Thursday
"LAURINE!"* called Harmonie excitedly, all the students were in the yard, well the high school yards since it was recess.
Corine turned around and saw Harmonie running towards her with a smile on her face, she looked like she was hyper.
When she finally reached Corine, she put her arm around her shoulder.
"Hi, did your art class go well?" said Harmonie still in her excited tone, Corine nodded.
"Yes, I was able to finish my drawing."
"Oh, great! You'll show it to me, right?"
"Okay."
She then pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket and turned it on.
"How about you?"
"Hm?" she said, turning her head since Harmonie still had her arm around Corine. They were very close, and when Harmonie turned, which surprised Corine, their faces were very close.
"How did your theater class go?"
Harmonie had noticed the tint in her left ear that was facing her, but didn't say anything about it, she instead felt like touching it and that's exactly what she did.
"You and people's ears..." sigh Corine, but she let her be.
" It was nice. Today we did some emotion-related improvisation."
Corine nodded her head again.
"By the way, have you seen Cassidy?"
"She said she's going to see the French teacher soon, and she'll meet us at the daycare. And apparently, her class didn't go well with her physics/chemistry teacher."
"Oh, you know what happened?"
"No, she didn't tell me."
"She'll probably tell us later. Chloe, on the other hand, told me that when her music class is over, she's going straight to daycare. She's probably there."
"Alright, let's pick up the pace then."
"No need, we have time, and anyway we're already here," she said, pointing with her head, to the door of the daycare center that was at the end of the hallway.
"Ah, by the way, I could use your help for Saturday and Sunday," added Harmonie, turning to her.
"Yeah, no problem."
They arrived at the door and Harmonie opened it,
"Oh, hello!" said Harmonie and Corine to Sylvia and Cassandra, who had Adelaide in her arms on her lap sitting on a carpet with a book.
"Hello!" said Sylvia, who was trying to change a child's diaper in the part of the room dedicated to that.
"Good morning," Cassandra said softly, Adelaide raised her head and smiled.
"Dada!" Harmonie took off her bag, squatted down, and gave her a kiss on her forehead seeing from the corner of her eye Corine passing in front of them and going to join Sylvia, she stole a kiss from Cassandra.
Cassandra, under the shock, had her eyes widened and turned to see that Sylvia and Corine were busy finding a way to change a child's diaper, Corine was distracting the baby with a stuffed animal in her hand while Sylvia was changing it.
Turning around, she saw Harmonie talking with Adelaide and her eyes softened,
"And what happened to the princess." She nodded as she listened to her, then,
"Hm, I see... I didn't understand a thing." still nodding, Adelaide slapped her arm with a frown,
"Dada!" Harmonie laughed,
"Well, I admit it. I get it. However, sweetheart, what did I say about hurting others?"
"No good." said Adelaide as she lowered her head sadly, "Sowwy."
Tears began to escape from her eyes. Harmonie sat down and pulled her from Cassandra's arms. She sat her on her lap.
"Why are you crying, my love?"
Adelaide snorted, "'Cause I hu't you, dada."
"Ow, you didn't hurt me, mama. I was just telling you to be more careful, not to hit someone even though you are angry and want to hit them, okay?"
Adelaide nodded, "Okay, dada."
"Let's continue the book, then?" She nodded with excitement, her head.
.....
The door to the nursery opened.
Sylvia, Corine, and Cassandra looked up to see Cassidy and Chloe enter. And Chloe closed the door.
She looked up and saw that everyone was already there.
"Hello!"
"Hello!" said Chloe in response,
"Cassandra, I had gone to see you in your room, but you were here already..." said Cassidy
with a sigh, she sat down next to her sister.
Adelaide was sitting between Harmonie and Cassandra. A drawing book between her legs.
"Hm... I think that means he hurt himself, right? What do you think?" said Harmonie looking at Cassandra, Cassandra also looked at the picture of the little guy.
