harmony jones & hailey dilmore & zoey chambers character studies
harmony jones who grew up in an upper middle class family and never had to worry about anything because it was right there. but even as a kid she's reading up on current events and climate change is her biggest worry and her sense of justice is so strong that she doesn't understand why no one else seems to care about this. she lectures her parents and says only showers, no more baths, we need to save water. walk or bike, don't take the car. and her parents are like yeah well fuck we raised a social justice warrior but they agree, they know it's happening, it was always just easier to look away — before harmony. her friends at school vaguely tolerate this and harmony vaguely tolerates them back until they don't & she doesn't because why should she be friends with people who don't even care about the planet wtf?
harmony jones who almost exclusively wears thrifted clothes, harmony jones who doesn't have time to care about the concept of gender because she has a planet to save, harmony jones who's friends-ish with ziggs and gets high in her room and writes a 6k word essay on the meat industry's effects on climate change in the past 5 years.
she goes on like this, wants to study something like environmental biology or engineering. starts at greenpeace. has a few friends & even more plants.
she goes to college when she's 18, university of michigan or whatever, gets a major in environmental biology & a minor in botany, gets her bachelor's. for about five years she's there. and then she comes back to hatchetfield, because everyone always comes back to hatchetfield.
student loans are a bitch and despite her parents having the money to help with them, she wants to be independent. she doesn't move back in with them when she returns to her home town but decides to look for an apartment online. sure enough, there's an ad — it's not huge, there'd be two roommates, but it looks nice and it's close to spots lots of people pass every day. while she's looking for jobs, she's still volunteering for greenpeace.
her roommates are...nice enough. hailey is, at least. she's quiet and shy and follows the other one around like a lost puppy. zoey is a girl harmony has met many, many times. not her specifically, but other versions of the same girl. knockoff regina george's, arrogant and mean, girls who pick on others and talk shit all the time, who put themselves above others without having anything to show for it.
yeah. so. harmony gets closer with hailey before zoey. she tries. she's not a people person, but hailey is sweet. she's involved in the local theater, has pages of lines stuck to her walls, star fairy lights and some potted plants on the windowsill. harmony loves her.
hailey is a bit intimidated. she's not used to people seeking out contact with her. doesn't really know what to do without zoey telling her. but zoey isn't there right now, so she'll have to figure it out.
they're both autistic. harmony is better at masking, much better. hailey is a bit lost. harmony knows this.
she makes an effort to ask about theater. hailey's dream roles. favorite musicals. all that stuff. and that seems to help get her out of her shell. hailey rambles on, with more than a few "sorry i'm talking so much"s thrown in there, but harmony sits next to her on her bed, with literal heart eyes, her chin resting on her hand. she has never cared about musical theater a day in her life but now she knows everything hailey loves about anything goes (with patti lupone).
hailey feels safe with her. harmony likes making hailey feel safe.
zoey is a bit of a problem. but not one harmony can't deal with. after she tries to make an effort and is met with indifference, passive aggressiveness & bitchiness, she gives up.
hailey and her get closer.
hailey starts standing up for herself more and more. unfortunately, she's still horribly attached and a little bit in love with zoey.
hailey grew up alienated from her peers. the girls all liked other things, they didn't really like her, no matter how much she tried to fit in. she was miserable. and she'd eat lunch alone until she met zoey, so she clung to her for dear life because she's seemingly the only one willing to tolerate her, if tolerating someone meant treating them like a servant.
her parents tried their best, but having an autistic child is hard, they'd say. plus, she has like three brothers. their parents were both busy with work a lot, and her brothers who were always breaking things and wrestling. boys will be boys. sometimes hailey wished she was a boy so she could be a part of it. hailey wasn't always alone, but when she was, she felt it deeply. so now she feels it's better to be treated like shit than left alone.
theater was always her thing. a safe space. she loved pretending to be someone else because that way, she could be someone people liked. someone people applauded for. she does a few highschool plays and auditions at the starlight, nothing huge, but it means the world to her.
