"This is Miss Olsen. Miss Olsen will be joining us in class for a short amount of time." The teacher says sternly as she looks at the class, silently telling us to behave.

Miss Olsen clears her throat as she steps forward hesitantly. "Thank you, Miss Brook. I'll be here for three months as part of an... Internship." She smiles at the class.

I look around to see some kids looking confused at each other. It doesn't take long before the whispers start, but Miss Brook interferes before it can go too far. She clears her throat loudly, silencing the entire class at once, afraid of the consequences otherwise.

"I expect you all to treat Miss Olsen like you treat me. In fact, I'd appreciate it if you treat her better since that bar isn't that high. Now, are there any questions?"

Everybody shakes their head, knowing that Miss Brook doesn't want us to ask questions. She nods in satisfaction. "Great, let's get started shall we?" She smiles, earning a lot of mumbled sighs.

She ignores them as she goes over the list of names, calling them out to make sure everyone is present. Everyone but me.

Miss Brook isn't a kind teacher. She knows her stuff and I do learn a lot from her academically, but she's not really a people person. At least I don't think she is. I wonder how long she can keep up this act in front of Miss Olsen.

"Alright since everyone is present, please open your textbooks on page 17." She states as she opens her own textbook.

I'm used to my name not being called out, the first few times I was confused as to why she was skipping mine. But I learned to ignore it.

I keep my head down, don't engage in friendly conversation and just focus on school so I can get out of here. I want a better life than this, one that I actually enjoy living. One that feels like mine.

I look up from my textbook, my eyes surprisingly connecting with the ones of Miss Olsen. She offers me a sympathetic smile. I feel the corner of my mouth twitch, my body automatically reciprocating the smile.

Fortunately, I notice it in time, being able to stop the smile before it becomes noticeable. I look down at my textbook and take out my notebook as Miss Brook starts to go over today's lesson.

"Hey, Casey."

I look up from my notebook with an internal sigh, knowing what's to come. When I lock eyes with Daniel he flashes me a cocky grin.

"I just wanted to know where you got those shoes. I had shoes like that after my dog threw up on them." He laughs, resulting in the entire class laughing as well.

"That's enough Daniel." Miss Brook states with a raised eyebrow, trying to hide her amusement.

I don't care much for other people's opinions, and I'm used to classmates pestering me. But I would lie if I said it didn't hurt.

Because it does hurt.

Not because they're the ones who are saying it, but it hurts because they're confirming my own thoughts.

I live with my grandmother and I don't think we have much money to spend. She offered to buy me new shoes a few weeks ago even though she was struggling buying groceries the day beofre that. So I declined.

I don't need new shoes anyway. Since they're my mother's old sneakers, I have to wear three pairs of socks to not slip out of them. That combined with plasters is enough to avoid blisters from the damaged sole. And the hole near my toes is barely visible.

So I simply roll my eyes at Daniel as I chuckle. One day people like him will be working for me and I'll make sure to treat them better than he has ever treated me.

I open my notebook again, focusing on my schoolwork. The day goes by slowly. We got a new homework assignment, Daniel and his friends made a few very unoriginal comments and Miss Brook denied my existence. So nothing out of the ordinary.

When the bell rings everyone practically runs out of the classroom, ready to do whatever 'normal' kids do. I however remain in my seat, as usual, wanting to finish my homework since I won't be able to focus on it at home. Miss Brook is used to it by now, but she still sighs deeply whenever she sees me staying back.

I look at Miss Brook in confusion when I hear her sigh deeply. That is until I see her roll her eyes in Casey's direction, who stayed back for an unknown reason.

From what I witnessed in the classroom, everybody seems to have something against her. They're either completely ignoring her existence or they're bullying her for it. Miss Brook asked everyone questions except for her and she also stayed back in class during lunch.

"Come on Lizzie, I'll show you the teacher's lounge." Miss Brook says as she picks up her stuff, leaving the classroom right after.

I don't react right away, because my mind is too busy figuring out what Casey did to be treated this way. But Miss Brook soon clears her throat as she looks at me with a raised eyebrow. I rapidly pick up my stuff, about to leave the classroom, my gaze landing on Casey who's bouncing her legs.

She's still sitting in the back of the classroom, chewing the back of her pencil as she reads over the textbook. One of the first things that caught my eye is her hair. At least, the hoodie covering her hair.

