A lot of time has passed since the first tea party with Lily and the students and faculty really seem to hate me now. Though both Lily's and Rose's etiquette grades significantly improved. My father even came to visit to tell me to stop hanging around Rose since apparently news of my bullying her reached home. This confused me since I have told him already that bullying her would cause my death so I don't know why he would come all this way to tell me something he knows I know.
It is now the week before midterms and the academy has created a phone system by this time. The lines have bells and they swapped how they implemented the tug and made it for after transmission which in this setting makes sense since ringing the line the other person has to pick up before you can talk. That is very similar to Earth and they came up with this system all on their own after being presented with it. They connected the important rooms and shared spaces to medical and security in case of emergencies and they also have lines going to department heads offices. Needless to say they were very busy and excited to implement this system.
Rose and I have been talking everyday as per our usual routine. She has been using my study material and even started helping out the rest of her class with my notes. We always talk at the same time no matter what, unless one of us tells the other beforehand. I feel like I am forgetting something important. Something that I read in the book for around this time period. Something happened around the first midterm to Rose and I can't remember what it is. Was it Violet? If so, what did she do? I can't remember. I thought I remembered all of the accounts of Violet's bullying so maybe I missed one?
During classes they tell us about the end of the semester game of Knocker. It is just like soccer, but players all wear helmets and gloves and punching opponents is allowed. They can only kick the ball and they can only punch opponents. They can't do any other form of hitting. I would actually really love to play if everyone didn't hate me. I don't think they would even let me on the team for two reasons: 1. I am a girl and 2. NOBODY LIKES ME. In the book only the boys played and the girls cheered on the sidelines. In the book, Rose heals Ren after he gets wounded after a blatant foul. He was a target since he would often interfere helping the women when they were being harrassed by the boys.
After classes I go straight to my room and set up the phone and wait by the window. I wait several minutes and Rose isn't here. Something is wrong. Very wrong. I feel like this has to do with something I forgot about midterms. What was it that happened to Rose? HOLY SHIT! I just remembered! She gets pulled into the storage room by two other students and they attempt to rape her but Ren saves her.
Wait, what if Ren doesn't save her?What if I altered the story too much?
NO!
I ran out of my room running in a full sprint straight for the storage room. When I pass by any student I tell them to find Ren or a professor and tell them to hurry to the storage room because Rose is in danger. Never stopping from my sprinting. I really hope I am not too late. PLEASE BE OK, ROSE, I'M COMING. I really hope my being close in this situation doesn't make it worse. Hopefully one of the other students actually listened to me and got help. I will most definitely need help because of this stupid curse.
I got to the storage room and they locked it from the inside. I take my blazer off and wrap it around my hand and I punch the window of the door out and unlock the door from the inside. I burst into the room yelling, dropping the blazer wrapping my hand to the floor, "GET AWAY FROM HER YOU PERVERTS! THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN BULLY HER IS ME!" and the boys were pulling up their pants and zipping them up. They are from her class and one has swooshy black hair with pale skin and the other guy is mixed with brown hair. Rose is on her knees right now in front of them with her uniform top ripped open showing her bra crying. I am so furious. I run up to the guy with the swooshy hair and punch him immediately in the face several times quickly as he fumbles with his pants.
The other boy seeing this tries to jump me from my flank. I dodge to the side while also ducking and while I am turning doing that motion, I grab him and knee him in the groin with the same leg that pushed off for the dodge keeping all of the momentum. When he is on the ground, I start kicking him in the stomach yelling, "If you guys even think of touching her again, I will come find you and cut your dicks off myself and stuff them down your throats so you can't force yourself on any other woman again! Have I made myself clear?!" Right after I said that, the first guy came up while I was distracted and hit me in the head and everything went black.
I came to and the first thing I noticed was I was holding a piece of broken glass walking towards Rose. The creator appears to be in control right now. The boys seemed to be incapacitated. I think the creator beat them up for me. I hear the creator say, "I know how to make the boys not like you Rose. We should just mess up that beautiful face of yours." ABSOLUTELY NOT. I fight with every fiber of my being and my hand is starting to really hurt. I realize now that I am in control of the hand with the glass in it. The pain is helping me get more in control. I squeeze harder and I keep thinking.
STOP.
STOP.
STOP.
STOP.
I get in front of Rose and my hand is dripping blood. My body has stopped, but I am visibly shaking from the resistance. Did it work? I try to talk. Before I can say a word I hear, "Rose! Violet!" Ren runs up and there are a few students with him who are all keeping their distance since I am armed. I manage to whisper to Ren but it takes every fiber of my being in this moment while focusing on the pain in my hand, "Get her out of here now." Ren, understanding the assignment, drapes his jacket over her for modesty purposes and hurries her out while I am frozen, fighting the creator with everything I can muster in this moment. Once she is gone the moment the creator stops controlling me all my strength leaves my body and everything goes black.
