Death Has Wings

Mental Breakdown In 3...2...1...

The playground was swarming by half past seven. I noticed that Samantha wasn't with Tyrone when he came through the gates. I didn't really care. Callum had made new friends, mostly girls. They were going crazy over his accent because whenever he spoke, I could hear them practically squeal with delight.

Alexandria had gone off to see Samantha. I leaned against the railing and watched everyone. A group of boys were bragging about who got a girl the night before. All of them were lying. Some girls, all blond, were standing in a circle texting. There was this one girl standing by the gates. She looked abandoned. I didn't know why but I felt a pang of sympathy towards her. I decided to go and talk to her, my reason for doing so is something I still cannot remember.

I weaved through the crowd, being careful to not let them touch me. When I got to her the temperature seemed to have risen ten degrees. She glanced up at me, her hands in her pockets.

"Can I help you?" She sounded irritated. I mustered up as much confidence as I could.

"You look like you're waiting for someone..." I said. She shrugged.

"Not really...I don't have any friends at the moment..." She looked at the floor. "I'm new..."

"Oh...well, do you want friends?" We started to walk over to the bench closest to us.

"Of course...I mean, I've never really had friends..." She started to twiddle her thumbs. We reached the bench and sat down opposite each other.

"Me neither..." I pushed back the memories.

"Really? I can't see someone as friendly as you never having friends." She looked at me and smiled. Her eyes were the colour of the sky. I could tell they weren't natural.

"I'm not that friendly to be honest..." I bit the inside of my cheek. Time to change the subject. "So, is that your natural eye colour?" She giggled and shook her head.

"No...I don't like my natural eye colour that much so I wear coloured contacts. I have done since I was nine." She smirked at something. "Oh, by the way, my name's Rachel." She smiled again.

"I'm Clark." My feeling of sympathy was fading fast. I could understand why she didn't have any friends. She talked too much.

"I do not talk too much!" She burst out. She started to blush. "Sorry...I kinda...you might not believe me but...I...I can...I can sense what people are thinking about me..."

"Liar." I mumbled. She tilted her head slightly. "I said liar." I repeated a bit louder.

"W...w...wha-"

"You read my mind. Don't try to deny it. I know you read my mind because you can't sense exactly what someone feels about you, only the basic feelings. Don't get me wrong, I'm okay with the mind reading thing, but just don't try to hide it with some bullshit story that no-one will believe." I got up and left her there, standing in shock. I smirked. It was fun to see people in shock.

*****

"Everyone settle down!" Mr Fredrickson shouted, his voice echoing through the room. Everyone went silent. Alexandria was sitting next to me as usual. "I have some news for you. We have a new head teacher, Mr Bailey." The room was filled with mumbles. This couldn't be true. It couldn't be my father. He was dead.

A tall man wearing a black suit emerged from behind the stage curtain, a grin plastered on his face. He had violent green eyes and neatly cut black hair. There was no denying it. He was my father.

His eyes scanned the room. "Yes, I'm your new head teacher, so be nice to me? I still have a lot to learn about you guys." His eyes rested on me for a minute then returned to scanning. His smile faltered slightly. He whispered something to Mr Fredrickson and walked out. The whole room erupted into a symphony of confusion.

"That's enough!" Mr Fredrickson's voice was full of fury. "Everyone to your lessons now!" No-one needed to be told twice.

*****

I was called out of Maths by Mrs Sears. She wanted to speak to me about what happened to my family.

"So, Clark...I understand that your mum has...passed away..." She looked at the floor, her voice fading at the end. We were walking to the school counsellors office.

"Yes...she's dead...is that all you wanted to talk to me about?" I tried my best to sound hurt.

"No...you have an appointment with the school counsellor..." She opened the door and pushed me in. That annoyed me. She just pushed me into a room with a total stranger. How dare she?

"Hello Clark, I believe you have an appointment with me?" The counsellor said, gesturing for me to take a seat. I sat down. All these questions were pissing me off.

"No, I don't. That's why I'm here." The sarcasm was practically dripping off my words. The counsellor smiled.

"I can see you're a funny one. My name's Adam." His smiled widened. "So, I have reason to believe that you've had some very distressing events happen recently." I rolled my eyes. The sofa was beginning to lull me to sleep. It was so soft, so comfortable. My eyelids began to feel like lead.

"Clark? Have you been sleeping lately?" He grabbed his notepad and pen from in front of him, his sudden burst of movement snapping me out of my trance.

"I haven't slept well since I was born." I really didn't care what I told him. I just wanted to see my father.

"Oh..." He scribbled something down. "What's the most recent night you didn't sleep?"

"Last night." I leaned back. The sofa began to sway a little, as if coaxing me into sleep.

"Hmmm..." He cleared his throat. "Tell me what happened with your mum." I scoffed.

"My mother? You want to know about my mother?" I smiled. "Well, for one she turned a blind eye to all the bruises and broken bones I got from my stepfather." Adam furrowed his brow and make a clicking noise with his tongue.

"Broken bones? Did your stepfather hit you?" Adam sounded concerned. I smiled even more.

"He did more than hit me. He locked me in my room for days on end with no food or water, he threatened to kill me at least twice, he pinned me up the wall by my throat almost everyday..." I took a breath. "Would you like me to carry on?" Adam shook his head and wrote everything down.

"Where is your step-dad now?"

"Gone. I don't care where."

"Okay...I think that's all I need for this session." He clicked his pen.

"What do you mean 'this session'? There isn't going to be any more sessions after this. I won't come anymore." I got up and opened the door. Almost everyone in my year was around the door. I don't care what they heard. Most of the girls had sympathetic expressions on their faces.

"Could you move? You're in my way." I put on my fake voice, the one I used when I was pissed off. They all moved to the sides, letting me through. I headed towards the head teacher's office. I needed to speak to my father.