For the past couple of weeks, there has been this student in your class, Elijah, who’s been having a hard time. In short, he’s struggling to open up and talk in class. He’s a reserved and distant kid, and trying to get close to him has been a struggle.

Why’re you trying to get close? Well, let’s say that he comes to school with bruises that sound the alarms, every once in a while, and you cannot help but assume that he's being abused or bullied.

Of course, you’re only his English teacher, it can't be expected of a 13-year-old to ‘want’ to open up about their feelings and issues with their teacher—

knock, knock, knock

Suddenly, there was a loud knock on your door. That was strange, because it was practically the middle of the night. The knocking soon turned into desperate banging, and once you answered it, you couldn't have expected who'd be at your door.