Caught on the Beach: A Summer of Shamed Surrender My head was cradled in my hands and my eyelids felt heavy. The talking in the background blended into a muffled curtain along with all the other noises around me; the scraping of chairs on the floor, the rustle of paper. My mind drifted as I settled into a daydream. And then the bell rang. Suddenly all hell broke loose as a mass of people quickly and noisily packed their bags and headed for the door. As I regained my senses I too crammed my school books into my bag and exited the room. The corridor was a gauntlet of my fellow students rushing for the exit. I followed with the tide of bodies and found myself deposited at the foot of the school steps. I breathed in the fresh air looked to the sky and smiled. Schools out for summer! I walked home happy to be free for the next six weeks. I hated school and was always a bit of a loner. I kept a small circle of close friends, and mostly kept myself to myself. I suppose you could say I was a good looking boy, although quite shy and never really had much experience with girls. I was 5’7” and had short brown hair and brown eyes. I was quite athletic although I was more of a skinny runner rather than being heavily muscled. When I got home I headed straight for my room. School finished at 14:00 today as it was the last day so I had hours to spare. …but everything was about to change
