Chapter 9

Wednesday, 28th of November, 2035

Mandy

I did my homework while I waited for Gwen to get home. I considered my options. I could say nothing, and let her think everything was alright, then she might, or might not, find out the truth later. Or, I could tell her now and face the consequences, but at least I wouldn't be lying to her.

I decided I owed it to her be honest. She was taking care of me, and if I started keeping things from her it would probably hurt her in the long run. I carefully thought about what to say to her, as I didn't want to upset her too much. I took a break from homework and watched some TV on the screen. There was nothing good on, but it was something to take my mind off my problems.

She came in a short while later looking frazzled. I almost backed out, not wanting to burden her any more.

"Gwen, can we talk?" I asked.

"Sure, Mandy. What is it?" she replied.

I decided I might as well get it all out in the open. I detailed how I had been hiding myself at school and been found out. Then I went into the details of the attack by Stacy, the resulting lack of action by the school, and then the fight with Trisha. By the end of it I was a little teary. Going over the events brought back the fear and anger associated with them.

Gwen came over and hugged me close. "Mrs Thomas warned me you might get bullied, but I had no idea they were so powerless to do anything," Gwen said. "I've got a good mind to go down there and talk to her tomorrow, give her a piece of my mind on not protecting you."

"She wants to, I can feel it, but I'm not sure she can. I'm not sure that there is anything you can do to make it right. But I wanted you to know, just in case they try and fit me up with something, and because I didn't want to be keeping things from you."

Gwen smiled and hugged me close, "Come on, let's make some dinner, we'll have spaghetti bolognese."

"Again!" I exclaimed, wiping the tears out of my eyes.

"I thought you liked spaghetti bolognese?" Gwen asked, looking a little put out.

"I do, but nearly every day for 3 weeks running can be a little tiring," I said with a smile.

"Well unfortunately, it's one of the only things I know how to cook, so unless you want to learn to make the dinner, you're stuck with it," she said, sticking her tongue out.

"Hmm I might just do that," I mused.

It would be a way to pull my weight a bit more, if I learned how to cook. I knew how to burn toast, but not much more than that. We made dinner, and then sat watching the telly. Gwen put her arm around me, holding me close, and pretty soon I had dozed off, tired from all the days action. Happy and safe in my sister's arms.