her relationship with zoey is complicated. she hates her. she loves her. she wants to be her. she wants to be with her. she never wants to speak to her again. she has to hear zoey's voice to survive.
she's infatuated and infuriated with zoey at all times and she's really bad at dealing with it so she just doesn't, doesn't do anything. not in highschool, not in college, not when they move in together. she keeps her mouth shut so zoey will stay, so zoey will let her stay. at least she doesn't usually realize when people are mean to her.
when harmony moves in, it all changes. hailey is still weird about zoey, obviously, but she gains at least some sort of confidence. she talks more. does what she wants, sometimes.
when harmony is smoking in her room one day, plants everywhere with a detailed guide on how to take care of them stuck to her closet that hailey has memorized for normal reasons, she asks hailey if she wants a hit. she guesses hailey hasn't experimented much with substances before and assures her she doesn't have to, doesn't have to do anything she doesn't want to do.
and hailey, the quiet girl who could barely raise her hand in class, who actually listened to d.a.r.e. officers when they came to hatchetfield high (she & grace are quite literally the only ones), who is scared...says yes. or, well. she says "oh! um. okay."
she's only seen this in movies, which she knows is pathetic, but she listens to harmony, who's smirking & maybe a little cruel about it, and she thinks it's so cute when hailey sits down on harmony's bed, all careful, and asks her how long it'll last.
harmony sits next to her & starts explaining things. cotton brain, dry mouth, lazy or heavy feeling. hailey isn't sure she's actually listening, she tries really hard.
when zoey comes home, she just hears harmony & hailey laughing in her room.
zoey doesn't like it.
zoey got everything and anything she wanted. she's better and bigger than this town. she deserves more. she's a fucking star.
everyone wants her. even married cops want her.
her parents think she's their little star, they love her more than her brother, she's the most important person, and she fucking knows it.
hailey doesn't mean much to her. she does whatever zoey tells her to, it's convenient. and she likes the adoration from hailey.
zoey is always the lead actress. even at her job at beanie's! she's the cute barista, the latte hatte. doesn't matter she doesn't make a lot of money right now, she'll just get an apartment with hailey. it's like having a servant! it's great.
then, harmony comes. and she annoys her to no end. hailey spends more time talking to harmony than doing zoey's chores, spends more time talking to harmony than...her.
zoey seethes. rage builds up. harmony seems to be the only person zoey can't intimidate, can't control, can't manipulate. it's fucking frustrating. that stupid little scoff she lets out when zoey makes a passive aggressive comment about her hair, paired with a smile. smiles have never been reactions to zoey's insults. harmony doesn't take her seriously, and it makes her fucking furious.
she takes hailey away, she doesn't let zoey control her, she's so tall and looks so good in her stupid fucking thrifted boots.
zoey is not a lesbian. she fucks guys. she loves fucking guys. they treat her like she's their whole world when they're fucking her, they make her feel special, adored, even. loved.
but then harmony comes out into the hall when zoey is on her way to her room and she's standing in front of her, towering over her, with that stupid fucking smirk on her face and zoey feels small and she hiss-mumbles "get out of my way" and practically runs from harmony. closes her door and sits on her bed completely silent, almost in shock, and harmony shouts back "sorry, princess!" and zoey has never been this angry in her life.
and then harmony is handing out greenpeace flyers and zoey is rehearsing lines in the living room with hailey (meaning hailey is sitting on the sofa, watching her and not wanting to look starstruck but she can't really help it with zoey).
and zoey is so passionate and confident and hailey feels warm and conflicted. hailey applauds when zoey finishes her monologue.
they talk. or zoey rants and hailey listens. about something annoying her coworkers said, about the next year's production at the starlight. and then she thinks.
"are you and harmony like, dating?"
she asks it like she doesn't care. disinterested in anything but herself. that's zoey.
hailey frowns.
