Imperious 001 - Do Well

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The sink had a leak. The steady sound of dripping just another thing grinding at the gears in her mind. She sat in the stall with only the barest amount of ambient light from the tiny window near the ceiling to provide illumination. She just needed a moment to breathe, a moment to think, a moment to recover. Her head was throbbing again, a headache on top of all the stress. She squinted at the floor, rubbing at the dark bags beneath her eyes. At some point they’d grown so deep they were basically permanent now, a feature of her face rather than something she could just get rid of with a bit of effort. Not that she cared, much. Nobody looked her way to begin with, why draw attention to herself? 

She’d avoided attention for so long the past two years. Since she was a kid she had never been much of a socialite, regardless of how much she tried. The other kids thought she was weird and she hadn’t really figured out why until half way through elementary school when one of her bullies had spelled it out for her. She was like her mother. Overly literal and obsessed with numbers when other kids would rather be screaming and running around on the playground. Her outspoken love of learning had died that day, pushed down to a quiet focus on getting through each day of school. She embraced being a loner.

That new attitude had turned into something of a talent, she could practically disappear in a crowd and no one paid her much mind at all. The sense of invisibility was refreshing at times to the point of people letting their guards down. She heard a lot of juicy stuff. But by the time she was heading off to High School and had been all but forgotten by her peers she’d thought, maybe, just maybe, she could turn her life around. She ran for student council in her first year, made some friends, put herself out there. Her fingers dug into the paper in her hand and she scoffed, It was all for nothing. What a waste of time.

She looked down at the letter again, a tumult of messy black hair falling around her face and shadowing over her pale brown eyes. 

[Dear Miss Flitt, 

It has been brought to our attention that your behavior, while not wholly against school policy, is a breach of the honors academic standards of this school. It is because of this, and the suggestion of your instructors that you will not be made Valedictorian of the class of 2022. We invite you to appeal this decision to the honor board if you feel it has been made unfairly.

Principal Kelly Hale]

She grit her teeth, What behavior? So I don’t talk to people? What the hell?

She’d worked so damn hard, kept her nose to her desk, stayed out of peoples way. The student council thing had been such a waste of time and energy as much as she had tried to turn it into something meaningful. Now this. 

Happy fucking birthday, Anna, she grumbled.

Her phone rang and she reached numbly into her pocket to answer it, “Hello?”

“Anna, did you not take the bus home?” her mother said on the other end, “You’re going to be late at this rate.”

“Figured I’d walk,” Anna lied, “Sorry. Needed some air.”

“Walk? Have you left yet?” her mother asked, “That’s unlike you.”

Anna frowned and kicked at her backpack, eyeballing the baseball bat sticking out of one side. She rolled her jaw left and right in thought, I really don’t want to talk about this shit right now. I’ll tell her later. She sighed, “I was working up the nerve to bring my bat back to the coach. I don’t think I want to play this summer.”

“Really? Well if that’s what you want, you’re turning eighteen today, I can’t make decisions for you forever,” her mother said gently, there was a twinge in her tone that told Anna her mother didn’t believe a word of it. “Anna, your party’s going to be late tonight, don’t worry about your after-school meal. It’s fine, take your time. Don’t you be late for your party though, eight thirty-six. Understood?”

“Yeah, eight thirty-six, got it,” she mumbled, “Thanks mom.”

“I want to hear about your day when you get home, I love you Anna.”

“Love you too,” she said and hung up the phone before hanging her head, “Ah shit how am I going to tell her?” she whined, “Who the fuck did I piss off? What’s the point of keeping my head down if people are just gonna come after me anyway?”

She frowned and checked the clock on her phone, three thirty-two, I got time till the party at least. Anna never had a normal birthday, they were always at very particular times and it was a little confusing for anyone else who was invited. Her mother set the time and date to be precisely one year after the last one, going all the way back to the minute she was born. With leap years and other mathematical weirdness it meant that it was on a different day and time almost every single year. Still, in a way it was really sweet. Her mother wanted to celebrate the very instant the time came, and threw herself into the celebration with gusto.

She smiled a little to herself, At least you always have my back, she thought miserably as she switched over to her recorder, flipping through the piles and piles of verbal notes and reminders, “Note for today,” she grumbled, “Shit sucks.”

The door to the bathroom slammed open and she nearly jumped out of her skin, dropping her phone. She shifted back in the stall as several sets of feet made their way inside. She drew back, pulling her knees up to her chest and going still. 

