'I honestly will never understand hateful people. What's in it for you? Where is the reward for holding so much anger and loathing inside of you? Is there even a prize? It all seems so lonely to live that way.'
I shake my head, walking down the deserted street. The chill in the air bites at me, causing me to shiver and pick up my pace. My mind flashes back to the fight and my eye starts to hurt even more.
'The smell of alcohol conquers any other smell in the room. He gets up and walks over, complete rage evident on his face. Squatting down, he grabs my head and forces me to face him. "You low life trash. Stop pretending to be a boy, stop pretending to be gay. You'll never be anything but a bitch, hear me?" He spits onto my shirt and growls quietly, getting up. I keep my head down so he can't see the tears starting to form. His foot suddenly connects with my chest, knocking all of the air out of my lungs. He picks me up and stands me up, laughing maniacally. He swings and his fist connects with my eye.'
The next thing I know, I'm on my back on the pavement with someone calling out to me. A new wave of pain envelopes me. My vision blurs then fades into nothing but darkness.
'He keeps going, making sure he leaves marks on my skin. His laugh isn't full of joy, it's full of anger. It's the bitter laugh that adults have when they're fighting with someone they hate. The punches don't stop coming. He slows the pace of the blows and that's when I notice the knife. I tackle him and snatch it from him. His knee connects to my stomach and I roll off of him. I quickly get up and sprint up to my room. His yells get louder as I shut and lock the door. He starts banging on it and I shove my bookcase in front of it. His threats and insults get even louder as I open my window. Grabbing a bag full of stuff I need to make it on my own for a while, I use an emergency ladder to make my escape. As soon as my feet touch the ground I take off, running as fast as I can away from that house.'
I wake up and all of the pain that I had warded off during sleep came back and tackled me. Once I got used to it, I sat up and looked around. I was in a room I'd never seen before, and a person I've never met was sitting in the corner, looking out of the window.
