Ordinary day leads to biggest decision

Year 11, The Catlins Area School

IT was dark out, and still. Silent, with barely any movement.

She sat looking out her window, on her bed watching the stars twinkle in the night sky before she made up her mind.

The only sound to be heard was the sniffing as she cried, and her tears as they thudded on to her notepad.

Lily was only 14, and she was making the biggest decision of her life.

She was a very downtoearth, sporty type of girl and she loved to hang out with her friends after school.

Even if she didn’t show it, she loved her family more than anything.

Tonight she had a slight problem.

She wasn’t happy. She acted like she was for the sake of her family and friends, but actually, she was really unhappy.

This morning, Lily had gone to school like she would any other day.

She hated how she felt at school.

Today, she kept her head held high.

All she wanted to do was hide, to be back home, to be snuggled under her bedcovers and asleep. She pushed those thoughts away.

She had to be the happy girl she used to be. Noone could know.

There were a few girls and boys at her school who just lived to bring her down.

She was used to it now.

It was an ordinary day until things with her bullies got physical.

She could hear the pounding of footsteps behind her until they were so close that she could feel them breathing down her neck.

First they pushed her, then kicked her and pulled at her hair.

Lily felt defeated.

It felt as if everyone around her was calling her names. ‘‘Loser!’’ ‘‘Nerd!’’

It seemed like it would never stop and it made her head spin like crazy.

Lily struggled to get up off the rough concrete.

With tears in her eyes, she ran out of school and didn’t stop running until she was home, in her bed.

She knew what she had to do. She sat there, on her bed in silence, thinking.

She thought to herself, ‘‘will it ever change?’’

At times it felt like the whole world was against her, to the point where she didn’t even want to be living any more.

Then she remembered, what about her family and her friends that she did have?

Lily stood up and, wiping away her tears, knew she had made her decision.

She had chosen to stay — for her family, friends and to prove to everyone she was stronger than they thought.

Even though it would be hard, Lily chose to continue fighting.