I read over the rules of the school including the dress code, which clearly states that hoodies aren't allowed. But she seems to be an exception since she's the only one in the entire school not wearing an uniform.

Miss Brook clears her throat, catching my attention. I quickly apologise before following her, but halfway through the halls, my heart sinks in my chest.

"Sorry Miss Brook you can go ahead, I forgot my purse in the classroom." I smile weakly before turning around, not awaiting her answer.

I try to hide my purse underneath the coat I'm carrying, hoping she hasn't seen it. I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit intimated by Miss Brook. No matter how good of a teacher you are, it's not easy to silence an entire room full of 6-year-olds. But she does it within seconds. Something tells me it's not out of respect, but it's out of fear.

I walk back into the classroom, seeing Casey in the exact same position as I left her. I slowly place my coat and purse down on the desk at the front of the class, not wanting to startle her.

I walk up to her and come to a stop in front of her, seeing nothing but doodles in her notebook.

"Casey?" I call out her name cautiously. She completely freezes, dropping the pencil out of her hands as she slowly moves her head to look up at me.

I offer her a soft smile as she looks at me with wide eyes. "I'm Miss Olsen." I state when she doesn't say anything. She blinks a few times before pursing her lips, clearly extremely confused.

"Do you mind if I sit?" I ask her as I point to the chair in front of her. She however doesn't move, she simply continues to keep eye contact which I decide to interpret as a no.

I slowly take out the chair and move it closer to her desk. Once I sit down I point at her textbook. "May I?"

She looks at me for a few seconds before she lifts her hands from the textbook and slightly pushes it to me. I turn it in my direction and read over the page she has been stuck on for at least the last five minutes.

I turn it back in her direction when I get what she's struggling with. "The answer is an elephant." I smile as I point to the paragraph where you can find the answer.

She reads over the paragraph slowly as she nods her head. Instead of writing down the word 'elephant', she draws an elephant head before diverting her attention to the next question.

I'm a bit confused as to why she doodled an elephant instead of writing it so I open my mouth to ask her about it, but before I'm able to, I hear Miss Brook clear her throat behind me.

I immediately shoot up from the chair, somehow feeling caught. Like I'm doing something I'm not supposed to. I look at Miss Brook with an apologetic smile, but she simply looks unamused back at me.

I put back the chair in its place and steal one last glance at Casey, who hasn't even looked at me since I gave her the answer. I cautiously walk back to Miss Brook who grabs my purse and coat from the desk.

She places her hand on my back as she guides me out of the classroom. "As good as your intentions are, I wouldn't waste your energy on that one." She says as she hands me back my stuff.

I nod as I follow her, looking through the window at Casey when we walk past her. My curiosity only growing. What did she do to end up on everyone's bad side?

My first day as a teacher has finally ended. I engage in some small talk with another teacher as we walk to the exit of the building. Since it's a small town and my apartment is pretty close, I decided on walking here this morning.

I'm glad I did because the weather seems nice. I quickly decide to take a quick detour and walk through the park. It's quite busy. A lot of families are sitting in the grass, on benches or simply enjoying themselves. I feel content as I look around, taking in all the smiles and laughter.

One laughter stands out from all of them, it's a contagious never stopping giggle. Once I walk past a tree line I see where the giggle is coming from.

A young girl is sitting on a swing, laughing uncontrollably as she goes higher and higher. I can't help the smile that forms on my lips, one that only grows when I see the person behind the swing.

Casey.

Even though it's sunny, it's starting to get colder since winter is coming up and Casey is clearly underdressed. Where is her coat?

"Higher, higher!" The young girl giggles as Casey starts to push the swing higher. I smile at the little interaction, which almost instantly stops when Casey sees me. She takes a step aside to properly look at me, slightly tilting her head with furrowed eyebrows.

I offer her a warm smile and an awkward wave, making her shrug before she walks away. The girl on the swing shouts after her, but Casey completely ignores it, disappearing from my view within seconds.

I contemplate following her, but decide against it. I also try to ignore this heavy feeling in my heart, but I fail to succeed. There are 27 kids in my class, I met even more while walking through the school and somehow my mind is occupied by one little girl.

It's just not adding up. The way they treat her in class is simply unacceptable. At first, I thought that maybe she did something to deserve it since the teacher treats her badly as well.

But then I saw her with the other girl, happy because she is making someone else happy.

I sigh and rub my nose as I continue my walk to my apartment. Once I made it 'home' I cook up some food and stay the rest of the night in, exhausted from today.