Birbs

Chapter One

April 12, 1991
I looked at my reflection in the car window. Once again battered and beaten, but worse this time. Cheek swollen, nose broken, and half my body covered in purple and black hues. Dried blood was dotted across my face and smeared at my nose. My own blood.

   I'm not the kind of person to start a fight. Not the kind that would bully and beat a kid. I'm not even a problem child. I didn't have failing grades. I was the opposite of all of those.

  The target. The one that gets slammed into a locker and locked inside. The one who is picked last on every team. And believe it or not, I probably have had more bloody noses than the person who takes photoshops for summer wear.

"Hunter darling?" I turned to face my mother, she looked worried and angry. "I'm not going to try and say things like "it'll get better or "try making friends with them". What they did is horrible and I'm moving you out of that high school and placing you in a new one."  I gave her a half faked smile. "I can't promise you kids will treat you differently, but don't tell them your little secret. A lot of people don't support it my little Firecracker." She smiled to herself as we pulled into our drive way. "How about I make you my famous meal and crack open a tub of ice cream? You gotta celebrate leaving school right?"

Mom always looked on the good side of things. She said that's what dad first noticed about her, well right after her orange hair that I just happen to inherit. Your kid gets his nose busted and you plan to make him celebrate leaving school with ice-cream. You'll only hear that from her.

_______________________________________

I sat cross legged on the floor, holding a bowl of ice cream to my face. "Sweetie it's going to melt if you keep doing that!" Mother said as she handed me a bag of ice. "Thanks mom..." I brought the bowl down and rested the ice on my face, while I started the eat the mostly melted frozen treat.

"Hunter?" I turned to my mom.
"Yeah mom?"
"Why didn't you tell me this was happening already? Why did you tell an adult?" I looked down and shrugged.
"Don't shrug at me. I'm your Mother and I worry, please just tell me." She looked teary eyed.
"It was only a three people at first...teasing me because my hair and dad..." I took a deep breath and turned away from her. "Then when I told the guys they started to tease me and beat me up too...just not in a group...I didn't want to tell on anyone they said it'll just be worse if-F I did.."

My mom grabbed my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "If anyone gives you trouble at the new school tell me or make a friend who does support it."  I nodded and got up, handing her my bowl. "Next time we talk about this tell me the whole story." She said as I started to walk to my room.

_______________________________________

I sat on my bed looking at the glow stars on my ceiling, I never really grew out of looking them to be honest. My nose still hurt from early and I'll have to wait till tomorrow to get it reset. "This sucks..." I said to myself as I sat up. "Meow." My cat replied as it walked in.  He was old so it ruffly took him a few seconds to make the short distance to my bed, but I waited. "Hi Holly." She jumped up on my desk and nudges the picture of my friends. Well my used to be friends. "Holly be careful! Don't knock anything off at a-" she knocked the pictures off along with a few pencils. "Meow." She looked at me and jumped to my bed, starting to need my pillow.

I sighed and bent down, picking up the pencils and picture and placing the pencils on my desk. While I kept my picture in my hand. They were my friends and they betrayed me...They even went as far to tell the person that hates me about it, and help him beat me up. I clenched the fragile glass so hard part of it cracked in my grasp, I winced as tiny blood slashes formed on my fingers and out of is it instinct I dropped it. Causing the shattered pieces to spread across the floor and partly into the trash.