Hello and thank you for tuning in, I'm currently writing this quite some time after I first started this story back in 2012. I want to thank everyone who's stood with my during the process of this story. As you can probably tell when you continue reading this story, English is not my first language. I would like to say that my English is much better now. I wasn't initially planning on rewriting this story by all means, but I noticed I still get emails a few times a week that people are still liking my story and saving it in their favourites, which is why I couldn't let the story go and I decided to very very slowly rewrite it.

I've been updating this story rather slowly, you'll be able to tell because each chapter will start with: UPDATED

If you're new to this story, bear with me. You'll notice after you go past chapter 15ish that the spelling, grammar and punctuation deteriorates rapidly. Like I said, I'm working on updating the rest of the chapter as well. I'll probably have a lot of time during the summer and try to finish the story once and for all then.

Enjoy, please don't leave any negative comments, thank you!

I found myself sighing with relief when the shrill noise of the school bell finally filled my ears. I was yearning for the two weeks without school to come, yearning from time away from school. For the first few years of my school experience I actually really enjoyed going to school, but all of that changed rather quickly when I came in contact with other children my age. They ruined the experience of school for me, they ruined my likings of school.

I always enjoyed learning, ever since I was a little girl I would practically beg my mother to take me to the library, I enjoy learning, but I dread having to do it at school. I get most of my study material from the library, because it's much more detailed and more specific than what we learn at school. I love the feeling of understanding something completely after doing research, after reading several books or papers about a subject, I live for that one moment where something finally clicks and somewhere in your brain a connection is made, which ties that new information to something you already knew, making you finally truly understanding the subject.

As I've just said, I don't like learning at school, partly because of the basic text books but the biggest factor which makes me dislike school so much can be summarised in one, rather short word: bullying.

Bullying is something that has ruined school for me ever since I was about seven, ever since my fellow pupils found out that I liked learning, which apparently they thought was weird. I don't know how they did it, I don't know how they actually made me hate school. I don't know how they got into my head and made me believe all their nasty words, but they did.

I don't know how they do it, but every time they do something to do, whether it be physical or not, they made it seem like I did it, like I was the one who locked me in an empty classroom, like I was to one who got her head in the toilet all by herself, like I was the one who got her tray of food spilled all over her chest, they always made it look like it was my fault, and everyone believed them. Everyone actually believed that I liked doing this, like I wanted all of these things to happen to myself. I often wondered if everyone was just plain stupid, too busy with themselves or were just too scared to realize that in fact, I really did not enjoy this at all and that it wasn't my fault, that it wasn't my doing at all.

I remember this one time when I was about fourteen when I had had enough, it had taken me months and months of building up courage to finally go to someone and tell them what was going on, to finally get some help.

It didn't work.

My teacher just looked at me like I was stupid, like I was making it all up on the spot, she told me I just had to "learn how to live with it" and that "I was making a big deal out of nothing", that it wasn't that bad. I remember locking myself up in the bathroom afterwards and bawling my eyes out, I remember calling my mother to come and pick me up while sobbing. That was the first time I told her what was going on, because at that moment, I couldn't keep it in anymore.

Renee, my mother, was the only one who truly understood me. She was the one who had noticed how unhappy I was but after a while I started noticing that my misery had started to make her unhappy too, so I started acting. I made sure that she thought that I was doing okay, that it wasn't that bad, just like my teacher had told me.

As usual I slowly packed my belongings, waiting for the main part of the student body to leave their classrooms in a rush, as usual I was avoiding the big crowd, the big mass of cars trying to leave the parking lot at the exact same time.

I rushed through the hallways, trying to get out of my personal hell when I noticed the hallways were clearing out a bit. It was winter, which had quickly turned into my favourite season here in Phoenix Arizona. Winter was still warm, but nothing compared to the pressing and suffocating heat of summer.

