When she reached the top, Chloe looked up at her friend and then down, "So, what are we going to do?" she asked herself, rubbing her neck.
"I think I can make it down the stairs, I just don't have to look down," Harmonie said as she got down on all fours, being careful not to rub her knee on the concrete. She moved a little closer to Chloe, then closed her eyes, "Get on the ladder first..."
Chloe complied, then Harmonie turned so that her legs were facing Chloe. She opened her eyes and said, "Now guide me, I can't see what's behind me."
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And she began to back away, slowly approaching Chloe, "A little to the right... yes... now straight ahead... okay..." Chloe instructed Harmonie.
Then Chloe held her foot, "Step back a little more towards me and let go of your foot. I'll put it on the first step."
When she found herself on the ladder thanks to Chloe, she looked to see where she was placing her hands without looking down.
When she reached the ground, she shook her legs, feeling that they were a little numb, and began to hop a little on the spot.
Corine looked at her, tilted her head slightly, and said, "What are you doing?"
"It's a little numb," Harmonie said simply, then turned to the janitor who was folding up his stepladder, "Thank you, sir."
"You're welcome, kiddo," he replied, smiling as he left, still wondering how she'd managed to get up on the roof.
Harmonie looked around a bit, then at the trunk of the felled tree, then at the low concrete wall next to it, which was a few inches higher than the trunk, and finally at the roof. She stepped back a few feet as if to gain momentum.
"What are you doing..." Before Chloe could finish, Harmonie dashed forward, ran towards the trunk, put one foot on it, and jumped onto the grass beside it.
The others had forgotten to react, so Harmonie approached them and said with a smile, "I think I've figured out how I got up there..." She was interrupted by Cassidy's punch to her shoulder.
"Don't do that again, you scared us," she said, frowning.
"We're worried enough about you, dummy," Corine said smiling.
Suddenly Chloé laughed, and the others looked at her in confusion, "It's completely stupid to forget that you have a fear of heights."
The others laughed too, Cassandra smiled and Harmonie rubbed her eyebrow. It was her way of releasing this sudden burst of stress.
"Well, we've got to get to class now," Cassandra said, putting her hands on Cassidy's back and Corine's head, and she felt Corine nod and smile.
Cassandra turned to Harmonie and said in a serious tone, "And you, no more shenanigans."
Harmonie bowed her head, "Yes, miss."
Chloe joined her and whispered," Moron," and gave her a light tap on the shoulder and ran off.
Harmonie looked at her and regained her smile, "Wait till I catch you," and took off after Chloe.
"While the two idiots are gone, let's continue our debate," Cassidy said, Cassandra tapped her lightly on the shoulder and Cassidy turned to look at her.
"Watch your language," Cassandra said gently, Cassidy wanted to defend herself but when she saw the look Cassandra gave her, she remained silent.
" Sorry miss," she looked at Corine, "let's start again. The lollipop is better, it lasts longer like I told you, so you have the flavor in your mouth longer."
Corine shook her head and smiled, "Yes, but you can't bite into it, it's better to bite into the gummy candy. And it can last, even if it's not as long as the lollipop."
"Miss?" said Corine, turning to Cassandra, and Cassandra lowered her head to look at her, raising an eyebrow, "Lollipop or gummy candy?"
Cassandra thought for a few moments, and as she was about to give her answer, she saw Harmonie coming back towards them.
"Boo!" Harmonie said, suddenly stopping in front of the two girls who hadn't seen her coming.
"Fuck!" exclaimed Cassidy, startled, Corine was also surprised and had a hand on her chest.
And Harmonie burst out laughing, "Sorry," she said after catching her breath.
"Harmonie," Cassandra said sternly, the latter suddenly stopped laughing when she heard her name, then Cassandra turned to Cassidy, one eyebrow raised again.
"I'm sorry," Cassidy said.
"I'm sorry I scared you, little girls," Harmonie said, and Cassidy rolled her eyes.
