The Little Things Give You Away

“Morning,” I heard a weak whisper.

The words made me shiver a little as her breathe tickled my cheek. She must be pretty close to me to have that kind of effect. Slowly I rolled over to see what exactly my mum was doing. Before we moved out, she’d never be the one to wake me up. That job was left to the alarm.

Once I turned completely I was face to face with my mum, who was lying down beside me in the bed. At first I blinked a few times to make sure that she actually was there and it wasn't just me dreaming. It didn't take long to realize that this was real. She was actually in my bed... Wait this isn't my bed. Crap, why am I in mum’s bed?

“I wasn't here before,” I mumbled in my half asleep voice. I know I’d remember falling asleep in here.

“I know,” she whispered. “I told you I wouldn't let you remember,” she smiled before jumping up out of bed, wearing really short shorts that were barely covering up anything and a really lose fitting tank top.

What the hell did she mean by that?

I sat up, and soon felt how much my head was hurting. What happened?

“You’ve got school today,” she told me, wrapping herself up in her dressing gown. “Matt will look after you.”

The look on my face now must’ve made me seem like a psycho. I generally had no idea what she was on about. I’ve never been at the same school as Matt so how is he meant to look after me? Why do I even need looking after? I can take care of myself.

“You’re uniform’s in your room,” she told me, sounding like she’d been planning what she was going to say for a while. It came out too perfectly, usually she rushes her words out and I find it hard to understand her. “Can you pass me my clothes love?” she asked me.

I looked at her blankly.

“They’re on the floor at the side of the bed,” she added, noticing the confusion on my face.

As I leant down from the bed to grab her clothes from the floor I realized how little I was wearing. Why would I be in my mum’s bed in just my boxers? Something is seriously not right and to be honest I think I’d rather not know what happened.

I chucked her clothes over to her. She then did something that shocked me so much that I’m going to be telling myself for months to come that it didn't actually happen. She undressed in front of me. Obviously I looked away but she didn't even care that I was there.

“I'm decent,” she chucked as she saw me looking away. “I’m going down to the pub. There’s probably a bus but I don’t know where you’d need to catch it from to get to school,” she told me.

“Don't worry,” I whispered, most likely too quietly for her to hear though.

She’s going to the pub at seven in the morning. Will it even be open now? God she must be desperate.

I got up from the bed and my head was throbbing and for some reason it hurt to walk. Being in this kind of pain felt weird; I wasn't used to it; that’s for sure.

Once I was changed I thought about how I was going to get into school. I had a brief idea of where it was, but I wasn't sure how long it would take me to actually get there. I suppose I could risk being late. It’s that or just don’t go really, isn't it?

***

I knew that being the new kid was going to be hard for me, especially when knowing that the school has pretty much no rules at all. I mean, come on, how bad does a school need to be to have people checking for drugs and weapons at the front doors. Matt always talks about how bad it is here but before I actually got to the gates, I had no idea that it would be like this. I mean I thought he was just joking about the security at the door; it turns out I'm wrong.

“Open your bag,” a man who looked like he’d rather be doing anything but this right now instructed me to do. I wonder how he ended up working like this. If I was a security guard, or whatever his role is, the last place I’d want to be at would be a school like this.

I did as he asked, feeling like a fool though. To be honest, I still think that this whole ritual could be a joke; some cruel prank on the new kid. I know this is going to some pretty major levels but the point still stands. This is surreal.

“Are you new here?” The man asked me, seeming a lot nicer than he did before. Maybe he was relaxing because he didn’t think I was as bad as all of them. Well, maybe not all of them...just most.

“Yeah” I whispered nervously, “first day today,” I told him, trying to act calmer than I was, when on the inside I was screaming ‘get out of there’.

“I’d try to stay away from the bigger kids if I were you,” he said as he continued rummaging through my bag. I seriously feel sorry for him if he has to be this thorough with everyone in the school.

