Paul felt rage replace shame and he kicked the stone even harder, imagining it was Gavin’s head. He was usually safe in the classroom as Gavin and his gang normally hassled him during the breaks or after school. It hadn’t always been like this, though. There was a time when Paul had loved senior school, especially the first couple of years. But in the third year, everything changed. One minute he was everyone’s mate and the next he was an outsider. It had started when the classes had been streamed into tiers based on ability. Paul had been placed in the top tier for all subjects while his friend Gavin had been placed in the lowest tier – tier three. At first, it had just been a few jibes.

Teacher’s pet.

Swot.

He’d ignored it. Everyone had to put up with a bit of teasing at school. But then it started to turn nasty as Gavin and a few of his new mates from tier three had ganged up on him, kicking his shins as they passed in the corridors or following him into the bathroom during break time and emptying his rucksack all over the floor. His tier-one classmates were just happy they weren’t targets and as they disassociated themselves from him, it wasn’t long before Paul found himself pretty much alone.

He had one friend though: Brian Robbins who he’d met in his maths class the year before they’d been streamed into tiers. They’d been partnered together for one of the problem-solving sessions and discovered they both had a love of BMX biking. Paul had been surprised when Brian had invited him to bike with him the following Saturday morning in the woods on the outskirts of Castlefield and since then Paul and Brian met up most Saturdays in the same spot, just the two of them.

Paul couldn’t imagine his life without those sessions to look forward to, especially as he and Brian only had one class together. Brian had football practice most days after school and he always seemed to have a ball in his hands. It was usually a small bouncy ball or a tennis ball that he would fling from hand to hand, almost like a tic. Tempted as Paul was to join the football team, so he didn’t have to walk home alone after school, he knew he didn’t have a coordinated bone in his body and would probably just invite even more ridicule. So, most afternoons, he would run home from school to the safety of his bedroom. His mum would bring him in a hot chocolate and he would immerse himself in his homework.