Miren had officially burned the bridge that tied her to St. Rosemunde. There was fire in her heart as she stormed out of the administration office to her dorm room. But each step made her chest throb more, intensifying the fire as its ashes clawed up her throat, practically choking her. Her tears fell rapidly, as if in a desperate attempt to extinguish the fire, but the pain and irritation failed to subside. She tried to swallow, but the act didn't help either. Because why shouldn't she suffer?
She honestly didn't have an answer.
**
"Did you just see her?" Parker asked Penelope, refusing to take his eyes from the courtyard. Her nostrils flailed before she looked away.
"See who?" she asked, playing dumb. She held her breath, hoping he would change the topic. Instead, he offered her a harsh glare.
"I know you saw her. Why are you denying it?"
She rolled her eyes. "Please. I was just in a terrible fight with her." She pointed to her battered body. "I don't want to see her. And I definitely don't want to hear you talking about her." She crossed her arms and turned her back to him. Usually he would have taken her side. But something about this encounter told him that she wasn't completely innocent.
"Miren was crying. Look, I'm really sick of this whole rivalry between the two of you. I don't see the point."
He had a rivalâJeno Rutherford. They could barely stand being in the same school, let alone the same classes together, but they could at least put their differences aside if they had to. Why couldn't these two do that?
He drew her close. "You have me, remember? You're popular. You're a beautiful person. She doesn't have anything to take from you."
Penelope clenched her jaw. Of course Miren did. But she wasn't having this conversation.
"Stop pretending like you care about her. I'm sorry if her getting splashed ruined your stupid spotlight. Meanwhile, you haven't even asked how I'm feeling. And you say I'm stuck up," she countered, almost matter-of-factly, diverting her attention to her ruined nails. Parker shook his head.
"I'm senior class president. And everyone already thinks my school is responsible for this." His gaze was to the window again, but Miren had already sulked away. "Regardless, I don't see why the two of you are still hating on each other. This has got to stop." He stroked her bruised cheek and her celeste eyes met his. "I don't like seeing you get hurt."
Before Penelope could come up with another potentially arrogant remark, the school doctor walked in. Sporting a clean lab coat, the relatively young woman walked up to Penelope with a smile on her face.
"Okay, Miss van Helsing, now that you're all patched up, you can be on your way." The doctor felt along her leg to make sure the bandage was secure. "I have crutches that you can use for a day or two until the swelling goes down. I'll remove the cast the beginning of next week. I apologize if that puts a damper on your weekend."
Penelope tried not to snarl. Polite bitches didn't yell at adults. She shook her head. "Thank you, but it's not your fault," she said courteously, with the sort of fake enthusiasm only ignorant adults found genuine. She then motioned to the gray crutches. "They even match my uniform!"
Dr. Padma grinned. "That they do." She turned to Parker.
"Mr. Harisson, I would like for you to guide her to her dorm room so she can rest. Be careful."
With that, Parker flashed her his million-dollar smile before heading out with Penelope. She, on the other hand, didn't look very happy. Her boyfriend's grin deflated as the two of them walked the lonely halls.
"Look, I love you Pen, but I'm just saying that you'd be easier to love if you were more devoted to our relationship than fighting with Miren."
But as his worried gaze fell on her, he couldn't help but observe her shattered appearance. Her left eye was another punch away from blackening; her vest was torn, her auburn hair looked like it was styled by a troll, and several small bruises covered her pale body. Her crutches were practically holding her broken frame together.
Miren messed her up.
With the anger of someone hurting his girlfriend subsiding, the aftermath did make Parker laugh internally. It was good to see Miren sticking up for herself. But that didn't mean she had the right to go all Mortal Kombat on his girlfriend.
Before they could go any further, Artemis approached them.
"Hi, Parker," she greeted; however her amber eyes were locked on Penelope. "I can take her to her room. We're roommates after all."
He looked a bit hesitant, but she shooed him with a wave of her hands.
"Go, you'll be late for lacrosse." Her gaze hardened on Penelope. "Besides, we have to talk about girl stuff."
He nodded slowly; with her tone, she might as well of switched 'girl' with 'gross'. "Okay, okay, be safe." He gave Penelope a kiss on the forehead before speeding off.
The two girls started walking until Artemis pulled Penelope off to the side of the hallway. She shook her head, giving her spoiled friend a strong look of disapproval.
"Why the hell did you do that?" Artemis sneered, her eyes falling to Penelope's crutches as she folded her arms. "Are you honestly proud of yourself?"
