Rachel was having a bad head day and skiving off Media Studies. Today the class were supposed to split into their groups to work on their project on the role of media during the inter-war period and Rachel hadn't done any of the prep work. The other members in her group were both boys and both cleverer than her and though neither of them had said anything of the sort she knew they both thought of her as an idiot blonde girl. She knew they both looked at her with lust and pity when she wasn't looking. She knew they were going to ask her questions she wouldn't be able to answer and today she just couldn't deal. Some days, most days, she could laugh it off, and flick her hair, god you boys are so clever and maybe one of you can tutor me after school? and writing her number on the sensitive skin on the inside of their wrists.

Not today. Today the thought of anyone touching her made her skin crawl. Today was a day of avoiding all the things she was bad at. Avoid all groups of people. Don't let herself be outnumbered. That why hanging out with Zoe was great at school. Zoe didn't have other friends. Zoe didn't have a group. They were a twosome. No complications, no competitions. Bu Zoe was in class, because Zoe was always in class.

But today was not a day for being alone, either, because on a bad head day being alone with herself could be just as bad as being outnumbered.

She escaped out of the building and into the open air of the quad, taking a moment to scan the area. There were other people around on free periods, but pretty much all of them were in groups. One boy sat alone though, writing in a book. A proper book! She drew closer, till she was standing in his light. "What are you writing?" she asked, her head at a deliberate tilt to make her hair fall forward over her shoulder. She may have been having a bad head day, but her hair was having an excellent one.