I wake up in the infirmary and Ren is there with the Nurse and Doc. I ask, grabbing my aching head with my left uninjured hand briefly before putting it back down by my side, "How is Rose? Is she ok?" Doc holds my not messed up hand, "The boys made her perform oral sex, but other than that she is fine. We suspended the boys for a week each for a 'restorative break' so they can recover from their injuries." I start crying, "NO. I was too late to prevent her from being assaulted. I should have remembered the prophecy sooner. Those bastards deserve to be locked up in prison cells, not that silly slap on the wrist. They are just going to continue their perverted behavior when they return." Doc asks, "That incident was in the prophecy?" I nod while still crying, "In the prophecy she was saved before any assault could have taken place by Ren." I look to Ren and follow up, "I am not blaming you in the slightest, Ren. Don't misunderstand. The Ren in the prophecy and you are different now. Things have changed. When I remembered the prophecy I sprinted trying to get help along the way hoping with every fiber of my being that my classmates didn't hate me enough to ignore me because I knew I couldn't save her by myself. I am so glad you showed up when you did because I couldn't hold the curse off hardly any longer. If you were any slower the creator would have carved her face." I am ugly crying as I say this.
Ren nods in understanding but still seems a bit down and responds, "I am really glad you got there when you did because things were only going to get worse. Rose told us everything. Even the part where if they even think of touching her again that you would cut their dicks off." He says with a shudder and Doc shudders a bit too. Ren continues, "Though some of the students and teachers heard what the curse said while holding the glass so they misunderstood again. I tried telling them that it wasn't you, but they don't seem to believe either me or Rose that you are cursed. They think you are threatening both of us for some reason. As some type of form of attention seeking behavior." I sigh, wiping my tears and sniffling, "It is fine. I think some things won't be able to be changed from the prophecy no matter what we do. I expected as much to be honest." They look at me at a loss for words not really knowing what to say. Nurse Joy cuts the silence, "Can I get the room so I can have a private talk with Miss Treece here about her injuries?" The guys both get up and Doc says, "Get some rest, Violet."
Once they exit the infirmary the nurse says, "Rose wanted to heal you, but the other faculty intervened since it appeared you were going to attack her. So they thought it best to keep you separated. She told me that you were hit in the head pretty hard and I am glad she did because I might have missed it otherwise. You just had a small cut from the impact on your scalp and two butterfly stitches fixed that right up. Your hand is a different story. It required actual stitches since the gash was so deep." I responded looking at my wounded hand, "I expected as much and it is completely fine." The nurse makes a shocked face, "I have never once heard a noble lady utter those words. Are you sure you are ok?"
While still crying I giggle a bit, "Yes, I am fine. To be honest I wish I could just throw this dumb ass title away. It has brought me nothing but grief in this life and it has brought grief to Rose. If I weren't in the picture anymore, she would not have to suffer anymore." Nurse Joy gets a more serious face, "Please don't attempt to take your life again." I responded while wiping away some of my tears, "I am sorry I can't make any promises, but you can rest assured that I won't hurt myself in the near future. I am ok at the moment. Well to be exact, I will be ok when I see Rose is ok."
Nurse Joy says while getting me something to blow my nose with since I am still crying, "She is currently resting in her dorm right now, but she is ok." I then ask, "Am I ok to leave?" She then says, "You are, but first I want you to take some of these bandages with you for your hand. I also have this ointment that should help it recover. While you are recovering I don't want you using this hand. Once I give you the ok I will let you use that hand again. So make sure to come see me once a week so I can track your healing or as needed if your butterfly stitches come out so I can reapply them. Also, I regret to inform you but this wound will leave a nasty scar on the inside of your hand." I wave my good hand, "Every scar has a story. There is nothing to be ashamed of by scars when they are proof of resilience and overcoming something and surviving."
She softens her expression, "That is a beautiful way of looking at it. I will steal that from you if you don't mind." I shake my head, "Say whatever you desire." She smiles a bit and hands me a small baggie with the care package of hers and I uncover myself from the infirmary bed and say, "Thank you so much for tending to my wound. Do you like cookies?" She smiles, "Who doesn't like cookies? And you are most welcome. It is quite literally my sole purpose here at this academy." I then reply, "Expect some cookies in the near future as a thank you." Nurse Joy says, "You better not strain that hand of yours. Baking can be a strenuous activity so I don't want you using that hand for anything in the kitchen." I sigh, "What if I have a helper help me?" She then says, "Obviously, if you aren't doing the mixing or any of the hard parts of being in the kitchen then you are fine." I wiped my face one last time since it was still very wet from my tears, "Cool. Then I will see if I can get someone who likes me enough to help me in the kitchen. Thanks again for all of the help." "Mmmhmm. I did say that is what I am here for. Come and see me anytime you need medical assistance and I will gladly help you."
