School.

I can see them, the three of them, each with a football. I'm curled up, trapped in a corner, nowhere to run. Tears stream down my face as they line up, placing the balls. The seconds seem to go on, and on and on and on. THUMP THUMP THUMP. Laughter. Then their footsteps trail Away. One in my face, one on my thigh and on on my back. My nose is a bloody mess, my thigh stings and my kidneys Ache like They've been hit with a sledgehammer. I get up, hobble away with a dead leg. No-one to see my pain, not that they'd care anyway. But tonight it will be a football injury. I'm sitting in a classroom, working on an assignment. I hear their laughs. I pray for them to keep going, past The room. But they don't. They stop and look in. Whisper, then Advance. I'm made to stand, one of them tugging at my hair. Then made to walk to the radiator. Forcefully my hand is plunged into the gap between metal and wall. My hand is stuck. Then I hear the click of the thermostat. But tonight I had spilt a cup of tea on myself. I'm washing my hands when they appear round the changing room door. More insults. They don't matter anymore, it's what will come that does. They march towards me, and push me over. Then I am picked up and pushed towards the lavatory door. I am terrified, I know what they will do now. One of them grabs my hand and places it on the hinges of the door. I brace myself, lessening the pain that will come. BANG. The door was slammed shut. I check my fingers, they arn't broken but are bleeding badly. I wrap them up in a paper towel and leave the building. But tonight I had fallen on the astroturf. 'Hello dear.' 'Hello Mum.' 'Nice day?' 'Yeah, I'm going upstairs to do my homework.' 'O.K. Wait, what happened to your fingers?' 'I slipped playing hockey, on the astroturf.' 'It looks more serious than that, here, take some nuerofen, it will make the swelling go down.' 'O.K.' I'm in my room, having counted the pills. There were 24, more than enough. I lie on my bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking. Wouldn't take long, be nice and painless. I think. I turn over and stare at the wall. No more pain. No more pain.