The Silent Girl

11.

'Ella'

I was laying in my new bedroom, staring at the walls and ceiling. I just don't want to get out of bed today, I had to go to school but I didn't want to.

It was only 7 o'clock and I'm sure my dad would be in soon to make sure I was awake. I couldn't be bothered nor did I have the energy for it. I wanted to stay here, snuggled up in my new bed in my new house.

And more importantly, away from my mother. 

Just as expected, my dad comes into my room, opening the curtains and coming over to me.

"Wake up sweetheart, time for school" He smiles shortly, rubbing my cheek, my eyes flicker open and close.

"Nooo daddd" I moan, hiding my face in the white pillows beneath me. "Please, can I stay home today?"

"Ells, you can't stay at home all day, I have to go to the police station and this afternoon I have to go to work" He explains, stroking my hair at the back of my head.

"I can stay here" I moan.

"Ells, the police said that you can't be alone, we don't know where your mum is so we can't risk leaving you alone" He sighs. "But you can go to school, and you'll have the boys with you, I'm sure Miss Bright said she was going to chat with you today so it'll be ok" He says, all while rubbing my back and shoulders, trying to coax me out of bed.

"What time do you get off work?" I ask nervously, bringing my face out of the pillow and flopping to the side. 

"Half five, but I ask the boys if they could bring you back here and can stay until I get home" He says, as I sit up.

"Can you drop me off at school today?" I ask, pulling at my duvet.

"Yes of course I will" He smiles. "You get ready and come down"

So I was left all alone. To get ready for the hellhole, that everyone called school.

My dad dropped me off, and as soon as we arrived in the car park, I saw my three best friends standing against the fence. They all look up as my dad gives me a kiss to my cheek and I jump out of car and quickly walking over to them.

"Hey Ellser" Luke smiles as I approach them.

"You haven't called me Ellser for years" I laugh, I reach them and Luke gives me a hug.

"Thought I'd bring it back, I knew you liked it" He chuckles under his breath.

"Yeah, I liked it when we were in primary school." I laughed back, holding his arm. I could feel my nerves, I just didn't want to be left on my own.

"Do we have maths?" Noah asks, pushing himself of the wall and putting his phone away in his pocket.

"Ugh, I hate it, especially that I am on my own." I mumble, just as the school bell goes.

"It'll be ok, it's only for an hour." Noah sighs, rubbing my arm up and down, as we walk into the school buildings. We are soon greeted by Miss Bright who waves us over, we follow, and go over to her.

"Hi" I say when we reach her.

"Hi, you lot. Ella, will you come with me? You are going to miss a bit of maths this morning?" She asks, looking down at me, with a massive smile on her face.

"Yeah, of course" I reply, looking at the other three boys.

"We'll see you later" They all nod to me, smiling, encouraging me that it'll be fine.

"Your dad is going into the police station now isn't he?" Miss Bright asks, as we walk to the familiar room.

"Yeah, he dropped me off then we went" I explain, tucking a piece of my brown hair behind my ear.

"Good good, and how are you getting home?" She asks, looking down to me in a side glance.

"My friends are walking me home then staying with me until my dad gets home. They are all so protective right now." I reply, looking down at my shoes.

"That is a good thing, being protective is definitely a good thing because you need to be protected and lucky for you, I am the safeguarding leader so that is my job." She smiles as we reach the correct door. She opens it, then holds it open for me. I thank her quietly and walk it. She shuts the door behind me and sits behind her desk.

"Take a seat" She smiles, gesturing to the seats opposite the desk. "So today, I'm planning on talking about mental health more than the situation." She says, typing in her username and password on the computer.

"Ok" I say quietly.

"We are going to start by setting you some goals, I would like you to think of three goals of things you'd like to achieve. This will help you in a way of giving you something to work towards and feel proud about." She explains.

"Ermm...get 4 or more grade 4s and above" I think, saying it aloud.

"Good, 2 more" She types something down on the computer, most likely what I had said.

"Be more confident in lessons" I mumble, my brain not really working at the moment. "And...start looking for work experience or a job"

"Great" She finally says, typing on the computer. "They are perfect goals to start with Ella. You need to start working on some of these, I'll print them out at the end of our session so you have a copy of them."

"Ok"

"Right next thing is this" She opens a desk drawer and pulls out a A6 plain black notebook. "A journal, I want you to keep this on you and write in it whenever you want, about anything you want, where ever you want." She passes it to me and I look at it.

"Can I decorate the cover?" I ask, intrigued.

"Of course, it's yours, you can do whatever you want with it, but I will ask to see it often" She explains.

Miss Bright asks a few more questions and writes them down on the computer in front of her. She prints of a few sheets of paper and hands them too me.

"That is just want we spoke about, just so you can remember. The other sheet is a few mini-activities that you can do,  these are just choices, you don't have to, but they are there if you want them."

"Ok"

'end of 11.'

i'm so so sorry that i didn't post on monday like i said i would! 

i was ill on monday and it completely slipped my mind, here it is! x 

Posted: 23.3.22