Fighting Society

I need to find kiddo

To say she had finally gone and done it, would be the understatement of the century. After pushing the boundaries for the past few weeks, Jessica had finally pushed it to the edge. She had once more walked out of class, this time, being followed by the vice principal, Miss Edwards, and her physics teacher, the three of them having cornered her into a wall. 

"This is unacceptable behavior. Your sister will be so disappointed in you. I can only imagine how much of a disappointment you must be to somebody of such a high standard like Leah."

"Excuse me, Miss, I really don't think that's appropriate."

"No Miss Edwards, no interference this time. She needs to hear the punishment."

"Yes but bringing her older sister into it-"

"Well, if I were a world class footballer, I certainly wouldn't want Jessica to be acting the way she is right now. It's shocking."

Jessica found herself getting more and more wound up by the second, her breathing becoming hitched in her chest as her mind became fuzzy once more. The three teachers had cornered her, to a point where she had no escape. It was uncomfortable, at the least, realising she had nowhere to go to. Their blurred voices began to merge together, as Jessica only knew she had to get out of there. Her eyes quickly jumped around the room, searching for anything, as she found herself acting out of impulse. 

She ducked, underneath the arms of her vice principal so that she was able to escape from them cornering her, and sprinting down to the open doors at the end of the corridors. Their voices echoed after her, shouting for her return, which wasn't able to reach her ears as she continued running, through the open doors and out into their open stretches of fields and playgrounds. Darting her eyes around, she didn't stop running, coming up with a plan in her head as she sprinted over to the fence, aware of the cohort following after her. Despite her small height, the young girls athleticism allowed her to make it to the fence, lifting her petite self to climb over it, landing on the floor the other side of the gate, and out of school grounds. Her body hit a stray log as she lost her balance, falling from the fence and onto the floor, a piercing sting going up arm, that still didn't prevent her. She could see the outlines of the teachers on the other side of the fence all running closer to where she had jumped, forcing herself to get up off the floor, to escape their yelling voices. With no time to dust herself off, she found her feet carrying herself, following the direction of the wind. 

Moving away from the school grounds, the young girl just kept running, a cool breeze running through the loose baby hairs freed from her loose ponytail, having not let Leah be near her in the morning to tie it into French plaits. The streets were empty, giving it being a Wednesday morning, most people at work, letting her run freely down the village streets with few looks from anybody around her. She truthfully didn't know where she was running to; she couldn't go to the training grounds, she couldn't go home, she couldn't go to Beth and Viv's, they were all going to be pissed at her, and she couldn't handle that right now. She knew her habits of running was what had lead to her ending up in St Albans as it was, but she thought she had improved since then.

Clearly not.

Her feet continued running, as a slow feeling of shame began to take over her. She hadn't meant to run, she didn't mean to do it, Jessica just felt like she had no option left anymore. It wasn't just an escape from school; it was an escape from everything. The freedom of sprinting gave a peace, a silence to her mind that she hadn't had for ages, as if it were almost silencing the world around her of everything that's happened, the only ability to embrace the wind in her hair as she carried on running. Vibrations were filling her blazer pocket, her phone going off continuously as she found herself slowing, her little legs struggling to keep going, puffing from being out of breath. She didn't know where she was, or even how long she'd be running. Jess just knew she was tired, physically and mentally.