22. Accepting Defeat and Defying

I wheezed as I sprinted towards the residence. The evening had already crept in, making the trees appear inky and brooding. When I had rushed out of the room, I didn’t see Helen on my way out and I was relieved. I didn’t want her to see my tear-stained face and humiliated self. I stopped just a few feet away from the door that led back to the residence, surrounded by high walls and rules. The place where people considered me as their Luna. I planted my hands above my knees and bent slightly, gulping in some much-needed breath. My heart was still drumming wildly, my body was sweat-drenched and my face was an open book of the disgrace that I had just been subjected to. 

However, the familiar dull ache in my stomach, the itchy feeling, the haze was all coming back. My vision blurred. I straightened up, but my feet felt wobbly. I swayed and suddenly collapsed on the forest grounds. I sat b