The Self Harmed by Chalen D. (libby ebook reader .txt) 📖

in unison.

I looked at my brother and he shrugged.

Alex sat down at a desk. What if we stayed up past curfew and put up poster boards for everyone to see in the morning?" He offered.

"They'll just take it down when they're doing morning checks. The nurses wake up early for that." Clara said.

"That's why we make a bunch of them." Caden said, "So much that they don't have a chance to take them all down. It just takes a couple of kids to see it, and then there goes the rumor mill. We might be crazy, but we're still in high school."

We all agreed and headed to the door.
    "Wait!" Mr. Peper called.

We a

ll slowly truned to him. He wasn't going to stop us was he? He was just on our side d a couple of seconds ago. Mr. Peper got up and walked to a closet.

"Shut the door Ayelie." He pulled out a poster board. "This needs to be done in secret. If they can't find out who did it, we can keep doing it until someone hears us."

"Good idea." ALex walked over to Mr. Peper and Ayelie closed and locked the door.

"Charlie," Mr. Peper pointed his arms full of poster boards, "Get the markers from the file cadinet. Caden, Ryder, move back all the desks we need some room. Clara grab the scissors, AYelie, grab the glue, ALex, help me set out these poster barods."
We all got to work on the poster boards. Mr. Peper gave our classses a note saying our grade was falling and we were with him doing a report for extra credit. No nurse needed, they thought Mr. Peper was on their side. It was two in the morning as we met back up at Mr. Peper's class room. We had a bunch of desks pulled together, a big map over them like a table cloth. Caden and I were the last to get there.

"Noe," Mr. Peper pointed to the map, "The hall ways with the class rooms don't have a camera except for one at the end of the halls. They have motion sencors, so you have to look out for them. Put these on."

He handed out paper masks. I guess bandit hats would be a bit too much. He also told us to wear black and us girls to wear a hood to cover the color of our hair.

"Alright, we'll be in groups. The girls and then the boys." Mr. Peper said.

We all grabbed some posers and headed into the halls.

 

~Victory to the CK's!~

 The next morning I hurried to the spot where everyone was supposed to meet the next morning. All my friends stood quiet as a single poster wasn't in sight.

"What happened?" I demanded.

"They took them down." Ayelie simply said.

A cahnt in the next hall rose up.

"What's that?" Ryder asked.

A large group of students rounded the corner, Stabbing the air with our posters. I smiled, leading the charge was Owen.

No more bracelets!" The group shouted, "Cut back on nurses!"

Well what do you fucking know?" Caden snorted.

I grabbed Clara and Ayelie's arms and we ran to join the charge.

"No more bracelets!" We all yelled again, "Cut back on nurses!"

We looped back around to Mr. Peper's class room. He was standing by a table with a couple of students, that were wearing 'FIGHT THE POWER!' shirts. They where handing out signs and Shirts. I scooped one up along the way with my other firneds, and we headed to the foor hall. On the way a couple of nurses tried to stop us, but a couple of hissies from us, and they were long gone. Five down, three hundred to go. I stood on a table, and held my sign high.

"No more bracelets!" I yelled, as my frineds chanted behind me, "Cut back on Nurses! This isn't a Rehab center, this is prison! We don't feel safe here! Who's with us?"

Everyone in the room gave a shout of I's and stood.

"Stop by Mr. Peper's room and join the strike!"

The rest of us left the food hall, "NO more bracelets!"

A loud beep went through the halls and everyone covered their ears.

"Stop this silliness," A strong male voice cam over the speaker box. "You are to all get to class or there will darastic measures taken!"
    "Thy're lying!" I yelled. "The only thing they can do is stick us with a needle, and we can sue them becuase we're not having a melt down! They're afraid!"

"No more bracelets!" A kid called from the back.

"Yeah!" We all yelled tossing up our signs.

We all headed down the hall. We didn't eat, or go to class, we just continued with our strike. Around lunch the school was called to the field. A man stood in front of us. He nervously fixed his tie.

"I understand that some of you have a problem with the new program."

"Yup!" Everyone yeled, thrusting their signs into the air.

"Since you won't give this up, we have dicided to let you all pick one student to come up here and fight your case."

