"It's all Abby's fault!"

You feel a stab of guilt the moment the words fly free, but it's too late to take them back. Samantha nods sadly and squeezes your shoulder as you are racked with regret. You turned in...whatever Abigail was to you. It's a moot point now, because she definitely won't want anything to do with you after you ratted her out. You hope nothing too awful happens to her and you add, "But I think she just made a mistake! With more time, and the right influences, I think she'll be ready for more freedom."

Samantha smile is strained as she responds, "I'm glad you still have hope. I agree that the culpable party isn't ready for her freedom yet, and I also hope she sees that." You nod along with every word, feeling a wretched sense of relief that Samantha is on your side.

And then the other heel drops as Abigail walks in and sits right down next to Samantha. You notice a lack of restraints on her wrist and a surprising amount of restraint as she announces, "I've got some bad news, Amy. I'm a plant. I tested off the charts when I got here and they saw me as a great opportunity to keep an eye on the new girls that needed more help adjusting. Mostly I was supposed to keep an eye an Polly, but I have to say you sure made my job harder with all your help."

You are stunned, but far from silent, venting your spleen, "You made my job harder?! Who was ready to get me jumped by the Donnas? Who was ready to feed me to Polly's fuck furniture?! Who told me you'd get me in trouble if I didn't sneak out with you?! You just spent your time playing games and getting gang banged while I helped all your friends!"

Samantha goes from motherly to mother bear, rising up red faced and ready to rip your head off. Abigail just places a finger on her wrist as a gentle reminder and she sighs and sits down, throwing her hands in the air as if to say, 'you deal with this bitch.' You seem to have lost your sympathetic audience, and yet Abigail seems to somehow still have a softness in her voice as she answers your accusations, "Well if you must know, I had been keeping the Donnas from trying to turn you into their stall **** since you performed for them with no objections. When I thought you were ready for them, I gave you a chance to pass or fail. Same with Polly. Remember, you are here because you effectively chose to commit soul suicide and willingly enslave yourself to a dumb jock. If you are ever going to be free, we need to be sure you won't do it again. If that meant you letting Polly fuck you brainless, that's what I'd have to do to keep my cover. As for going out, you could have turned me in before I left. After all, you certainly didn't mind ratting me out to save your skin today."

You feel like you just got kicked in the gut with a steel toed shoe. You thought you had made so much progress, but now you're discovering that without Abigail, you might not have made it past the first day. It shatters you. You sit trembling and freezing and feverish all at once. Abigail, again with a kindness you can't fathom her feeling for you, reaches out and holds the hands Samantha has long since let go. "Look. I know this is hard to hear. I know it feels like you are playing catch up on a treadmill sinking in quicksand. I went through most of my work before I was ever infected, because I knew all these things about myself through a lot of really gnarly fuck ups. I've hurt people too, and I've made things worse by trying to help too, and I've backslid and botched and bungled my way into learning enough to live on. I agree with what you said earlier. YOU just made a mistake! With more time, and the right influences, I think you'll be ready for more freedom."

Samantha softens and says, "See? That's why I love this gal. She can even teach a softie like me a thing or two about forgiveness. So...let's be clear. My final assessment is over all positive. You have helped several students make personal breakthroughs and you've come a long way in a short period of time. I think it shows great progress that while you made a similar mistake as you did at your fateful party, you picked yourself up in the morning and were ready to try again. Ultimately, you failed the Accelerated Learning track that we were hoping you would meet and be able to join the full campus, but I do firmly believe that you can learn from this and come back stronger than ever."

You are a wreck by the time she finishes telling you the news. You are surprised that Abigail is the first to throw her arms around you and whisper, "It's gonna be okay, Amy. You're gonna get there. I'm not even mad at you...mostly. Tell you what, give me a call when you graduate and I'll buy you a coffee." You continue to sob on her shoulder, as much for how much you will miss her in quarantine as you do for coming so close and failing in the end...

Then again, this isn't the end of your story, just the end of a chapter. You dry your eyes and look deep into Abigail's so she knows you mean it when you promise, "I'll do that. I'm sorry I blamed you for my mess. I promise I won't do it again...I hope. I keep fucking up, but I'm not going to let that stop me from trying to do better. I'm gonna prove I can take care of myself, prove I can be let out safely, and prove I can love and be loved."

Abigail smiles, "Well you don't have to prove the last one. As I said in your file, that's one thing you don't need any help with. Hell, you could probably teach a class on keeping an open heart even after it's been broken. I'm sorry I broke your heart this time. I hope next time around we both do better." She kisses you softly on the forehead and lets you go. She leaves shortly after and Samantha stats to sort out the remaining paperwork and policies going forward. You do your best to follow her, but even she seems to be going through the motions at this point. She gives you a binder full of rules and regulations bigger than your head and uncuffs you so security can escort you back to your dorm.

It's so lonely and empty inside...or is that just you? Regardless, you decide to see this as not yet another bad ending, but hopefully a...