Chapter 2

Harmony

I was sitting in my seat while ignoring the sound of my classmates being so loud. Looking around again, I noticed that Page was spacing out. She’s just playing with her pen and like me, she’s also looking around.

Is she all right?

I wanted to ask what was wrong, but I couldn’t bring myself to talk to her.

What was it?

What’s with her?

What’s inside that notebook and what happened yesterday?

I have a hunch that she was bullied. But I think there’s more. It wasn’t just because of that. But why am I being curious? It’s not like me to try and put my nose in someone else’s business.

But somehow, I think that I see myself in her. My whole life, I was a loner and an outcast everywhere I went. It seems like she’s like that too.

She has a choice. If she wants to go to another school again, she could leave. I wouldn't be surprised if one day I heard she had moved to another school and the seat next to me was blank again.

It was time for the professor to arrive, so everyone went back to their seats.

"Good morning, class. For today, I will be assigning all of you to your group in research. " She paused, "There will be a total of five groups, each with eight individuals" Our professor explains.

He started counting us one to five in rows. I was assigned to group number four, while Page was in group number five.

"Group 4 stand up."

I stood up and unfortunately, I was grouped with Wilona, one of Vivian's followers who was also great at badmouthing me.

"Please assign your leader."

"Veronica Yu." One of my groupmates pointed out Veronica, who’s one of those geniuses in our class. She’s a great leader when it comes to things like this.

"Are you all in-favor?" our professor asked.

We all agreed, of course.

After that, we formed a circle to identify our groupmates.

"Tf, she’s in our group? Aish, I’m already feeling the weight of a person who will not contribute to this research. " Wilona, obviously making her voice loud so that I could hear her.

I stood a little far from them and just listened.

"Is that okay with you, Veronica?"

It seems like she wants to kick me out of the group or is just giving a hint for me to leave by myself.

"You should just exchange her with another group member." She added. I looked at her and she was also staring at me, smirking.

Veronica had a struggling look on her face, as if she was thinking about whether to kick me out of the group or let me stay. But if she lets me stay, there’s a consequence that she will have to pay, and that’s being the target of Vivian’s group.

Before she could say a word, I raised my hand and said, "I would like to be excluded from the groupings ma’am. I’d like to do individual research by myself. "

People started to look at me as if I was ridiculous.

"Are you sure of this, Miss Wood?" She asked and continued, "It's hard to do research alone. Will you be okay doing it all alone?"

"Yes." I replied quietly.

"Okay, sure."

I went to my seat again and doodled in my notebook while everyone was busy talking to each other about their research.

I don’t really belong to any groups because I hardly fit in.

"Ma’am, excuse me. I’m sorry I’m late. " A boy appeared at the door. He doesn't look like he came here running.

"Okay, you may go inside."

Since I was not doing anything, all I did was observe what was happening around me.

He walked in and sat in his seat on the other side of the room. The professor called him to come in front of her to talk to him about the groupings.

"Mr. Grey, since you still don’t have a group, you will be assigned to group four to replace Harmony’s place." I heard what our professor said.

"I’m sorry but I decline."

"Do you also want to do individual research?"

"No ma’am, I want to join Harmony." I heard my name got involved in their conversation.

Someone wants to join me? Ugh, I can work by myself.

"But she asked for an individual. It wouldn’t be individual research if there were two of you."

Yeah, right. So, you better change your mind and join the group that I left.

"I understand that. But can I get the chance to talk to her about it? Like you said earlier, it’s hard to do research alone. "

Well, that’s true, but that’s what I’ve been doing since I was little. Like, uhm, working alone because no one accepted me into their group.

"She can manage to do it alone, she says." I nodded to myself in my imagination.

"You really have a bad eye when it comes to seeing what’s happening around you, ma’am." He said this before looking at my direction.

What is he talking about?

Oh, does he mean that I’m being bullied and being treated as an outcast, but she’s turning a blind-eye. Is that it? What's the difference?

When he caught me staring at him, I looked away. He might misunderstand me and think that I’m into him or that I’m eavesdropping.

Well, technically, I’m eavesdropping. But I call it observing. Okay, never mind.

While continuing doodling at the back of my notebook. I saw a person standing beside me in my peripheral vision. I didn’t mind him until he spoke.

"May I join you?" he asked.

I directly replied, "No."

He then sat beside me on Page’s seat and looked straight to the front. Not looking at him, I proceeded to draw.

"Would you tell me the reason why?"

Why is he trying to involve himself with me? Since when did people ever care whether I was alone or not? Is research really that hard?

"I prefer to work alone." I answered truthfully.

"But isn’t it too tiring to work alone all the time?" He asked again, now looking at me.

It is.

"Why do you care?" I also looked at him.

He’s kind of familiar. He’s also good looking.

What am I even saying?

"Nothing. I’m just a concerned citizen. " He answered while smiling. I tore my stare away from him. His smile is too genuine. If I were to stare at it too long, I could not prevent myself from smiling too.

"Really." I sarcastically said, trying to drive away that feeling.

"Please let me join and help you." He tried to persuade me.

He seemed sincere. But I just can’t.

"I’ll think about it." I said it carefully, looking at him.

"I will take that as a yes."

Ugh, so stubborn.

"Fine, but I won’t be responsible if something happens to you." I said while looking at the bullies who were talking to their group members.

"Yeah, sure. So," He paused. "See you later, Harmony." He stood up and waved me goodbye as he went back to his own seat. I watched him as he sat down and put an ear pod in his ears.

I sighed and looked outside the window, feeling a little dizzy because of the noise inside the room. I stood up to excuse myself to go to the restroom, but the professor had already left without saying a word, so I just left too.

