On Monday during the flag-raising ceremony, Lydia still stood on stage and publicly read her apology.

From the moment she came down from the flag-raising platform, her eyes were red, like a rabbit’s, and the paper she clutched in her hands was crumpled into a ball.

After this incident, she became famous at school.

Wherever she went, strange glances followed her, like shadows, always with her.

It was as though she had been nailed to the ...