I nodded at him, even though I didn’t really understand what he meant. The bigger kids? How old does he think I am? I know I'm small but no one would mistake me for some year seven. I'm probably within the eldest in the school! Maybe not... I'm actually one of the youngest in my year...

“Thanks,” I whispered as he shut my bag and chucked it to me.

He gave a nod before moving onto the person behind me. Tough job...

The only time before now that I’ve been new to a school was starting in high school, in comparison to that, this is completely different. Sure going high school for the first time was hard, but there were around two hundred other people in that same situation, and that’s just in that one year in that one school. It’s not as big of an issue because you quickly settle in, make friends and fall into your little friendship groups that you imagine will last forever. This is different.

People in my year are likely to want to tear me apart. A school that has its own security must have some bad kids. I thought my last school was bad. I suppose they did enforce the rules there though. If they didn’t I wouldn't have got kicked out, would I? Stupid school system.

It’s not as bad as it could’ve been I suppose. It isn't like I don’t know a single person here. As they say, there’s always a bright side, and the bright side to this happens to be my best friend. We’ve never been to the same school but we live near each other and we used to be in the same clubs, not anymore though.

“Watch it!” someone huffed as they barged into me. What the hell? He walked into me. How does that work?

Instead of arguing with him, because I knew I’d end up getting my head kicked in (maybe worse), I just ignored it; hoping the saying ‘ignore it and it’ll go away’ would apply here. It didn’t.

“Fresh meat, ay?” he asked, making him and the rest of his gang stop and wait for my answer.

I'm guessing he’s one of the people in this school who just get away with everything and do whatever the hell they like. Or as the security guard warned me; he’s a ‘bigger kid’. I couldn’t argue with that. He was definitely bigger; there was no doubting that he spent a lot of time at the gym. He’d probably be able to kill me if he wanted to.

Why is he even wasting his time talking to me? I tried to walk passed; knowing that if I didn’t this would end badly for me, but my escape plan was stopped when they formed a circle around me and pushed me back against the locker.

I'm not a push over, make sure you know that. It’s just I don’t really want to get in trouble on my first day. I could fight out of these guys easily. My friend Matt, the guy I mentioned earlier, is a fighter, he’s trying to make it pro but he lets me train with him from time to time so I know a few moves. Plus I'm really good at running so if I wanted to get away, all I had to do was push through them and run. I’d be safe then.

“So what’s your name shorty?”

Ha, shorty, how creative is that?

I remained quiet. They don’t need to know anything about me. I don’t care about them; I don’t want to see them again. There’s no need for them to know my name.

He shoved me back again into the lockers. Crap that hurt.

“What’s it to you?” I hissed at him, knowing that if I didn't big myself up soon that this was going to turn even worse really quickly. The best thing to do is to stand up for yourself...I hope.

All that did was make them start laughing. I guess they’re meant to be intimidating, aren’t they? It doesn’t really work on me though; I know how to look after myself. I’ve been through a lot.

I was fed up of all of this now. I need to go and get my time table and try to work out where the hell I am, plus it would make things a lot easier if I could find Matt. If I'm lucky he’ll even end up being in my lessons.

That was when I found out that just walking away is by far the worst thing I could’ve done in a situation like that. Before I even knew what was going on I fell down onto the floor.

Wow.

He had an amazing punch on him.

I blinked a few times before the pain settled in. I knew it would hurt but seriously...I didn’t even do anything wrong. Why did he punch me?

The gang walked away when they saw the security man I was talking to earlier rushing over to me. I'm surprised he even noticed to be honest. It’s not like he doesn’t already have a lot to do.

“You alright boy?” he asked me, helping me up to my feet.

“Fine,” I grumbled, clenching my jaw. God that hurt.

“I did warn you,” he said softly. It wasn't in an ‘I told you so’ voice; it was more like he was letting me know that I was told about what would happen.

“I know,” I muttered, brushing myself off.

I had a feeling that school here was going to be tough. I mean, school’s always tough really, but now that I have some guys on my back...things are going to be even harder for me.