Corey Mulligan, The Heart Thief - A Short Story

IV

"Oi look! Now that's someone I haven't seen for a while!"

Madison's blood runs cold. His voice freezes her blood in its tracks. It's Corey- how? She hasn't seen him for over a year, since he moved on from primary school and left her alone for the whole of year six.

Now in her first year of secondary school, she hadn't expected to have to come across her enemy again. He is thirteen, and having grown a lot since they last met, he looms over the small girl with a terrifying look on his face.

"C-Corey? Um... how are you?"

Her new friend, Daisy, looks confused, wondering whether this is a friend of Madison's or not. It is only when the girl's bottom lip quivers with fear that Daisy realises something bad has gone on between the two of them in the past. She stands her ground.

"How are you doing Mads? Still can't afford much I see?"

He points, sneering, at her bag, which though it is new and not too tattered yet, is cheap and tacky, bought in the 70% before school sale in some discount store Madison's mum relies on almost entirely. She casts a sideways glance at Daisy, who looks worried, but hardly about to stand up for her friend. She is just as scared as Corey's victim.

"Go away Corey. Picking on people is just childish."

The girl says this calmly, however there is anger behind her façade, fuelled by six years of nearly constant bullying. The boy snorts with laughter, puffing out his chest and taking another step closer to Madison. He looks threatening, like he could punch her at any moment.

He grabs Madison's coat and pulls it sharply upwards, causing the zip to bite deep into her neck. Both she and Daisy squeal in shock, alerting a couple of adults further up the train.

But before neither Corey nor the concerned onlookers can do anything else, the train screeches to a halt and he leaves the girl's with a snarl.