“You saw her go in here?” a girl said.

“Yeah, looks like she got some kind of letter at the end of day and ran off,” another said.

Anna narrowed her eyes, I know the first voice. Chloe Stewards? Chloe was an academic achiever like herself but had managed to balance it with the whole social popularity thing somehow. Is she looking for me?

“Hey! Flitt! Are you in here?” Chloe called into the bathroom.

Anna opened her mouth to respond but shut it just as quickly, Something doesn’t feel right. Just keep your mouth shut and wait until they leave.

“Flitt!” Chloe repeated, “Check the stalls.”

Footsteps moved over to the stalls and Anna pulled her legs up closer to her chest only to blanch as she spotted her backpack on the ground. Shit! She flicked her eyes towards the stall to her left and swallowed hard, shifting her body like a pretzel to try to reach for the bag. She stretched, her hand wrapping around the arm strap just as a face popped in beneath the door of the stall. A girl with a bob-cut of brown hair looked up at her and smiled, “Found her!” she sing-songed.

Anna yanked her bag back to her just as the door to the stall burst open, the lock on it stripped from the weak-ass screws the school had used to install it on the frankly pathetic fiberglass doors. Anna stared at the busted lock on the ground before looking up into the pretty face of Chloe Stewards, jet black hair tied back in a fabulous bun with a single silver needle through it. It was her signature look. Her smooth, unblemished features curled into a delighted smile as she looked down at Anna huddled on the ground, “There you are. What’s the matter? I just wanna talk for a sec.”

Anna frowned at her, “So you bust the door to my stall down? School’s gonna be pissed,” Anna grumbled.

“Pretty sure you did that,” Chloe said, checking her nails, “No idea what you’re talking about. I’m not the one with behavioral issues.”

Anna blinked and it only took her brain a heartbeat to put some pieces together. Her eyes went hard, “It was you,” she growled.

“Hm? I’m afraid I still can’t understand you,” Chloe said and turned to the other girls, “Can someone here speak bitch for me?”

Anna snatched up the letter from the principal and threw it at Chloe’s feet, “The hell did I do to you? I haven’t bothered anyone, what behavioral issues?”

Chloe sneered down at the paper before kicking it away with her shoe, “Listen, Anna, no hard feelings. Seriously. I just need you to understand that you aren’t the kind of person who should be representing our school as valedictorian. You’ve got no friends and look at you,” she said, waving a perfectly manicured hand at her, “You’re a mess, when was the last time you washed your hair, you look like a hobo. Do you even know what makeup is? I’m pretty sure there’s an entry online about it, look it up.”

Anna pressed her lips together even as her pulse pounded in her ears, “I can appeal it,” she bit out, “I can make the case you-”

The girl burst into laughter, “Anna! Graduation is in a week! The next session to decide that kind of thing is five days after. Babe, you’re screwed.”

Anna felt her heart sink into her guts, her eyes flicking about wildly as she wracked her brain. She’s right, The last school board session was a couple days ago. There’s no way to appeal in time. She looked down from the floor and up at Chloe. Whatever was on Anna’s face must have been just what she was hoping for. Chloe stalked forward a step and looked down into Anna’s face, “One tardy,” Chloe growled, “I lost to you by one, goddamn, tardy, it should have been me to begin with. Not you. How a freak like you could have possibly made a better impression than me is just…” she stood up and spat, Anna turning her head away as some got on her cheek. 

Chloe let out a cleansing sigh, “It doesn’t matter, all is right with the world now,” Chloe said and stepped out of the stall, “Do me a favor, Anna? In the future, remember your place,” she paused and turned back, “You know, maybe if you’d just played ball when you were president I wouldn’t have even had a second thought about you. It’s like you’re invisible half the time.”

Anna stared at the wall, her pulse throbbing in her head. The headache was so much worse, it hurt, it hurt so fucking much. I worked so hard, she thought, reaching up to clutch at the side of her head, I dragged myself through the fucking dirt to get to the top. That was mine! You took it from me. The student council was useless, why would I waste my time with something like that? All I wanted was to be left alone so I could work hard and earn something. She turned her eyes back on Chloe who was standing over her, that self-satisfied smirk on her face.

Anna’s lip twitched and Chloe frowned, “What, you got a problem?”

