"Hell John, I forgot you even had a sister" said John.
"Can't say much about her since when I'm here it's usually for maybe a week before I'm gone again. Besides, she's either at school or working hard on her homework so we don't really much get time to begin with" said Gary.
"Pull her out once in a while, you guys are family anyway" said John.
"How old is she?" asked Simon.
"Hm...not sure. Let's see...last year she was...oh! She's 17 I think" said Gary.
"Ah the youth...wish I were 17 again" said John.
Simon noticed an item at the corner of his eye, which turned to be Shiva's school bag that was left at the door. Making his way over to it, Simon picked it up and waved it over to Gary.
"Your little sister might be having a little trouble with homework if her bag is down here" said Simon.
"Huh, it was probably when I sort of just pulled her in here. Why don't ya take it to her, her room is upstairs on the right...I think" said Gary.
"Sure, mate" said Simon.
Trotting up the stairs to try and find Shiva's room, it would be the first door from the right side of the stairs. Firmly knocking on the door, this startled a sulking Shiva which caused her to jump up and cautiously open the door. To her surprise it was one of the companions her brother had brought along.
"You forgot this downstairs, little lady" said Simon handing it to her.
Thank you" said Shiva taking a hold of it.
The position of her hand reaching up to grab it caused her shoulder to jerk a little and cause her to wince in pain. This was noticed by Simon who by instinct stepped in to wonder if she was alright.
"You okay there?" asked Simon.
Instinct took over when he had stepped foot into her room as she quickly shoved him back out and slammed the door in front of him. Holding the door from opening again, she could only think that he was after her and perhaps this was a set up from the other girls. The one place she thought would be safe immediately turned into a hostile situation for her. Confused by the situation, all Simon could do is pass it as an act of "don't talk to strangers", even though they had already properly introduced themselves. Not giving it a second thought, he made his way back down stairs to group up with the other two and continue their conversation.
The room began to tremble in her eyes, with such vivid lighting she could only make her way to the bed and curl up in a fetal position to try and block any thoughts from composing in her head. Simon was supposed to be a friend of her brother, wasn't he? No, perhaps it was a planned attack on her and all she could do is try to keep them away from her own room. This was all her mind could think about, such distorted thoughts and situations. Everything was just fine before, but now that she was forced to talk to someone she feels like they too become a threat if any one finds out. Every single time she tried to reach out to someone, they would always have the consequence of having the bullying get passed to them before it would bounce back to her. Yet those small moments where she would be free'd from their grasps was worth it for her. It had been a couple of times she purposely befriended another student so that she could get the satisfaction of feeling like she was still alive. If only for a moment she could talk to another human being that listened to what she had to say and give her direct responses, yet it would never last long before her predators would eventually come for her new 'friend' first, followed by herself yet again. Can one imagine never being talked to? Never have interaction with another person for months and years? To be teased over the smallest things and in the end you never knew why you deserved this? How would your life change if this happened? For Shiva it almost seemed unreal until it happened to her. Not a single soul to rely on while her heart and mind slowly break into pieces. Running on pure mammal instinct all day to survive.
Another thing she made sure to hide were the notes she frequently received from school for her poor grades and attendance. There were moments where she had to stay home and recover from her beatings only to come back to school and get her wounds re-opened, yet the only thing that made her keep coming back was the fear of getting expelled from school. Since the teachers and principal didn't exactly have anyone else to rely on but her brother in active service, all they could do is allow her to continue with school but have her repeat the classes she kept on failing. Next year she should be graduating, but with the grades she has it would take her another two years to finish.
Closing her eyes and trying not to think about it, Shiva drifted off into sleep until she would realize that her eyes were set on her alarm clock which marked 6:45AM. If she didn't get up and get ready for school then she would be late. Not bothering to jump into the shower or fix herself up, she grabbed her school bag which was still on the floor and ran downstairs to try and get at least a snack before she left. To her surprise , her brother and his comrads were already sitting on the dinning table and talking amongst themselves.
"Shiva! Come to join us for a cup of tea?" asked Gary.
