3 missed calls and 11 new messages; every single one from Mum.

I pushed aside the curtains that hung by just a few threads and looked out the window. The sky was dark and the street lights flickered on and off, it was raining heavily and I'd already missed the last bus home. How did I lose track of the time so easily? I didn't understand.
"I was supposed to be home ages ago! Mum's gonna kill me!" I started to fret. "Why didn't you remind me of the time?"
I was hanging with some mates at my friend Kate's house. They were staying the night, but I wasn't allowed. My mum disapproved of Kate and didn't like me being around her. I was lucky to be over at her house, and now I had no way of getting back to mine, my parents would kill me.

Kate lived by herself. She lived off centre link payments, and she spent the majority of her spare cash on smokes and alcohol. My parents didn't like Kate at all, and they constantly nagged me about her, telling me she's a 'bad influence' and I shouldn't get involved with people like her. I was a straight A student, I'd never touched alcohol in my life, and I was totally against drugs of any form. It wasn't good enough for my parents, nothing I did was ever good enough for anyone. Although I never got into trouble, I never stayed out past my curfew (today was an exception), and I never lied about where I was going, I still lacked trust from my parents, and I had no idea why. I was 17, and I thought that I should be allowed to do what I want by now.

"Mum, I'm so sorry! I lost track of time completely! I'm sorry, it won't happen again! Can you come and pick me up, please?" I pleaded on the phone, I sounded so desperate and Kate was laughing at me, calling me a 'suck up'. I tried to always stay on my Mum's good side. She was strict, and I knew she would punish me if I ever stayed out this late on purpose. I looked at the time on Kate's wall clock. It read 10.30pm, and I knew I was going to be in big trouble when I got home. I was nervous and I just wanted to stay away from my parents for a while. I prayed they weren't angry but by the tone of mum's voice, I knew she was furious.
"Gemma, you start walking right now…the whole way in the rain! No phone or laptop for a week! Get home, now!"
The phone line was cut off on the other end, and I suddenly I felt sick to the stomach. I was so nervous, and definitely not at all keen to walk the whole way home in the pouring rain. I packed up my stuff, said goodbye to my friends, and left Kate's house. The door creaked as I shut it, and the foot paths that led to the front gate was soaking wet, so I had to be very careful not to slip over. As much as I felt bad for losing track of the time, I was extremely annoyed at Mum for making me walk home in this weather, it was cold and my clothes were soaked thoroughly within the first few minutes of me being outside.

It was cold and silent, so silent that I could hear my own footsteps as clearly as anything as I walked towards home. I was shivering and my back hurt from tensing up in the cold, my teeth were chattering and my hair was dripping wet. I suspected that my mascara had run all down my face, I would've looked like a wreck. It was weird, walking home by myself at this time of night, almost what you could call spooky. I could hear dogs barking and owl's hooting, which made me weary of the empty town. I came up to the long, narrow alleyway which led me further towards my house. It was scary, there were no street lamps and I had to use the light of my phone to see where I was going. All of a sudden, I heard loud footsteps and the voices of a group of adult men. They were laughing and I heard the smashing of a bottle. I sunk to the floor, too scared to move. The footsteps were growing closer and I was shaking with fear.

"Well well well" I heard a voice say.

I closed my eyes, and prepared for the worse. All that was going through my head were the words 'I'm going to die'. Oblivious to what the men were doing, I pulled my knees close to my chest and buried my head deep within my coat. I pressed my hands up to my ears, not wanting to know what was being said, and I sat there, curled up in a ball with no knowledge whatsoever about what was about to happen to me. I felt a warm breath up against my neck and I felt my legs being pushed flat against the ground. My trackies were being pulled off, I could two hands feeling up and down my body. I sat there, ashamed and terrified, I knew what was about to happen. I screamed at the top of my lungs, a cry for help. I knew no-one would hear me. It was pointless, so I sat there in the cold and rain, crying my eyes out and praying for a miracle.