Everyone around be began tapping my arm, and saying Go. I walked up to the stage and put my hands on the podium. The bottom layer of benches had women and Men, in suits. They all scowled at me, and I swallowed. I looked over at Caden, who shook his head. Show no fear. Got it.

"The reason we have called for a strike is because we don't feel safe. We don't think that it's fair or right for us to have to wear bracelets showing off our issuses."

"The bracelets are for the staff to know how to act with a child." A man called.
"Alright." I nodded. "But we're the ones who are supposed to feel comfortable enough to get better. These bracelets are jsut a constant reminder that we're fucked up. and when other students look at them it messes with our self-esteem. When you adults look at them it makes us all feel belittled. We're supposed to get help for our problems not feel worse about them. You guys are supposed to help us not make us feel small. Us talking to our friends is the only cause of help we have gotten from here, but now you have so many nurses around we can't talk and vent to each other, so we have to keep to ourselves which is just like being at home."

"Yup!" The signs went up.

"What are you asking for exactly Ms.-?" AN older woman asked.
"That we don't have to wear these bracelets and we don't have to have so many nurses around. We want to be able to vent to our friends." I got down from the podium, and then quickly got back up," And if Mr. Peper gets fired for this, I'll burn don't the school."

"Yup!" The signs went up, adn Mr. Peper looked touched.

I sat back down, and the first guy got back up.

"We have decided that the bracelets are a little too muh, so they will be removed. But as for the nurses we cannot do anything. It is state code that we have a certain amount of nurses."

"Boo!" Signs shot up in anger.

"But," The man held up his hands, and we all shut up, "Every day after school you will be able to gather in the food hall and vent to your group of friends. No nurses will be able to step foot into the room."

We all chered.

"And Mr. Peper will remain the arts teacher."

Everyone stood and cheared.

"Guess they didn't want you burning down the school." Owen muttered to me.

 

 

~Be honest, This is what we fought for~

 We soon got thoes stupid bracelets removed and then got sent to class. After school kids hurried to the food hall. They also opened up the library for the other kids that didn't fit into the food hall. This is where w were. At the back of the room, in a couner.

"What's the meaning of life?" Ayelie asked, as she sat on the end of a table.

Owen was sitting on the other side of the same table, as Clara layed between the two of them in a ball. I sat on the table across from them in-between Ryder and Caden. Alex sat on the other side of Ryder.

OWen seemed to smile a bit as he told her, "Living isn't fucking easy."

I picked at my thumb nail. I remember asking Owen the same question back in the day. He gave me the exact same answer.

"Living is fucking Evil." Caden spoke up.

I nodded.
He had a good point, my brother.

This is stupid." Clara said, sitting up, letting her feet fall just above the ground. "We're supposed to be telling our firends about what we feel. Tha'ts what we fought for. So I'll go first. I feel like I have no right to live because Society made me feel that way. I feel that adults want me to act like one but they keep treating me like a kid. I feel adultslook down on me becuase I have an eating disorder."
     "They look down on me becuase I have scars." Ryder said, looking at the hole in his jeans.

"Yeah. Adults hurt you so bad, and they make you feel small so you cut and then they look down on you for doing it." Cadens snorted, "That's how I feel."
"I agree." Ayelie tossed up a hand at him, "Just because we're different and we see the wold differently, we have to get locked up in this place."

"What if we're not the crazy ones?" OWen looked at all of us. "What if they're the cazy ones?"

"How do you feel Charlie?" Clara asked. "You're the one who came up with this idea weren't you?"

My mouth fell open.
    "Come on," Caden smacked my leg with the back of his hand, "Give it a shot."

"I feel defeated." I looked down, "I feel like all of you are getting better, and I have no idea how to do the same. I feel like picking up a blade, and draging it across my arm, just to make sure I can still feel, and I feel like I want to not eat so I can wither away into nothing. Light as a feather."

"And Alex?" Owen asked.
     "Sad." He muttered, and then pulled his legs to his chest.

"Everyones sad." Caden muttered softly.

"Well I'm too sad." Alex sighed, "I'm never going to stop being sad. It's never going to go away. I feel like even if I do get out of here like charlie thinks, I'll just go right back to my old