Riley sat at the breakfast table waiting with anticipation for Maya to arrive. As soon as she heard Maya's voice she got up buzzed her in and picked up her school bag. She walked across the hallway and into the lift. Whilst walking to the subway her leg began to ache, her father had kicked her in the leg and it was very bruised. She was sore all the time, she had learnt to put on a brave face, to hide her pain and sorrow behind her cheery smile. She started walking a bit slower.

"You right?" Maya asked.

"Yep" Riley said smiling cheerfully.

"I'm just a bit tired, I was up late doing our math homework."

'Um… we didn't have any math homework.' Maya thought to herself, but she didn't say anything knowing better than to. Knowing that this was just an excuse she walked a bit slower so that Riley could aswell and didn't feel like she needed to walk faster.