Alone. That's all you were. A sixteen year old single mother who has nobody to support her except her siblings. Her parents' hatred and lack of empathy for her and love only for her siblings...

You were kicked out. Your siblings fought your parents. Your younger ones, anyway. Your older siblings were moved out and couldn't do much since they lived far away.

Manchester wasn't a nice place, but you managed. You attended a school in Macclesfield before Manchester. This year, you were coming in hot and new. With a child. Fifteen months old.

Tuesday was orientation. You went in and saw everyone there. Lots of people no doubt. Many of them stared as you came in with a child next to you. The school is only making accommodations for you because of your situation and out of empathy.

The students in your grade were kind of judgy, all in their uniforms as you wore your normal clothes but made it formal enough to be considered a uniform.

A group of guys in the weightlifting group all eyeballed you. One of them was Simon. A man nobody messes with. Even then, nobody messes with the group of guys. Too intimidating.

Getting comfortable was not going to be easy but you will have to manage. New school, new enviroment... and a child. Your life and joy—your heart and pride. And Simon saw it. His friends saw it. The volleyball team saw it. Many students saw it.

Others saw you as a whore. A slut. You were none of those. You didn't choose what happened to you, but the life that came from that, healed you.