Upon arriving in Pembroke at a school known as Holy Name, things proved to be intensely different. I didn't meet anybody else like Abby, I was faced with many people like Kate once again.

My first day wasn't the actual first day of school, I was randomly assigned to a teacher and I wandered there. When I arrived, all of the students began piling out in large crowds, and I inquired one about what was happening. The student informed me that there was an assembly in the gym on the first floor, so I began following accordingly.

Whilst walking down the stairs in an orderly fashion, a girl who I came to know by the name of Olivia shoved me out of the way while simultaneously telling me to get out of the way. I wasn't one to defend myself, so I remained quiet and proceeded walking down the stairs happily.

I arrived at the gym and the students were directed to sit on the floor while the adults either stood by the sidelines of the room or seated on chairs in a likewise fashion. The assembly revolved around the topic of the dangers involving electricity. The speaker questioned the audience why it isn't dangerous when a bird is sitting on a power line, and I raised my hand and spoke.

"Because the bird isn't touching the ground, and electricity needs a path to flow through."

I was awarded with a bookmark for answering the question correctly, and I heard Olivia mutter with a shrill tone, "show off."

Though I wasn't trying to show off, I just knew the correct answer, that was the logic which I followed. After that, I avoided answering questions in class. And my teacher would always scold me for not asking when I needed help, not asking when I needed to go to the bathroom.

Shortly following, I developed another attendance issue and received another visit from Social Services. The same process was arranged as last time, they would escort me to school.

However, I was older now. they weren't nice about in any regard. I remember one morning, a worker showed up banging on the door, and when my mom opened it, I was being loudly commanded to get in the car, and she savagely described what would happen if I didn't regularly attend school. These are the words I can recall, and by the end of it all, I was sobbing in the car.

"You're going to be taken away from your mother and placed in a foster home, additionally getting kicked out of school and then, you will have to be homeschooled. There's no excuse for this behaviour."

I sobbed during the entirety of the car ride to school alongside the cruel woman, while spending the rest of the afternoon lost in my mind, pondering the realities that she had made possible to visualize, and all of them appeared bleak.

I was fearful, to phrase it lightly, and I didn't desire any of the aforementioned consequences at all. I felt a crushing obligation to better myself, which is exactly what I intended to do.