"We're not the ones who forgot we're afraid of heights after getting stuck on the roof."
"Touché," Harmonie said, rubbing her eyebrow, "Ah, yes! I almost forgot." She removed her backpack strap from her shoulder and opened her backpack, pulling out some phones.
"Here."
She closed the bag and put the strap back on, but before she could leave, Corine stopped her, "H, lollipop or gummy candy?"
Harmonie looked thoughtful, then said, "Both can be licked and bitten, but that's not the favorite thing I like to lick and bite."
She raised her eyes to the other three present and seeing their shocked looks she realized that she had gotten them good, and a grin formed on her face, "I was talking about the cone ice cream of course, let's avoid having bad thoughts," then she ran off and went to join Chloe.
The other three looked at each other, then at Harmonie who had joined Chloe and attacked her with an arm wrapped around her shoulder.
"Do we agree that what she just said suggests something else?" Cassandra suddenly asked the other two, they looked at each other as if a tacit understatement had been made between them, and they shrugged.
Then Corine and Cassidy resumed their debate, Cassandra watching as she shook her head and followed them.
"H," Chloe said, looking at Harmonie, holding the hand of the arm Harmonie put around her shoulder, "you didn't finish what you were telling me."
"Hm?"
"About you and Cassandra."
Harmonie was silent for a few moments, then continued, "When I saw her, I was as scared as I told you, but I was also very happy to see her. It was as if my heart and brain, which had been under such strain all these weeks she'd been gone, could finally rest."
"My heart was finally full after so much emptiness, and my head was like on sedatives. This confirmed how much I had missed her."
"But it's also true that I was hurt, because of the fear that she would be angry with me, because of her silence, and finally because of my feelings. Guess what happened?" she said, finally turning her head to Chloe.
"Logically, you should have talked, but since you're asking me to guess, I'll say that she took you in her arms and kissed you."
"Hmm!" said Harmonie, looking at her with raised eyebrows in astonishment.
"Am I right?" asked Chloe, her eyes wide.
Harmonie smiled slightly and said, "Yes and no."
She looked ahead as if remembering, "She took me in her arms, it was a little too sudden for me, I admit. And she tried to kiss me, but I turned my head away, and her lips landed on my cheek, because I was still sick, and I still felt hurt deep inside that I'd been ignored."
They reached the classroom door and Harmonie said, "I'll tell you the rest later, and you must also tell me what happened with Sylvia.
Several hours later
Harmonie was reading and writing on the documents
documents in front of her while listening to the team's presentation.
At the end of their presentations, they all waited for Harmonie's reaction through the screen as they were video conferencing with her.
"We need to review some of the designs. Especially numbers 4 and 6, they look suspiciously similar."
"It's in the process of being revised, boss," one of them says.
"Hm... we need to examine the equipment and order some new ones. I want these new shipments of gems prepared in the shop for this season's collection." She tapped the end of her pen on the table, then added, "Simple and elegant, as some of these designs show. Let the necessary materials be ready as well."
"Okay, let's get the interior design team started on the presentation, give me the rundown on the new space. And have HR send me the database on the company's personnel."
Harmonie said, rubbing her eyebrows, then took a sip of water from her bottle and continued.
....
16:00
The bell rang, signaling the end of class and the beginning of second recess.
The girls met in the middle of the playground, sitting on benches. Cassidy told them about what had happened in her Physics and Chemistry class or Physics-Chemistry class earlier.
"...so the teacher asked Ben if he was hitting on her after he said the teacher looked young."
Cassidy laughed and the others followed.
"Honestly, I haven't gotten an A from that teacher since the beginning of the year, but let's not kid ourselves. These stories are fun," Cassidy added.
Just as Corine was about to say something, she suddenly stopped and looked in one direction. The other two followed her gaze and saw Harmonie in the distance, walking in their direction.
When she was close enough, Corine was the first to react. "Now I notice you've changed your style," she said in a surprised voice, echoing the thoughts of the others.
