Karen McCain once again stood at the front of her class (she had worked out that this was her 10th Grade class; back in the UK they would call this Year 11) reading aloud from "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." In this particular section, a young woman was testifying to the police that she had seen Mr. Hyde beat a gentleman to death with a stick. When she was finished, she dropped the book on her desk and told her class to discuss in pairs what R.L Stevenson was trying to warn the reader about in this section, while she went into her office to take care of some paperwork.

Matt Carlisle sat at the back of the classroom and worked alone. He could feel that his head was still tender from where his dad had hit him, but at least this time the bruise was covered by hair. There were only so many times teachers would believe a story about walking into a door.
For fifteen minutes, Matt Carlisle sat, ignored, in total silence, thinking about the future. Matt had a clear plan in his head. He would get average grades in school, get a job in a shop or something as soon as he turned eighteen, save up the money for a ticket to the UK and find himself a place to live. Eventually, he might see if he could get on a college course in the UK and get himself a better job, but that was too far in the future to be thinking about now. His main focus was getting out of school, getting out of the country, and starting a new life somewhere. He chose the UK because he wouldn't have to learn a new language and, if he was being honest, he loved the accent. It sounded cool.

When Karen came back into the room the class quickly went silent. Karen had a look of utter disgust on her face. Matt also thought she looked pretty upset about something, and it didn't take long for him to discover what. She held in her hands a piece of paper, which had the words

"McCain is a whore" scribbled on it in blue ink. Below the words was an image of a naked woman, on top of whom was another naked woman, with a photograph of Karen's head stuck on to one of the women's necks with blu tac.

"This was not in my office drawer before this lesson began. The entire class will return to this classroom after school and we will all sit in silence until the person who has provided me with this delightful image comes forward." Karen's voice was just as calm and composed as ever. She spoke almost matter-of-factly. Her eyes surveyed the room. Glaring.

As she dismissed the class, Matt's eyes met hers and he gave her a small, supportive smile. She smiled back, but the change in her lips was so tiny Matt almost didn't recognise it as a smile.
Karen had been Matt's English teacher ever since he started high school and he decided after two lessons with her that she was his favourite teacher. Partly because she was the only one who paid him any attention, but mainly because of the genuine care and respect that she had for him and his peers. The thought made him wonder who had tried to insult her in such a terrible way.

Having eaten his lunch, Matt made his way through the corridor towards his locker. Matt basically relied on his locker. He didn't have much space for school textbooks and the like at home, what with all the books and beer bottles. His room had one drawer other than his clothes ones, and Matt seldom opened it anyway. His next lesson was History, and Matt had forgotten to pick his textbook up from his locker on his way to English that same morning.
Walking down the corridor, Matt was ambushed.

"Hey, faggot!" A six-foot tall, shapeless kid named Jacob ran past Matt, slapping him on the back of the head as he did so. Matt stumbled, but this time, managed not to fall. Matt tried to get away but the kid grabbed his shoulder and wrapped one of his thick arms around Matt's neck. Matt gasped for air, as another boy, this one much shorter than Jacob but more muscularly defined stood in front of the other the other two with a hand-held video camera in his right hand. This guy's name was Kyle. When stood next to each other, Jacob and Kyle reminded Matt of George and Lennie, from "Of Mice and Men."

"Smile, bitch." Kyle taunted, still filming Matt's struggle to get Jacob's arm away from around his neck. Jacob slapped Matt in the face with his free arm a few times. The tips of Jacob's fingers slammed into the fresh bruise on Matt's head, and Matt winced. It was an effort for him not to cry. Kyle held the video camera close to Matt's face and called him a faggot a few more times, before smashing the camera into Matt's mouth and nose.
When Matt felt like he was going to pass out from lack of oxygen, Jacob released him and left him gasping for breath on the ground.
And then, the big finale; Jacob spat on Matt's shirt, Kyle smirked and murmured "pathetic," quietly enough so the fifteen people watching could hear, (they all laughed) and Jacob and Kyle finally walked away.

Ignoring all the people who were still looking his way, Matt made his way straight into the boys' bathroom, and after making sure that nobody had followed him and that he was definitely alone, he allowed the tears to fall down his cheeks. He leaned against the wall, and sat down with his back against it and his head in his hands. He sobbed until his throat hurt. He managed to steady his breathing, splashed some cold water on his face, broke down in tears again, steadied his breathing again, splashed more cold water on his face, and, once he looked normal again, he made his way back into the corridor.
The corridor was empty, meaning Matt was late for his History lesson. He opened his locker, and took out his History textbook, titled "Life in Nazi Germany: 1933-1945." Matt winced at how much more appealing "life in Nazi Germany" sounded today.