Casey and Me

Fresh Start

The next day, Mum went up to the school and told them she was withdrawing me immediately. Amongst her many reasons was the fact that I'd been bullied so mercilessly for so many months, and not one teacher had lifted a finger to do anything about it.

This was true. During all the months of Jade's torment of me, no teacher had done anything other than take the path of least resistance and politely ask her to stop. It had taken me nearly losing an eye for them to finally sit up and take notice, but as Mum said, how long would it have been had I not nearly had my eye taken out before something much more serious happened?

Of course, the principal tried to reason with her, telling her that Jade was a "troubled" girl, and she had many issues. This disgusted me beyond words, and when Mum came home, having steadfastly refused to allow me to go back, I shook my head in annoyance. "What the hell is wrong with people?" I demanded. 

Mum sighed. "I have no idea," she said. "It doesn't matter anyway. I'm letting you have the rest of this term off, and then we can start looking for schools over the break. How does that sound?"

That sounded like a perfect idea. The term finished at the end of this week in any case, so I wasn't going to be missing out too much. So I got down to the business of goofing off, my favourite pastime. This also meant I could help Dad in the garage, much to his delight. He loved buying and fixing up old cars and motorbikes, and every chance he got, he settled down to tinkering in the garage, usually with one of the golden oldies radio stations playing in the background. I happily joined him, and Mum started jokingly complaining that she hardly saw either of us now, since we were so busy being wrench monkeys. But I knew she didn't mind. I'd never said so in as many words, but Mum had always known deep down how unhappy and lonely I'd been at school. She and Dad had never questioned or pressed me about the subject, and I never really got too in depth in the days following my departure from school. It was simply too painful to discuss, and since my parents knew me well enough to know I'd explode if pressed, they left me be, which was probably the best thing they could've done for me. 

At the end of the term, Mum got down to the business of looking for a new school for me. Since Jade was the type of person to seek revenge - though she didn't know where I lived, thank goodness! - it was decided that the further away I was, the better. Mr Merten was a well-connected businessman, and even though he'd been angry at his daughter's conduct the day of "the incident", I knew it wouldn't be too long before she'd manipulate him into seeking revenge on her behalf. And since Mr Merten knew a lot of powerful and influential people, it was therefore decided to simply move away, and then go looking for a new school for me. 

Two months later, at the end of June, we left our old, tiny cottage behind, and moved over a hundred miles away. Our new house - a sprawling old farmhouse set on a generous portion of overgrown farmland that was just begging for eager hands to tidy it up - was way out in the country. The only noise we heard was the horns of the hourly trains as they roared up and down the nearby railway line to and from London, and once we got used to it, they became a very reliable way to tell the time. The peace was breathtaking, and the air was so clean and crisp it honestly felt as if we'd moved to another world altogether. 

My favourite part, however, was the night sky. Being out in the country, there was no smog or pollution to block out the stars, and Dad gave me his old telescope so I could do some stargazing. Those long, hot summer nights became a treasured time for me, as I sat perched on the fence, telescope balanced on a very wobbly tripod, studying the stars and picking out those most familiar to me. Mum bought me an astronomy book so I could learn all about the stars I didn't recognise, and soon I became a bit of an amateur expert. It became a ritual every night at supper to tell my parents all about the new discoveries I'd made, and when I went to bed, I felt more content than I had in a long while. 

But there was still school to think about. At the beginning of August, Mum began her search again, and two weeks later, called for me as I was busy weeding the overgrown garden. I dusted my hands off and walked over to the porch. "What's up?"

"I've found a school for you," Mum said, and I nodded, feeling a little bit sad that my freedom was now coming to an end. But I was way behind, and I knew I needed to go back. "It''s about fifteen miles from here, and has boarding facilities. I'm not sure if you want to be there as a boarder or as a day student, so I can take you down there tomorrow and you can see for yourself."

"Fair enough," I said. "Though fifteen miles isn't so bad, you know. If I got a motorbike, I'd be there before you could say, 'Where's the fire, officer?'" 

Mum laughed and tousled my hair. "Come back when you're sixteen and ask me again," she said. "Go on with you. Your dad's got another car, and he desperately needs help. So he says. I think he prefers having that garden unweeded, so long as he can get his latest bucket of bolts fixed up."

I giggled as I went to collect my gardening tools. Though there was still sadness at the thought of going back to school, there was intrigue underneath. A boarding school sounded extremely interesting, and as I trotted over to the shed to see Dad's latest "bucket of bolts", I couldn't help but feel that a boarding school would be better than the torture chamber that had been my old school. At any rate, country kids stuck closer together than town and city kids, and though I'd only been a country kid for a little while, I hoped that i'd be accepted. I didn't really want to walk into a situation that could potentially turn out to be worse than the one I'd left behind.