Chapter 1 Honey
I look up at the clock. I've never really liked this class, but right now I wish it could go on forever. Because when that bell rings, I know what, or rather who, is waiting. Suddenly, and all too soon, the bell rings. My stomach feels like it’s being stretched, and a giant feeling of dread consumes me. I know I won’t be able to escape her. As I walk down the corridor with my bag, I pray that she doesn't see me. That she’ll pick on someone else today. But when I hear her voice, I know that she has seen me. “Hey fatty!” she yells, and as I stand there,her words cut me up from inside. I try to ignore her, walking faster than before. She grabs me, yanking me back. “Where d’ya think you’re going?” She smiles as she says this, but it’s anything but kind. She pushes me into the lockers, then grabs my bag, rifling to find worth taking. She found some chocolate and… something no one should have seen. She laughs, waving it about. My cheeks burn red, and I reach out for them, trying to get them back.
“Ha! I never would have guessed you were a girl!” My cheeks somehow burn even redder.
”Please, give them back,” I mumble. She pretended to consider this for a moment.
“Well… I”ll give it back for your phone.”
“No, I can’t! I just got this one!” She looks angry, and I know that was a bad choice.
“Fine then, I”ll just pin these up everywhere. I”m sure they won’t know they’re yours, especially when I've written your name on them… She has a dangerous look in her eyes, and I can tell she’s not kidding. Defeated, I silently hand my phone over, in exchange for… them, which she throws into my face. “See ya tomorrow fatty!” she shouted over her shoulder, “You’d better have something good for me, otherwise, you know what happens!” Long after she has gone, I sit there, blinking back my tears. After a while, I stand up and start to head home.
“You’re late.” A voice greets me as I walk through the door. I ignore her, heading towards my room. I’m glad she can’t see my face, otherwise she’d have seen it was scrunched up, pained as I tried not to start crying. As soon as I reach my room I let go, and what seems to be a tsunami of tears flow from my eyes. I fling myself onto my bed, and lay there sobbing into my pillow for what seems like 10 years. I open my eyes, and realize I must have fallen asleep. I stand up, walking over to the mirror. I stare at my ugly reflection, my stupid stomach hanging way past my pants. My face crumples as I stare at my hideous reflection. I need to lose weight. I remember once I went on a diet, losing about a kg a week. Faster. I need to lose weight faster. Maybe if I’m not fat she’ll leave alone. I shudder at the thought of her. I start to drift off, remembering the day she came, the day everything was ruined…
It was a sad day for me already. It was the start of the year, my best friend had moved to Australia and I would probably never see her again. I was wondering who I would hang out with now she was gone. Oh well, I thought. Alice was nice to me last year. I remember her friend left too. Maybe she’ll let me hang out with her. What a disaster. I should have never gone near her. I walked up to her and asked if I could hang with her. “Actually, I’m hanging out with someone else.”
“Oh, OK. Never mind. I’ll just see you later...” I stopped in mid-sentence. There she was, standing in front of me. “The name’s Grace. See you around.” The way she said it, the sort of near snarl in her voice. It made me
“Uh… yeah. See you. Bye.” I started walking away quickly, suddenly afraid of this person, of Grace. It was the way she said it, the sort of near snarl in her voice. “Bye fatty! See ya soon!” Everyone started sniggering. My face flushed red. I practically ran away, tears streaming down my face.
I hate Grace, I hate her! I wish I had never seen her! I dried the tears away from my face, and I heard a voice calling my name. At first I thought I was imagining it, but then realised it was my Mum’s voice. “Honey! Dinner’s ready!” I trudge over to the kitchen and sit down at the table. My food sits there, never looking less appetizing. It might as well have been rotten fish. I just sit there, swirling stuff around with my fork. My parent’s voices sound so far away, just white noise in the background. “Honey? Honey!”
“Huh, what?” I was suddenly snapped out of my trance as I heard my name.
“What’s wrong Honey? You haven’t eaten or said anything all night!” My mum was looking at me, a worried expression on her face. “I’m fine,” I mumbled, staring down at my food. She was silent for a moment. “OK Honey,” she said, not in the least sounding like she believed me. I didn't care. I was just glad she had dropped the subject.
