School Girls' Stories: New Generation - Finale

Chapter 6 – 19 Hours Remaining (7:00 PM)

“I knew you hadn’t left yet,” Harmony said breathlessly to the now open door. She could not believe she had waddled up three flights of stairs to reach his door. Why did this apartment building not believe in elevators? It should be a rule that any building over one floor should automatically be infused with such electronics. She could not imagine how he had moved his furniture up those stairs. Oh, right, he still only had a bed and a couch and she believed there was a chair in there somewhere.

Shu was less than thrilled to see her. “What?” he asked unkindly.

“Don’t act all snippy,” she snapped at him. She pushed her way through his door and into the apartment, taking in the sparse looks of things. He had gone from having everything at home to having nothing in this lonely apartment. She could barely remember if he had ever finished community college or not. Did it matter? He had ended up as some mechanic.

“Harmony, I’m trying to get ready,” he sighed, leaving the door open and hoping she would take that as her invitation to leave.

Harmony plopped down on the dusty couch and coughed. “Do you ever clean?”

“Do you ever keep your legs closed?”

“You know, I resent that coming from a drug addict.”

Shu slammed the door closed, noting she was not going to leave until she was finished with whatever barb was on the tip of her tongue. “I’ve long since quit that habit, when are you going to? When you finally have a baby who has reaped the damages of those drugs?”

“I take nothing but prenatal medications,” Harmony slammed back. She crossed her arms against her chest and tried her best to cross her legs, though her stomach protruded further than it should have for six months. “I have done everything I’ve done with a clear state of mind.”

“That isn’t something I would brag about.” Before Harmony could make another snappy comeback Shu held up a hand to silence her. “Do you mind telling me why you are here? You barely talk to me unless you need something, and obviously I can’t give you any money.”

Harmony shook her head and leaned forward. “You are the only one who can contact him,” she pointed out. “And he’s going to be at the bachelor party tonight.”

“Anyone can contact him,” Shu pointed out.

“Yes, but he won’t listen to anyone else, and I don’t want to involve Sora.”

“Sora would have less luck than me.” Shu went to his fridge and began fiddling with the beer that was in there. He wanted a clear mind for the party, or at least walking into it, but his baby sister was giving him a headache that was killing him. Instead he reached for a can of Pepsi and drank swiftly. Maybe the caffeine would help make Harmony disappear.

“I need to talk to him!” Harmony’s fist slammed against the dusty couch cushions. “Yuna tried pleading to Link, but that was nearly pointless, and Sora would have no luck, and he probably won’t listen to you either, but… Shu I’m desperate.”

“Mom’s kicking you out finally, isn’t she?” Shu asked. He hid the smug smile well.

“Yes,” Harmony admitted.

“About fucking time,” Shu snapped. Harmony’s eyes could not have grown any wider. “She pays for a boarding school, hoping you will come back a good girl, instead you and Yuna slut your way through school. You know, I know Mom is disappointed in all of us, but you Harmony, not me, you have made the worst choices and been the biggest disappointment. You have to extort money from men by having their babies just to make a living. You want to comment to me about how badly I am doing, but here I am, with a life, and I have not once asked for money.”

“Yeah, even when you were evicted and your credit went to Hell, and mom found you so drugged up… EEP!” Harmony ducked as the baseball slammed into the wall beside her. His aim was bad; he had been aiming for her head.

“If you come in with that attitude, what is there to convince me to help you?” Shu asked, regretting that he had left a dent in his wall and not her head.

“I’m sorry,” she immediately apologized, not meaning a word that came flooding from her mouth. “I just… Yuna and I can’t do it on our own. Mom said she would take my daughter in, but I an not stay. Yuki will not take Darien for Yuna, so even if Dania has a good place to live, Yuna, Darien, and I, and the two babies on the way, will have nowhere to be.”

“Mom is doing the right thing,” Shu snickered. “She’ll do for her granddaughter what she could not do for you.”

“I’m just following in Mom’s footsteps you know,” Harmony snapped.

“No, don’t try to convince yourself of something so dumb,” Shu snapped. “Mom made a mistake when she had me, but she stopped making mistakes after that. She married Dad and had you and Darrke legitimately. Mom was a good person, you are a whore. I won’t talk to him.”

“Shu-”

“No,” Shu snapped. “I’m trying to get ready now, I suggest you should get ready yourself. Why don’t you ask Rhapsody if she’ll speak to him? She’s closer to him than any of us.” Shame crossed Harmony’s face, for only a moment, then it disappeared. Shu knew that look. “Rhapsody is marrying Sora, it won’t matter if you tell her who the father of your child is.”

“I hate Rhapsody,” Harmony said quietly. “I hate her so much I could spit nails. I hate her for having your affection, I hate her for marrying Sora, and I hate her because Ashe will never forget her. He loved her, and he loves her now, even though for one night I had him again. I would love to see her face crumble, to see the pain on her face as she finds out that Ashe is the father of my baby, and of Yuna’s baby, and that he has been paying us to keep silent. I hate her, Shu, you do not understand how much. Why should she be allowed to have everything and I nothing?”

“Because she is a good girl who fell into bad circumstances, you are a bad girl who had good circumstances, but made them bad to fit her whims.”

Harmony stood up off of the couch. “If Ashe wasn’t giving me money I would tell Rhapsody,” she snapped. “I would enjoy telling her and watching her face fall. I would enjoy breaking her heart.”

Shu laughed and walked up to the door, throwing it open for his sister. “I don’t think you understand that Rhapsody is marrying Sora because she loves him. Whatever happened between Ashe and Rhapsody is no longer there. Ashe just doesn’t love you. It has nothing to do with Rhapsody, it has everything to do with you.” He slammed the door behind her and thanked the heavens she was finally gone.