It was a few weeks later when things started to get messy. Harmony was at a swimming pool on a Saturday afternoon. She was waiting for Jasmine to come on a 'meeting' (AKA play date). Jasmine was extremely late, which was odd for her because most of the time she would arrive at least half an hour early to anything. Harmony crossed her legs and fumed impatiently, when the girl arrived. She was wearing a new, tight, baby blue two piece with a designer logo printed in neat, proud cursive on the front. Her father and mother were very rich business people who were often out of the country and had enough money to buy Jasmine anything she wanted. She had a pure-breed westie, two chestnut ponies, a trampoline, her own tv, a play scape, a nanny, a light blue room, a collection of American girl dolls, and $1,000 in charities. She was even getting a pool for her birthday. Jasmine apologized feverishly and explained. "Nan was just going out to buy me a new swimsuit at that new store downtown. D'you think she picked well?" she asked, posing a little. Harmony smiled sadly and looked down at her own swimsuit. It was a very old and tight (Not in the good way) pink one-piece from Walmart. She sighed and grinned. "You look great," she said, truthfully.
Jasmine didn't hear the reverence in Harmony's voice, of course, because Jasmine was Jasmine. They ended up having a lot of fun in a water war. You know, exploding water balloons, multi-colored noodles, diving rings, the works! Harmony had pounced upon Jasmine's back and was about to ride her like a horse when Jasmine cried out in pain. Babies cried. Old people hollered. Pedestrians screamed. The life guard ran over to Jasmine, shouting "IS EVERYTHING ALRIGHT? ARE YOU HURT?" like it was the end of the world for someone to be injured. "But," thought Harmony, shrewdly. "It is the end of his job for someone to be injured." Jasmine had stopped by now and was acting strangely calm. "No sir, I am not hurt. I am fine. Do not be alarmed." The lifeguard was extremely happy about this, but covered it with a face of anger. "You shouldn't be screaming like that if you aren't hurt, little lady!" he yelled, waggling his finger. "It's a disruption of the peace, and is terribly scary. You could have been dying for all we knew!" "Yes, yes," Jasmine answered, acting bored. "I understand. Now may my friend and I leave?" The man allowed her to and went back to his post, wiping his forehead along the way. Jasmine turned and quickly walked away. Harmony followed, panting. "What's wrong? What happened? You really scared me there-" Jasmine faced Harmony. She seemed more scared than Harmony had been. "I don't know. May we go to the restroom and talk about it?" "At least she's still her polite old self" Harmony thought to herself and ran to follow her friend. They sat down in a secluded area of the women's locker room. "Okay, so we have to figure out what's wrong, right?" Harmony asked her friend. Jasmine was quite pale and was biting her finger nails ferociously. Harmony felt, for the first time, like the calmer and more respected one. "Jasmine, this may be painful, but we have to do it. Turn around..." and the girl turned. Harmony laid one gentle hand on Jasmine's back. The other girl flinched, but relaxed. Harmony traced her hand around Jasmine's back, checking for signs of pain. At the very center of her back, Jasmine howled like a frightened wolf. Harmony covered her banshee friend's mouth with her free hand angrily. "Why did you do that???" she asked, hissing in Jasmine's ear. She couldn't respond, because Harmony's hand covered her mouth. Harmony took her hand off Jasmine's pie hole and set it on her knee. "Now, why?" she asked, quieter. The other girl looked down. "It was sheer pain. Immense pain, that's all." Harmony gulped and pulled up the back of Jasmine's one piece. On her back, there were two symmetrical growths. Harmony squinted at them and realised what they were with a jolt. They were... They were... "Wings."
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