I go straight to my room and grab the cup that was still dangling out of the window. I wrap it up and I take it with me and I go outside where Rose's window is. I throw pebbles at her window with my left hand (which was a little awkward since this is my non-dominant hand) until she opens it. Once it is open I throw her one of the cups which took a few tries since she is on the second floor and she puts it to her ear and I ask, "Ren and Doc told me what happened. Are you feeling ok?" She is wearing a soft unfamiliar expression and tugs the line, "I feel a lot better seeing you here. Thank you for coming to check on me." I tug the line and I start crying again, "I am sorry I wasn't quick enough. I forgot that part of the prophecy until I noticed you weren't there for our daily chat. If I had just remembered earlier, then I could have gotten someone to help you before they even assaulted you in the first place."
She tugs on the line with a few tears escaping her eyes, "I am not going to lie, I was terrified. I was filled with despair at what was about to happen to me. When I saw you break the window to the door with your own hand and beat those boys up all by yourself and saying those things turned that fear and despair to hope and joy. I was so happy to see you at that moment. You say you were too late, but I say you were just in time. They were just about to hold me down and force themselves on me and violate me even further." She says that and she starts crying full force not just a few tears and continues, "I am so grateful to you. I am sorry I couldn't heal you. I tried so hard to convince them to let me, but they refused saying it was for my own safety since the creator was going to cut me with glass. They were afraid you would hurt me if I healed you." I tug the line wiping my wet face from my own tears with the back of my bandaged hand, "Don't worry about it. I don't care about a silly cut. I only care about you right now. This cut is nothing in comparison to what you just went through and I heard that they only gave those perverts a week's suspension. They didn't even classify it as a punishment and are calling it a restorative break so they can heal from their injuries. It is fucking bullshit! They deserve to be locked up because they are nothing but criminals."
She tugs the line with tears still streaming down her face, "How do you always know exactly what to say to me?" She says crying harder. I tug the line still crying my own tears, "I just say what is on my mind and speak honestly. There isn't any special reasoning behind my words." She tugs the line still crying and sniffling, "I know I have said this already but I really like you a lot." I tug on the line, also still crying, "I really like you a lot, too." Rose tugs on the line, "I don't want to be alone right now. Can you continue to stay with me and talk to me?" I tug on the line, "I will stay as long as you need me to. All night if I have to." I hate missing my bedtime window, but if it is for Rose. I can miss all of the bedtime windows for the rest of my life. I would just alter the routine to accommodate the changes.
We talked all night and I spent a lot of it telling her the whole book from what I could remember. I needed someone else to know all of the details of the prophecy and Rose deserves to know everything. I fell asleep outside her window around dawn and she fell asleep by her window. She was woken up by a knock at her door and she woke me up immediately after she woke up so I could get up from the ground outside and go to an actual bed. It is a weekend day so we don't have class today. We were probably asleep for maybe 30 minutes or an hour if I had to take a guess. We talked for so long.
She tossed me her cup and I rolled up the string for easy toting and went straight to my dorm. On weekends I normally help Doc build the cart. We have been making good progress and it will soon be able to drive. I am sure he will understand that I am missing today of all days. As I walk to my dormitory my head starts spinning. This feels different from just sleepiness. This feels similar to my last life right before I would faint (which was very rare). Everything starts to spin just like this. Knowing this is what is happening, I stop walking and attempt to lie down before I collapse all the way. Everything goes black as I am trying to lie down.
I woke up in the infirmary. Nurse Joy sees me move a little and she comes running over and gasps, "You are finally awake, Miss Treece. Tell me what happened. Some students found you passed out in the yard and you were unconscious for more than 24 hours." I gasp in surprise, "What? 24 hours? That is strange. I went to check on Rose, and she couldn't sleep for obvious reasons so I stayed up all night chatting with her. I did manage to get maybe 30 minutes to an hour right before sunrise since we both fell asleep on the phone. When I woke up I started heading to my dorm and then my head started spinning like I was about to faint for some reason."
The nurse puts her finger up to her mouth while wearing an inquisitive face, "Hmmmm. There is a possibility it may have just been exhaustion, but on the off chance it wasn't I would like to take a sample of your blood to be on the safe side. It will take a while to wait on the results though since we have to send it to the lab in the capital since we don't have the proper equipment here." I nod, "Yea, go ahead. Better be safe than sorry right?" Nurse Joy then goes to get a needle and one of those blood collecting thingies. She then says as she sits next to me while holding my arm, "You are going to feel a sharp pinch. Are you ready?" I nod then look away so it is a surprise for me and next thing I know it is over.
