Storytime

Chapter 6~ Games

After a few hours of darkness, my eyes finally open. Just as it was before I blacked out, my dad enters the front door. At first, I don't recognise any differences. But then, it clicks.
"Dad, where's Josie? And Daun?" He pushes past me and heads up the stairs.
"Dad?"
"Shut up you worthless little slut." He grunts and stomps upstairs, anger being the only feeling coming across to me. Stunned, I stand and move away from the staircase.
"But my dad loves me..." I murmur.

As my suspicions rise, I hear a burst of arguing erupt, coming from my parents bedroom. Raised voices stream from the bedroom, the only thing I hear being my name, being used in a sickly manner. Confused, I head up the stairs, into the bedroom.
"What's going on?"
"I could ask you the same question, little Missy." Mum says, a rough tone in her voice.
"You never argue."
"What makes you think you can come in here?"
"You're my parents."
"Yeah, and we're sincerely regretting that now." She scoffs.
"I thought you were proud of me."
"Proud of you? You're a useless, worthless, stupid idiot. I wish you weren't my daughter. You are no daughter of mine."
"But Mum..."
"Get out." She says sternly
"Mum..."
"GET OUT!" She yells. Without a moment of hesitation, with the tears stinging in my eyes, I rush out of the bedroom. Before I am out of reach of their voices, my mum shouts one last thing to me.
"And I am not your mother! You can count yourself out of this family!" Shocked, I back away from the bedroom towards the stairs. She just disowned me. My own mother. And my father. My heart pounds and as I am backing away, I trip and tumble backwards down the stairs. I hit my head on the cabinet at the bottom and groan. I have no home now so, ignoring the blood dripping down the side of my head, I run out the front door and down the road. I NEED to find Josie.

Walking down the road, I bump into Daun. Her shoulder nudges me, but not in the friendly way. She looks back at me and frowns, then turns and walks away.
"Hey Daun wait up!"
"What do YOU want?"
"What's happened? Where's Josie?"
"How should I know?"
"Because you were with her a minute ago."
"You must be delusional. Huh,well, no more than usual."
"What're you talking about? I'm your friend."
"You? Friends? With me? Ha, in your dreams, loser." She walks away without a second word and, just before she turns the corner, I hear her burst out laughing. What the hell is going on?

Entering the school is like entering a nightmare. Not even bothering to hide it, everyone bursts out laughing as I walk down the corridors. Ashamed, I look down at the floor to hide the tears of a coward that lie embarrassingly in my eyes and my eyes alone. One of the only things that hasn't changed is the position of my locker. Ha, how much I wish it had. As I reach it, I let my thoughts carry my mind away from the corridor.
This is a dream. It has to be. It must be. It's the only explanation. I'm the liked one. I'm the laughing one. I'm-
My thoughts are cut off by the sudden pain shooting through my head. As I pull myself back into reality, I realise why. A boy, red hair and brown eyes, has thrown me against the lockers opposite and is holding me by the collar.
"Illeya Febrero." Finally, someone know my name!
"Erm, hi?"
"Don't say a word!" He strengthens his grip and bangs me against the lockers again.
"Get her boys!" A big group of boys, who are much stronger and bigger than me, come towards me, a threatening look lying in their eyes. They all smirk and each one comes and attacks me in some physical form. Punching, kicking, slapping, headbutting, anything. Finally, after what seems like hours of torture, the bell rings and the boys lay off me. In a worse state than I ever have been, I collapse to the corridor floor, beaten and bruised, blackened and bleeding, battered and bewildered.

My legs refuse to move even an inch and I lie defenceless and vulnerable on the ground for at least an hour. Judging by the bells, more. Then the torturous piercing ring of the bell that signifies the end of morning lessons echoes throughout the school and crowds of people burst through the classroom doors and out into the corridors. That includes the group of boys that beat me up originally. Unsurprisingly, they come to target me again. This time, no words are spoken. Only actions are taken. The abuse is worse this time. I hear my nose crack and my head is thrown back several times. They pick up my legs and drag me across to the other side of the corridor. You might be wondering why no one has noticed. For one thing, the other students don't care. It happens every day, nothing new. Teachers only monitor the outsides of the school where most of the teens hang. So, I am left in the hands of the boys, who just happen to be the wrong hands.

At the end of the attack, I fall unconscious, again. Waking up is no comfort whatsoever. The first thing I see is two teachers conversing above me, glancing over at me occasionally. When they notice I'm awake, their conversation stops abruptly and they put a hand out for me. As it happens, I notice that it is not two teachers. One of the people is a man that I've never seen before, only been told stories about.
"Uncle?"
"Hello, Illeya."

As he pulls me up, he pulls me in for a hug. I wince as he touches the most painful parts of me.
"Oops, sorry Illeya."
"It's okay."
"Now, would you like to come into the office with us?" The teacher says.
"Am I in trouble?" I sound like a child.
"No. We would just like to talk about some things." I clear my throat.
"Yeah, sure." My voice still shakes but that is expected. After all, I've just been beaten up. But all I can think of as I am taken into the office is: This is a game. It has to be. I know it's not a dream, it's definitely real. This is some sick game. Take me out of it. Please. I don't think I can handle another bearing. And anyway, how did I ever deserve this. I...
And then it hits me. The real reason I'm here. It's time for the bully to become the bullied.