Under The Mask

Chapter 1

The first day is always the worst. I hate it; the constant moving around, the new schools and having to make new friends. My mum is always getting moved around because of her job but she promises me that this is the last time we’re moving. She tells me ‘Niall, I promise we will never move again after this and you can stay at Doncaster College.’ I guess I took her literally this time because of the sincere glisten in her eyes. She wants to keep me safe and keep me protected but she knows how hard it is for me to make friends. It’s bad enough being the new kid, but being the gay new kid makes things ten times worse. The constant bullying and name calling is bearable on the first day but it always carries on day after day. I never make any friends but we’re always moving again before I even lift my chin up to care.

The slight touch of my mum gently shaking my lifeless body is what wakes me up from my deep sleep in the car. “We’re here Niall.” My mum smiles at me but she knows I’m not happy. She can see it in my cold eyes as I give her the same look every single time we move. She knows I love her to pieces and I know she loves me back, but I just hate it that her job means moving all the time. It’s usually every couple of months that we move, but luckily we moved within three weeks from our last house. I hated it. Every single day a new bruise would be added to my collection across my chest and my stomach, my arms and my legs and last but not least, my face. But that’s me, that’s Niall James Horan. I am the guy who is repeatedly bullied because of one simple thing; I like boys over girls and people just can’t seem to accept that.

I am glad though that we moved away from our last house because the bullying was horrific. It was a lot worse than it usually is and almost the whole school would chase me home. As soon as I left those gates at school I would run. I would run as fast as I possibly could to get behind the safety of my front door; to get away from the pain and the madness.

With my earphones plugged I drag myself and my bag to the front door of the house. The front entrance opens up into a large hallway with four doors; two doors on each side of the hallway. I slip my shoes off and my feet come into contact with the smooth mahogany floor. The house is painted quite dully, with the walls mainly painted a slightly golden colour which looks rather unattractive. Infact, I hate it. The walls don’t go well with the dark, mahogany floor at all.

I open the first door on my left, peering inside before opening the door fully. The open room has two large windows and easily enough room for two large sofas. Even though me and mum move around a lot, our houses that we move too aren’t cheap. We aren’t poor; my mum works really hard to provide for me and her. I appreciate all she does for me, I really do, but my mood around her and my mood in general seems to give her the wrong impression sometimes. I’m 17 but sometimes I feel 11 when I run into my mum’s arms. As childish as it sounds, she knows exactly what calms me down after a long day, and she knows how badly I am bullied sometimes.

I walk around the edge of the room staying away from the windows and brushing my hand across the walls as I walk. The wallpaper is smooth and actually matches the white, fluffy carpet laid down. With my bare feet I rub the soft carpet in between my toes, feeling the gentle carpet comfort my feet. I walk to the door on the opposite side of the room and again, open it slightly, peering in before I open it fully.

The spacious kitchen has a beautiful granite island in the middle with two stools at one side of it. ‘Perfect’ is all I can think. All we need is two stools and a lot of room. Me and mum get carried away sometimes when we bake on the weekends. It’s the one thing that brings us even closer than we are now and I really enjoy it. We make allsorts; from small cookies to huge cakes, decorated with precision and delicacy. There is always a special feeling inside of me when we finish baking because I know mum enjoys it too, and tasting what we have made is just so rewarding.