It felt like her blood was on fire. Her head wouldn’t stop pounding. It wasn’t fair. If it wasn’t for this bitch. If it wasn't for her. She could have been home by now, could have just finished her time at High School in peace and quiet, done a little speech and moved on with her life. Admissions Departments were the only ones who cared about whether or not someone was valedictorian, after that, college was like a clean slate. Nobody cared who you were in High School. So why make grudges? Why do anything like this? Why? Why? WHY?

Anna didn’t even feel her hand wrap around the handle of the bat sticking out of her bag. Her world was a red blur as she felt a cathartic thud move its way up her arm. She felt the tears streaming from her eyes, the pressure abating from her headache at long last. Her arms moved again and again until someone tried to pull at her. She snarled and turned on them next, then another, and another, until all that was left was shallow sobs as she knelt on the ground, staring at the scene of four girls laying on the ground, bleeding and weeping from the pain.

The next thing she knew she was sitting in a chair with something hard wrapped around her wrists. She looked down at the handcuffs, her mind still swimming. There was a heavy hand on her shoulder. She blinked a few times, her thoughts coming back to her. She flicked her eyes up and into the face of a middle-aged woman with a pixie cut of blonde hair. Her expression was grave, “Anna.”

Anna’s lips curled up, “Hey, Principal Hale,” she mumbled, the strange sense of release all over her making the world feel numb and wobbly.

The principal scowled at her, “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” she demanded, “Why did you attack Chloe Stewards?”

Anna’s attention sharpened, the name bringing her back to reality. Did I really do that? She thought, confused, before looking down at a few splatters of blood on her hands. She looked up at the Principal and searched her face. Her anger was… feigned? There was a sparkle in her eyes. Does she think it's funny? She chewed her lip and leveled a cold stare on the woman, I’m so fucking tired. “You know why I did it,” she grumbled.

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the Principal said, “If you’re referencing being stripped of your role as our schools Valedictorian, congratulations on proving the point.”

Anna scowled, “Can I at least call my mom?”

Principal Hale frowned at her before looking up at the man who was holding her down by her shoulder. He reached into his pocket and pulled out her phone, handing it to her. Broken. The screen was shattered. She tried to turn it on anyway and all she got were broken lines of color and flickering lights. She kept her expression flat, I was on the recording screen too. There goes my proof that I was goaded. She shoved her phone into her pocket. “It’s broken,” she said.

Principal Hale’s lips nearly turned into a sneer before she turned to her desk phone and pushed it forward. Anna rose and dialed out, bringing the handset to her ear only for Hale to reach forward and tap the speaker button while the cop moved in to hang over her. She restrained a tired scowl when his hand touched her shoulder.

Her mother answered, “Hey mom.”

“Anna? Where have you been?” her mother said, “I’m getting worried.”

“I need you to come to school mom, I got in a fight,” Anna said hoarsely.

There was a long pause, “I’m on my way, don’t say anything, don’t let them have your phone, and don’t let anyone lay a hand on you. If they try, make a note of it.”

Anna met the principal's gaze, Hale looked sour faced but said nothing as Anna nodded, “Yes ma’am,” she said and glanced up at the cop, “Hands off,” she growled and the big man pulled his hand away. She examined his face, he was older, probably a decade under his belt. He knew better than to cross a line unlike some new guy. Anna sat back down with a huff and returned the principal’s stare.

“Anna,” Principal Hale sighed, “What happened to you? You were doing so well in the first two years here, you had friends, everything was going fine. You were student council President for heaven’s sake!”

Anna kept her mouth shut. Quit pretending like you care, she thought.

“I understand that you’re an ambitious young lady, but you have to understand that there are certain expectations. I heard you were taking some extreme measures in the student council, Anna. Admirable, but it’s obvious that was too much for you. I suppose I should be relieved you stepped down at the end of the year that year,” the Principal sighed, “Given your clear emotional problems you would have done some serious damage.”

The Student Council has a right to influence school policy, we could have made changes to make the school more comfortable and safer for the other kids. The only thing we ended up doing was organizing a few pizza parties, homecoming, and prom! Anna thought bitterly, It was a pointless exercise. All that red tape to prevent us from doing what we’re supposed to do.

“Fine, sit there, your mother will hear it from me and we’ll go from there. I already have your expulsion paperwork filled out and after that you’ll be sent to booking,” the Principal said, “You brought this on yourself, Anna. No one likes a tyrant.”

Fuck you.

Anna turned back to her phone and took a glance at social media. As expected, the entire school was talking about her ‘breakdown’ already. I know I’m not a good person, she thought miserably, But it’s just not fucking fair. I didn’t ask for this. 

