Meg: Freak
I look around my little room and sigh. Time to leave for another long, tedious, boring day at school. I look at my mattress on the floor, neatly made up like I’d left it. I’d give anything to spend the rest of the day in it. I look at my desk/dresser, with makeup, pens and paper strewn across it. I’d love to stay here and draw, or write all day. I look at the fairy lights hung round the walls, softly illuminating the room. I look at the alcove in the wall, where I have a few shelves of books. I sigh again, walk out of my room and lock the door behind me, putting the key right on top of the doorframe. My little sister, Cally, can be a menace when I’m gone. I go to my mum’s room, where I know she’ll still be asleep. I kiss her cheek, trying not to wake her, and go through to the tiny, grubby kitchen/lounge/bedroom. Cally has her mattress on the floor there. I know my dad will have left already, taking Cally to school with him. She has to be at school early because she made the junior school swim team and has to do practice every morning.
I lock the flat behind me, and slip the key into my bra. I know it’s a weird place to keep a key, and it’s cold and uncomfortable all day, but you can never be too careful. I live in the rough part of town, in a small, shabby council flat, on Larkrise Estate. With a name like Larkrise, you’d picture larks singing, flying round a nice village with pretty little bungalows, vines growing outside them. Instead, you get block after block of council flats, rising a hundred and sixty feet into the air, a few scabby pigeons pecking round the equally shabby skate park, with graffiti on all the ramps.
I stop in front of the lift, taking a small sniff inside. Someone has pissed in it, yet again. Seventy six stairs for me then. Oh well. At least I get some exercise from it.
I finally reach the bottom and walk out of the doors. I roll my eyes. Only the Hinchcliffs would be out at this time already. The Hinchcliffs are three brothers, one sixteen, same age as me, one seventeen and one eighteen. All three of them go to my school, but they usually swagger in late. They all have a wild, ferocious look about them, all tall and rangy, thick, long straggly hair, and violent dark eyes. They’re out on their skateboards, and I have to admit, they’re pretty good. They’re wearing only dark trousers, and their torsos are big and muscly. They wear no shoes and their feet are big, with elongated toes. Jake, the youngest, has a roughly carved wooden cross on a leather thong round his neck. Morgan, the middle one, has a rusty silver chain round his neck, and Lorcan, the oldest, has a few thread bracelets round his wrist. They never take these off, and they seem to be the most prominent of their features. Jake, Morgan and Lorcan are something of a local mystery. The three boys had suddenly appeared from nowhere, rented the flat next to ours out, and no one knew where they came from and they never talk to anyone about it.
Jake catches me looking, because he yells “Hey beautiful!” out to me raucously. Me, beautiful? The boy’s got to be mentally deranged. I mean, I’m nothing special. Shoulder length, straight brown hair. Black eyes. Average height. Average weight. I’m not even dressed nicely, just jeans, grey knitted jumper with a white shirt underneath. Leather jacket. Black heeled brogues. I wear quite a lot of makeup, but that never enhances my looks.
Shit shit shit! Jake’s coming over to me! I hitch my bag high up on my shoulder and begin to walk away in what I hope is a dignified fashion. Though knowing me I probably look like a hamster scurrying away from something.
“Hey Meg!” he calls after me. I stop in my tracks and turn round. You don’t refuse a Hinchcliff. Unless, of course, you want to be beaten to a pulp.
“What?” I say, trying to look bored. He’s putting on a grey t shirt now, and black biker boots. I didn’t notice their clothes and bags, perched on a chipped bench in the skate park. He pulls on a military style jacket, slings his back over his shoulder and walks over to me.
“Just wondering if you want to walk to school with me.” he says, giving me a little half smile. I never thought I’d say this, but he’s kind of sexy. In like a bad boy way. Of course, I don’t have any sexual feelings towards him, I mean, that’s just madness.
“Yeah, sure, I guess.” I shrug, turn round and start walking away again.
“You walk way too quickly.” I hear Jake’s voice behind me. He sounds amused.
“I’m not sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult, really.” I reply, walking quicker. He catches up with me, so we’re now walking side by side.
“Meg?” Jake’s voice reaches my ears yet again.
“What?” I’m starting to get irritated now. Why is it he’s never taken a moment’s notice of me before, but now he’s acting like we’re best mates. Well, if he thinks that, he’s got another thought coming.
“Can I have your - ” He cuts of abruptly as I hear Morgan Hinchcliff’s harsh voice behind me.
“Hey Jake!” he yells. “Enough talking, come here!” Jake shoots off towards them and I round the corner, my heart thumping a violent tattoo against my chest. I slow down as I come into the school gates. Everyone’s still outside, so I walk up to my locker, and open it.
A little piece of paper floats out, and lands on the ground. I bend down and pick it up curiously. I open the piece of paper, and one word is written on it in prominent, fluorescent yellow highlighter.
FREAK.
I hear sniggering behind me and I know exactly who it is. Lizzie Moreton. She’s blonde, skinny, pretty…in other words, the most popular girl in the school. I feel hot tears pricking at my eyes, and I scrunch up the note, throw it in my locker and slam it closed.
I walk away briskly, not giving Lizzie the satisfaction of reacting. In truth, I want to slap her face, pull her hair, scream as many swearwords as I can at her. But I don’t. I won’t. I won’t give in to her. That’s exactly what she wants. Lizzie and practically everyone has made my life a misery ever since I came to this school. I left my school when my mum got ill, and came to this one. It was cheaper, and we had less money because a lot of it was going on my mum’s treatment. I stood out in the crowd, and I wasn’t like other girls.
Lizzie didn’t like that, so she made it her life’s mission to bully me endlessly.
SHE’S A FREAK!
freak
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FREAK
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FREAK
FREAK
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