Josie watched the scene in the carpark intently as it played out between her classmates, the elderly gentleman and his associates. When the cashier had finally managed to count the loose change she’d used to pay for her meal, Mark and his companions had already left the building, leaving her without a chance to take him up on his offer to join them. As she’d made her way to an empty window-side table, she’d wondered if she actually would have done it. Probably. He’d made her angry, furious, and her inhibitions tended to fly out the window when she was in that state. He’d known exactly what to say to wound her.

You look like shit.

The words were still ringing through her head on an endless loop. She tried to tell herself that his opinion wasn’t worth the air he used to express it, but she was a girl with little to no self-esteem and other people’s thoughts mattered to her. He’d been wrong about one thing though. She would never bitch slap him. Stab him in the hand with a plastic McDonald’s fork, maybe, but never slap him. It was too cliché, too unoriginal. And it wouldn’t hurt enough.

She sat sideways on her chair, her bare feet propped up on the low windowsill and her chest pressed against her bent legs, popping chips into her mouth like popcorn. Reaching for another greasy chip, Josie’s hand paused. Outside in the carpark, the new girl was verbally attacking the well dressed gentleman and, what appeared to be, his bodyguard. However, it wasn’t the words that had her mesmerised, it was the other girl’s eyes. She tried to hide it behind her anger and determination, but Josie could see it flash across her visage every now and then.

Fear.

A slight frown of confusion creased Josie’s brow and she examined the older man. He didn’t look overly threatening, though she knew looks could be deceiving, her own father was a prime example. But she had the feeling that there was more to the girl’s attack than met the eye. Finished with her assault, the girl retreated to the curb and Josie watched her in silent fascination. Neither girl seemed to hear the man’s retort.

One thought occupied Josie’s mind.

Could this be the person to understand my pain?

Drawing one long finger across her lips in contemplation, she stared at the young woman on the curb for a few moments before she visibly snapped out of her thoughts and quickly scoffed down the remains of her meal. She shoved the spare paper serviettes into one of her many pockets and made her way out the door.

Josie lingered at the entrance to the fast-food restaurant, trying to decide how she should go about things. She’d seen fear in that girl’s eyes and, curious by nature, she wanted to know why but she wasn’t blunt enough to just go up and ask, so she decided on a subtler approach. Advancing on the smoking girl like a predator stalking its prey, Josie was oblivious to everything else going on around her. In the back of her mind she knew Mark, his friend, the man and his associates were still talking nearby and she heard the shrill ring of a mobile phone from somewhere among the parked cars, but she was focused on one thing only.

Taking a deep breath she took a seat on the curb not too far away from, but not too close, to the new girl and softly asked the question that she had always hated being asked herself.

‘Are you okay?’

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