How To Save A Life

Chapter Six

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I couldn't pay attention well in my history class. I tapped my pencil on my note paper, pretending as if I was paying attention, which I have become great at. 

My teacher's voice was inaudible in my ears as I was too focused on the shooting pain on my arm. The bruise keeps getting bigger. I come home all the time with bruises on my skin. And, of course, my parents always say something. I usually give off the impression that it was from a rough game in gym class. They would always tell me to be careful next time and leave. They never questioned why it kept happening and they never bothered contacting the gym teacher to tell him about the bruises I claimed to have gotten in class.

When our teacher's back was turned, I felt something light hit the back of my head. I looked at the ground to see a crumbled up piece of paper. I didn't have time to know exactly what happened when multiple paper balls were thrown at me. I turned in my seat to see Justin and his friends stifling laughs. One of his friends then chucked another one at me, hitting my forehead.

"Quit it," I mouthed to them.

Justin shook his head and I could tell that he had his middle finger up on his lap. "No," He mouthed back.

When our teacher turned back around, he didn't even get a couple words out before he saw the mess of paper balls on the ground around me. "Colin, what's this?"

"You won't believe this but he's just ripping papers out of a notebook and tossing them on the ground for no reason. He's probably trying to hurt somebody," Justin said before I could get the explanation out of my mouth.

Our teacher looked at me with narrow eyes. "Is this true?"

I shook my head. "No."

"Yes," Justin said. "I saw the whole thing."

"Colin-"

I sighed and cut in. "I know the drill." I picked my book bag up off the ground and I could hear them stifling laughs behind me. I hurried out of the room and made my way towards the main office. This isn't the first time this has happened. It's happened five times this year and we're only in January. Each time involved Justin and his friends intimidating me. But, the teachers, for some reason, trusted Justin more than me. He was a smooth talker. Making everything sound true. And, because I stumbled over my words during these situations, my teachers think I'm trying to come up with an excuse for what was going on.

The first time this happened, Justin and his friends were shooting spit balls at me. They then applied spit balls onto themselves and the desks. One of his friends threw a straw towards me and it landed on my desk, I picked it up and looked at them. Justin then called out to our teacher and said what had happened in false details.

Each time, it was something like that. Spit balls, throwing papers, placing stink bombs in my book bag when I wasn't looking, telling lies that I was making a gun gesture to them in the middle of class when they were the ones doing it. 

"Hello, Colin," The desk lady said as soon as I entered the main office. She didn't seem surprised to see me. "What happened now?"

"Throwing paper balls," I said and took a seat. Waiting for Principle Young to come out and allow me into his office. As I wait, I always liked to make this time my cellphone time. 

After a few minutes, Principle Young walked out of his office. Not surprised to see me. Instead of inviting me into his office, he walked over and knelled in front of me, looking sympathetic. "What did you do this time?

"He threw paper balls at people," The desk lady said for me, knowing that I was going to try to keep quiet.

"No, I didn't," I said softly, trying not to lose my temper.

"Then, who did?"

I kept quiet. Knowing that if I told him and he expelled the boys then I wouldn't have a target in the massacre. Only me. I just replied with a shrug.

He sighed. "Maybe the rest of the afternoon in detention will help."

I sighed with a nod. I hate going into detention. The detention monitor always yells at me for no reason and she's cranky all the time. When ever I tell her good morning when I walk in her response is always a whatever. Same for when I leave.

God, I can't wait for the massacre.

KNOW THE SIGNS:

-Perpetrators of self-harm or violence towards others may be victims to long-term bullying and may have real or perceived feelings of being picked on or persecuted by others.

-Making overt threats of violence (spoken, written, pictures, videos, gestures) are signs that should not be ignored.

-Being over aggressive and/or lacking self-control