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The School Yard

Chapter Four

The rest of the week passed by too quickly for Shiki. All too soon, it was Monday, and time to go to her new school. She dreaded it, because she knew that nobody here would like her, and that it wouldn't take long before people started bullying her. She grabbed her sandwich half, and went out the door to the bus stop. It was a bit of a long walk, because she lived outside of town. She didn't really have any neighbors, either.

The bus pulled up, already packed with loads of noisy kids. Shiki just walked quickly down the aisle, heading to the back where she could sit alone. She could hear the whispers as she walked along, and sighed, knowing that they were already judging her due to her too-small clothes. She kept her head low for the whole bus ride. Nobody talked to her. She had expected that.

At school, each the teachers made her stand up in front of the whole class and introduce herself. She did so in a timid voice. Though she kept her eyes on the ground, she could feel the stares of her classmates, judging her, labeling her as poor and scared. She hurried to her seat as fast as she could.

Lunchtime came, and she took her sandwich half and ran outside into the schoolyard as fast as she could without being noticed. Nobody paid her any attention, and she was able to hide in a corner between the building and the fence. She ate in silence and solitude, wondering how long it would be before she started getting bullied again.

It happened four weeks later.

Shiki went to school on the bus as usual. The whole time she'd been there, she'd been stared at, but never spoken to nor approached, except by the teachers who would put questions up to her, moving on without praise if she got them right, ridiculing her if she got them wrong.

On the way to her second class, a foot swung out and tripped her, making her drop her bag, which spilled her books and papers out. She said nothing, just sighed. She knew it was going to happen eventually. And it happened pretty quickly. She'd already been targeted as weak, frail, and afraid. The trip in the hall was bound to be just the beginning.

Shiki gathered up all her things and hurried to her class, missing the bell by seconds. "Detention," the teacher called, as soon as she set foot inside the classroom. She nodded, and quickly went to her seat. She sat down, then noticed a few drops of blood running down her leg. She must have skinned it when she fell. She sighed, then wiped it as best as she could, through the new hole in her pants.

At lunch, she hurried out with her sandwich half, making her way to the corner where she usually hid. She turned, and found three boys, all a few years older than her, waiting. "Hey, poor girl, what'cha hiding from?" one of them called out. Shiki didn't respond, but started backing away. "Hey," he said, the three of them standing up and coming at her. "We didn't say you could go, did we?"

She stopped, and the two other boys stood behind her on either side, in case she tried to run. The first boy stopped in front of her. "Let's see what you've got in there, huh?" He held his hand out for Shiki's lunch. She handed it to him shakily. He looked inside and saw the sandwich half, then laughed. "We knew you were poor, we didn't know you were this poor, though!" he shoved it in his pocket. "I'll take it, thanks," he said, then walked off.

Shiki sighed. She knew that this wouldn't be the only time, that they would keep going until she stopped them, which she knew she couldn't. She was too afraid.

Shiki, of course, was right. The boys, the leader being a boy named Wyatt, kept bullying her, demanding her lunch, money, anything they wanted, and they began to hurt her when she couldn't give it to them. It was just like the last school, only this time, they'd started bullying her quicker. One day, though, something big happened. The day was as miserable as normal, until she went out onto the schoolyard. The boys were waiting for her, as usual.

"Well, trash? Pay up. What'chu got?" Wyatt smirked

"M-my sandwich," Shiki mumbled.

"Well, that's not good enough. Give me something else," he demanded.

"I don't h-have anything else," she whispered.

"Then you're gonna pay in pain. Guys, lift her up so I can get a good angle without having to bend over."

The two boys were at her sides in moments, lifting her up. "L-let me go," she said, kicking. Wyatt, who was standing in front of her, got nailed directly in the mouth, then again between the legs as the two boys dropped Shiki.

Wyatt grunted in pain. He looked down at Shiki, who had fallen, his eyes burning with hate. "Stupid, filthy piece of trash!" he yelled. "We're gonna get you for that!" He swore, then stood up straight. "Let's go, guys, we got some trash to clean out." As they walked away, he turned back, then kicked her hard in the side. She gasped in pain. Finally, he walked away, leaving her on the ground, holding her side in pain.

"Ouch," she whispered, and her tears began to fall, silently dripping off the end of her nose onto the ground inches below. Eventually, the bell rang, and she picked herself up off the ground, and made her way inside.

The boys avoided her for a few weeks, making her wonder what they were planning to do to her. She was glad that they weren't bullying her, but she was always afraid that they would jump out at her one day and give her heck.

But that day never came. Instead, she found out how the boys had taken their revenge three weeks later.

That day, Shiki went out to the schoolyard like she always did, and found once again that her corner was empty. She sat down, sighing, and slowly ate her sandwich half. She looked around, wondering where the boys were. They hadn't been coming up to her, but they'd been out in the yard every day. Now they were gone. She knew they weren't sick, she'd seen them earlier in the hall. She shook her head, mystified, and finished her sandwich.

When the bell rang, she got up and ran for her next class, which was on the far end of the school. On the way there, she ran into someone, an adult, and fell back.

"In a rush, now, are we?"

She looked up and saw that the adult was the vice-principal. "Y-yes, sir, my class is on the other end of t-the school, sir."

"I see. I'm afraid I need to ask you to come with me." He crossed his arms.

"U-um, yes, sir." Shiki picked her bag up and followed after him.

They walked until Shiki realized where they were headed – the principal's office. He knocked on the door. "I've found her," he said.

The door opened. The tall, powerfully built man that they had for a principal frowned down on her. "Good." He turned to Shiki as the vice-principal walked off. "You, young lady, are in serious trouble."

End of chapter 4

Sorry, guys, I've been offline a while, I haven't even been working on my main story. I only just today got the chance to work on writing at all. Luckily, I already had most of the chapter for that one down, so I had plenty of time left over to work on this.

The story is moving a bit faster-paced than I expected, because I'm finding it hard to do filler time. It looks like this is going to end up being a short story, but if everything goes as planned, there may be a sequel.

Read and review!

~Ben