She says while pressing a piece of gauze and non-verbally telling me to hold it then puts a cap on my test tube full of blood, "All done. Let me know if you notice anything else weird with your body." I responded, "Will do." She follows up, "Oh while you were out, I changed your bandages on your hand since they got dirty when you fell and put fresh butterfly stitches on your scalp while I was at it." I look down to my hand and see the new bandages, "Thanks again for taking care of me. At the rate I am coming in here I might just have to bring my dorm room here." The nurse laughs, "Ha! That won't be necessary. Though I would not mind being able to talk to you more. You are brilliant for an adolescent and you are the inventor of this amazing invention." She says pointing to the many phone lines on the wall lined up orderly while continuing, "I am sure we would have plenty of fascinating things to talk about."
I laugh at her calling me brilliant, "I assure you that I am not as brilliant as you imagine. I am only the inventor of the phone in this world, but I can't take credit for it. Someone invented it in my previous life and I just so happened to remember it. Anyone else with memories of a past life could have easily remembered it as well." Nurse Joy follows up, "Well nobody else did. Only you. Regardless, I think you are selling yourself short and not giving yourself enough credit." I sigh, "But in the other world, there were so many other people smarter than I was." She flicks my forehead gently, "We are not there are we?" I shake my head, "No." She continues, "Then just take my damn compliment already, Miss Treece. Are you feeling any type of dizziness now?" She says as she gently holds my head examining my eyes. I respond truthfully, "I feel fine at the moment." She then says while taking off her examination gloves, "Then you should be good to go to leave. Oh your friends Mia and Heather were the ones to find you. I am not sure if I told you." I say as I remove the blanket on me, "I will be sure to thank them for bringing me to the infirmary. Thanks again for the help." I say as I wave goodbye.
Instead of going straight to my room I go straight to Mia and Heather's room. We still have more time in the day and I would like to not only say thank you but maybe spend some time with them in the kitchen making cookies for Nurse Joy and Rose. I get to their door and knock. Mia answers the door and smiles when she sees me and gives me a hug while saying, "Violet! I am so glad you are awake!" Heather comes rushing to the door and also gives me a hug, "We were so worried, Violet. What happened?" I respond while continuing to get sandwiched by them, "I fainted after spending all night on the phone with Rose. The nurse is sending a sample of my blood to the capital for testing just in case it wasn't just exhaustion."
They respond in unison while still sandwiching me in a hug, "That's good." Mia continues, "I am glad they are going to take initiative and test your blood. Being unconscious for more than 24 hours is not normal." I say, "Better to be safe than sorry. I am sorry I haven't been over to visit much. I get so in a groove that sometimes I neglect my relationships. Thank you both for taking care of me." Heather says, "That is what friends are for right?" Mia joins in, "Right?" I giggle, "Right." I continue, "Do you guys want to go to the kitchen to help me make thank-you cookies for the nurse and Rose? We can make extra for us to have with tea and for you since I want to thank you as well and can save more for you to share with your other friends, too." They perk up and let go of the hug and jump up and down a bit in excitement. "You had us at 'cookies'!" Heather says and Mia gestures to Heather as if to say, 'Ditto.' with her body language.
We get to the kitchen and we are having fun making the cookies and we are laughing and really having a great time. These two always have a way of making me laugh. Mia is covered in flour and even has it in that short brown hair of hers. Heather has long since taken notice and attempts to clean her face. Mia is evading Heather and she takes some flour that was hidden in her hand and wipes it on Heather's face. A food fight ensues. I sigh a happy sigh, "I have really missed you two. I wish they would transfer you to my class. Instead of just moving me. I am glad we are here now spending time like this." They come up to me all covered in flour and sandwich me in a hug, "We missed you too." I showed them how to make perfectly round cookies and we made a lot.
As we are bagging them my thoughts are drifting towards my future or lack thereof. I ask them, "So I don't think I have ever asked you guys, but what are your plans for after graduation?" Heather says, "I would like to find a nice gentle husband to take care of me." Mia says, "I always wanted to be a wandering bard, but I know my family would never allow that. So, I guess I will also find a gentle husband to take care of me." Heather smiles when she hears that, "Really? I used to fantasize about being a bard when I was younger. How is it that I never knew that about you?" Mia looks a little dejected, "Well, that is probably because I never actually told anyone before. What if my father found out? He would never allow it so I figured it was only a fantasy."