Penelope looked a bit taken back. "Since when did you become my mom?"
"Since when did you become such a bitch?"
Penelope's mouth widened. "Where is this coming from?"
Artemis threw her hands in the air. "Oh, I don't know? Basic observation?" she offered, her eyes narrowing. "You torment Miren everyday! Couldn't you have left her alone just this once?
"Why the fuck does everybody care about Miren today?" Penelope snapped.
"Because you provoked her," she said, before sighing. "To think I didn't do anything when I saw Lily upstage...But that's aside from the point." As both junior class and student administration vice-president, she was in charge of almost all student affairs. It was her job to keep a watchful eye on the students and promote a healthy school environment. This little incident that she failed to prevent could seriously hurt her chances for re-election. She shook her head. Not important.
"The bigger issue is that that Miren has been suspended, and the school's probably going to give the award to you."
Penelope practically jumped up in excitement, even with her crutches restricting her.
"Seriously? That's fantastic!" She clapped her hands. Artemis looked at her in disgust.
"It's fucked up, that's what it is," Artemis fought back. "That's Miren's award. And you know she worked too hard just for it to be taken away so easily.
"Well, so did I. You deserved it too, you know." Penelope smiled as she basked in her positive news. "It's good to see that the universe is still in order."
Artemis frowned. "Well, in that case, you're going to apologize to her."
"Uh, how about fucking no?" Penelope's hands fell to her hips. "Do you even see what she did to me?" She wove a crutch in the air for emphasis. Artemis scoffed.
"Do you even see what you do to her? Everyday? You took away the only good thing she had going for her. It's the least you can do," she said, hoping the denser girl would understand her reasoning. "And you never know, if you apologize to Dr. Castro, she might get off too, and maybe the two of you can share the damn award."
Penelope sneered in response. Sharing. Not in her selfish life.
Artemis sighed once more. Just as she had expected; she couldn't get through to Penelope with moral logic. She then converted her reasoning to the language of bitchy bourgeois. "In any case, if you continue on as you are, you're reputation will crumble. If it hasn't already," Artemis offered, seeing Penelope's eye twitch slightly in consideration. She got her. Artemis pressed on.
"Right now, you're sort of the bad guy. The faculty isn't going to touch you, but the other students aren't stupid. Some joker at Rinzen may have taken credit, but everyone knows you were in on it. And every video of the assembly on Youtube will have trolls commenting on how they would have laid a smackdown on the horrible person who doused her too. And do you know what they'll say after that?" She paused for emphasis. "That you're a psycho bitch who might as well kiss her Homecoming Queen title goodbye."
Penelope was unresponsive, but she got the message. Loud and clearer than clear. She pursed her lips in contempt before sighing. "Fine. I'll be the bigger person."
"That's the spirit."
"But you better record the apology." Penelope started for the courtyard. "The world needs to see my humility too."
Artemis then fought the urge to slap her. "If you must." Unfortunately, there was a limit to Penelope's righteous tendencies.
If she actually had any at all.
**
The windows of most of the dorm rooms, including Miren's, were quite large. She, as well as about two-hundred other female students, called Petunia Hall a temporary home, but she knew that this was no longer possible. Her hands, still shaking from the intensity of the shocking blow that was today, traced along the wooden frame and its cracks from being repainted over the last hundred years. Her fingers found the windowsill and pried it open. Miren felt a blast of crisp September air against her face as she looked down. It was a three-story drop to the gardens that separated St. Rosemunde from Rinzen.
From her freedom.
But would it even kill me? She felt foolish contemplating a suicide attempt. There was a cement pathway just seven feet away from the window. If she fell face first and shimmied just a little bit mid-air, she'd definitely clear it - she'd definitely die.
Her brain was protesting for her to rationalize what she was doing. That although death would finally bring her to her mother, that she wouldn't want to see her daughter like this: the disgrace of St. Rosemunde's Academy for Young Ladies.
Still, she was sitting in her window like a child would on a swing. All she had to do was sway forward...and that would be it. She closed her eyes, feeling the rush of gravity already pulling her forward. She took a breathâher last breath.
And swayed forward.
"Jesus Christ!" Hands that could have only belonged to Chara pulled her back inside. Miren gasped before collapsing on the ground. Or more specifically, on Chara.
"What the fuck were you doing?" her friend shrieked, shaking her. "I know today was rough, but suicide is not the answer!"
"Then what is?" Miren didn't even bother moving from the ground. She wasn't going to kill herself.
