Abnormalities in a Broken Society

Brewing Storms

Important warning!!

This chapter includes the depiction of a sexual assault and can be triggering. Please avoid this chapter if you do not feel comfortable reading about such topics. Please let me know if any part of it is offensive or insensitive to victims of such an attack. This is of course not my intention at all and I hope it does not come across like that. 

But other than that, thank you for reading!

A

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Everyone left the cafeteria in quiet relief. 

Ms. Hester had been furious with anger, her eyes basically popped out of her skull as she yelled at us. We expected severe punishments, anything from being held in our rooms without food for a week, to not being able to shower for a month. Getting lashings weren't off the table either. But  Ms. Hester had seemed much more concerned about finding out who had started the fight in the first place. No one had spoken up, knowing that once Hale was released from solitary confinement she would be out for blood. Thus, we were all very surprised when she told us our only punishments would be one night without dinner and that this would go for all the students in her house. This was nothing compared to her other punishments. She then yelled at us to leave and start going to class, we quietly obeyed. Soon delighted murmurs surrounded me, the air still buzzed with the excitement of the fight. 

My back ached as people pushed and jabbed their way through the hallway, our classed were going to start soon. I managed to push my way through to get to the other side, practically falling through the door right across from the entryway to the cafeteria. The Recreation room was basically empty, so I had time to catch my breath while waiting for the crowd to thin out a bit more. When I could finally see the cracked, tiled floors again, I hurried into the hallway. I could still hear the crowd in the distance, the incoherent rumbles sounded more like the growls of some unknown beast. My back ached as I continued past a few doors, finally stopping at one on my left. White, peeling words on the door read: "Lady Agatha June, Nurse." 

I lifted my hand and knocked softly, Lady Agatha's soft voice called me inside. She seemed a lot calmer today than she had the first time we had met. Her hair was smoothed out into a tight bun on top of her head, though it looked as though her face was being pulled up with it. She had also put on some makeup, her eyes were covered with light blue eye shadow. Her lips pasted with thick, red lipstick. She reminded me of how I looked when I was 5 and had gotten into my mom's makeup bag. My teacher caught me a few minutes later and needless to say, she wasn't happy.  Looking at Lady Agatha's face made me remember how much she had screamed at me. She had a reputation for getting kids to follow the rules, so she wasn't too pleased about my behaviour. It didn't take her much time after that to get me to fall in line, so it never really mattered. 

"Ah, Rose. Need more meds?" Lady Agatha seemed slightly disappointed to see me, her face fell as soon as I had come in. She was probably expecting someone else. I looked around, surprised not to see the girl with purple hair here. Would they really have placed her directly in solitary confinement?

"Uh, yes, please, Lady Agatha." I stumbled, closing the door behind me as I walked inside. I decided that asking her about the girl would probably get me nowhere, so I didn't. "You look... err... nice, Lady Agatha." I added, feeling awkward the moment the words left my lips. Lying to a lady was strictly against the rules.

"Oh thanks, dear!" She exclaimed, running a hand over her blue scrubs. "Well, come on! Better take the medicine, you're gonna be late, you know." 

Lady Agatha had been spot on about being late I realized as I walked into my classroom. Luckily she had given me a note explaining my tardiness, so I got off without any further punishments. Lady Tess, who was also our teacher, only nodded in approval as she read the letter, waving her hand towards the seats in front of her. I felt the stares as I walked towards my usual spot, a small table and chair at the back of the classroom, right next to a window. I sat down carefully, though the pain in my back was already dulling considerably.