Trisha was really happy only during Mr Falker’s classes. After classes, Eric made fun of her and
often called her “Stupid!” or “Ugly!”
And Trisha began to believe him.
During break times, Trisha often hid under the stairs. In that dark place, she felt safer.
Once Eric followed her to her secret place. “Are you a mole
?” he laughed. “Stupid! You are
stupid,” he shouted. Trisha was frightened. Suddenly, she heard footsteps. It was Mr Falker.
He took Eric to the office. Ten minutes later, he came back and said, “Don’t worry about that boy
anymore.”
One day, Mr Falker asked her to stay after school. “Let’s play a game! I’ll shout out letters and
you’ll write them on the board.”
“A,” he shouted. She wrote A. “Eight,” he shouted. She wrote 8. He shouted out many, many letters
and numbers. Then he walked up behind her, and together they looked at the board. It was a mess. She
wanted to run away.
“You poor baby,” he said. “Do you think you are stupid?”