Her pencil was already gnawed to the lead but it didn't stop her biting it. There was something about the dry, peaty taste that was somewhat soothing. Her fingers scratched on the paper as she flipped through the pages of her text book, the paper having already sucked all the moisture from her finger tips.

Her test was on the slave trade. Her teacher, Mr. Heather, had hinted there would be an essay question on the impact of William Wilberforce on the abolition on slavery and she was determined to impress him. She had been in awe of him ever since he rocked up on the first day in a well fitted blue suit and thrown his jacket over his chair. She remembered how it made him look both suave and casual.

His short brown hair and light stubble made him look manly and within a few days news had spread around the school of the attractive new history teacher.

It wasn't just his attractive persona but his charisma that Tara found so intoxicating. He was enthusiastic, energetic and fascinating to listen to.

Her phone rang, it was Robbie. She looked at the screen a second longer than normal. Her finger hovered momentarily over the green button before she put her phone back on her bedside table. Her boyfriend had been winding her up recently. It wasn't his fault, he was good looking, blonde, tall and older. They had been together a year and from the moment they had announced their relationship had become the 'it' couple.

The facade of their relationship had been lifted in the summer when he'd finished his exams and she was going in to her final year. That was when she'd begun realising he was a waste of space. He'd not got in to college, arranged an apprenticeship or sorted out any living arrangements. It became clear that despite only being sixteen his best years were behind him.

She cared about her grades, she was smart enough to have a future and she knew it. Her mother's warnings of 'don't let him hold you back' had started to ring home.

The first time she'd got a call at this hour it was to invite her to his friend's house party. She'd snuck out that night and been so hungover at school the next day she'd been sent home for throwing up in class. There was a very good chance he'd be calling for the same reason as she wasn't going to repeat it.

She closed her book and set it on the floor next to her bed. There was no way she was going to be able to focus on her studies knowing he was drunk and at a party where no doubt there were girls. Girls that hadn't yet realised he had nothing going for him other than big broad shoulders and two hefty biceps. She set her alarm, put her thick brown hair into a bun and turned the light off.

She tried to go over the story of William Wilberforce in her head as she drifted off but with every pause her mind moved back to images of Robbie grinding on Shelley Partington or Lucy Garland. They'd been after him for years and would happily sacrifice a bad score in their history test to get him drunk and alone for one night.