A/N: Hiya guys! I've done 3 chapters with out an authors note so I should probably do one now. Thanks to my reviewers! All 4 of ya! Vanessa finally has her nickname! Whoop-de-doo! I should probably do the chapter now instead of being all happy. Okay, here goes.

Chapter 8

Bring me to Life.

"Ugh, why do we have to go to these stupid counselling meetings anyway?" I groaned.

"Mostly to listen to Mum talking about how we screwed up our lives. Quite interesting really," Stanley said sarcastically.

"I didn't screw my life up completely," I muttered.

"Oh yeah, I never found out what you did to get in here. Oh well, suppose I should find out now," Stanley said.

We walked into the mess hall and sat on the wooden benches that were placed around in a circle.

"So…" Mom said, once everyone had focused on him, "I think this sharing circle should be about what we like." We all groaned and leaned down low in our chairs. "How about we start with you Magnet," he said, "What do you like?"

The boy shrugged. "I like animals."

"Dude isn't that why you're in here?" Squid laughed.

"I got caught stealin a puppy," Magnet giggled childishly.

"And why would you do something like that?" Mom asked sarcastically. He's probably heard this story already, I thought.

"Man its criminal how they keep em locked up in cages!" Magnet whined, looking depressed.

"No Jose, what you did was criminal," Mom corrected raising an eyebrow. "You boys are here because of one person," he called, before turning to Caveman, "do you know who that is Stanley?"

"Yeah," Caveman said, nodding slowly, "Yeah I do…My no-good, pig stealing, great, great grandfather that's who!" We all burst out laughing and I slapped Caveman on the back. Mom didn't laugh along and waited for us all to settle down before speaking.

"You guys have one life." He held up one finger. "And so far you've done a pretty good job of screwing it up. You could do anything if you just put your mind to it." All of us rolled our eyes at this. Mom turned to Zero and pointed to the boy. "I mean even Zero isn't completely worthless."

I suddenly sat up straight.

"You honestly don't know how stupid you are, do you Mr P? You can't say that to anyone," I whined

"I can say whatever I want in the sharing circle," Mom said, glaring at me.

I huffed and shot icicles at him. If only looks could kill.

"So what do you like to do Zero?" Mom asked, turning back to Zero.

"Man, he don't talk to no one but Caveman," Armpit laughed.

"You think you're better than us Zero?" Mr P smirked. Boy, did I want to smack that guy.

"I like digging holes," Zero said shyly.

"Well then you're in the right place," Mom shot back, "buddy-boy."

Don't I know that, I thought.

"Why can't you just leave him alone?" I hissed.

"Well, what do you like to do then Vanessa?" he sneered my name.

"I'd rather not say, thank you," I said sharply.

"Oh, well I have your file right here. I could just read it out. . ." he said wistfully. I stiffened.

"You were born in a small town in England. When you were 13, your family moved to America, leaving your best friends, Ila and Ellie, behind," he said emotionlessly, "Before you left, you also dumped your only boyfriend, who you'd had for 3 weeks then," he snorted and carried on, "A year after arriving in America, your sister had to go see a therapist for anger problems," I remembered that. I used to call him The-Rapist. It made me feel better about my life. "You became more quiet than you had in England. Cried a lot. Missed the croquet?" he sneered.

"I never. . ." I began, but he cut me off.

"You switched schools because your grades were dropping dramatically. A boy called Will, I believe, began to pick on you and beat you up. You were in hospital many times in just one month. Stanley, your best friend at the time, had to come here, so you were left all alone. In an act of bullying, you were found to be pounding Will into a coma," he smiled a yellow, crooked smile.

"He. . ." I tried to speak but he interrupted.

"You were sent here and we have now come a full circle," he smiled again.

"I. . . I. . ." I looked like a goldfish as I struggled for words. Eventually, I got out my chair and ran out the room, crying. The boys would think I was a wimp and pick on me just like Will had. Stanley would never want to be my friend ever again. Zig-Zag would think I was sent by aliens, I mean he already does, but now he would actually start to believe it more now he knew a lot about me. I thought of Ellie, Ila, Mum, Dad, Shauna, home. The tears fell continuously. I didn't want them to. I wiped my eyes dry.

"Woah!" I yelled, almost falling into a hole. The tears began again, dripping down my face like rain. The rain that never came to this stupid oven-desert.

Grandma, Granddad, Amelia, Jenny, Dean, Sara, Minnie, Grandpa, Jeanie, May, Maegan, Lulu, Lilly. All those names came to me at once. I raced into the tent and hid under the covers in my cot. My life was messed up. Nobody could save me now. Nobody could bring me back to life. Nobody.