Ben looked at the people he would have once regarded as friends, or at least people he liked and who liked him, and couldn’t see a single friendly face in the group. All of them were whispering among themselves, laughing and throwing cruel comments in his direction. He couldn’t stand this any longer. He pushed his way through the group of students and fled out of the room, the sound of their whoops and laughter echoing down the hall after him.

 

Ben only stopped running when he reached a barbed wire fence. He was a long way from the youth hostel’s building now, although he was still within it’s grounds. He was surrounded by trees, and knew nobody would see him here. He shivered, it was cold outside and he was only dressed in a pair of boxers and T-shirt, and of course both were considerably wet, the cold materials clinging to his skin.