"Sorry brother, I'm late" said Shiva rushing in to pick up an orange from the fruit basket.
"Need a lift? I'll get you there quick" said Gary.
"No thank, I'll be fine!" said Shiva running out quicker than when she got there.
Running out of the door and closing it behind her, she ran down her usual path to school and hoped to get to her class in time. The bell echoed through the school to signal students that class was now starting and that's when she knew she was late. Once arriving to her first class, the first person to notice her was the teacher.
"Miss Shiva, you're late AGAIN. Please report to the principal" said her teacher.
Sigh. Nodding and doing as she was told, the walk to the principal's office was a short one. Upon seeing Shiva's face, the principal sighed for this was an occasional routine for him now.
"Miss Shiva, late again I presume?" he asked.
Shiva nodded.
"What's your excuse THIS time" he asked.
"I have none, sir" she said.
"You know I can't continue sending messages to your brother about this. It proves of no use and if this should continue , you will have to be transfered to another school on the other side of the city. I know this would be highly convenient for you, which is why I have kept you here thus far but there is only so much I can do" said the principal.
"I am sorry sir..." said Shiva.
"Sorry won't cut it, miss Shiva, it's either you improve your behaviour in this school or I will be forced to send you to the other school. Now in order to make this work for the both of us, I need you to comply" he said.
"I promise to do better" said Shiva.
"I hope so. Now return to your class and I hope this does not happen again" he said.
Nodding to this, Shiva made her way back to class and continued on with the school day until it was over and onto her daily routine. For some reason today felt a little different, for once the girls that usually waited for her at the gate weren't there. Was today going to be a good day after all? Not giving it a chance, she walked over to the gate and hoped for the best. Oddly enough there was a girl standing a few feet from the gate as if waiting for someone. Picking up her pace and walking past the girl, it proved useless when the girl had gently grabbed her shoulder. Turning around to face the girl, the first thing she heard was the girl say:
"It's okay, it's okay...I won't hurt you".
"Who are you..." said Shiva.
"Don't worry, I am a class mate of yours. I normally sit in the back and I doubt you've really seen me but we are in the same classes" said the girl.
"What do you mean you won't hurt me" said Shiva starting to panic.
"I know about the girls ignoring you and bullying you after school, but since they had detention today I would figure I would snatch you up and walk you home" said the girl smiling.
Shiva didn't know wether she was telling the truth since she hadn't seen her before, but then again she never paid attention to who was in her class to begin with. Having a stranger following her home didn't seem to good at the moment anyway,so she would have to politely decline. Next thing she knew she was already walking away from the girl who offered to escort her home. Regretting nothing, all she could think of was getting home as soon as she could and run up to her room before even seeing her brother's comrads. As soon as she reached her house, she rushed inside and without saying anything she closed the door behind her and ran up to her room as fast as she could. Tossing her school bag onto the bed, it wasn't long after before she heard a knock on her door.
"Shiva? Hey, I think you forgot one of your friends outside" said Gary.
Not wanting to make it seem like she didn't have friends, she was forced to open the door for him with the girl from earlier standing right next to him.
"It seems I have...sorry, I thought she was going home after school..." said Shiva.
"How could you misunderstand that?" wondered Gary.
"Well thank you um...who are you?" asked the girl.
"I'm Gary, her brother, a pleasure to meet you miss..." he waited for her to complete the sentence.
"Emily" said the girl.
"Ah, well I guess you two have homework to do so I'll leave you girls alone" said Gary closing the door on them.
"Sorry to intrude like this but I really wanted to get to know you better. I know you don't really trust people so I wanted to prove to you that I can help change that, promise" said Emily holding out her pinky to Shiva.
It has been a while since anyone had opened up to her and at this point she was getting desperate for any type of friendship, plus it would come in use for her to cover up some of her stories from her brother. Quick to react, Shiva wrapped her pinky around Emily's and shook on it.
"Shiva was it? From now on we will be good friends" said Emily.
Forcing a smile on her face, It was hard for her to be sincere at this point.
"The one girl who gently held her hand to me, all I can say is "I'm sorry" as an apology for what is to come".