As she pushed open the door to her first class, she heard the teacher counting.
" …. 28." Mrs. Gallfrith said in satisfaction.
Dani felt sick.
There were 29 students in her class, and she felt sure the teacher was counting tickets to the concert.
As she slowly came in, Mrs. Gallfrith looked up.
" At least you're not late." She commented dryly.
Dani placed her homework on the teacher's desk and sat down at her own.
" You need to shower more often, Miss. Cullen." Mrs. Gallfrith said with a sniff as she pages through her work.
" Yes Teacher." Dani mumbled.
Her mom had not let her shower the night before, and she had forgotten to this morning.
The teacher handed her back her work, and Dani's heart sank.
C's, all the way across.
Tears stung her eyes as she pushed it back into her desk.
She could feel her teacher's eyes upon her as she fiddled with her desk lock.
That's when she realized her desk key was gone.
Her heart nearly stopped as she frantically tried to find it without looking like she was searching.
It was no use, and as the rest of the students crowded into the room, she heard Mrs. Gallfrith snort with derisive laughter.
Dani looked up with large, frightened eyes as the teacher threw the key right in her face.
Her aim was perfect, and it speared her right in her left eye.
Dani snatched the key and stuck it back into her desk, finding a cloth and holding it to her watering eye.
" Put that away and pay attention." Mrs. Gallfrith snapped at her.
All day, her eye ached and watered, but in every class, she was neither helped nor allowed to help herself.
When recess came, and she tried to stay inside, the teacher, Mr. Twitchfarl, literally picked her up and flung her out the door, muttering about how he never liked her since the day she walk into his class.
She limped out into the yard, as her leg had been twisted when she collided with the doorframe in the classroom.
She slipped around behind a bunch of box elders and sat down, trying to ebb her tears as she massaged her leg and rubbed her sore eye.
Suddenly a bunch of dirt, sticks, leaves, and gravel rained down over her head.
With a startled cry, she looked up to see a leering grin on the face of Robin, one of the cruelest boys in the whole school.
" Whatch doin, crybaby girl?" he taunted as he poured a bucket of water over her head.
She tried to scramble away, but his foot connected with her stomach and flipped her against the brick wall of the school.
" You're not going anywhere, babe." He hissed menacingly. " Not till you promise to hand over your ticket for the concert tonight. I don't care what grade I get; I'm still going."
He grabbed her by the necks and lifted her off the ground, chocking her for a bit before throwing her back down.
" Will you?" he demanded.
Dani nodded frantically, even though she was not getting one either.
" Good." Robin, stepped on her foot and ground his heel into it until she cried out with pain.
" If you don't give it, I am going to make you wish you had never been born."
With that threat ringing in her ears, he turned and stomped off.