“I wish you would hand over your phone already, the police will need to process it for evidence,” the Principal said.

Anna scowled at her and held it up, showing the cracked screen with wide eyes before slipping it down between her legs and sitting on it. She rested her arms on her knees and held the woman’s gaze. Hale’s lips twitched and she looked away, “Have it your way.”

It was barely five minutes later when her mother pushed in through the door to the principal's office like a whirlwind. While Anna was always a bit disheveled and tired looking, Amanda Flitt was a composed woman with a strict and clean demeanor. Her hair styled tightly around her head and her clothes fitted down to the millimeter. She was a physicist, a good one, and she was obsessed with precision to the point of it quite literally governing her life. All the clocks in the house were based on the atomic clock in Greenwich down to the millisecond. Everything she did was on a schedule that sounded almost insane when she said it out loud.

She checked her watch, “How long have you been holding my daughter?” she demanded immediately.

“Thirty minutes?” Hale said, a little surprised by the outburst.

“Probably more than that, but we’ll start there,” Amanda growled, “Now I want an explanation.”

“Your daughter-”

“Not from you,” her mother snapped and whirled on Anna, “What the hell happened, Anna?”

Anna looked up at her mother, meeting those cold meticulous eyes that only seemed to soften for her and nodded slowly. She sighed, trying to tamp down her anger a little and reached for her phone before letting out a sigh. She started to tell her story, starting with why she’d been in the bathroom in the first place. Hale sat up when she began talking about Chloe’s behavior.

“Chloe Stewards is an exemplary young lady, she would never-”

The cop crossed his arms, “I wanna hear the rest,” he said.

The principal snarled, “Those girls should be present to give their own side against this kind of slander-”

“Oh shut up,” Amanda bit back and nodded to Anna who did her best to retell the remaining events. Her headache and then coming to her senses with the bat in her hand. She slumped in her chair as the room fell silent.

The principal spoke first, “She admits it, what-what Anna did was unacceptable and is in clear violation of our school policies. We still intend to press charges, alongside the parents,” Hale said quickly, “I’ll be looking into-”

“Anna, how did you find out about your status as Valedictorian?” her mother asked.

Anna jerked her chin towards Hale, “Letter from her today.”

Her mother sighed and ran her fingers over her face, “You corrupt…” she held her tongue before turning to the cop, “Thoughts?”

“Probably be charged with battery, when does she turn eighteen?” the cop asked, “I can really only interview those girls and get their statements,” he said with a shake of his head, “And based on what I’ve seen I have my own opinion on Miss Hale’s actions, that doesn’t do much good though.”

“Excuse me?” Hale barked.

The cop ignored her and scratched the back of his head, “Sorry Miss Flitt, but I am going to have to book your daughter. She beat four girls with a baseball bat. You don’t just get out of that. Given the circumstances and everything I’ll make some recommendations though, best I got.”

Anna sat back in her seat, Well, at least the tone of the day hasn’t changed all that much, she thought and sighed, “Alright.”

“Anna turns Eighteen tonight,” her mother said before hesitating and crossing her arms, “I suppose legally she will be eighteen this weekend.”

The cop gave her mother an odd look, Anna resisted the urge to chuckle. Across from her the principal sat down in her chair with a sigh, “Get her out of my office.”

Anna’s mother rounded on the principal, walking over to stand in front of her desk. She put her hands on it and leaned forward. Anna couldn’t see her mother’s face, but the Principal went pale for a moment, “I will ruin your life for this, mark my words,” she said coldly, “I’ll be starting with pressing charges against the school for creating this situation to begin with,” she stood up straight, “Seems like those girls got punished enough,” she turned before the principal could respond and knelt next to Anna, reaching out to take her hands. Anna felt the warm reassurance of her mother’s grip. “Hang in there, once they arraign you I’ll get you out of there. The moment it happens.”

Anna nodded, “Right.”

–

The booking process didn’t take overly long, all her fingerprints were taken, pictures taken, and she was led into a cell where she would be staying until she saw a judge. According to the cops it was usually a one to two day wait these days. Anna sat down on the bench in her cell and rubbed her face. If she wasn’t drained before, she was now. Every cell in her body was begging for rest. She leaned back against the hard wall behind her and sighed.

