p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Hi. I am just a shadow of who I used to be. First of all, who /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"was /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I? Well, that may be a mystery to some, but not to whoever is reading this… Soon that is. Now let me show you my past…/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It was a bright summer day. I, of course, decided to be in my room. I mean, what else am I supposed to do? Go outside? Ha! Not after what happened last week…/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"*Flashback*/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I was waiting for the ice-cream truck to come, just like I do every single day at 5. But I feel like today something was going to happen… I just hoped for the best. But life just wouldn't let me be. I stayed still, alert and ready. I just had to be. Something always happens- Nichole abuses me, I get made fun of by Adam, etc, etc. Who are they? Well, I ask that question every day to myself./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Nicole is my mom… But she doesn't seem like a mom. Ever since my dad left her, she has been depressed. She even got fired from her job that supported her and me. One day, though, she had pent up anger to get rid of. Guess what she used? No, not a stress ball. No, not by punching a pillow. She used me. No, she did not speak about it. No, she did not go to a family counselor with me. She abused me. I was young when it started. I even have scars and bruises to prove it! Adam didn't help either./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Adam was my school bully. I am scared-no...terrified!-of him. It all started in 4th grade, when I embarrassed him. It's hard to believe we were actually the best of friends. A new girl came in and I became friends with her. Her name was Emily. I told her a baby secret of Adam and she told the WHOLE school. I'm not kidding; the /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"WHOLE /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"school! I really didn't mean it… And it didn't help with the fact that Adam was planning to ask her out. Now, after 6 years, he managed to ask her out without dying of embarrassment. Now they rule the school, like they are the King and Queen. Now that they are together, Emily is now mean to me./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Everyday my school life and home life is like a living nightmare. Between Nichole abusing me like I am dirt, and Adam and Emily embarrassing me and hurting me...My health is degrading quickly. I get bruises and… and I cut... But I have to hide them all the time. Also, now that I entered into robotics and all that nerdy tech stuff, life is hard. But I have surprisingly not broken yet. I mean, I have not cried out in pain, even though every slap to the face, every kick to the stomach, every torturing laugh- those hurt. I have grown to think that pain is all that there is in life. I am not immune, true, but I don't feel as much pain as a regular human being./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Now that school is over, I thought I only had Nichole to endure. But boy was I wrong! I had a lot of trouble. Adam and his gang would teepee my house, egg it, and do a lot more just to get me in trouble. First comes the abuse, and then come the punishment of humiliation. What am I humiliated about? Well let's see… After the abuse, Nichole would make me clean up the mess. So that means I have to go outside. Crap. I hate going outside. That means Emily or Adam will be there… Ugh, life is so harsh!/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Well, that is a little background story on my horrible life. Anyways, as I was saying, I waited for the ice-cream t come to me. As I waited, I played with the money in my pocket. Some it was coins, some of it was actual dollars, so the coins jangled around in there. I finally heard the childish music of the ice cream truck. I internally sighed, relishing the days my life was easy…ish. I could go outside and not be afraid. By the time I snapped out of my thoughts, the ice cream has arrived. But when I looked up to see the man, I was shocked by terror./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It. Was. Chase. Chase was one of Adam's 'friends' or hounds like I like to call them. The 'hound' always follows Adam around, doing every command told to him. "Well lookie here… We got a shy little nerd, waiting for ice cream… Well, tell me what you want, sweetheart." Chase said. I looked at him, obviously confused at his sudden hospitality. I mean, I don't mind, but really… He was one of the people in Adam's group that beat me up the most, along with Jack, Nick, and Dan, though Dan is a bit new. "Uh... I-I would l-like some ch-chocolate ice cream… please…" I said really quietly. I am not a shy person, but with them, my confidence shrinks. He gave me a sly smile and nodded. Wait, he didn't ask me if I wanted small of medium, or large… Or I wanted a cup or cone… That made my suspicions rise higher./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"When Chase came back, he held a chocolate ice cream. It had chocolate sprinkles and it was drizzled in chocolate syrup… in a small chocolate waffle cone. Yum! When I saw that, my guards went down, just for a second though, and I reached for it. Eh… Not a wise choice. I should have much more careful. I mean, he is one of Adam's goons… Why would he be nice to /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"me!/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Now keep in mind, I decided to wear a new, crisp white shirt, because black colored clothing makes you hot in a summer day. Plus, it would be a nice change not to be called 'Emo!' or 'Goth!'. (A/N: Though no offense to goth/emo/ghetto people. You guys are cool!) So guess what he did? He-get ready for this- smushed my ice cream onto my new clean shirt. Suddenly, I heard camera flashes go off. I was having my picture taken. 