The Dragon In the Cupboard

I

Waking up next to a dead sheep wasn't completely the expectation of morning, but that's what I got. There was a chunk taken out of it, dried blood covering my mouth and arms. I shook the dirt out of my hair and stood up, the animals feasting on the carcass from the side that wasn't facing me scuttling away quickly with the disturbance I caused, leaves puffing upwards as I moved lazily towards my pile of clothes. I pulled a leaf out of my hair as my phone went off, it's ringing pulsing into my head from under my pants. I pulled my shirt over my head and slipped the rest of my clothes on, bra and phone in hand as I left the cave I had managed to get myself stuck in last night, walking barefoot straight into wet high grass. It was barely light out and I knew I'd have to get back to the school dorms before my roommate woke up or I'd get reported for leaving past curfew.
The headache sending me places made the walk back to the academy even more difficult than planned, my feet crunching on gravel and asphalt as I took the main road near the farm below the cave I had crashed in, agonizing over the next six miles I'd have to walk as I chastised myself on what happened last night.

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"I'm 18, I shouldn't need a curfew," Jonah huffed, throwing things around in her room as her roommate Tilly watched her storm about, her side of the abode completely spick and span while Jonah's half was... disheveled at best.
"Well you can't just leave," Tilly protested, glaring me down as Jonah plopped onto her mattress. "I don't care how drunk you want to get or how hurt you're feeling right now; if the headmistress finds out you left, i'll get in trouble with you."
"You're a prick," Jonah mumbled out, pulling her phone out and going through all of the text receipts her newly-minted ex had sent her, explaining how she "couldn't handle" all the ridicule she was getting for dating her and that they should have never even gotten together in the first place. "She didn't even give me a fucking chance, dude.."
"Just go to sleep, Morgan. I really can't handle your bullshit right now," Tilly laid down and turned the room light off, the darkness engulfing the both of them effortlessly.
Tilly's snores filled up the empty space of the room, covering the gentle floor creaks that the wood under Jonah made as she padded over to the window and opened it up, crawling out onto the window ledge and skydiving off of it. The dead of night was pierced with the sound of breaking bones tearing through muscle and flesh, reforming and elongating into a pair of wings blacker than the sky, whatever light visible reflecting off of them in a pearlescent fashion.
It was near midnight, the city's clock inching towards its destination slowly but surely, and the lights of the town were all out; it was a city of sleeping people and the world's last dragon flew above it.
Rounding over a night bar, Jonah gazed down at the miniscule people below her, and hate filled her stomach; despite all the stares and judgement and ridicule, she would not kill these people. No matter the cost, she would tell herself to keep going, a body that belonged to her covered in the last pieces of her species - if she killed now, there would be no future to give.
So she flew past everything; over bars and nightclubs, townhouses and high rises. By the time the sound of midnight rang through the city, she was touching down over a small farm and into a swollen sheep's pen.

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After six miles of walking in the cold, early morning weather I had finally managed my way back to the academy, gazing up at my bedroom window. Wings out and face up, I flew myself onto my windowsil and opened the latch, one leg through the entrance when I heard a cough interrupt my stealth.
As I looked up, I immediately turned my attention to the open doorway; there, standing with crossed arms and a vein ready to pop out of her neck, was Headmistress Kim. With her eyes trained diligently on me, she was faster than a rattlesnake when she pulled me into the room and down the hall; straight into the elevator and down to her pristine - yet predictable - wood panel office. There, the yelling began.
"What were you thinking, Jonah?! You could have been seen," her voice boomed against the walls of the room, causing me to visually wince. "I took you in because I had faith in you, I believed in you. You are the last known living member of the dragon race - that means something to the magical community. You can't just go and do as you please willy nilly because of some stupid girl."
I sat in the office chair, my eyes shut as I took in a deep breath. "Headmistress, I am sorry for my actions-"
Before I could finish, Madam Kim cut me off. "Look at me, Jonah," And so I looked straight into her eyes. "I love you. You are like my own child. I value your existence as a leader of your clan and as an individual. When I took you in, I saw promise - I still do. However, I must make an example of you. This is the last time I tolerate such reckless actions; henceforth, you are suspended from The Academy of Magis until further notice. I will send representatives from the school to make sure you are kept in the loop with your classes. But, if I find out that you even took a step onto my school grounds, I will personally humiliate you for breaking my trust."
I was immediately ushered off campus, Madam Kim watching as I was escorted out past the front gates. I didn't even make the effort to turn back - I've gotten into trouble for leaving in the middle of the night so many times that, at this point, her blank stare was uniform. I walked straight to the house across the street; it was a amalgam of old, rotted wood and beautiful, silk cushions. It was my home away from home - something that stupid dorm could never achieve.
With the raising of a doormat and the shove of a door, I was in my house. There was barely any dust on the inside, my last cleaning spree pretty recent. However, the minute I set foot on the creaky floors, I went to the kitchen to check the fridge; it was just how I had left it. There were ice cubes in the freezer with a bucket of vanilla ice cream; there was a pint of nearly expired milk; chocolate sat in the vegetable drawer with a bag of carrots. In the pantry were three cans of string beans, some saltines and a box or two of pasta; there was barely anything left.
I sat down in one of the reclining chairs, thoughts spiraling through me. But the single thought that badgered and perplexed me... "why do none of my relationships last?"