They were gathered on one of the benches overlooking the hockey pitch. Callum was balanced on the backrest, the soles of his shoes on the seat. Melissa and Lance were either side of him – Melissa sitting cross-legged, her head resting against Callum’s thigh; Lance with an ankle propped on one knee. Ben hadn’t seen any of his new friends since they’d skipped lessons a couple of days ago to smoke weed in the woods, and he’d been beginning to think he must have done something wrong – that Callum and the others were avoiding him. But then, at the start of break this time, they’d been waiting for him once again outside his classroom, and his fears had melted away.

Now, as he perched on an arm of the bench, he leaned forward to hear what Callum had to say. Just because he had friends now didn’t mean Beaconsfield was any easier to bear. Ben hated it, hated being here. Most of all, he hated the fact that there was nowhere else for him to go.

‘One,’ Callum went on, holding up a finger. ‘It may not look it, but this whole place is a cesspit. These blazers, these stupid shirt collars, this perfectly manicured grass – it’s all window dressing. Like … curry. A fragrant sauce to disguise rancid meat. Or tinsel on a dead Christmas tree.’

Ben felt himself showing his confusion. It wasn’t just what Callum was saying. The way he was talking … he sounded more serious than Ben had ever heard him. There was an intensity to his demeanour Ben had only seen so far in flashes.

‘It’s rotten,’ Callum said. ‘Right to the core. Run by hypocrites and frauds, and funded by people who think having money gives them the right to act however they want. You know?’

Ben didn’t know, not exactly, but he bobbed his head.

Of course you do, said Callum’s expression. I knew you would. It was like in the woods: one of us, Callum had called Ben – when, aside from his mum, Ben had never been one with anyone.

‘And the other pupils here are just as bad,’ Callum went on. ‘Not one of them thinks for themselves. They all just believe what they’ve been told: that if they pass some stupid exam, they’ll have earned their privilege and power – that all the money that eventually comes their way will rightfully belong to them. Never mind that they won’t have really earned anything.’