Reap What You Sow

Maya no longer saw ghosts the same. Perhaps she just refused to look too close, but now after she had noticed they carry the traumas of their deaths she couldn't unsee it. When she passed through that specific hallway in the faculty wing, where one ghost girl was permanently stuck frozen in place with a petrified expression, Maya knew she had been reliving her final moments and inadvertently giving Maya a window into her death.

But that wasn't the thing that troubled Maya's mind right now.

Sitting in front of the Headmistress's office, Maya could listen in on yelling coming through the thick hardwood doors. Inside were Elena, her guardians, the warrior's practice coach and, by the sound of it, Daria. Maya didn't hear the Headmistress. Perhaps she was absent, so Daria stepped in her place. After all, Daria was Amanda's right-hand woman.

"I'm sorry, but I will have to terminate you from warrior training, as well," the Coach said.

"That's not fair!" Elena complained.

"It's my fault for allowing you there in the first place. This goes to further prove it's not a place for women."

"This wasn't warrior's practice. This was school lunch!" Elena emphasized. "Why was he even called here, Daria?"

"I can't allow my disciples to carry their conflicts outside the training sessions and attack each other."

"He was the one to attack me! And he attacked a girl that had nothing to do with all of this! He should be the one terminated!" Elena was seething.

"Elena, you carried in and attacked a student WITH A KNIFE on the academy premises!" Daria's voice was stern.

"So what?! I shouldn't defend myself? I should've just let him kill me!?"

"YOU HAD A KNIFE TO HIS THROAT! Who was going to kill who, there!?" Daria was outraged. She seemed to have little patience for Elena.

"I wasn't gonna hurt him," Elena argued. "I had to stop him somehow. He's a big guy. I had no advantage—otherwise, he would have crushed me."

"Weapons are forbidden! What were you thinking, carrying a knife around? You brought this on yourself. It's only by pure luck no one got hurt," Daria said.

"No one got hurt?! Look at my face! Why am I being punished for him being a sour loser?! It's not fair! I EARNED MY PLACE IN WARRIOR'S PRACTICE!! You took my knife and handed out punishment chips. How far do you have to go?!"

"Elena, sweetie," a calm voice contrasted Elena's screaming. "Be respectful and accept your punishment." It must've been Mrs Trento, Elena's guardian. "It is better you no longer involve yourself in this type of trouble. Warrior's Practice isn't a place for a girl like you. Now, let's go to the clinic to get that checked out."

"NO! Stop treating me like your fucking child! I earned my place there. I won't stand by this!" Elena sounded desperate. "You are punishing me for standing up to bullying!"

"Elena, stop making things up. This wasn't some bullying," Daria said. "It's school violence."

"It is," Elena argued. "In fact, I'm being bullied right now! I want to keep training. That's my only demand. Throw in more punishment chips, do whatever else, just don't take this from me. Otherwise, I'm… I'm—" she was struggling to make up a threat. "I'm going to jump off the Academy's tower. I'll show everyone how the Academy treats victims."

The room was left in shock and disbelief.

"Elena! Don't say things like that!" Mrs Trento warned her.

"I am serious. If you don't want to scrape a student pancake off the pavement, don't take this only thing from me. I'll have no reason to live."

Maya could hear sobbing. It must've been Mrs Trento.

"Stop using your empty threats to create drama where there's no need for one." Daria wasn't easily dismayed.

"You think they're empty? Are you willing to put money into it? Think about how of a warm welcome it would be for Amanda when she comes back to it raining students."

"Do you hear yourself, Elena!? What lengths are you willing to take just to get your way? Can't you see that we can't let you go to a dangerous practice with a student you were in a conflict with? Not as a punishment, but as a protection."

"I don't need your useless protection. I have no problem facing him there. If he can't cope with seeing my face, he should be the one to quit."

"She's a fierce one," a male voice, one that didn't speak until now, commented. It must've been Mr Trento.

"This is the only thing I am asking for. The only thing that's making me happy. You don't want this on your conscience. Please. I'm even begging, now," Elena continued.

"Can you please leave the office, so we can discuss this matter," Daria asked.

"But—"

"You rested your case," Daria interrupted her. "Leave it to us to decide. Now," her voice was firm.

Elena left the office with a dissatisfied expression. Seeing the state of her got Maya worried. Half of her face was swollen up and bruised to the point that her left eye was half closed. That combined with the cut on her lip from yesterday and all the blood that rushing from her getting worked up and yelling inside, made it look even worse.

"Why are you still here?" she was vexed by seeing Maya there, sitting in front of the office.

"I'm not going to just abandon you when you need me the most. That's not what friends do."

Elena stared at her, momentarily stumped. "We're not friends. We are roommates. And I don't need you," Elena answered coldly.

"You were there for me when I had a hard time. I'm returning the favour." Maya stood up, unconsciously reaching to grab Elena's sleeve, unsure if for balance or combating an unpleasant feeling of Elena turning away from her.

Elena evaded her. "What? When was that?" she sounded genuinely surprised.

"The first day. When I had a meltdown. You sat with me on the pavement and tried to comfort me. Remember?" Maya was left dejected, standing awkwardly.

"That was just out of personal curiosity, not because I consider you a friend. I might've let you believe that for the sake of easier management."

"Easier management??" Maya's mouth was left agape.

"If I'm already being forced to tolerate you, I might as well make it easier for myself," she clarified as her attention turned to her nails.

"Well, you're ruining that for yourself, right now." Heaviness welled up inside of Maya. It was harder to breathe, but she couldn't allow herself to relent. "I won't be so easy to 'manage' now when I know the truth."

"You don't know shit."

"You're right. I don't, and I certainly don't get you. Do you want us to get along or not? Why do you keep contradicting yourself?"

"I just decided it wasn't worth the effort." Elena met her eyes, her expression showing no emotion.

It stung.

"Not worth the effort?! What effort? You are the one that's a handful here. You told me you had no friends, and yet, you refuse a chance of friendship. I've only seen you make an effort to create enemies for yourself. How can you live like that?"

"I never wanted to be your friend! I never asked you to!"

"I guess, I shouldn't bother."

"Finally, it came to you," Elena sneered.

"Why are you like this? Why are you so hostile to everyone? Without friends, you're going to end up very lonely." Maya grabbed her sleeve this time around.

Elena shook her off. "Thanks for the therapy session, but you're not the one to talk to me about loneliness. You're the one desperately clinging to me," she retorted. "As if you can only befriend the first person you encounter here," she added, scoffing.

"You're not the first person I encountered!" Maya felt the need to point out. But she was left speechless otherwise.

Elena rolled her eyes.

"I just thought you could use someone besides your boyfriend." Maya clenched her jaw to stop it from trembling. "Who—by the way—you also criticize… I was trying to be considerate and—"

"No one asked you to," Elena cut her off. "Stop using me to boost your ego. It's not your job to decide if I need saving." Elena's gaze was as cold as the bitterest winter. "You think you're being considerate, but you're only belittling me with your self-righteous, judgmental views. You think that having had parents, while I didn't, justifies your condescension? Get off your high horse. Trying to fix me won't make everything wrong with you go away!"