I quickly went through some of my usual escape routes as I like to call them, they are basically abandoned hallways most of the students don't use anymore, simply because they have become too old to use. They smelled like dust and the walls were an ugly, faded yellow but I liked it here, mainly because nobody used these routes. I liked being alone, I like how I can be alone without feeling lonely. I like coming home after a day at school or a day in the library and just lock myself up in my room and enjoy the silence, the tranquillity of being alone with my own thoughts.

I used these hallways a lot, not just the leave the school, but also to leave those people who made this place feel like my personal hell. I used them to hide after I found out exactly how cruel kids my age could be, I used them to read and just be in peace, in these hallways I found my own personal sanctuary in the darkest pits of my personal hell.

At this point I was nearly skipping through the abandoned hallways while being lost in my own mind when I felt two strong and sturdy hands yank me backwards towards a nearby janitor's closet. My mind started racing a million miles an hour, the arms which were tugging me backwards were big and slightly muscles, they weren't particularly careful either. The person who was pulling and pushing me must have been a male, because of the fact that that person was much taller than me, I could feel his chest pressed against my back at times.

Somewhere in this whole ordeal I felt my bag being pulled from my shoulder whilst being pushed against the cold and filthy wall of the closet. My cheek came in rough contact with the wall which made me yelp, while I heard the heavy door of the closet slam in its hinges. My cheek stung, it would be red and irritated soon, maybe even bruised tomorrow. I flinched when I noticed the wetness under my fingertips, I was bleeding a little.

It only took me 2 steps to pace to the door, grabbing the handle I pulled and pushed as hard as I could, but it wouldn't budge. I could hear their yells and shouts, I could hear the hint of triumph and gloating in their voices while they were making their way away from where they had brutally locked me in. I pressed my ear against the cold door, hoping to hear who had locked me in.

'Yes, we did it!' a nasal female voice yelled, somewhere I also heard the sound of two hands smacking together. More laughs, louder this time, joined in along with the heavy footsteps before a more hesitant and slightly less confident voice joined in: 'How long do you think it'll be before they'll find her?'

'Oh come on, don't look like that,' the nasal female voice replied, 'they'll find that pathetic excuse of a girl in a couple of hours, a day or two max.'

I tried pressing my ear harder against the door as I heard them running and shouting even louder about how stupid I was and how amazing their little plan had been. I wanted to shout back at them, but they probably wouldn't be able to hear me anyway. How did they find this funny? One, small girl against a group of bigger bullies, that hardly sounds fair.

Sighing I pushed away from the door and glided my hands along the rough, stone wall to find a light switch, which surprisingly flickered for a few seconds before finally lighting up the small cupboard. It wasn't even big enough for me to fully stretch my arms out, one of my arms was still slightly bend when I tried to touch the outer corners of the small cupboard I was forced into.

My breathing turned shallow when I realized I was truly stuck, my shaking hands where petting my trousers to find my phone, which wasn't there. I wanted to ram my fist against the wall when I realized I had left it in my bag, I didn't carry my phone around in my pockets because I didn't need it during the school hours, and because I didn't want it to be damaged if they would get to me.

Pounding my fists against the wall I screamed as loud and as hard as I could: 'Help, can anybody hear me?'

I rested my head against the door, holding my breath in hope of some sort of noise, some sort of answer. Nothing.

'Please, help me!' but no matter how hard or how loud I yelled, they wouldn't be a reply because the only person who used these hallways, was me. None of the teacher came here, none of the students would ever think to use them, because they meant taking a detour.

I didn't know how long I had been shouting but after a while I could feel that was voice was scratchy and I wished I had some water, my hands felt sore, they were red and bruised from all the banging against the door.

After a while I even tried kicking the door in, but I wasn't strong enough and there wasn't enough space for me to stretch me legs properly.

I thought about my mother, wishing I would've told her everything. I felt hot tears slide down my face while I wished I had told her that the bullying had gotten worse instead of less, I felt more tears when I wished that I had told her about my secret hallways.