I say exactly what is on my mind, "I think you should follow your heart and live your life how you want. Your father has his own life to live as you have your own. If going from city to city singing your heart out will make you happy, then I say do it." Mia looks dejected still and says, "I would love to, but I am just so scared. I don't know if I have the courage to stand up to him." I stop putting cookies in bags for a second and platonically grab her hand, "When you lack courage to do something by yourself, you must find someone to stand by your side to lend you some. I am here for you and Heather is here for you as well. If you asked me right now, I would totally go to your house and punch that prick of a father for you." Mia and Heather start laughing.
Mia says after she recovers from laughing, "As much as I would pay to see that, I would never want to put you in that kind of situation. They would throw you in prison for decades for an assault like that on a man of his stature." I think decades in prison? That doesn't sound too bad to be honest. I would live and get fed. The only problem would be the guards. I would have to stay on my guard all the time to avoid being assaulted. I have heard way too many stories in both my previous life and this one. ESPECIALLY this life. I say after deliberation, "I don't think I ever told you guys this, but I have this weird feeling that I will die young. I can't really explain it, but it is just a feeling I have. That said, it is because of that feeling that I would still punch your father if you asked. In a weird way it feels like that action could possibly save my life even if I am confined. Because I am confined. That probably sounds strange doesn't it?" I say clutching the front of my apron.
A few tears fall from my eyes and Mia and Heather sandwich hug me. Heather says, "I had no idea you felt that way. I am not sure I quite understand, but I feel terrible that you feel that way. I don't know if I can imagine a world without you in it." Heather starts crying and Mia says, "I would never ask you to, but if in this hypothetical it would actually save your life I would want you to save yourself. Though there has to be another way besides punching that asshole. I love you too much to put you in that terrible kind of situation." She starts crying as well and continues, "For you to be tormented for decades on my behalf I would be devastated." I then say, "Then how about you guys become bards and I will be your groupie and biggest fan? I would follow you guys around while you perform and cheer you on every single day. I will only be your 'sword' if I need to be. Traveling with my best friends and helping them live in a manner which gives them joy is the only future I want now." Mia says, "You keep talking like that and I may just somehow find the courage." Heather says, "You stole the words out of my mouth, Mia." We hugged for a little longer and then we went back to bagging cookies.
There were a few not in a bag that we ate with some tea. It is getting close to Rose and I's phone time after our tea so I say goodbyes to Mia and Heather and give them a hug, "Thanks for spending time with me today and helping with these cookies. Nurse Joy forbade me from baking myself because you know." I say as I wave my bandaged hand. Heather says, "You know you can invite us to bake with you even without that excuse you know right?" I laugh, "You guys are such good friends. Thank you both for always being there." They both hug me, "We love you." I squeeze them tight, "I love you guys, too."
I then switch gears to a more serious topic and ask them, "Can you help get the girls to work together in your class and even mine if you can against those perverts? They will be returning to school next week and they will probably be a problem since the school doesn't apparently care about our safety." Heather says, "Yea, I still can't believe they only got one week suspension after assaulting her like that. It is just sickening the things they can get away with to us. What if they actually raped her? I bet they wouldn't have even expelled them. They aren't even classifying their suspension as disciplinary either which is just foul." Mia chimes in, "Yea, we have to work together. Somebody has to help protect us, it might as well be others like us who understand." I sigh in relief, "That is good. I would have loved to get things going for that but nobody would ever listen to a villainess like me. I love you guys." I hug them one last time then I go to deliver Nurse Joy her cookies then go immediately to Rose's room. I put a bag of cookies plus a small bag of tea in one of the cups on the phone and secured them in with an extra ribbon. Chamomile doesn't go with sweets but she will be eating the cookies WAY before she has the tea.
I get to Rose's room and throw pebbles up to her window and when she opens her window I can see her physically sigh in relief. I threw the cup with the cookies a little better this time since I had some practice fails yesterday. She takes the cookies out and tugs the line, "Thanks for the cookies. I love your cookies so much. I was worried when you didn't come to visit and when you weren't in your room. I finally ran into Mia and Heather and they told me you collapsed. How are you feeling?" I tug the line, "I feel fine now. Mia and Heather actually helped me make those for you because of obvious reasons. The nurse took a sample of my blood to have it analyzed at the lab in the capital just in case it wasn't from exhaustion."
Rose tugs on the line, "I am glad she took that initiative. Please keep me updated on that." I tug the line, "Don't worry, I will." Rose tugs the line, "I really missed you last night. I felt so disgusting and gross and I gargled salt water for what seemed to be hours. I just felt so dirty and gross. Whenever you are here I don't feel that way though. It breaks my heart knowing this is the same feeling you feel when I am physically around you. That was my first time experiencing something like that and I never want to feel it again yet you are probably going to keep feeling it over and over because of me. I was so selfish to ask you to teach me, making you struggle with this." She says and she starts sobbing.
