Isolation

Chapter 43

"I don't feel any--"

She felt it. There was a small bubble in her chest. She felt something familiar, and it scared her.

"No, I don't want to do this."

"Shhh. Don't be afraid. Let yourself remember."

She didn't want to remember. The warmth was filling the cold dark inside of her. The icy shell cracked. The wall threatened to break. She fought it but failed. She was human. She couldnt fight emotion.

She could feel someone cared, and that's all it took. All of the pain, all of the suffering she had endured, broke loose. Everything she kept bottled up inside poured out. She thought she could put her feelings away, fix herself when she was ready.

Oh, how wrong she was.

Tim was her bridge across the chasm. She was running, lungs screaming, with love driving her forward and away from hopelessness. She broke down, falling into Tim. They fell on their knees.

"It's okay," he cooed. "I'm right here."

This wasn't like when they were alone before. This one felt... freeing. Like a weight had lifted off her chest, and she could breath above the water. She wasn't drowning. She was swimming.

A memory of when she was little surfaced. She wasn't thinking about it. It just happened. She was being picked on at school. Her mom picked her up crying in the principal's office.

"What's going on?"

"Your daughter hit another student," she said. "Very unprofessional."

"Did you ask her why?"

"She physically assaulted one of her peers! She doesn't deserve sympathy. She requires discipline."

"Wha... how did it start?"

"We don't know, but--"

"Did you even ask her what happened?"

"We have multiple statements from other teachers during recess. They all agreed she made first contact."

"You don't know that."

The principal shook her head. Sara went from bawling to small whimpers.

"The teachers didn't lie."

"I never said they did, but you can hit someone without touching them."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I'm saying there are other ways of fighting that don't involve fists. She might have made contact with him first, but I can guarantee she didn't throw the first swing."

"She still requires punishment, and that's why you're here."

"No. I'm here because some ratchety principal wants to choose sides because the one that got hit has to be the innocent one, right?"

"Mrs. Whitfield, I'm not--"

"Don't you 'Mrs. Whitfield' me. You haven't even bothered to ask for her side of the story."

"The teacher took care of that. She refused to answer."

"No. She was scared no one would believe her. What's the point of telling the truth when no one listens?"

"That's not what happened."

"You weren't there. I don't know your staff, but I know my own daughter. She was taught to defend herself when someone bullied her, and that's what she did."