"What is wrong with you?! Do you have any idea what he will do to her once she gets back?! Do you realize you might have just ruined the rest of her life?! I'm not exaggerating! Riley's life as we know it might be over this very moment! And it's all because you couldn't keep it in your pants! How could you do this to her?! What is it gonna look like when she gets back home?! If she gets back home?! What were you having in plan for even later today?!"

This was how Fear lashed out at Anger, from the bottom of his heart. It came to him naturally.

"Her dad is not gonna forgive her any time soon! Maybe not for the rest of her life! What are you gonna do about that?!"

Anger just stood and listened.

After Fear was done, it was his turn to speak.

"You do realize what the alternative was, right?" Anger said, quite calmly.

Fear was concerned with this.

"...And what would that be?"

"That she hadn't done that," Anger answered. "That she had never done that. And as a consequence, that she would spend the rest of her life knowing she never did it. That she never gave her dad a piece of his medicine. And that, by not doing anything about it, she'd make him think that what he did was completely right."

There was a second of complete silence.

Then, Fear made a devastatingly designate:

"UGH!" and stepped back, facepalming.

"In Anger's defence," Ennui suddenly spoke, "Riley is feeling better now."

Another second of silence.

"You can't be serious," Sadness told her.

Joy watched all this from behind, being unnoticed, still devastated from what she had seen.

Unlike a little earlier that morning, every step that Riley took now felt like she was taking a hundred of those.

No amount of distance travelled that morning was something she could possibly have perceived as "too much".

Never, ever, in her entire life, did she feel like she could take on any given person she would encounter, and only feel more confident afterwards - not as vehemently as right then and there.

The main thought as she kept walking, though, wasn't how much closer to school she was getting.

It was how much farther from the house.

She thought for a moment she might look behind her, just to see exactly how much she'd gotten away from it.

But she chose not to.

It wasn't how far she was getting away that mattered to her - truth be told, though, the farther, the much better.

Just that she was getting away.

"So now what?" Fear asked again. "Is she just gonna walk all the way to school, be late for class, get scolded by whichever teacher she's supposed to have first class, and then..."

He realized what felt organic for him to say next. That's exactly why he stopped mid-sentence.

"And then what?" Disgust continued for him. "Let Anger do his thing on that Eileen girl?"

"That's my concern exactly!" Fear finished.

"I don't see why," Anger interrupted him. "I said my job is done here."

"Yeah, I think so too!" Disgust exclaimed.

Someone else interrupted them at that moment, too.

"You might have forgotten something else," Anxiety uttered.

Nearly everyone else turned, slowly, to her.

"And what is that?" Envy asked.

"The people at school might have already found out... what Riley did."

The emotions that had turned to her gulped at the realization that what Anxiety had just said might actually be completely true.

"Well then..." Fear felt the need to ask, "...what is your plan, in that case?"

Riley had passed by a park, which was empty at the moment; two puddles filled with water, neither of which she stepped on; and two semaphore crossings, which she both crossed during a red light, not even thinking about paying attention to her surrounding.

Staring at the ground the entire time.

After way more than enough time, she recognized the few specific tiles on the sidewalk. And she lifted her head.

Directly in front of the school, she was. Well, on the opposite side of the street.

For a long, long while, she just stared at the school. Its entrance the least.

Did she really, really want to put up with all of it for another day?

The moment she entered, she would have to endure all those miserable classes. Nothing of value would happen in those classes.

Then, she would probably encounter Eileen again. Whether that pathetic excuse of a girl had even considered modifying her attitude, didn't matter to Riley. She never wanted to see her filthy face for the rest of anything.

And sooner or later - both of which she'd think of as far too soon - she would be forced to the principal's office, to hear the principal showcase that she genuinely, gullibly believed that there was a far nicer way that the incident with Eileen could have been resolved.

And eventually, she would get forced to apologize to her.

Why would she apologize? She wasn't sorry.

Chances are, in fact, the principal herself too knew that Riley wasn't sorry for what she'd made happen.

Why listen to the principal spew out the phrases that even she herself didn't believe in?

Why perceive that whole talk, that she was supposed to believe she'd have to endure, as anything other than an abysmal waste of time?

And probably not just time.

"Is she just gonna stand there?" Sadness wondered out loud.

"No," Anxiety answered, and pressed a button.

And Riley did the only thing that seemed logical to her.

She kept walking down the street. In the same direction she was going.

Away.