I tug the line upset that she is blaming herself again, "Rose, I have already told you before time and time again. I DO NOT BLAME YOU IN THE SLIGHTEST WAY. I really mean that. YOU are not making me feel this way. THEY are making me feel this way. I told you once and I will tell you again. BANISH ALL OF THOSE THOUGHTS. You mean the world to me. You are the only reason I have decided to keep living this life. I want to keep talking to you and learning more about you." She wipes her tears and tugs at her line, "I want to keep talking and learning more about you, too. Sometimes I wish we could just run away together." I tug the line, "Where we can go live in a remote cabin in the woods. Living off the land. Living in peace with no fear of any curse." She tugs the line giggles and wipes her tears, "Don't forget we need your cats." I tug on the line, "Of course, we will need to get my cats for our fantasy."
The moment it left my mouth. OUR fantasy. We both want the same things. She wants the same exact future I want. I do a happy wiggle just thinking about it and I am smiling. She giggles and tugs the line, "I love to see you smile. You deserve a lifetime of smiles just like the one you are wearing. I will try to find a way to beat this curse so we can fulfill our fantasy. I want to be the one to make you smile the rest of your days." I am blushing really hard. She echoed the 'our fantasy'. That made my heart really flutter. She wants to spend the rest of her life with a villainess like me. While blushing tears start coming out yet again. She tugs the line, "Are you ok?"
I tug the line wiping my tears, "Yes, I would love the opportunity to grow old with you. To look at your face everyday up close so I can examine all the tiny details instead of gazing from afar. I want to memorize the placement of each individual freckle on your face." She starts blushing now too, "Can you stay and talk to me again tonight? I promise I won't keep you up all night again. Just in case that was the cause of your collapse." I tug the line while blowing my nose in my handkerchief since all the crying is making me sniffle. After clearing my nose I say, "Even if you needed me to stay all night again, I would have said yes."
We stayed up and chatted until around midnight and we ate cookies when we were hungry. She ate the bag I gave her and I ate my last remaining bag. Before leaving I say, "I will try to go to sleep as soon as I can so I can fight any perverts that may appear in your nightmares for you. Drinking some of that tea I put in with your cookies should also help you relax. It is chamomile. I know it is only enough for one cup, but I will be bringing you some every night to help you sleep." She tugs on the line, "I saw the tea leaves in with the cookies, but I didn't know they were supposed to help me sleep. I thought it was possibly a pairing. That is very thoughtful, thank you so much. I will have to go put on a pot of tea right now. Good night, Violet." I tug on the line, "Yea, chamomile does not pair with sweets." I say giggling then continue, "Good night, Rose. I hope you get some rest tonight." She smiles and waves and I smile and wave back. She gently tosses the cup down to me and I roll it up like usual and go to my dorm.
The next day in class all of the students are murmuring about me and how they think I staged those boys to assault Rose since I knew where they were ahead of time to try and play a sadistic game of hero. No matter what I say will change anything. So I just stare out the window putting all of their voices on mute in my head and taking in the sights of nature outside my window. Seeing the slight swaying of the trees in the wind. The birds build, adding sticks and miscellaneous things to their nests. The squirrels stuffing a bunch of different nuts in their cheeks in an anxious way like the little fluff balls of anxiety they are. Geckos sticking to the glass in front of my face. Being autistic has its perks. The ability to just be in my own world and ignore things I want to ignore. They talk loud on purpose knowing I can hear them. If only they knew I am not hearing anything they say right now since I am focused on my nature gazing.
Pain in my hand returns me to reality. I hiss in a painful surprise and turn around to find two boys: one holding my arm down and the other squeezing my hurt hand. They squeeze it so hard the stitches come undone and the bandages turn blood red. Blood starts pooling on my desk where they had my hand pinned. The girls are yelling at them to stop since I am obviously bleeding. They told them it can't be fake and to stop. Doctor Stirling came in and saw the tail end of this and pretended he didn't see anything. It really hurts, but is nothing in comparison to how I felt when I received it. I just grimace and bear it. After the boys let go, I stood up and went to the nurse's office making a blood trail along the way. Never uttering a single word the whole time this happened.
