I Just Want A Chance

• James Hackett-smith, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2012

I just want a chance.
All my life people have judged me without taking a second to consider the effect. They see me, see me with no friends, with no one to hang out with and straight away they judge. The mean ones yell out, “What a loser!”, “You’re such a loner!”, “Get a life!” and other ‘helpful’ things like that.
I just want a chance.
I don’t believe that they all hate me, only some of them. It’s just, all of them, the entire herd, act tough because they think that if they’re nice to me people will start bullying them too. It’s not right how a select few people can have such power over everyone else. It’s not right that they can lead something so big and mean.
Just one friend, that would be nice.
I used to have friends but they were driven away, scared that they too, would get bullied. If only someone could be brave enough to become friends with me, but the reality is that no one is. If I could just have one friend who would always have my back and be there for me when I need them most, that would mean the world to me.
I hate being lonely.
The teachers are aware of my situation. They think that they can help but they can’t. The situation is way out of their control. They can tell a kid off all they like but it doesn’t change the fact that they’re still going to bully me.
When people try and help, the problem actually gets worse.
They, my bullies, think that they’re Kings of the world, they kind of are when they’re against me. They can do almost anything they like and get away with it. They can say or do anything they feel because they know that they’ll always have a hundred friends to back them up. No matter how stupid it is they’ve always got someone there for them. If the situation is reversed, and I say or do something stupid, then this is what I get: no support and one hundred red faces laughing at me. At this point, my face blushes and they start ‘bagging’ me.
It’s so hard trying to stop myself from crying.
It’s day to day torture that I can’t escape. Moving schools isn’t an option for me. I live in a rural town out in the countryside. The next closest school is a 40 minute drive away. That could be possible in an ideal world but my parents are busy with work and I walk to school every day. My parents and I have discussed home schooling but it’s way too expensive, we cant afford to have one of them give up their job.
If only I had more options, more choices, a way out.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Time to wake up, darling,” calls my mother from the hallway.
Oh great, another day of misery.
“Come on, we have a surprise for you!” she says.
“What, huh?” I splutter out, startled by her words. I throw my doona off and half run, half stagger to the kitchen. My mum and dad are standing with wide grins on their faces.
My dad breaks the silence. “Son, I’ve been offered a job in the city. We’re moving.” The happiest moment of my life had finally arrived.

By James Hackett-Smith, 8C