Truth vs Rumor

I tried. I tried to hold it in. I tried to ignore them. I tried to cover up the cuts their words sliced in my heart. But I couldn't do it. There were too many of them. Too many people who hated me. And now, I've made it worse. Such a huge thing. Started from a tiny rumor.

It all started on a normal day. A normal day. Normal. This story does not begin with a lethal arrow slicing a heart. Or in an amazing wonderland of joy. Not even in a seemingly simple bedroom. I hate to disappoint, but this story begins at a tiny desk, in a room full of other tiny desks, in a building full of rooms full of tiny desks. In a town, full of buildings, full of rooms, full of tiny desks. It doesn’t get more generic than that.

This tiny desk was not the only thing to catch an observer's eye though, there was a young woman sitting at this desk, scribbling frantically, her loopy handwriting spiraling across the page like a gushing waterfall of words. Her dark-brown hair grazed the surface of the paper as she wrote, frequently being tucked behind one ear by an impatient hand. 

That woman was me, three days ago, before it happened. If I could, I would talk to that woman, shout at her, plead with her, tell her not to do it. She does not know what consequences will follow her actions. She thinks she understands the world. She thinks that good actions mean more than popularity. She thinks that as long as she does the right thing, everything will be okay. She thinks that people will not be as twisted as they are. She thinks that the truth will always be told. That is a lie. I know that now. I regret it more than I can say. But I cannot change it. I can only watch the memory in my mind.

She stood up, and walked towards the door at the front of the room. She knocked. It opened. A large, brown-haired man opened it, and welcomed her inside. She sat down as he closed the door.

"I know what you did." She glared at him.

"I don't know what you mean." His tone was light, but even all the pleasantries could not mask the threat in his voice.

"I think you do. I think you attacked Sadie." She was leaning towards him now, her eyes narrowed further.

"Sadie was a delusional young lady who needed help." His words were kind, but they were wasted by his emotionless tone.

"That's not true, Sadie is perfectly sane, what she says is true." She was at her feet now, her voice rising, her eyes angry.

"No." There was a finality in his voice, but she pressed on.

"You attacked her, then you claimed she was crazy, confess." She leaned towards him, her voice laced with anger and disgust.

"I did nothing of the sort." His voice was calm as the sea on a windless day. Suddenly, he thrust his hand to her shoulder and grabbed a small, black device.

"I thought there would be a hidden microphone., Suddenly his voice was aggressive, "Your too clever for your own good. Now, for your own sake, never speak of this meeting or it's topic to anyone else."

"So you admit it, you lied!" She exclaimed triumphantly.

"Yes, yes. I did it," Something in his face betrayed his nonchalant words, "But nobody is going to believe you." He was smiling now, quite nastily.

"What do you mean?" She looked flustered and confused, "With my word and Sadie's, people will have to believe us."

"Well, you see Miss Liners," His tone was edged with malice, yet still triumph, "Both you and Sadie, are women. Your word is not worth mine."

"How dare you!" She was truly angry now, but it did not quite mask her confusion.

"Don't believe me? Go tell the world your little tale. We'll see who believes you."

Fuming, she stormed from the room, intent on telling the world the truth, but by the next morning, she had already lost. She woke to a consistent buzzing noise, and rolled over to see her phone flashing more than it ever had before. Confused, she looked at it, and the sight made her jump out of bed in shock. Almost everyone in her contacts had messaged her, all texting the same thing:

Is it true?

Her head whirring, she finished her morning routine and opened the door. As soon as she stepped out, her neighbor, stared at her, and turned around, rushing away from her as if she was afraid she had some kind of disease. Panicking slightly, she carried on her route to work.

At work, she finally saw a friendly face, waving at her, smiling as usual. She made her way towards her, but a man stepped in front of her, and whispered something to her. Casting a shocked look at her, she shuffled awkwardly out of her way, steadying to a run away.

Throughout the whole day, people acted oddly, not speaking to her unless it was essential, avoiding her in corridors, whispering in groups, breaking up in silence when she approached.

Finally, she snapped. So much anger had bubbled up in her chest, until she let it out. After a group of people had parted as she tried to join them, she cried out,

"What's going on?!"

Everyone looked awkward. Finally, someone stepped forwards.

"We know now. Why didn't you tell us?"

"What?" she felt like a net was slowly closing in on her, "Tell you what?"

"You don't have to lie anymore... We know you killed those people."

"What?! No. I haven't killed anyone!"

"You only did it because you are mentally unstable?" he seemed as unsure as she was, but unsure of her. It was like he was scared of her.

"No! I didn't- I'm Not mad!" Her words were coming out in gasps now. Now everything made sense, yet it didn't. She knew why they had all avoided her, but why did they think she was mad? Then she saw a large, brown-haired man, smiling a triumphant, smug smirk. Her hands clenched to fists. He had done this.

"He attacked Sadie! She's not mad! No!" But they didn't care anymore. They thought she was mad. They didn't understand.

"I think you need help, Miss Liners. I think you need to visit a hospital." His voice rang across the courtyard, but only she could hear the sneer hidden there.

"NO! no."

So that's where I am now. In the "hospital". It's an asylum. I have never seen Sadie. Nobody has. When I asked for her, they told me she had never come here, but I knew she had. I had seen her here. She's gone now. She's disappeared. I'll disappear. Soon, I'll only be a memory. The memory of a mad girl. A mad girl who knew the truth. A mad girl, only mad because of a rumor. A rumor that ruined her life.