Scars

I opened my eyes to the blinding light that shone through the curtains. As I rose from my bed I got a chill down my spine as if something was meant to happen that day. I sat in bed thinking for a while before I realised, it was my first day of high school. I got out of bed wondering what high school would be like. Whilst I was eating breakfast I started to wonder how much different high school would be to primary school.

As I pulled up to school started to feel nervous.

"I don't know anyone" I said to myself as I got out of the car.

When I walked into school it was dead silent, barely a sound was made by anyone there. I had no place to put my bag at this time, so for a while I walked around making a few trips to the drink fountain before finding a nice spot near the steps. I began to feel a little less nervous as the school began to fill up.

When the bell went we got our own lockers and then moved off to class. The first calls I had was English with Mr Loewe. The first thing he asked us to do was say our name and something about ourselves. I was one of the last as my surname is Vickers. When my name was called I was very nervous and I had begun to shake. When I got up I was very nervous and unsure of what was going to happen.

"Um... Hi my name is Chris and I collect old and new Nintendo items for a hobby." I said with an obvious shake in my voice.

As I began to sit down the kid sitting behind me pulled out my chair and I hit the ground with a thud. A small yelp escaped my mouth. The whole class erupted into laughter. I got back onto the chair bright red in embarrassment. It took Mr Loewe time to get the class to settle however, when he did the rest of the class went very smoothly.

The rest of the day went fine until the end of the day when I bumped into the kid who pulled out my chair in English.

"Oh, sorry" He said.

"For what?" I replied feeling a little puzzled.

"For when I pulled out your chair in English." He said looking at the ground obviously feeling a little ashamed of himself.

"Oh it's alright" I replied with a smile.

"Um... I'm Daniel by the way." He said as he put his hand out hoping he would get a handshake.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Chris" I replied as I shook his hand.

I went home that day feeling very happy with myself.

The next few days went well, I had a friend so we talked all the time. It all stopped when 'he' came to school. His name was Richard. He had obviously come from primary with a couple of his friends as he had friends as soon as he walked into school. It became apparent he didn't like me not long after he had come to the school.

The first thing he did was, this one lunch time he came up to Daniel and I with his friends, the conversation started off quite friendly,

"Hi I'm Richard" He said with a grin on his face

"Ok, nice to meet you I'm Chris." I replied cautiously not know what to expect.

"Ok well, bye" He replied with his friends laughing as they walked off.

As he walked off he turned around and tackled me to the ground. Both of his friends stood back and laughed, Daniel on the other hand helped me get out of the mess. Once I managed to be free from Richard's arms I walked off. Leaving him lying on the floor.

"What's his problem?" I said to Daniel as I walked off.

This happened many times and each time the same result was reached, until one day when Daniel wasn't at school and Richard tackled me. Except, this time both of his friends joined in. This fight lasted longer than any of the others. It seemed no matter how much I squirmed nothing seemed to change. The fight lasted about five minutes before I had enough room to punch something. If felt like flesh I had no idea if it was but I punched something. I must have hit Richard as he got up crying in agony. The other two stopped soon after. That was the last time he ever tackled me. I could tell he was plotting something, every time I saw him he would have a big grin on his face then talk to his friends very excitedly.

Apart from some name calling the next few terms went relatively calmly until one day in fourth term. It was the middle of the term we both had to talk about some excursion we had gone on earlier on in the year. I was up first. I knew something was not quite right when I saw James and Anton looking very happy with themselves. I began to feel anxious, all of my sentences eventually slurred into one. I began to fidget in panic. I was relieved when I finished my speech, but relief quickly turned to agony. As I was walking of stage I felt a tug on my pants and before I know it my pants were at my ankles and I'm lying on the floor. The whole school erupted into laughter, all 1000 or so students, laughing at me. I had gone bright red by this point, I was on the verge of tears. I pulled up my pants and calmly walked to the door, once I had left the doors, I began running had no idea where I was going to go, just away. I decided to go to the bathrooms. I had no idea what to do for a few minutes I just paced. I eventually stopped and looked at my tear covered face in the mirror. I look down and look back, on everything that had happened. All the tackles, the names and the constant smirks.

"Why!? Why me? I see nothing, no hope, just a bottom less pit!" I yelled shaking.

I looked up and stared at my face, watching the tears roll down. I turned around to more pacing, when I felt a wall of rage run through me. I turned and punch the mirror it shattered with a loud crack. I looked at the pieces of glass and studied them, their shape, their points, their edges. I bent down and pick one up. I looked at my cracked reflection and see some blood on that edges. I then looked at my hands and they were covered in cuts. I slowly walk backwards and find the bench. I sat down and lent forward resting my arms on my legs. I remained looking at the glass. I lifted up my left arm to and turn it over to expose my palm. I put the glass to my wrist and slowly slid from one side to the other. I did this two more times before Daniel came into the bathroom. He found me resting my head against the wall losing consciousness.

"What have you done!?" He yelled in panic.

"I don't know, I don't know" I said softly not quite sure what I was saying.

The tears continued to stream down my face. The last sound I heard was Daniel running out yelling for help.

I woke three days later to the light shining through the window. I lifted my head to have a look at my surroundings, all the chairs were empty and the window next to my bed was open and letting the breeze through. I looked at my left arm, it had a cast on it, there was a watch drawn on it, the only sign anyone had visited me. I put my arm back down and had a little rest. I was woken to a shuffle in my room. When I opened my eyes and looked around, there Daniel was sitting in the chair patiently.

"Hey" I said with a very coarse voice.

"Oh hey, how do you feel?" He asked with a small smile on his face.

"Uh, fine," I replied letting out a little.

"Um, anyone else here?" I asked looking around at the room.

"Yeah, your Mum just went to the gift shop." He replied looking out the door.

"Oh OK"

We continued talking for a few more minutes when Mum came in and gave me a kiss and a hug. She puts some roses on the table. Daniel and Mum stay until the visiting hours ended. Mum left the same way she came in, by giving me a hug and a kiss. Daniel just waved as he left. I look out the window and fell asleep.