"I think he's angry, that's an angry face."
"Hm... I see," said Harmonie nodding her head, she turned back to Adelaide and asked,
"What do you think, little one?"
"He sad, dada?"
"You, you think he's sad, hm, okay." Harmonie nodded again.
"Let's just turn the page and see what happens," Cassandra suggested, Harmonie nodded, and Adelaide turned the page.
"Oh!" said Cassandra and Harmonie at the same time, surprised.
"You were right." Cassandra smiled and looked at Adelaide, and the little girl smiled and looked closer at the book.
Harmonie looked at the man, tilting her head slightly, thoughtful. The man was still grimacing, but this time there were tears in his eyes.
"It looks more like he's angry than sad.
Harmonie said, Cassandra looked at her, and then her eyes landed on the child in a slight panic, she was worried that the child would be disappointed. But Adelaide proved her wrong.
The child looked at Harmonie and then her eyes fell on the book again, and she nodded.
"Do you think so too?" asked Harmonie, Adelaide nodded again and said,
"'es, Dada. He ang'y."
Harmonie by her head, "Okay. Go put that book back, we'll keep reading it later, okay?"
The child nodded and stood up with the book in her arms. Harmonie and Cassandra followed her with their eyes and turned around when they saw Sylvia helping her.
Harmonie finally looked at the people who had silently been watching their interactions with the child.
"Cassidy, you were saying?"
"I said I went to see Cassandra in her classroom, yet she was here," said Cassidy, Chloe sat next to Harmonie and Corine joined them being between Cassandra and Harmonie.
"You wanted to see me? Why?"
"Mom and Dad figured their surprise honeymoon wasn't enough, and they decided to go again this Friday. And I told them there was no need for you to come and take care of me, but apparently, they don't trust me."
"So then?"
"I don't know. Because you, you get up early to go, plus you have your job, and you can't take care of me all the time."
"Why don't you come to our house?" suggested one of the girls,
All heads turned toward Chloe. Chloe didn't hear any response, so she looked up from her phone and saw all four pairs of eyes on her. She raised an eyebrow, her face full of questioning.
"What? If she doesn't want to bother Cassandra and her parents don't want her to stay alone, she can come to our house" said Chloe shrugging her shoulders.
Harmonie felt her phone vibrating in her right pocket before she heard it ring, she took it out of her jogging pocket.
Incoming call from "My Nightmare".
"I should think about finally changing that nickname..." she said, she sighed then answered finally.
"Hello."
"..."
Harmonie listened to her greet her in turn and then asked,
"What's the matter? "
"..."
"Hm... Okay, I'll tell her." Chloe pointed at herself and Harmonie nodded.
"..."
"Hm... Alright. I'll see you later."
"..."
"Alright, bye." She hung up the phone and turned to Cassidy.
"What Chloe said, isn't a bad idea. You can come, we have plenty of room anyway." She then stood, and looked around for Adelaide.
"Baby!" Adelaide raised her head, blocks in hand.
"Come say goodbye." Seeing the child stand up, she turned her head to the people still sitting.
"You need to get ready to leave, in a few minutes the bell will ring for the end of recess." She turned around just in time to take her daughter in her arms.
Chloe stood up, and the others followed her, "By the way Sylvia, is it just me or is it just us who come to the nursery during recess."
"The children's parents come too..."
"... It's just that, since you don't come often, you miss them." finished Harmonie, she moved closer to the other girls, so they could say goodbye to the child.
"Chloe?", Sylvia said after the latter said goodbye to the child.
"Hm..." Sylvia moved closer to her and put her hand on her cheek,
"You're hurt... Why?" she asked, looking her straight in the eyes, Chloe thought she saw anger in her eyes, but it was so quick that she thought it must be a figment of her imagination.
A feeling of shame gradually formed inside her, and she lowered her head. Even if it is true that Valerie had made the first blow, she also should not have fallen by such provocation. She was ashamed of her lack of self-control.
