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Chapter 1
She tripped on the foot jutting out from its hiding place under the desk. Oh no, was her final thought before she stumbled over, not again. Not in front of all these people.
Her class burst into laughter as she fell awkwardly onto her elbow, crying out in surprise and pain as her eyes widened in shock, watching her books fall forward and clatter unevenly on the floor. She blinked fiercely, trying to keep the tears stinging her eyes from swelling and leaking down her cheeks.
It made it worse, nobody saying anything. No jeering remarks from the other kids. But then again, that was the problem. If they were individuals then at least she wouldn't be facing them as a group.
She flushed violently red as she raised her head and pushed herself up with one hand. Her elbow was still stinging with pain and the underside of her arm was numb with dull pins and needles.
She brought her knees forward and gathered up her books. As she flicked her uneven fringe out of her eyes, she caught the gaze of another boy staring at her. She looked around uncertainly before smiling shyly at him.
His eyes twinkled for a brief shining second, and then he too burst into laughter with the rest of his classmates. Her face burnt with embarrassment and anger as she fumbled with her pile of exercise books, hurrying so that the teacher wouldn't make a big deal out of her lying on the floor.
What was their problem? They should just wait, until her brother came out of his class. He would... he would...
He wouldn't do anything. He would remind her that she shouldn't have made herself an easy target. That she should stand up to them herself. That she shouldn't be so shy, butterfingered and stupid. That she shouldn't be his stupid, timid little sister. That he always had to look out for.
She pushed herself up and hurried back to her seat on the back row of the classroom. She chose that seat because sitting anywhere else in the class was too risky. If she sat at the front, the teacher would see her crying. People could tug at her clothes from behind, stare at her threateningly, or prod her in the back in the rare opportunities when Cass wasn't looking. If she sat in the middle it would be worse. Then she would be put into too much of a vulnerable situation. It was too easy for someone to sneakily jab at her when the teachers' back was turned, or kick her legs under the desk, or for someone from behind to pull her hair.
At the back, she could hide. She could cry, knowing that nobody would see her, knowing that she would slip between the lines. Knowing that she would go unnoticed.
Within seconds of her being seated, Cass walked calmly in through the door to find her entire class in fits of laughter. She didn't notice the girl at the back trying to ignore the horrible trickling sensation of blood running down her arm, and at the same time trying to wipe it onto her dark coloured skirt.
"Well, don't I have a cheerful class today!" she said with slight suspicion and a smile. "Care to share the joke?"
The class avoided her question and clamoured for her attention. She was quickly bombarded with irrelevant questions acting as ploys to stall the class from starting.
"Cass, did Pandas live in Africa?"
"What about Eagles? I heard that Eagles lived in Africa. Cass, whats an Eagles?"
"Can Pandas and Eagles have babies?"
The class played up to her innocently, enjoying making her laugh.
"Settle down. Cal, Torr, Hallie." Her gentle authoritive presence quietened the kids, giving her freedom to check who was in. "Is anyone off sick today? No one? That's good."
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"Hey Naddie, how was your first day? Did you tell that kid Troy where to go?" her brother slyly sneaked up behind her, surprising her by giving her a light shove in the back. He laughed cheerfully as he watched her jump in shock.
She turned around, hiding her arm behind her back and tugging the sleeve down as far as it could go with the other hand.
"It was fine. Really good. You were right, I've got Cass this year." She blabbed on as they began walking the short trip back to their home. "I'm glad we don't have Charra, Meygan said that she's mean." She looked cautiously up at her brother, watching to see if he had noticed anything wrong with her.
"Charra's not mean, she's just efficient. And Meygan's my friend, not yours. Make your own friends for a change."
She knew he wasn't being deliberately nasty. He was just eager for her to become independent so that she didn't follow him around anymore like a lost puppy. He must have noticed that she took his comment harshly, because he turned his head to check she was ok.
"Hey, I wasn't being nasty, Naddie. Sorry." He squeezed her elbow slightly, unknowingly pushing off the weak scab that had only just started to stop hurting. She grabbed her arm, trying to hold in a sharp squeak that was trying to escape from her throat. He didn't notice and thought he had just twisted it without realising. "Oh sorry, Nad, I didn't mean to..."
He looked down at his little sister, gripping her elbow and biting her lip, trying hard not to wince from the sharp, stinging pain making her whole arm ache.
"What's up?" he stopped walking and gently grabbed her shoulder, pulling her around to face him. "What's wrong, Nadir?"
She opened her eyes and looked up at him. "I fell over today. I tripped on my lace and fell on it." She let him pull up her sleeve to look at it.
"At least it's not that bad. It's just your funny bone. Get mum to clean it when we get home." He took her hand and carried on walking, when she stumbled on the grid they walked over. He pulled her up before she had a chance to fall down again, but noticed that she was wearing buckled shoes, not laced ones.
He didn't say anything to her and instead pretended not to notice. If their parents found out then this whole bullying thing would start all over again. He would wait and see. He would wait to find out if she began coming out of school with more cuts and bruises than you could get from falling over, or see if it was just the excitement of a new year at school, and if it would die down.