Walking in the quiet corridor, someone called my name.

Ah, that boy again.

"What?" I turned around and asked blankly.

"Let’s meet later in the garden, after class." I nodded and then ignored him again. Now people are staring at me because the other classes are discussing when they heard him call me loudly.

A little embarrassed because of the stares, I sped up my walk a little. When I got into the bathroom, I just stared at my own reflection in the mirror. I’m so pale and don't have lipstick on my lips anymore. After applying some, I washed my hands and then walked back to the room.

When I got there, there was already a professor in front, so I excused myself to come in. He just nodded at me, so I walked in.

But I fell.

Someone put their feet on my way intentionally to make me trip. It was too late to notice it, so I fell.

Really? It’s very childish to still do things like these.

Page stood up and came to me with a worried look while half of the class were laughing. The professor stood there also laughing. Maybe they think this is some kind of prank normally pulled in teenage years.

She offered her hands to me, but when I was about to hold them, I stopped.

"I can stand by myself." Smiling at her a little, I rose to my feet and shook off the dust on my skirt.

I sat down, pretending that nothing had happened. It was always the routine.

My knees hurt so much and also my palms. Peeking at my knees under the table, I saw that they were very red and the bruises were still there. It doubled the pain that I’m feeling.

Their laughter stopped and our professor began teaching.

Page was obviously uncomfortable with what had just happened and wanted to talk to me.

"Are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere? " She whispered. She looked really concerned, so I nodded to assure her.

"I’m really okay. Don’t worry." I answered with a blank expression on my face.

"The strength of your fall earlier was really hard. You might’ve had a broken bone or something."

"I’m used to it." I said, while not looking at her. But I saw her having a strange facial expression. I don’t know if she was angry or not.

"But why? Why won’t you fight? "

"How about you? Why don’t you also protect yourself? " I looked at her directly in the eye.

She fell silent.

"See? It's easy to say, but it's hard to do. "

She looked away from me. She seems to know the feeling of wanting peace but also wants to avoid conflicts too.

All classes were finished and I never saw Page again. It looks like she went home as soon as the last period ended. While I walked to the garden to meet up with Grey.

By the time I got to the garden, he was already there, sitting on a bench under the old tree.

"Have you been here for a long time?" I asked.

"Nope, I just got here too." He motioned for me to sit beside him. I sat, maintaining a good distance between us.

"I haven’t introduced myself properly yet, didn’t I?"

Oh, so he’s a formal kind of a guy.

"Yeah." I answered coldly.

"I’m Magnus Grey." He offered a handshake, but I only stared at his hand for so long. It looks like he’s patiently waiting for me to shake his hand.

"Harmony." I felt a little bit of spark in my hand when it touched his as I shook hands with him. I pulled away after three shakes and pretended to get something on my bag. I pulled out a pen and a paper so that it looks realistic.

It’s very humiliating to act so awkwardly in these kinds of situations.

"So yeah, what are we going to do about ou— oh wait, someone’s calling me." He excuses himself to pick up the call.

While waiting, I saw a cat passing by, so I called it, hoping that Magnus wouldn’t hear me.

"Hey kitty, come here."

It walked in front of me and ignored the hell out of me, so I just smiled awkwardly even though no one saw me.

I really want to pet her, but she doesn’t like me, so, okay fine.

"Hey, I’m sorry, I really have to go now. My father needs me. Can we talk about it some other time? " He looked sorry and was in a hurry.

"It’s okay, I’ll come up with a plan. Just help me with the rest. You must go now. " I urged him to go. It looks important to the point that he’s sweating so hard and looking so worried.

He smiled and bid me goodbye before sprinting in the direction of the gate.

After he left, all I did was to smell the fresh air of the garden while writing ideas for topics and thesis statements. I also called the driver to pick me up at 4 pm so that I could spend more time here.

It’s more comfortable to study outside than to study inside our house. It reminds me how alone I was when I just sat there studying until I was called to eat dinner by myself. Sometimes, although the maids are prohibited from sitting at the dining table, I ask them to sit and eat with me. Mostly when my parents are away, I just lock myself in my room while playing a mood booster playlist to lighten up my mood while studying, but it still feels suffocating.

I wonder how my parents are.

Another cat passed in front of me and I tried to call it. Luckily, it turned its attention to me and meowed. It went closer and allowed me to pet her by brushing her head on my palm.

I gave it some snacks before leaving, because the driver was already at the gate, waiting for me to come out.

Maybe I’m going to bring more treats for those cats tomorrow.

"Kuya, please drive me to the nearby Pet Shop." I said while sitting in the passenger seat.

"Sure ma’am." We went off and I listened to Taylor Swift’s music.

I opened my eyes when I felt that the car had already stopped. We were already at the pet shop, so I went out to go inside.

"Good afternoon, ma’am." The cashier welcomed me. I smiled at her and continued to walk inside the shop. I bought many treats for my dog, Misha, and also cat food for the stray cats so that they have something to eat.

I paid for all of it happily while thinking about those pets that I was going to feed. My bank account is always full because I don’t really spend money that much.

My mother spoils me with money, but my father always limits my account. Though I don’t really need that limitation, it helps me to save money.

My skin was hit by the hot air after I had got out of the shop. I got into the car but the driver was not inside, so I put the shopping bags in the back seat and waited for him to come back. As I waited, I felt that my body was tired.

It was like my body was suddenly exhausted and very heavy. Finally, the driver came and drove me home. Because of tiredness, I immediately fixed the shopping bags as soon as I got home and let myself sink into the bed.