"The sky was gray this morning," Harmonie point out with a slight smile.
"Did you just get back?" asked Cassidy and Harmonie nodded.
"It took longer than I thought. I mostly wanted to go over every detail of the new projects. And now Ana Marie has more work than expected."
They nodded as if remembering something and Cassidy added, "You should have at least visited Adelaide before you left."
Harmonie remained silent for a few minutes and said with a sigh, "I know, I thought it would be over by lunchtime at least, but I was wrong. And she'll be upset, that's for sure since she didn't see me this morning. Well, is she okay at least?"
Chloe nodded and said, "Yes, she's finally agreed to play with the other kids without any hesitation on her part. 'G'and fi'e' were her exact words." (Grande fille = Big girl)
As Harmonie listened, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. But just as she was about to turn and check what she saw, she heard one of her friends calling out to her and looking at them.
"Hm?"
"I said we could take the opportunity to go see her with you before it rang," Cassidy said with a smile.
Before Harmonie could say anything, the bell rang. And the expressions of all three girls showed disappointment.
"You've finished your classes, haven't you?" said Harmonie after the bell rang, since they could go and see her.
"Yes, we finished, and now we're going to see her, but I would have liked to see the little girl's reaction when she saw you. She asked for you earlier and even cried, but Cassandra managed to calm her down," Corine replied with a little disappointment on her face.
Harmonie smiled softly and rubbed her eyebrow, then sighed.
She nodded her head slightly in understanding and said, "Well, I'm off, I have my drama class for two hours. Try to distract her for me, please. I'll see if the teacher can let me out a little early, normally I shouldn't have any problems with that."
"Where do you take your drama classes?" asked Cassidy with a puzzled look.
"Seriously, you don't know where?" asked Chloe and Cassidy nodded.
"After you leave the high school at the gate, the building across the street is the one for the drama class," Corine said, and Cassidy frowned slightly.
"But there are many buildings across the street." Chloé started to laugh.
"Anyway, we'll show you on the way out."
Harmonie nodded, "Besides, I only have practical classes there once a week, and two days a week I have an hour of theory in a classroom here. So I really have to go." Harmonie said the last sentence after hearing the second bell indicating that she was late.
But since it was her final year, teachers tended to be more lenient, so she knew the theater teacher wouldn't question her for being late, especially since they had practical classes in another building, but she still had to hurry.
...
Once inside, she saw that the others had changed into more practical clothes. Like the others, she put her things on one of the stacks of chairs against the wall. She took off her jacket and placed it beside her bag. She took off her shoes, leaving only her socks on her feet.
She began to stretch under the teacher's guidance. The teacher emphasized the importance of planting oneself on the floor during the stretching and the sensations felt.
The room was large, with a high ceiling and wooden planks under their feet. At the far end of the room was a small theater stage with black curtains on each side and at the back, except for the one facing them, and a black carpeted floor.
"Okay, the game is simple. You're going to fill the whole space I've marked out for you by walking around in it."
"When I say zero, you're going to walk, one, you're going to speed up, two, you're going to trot and three, you're going to run around the room."
"Minus one, you're slowing down, minus two, you're slowing down even more, and minus three, you're almost frozen in place with very slow movements."
"During this time, each of you will take it in turn to say your first name. As there are eleven of you, we'll stop when all eleven names have been heard. But if more than two people say their names at the same time, we'll start again. Is that understood?" the teacher asked, and the students nodded and said.
"Yes, teacher."
"As soon as she felt the students were ready, she said "Zero".
The students began to walk around the room, "I want every space occupied... two". The students began to trot.
"Harmonie," she said, but unfortunately another student called Lisa had said her first name at the same time. She looked at her, smiled slightly and they started again.
...
"Andrea."
After several attempts, they finally finished the exercise.
The teacher was about to set up the folding table and said, "Today we're going to study the two scenes I asked you to study, then we're going to act out the two scenes and do some improvisation exercises. Grab your pencil case and paper and let's get started."