disturbing the universe

00.

"do i dare disturb the universe?" she questioned. the door was in front of her. the doorknob was just under her hand. the world was at her fingertips. the temptation was beyond overwhelming. "i suppose i shall."

she twisted the doorknob. she stepped through the doorway. and her life was never quite the same. no one is ever quite the same after they disturb the universe. every pain, every hardship, every persecution that has happened and ever will come to be suddenly makes sense. it all makes sense. or, at least, it would. the first step was always the hardest, but she still had a long way to go.

she entered a world unlike any other. it looked like a regular classroom. a crowd of people sat in desks. they smiled. "welcome," they said. "glad that you could make it!" they shouted. "this'll change your life!" they exclaimed. but not a word had been spoken. they all looked as dead as she felt. she slid into a desk. she looked to the front of the room. the woman at the podium grinned at the students. it looked more like a grimace than a smile. and she said, "welcome to y-club. are you ready to change the world?"

half-hearted cheers rang out. she didn't make a sound. the woman at the podium stared at her. and she asked, "what about you, belle? are you ready?" every pair of eyes stared at her. they waited.

"i mean, i guess," belle said.

the woman raised an eyebrow. if she had wanted a more enthusiastic response, she should've asked someone else. surely she must've known that? the woman looked back at the crowd of students and said, "for those of you who don't know who i am, my name is miss grayson. i am the advisor of this club."

the kid in front of belle raised his hand. before he could be called on by miss grayson, he asked, "what even is this club?"

"it's a community service based club that works with the ymca. it doubles as our state's youth in government program," belle said. miss grayson stared at belle. belle stared back. "we had one at my middle school."

miss grayson smiled. this time, it almost looked like a sneer. belle wondered if the woman could only look disgusted. "oh, so you're familiar with y-club? well, that brings me to my next item of business: officer elections. anyone who wants to run should see me after the meeting ends." she stared at belle. "you should run for president, belle."

her face could've been seen a mile away. it was so red, she was sure that it could've been used as a police siren. "uh, i mean, i guess," she said.