''Shorty, time to get up.''

I groan and press my pillow against my ear, not wanting to hear anything. Waking up is the worst part of the day.

''Come on!''

''No'', I mumble. Suddenly, Billie pulls the blanket off of me and the cold air hits my body. I'm only wearing shorts and a T-shirt, so I immediately feel frozen. I quickly try to get it back but she holds it firmly in her hands, smirking. I hate her. Okay, I don't.

''You need to eat breakfast and go to school, babe'', she says before grabbing my hand, pulling my up on my feet.

''I'm not hungry'', I mumble. ''I'll just leave now.''

Billie sighs, knowing that I won't eat if I don't want to. I walk down the stairs, sitting down in one of the chairs by the table where the others eat.

''Good morning'', I mumble, resting my head in my hand.

''You want some breakfast?'' Julia asks, looking up from her phone.

''No, I'm not hungry'', I say before unlocking my phone.

''Whatever you say'', she sighs before collecting all of the plates on the table.

Later

I can almost feel how everyone's looking at me as I walk through the school's hallway but I try not to care. When I walk past a special group of girls, a voice makes me stop.

''Ember, we're have you been?''

Not fucking Karen again. I can't stand her and her ugly ass face. I keep quiet, walking through the hallway but I hear her footsteps behind me, making me turn around.

''What do you want?'' I ask, annoyed.

''You are never here nowadays, why are you so lazy?'' She asks, crossing her arms. Lazy? If she only knew.

''Don't you call me lazy, you don't know what happened!'' I snap, making the hallway turn quiet and everyone looks at us.

''Take it easy now. I think that we all think that you are lazy, unless you say something'', she says.

''Stay out of my business, Karen!'' I snap again, pointing at her. I know that she just want me to get angry, she has done this before.

''Or what?'' She asks while starting to look angry. She is taller than me so when she comes closer she looks down at me. Our faces are inches from each other and I really want to back off, but I would look like a fucking pussy if I did so I keep standing there, feeling the adrenaline pumping in my veins.

''See? You think that people have respect for you, but you're just showing everyone how much of a weak bitch you are'', she says slowly when I don't answer her question. Her breath hits my face and that makes me wanna back off even more.

''Shut the fuck up'', I mumble. Suddenly, I see how she does something weird with her mouth and the next second, I'm covered in spit. She spat in my face. No fucking way. She did not just do that. The whole hallway is quiet and I don't even think before wiping the gross saliva out of my face before slapping her accross the face, making her head turn to the left.

''Are you fucking stupid? I will fucking kill you!'' She growls, grabbing my shoulders harschly and everyone gasps. My eyes turn wide open and I realise that she's going to do something back. I don't even have time to back off before her fist collides with my cheek, making an unpleasant noise. I back off and bend down, holding my hand under my face and I see how the blood from my mouth drops onto it. My face feels cold. It doesn't hurt, it's just... cold.

''I hate you'', I crack out, panting.

''What is going on here?'' A firm, male voice asks. Mr. Wilson.

''Dad, she hit me! I was just defending myself!'' Karen outbursts and I look at Mr. Wilson, shaking my head. When he sees my bloody face, he gasps before looking at his daughter.

''You did this to her?'' He asks Karen in disbelief.

''I-''

''Both of you, come to my room now!'' He growls, grabbing both of our shoulders harshly, leading us through the hallway. I struggle to walk, as I feel how the pain starts to spread all over my face. As I sit down in the chair, I have to keep my tears inside, not wanting Karen to know how much she hurt me.

''I need to get the nurse here, hold on'', Mr. Wilson says before picking uo the phone on his desk. As he's talking to her, I just look down at the ground and I feel Karen's gaze on me. Why do I always have to get in trouble? After a while, the nurse comes in with a first aid. It's Barbara, the only adult at the school that I actually don't hate. She has been working here since forever and she's really old.

''Oh dear!'', she outbursts before immediately picking up a piece of cotton to wipe away the blood on my face. I cringe because I don't like when people take care of me. It's so stupid. She puts a piece of cotton in one of my nostrils to stop the nose bleed that I apparently have and I hope that I won't look dumb. She finishes off with a bandaid over my cheek that has probably been cracked open or some shit. I thank her before Mr. Wilson tells her to leave.

''I want you two to tell me everything about what went down in the hallway'', Mr. Wilson asks, rubbing his hands slowly against each other. He nods at Karen, signaling that she should start. This is so fucking unfair because Karen is his daughter, of course he's going to take her side.

''Okay dad. You know that I would never hurt someone without a reason. I was simply asking Ember where she were this week because she hasn't been in school just because I wanted to show her that I care about her. She immediately got mad and I tried to calm her down, but she just kept insulting me about things that she knows are hard for me'', she pauses and I see on Mr. Wilson's face that he believes her. ''Then... she talked about Andrew and it made me so sad and frustrated because he really did mistreat me and she knows that as well.''

Her words make me think that she's joking, but when I see their faces, I realise that she's serious.

''Wait, what? What are you talking about? Who is Andrew?'' I ask, almost laughing. ''How can you have the guts to lie to your dad's face like this?''

I stand up and run a hand through my hair, ready to leave.

''Ms. Clayton, sit down'', Mr. Wilson says and I hestitantly sit down again. ''What's your side of the story?''

''Well, basically she came up to me and asked where I was with an attitude so I tried to ignore her but she kept on asking. I asked her what she wanted and she told me that I was a lazy bitch and when I told her to be quiet she spat me in the face and I hit her'', I admit. As I tell the story, I hear how immature I sound.

''You became mad because she called you lazy?'' Mr. Wilson asks slowly.

"She spat me in the face!" I outburst.

"What? I didn't?" She says and I shake my head in disbelief. Is this happening? I swear that I can see that Mr. Wilson doesn't really believe her in his eyes. He can't just not care about me being punched in the face.

If I just told Mr. Wilson about the real reason to why I'm not in school and to why I got upset, I would win this argument easily, but I just can't use my mom's state to defend myself. It would be... egoistic.

''I will speak to the both of you later because someone is clearly lying'', Mr. Wilson says and I sigh ebfore standing up. As I open the door, everyone is standing outside, waiting for an explination but I walk past them. Do they even have a life?

''The show's over, hope you liked it!'' I snap, making them shuffle awkwardly and I shake my head before exiting the building. People love drama, as long as they're not involved. As I walk outside, I feel how the reality hits me. I hit someone in the face, even though I had a reason. I've hurt someone. I have done something that I promised not to do. My tears just starts streaming down my cheeks from nowhere and I sit down on a bench, burying my face in my hands, feeling how it stings when my hands presses against the wound, but I don't care. It changes so fast all the time. Someone says something that upsets me, I become mad and do something stupid and then I cry because I hurt someone. I want to call Billie. I want to be with her, but I can't. Everything would be better if I just left. After making my decision, I stand up and walk away.