I get to the nurse's office and she runs to me seeing the state of my hand, "What happened?! Here come sit down immediately." She ushers me toward the bed and I sit on it while she gets her tray with her supplies. It has a needle, surgical thread, gauze for the blood, antibiotics, alcohol, and bandages. She says as she pushes her glasses up, "Relax your hand. Palm facing upwards." She places a towel under my hand then I relax on top of it. She threads her needle, sanitizes it with alcohol and sets it aside on her surgical tray. She removes my current bandages and throws them to the side and grabs the gauze and starts soaking up some of the blood. Cleaning up around this gash. She uses a lot of gauze. She says while doing this, "You never did say what happened."
I jolted a bit in realization that I left her hanging by accident since I am still apparently out of it, "I am sorry. Some classmates held me down and squeezed my hand as hard as they could. Apparently they thought I was faking it." She gasps, "What did the professor do?" I shake my head, "He pretended he didn't see anything. The girls in the class at least were trying to get them to stop. Even though they don't like me, they stood up for me. That was pretty cool of them." I think I should make all of them my cookies. I will elicit Mia and Heather's help again. I am sure they would love it even though we just did it yesterday.
Once she gets most of the blood cleaned up, she gets the needle and thread and she starts stitching my hand again. Seeing my hand being treated as fabric is making me feel a little like I will faint so I avert my eyes while she stitches it back up. The stitching itself doesn't hurt at all. It was just really uncomfortable seeing it. I was the same in my previous life, too. When she is done I keep looking away while she gets alcohol and dabs the stitched line carefully. It burns a bit, but it feels almost just like when I used to put germ-x on a healing tattoo for a lazy way to clean it right before moisturizing it. My wife used to say I was crazy, but I was ok with the pain as a trade off for convenience. Since I was addicted to tattoos, I got pretty desensitized to this level of pain since I did that lazy germ-x cleaning often and very frequently.
For those of you who don't know what a tattoo feels like in recovery, it feels similar to a sunburn. Actually getting the tattoo is similar to scratching a sunburn, too. So the sunburn metaphor works for that as well. The first 5-7 days are most like the sore sunburn feeling then it goes into the itchy/molting phase for like another 5-7 days. During the whole recovery period, I would do this ghetto quick clean/moisturizer routine. I didn't like getting out of my recliner frequently so I just would have a bottle of germ-x and lotion right by my recliner so I could apply it as needed. Multiply that by the large amount of tattoos I had which was A LOT. I lost count at some point and never bothered to try counting again.
Nurse Joy says bringing me back to the present, "You handle that surprisingly well." I sigh trying to think of a way to say this, "I guess one could say I am used to it." She looks at me with a weird face I don't understand and says, "You aren't even an adult yet and you are accustomed to this level of pain and that is truly sad." She says that but she isn't making a sad face. I sit there trying to process what she could have meant by that and try to figure out the emotion behind her face she made. Is that a 'pity' face? I am not sure. I don't remember what a pity face looks like. I don't wish to be pitied at all. I hope not. I mean the reason I am used to it is my own fault for being addicted to ink. She grabs the bandages and gently wraps my hand to cover my stitches.
Once I am fully wrapped up she takes me by the good hand and escorts me to the headmaster's office. She is furious with the headmaster and is demanding something be done about what happened to me, "Sir, those boys held her down and ripped her stitches open. She was bleeding so badly that she made a bloody trail all the way to the infirmary. They must be penalized appropriately for assaulting another classmate so brutally and openly. ALSO, something must be done about that professor. They saw what happened and pretended they didn't see anything. What is the point of having this phone system established if the professors don't use them in case of an emergency?!"
The headmaster says, "Miss Treece, I apologize you went through something like that today. Why don't you return to your dorm room and I can talk with our staff here about what's to come." Nurse Joy says, "Remember come see me whenever you need to, Violet." I squeeze her hand gently with my good hand, "Of course. Thank you for helping me again." I take my leave already knowing that they are going to get only a slap on the wrist. Women are second-class citizens in this world, so our lives have only as much value as our marriage potential. They will probably get the same punishment as those two perverts with at most a week of suspension. If that. The professor I wouldn't be surprised if I saw him tomorrow. If I were a gambler, I would gamble most of my money on that bet. Though I like to not throw money away and not hand it to the house so I don't really like gambling much.
I am glad they allowed me to go to my room, but I was pretty bored. I kept brewing myself tea and reading. I did use some of this time prepping for my time with Rose and preparing her chamomile tea already since I prepared it this morning when I was in the kitchen. I secure it in the cup and wait until I see that familiar flash of red. I open my window and rest my face on it looking in the direction she usually approaches. When I see her fiery red hair I pop my head back in the room and put the cup out the window and lower it down for her. She tugs on the line, "That chamomile tea worked like a charm. I was able to go to sleep pretty quickly and actually get some sleep. I heard some gossip at lunch about a crazy incident with you in your class about how some boys held you down and forced your stitches open causing you to bleed profusely everywhere."