"It's true that you still haven't told us what happened to you," said Cassidy, everyone's eyes were on her except Harmonie and the children present.
Chloe turned, and headed for the door before anyone could stop her, they heard Harmonie's voice.
"Wait for us." Chloe walked out, and the door closed behind her. Harmonie knew very well the reason why she wanted to leave. And that's why she didn't stop her from leaving, but instead told her to wait for them.
"Why did you let her go?" asked Cassidy, looking back at Harmonie.
Harmonie set her daughter down and kissed her on her forehead again and told her to go join her buddies.
"They were fighting," she said as she straightened up, "She hit Chloe and Chloe hit her back."
Harmonie went to pick up her bag from where she had put it and put it behind her back,
"An ego fight, I think? Some kind of revenge? Who knows?" She shrugged her shoulders,
"All I know is that they regret and have already apologized. So what's the point of reminding her of what she considers a mistake." Harmonie said as she looked each of them straight in the eyes and then a slight smile formed on her lips.
" But I admit even though I tried not to take sides, that Chloe was right to stand up for herself..." then she stopped smiling, and her eyes got a dangerous glint, "If she hadn't done it, I would have done it in her place... "then as if it was their imaginations, the glint disappeared and her smile reformed again, "Of course, violence is not always the best solution, but sometimes it's the most effective, quick and painful one, believe me."
And she went out. Chloe, who was waiting for her behind the door, saw her come out and followed her. They went along the wall, then opened the swinging doors, went down the stairs and out of the building by pulling the door. Harmonie then stopped, and wedged her back to the wall, a few centimeters near the door she had just come out of, Chloe did the same but on the opposite side.
"Valerie has just informed me that they have found an available building. We'd help them set up tomorrow."
"Hm...okay."
The bell finally rang.
And the door next to Harmonie opened and Cassandra and the other two girls stepped out. Harmonie and Chloe stood up.
"Shall we go?" said Harmonie, and they followed Harmonie since their last class was with Cassandra.
....
The next day
"So you're telling me that all the students have to be in the school gym now?" asked Chloe to Corine. Corine nodded then said,
"Yes, the principal said he was going to introduce us to one of their biggest sponsors.
"Oh, really?" said Harmonie, "How come we're the last to know?"
"You didn't log on to the school's website, I presume? Everyone has known since the beginning of the week," said Corine gently.
"Ah!" said Harmonie and Chloe, and Corine continued, "You're not in the class group either..."
"We don't have a social network," said Chloe, and Harmonie nodded.
"We talked about it this morning in the group..." Chloe looked at her phone, hearing the sound signaling a notification, "...and even now they're talking about it."
"But we can always count on you, to warn us, and it's not too late, we still can go," said Harmonie, Corine nodded her head. "Let's go then."
They started to walk towards the gym.
"Ah, but that's why you wanted to stop us when the bell rang!" exclaimed Chloe, turning back to Corine. And Corine nodded her head again.
"Yes, I wanted to ask you if you knew about it. I wanted to follow you to talk to you about it, but a teacher called me out, I had to go help with the podium and as soon as I was done, I came to get you."
"You are the hero of the day, Corine."
"Not all Heroes wear a cap," said Chloe, nodding her head, and Corine lowered her head in embarrassment.
Harmonie and Chloe looked at each other and smiled.
....
They finally arrived in the gymnasium, which was full of students but strangely well organized. Each class had its own section. They were all sitting on the sports blues mats with their homeroom teacher sitting on a chair next to them. The rest of the teachers were also in chairs placed against the wall near the stairs to the podium. Before they arrived, the principal had already finished speaking and made way for the sponsor, who was finishing their speech.
"Where are we placed?" asked Harmonie looking at the different classes.
"Look for our teacher among the different teachers sitting in front of the students' mats," said Chloe, Harmonie nodded and didn't even take 10 seconds to find her.
"Found it. The French teacher is over there," she said, nodding, the other two girls looked and couldn't find her.