“Heard from Tony your situation is kinda messed up,” the cop locking the door to her cell said. He was younger than the cop that had brought her in whose name was apparently Tony. While Tony had that husky more-salt-than-pepper look, Phil was probably in his forties with dark hair and sharp eyes to match the narrow goatee that he’d recently trimmed.

Anna frowned and looked away, “Something like that.”

“Usually when this kind of stuff happens it’s that way,” the cop said, “Haven’t heard of a principal playing a role in it too though.”

Anna squinted at him, “Should you be talking to me about this?”

“Probably not,” he grunted, “You go to my daughter’s school though and she tells me about how mean some of the girls are, guess I just feel kinda bad for you. You know Leslie Perse?”

Anna shook her head.

The cop shrugged, “Name’s Phil.”

“Anna,” Anna said, forcing a smile she didn’t feel.

“I saw you just had your mom as a guardian on the file, your dad not around?” he asked.

She frowned again, Is this guy trying to play detective or something? She huffed out a breath and looked away, “Just been me and mom for forever,” she said, “Dad’s never been in the picture. Mom doesn’t have time to date so here we are,” she added, “Don’t think a father figure would have helped in my situation.”

“Probably not,” Phil conceded, “Get some rest, kid,” he said and turned away.

Anna hesitated and then cleared her throat, “Um!” she called and he glanced back at her. She looked down at her feet for a moment, turning over her skate shoes. They’d taken the damn laces when they brought her in. She scratched her neck, “What time is it?”

He raised his eyebrow and checked his watch, “Six twenty,” he said, “Got a date or something?”

She snorted, “No, no,” she held up her hands, “It’s my birthday, mom celebrates it down to the minute.”

He paused and frowned, “I’m… sorry.”

A small part of her wanted to bite back at the pity but she held it down. She wasn’t exactly sure where that hostility was coming from. She rubbed her neck, “It’s fine. I did what I did. I’m not making excuses, as long as they get what they deserve too.”

He regarded her for a moment before nodding, “Get some sleep,” he said and walked away. 

She watched him go until he was out of eyeshot, the silence of the holding cells weighing down on her. She looked down at her hands, What the hell possessed me to do that? I’ve never hit anyone in my life, she thought, I was just so… angry. It wasn’t even about the bullying. It was like having something taken from me was… she reached up and pressed her palms against her eyes as the headache started to come back, Fucking hell, this again. She groaned and turned, falling back onto the bench with a sigh.

“You really fucked up this time, Anna,” she muttered to herself as she began to doze.

A banging on her cell drew her up out of a brief dreamless sleep, she shook her head, confusion addling her brain as she tried to fix her gaze on her surroundings. What the? She saw the bars, Oh. Right. She looked up to see the older cop, Tony, standing there with something in his hand. He had a confused look on his face and was turning it over and over as he waited for her to come to. “Officer Tony?” she asked.

“Phil wanted me to tell you it's eight thirty something, you got something too, by the way. Had no idea it was yours until Lindy brought it up. Kinda weird,” he said.

She sat up straight, “Eight thirty?” she looked down at her hands. She owed that Phil guy for sure. She got to her feet and walked over to the bars, “What is it?”

“A letter, addressed to you but it was delivered earlier today which doesn’t make sense,” he said, “Already looked it over, nothing sketchy about it except for when it was delivered,” he laughed.

She squinted at him and then down at the envelope in his hand. He pushed it through the bars and she took it, turning it over. It was simply addressed to her. No return address which made it harder to understand how it even got into the precinct. She opened the envelope, it had already been unsealed by the cops, and pulled out the letter. Her fingers paused on the surface of the paper, it was thick, thicker than cardstock, and felt grainy. She wrinkled her nose and turned it over to read the text.

[Annastasia,

Do well.

Dad]

Her jaw fell, “...what?” 

Her entire world turned black as a cold, unfeeling voice entered her head.

Initiating Integration

Welcome to the Multiverse, [Human - Terran] of Planet Earth

As you are currently not of your species recognized age of adulthood, you will be transferred to a youth tutorial. Please wait.

ERROR

Not enough available time to participate in youth tutorial. You will reach adulthood before the youth tutorial initiation is complete. Redirecting to adult tutorial…

ERROR! User’s status is irreconcilable with Starting Tutorial. Attempting to restore tutorial guidelines. Attempting - BRRZZTT

ERROR, ERROR, ERROR, ERROR, RECONCILING, RECOVERING

Redirecting starting position…

Days left until integration of Earth: 364 Days, 23 hours, 45 minutes.