An Unexpected Protector

Chapter 1 Continued

10 Years Ago....

It's my first day back at school since I got out of hospital and all the visible bruises have healed. Dad said as long as I behaved I can go to school. So here I am. I get to escape from him for 6 hours every day. I get to be somewhere that I won't be beaten for doing something slightly wrong.

My dad drops us both off at the gate before Blair turns around to me. "Now don't forget, we don't know each other!" She snaps at me. As if I would tell anyone I am related to her anyway.

"You!" My dad yells. "You have to go to the front office and meet the support lackey who is going to make sure you don't disturb everyone and that people can understand what you are saying." I nod and make my way to the front office. When I am not at home I always carry a pad and pen with me. Not everyone signs and it can be difficult to communicate with people when they don't understand why you can't speak but you can hear them. The prejudice against people with additional support requirements is difficult to deal with anyway but when people find out that the reason that you need support is that you can't speak then all sorts of teasing comes.

As I walk into school there are people everywhere. I get nervous being around this many people. When I came to school before I could speak and had friends. Now I didn't know anyone and I had a barrier that meant I wasn't going to be able to make friends easily. I tell myself that feeling anxious is normal and a natural feeling to have. My heart is hammering and I can feel the sweat beginning to seep from my skin. It would be odd not to feel anxious right. Anxiousness has become a kind of white or background noise to me, there are times that I can control it and relax but there are times that I can't. I keep reminding myself I have goals to accomplish. I want to go to university far away and leave this horrendous place for good.

I make my way into the school office and there is a lady behind the big wooden desk with bright red hair who is wearing far too much perfume. You can hear her chewing the gum in her mouth loudly while she batters the keyboard in front of her. I can smell the cheap perfume and mint mixture the second I walk through the door. She is a robust lady who needs to check her make -up in the mirror before she leaves the house. She has lipstick on her skin between her lip and nose. She also has it all over her teeth. "Good Morning young lady." The woman tells me with a southern drawl to her voice that I don't hear very often. I wave, smiling with a nervous grin. "Why would you be here and not in class?" She smiled at me. She was friendly and I liked that. She made the anxiousness dissipate a little. I walked up to the desk before pulling out my pad.

"I am Lydia Roberts." I start to scribble down. "I am meant to meet a support teacher here."

"Oh sweetheart you can talk to me you know?" She said jollily.

"I can't." I jot down, hoping that she doesn't ask why. She looks at me with a look of pity in her eyes, which I get every time I tell someone that I can't speak. I hate it. I don't want to be pitied. I want to work hard and earn everything that I get the same way as everyone else.

"Okay, sweetheart." She tells me with the look that will not go away. Frustration and understanding floods through me. "Let me find out who is helping you." She begins to get flustered when she realises that it is not a teacher that is going to help me but a student. She explained the situation and told me that the student would be at the office in a minute.

"Hey Mrs G" A boy came barrelling into the office. "How ya doing?"

"Well hello Mr Matthews, I am good thank you for asking. What are you doing here?" I turned to look at the boy that had just come into the office and it hit me. He was sooo pretty........