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Short Story: Bullied

Posted by kelleee from Vale Of Glamorgan - Published on 14/07/2010 at 14:43
3 comments » - Tagged as Creative Writing, Health, People

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This short story has been entered in theSprout Short Story Competition.

Ok, I just can’t cope anymore. I have had enough. First it started with the whispers when I walked past them, the giggles and the name calling. It’s making me paranoid! It wasn’t like this in my old school, nothing like this. I had my own group of friends, I was happy. I had everything! My dad got a new job which meant we had to pack up and leave my old home in London, just because my dads’ stupid job had to move him to different department in Wales. I left my home, my friends, my family, I left everything. I’m not mad at my dad, I mean it’s not his fault, but he doesn’t understand how hard this is for me. It’s not easy going into a new school when your 16, seeing all these new faces staring at you, their eyes boring into you, it’s scary. Like when you go for an interview and they make their first impressions on you. It doesn’t matter what you say or what experience you have. They have already made their mind up. So I’m stood there at the front of the class in my baggy black school trousers, a scruffy polo shirt and long black bed head hair. I can imagine what they were all thinking. I’m not the tidiest of people, I’m a rocker, I love looking messy, playing my music as loud as I can. All the girls in my class were skinny, blonde, tanned and covered in make-up. The complete opposite to me.

That’s where it all began I suppose. People didn’t like me because I was different, it’s harder to fit in a new place anyway, I didn’t know anyone, I was quiet and kept to myself. I didn’t really make friends until I had been there for a few months. That was only because we had to pair up for a science project, they put me with a guy called Gaz, well that’s what everyone called him anyway. It was really awkward at first, I’m not very chatty when I don’t know people well. The project kind of forced us to start talking. We had a few things in common, some of the same bands and movies. The only problem is that he was one of them, one of the popular ones. So as soon as the lessons were over it would be a quick ‘see ya’ and I wouldn’t speak to him until next lesson. As well as Gaz I met a girl called Lexy. We hit it off straight away, it turned out that she hadn’t been here very long either. I felt like I could tell Lexy anything, we had so much in common and we quickly became friends. But, the two new girls together now made us a big target for ‘them’.

It wasn’t too much of a problem at first, things you could ignore like whispering and giggling. I just shook it off, I don’t think Lex could cope with it as well though. It did get worse, people sticking their legs out in the corridor to trip us up. I used to be terrified of walking through the big groups of girls in the halls, I hated it when they shouted at me ‘look at you! You're disgusting’. My mum didn’t really say much, just to go to the head teacher. That’s just going to make them worse though. A reputation of being a ‘grass’ really wouldn’t help me at all. When the threats started I got really worried. I had no-one to talk to but Lexy, and she couldn’t help because she was in exactly the same place as me. I dreaded leaving school to walk home, groups of them would follow me and shout things I couldn’t quite hear, but I guess I didn’t want to hear them. The one time they followed me they grabbed me by my back pack and I fell into a wall and hit my head. I was ok, wasn’t bleeding or anything but that’s not the point. It was then I realised while sat on the floor fighting the tears back as they ran away down the street.. I was being bullied.

It was a hard thing to accept. In my old school I was the popular one with the big group of friends. I stayed out for hours after they left me on the floor. Just thinking and thinking and thinking. It's all because I look different, because I don’t look like them, or act like them. If I had come in with blonde hair and lots of make-up I would have been their best friends. What do I do? I finally decided to speak to my Head teacher. Lexy came with me, after I persuaded her that it was for the best. I thought maybe a warning will scare them off. I hoped anyway.

One night the following week Lexy and I were sat in the park not far from home, it was quite dark, about nine o clock. We heard loads of shouting and swearing coming towards us. The situation in school had made us wary of big gangs so we decided to get up and make a move home. It was a pretty big park, so the walk would have taken about ten minutes. We could hear the group getting closer and closer. To be honest I was really scared. The footsteps were getting closer, sounded like they were running to catch up. I started running as fast as I could to get away from them, hoping Lexy was following. I heard a scream, I could tell it was Lex, I was so scared, I didn’t know what to do. Do I go and help Lexy or do I run? I made a split second decision and ran back, I’m not cowards like they are. They had Lexy on the floor, screaming, bleeding. I felt two hands grip me from behind and shove me to the floor, now I was screaming. I felt something sharp drag into the side of my face. I heard a voice shout ‘that’s what you get for being a grass’. I looked up to see who was hurting me, ears deafened by both our screams and everyone laughing shouting, blood pouring over my eyes. I could just make out Gaz holding a broken bottle and I squeezed my eyes shut. That was all I remember.

I woke up in hospital, only a few hours later, but I was hurting. I was aching and I was tired. My mum was sat there holding my hand, tear tracks down her face. I was a bit confused, wasn’t sure what had happened. My mum explained to me that someone found me and Lexy in the park, Lexy was screaming. Whoever saved us saw the group run away. They phoned the police, gave detailed descriptions of them and then an ambulance came for me and Lexy, bringing us to the hospital. I was lucky I escaped them. I gave the police a description of what happened, well, what I could remember. Then I saw Gaz’s face flash up in front of me. I felt angry, I thought he was different, feeling the wounds on my face, how deep they were, I started to cry. Angry tears, the salt made my cuts sting but I didn’t care. Lexy was ok, just a few cuts and bruises. I didn’t go back to that place, it has ruined my life. I don’t feel safe alone anymore. I’m always on edge now. This won’t stop me being who I am, I’m stronger than this, I am better than them. Because I looked different I deserved to get treated like this. Because I wasn’t the same as them. That fact hurt more than any wounds could.