Yet.
"And besides, there's aâ"
"Fire escape?" Chara answered for her. "Then what were you going to do after you got on that rusty old thing, hmmm? Considering it is just as bad."
Miren shook her head against the carpet. "Everyone has murderous thoughts every once in a while but the world isn't brimming with serial killers." Her gaze fell against what she could make of her room from the restricted angle of her head. Her side of the room was blank, and the walls stared back at her. Her eyes trailed to her roommate's side, Lola. Her domain was heavily decorated with a collage of pictures of her friends and boyfriend. The two roommates never talked. Apparently, speaking to Miren was too detrimental to her reputation.
She looked at the life captured in her photos. The happiness. The company. The purpose. More tears trailed from her eyes.
She would never have that here.
Even if Penelope did miraculously change, like Miren had secretly hoped she would, the damage was already done. And it was irreversible.
She was the class reject. Nothing would change that.
Moving to her knees, she pulled her only suitcase from underneath her bed and started packing. She didn't have much stuff; this was partially because they wore uniforms. And although the rooms were nicely furnished, they were also incredibly small.
She glanced at her alarm clock and hurried her pace. She wanted to get the hell out before she caused another commotion. Clearing out her closet, she only pulled out her personal clothing, leaving the tacky maroon school polos, navy skirts, and khaki pants to rot in their place.
She blocked out everything in a flurry, throwing items messily into the suitcase.
"Wait. What are you doing?" Chara rose to her feet, tugged the suitcase away. "What happened with the headmistress? What did she do?"
"She took everything I worked for." Miren paused, haphazardly threw more articles of clothing in the bag, "and gave it to Penelope. Just gave it to herâlike I don't even fucking exist."
"That doesn't mean you have to literally disappear! I'm sure it'll blow overâ"
"It won't." Miren sighed before pulling her friend into a hug. "But thank you for checking on me. It's good to know someone cares."
She slipped off her torn vest for a Tegan & Sara tee shirt and a thin, parka jacket. "I had always hoped that things would get better," she shook her head, sniffling, "But I guess I really am an idiot."
"Don't say that," Chara warned her, "Where are you going to go then?" Miren shrugged her shoulders dejectedly.
"I don't know. But I'm enrolling somewhere else."
"Like where? Public school? If you think Penelope's bad, they'll eat you alive!"
"If they actually have a good reason to do so, then let them," she concluded, putting on a pair of skinny jeans. "Don't worry about me. You'll be fine."
"Don't be a dumbass. Who's going to tutor me in calc?"
Miren's face fell. Chara was a welcomed presence in her life, but she didn't know if their friendship was one-sided. Sure she tutored her. And Chara had a strong appreciation of her, but she didn't really need her, not like Miren did.
Besides, Chara was a sophomore. They barely saw each other between classes, which was why she never actually witnessed Miren being humiliated, save this afternoon. She knew Penelope was unpleasant only by word of Miren's mouth. But then again, she thought most upperclassmen were snarky and down putting.
"Look," Miren said, as she fixed her eyes on the girl, "I'm not trying to be selfish, but I have to go."
"Yeah..." Chara agreed. "I don't know if running away is the answer, but we should definitely go somewhere else to discuss this further."
Miren nodded, hugging her again. "Thank you."
"I'll help you pack up. The next bus to my house leaves in fifteen minutes."
"No need," Miren informed her, picking up her suitcase. "I'm done here."
Chara stared at her, stupefied. "Is that all you have?"
"It's all I have."
"No wonder you hate this place."
Miren gave her a hollow look. St. Rosemunde was never a home. "Why don't you make sure you have whatever you need to leave? Meet me back here."
"Okay," Chara said before scurrying off to her room.
Miren scratched her head as she turned to her now vacant side of the room. She couldn't shake off the sensation that she was making a mistake, but hey, what else was new?
**
The two girls walked in silence. Or more specifically, Penelope limped in silence. The fact that she'd have to spend the weekend suspended by crutches irked her, but even she knew that it wasn't much of a sacrifice.
Today was a total win-win. She claimed the award. She could rub it in Miren's face and still come out as the bigger person by apologizing. Life was disgustingly sweet. And she didn't even plan for it to go this way.
Slowly but surely, they reached the door to Miren's room. Before Artemis opened it, however, she turned to Penelope, who was still grinning proudly.
Artemis frowned. "Wipe that stupid look off your face."
Penelope scoffed loudly before abruptly opening the door. Artemis gasped.
Miren's side of the room was empty.