"Where?" asked Corine as she turned back to Harmonie.
"In the middle." said Harmonie, "Look she turned her head towards us. I think she saw us." She then turned to her friends, "Let's go, you can follow me. They nodded and followed her.
Corine's head was down, she felt a little embarrassed to be walking past all the students and teachers who saw them coming at the last minute. She raised her head slowly to look at Harmonie, who was looking at the other students, greeting some she knew. A hand went to her right shoulder, and she turned her head to the left and looked at Chloe.
"H!" called Chloe, Harmonie turned around and Chloe nodded her head towards Corine. Harmonie understood what she wanted and moved closer to them, and also put her arm on Corine over Chloe's.
She leaned toward Corine and said, "What are you going to see like that when you lower your head? Your hair is all over your face. And straighten your neck, because the weight of our arms, you're going to feel it a lot like that." Harmonie then hugged her side and pat her head. "You are cute." Corine embarrassed, lowered her head a little more.
"Our Princess, raise your head, please. Don't ever be ashamed to show who you are." Chloe said, Harmonie, removed her arm from her shoulders and took her hand. Chloe did the same, taking her left hand.
They had finally arrived in front of their classroom, "Excuse us ma'am for being late," the three girls said, and Cassandra nodded.
Their tardiness hadn't alarmed anyone that much.
Since everyone knew that Corine had helped organize the event.
They assumed that their tardiness was probably due to a last-minute unforeseen event and that Corine had asked her friends to help her.
"... Thank you for your attention," Hazel concluded in front of the microphone, she was wearing a gray suit, a tie of the same color, and shiny black heels. She had on her glasses with a golden frame, her make-up was impeccable, and her hair was tied in a ponytail. Her style was sublime. And the aura she had around her, made her irreproachable, unattainable.
Some people couldn't take their eyes off that beauty.
Hazel's eyes, which were making many in the gym tremble, suddenly changed, as if she had seen something, the threat in her eyes faded, and her eyes smiled before a smile formed on her face.
The people felt as if they had been struck by lightning, the shock on their faces was clearly visible and the principal, who was known to be an unshakeable person, was also shocked.
What could have changed such a frightening woman in a few seconds?
"Babies!" said Hazel sweetly in the exact opposite of her formal tone earlier, Harmonie and Chloe were already seated when they heard that familiar voice and looked up and their eyes widened as they saw Hazel on the podium in shock at her presence and also that they hadn't seen her since Sunday.
Hazel stepped down from the podium and started to walk toward them with a big smile. Both girls had the same thought in mind,
'Has she been smoking something?' They looked at each other and realized they had had the same idea and sighed and looked back at Hazel.
Seeing that she would soon be closing in on them, they took a quick look at each other, got up, and ran for the door as if they were being chased, avoiding the students along the way.
Hazel saw them running away and took a red whistle out of her jacket pocket and put it to her lips, which were the same color as the whistle. Just as they reached the door, a whistle sounded and Harmonie and Chloe stopped.
"Damn it," said Chloe, they turned around and saw that Hazel had not moved from where she was and was watching them. Those who were near her tried to move away from her lightly, they were afraid. Hazel put the whistle back in her pocket.
And began to walk toward Harmonie and Chloe, who were also approaching Hazel.
Everyone present was sort of praying for them as they saw Hazel's expression. She was mad.
They finally stopped, "Why did you run away? Did you do something stupid?" she said darkly.
Harmonie and Chloe looked at each other quietly, quickly shook their heads and then Harmonie said,
"No, it's just that your behavior made us want to run away and that's one of the bad habits that's coming back."
Hazel looked up, sighed, and then said, "It's still been a few days since you've seen me, come give your aunt a hug."
Harmonie and Chloe walked over to the woman, hugged her, and Hazel wrapped her arms around them. She kissed each of them on the forehead and after that told them to join their group, and that they would see each other at home.