I walk to maths quickly, trying to ignore the fact that I've left the boy behind. Alone. I reach my class room with only seconds to spare and I head to my seat, head hanging, trying to not draw attention to myself. It's easier to go unnoticed. The brown haired boy's sob of pain echo's in my mind, along with the crunch of bones. I pick a pencil out of my bag and lay it on the table and I hear the classroom door open.

'Okay guys' it's the teacher, Mr Foster. 'We're gonna be doing quadratic equations today'.

There's an audible groan from the class and Mr Foster tries not to smile.

'Thought you'd all enjoy it' he quips. He turns to the whiteboard and begins to write out the equation 4x²+6x -5=0. 'Anyone know how to-'

He's cut off by the sound of knocking on the classroom door. Mr Foster sighs and walks to open it.

'Sorry I'm late, Sir' comes a quiet voice from behind the door.

Mr Foster sighs for the second time and begrudgingly opens the door wider to let whoever's behind it in.

I hear footsteps and I look up. I see the brown haired boy from earlier standing awkwardly at the front of the class. His gaze locks with mine and I drop mine quickly in embarrassment. I dare to look up again and I find that he's still looking at me. He clearly remembers me from earlier. His brown eyes harden and his mouth tightens into a thin line.

'Alright Dan' Mr Foster says. 'Seeing as you've decided to walk in late to my lesson, I assume that you know all about quadratics, am I right?'

The brown haired boy, Dan, walks to his seat and sits in it. His clothes are still covered in mud, and although he's wiped the blood off his face, there are still drops on his collar.

'Well, actually, yeah, I do' he says quietly but confidently.

Mr Foster raises an eyebrow in surprise. 'Well Dan, seeing as we haven't covered it in class, then would you like to explain how to do this?' He points to the equation on the board that he'd written earlier.

Dan shrugs. 'Alright. Well, we know that 'a'= 4, 'b'=6 and 'c'=-5' he pauses for a breath. 'And the quadratic equation is 'x= -b plus or minus the square root of b squared – 4ac all over 2a' then just substitute in the values of 'a', 'b' and 'c'.

'Mmmm' Mr Foster's expression is unreadable.

Dan carries on. 'So x = -6 plus or minus the square root of 6 squared – ( -5) all over 2 x 4', so that equals 'x = -6 plus or minus the square root of 116 all over 8', which then equals '-6 plus or minus 10.77 all over 8' which finally equals…' Dan thinks for a moment. '0.6 or -2.1'.

Mr Foster is silent, as is the whole class.

'Very good Dan' he manages to splutter out in sheer disbelief.

Dan looks down at his desk, he looks embarrassed. His dark fringe in hanging in his eye and he pushes it back with his left hand.

'Okay guys, turn to page 135 in the blue textbook, Dan, I'm going to get you another textbook, alright?' Mr Foster turns to leave and exits the classroom.

The class is silent for a moment before the taunts begin.

'Gay nerd'.

'When did you learn that, faggot? Did you swot up on it to make you look smarter than the rest of us? Dickhead'.

'Did your boyfriend teach you that after you fucked him?'

'Do you two sit down and have a nice, leisurely chat about maths after you give him head?'

Dan is silent during the cruel remarks being thrown at him.

'Does your boyfriend punish you if you don't remember the equations, queer?'

'Does he make you recite them as you fuck him?'

The taunts instantly stop as Mr Foster re-enters the room. He hands out the textbooks and we all work on the quadratics in silence.

As soon as the bell rings, signalling break, everyone jumps up and shoves their equipment into their bags and rush out of the door. I pack up more slowly, avoiding the mass of people pushing to get out of the room. I leave the classroom and head to the toilets. I look at myself in the mirror, longish, dark blonde hair with stormy grey eyes and pale lips. I apply some lip balm before wiping away a smudge of eyeliner. I'm your everyday, average teenage girl. I'm not the school slut, bitch or joker. I'm just me; I'm invisible, like a mouse.

A swarm of girls enter and I decide it's time to leave. I head out into the cold wind again and decide to take the long route to the English block, to kill a bit of time. I walk along the pathway, surrounded by bare trees.

My thoughts are interrupted by a cry of pain and my heart lurches. I walk more quickly in the direction that the cry came from. I hear a loud groan and my walk turns into a run. This time, I only see one boy. I turn to leave when I hear another loud groan. I stop and look back and look south of the boy. I see a figure curled up on the floor. Dan. The other boy has short, light brown hair but I can't see his face as he's got his back to me. He lifts his foot and kicks Dan in his ribs before aiming for his head.

I hear a shout and I realise it's me. The lighter brown haired boy stops, caught off guard. I run forward and push him out of the way before he can deliver his kick to his target.

'Hey, hey, hey! Stop' I say to him. 'Leave him alone'.

The boy's glare hardens and my heart begins to thump, wondering if I'm now in for it. He spits on the ground before leaving. Leave me alone with Dan.

I crouch down and gently place my hand on his arm. 'You okay?'

Dan nods. 'I'm fine'.

I root around in my bag. 'I've got some tissues somewhere. Here' I say, handing him a few.

I gently help him up so he's now sitting and I sit down next to him.

He lifts the tissue to his face and attempts to wipe the fresh blood and mud off his face but his hand is shaking so much he's unable to do it.

'I'll do it' I murmur and I gently wipe his face, exposing a new cut by his eye. They begin to weep so I press a new tissue against it to stem the flow. We sit there in silence, neither of us saying a single word. We hear the bell for third period but neither of us move.

'I'm…I'm…I'm sorry that I didn't help earlier' I murmur, avoiding his gaze.

'It's okay' he says.

'I…I should have done…I don't know why I didn't' I whisper. 'I feel so bad. I'm so sorry Dan'.

'I'm used to it' he mutters and my heart breaks.

'You really need to tell someone' I say to him.

He looks up suddenly, his brown eyes boring into mine. 'No' he whispers fiercely. 'I can't. It'll only get worse. A lot worse'.

'But…' his I stop as he interrupts me.

'No…' he pauses, searching for my name.

'Keara'.

'It's my choice, okay? And I know the consequences of telling. Trust me'.

I nod mutely, torn between arguing and leaving it.

'Please Keara. I can handle it. Don't you get involved'.

'I can't just stand and watch you get beaten up!' I protest.

'Keara. If you know what's good for you, then you'd stay out of it. You have to believe me on this'.

'But they wouldn't hit me, they wouldn't hit a girl'.

'No' Dan agrees. 'But they'd find other ways. Trust me'.

I open my mouth but Dan abruptly cuts me off.

'I think we should get going, don't you?'

I nod and I stand up, Dan winces as he staggers to his feet. Once he's reached his full height, he towers over me. He's at least 6 foot tall, if not more.

'You should get them checked out' I say, gesturing to his ribcage.

'I should but I probably won't. I don't think they're broken anyway, they don't hurt too much.

'You should apply some antiseptic to the cut near your eye as well'.

'Yes mum' he says jokingly. 'Anyway, I'm heading off now' he turns to leave before pausing and he looks back over his shoulder. 'Thank you Keara, you know, for earlier' he murmurs before carrying on his way.

I watch his retreating back, feeling slightly uneasy. I watch him before he disappears from sight.