HARMONY

Chapter 4 - Harmless

Chapter 4 -Harmless

Harmony must have fallen asleep, which was rare and because it was rare, the fact that someone was nudging her awake was annoying as hell. She wondered, why couldn't they just let her sleep?

"Harmony, wake up," a high-pitched, girly voice sang in her ear. At the same time, she felt someone not-so-gently shaking her shoulder. "We are almost there." More shaking. "Come on girl, I did the neighbourly thing. I let you sleep, but it's been almost three hours!"

Three hours! That tidbit of information shocked Harmony enough to force one eye open. She just as quickly closed it again though, due to the blinding sunlight. She could not remember the last time she had slept for three hours straight. Most nights she tossed and turned to the point she was lucky if she slept at all.

"Gosh girl," the irritating voice was back, while the shaking turned to poking. "I wish I could sleep like you, but every time I try to sleep, my brain starts talking to itself." Poke. Poke. "Come on girl, you even slept through the washroom stop." Poke. Poke. "Do you know that every single person on this bus got off except you?" A weird popping sound followed her question.

"Some people got out just to stretch their legs, but most used the washroom facilities. Not you though." Poke. Poke. Pop. "You slept like a log right through everything. At one point I wanted to slip my compact mirror under your nose just to see if you were still breathing." Pop.

At that, Harmony forced her eyes open as she lazily swung her head around to study her bothersome neighbor. Seeing Jamie seated next to her with a kick-ass grin on her face, brought everything back. Harmony was on a bus. She was headed for her granddad's ranch, along with every other carless, country bumpkin within a three-hour radius and her grandfather had been too busy preparing for his annual Hootenanny to come pick her up.

She gave Jamie a small smile to let her know she was indeed awake, while at the same time she held up one hand to block Jamie's ferocious finger from making any further contact with her body.

The thought of being almost there fired up a nervous flutter in her stomach. She had no idea what to expect. Ever since her mother's death three months earlier, it seemed no one wanted her. She honestly thought she would get to stay with Danny, since he had practically raised her from a baby as his own daughter, but he hadn't even given her a chance. He and Jerome took off just days after her mother's funeral to tour with another band. She felt so betrayed by them both. They had deeply hurt her. She didn't want to think about either of them.

The only person, who had been willing to take her in, was her Aunt Viola and she had made it clear from the start that she was highly unqualified for the job. That was how her aunt felt too, that it was a job. It was her duty. After all, no one else had stepped up. To her aunt's credit though, she did try. Thinking back on all the trouble Harmony had caused, she felt kind of bad for her aunt. She really had tried to make things work.

The problem was she was nothing like Harmony's mom. They were sisters, yet they couldn't be more different. Her mom Melody was larger than life, while her aunt Vi was more of a quiet soul. Melody was fun to be around and loved to laugh. She was spontaneous and loved to do crazy things like taking Harmony out for ice cream at midnight, just because they had a craving. Her aunt Vi didn't have a spontaneous bone in her body. She planned everything right down to the smallest detail.

Still, Harmony had to admit her aunt, in her own way, had tried. She had given her lots of chances too and Harmony had squashed them all. She wished she hadn't pushed her aunt to the point of giving up on her so completely. Living with her aunt had been hard for Harmony, but she was just starting to get used to living there. She was just starting to make some friends. She even had a boyfriend for the first time in her life. Though that turned out to be a disaster. Derek disappeared when she needed him most. So much for having a boyfriend.