It felt like my ear was being torn right off my head.
“Walk, Mr. Miller! Or do I need to drag you all the way to the district office?”
Mrs. Gable’s grip tightened like a vise. Her fingers clamped onto my ear, nails digging into the skin as she twisted sharply, sending a wave of pain through my head that made my stomach drop.
I stumbled in my sneakers, barely able to keep my balance as she pulled me down the hallway at a pace I couldn’t match.
Tears blurred my vision.
Not just from the pain.
From the humiliation.
The Hallway Full of Eyes
We were in the main hallway of Oak Creek Academy.
It was supposed to be empty during third period.
It wasn’t.
Through the large glass windows of the classrooms, faces began to appear one by one.
Students pressed up against the glass.
Some laughed.
Some whispered.
Some pointed.
And then I saw him.
Tyler.
The one who had actually thrown the stapler across the room.
He sat back in his chair like nothing had happened, a smug grin on his face, completely untouched by the chaos he had caused.
Protected.
Untouchable.
His father’s donations to the school were worth more than my dad made in a decade.
And everyone knew it.
The Kid Who Had No Voice
“Please,” I gasped, trying not to fall on the slick floor.
“Mrs. Gable… it hurts. I didn’t do it.”
“Silence!” she snapped.
Her grip tightened even more.
Pain shot through my head, sharp and blinding.
I cried out just as my foot caught on a bright yellow wet-floor sign the janitor had left behind.