I tug the line nodding to confirm, "That pretty much sums it up. I went to the nurse immediately after. The girls in my class spoke up for me and tried to get them to stop. I actually want to make them 'thank-you' cookies to show my appreciation. I will go grab Heather and Mia after our talk here so we can do that." Rose tugs on the line, "I think that is a great idea. I wish I could help you. Wait, I could go to the kitchen and pull out the necessary ingredients and leave out the window to prevent us from running into each other in the hall. That way I can say I helped." I tug the line, "That sounds good. Then we can say we made the cookies." Her preparing the stuff reminds me of Liz. She would prepare the tea kettle the night prior (technically that morning, since my wife went to bed so late) to help me with my afternoon tea.
Rose tugs on the line, "Can you sing while you make them? If you aren't too uncomfortable singing around Mia and Heather that is." I tug the line, "I can sing in front of them. Do you have any other requests? Maybe a repeat?" Rose tugs on the line, "I just love hearing you sing. I have just missed your voice these past few days. Hey, I have an idea. How about some women empowerment songs? You have sung some over the past couple of months I really liked. 'You don't own me' I think is what it was called and the one about the girl on fire but not in a bad way that was really good. You sang a lot I liked." I tug on the line, "I can sing those again and bust out some others while we bake as well. A concert about women's empowerment. I love it and it is for 3 people I like. I can do that. This will be fun."
I get Mia and Heather and they are really excited for another round of cookies so soon. I told them about the singing for Rose and Mia excitedly said, "I don't think we have ever heard you sing before, Violet. I can't wait to hear your voice." I replied, "We are going to be having a women's empowerment concert today." I flex my arms and they flex with me and we laugh at ourselves while heading to the kitchen. Everything was set up and the window opened and I can see Rose sitting in the tree outside like she usually does while I am singing in the kitchen. I sing the following songs taking water breaks in between songs as needed while helping prepare the cookies with my good hand. Obviously pulling them out halfway to make them all pretty and perfect:
'Girl on Fire' by Alicia Keys
'Stronger' by Kelly Clarkson
'Confident' by Demi Lovato
'Beautiful' by Christina Aguilera.
'All about that Bass' by Meghan Trainer
'Born this way' by Lady Gaga.
'Fight song' by Rachel Platten
'Just a Girl' by No Doubt.
'You don't own me' By Leslie Gore
'Unwritten' by Natasha Bedingfield.
When I finish I drop the spatula I was singing into in front of my chest and bow to mark the end of the performance. They applaud, "Woooooo" Mia says, "I love your voice so much!" Heather says, "Yes! Sing for us more in the future. Oh, I know! Sing for the talent show at the end of the school year!" I shake my head vigorously in objection, "Oh, no. I couldn't possibly ever sing in front of that many people. I can only sing in front of people I like and am comfortable around. So this is the only way you will hear me sing." Mia says, "Oh darn, everyone would have probably loved to hear you sing." I look at Rose outside and she is smiling and applauding from her perch. Our cookies are done now and I open the oven while Heather gets two trays and Mia gets the other two trays and places them on the cooling racks. I get a glass of milk and wait a few minutes before dunking a cookie in my milk. Mia and Heather look at me in awe. Mia says, "That is such an uncivilized way to eat a cookie." Oh great she is judging me now? Mia continues, "I must try it immediately." I start laughing and Heather laughs too. I say following up while stifling my laughter, "I believe this is the correct way to eat these cookies." Heather says, "Oh, so it is the 'correct' way according to you. Now I have to try as well."
They both get a glass of milk and do a happy dance with their cookies in hand after they take a bite. Almost in unison looking at each other covering their mouths in excitement with their open hands, "I love that!" I want Rose to try this too. I place a cup of milk and a couple of cookies on a saucer by the window and wave to her to come get some. I back away to the far end of the kitchen and close my eyes just in case seeing her affects the curse. I think on repeat, 'Please don't hurt her.' After a while Mia and Heather come up to me and gently grab my arms in a supportive manner, "She is done and is gone now."
We put all of the cookies in baggies for the girls that helped me today and I placed them all in a sack for easy carrying. I hugged Mia and Heather, "Thanks again for helping today." Heather says, "You don't even need to question whether or not we will help you make cookies because we will always help you with cookies. We love cookies." I giggle, "Oh I know. Regardless, I appreciate you two so much." Mia and Heather say in unison, "We love you, Violet." I say my goodbyes and head to my room so I can make notes for these bags so they know these are thank-you cookies for what they did. Once all of them are done, I go to our classroom and put them at their desks so they will see it when they get in. I don't remember all of their names, so delivering to their dorm rooms would prove rather difficult for me.