They can't stop us (student/teacher)

Chapter 14

"I remember she was screaming at me. About her boyfriend. Something about him breaking up with her but I..." I said in a trembling voice. The officer gave me a reassuring smile and nodded for me to continue. "And. Well. She was up in my face and I was... pressed against the wall but. She- She kept on getting closer-" I said before my voice cracked. The memories I had supressed were hitting me harder than ever as a tear rolled down my face.

"It's okay," the officer said, putting a box of tissues on the table. I glanced at the recording device on the table which said we had been talking for 6 and a half minutes. It felt like 6 and a half eternities. "For the purpose of the tape recording I'm showing Kate image number 3. Kate, is this the woman who attacked you?" he asked.

I looked at the photograph he had slid over to my side of the table, and there was Donna's face. Her ugly mug shot staring at me from the piece of paper it was printed on.

"Yes," I whispered.

"You know her, don't you?" he said.

"Yes. She's my media teacher from college." He smiled and removed the photo from me.

"Can you tell me why you think this woman attacked you? She was shouting about her boyfriend you say? Have you had any contact with him?" he asked.

"Well he's my teacher as well. But it happened on Monday morning so, of course, I hadn't even seen him for a few days," I said, holding the scrunched up tissue in my hand.

"We've been told you didn't have the best relationship with Donna Hardy in college. Is this true?" he questioned.

"No, not really. She always used to glare at me and talk to me like I was beneath her. She has definitely always treated me differently. I admit I did have one outburst at her when she was being particularly nasty because, you know, things build up on top of me and I was pretty tired. It was enough to earn me a detention anyway," I explained as the officer continued to scribble notes. "I know it's not an excuse to speak to a member of staff the at I did but I felt so singled out by her. I felt bullied and under mimed. Afterwards she told me I was just a little girl."

There was a pause. "So do you remember the physical attack? I know it's hard to talk about but can you describe  to me everything you remember?" I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded.

"She was still screaming at me. And she pulled something out from behind her back which I remember looked like a hammer."

"And then she hit you? In the head, yes?"

"Yes," I whispered, more tears spilling over. I saw on his side of the desk more images of evidence. I made out a picture of the hammer and another of my injuries. This did not help me stop crying.

"Okay, I think we have everything we need. I know that was difficult for you so thank you. Recording stopped at 9:48" the officer said, flicking off a button on the device.

I was lead out to my mum who was waiting with a magazine. She put it down and smiled softly.

"Everything okay, Honey?" she smiled sympathetically as she stood up and put her hand on my back. My eyes were red and puffy from crying. I nodded and gave her a small smile before heading to the car. It wasn't a long drive and I think my mum knew I didn't want to do anymore talking after that, so  she put the radio on quietly.

"We're home," my mum called through the house, which was very odd for me. My mum hadn't said that for years. It's always just been us.

"I'm in the kitchen," Rob called back and for some reason, I already felt better. We headed in to see him and he stood at the hob with a tea towel over his shoulder, shaking a sizzling frying pan. "Full English okay for you girls?" he grinned making my mum light up.