicting the end of Jarrid and Nicole's relationship are happening as live storylines and not being presented as flashbacks, like in the web series.
 * In the web series, it is not stated how long Jarrid had known Michael or Nicole, but in the novel series, it is going to be established that Michael, Nicole, and Jarrid have been very close friends with one another since an extremely young age, and have known each other since before they could talk, due to their parents' respective connections to one another. This friendship is going to be extremely close in nature, but it is going to be made clear that Jarrid does not share as strong a bond as Michael and Nicole share with one another because of their supernatural powers, which at this time Jarrid is not planned to develop.