'Okay, breathe in and out. In and out.' I said that over and over again, trying to calm my nerves. Finally, I couldn't take it. I ran back home, scared out my wits to see what they were going to do with the picture. I ran into my house, and thank god my mother was out, because I slammed the door shut. She would yell at me, making sure I get slapped into tomorrow. I ran upstairs vowing to never come back out, ever…/spanspan id="docs-internal-guid-94152ef0-7fff-461a-b1b1-0f23a23bcc09"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Or at least until school started again. *Sigh* I hope that this is going to be a long summer./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It was a bright summer day. I, of course, decided to be in my room. I mean, what else am I supposed to do? Go outside? Ha! Not after what happened last week…/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"*Flashback*/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I was waiting for the ice-cream truck to come, just like I do every single day at 5. But I feel like today something was going to happen… I just hoped for the best. But life just wouldn't let me be. I stayed still, alert and ready. I just had to be. Something always happens- Nichole abuses me, I get made fun of by Adam, etc, etc. Who are they? Well, I ask that question every day to myself./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Nicole is my mom… But she doesn't seem like a mom. Ever since my dad left her, she has been depressed. She even got fired from her job that supported her and me. One day, though, she had pent up anger to get rid of. Guess what she used? No, not a stress ball. No, not by punching a pillow. She used me. No, she did not speak about it. No, she did not go to a family counselor with me. She abused me. I was young when it started. I even have scars and bruises to prove it! Adam didn't help either./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Adam was my school bully. I am scared-no...terrified!-of him. It all started in 4th grade, when I embarrassed him. It's hard to believe we were actually the best of friends. A new girl came in and I became friends with her. Her name was Emily. I told her a baby secret of Adam and she told the WHOLE school. I'm not kidding; the /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"WHOLE /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"school! I really didn't mean it… And it didn't help with the fact that Adam was planning to ask her out. Now, after 6 years, he managed to ask her out without dying of embarrassment. Now they rule the school, like they are the King and Queen. Now that they are together, Emily is now mean to me./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Everyday my school life and home life is like a living nightmare. Between Nichole abusing me like I am dirt, and Adam and Emily embarrassing me and hurting me...My health is degrading quickly. I get bruises and… and I cut... But I have to hide them all the time. Also, now that I entered into robotics and all that nerdy tech stuff, life is hard. But I have surprisingly not broken yet. I mean, I have not cried out in pain, even though every slap to the face, every kick to the stomach, every torturing laugh- those hurt. I have grown to think that pain is all that there is in life. I am not immune, true, but I don't feel as much pain as a regular human being./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Now that school is over, I thought I only had Nichole to endure. But boy was I wrong! I had a lot of trouble. Adam and his gang would teepee my house, egg it, and do a lot more just to get me in trouble. First comes the abuse, and then come the punishment of humiliation. What am I humiliated about? Well let's see… After the abuse, Nichole would make me clean up the mess. So that means I have to go outside. Crap. I hate going outside. That means Emily or Adam will be there… Ugh, life is so harsh!/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Well, that is a little background story on my horrible life. Anyways, as I was saying, I waited for the ice-cream t come to me. As I waited, I played with the money in my pocket. Some it was coins, some of it was actual dollars, so the coins jangled around in there. I finally heard the childish music of the ice cream truck. I internally sighed, relishing the days my life was easy…ish. I could go outside and not be afraid. By the time I snapped out of my thoughts, the ice cream has arrived. But when I looked up to see the man, I was shocked by terror./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"It. Was. Chase. Chase was one of Adam's 'friends' or hounds like I like to call them. The 'hound' always follows Adam around, doing every command told to him. "Well lookie here… We got a shy little nerd, waiting for ice cream… Well, tell me what you want, sweetheart." Chase said. I looked at him, obviously confused at his sudden hospitality. I mean, I don't mind, but really… He was one of the people in Adam's group that beat me up the most, along with Jack, Nick, and Dan, though Dan is a bit new. "Uh... I-I would l-like some ch-chocolate ice cream… please…" I said really quietly. I am not a shy person, but with them, my confidence shrinks. He gave me a sly smile and nodded. Wait, he didn't ask me if I wanted small of medium, or large… Or I wanted a cup or cone… That made my suspicions rise higher./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"When Chase came back, he held a chocolate ice cream. It had chocolate sprinkles and it was drizzled in chocolate syrup… in a small chocolate waffle cone. Yum! When I saw that, my guards went down, just for a second though, and I reached for it. Eh… Not a wise choice. I should have much more careful. I mean, he is one of Adam's goons… Why would he be nice to /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"me!/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Now keep in mind, I decided to wear a new, crisp white shirt, because black colored clothing makes you hot in a summer day. Plus, it would be a nice change not to be called 'Emo!' or 'Goth!'. (A/N: Though no offense to goth/emo/ghetto people. You guys are cool!) So guess what he did? He-get ready for this- smushed my ice cream onto my new clean shirt. Suddenly, I heard camera flashes go off. I was having my picture taken. 'Okay, breathe in and out. In and out.' I said that over and over again, trying to calm my nerves. Finally, I couldn't take it. I ran back home, scared out my wits to see what they were going to do with the picture. I ran into my house, and thank god my mother was out, because I slammed the door shut. She would yell at me, making sure I get slapped into tomorrow. I ran upstairs vowing to never come back out, ever…/spanspan id="docs-internal-guid-94152ef0-7fff-461a-b1b1-0f23a23bcc09"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Or at least until school started again. *Sigh* I hope that this is going to be a long summer./span/p