I turned and ran away from Jake, through the school car park and into the neighbouring woods. I didn’t stop until I tripped over a log, where suddenly everything burst out of me and hot tears rolled endlessly down my cheeks. I heard someone call my name and pushed myself to my feet, ready to run away from whoever it was. They called again as I collapsed to the ground.

A warm pair of arms lifted me into a cradle and I didn’t look at who it was. He had a familiar smell and I saw that he wasn’t taking me back to school, but to a bench between two trees. He sat down and I continued to sob for a while on his lap, before slowly coming to sanity. I looked up and saw a blurry face that vaguely resembled…

“Jonny?”
“Feeling better now?” Usually he wore this cheeky grin so it felt weird to see his brow furrowed in concern. I pushed out of his lap but his hand lingered on my back.
“Yeah,” I forced a smile.
“Let’s get you a drink,” he grinned, taking my hand in his, and I felt right for the first time in a long time.