"no. no, it's nothing like that. i mean, we're just friends."
"and does she agree?"
"i mean. i think so? she hasn't said otherwise."
"but you'd date her if she asked, right?"
"...why do you care?"
hailey is irritated. zoey asking all these intruding questions, pretending not to give a fuck, after never having asked her anything about herself for the entirety of their friendship?
what, does she only care when someone else is taking up hailey's time? when hailey isn't constantly begging for attention like a pathetic puppy?
"i don't," zoey says and doesn't even look at her.
hailey gets up and leaves. zoey gets some cheap wine and pours herself a glass or two. she's not usually a wine girl but it's all they have. when harmony comes home, zoey's on the couch scrolling on her phone. she's not drunk, but definitely a bit tipsy.
"hey."
"mmh."
harmony is about to go into her room when zoey suddenly sits up: "hey, hey, wait. what are you and uh, hailey?"
harmony hangs up her coat and raises an eyebrow at zoey from the hallway: "she's my friend."
"but you wanna fuck her, right?"
"are you drunk?"
"no," zoey looks at her like she hates her. she thinks she does.
"go to sleep. and for the record, even if i did, that'd be none of your business. not like you give a fuck about her anyway."
with that, she leaves zoey alone in the living room.
"whatever," zoey mumbles and goes back on instagram, but she feels the sting. of course she feels the sting.
harmony goes to take a shower, still confused at zoey's behavior. she knows exactly how she treats hailey, and already suspected that her spending so much time with her would piss zoey off. good. let her be angry.
i don't see a way for zoey to start dating either of them without hailey and harmony already being in an established relationship.
i'd imagine one day harmony just asks hailey out. and it makes sense. it makes sense because they like each other and they're attracted to each other and they make each other laugh. they understand each other. they're a great couple! this is the worst news zoey could have ever received.
at least when they were flirting and still insisting they were "just friends", zoey could pretend to believe them. now it's confirmed. fucking great.
she doesn't know why she's so angry. or. she knows why she's so angry, and it makes her even angrier.
she cannot be a lesbian.
she's not a fucking lesbian.
she's probably a lesbian.
i'd imagine she talks to nora. maybe. or nora approaches her. it's not the worst thing about this whole situation by far, hailey & harmony dating is still her nightmare, but it sucks. of course it sucks.
whole comphet journey, yada yada yada. we all know how it goes. in the end, she's discouraged and feels a little pathetic, even though she's very pathetic.
hailey & harmony watch this, not quite knowing how to intervene. how to help. if they should help.
it quickly becomes very clear what they both want. they do sort of hate it. i think hailey wants it more than harmony, but harmony does also want it. despite zoey's...everything. or because of it! who knows. but she is trying, and she's changing. a little. baby steps!
they agreed: no pda in the public spaces & communication is key. the zoey conversation (pt. 1, without zoey) is easy. the one with zoey? nightmare city.
but asking someone who's fresh off the boat to be in a poly relationship with them? not great. not easy.
(this part is from jules lautity. could not have put it better genuinely i tried)
the Entire Time zoey is ruminating on this harmony and hailey are both trying to kind of invite her in and be like hey we arent mad at you we should probably all talk (The Polyamory Talk™. zoey does not know this i dont think). but zoey is both upset/jealous and maybe a little tiny bit worried that she'll fuck up whatever they have. because she does maybe feel the littlest bit bad about hurting hailey. a little bit. because there is actually something nice about this happier, more confident, more assertive hailey. maybe she feels a miniscule amount of guilt that she was the reason she was miserable for so long.
they do finally ask her out and shes so out of her element waugh.....because yeah harmony has her whipped.
harmony functions as a peacekeeper, mediator. when zoey snaps, which happens less often but doesn't stop entirely, she's there. she's the one most in touch with herself and her feelings & also the most self aware i think.
harmony's happy with her role. she's happy with everything.