The Dean's room was decorated as if a die-hard sports fan met a fashionable interior designer and came up with an entire room together. Along the walls were signed posters of baseball, basketball and football players. On a particular shelf was signed balls from the same baseball, basketball and football. Iza recognized Michael Jordan imprinted along one of the posters in all its glory, but as someone who wasn't really interested in sports in general, she couldn't quite grasp the other players or the impacts they had made within their respective games.
The tables, cabinets and shelves had a robust dark wood look to them. All matching in a hue or dark chocolate brown mixed with a bit of copper. The chairs had red velvet, and seemed super comfortable.
This notion of comfort only deepened as Iza took a seat at one of the seats nestled in the front of the desk. It was... really comfortable.
Almost enough so to relieve the tensions she had felt when heard the weird humming from before and altogether forget about the strange incident.
'Almost...' She thought confidently before sighing.
"Alright." Mr. Rogers spoke as he sat in his seat, "So, let's begin."
"I heard from Ms. Voudenvel that Iza here was bullying Ashley, and even resorted to physical violence when her words didn't make Ashley surrender." Mr. Rogers spoke without an obvious bias, and was calm.
However, Iza's nostrils flared in annoyance anyways. She felt so indignant hearing that cherry picked witness testimony.
"I'm sure that'd be a nice way to close this situation out." Iza sharply cut back after rolling her luminescent eyes. "But that's a load of baloney."
Iza's gaze raised to coldly analyze Mr. Rogers response.
Though he had done little to warrant this apprehension, experience was a hard thing to turn off. Iza was used to things not going her way, even in the greatest of injustice.
'It's why I ended up in Nevada... after all.' She thought as her heart grew a tad colder.
She flinched, however, when she realized that this Dean was doing the same thing. Watching her reactions, and her facial expressions carefully.
Somehow... Iza felt that she was the one being tested here.
Actually, on second thought, perhaps that wasn't strange for this situation.
"So... You're saying that Ms. Voudenvel's testimony, and Ashley's broken nose are not evidence that you were bullying Ashley in front of a crowd, and resorted to physical violence?"
Iza's heart fell.
A strange hum fell in a strange harmonization with her thoughts.
Yes. Ashley was a respected student, even being put in the advanced courses and classes. Ms. Voudenvel was an older teacher, probably did have a long history here.
On the flipside, Iza had only been here a year if she was being generous. Her eyes glowed enough that some teachers thought she had a fancy eye contact and told her on multiple occasions to take them out. She also wasn't a known scholar, athlete and didn't even have a good reputation yet.
'Is this how it goes...?' Iza despaired.
The hum grew louder, to the point where she couldn't quite hear much else.
But she couldn't quite focus on this strange phenomena, as anxiety struck. Her breath choked as her chest tightened, her glowing amber eyes shaking.
'I'm... gonna be trapped... again...' Her thoughts became discordant. She knew they were silly and overblown, but her spiking emotions took those thoughts and pushed it deeper. Harder. Cruelly twisting it deep like a blade. 'It's... It's going to happen again...'
The hum grew so loud, she couldn't quite hear the conversation anymore.
She saw Suzy though. She stood up and was talking with the Dean.
She seemed mad.
She didn't know what the worst punishment she would get for punching Ashley, but she consoled that it was probably akin to expulsion or perhaps she'd be arrested. The McKona's could probably spin this into a crime that the police would look into.
And Iza was alone in comparison to how many people would vouch and stand loyally on Ashley's side.
Iza blinked, a tear falling her cheeks before she could stop it.
Then a warm touch stroked her cheeks, a pale hand with black painted nails.
Iza raised her gaze to Suzy's firm and impenetrably deep black eyes which curved in concern.
'My friend.'
Those words were a precious elixir. Her breathing soothed, her chest lightened, and a calming warmth blossomed from her heart.
But... She still couldn't hear Suzy who seemed to speak out of concern.
The humming.
The humming was too loud.
Finally getting ahold of herself, Iza realized this situation was not normal. The hum was deafening now, and the light around the room seemed to curve... differently.
Something was happening, her senses were screaming at her the moment she collected herself.
She shoved Suzy away.
Iza acted on her instincts before realizing what she was doing.
For in the space that Suzy stood, a massive ellipsoid of twisting and curling space appeared malignantly.
At the quick glance at both the Dean and Suzy, Iza realized they couldn't see it.
The strange ellipsoid that would have caught Suzy... caught Iza instead.
She knew something would happen, and she only had a second.
"Take care, Suzy." Iza spoke, but the hum was so loud that she wasn't sure if her words got through her mouth.
And then everything went dark.