A Painful Truth
Characters: Meg Setting: Her room, the courtyard
It was like deja vu. Of course the circumstances weren’t entirely the same but at it’s crux, all too recent history was repeating itself except this time it was far worse, something Meg hadn’t actually thought possibly when she’d opened the message from the administration. As it was, the storm raging outside seemed hideously appropriate; peals of thunder echoing around the courtyard and lightning tearing across the sky as the rain poured down - cataclysmic weather befitting the words in front of her.
Miss Mills, We removed Mr. Ravin in response to the sexual intercourse you engaged in with another participant. Due to Mr. Ravin's psychological profile as well as history, we deemed it appropriate to remove him to ensure the safety of all involved. As per his request, he has also been informed.
The Administration
Meg was no stranger to pain, had experienced what many might consider an unfair amount of it in varying forms over the course of her comparatively short life, but none of that prepared her for the feeling that engulfed her as she read those words. It was like something inside her had shattered and scattered piercing shards in her wake and as the light overhead began to flicker, her breathing seemed to echo it, growing increasingly ragged as a hand seemed to wrap around her chest, squeezing all the air from her lungs and leaving her to gasp helplessly.
The music coming from the computer that had just moments before had provided a comforting laying of insulation between her and the rest of the world turned oppressive almost as if it was trying to smother her, and as the edges of her vision began to darken with it came the feeling that the walls were closing in on her, trapping her inside. Forcing herself to her feet, she stumbled to the door, one hand clutching her chest as the other fumbled with the hand, the failed attempts to open it taking an agonizing amount of time before she was able to get it open. She was only able to back it forward a few steps before her legs gave out beneath her and she went crashing down into the sodden mess of grass and mud the courtyard had turned into.
Under the deluge of rain, it took less than a minute before her tee-shirt was wet through, her hair hanging limply around her face like a curtain but it went unnoticed, her nails digging into the soft ground beneath her as she tried to remember how to breathe. It would have been so much easier not too, to let the burning in her lungs consume her and not have to deal with the harsh reality of the answers she’d been given but still her body fought. Meg didn’t know how long she was kneeling in the mud for, how long it look for the pounding of blood in her ears to stop, for her breaths not to feel like they were tearing their way into and out of her lungs and instead sending gentle clouds of mist into the rain but eventually it did, leaving her cold, soaked to the skin and exhausted.
The tears had yet to subside, lost as they were in the rain that streaked down her face, but her thoughts at least had slowed to a trickle and while the first were the loudest and strongest, terror, panic, self-loathing, in their wake came others. Truths she knew about herself in spite of everything and as she unsteadily made her way back up to standing, an almost righteous anger began stirring in her belly. The administrators may have given her an answer but matters were far from resolved and she was sick of the way they had been drip-feeding her information. It was time to take things into her own hands.