I will protect you

I headed to form without particularly caring if that girl wanted to follow me or not, but she did follow me and stuck to me like glue.

"Rachel really likes you." She said, and that caught me so off guard that I paused for a moment.

What on earth gave her that idea? I know Rachel just as well as anyone else – if she liked me, I would be the first to know. I was about to give this girl a piece of my mind when it occurred to me that she was just trying to get under my skin. I acted as though I had seen something strange to throw her off, and carried on walking as though I hadn't heard her at all.

I walked quickly so that it wouldn't look like we had walked in together. Even though I didn't particularly care about my social standing, my intuition said that associating with her is a bad idea.

"Mrs Noda, what time do you call this?" Despite the form tutor's harsh tone, she is usually quite lenient – I have been a few times, and she had let me off with a warning. I bowed in apology and went to take my seat when she stopped me. "Stay where you are, young lady."

I froze on the spot and the teacher continued. "I think that I have been fair and given you enough warnings, but you are still coming in late, and this is this was the last straw." No, I knew what was coming, and I didn't want to hear it. This was capital punishment. "I have no choice but to call your parents."

This isn't real. This is just a bad dream. Something this cruel wouldn't happen in schools. It reminded me of Lilly's, the student council president's, fond description of the school as a prison. I guess that's exactly what it is.

I felt like I was about to cry, so I tried to run out, but I bumped into that girl. We met eyes for a moment and, before I could protest, she pulled me down onto her chest. "It's alright." What was she saying? What did she know? "It's not your fault." It's not my fault? "I will protect you."

For a moment, all my rationality seemed to leave me, and I bawled on her chest like a baby. All the while, this girl I had been so unkind toward, comforted me.

"We are sorry that we are late, Mrs…"

"Mrs Eden."

"Mrs Eden, it was entirely my fault. My name is Steph. It's my first day at this school and I was a bit late getting here, so I had trouble finding my way to form and Linda helped me out."

"From what you are saying, it sounds like Linda was already going to be late, before she went to help you." Mrs Eden retorted. I lightly squeezed Steph's arm, there was no point in continuing this. We were out-matched. You did what you could, Steph, but you can't fight the system.

"You are wrong about that." Steph spoke loudly and with passion. It seemed like she wasn't just addressing the teacher now, but the students as well. "Every drop of kindness is worth more than any sum of money, and calling home for something other than the student's benefit is a sign of cowardness."

Wait, was 'cowardness' a word.

"That's enough-"

"Please don't interrupt me, Mrs Eden." I noticed that she was repeatedly using the teacher's name. It was deliberate, but not spiteful. Steph's voice so calm when telling off a teacher that you might think that she's gone crazy. I would have thought so if I was sitting at my desk, but, right now, because I was so close I could feel every word, feel her heard racing, I could hear her courage. "I will talk this through with the headmaster and, please, don't make any more phone calls home until you hear back from him."

With that, she took my hand and lead me out of the classroom.