I shook my head, “No thanks. Hate popcorn. It tastes like shit.”

A smile spread across my face as fresh dog shit dribbled down Chloe’s chin. I guess the little stint in the oven made it runny? Should have expected that, not that it’s a problem. It was probably worse for her, to have it trickle down her face. She’ll be tasting that for days. As soon as she realised what it was, she gagged and spat the cake onto the floor.

“No!” I shouted. “You must eat it all!” I grabbed the cake and shoved it into her mouth. My hand clamped across her face to stop her from spitting it out once more. She struggled, in my grasp, but I didn’t release her until I felt her swallow some of it. “That’s it…Good girl…” I couldn’t help but think of Rebecca swallowing my own poison too. A smile spread across my face. As soon as I let go of Chloe, she threw up on the floor. It’s starting to smell in here…What with the blood, puke, shit and stench of fear. Thank God the lesson is nearly over. It’ll be nice to get some fresh air. “You can sit down now,” I whispered to Chloe when she finished sicking up, what she had eaten, onto the floor. She stood up and made her way back to her seat, spitting as she went.

“You’re going to burn in Hell for this,” said Mrs Price. “You know that, don’t you?” She didn’t look scared of me anymore. She looked angry. A familiar expression we, as a class, were used to. Maybe she knew I wasn’t going to actually shoot anyone? “Your mum and dad will be known around the world for what you have done. You’ll be rotting in prison, and then Hell, and they’ll be having to live with the consequences of your actions.”

“Then I guess, with all of us residing there, Hell will be full.”

“Just let us go before you do something you’ll regret.”

“I’ll regret nothing of today.”

“You say that now but in years to come…You’ll realise…This wasn’t the way…”

I turned to David, behind me. The look on his face…The look of sorrow. Lindsey’s face…Having just seen her tormentor eat dog shit…I won’t regret anything about today.

“When you’re quite finished,” I said, “there’s still much to do.”

“You’re a psycho,” she continued.

“No, I’m not. I’m a product of my surroundings. You…All of you sitting here…You all made me.”

“That’s rubbish,” said Mrs Price. I knew I could count on her to ruin my buzz. “People are bullied every day. You don’t see them holding their class to ransom.”

“I’m not holding anyone to ransom! As soon as the bell goes, you’re all free to leave.”

“Let us go now!”

“Now you know you’re not allowed to wander the corridors during lesson time. You can get sent to the Head’s office. You can go as soon as the bell goes. Those aren’t my rules. They’re the schools…”

“They’d allow an exception…”

I glared at her, “Did you want to come to the front of the class again? Have you not learned your lesson?” She didn’t say anything. “That’s what I thought.”

I turned back to the seven behind me. Lindsey seems satisfied how I dealt with Chloe. David seems to be quieter than usual. Funny, really, considering this was his plan initially. Five more students who need someone to fight their battles for them; Elizabeth, Marcus, Samantha, Kate, Helen. I’m not entirely sure I’ll be able to help them all. Not entirely sure there is time enough to deal with each of their complaints. Never enough time.

“Where have you been?” asked mum as soon as I stepped into the family home. I didn’t answer her straight away. I wasn’t expecting to be bombarded with her questions as soon as I walked in. Couldn’t exactly tell her I had been at the cinema with David. She’d be mad that I hadn’t gone to school. She might even be mad enough, after the video incident, to report it to dad too — when he comes home from work…If he comes home from work. “I asked you a question — where have you been? Dinner is ruined.” Dinner wouldn’t have been ruined, I doubt she would have even cooked it yet.

“I was in the library with David,” I lied. Stupid, really, as she knew it would be a lie. I can’t remember the last time I went to a library.

“The school phoned.”

“What?”

“They phoned. Apparently you didn’t show up for registration after lunch. They wanted to know if everything was okay.”

“They actually called?”

“Yes…”

“They do that?”

“So where were you?” Mum’s face reddened. I knew she was mad. One of the signs she was angry was when her face went a bright shade of red; similar to if she were embarrassed. The thing with mum, though, is that she’d only be angry because she wouldn’t have known where I was…Because she would have been worried…Not because I didn’t go to class. “Well?”

“I was at the cinema…”

“With David?”

“Yes, with David. We had some problems at lunchtime and couldn’t face going back for the afternoon. We didn’t think it would be a problem…”

“More like you didn’t think the school would have called?”

“And that…”

“Look, mum, I don’t like it there. The name-calling…The bullying…”

“They’ll settle down, it’s just because you’re new.”

“What? No. No it’s not. It’s because I am friends with a homosexual and I dared stick up for him. You saw what happened with the video. You saw that. The trouble I got into…It’s going to carry on. God only knows what they’ll do next. I don’t want to go back…”

“You have to go back! I’m sure they’ll soon get bored and move onto someone else.”

“It’s different to the way it was when you were at school, mum…You know, when the world was in black and white and you didn’t lock your front door at night…”

“Well you’re going back tomorrow. If you want I can go in with you.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. I didn’t mean to. “Thanks but I’m pretty sure that won’t help!”

“Well just stand up to them then! Now promise me you won’t bunk off again.” I didn’t say anything. “Promise me.”

“Fine. I promise. Whatever.” I pushed past her to head up the stairs to my room. I knew it was pointless telling her about what was happening at school but figured there was nothing to lose. Nothing to lose, at least, other than my patience. Once upstairs, and in my bedroom, I closed the door for some privacy. I don’t know how David does it. He’s been dealing with this for months now, I’ve only had it for a couple of weeks and it’s getting to me. Perhaps it’s because I am tired; tired of moving around from school to school…Home to home…Tired of the pressures of playing catch up with school work…Tired of having to meet new people and try and make new friends…Trying to pretend that everything is okay, at home, when really…I’ve had enough of my mum’s constant smothering and the fact my old man is never there — always working for the Ministry of Defense…I’m even tired of not knowing, exactly, what he does for a living which causes us to move around so much. I’m just tired. I’ve had enough. And…I can’t believe the school phoned home on my first missing afternoon. So much for escaping from time to time, to get some peace and quiet. I can’t have them call home all the time. It’ll only cause issues at home too. Then there’ll be no escape.

The door opened and mum came in, “Your friend David is downstairs. Is he okay? His face looks terrible…”

“What?” I jumped off the bed, where I had slumped, and hurried downstairs. David was standing at the foot of the stairs with his face all battered and bruised. “What happened?” I asked.

“I’ve had enough!” he said before I had even finished my sentence. “I’ve fucking had enough of it all…” David was getting more upset. It looked as though the only reason he wasn’t already crying was because he was so angry. “All of them…I’ve had it…I’m not going back…That’s it…”

“What happened?” I asked again. “Jesus Christ, David…Just tell me!”

“Piers…His friends…They happened. Outside my house, man. Outside my house.”