I'll Keep You Safe Tonight

“GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW EMILY JENNA FERGUSON!!”, Mum screams up the stairs.
Here we go.
More time in hell.
I trudge downstairs to meet my oh-so-loving family. Note the sarcasm.
“Yes?”, I question.
“Do NOT use that tone with me young lady. Now I have called you to get you to school. Me and your Dad do not need to be put in jail for your reckless behaviour”, she rants.
“I’m ready, geez”, I say, rolling my eyes. I regret it the second after I did it.
“Do that ONE more bloody time and I bang your head against the wall until you have permanent brain damage”, she roars.
Ugh, could she GET any worse?
“I understand”, I nod, and we set out to the car.
It’s silent on the way to school and as we pull up outside of school, Mum says, “And you can walk home today”.
“Fine”, I mutter, and jump out of the car, grabbing my bag and checking my tie is on properly.

I walk in to school, muttering cuss words under my breath. I prefer school to home, but I still hate it. I’m the emo, arty, loner kid in year 8 with no friends.
The bell goes and I walk in to English, keeping my head down. I walk to my seat and sit down, which is next to a guy called Harvey. He’s alright, he’s not one of the worst, he just ignores me the whole time. Sometimes makes smart comments. Not the worst, as I said before.
I pull out my notebook and started drawing, not paying any attention to what the teacher was saying.
“Emily, listen!”, Mrs. Coleman shrieks at me.
I look up to see her scowling. I then look down again and see my English book was there. Great. I open it and write the date, but go back to drawing as soon as I can. She doesn’t notice for the rest of the lesson, and I’m lucky for no one acknowledged I was there. Again.
The class ends and I pack away hurriedly, rushing to my next lesson. Building-Learning-fucking-Power. Most boring lesson ever.
I walk in, again taking my seat, which this time is next to a girl called Ioana. Hell begins.
“Hey it’s EMO!!!!!!”, she squeals like a little girl, “Got any more cuts?!”.
I roll my eyes and mutter, “Shut up”.
The others around me go, “Ooooh”.
“Leave her alone for once, yeah?”, A guy called Jack says.
“Haha, no!”, various others laugh.
I look towards Jack and give him a shy smile, as if to say ‘Thank You’.
I ignore the rest of the class and look down, thinking about how my life couldn’t get any worse for just a 12 year old girl. Then I feel something hit the back of my head and then hear sniggers fill the room. I turn around to see Daniel throwing rubbers at me. I turn back around and start to ignore it again, until a book hits the side of my face. I feel a hot sensation on the side of my face and I bring my hand to my cheek, feeling the heat. Luckily it wasn’t cut. I see Joanna laughing, carrying the rest of the books. I turn my eyes to the whiteboard, reading the task and getting on with it. Right at the end of the lesson, as I was packing away, a bag hits my head. Ioana.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to hit you there. Didn’t see you”, she laughs, sarcasm thick in her voice. I just continue to ignore anything that anyone else does, and walk out of the classroom, heading for the cafeteria.

It was empty, since we had been let out early, and I decide to take a seat on the far back table. I get out my crappy old MP3 player, Mums old one that I had fortunately received, and place my earphones in my ears. I turn on Black Veil Brides – Ritual. Soon, there is movement next to me and I look up to see some year 7’s sitting next to me. I don’t move, as they don’t know me, therefore unable to make any remarks. Eventually, the bell for next lesson rings and I get up, preparing myself for the next lesson.

Geography passes really slowly. We had to answer about 40 questions or something. I hate that lesson. I had numerous objects thrown at me and a few horrible remarks said, but nothing I couldn’t handle. In this lesson, a girl called Paris stuck up for me. I’m lucky; I don’t get strongly abused. No one in year 8 does that though. I carry on thinking about the possible things that could happen to me on my way to Art, my escape lesson. Where I sit alone on the back desk, listening to music and drawing away freely without getting shouted at by the teacher.
“Hello Emily, how are things?”, Miss. Tew asks.
If she wasn’t a teacher, she would be my friend.
“Okay”, I answer, and rush to my desk before anyone else came in and saw me talking to the teacher.
“Today class, we will be working on the formal elements. Please, draw anything you want, but use as many formal elements as you can”, Miss explains, and we set to work.
I get my sketchbook and open to a new page, writing the date in the corner of the page. I put in my earphones and click play. I think for a few minutes when an idea comes to my mind. I roughly draw the outline of a bare tree, filling the whole page for composition. I then start adding the detail, extra branches, grass and a single leaf falling from a branch. I then add the texture, making the tree have the wooden look and adding rougher outlines to everything. After that, I add the tone, shading from darker to lighter, from left to right, using the tip of my finger to smudge it. I finish the picture about 5 minutes before it is time to go for lunch, so I just pack up and look at my work. I never thought my work was any good, but this actually looked alright. Then we get dismissed, and I rush out of the classroom and to the field, where there is a nice, sheltered area which no one visits. I spend my half hour of music there, without food as usual, in peace and quiet. I watch some year 9’s play football and soon enough, the bell rings to signify that lunch was over. I sigh and head over to the science corridor.

Last lesson of the day, phew!

Science was as boring as ever, but the people in the class didn’t dare mess with me since I was in the danger zone…near the teacher’s desk. I casually got on with my work, sometimes doodling on the desk, as I had my notebook banned from this lesson. On the desk, I drew an eye with a tear, and in the tear it said, ‘Why does everyone hate me?’. The bell eventually rings and I walk quickly out of the classroom and out of that dreadful school. I didn’t want to head home just yet, so I walked in the wrong direction. I thought how pathetic and useless I was. That I’ll be alone forever. Then it struck me. 2 weeks I was stuck at home! I’d much prefer to be locked in school for that amount of time! At least there’d be food and no one to bother me.

All to quickly, it became dark and I decided I better head home. I arrived at home around six, not expecting anything to eat. I never expect things like that. I’m too pessimistic. You can’t blame me with my family. I walk in, thinking I’d get a shouting at, but I am able to get upstairs without being noticed. I log in to my laptop and in to Spotify, listening to my music playlists for a few hours. Suddenly, my door opens with a start.

“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING!”, Dad shouts.
“Listening to music”, I stutter.
What? My dad scares me!
“COME HERE!”, he screams.
I hesitantly get up and stand in front of him. Then it comes.
The kicks. The slaps. The beltings. The punches.
Soon it ends, though, and I am left in a heap on the floor.
“Worthless. You’ll learn someday”, he mutters, and walks out. I lay on the floor for a while, listening to Mum congratulate Dad, in pain. I soon get up, every limb burning from the pain. I grab my good old friend, compass, and place it to my wrist. I know it causes more pain than I just went through, but I like this pain. I close my eyes and drag the sharp metal across my skin, feeling it split and blood dripping from the incision. I smile to myself and lie there for a few minutes, letting the blood run, before turning the light out after placing my compass back under my pillow.

I then fall asleep, my whole body suffering from hunger, thirst and pain.

Life would be so much better if I was a vampire..