Chapter 2 Kat
“Bye Jess! See you tomorrow!” I yell up to my friend as she walks to her front door.
“See ya Kat!” She shouts over her shoulder, walking into her house. Just a little longer… I think, struggling to keep the smile on my face. I round the corner and stop, the smile vanishing from my face. For just down the road is my house. You’re probably wondering why this is a bad thing, why I’m not happy to finally get home. Well trust me, if you had a house like mine, you’d never want to go home. I take a deep breath, then sling my bag back over my shoulder and start walking.
I open the door slowly, listening for any sounds. Luckily I couldn't hear or see anything, so I crept inside. I had been through this routine every day for nearly 3 years, but I never stopped being afraid of it. I ran up to my door and snuck inside, jumping under the covers of my bed. No sooner had I done this than I heard the front door open. I closed my eyes tight and pulled the duvet over my head as shouting filled the house. Suddenly, I open my eyes. The shouting stopped. The door creaks open. “Kat?” I hear my mum’s voice, and I sit up in bed “Ye...” I trail off. Mum’s face is pale, and she has tears streaking down her face. ‘‘Mum?’’ She looks at me, then sits on the bed and holds me tight. “Oh Kat,” she whispers into my hair, then starts sobbing. I wrap my arms around her silently, knowing that nothing I could ever say would be enough to make her feel better.
I drowsily blinked my eyes, trying to get sight back into them. I reach my hand over, trying to find my phone. Finally, I find it and bring it over to me. I stare at the clock, but it could have been written in Martian for all I knew. Eventually, my eyes focused. “8:30! Uuuggghhh!” I jumped out of bed, pulling on my jeans while saying all the swear words I could think off. I grabbed my jacket and started to open my door. I suddenly stop and twist round on my foot, grab a shirt and then walk out the door while pulling it over my head. I grab something to eat and my makeup, then rush out the door. Pulling the hood of my jacket over my head, I hop on my bike, bag slung over my shoulder. I pedal as fast as I can, wanting to be at school in time and meet with my friends before they declared me dead. Or sick.
I cycle up to the bike rack, practically leaping off my bike as I park it. I pull the hood back over my face, dodging between people to get to the bathroom. I dump my bag on the ground, grab my makeup and rush over to the mirror. I quickly
apply my mascara and lipgloss, then cake on foundation to cover up my pimples. It was like I had painted my smile on too. It was there, but I wasn’t happy or anything. I just plastered it on every day with my makeup, put there to make everyone think everything was OK, when it was anything but. I stand there for a while, tears trickling down my face, until I hear someone knock on the door. “Kat, are you in there?” It was Jess. “Yeah, I’ll be out in a minute,”I say, wiping the tears off my face, then grabbed my things and walked out to meet her. “Come on let’s go!”I said, smiling as I slung my bag over my shoulder.
I look up at the clock. Hurry up and ring already! I sit there, impatiently jiggling my leg up and down. Eventually, the bell rings. Thank god! I hurry to stuff everything into my bag, practically running out the door. I went to the school gate and waited. Where is he?! After waiting for what seems like forever, two hands grab me round the waist. “Hi Kitty,” he said, stroking my hair.
“Purr, purr!” I said laughing. “Hi Dylan.” I twist round and kiss him.
“Hey, hey!” a teacher walks up to us. “None of that in the school grounds! Go smooch somewhere else!” Dylan and I rolled our eyes, but held hands as we walked out of school together.
He rests my head on my shoulder as we walk down the road together. I look up at him, only to find him gazing back at me. “Love you,” he whispers into my hair.
“I love you too.” We walk up to the door of my house, and I give him a small kiss on his lips. “See you on Monday,” I whisper. He smiles, then waves and leaves me. I walk through the door, remembering nothing but his beautiful face. “Katherine, is that you?!” I stiffen. I was in such a trance I forgot about Dad. “Uh… yeah,” I said, walking through the hallway to find him. “Someone here wants to meet you!” I stopped. What? I went into the living room, and there was this man. He was frightening to look at. The expression on his face when he saw me… it scared me. I did not know who this man was, but I knew straight away when I saw him that he was not a kind man. He was evil, right to his very core. And I was right.
