[center][url=https://fontmeme.com/cursive-fonts/][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/181015/5ceecc7538164d6fcf8526b3db450793.png[/img][/url]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/r0kQiuz.png?1[/img]

[hr][@almalthia] Professor Kaylee Everose's Office - 9:36 AM[hr][hr][/center]

Aya's gaze fell to the little black envelope in her lap as Professor Everose spoke. Her mentor's words washed over her. Aya thought she understood. Or didn't. She wasn't sure she cared. Her head buzzed from all the air she'd taken in while crying, her breaths too quick and sporadic in her flurry of emotions. 

The adrenaline was gone now, though.

She wasn't paying attention to the professor anymore. Whatever explanation she was giving didn't really matter. When Aya asked why she'd just gone through that experience, her question wasn't, '[i]How did it work?[/i]' 

It was, '[i]Why did you ask me to do that?[/i]'

Whatever Aya had just seen... it wasn't meant for her. It was too intimate - too painful. She felt guilty, like a voyeur peering in and violating someone's privacy. And the cost of bearing witness had been to relive the worst moments of [i]both[/i] of their lives. Aya felt shattered, grief like fresh blood staining her skin. And Professor Everose sat across from her, looking at her tear-stained face, drinking her coffee, and talking about '[i]attempting another[/i].' Warm, patient, compassionate Professor Everose. The woman who'd taught her everything she knew about controlling her mutation. The reason she'd stayed. 

Aya sniffled. She thought she might start crying again.

[color=aquamarine]"Could I please -"[/color] The soft words stumbled in her throat, catching on Aya's raw edges. She closed her lips. Swallowed. [color=aquamarine]"Could I finish the test in my room? I..."

[i]I need to not be here.[/i][/color]

And the professor gave Aya that understanding smile that she knew so well. Aya's eyes dropped to her lap again. The professor gave her permission, with a gentle reminder to bring the results in an envelope back to her. Without another word, Aya grabbed the envelopes and the notebook, scooped up her bag, and left Professor Everose's office.

Aya pressed her back against the wooden door once it closed. She looked up to the high ceiling, tears burning her eyes again. Aya tried to blink them away, taking in another shaking breath. A dam broke and the high breath of a sob escaped her, but Aya was quick to clap her hand back over her mouth, eyes squeezed shut. A hot tear ran down her cheek. Her shoulders trembled with the effort it took to not break down again in the hallway. Aya opened her eyes, wiping the tears from her face. She swallowed her grief again.

She needed to go.

She couldn't be here - in this hallway, in this school, on this [i]campus[/i]. Not right now.

The impulse was too strong to question. With barely a thought, Aya was walking through the building, praying she didn't see any of her classmates and have to explain why she wasn't in class, or why she'd been crying. Soon enough she was across the courtyard, front gate stretching high above her.