OVER
Tom got out of the shower, and limped over to the mirror. Every bone in his body ached after the fight with Rico and Jeff. It had definitely been a losing fight. He touched the long scar on the right side of his face. Sure, the sticky red line had been stitched up now, but he had a feeling it would scar him for life. A reminder of his last night with Lauren.
Lauren had gone. He had no idea where, or how to find her. She was just gone. She didn't answer her mobile, or reply to his texts. Tom was alone now.
His father had been arrested and his mother arrested too. His father for drug offences, his mother for perverting the course of justice. Tom's world, in a single night, had been torn apart. He jumped quickly from the shower-room to his bedroom in the gloomy children's home. His parents were in custody now, and nobody else wanted him. He wasn't just a bit lonely. He was truly by himself now. He would give anything to have Lauren back. She was the best friend he had ever had.
He put on his unwashed school uniform and walked to his old school alone. He saw the rest of the year 9 boys, and the beatings resumed.
'Hey scarface' a hard-looking boy in the other class called. 'D'you want one on the other side to match?'
Tom had given up. Everything good in his life was over and the dark was clouding around him. He had no dignity. He crawled over to a bench, under a tree, where he and Lauren used to sit. He cried.