It was an honest mistake that I walked into the washroom at our school’s basement after four o’clock and witnessed Nina Halliday throwing shreds of toilet paper into the air. Nina is called The Terror at our school. I think the sisters started it. No one likes her very much because she picks on everone, and the sisters, too. Seeing her as she watched little bits of paper floating down so harmlessly was very strange and it caught me off-guard. There’s a small window near the washroom ceiling. As the shreds fell, the tiny amount of sunlight that made its way inside turned them into bright little insects as they hovered lazily in the stale basement air.

She caught me looking, because I couldn’t sneak away fast enough. She swore at me and made me cry. Then she made me swear not to tell anyone, or else. And I said I wouldn’t, but I’m angry at her because I thought she’d just leave me alone after that, and she didn’t. My parents were angry at me today when I brought home my textbook which was all soaking wet and my notebook which was soggy and all ripped up. When they yelled at me to explain myself, I was too scared to say anything.