"The council needs these food donations sorted into the correct groups by the end of today. Then you are to pack them into boxes and they'll get shipped off to the soup kitchen." The probation worker drawled, ticking off what were presumably dot points of what he was supposed to say on his clipboard. He looked up with a look that looked like surprise and why are you still here and hobbled back into his office, shutting the door was a sad snap.

The rest of the team sighed and shuffled around opening boxes and picking up bags and cans. Nathan walked over to a box, put his hands on it and lifted it up, the bottom suddenly hollowing out and all its contents emptying onto the floor.

"Nathan!" Kelly sighed, chucking a can of beef stew at him. "None of us are picking that up."

"It wasn't my fault!" Nathan said, kicking the pile before examining the bottom of the box. It had a long scratch along the bottom, where the tape had buckled and ripped when he picked it up the wrong way around. "It was the box's –"

"You pick it up the wrong way round, you twat." Kelly said when she saw the gash. Ethan was sorting through an impressive collection of bean curds and oatmeal wondering who the hell would donate a can of sheep's eyes when someone burst into the hall, the door smashing against its adjacent cousin before bouncing back and shutting with a bang.

A girl had ran in, and she had only stopped because she was blocked by the stacks of boxes and the six workers. She looked at them with wide blue eyes, and bounded straight into Nathan, who was closest to her, bursting into fat tears.

"Oh I'm so terrified, please help me!" She squealed into his orange boiler suit with a posh accent, Nathan looking at the rest of the group before putting his arms around her haltingly, like he didn't know what to do.

"What happened?" Curtis asked, dropping his packet of dried fruit and walking over. The girl shook her head and burrowed her face deeper into the nook of Nathan's shoulder. Nathan looked at Curtis with a slight grin, and as Ethan watched, their faces conducted a conversation.

What's up with her?

I have no fucking idea.

Alright, but you'd better not take advantage of her.

Why, what do you mean?

Don't fuck her Nathan.

The girl's arms wrapped themselves around Nathan's neck and she began to sob again, having to stand on her tip toes. She was petite, blonde and wore tracksuit bottoms with a strappy top. Ethan could almost smell Nathan's arousal and joy at her pushing her rather-too-big-for-her-frame breasts against his chest. He waved Curtis away, but Simon simply moved into his place.

"What happened? Maybe we can help you." He asked in his usual quiet voice. The girl's face appeared slightly, gazing at Simon through the crinkles of Nathan's suit.

"There was a man." She whispered, her fingers tightening on the Nathan's top.

"What man?" Alisha asked, leaning over.

"He was in the park, I was jogging, and …" She released Nathan and stood back, wringing her hands. "And he was leaning over something. And I thought it might've just been his dog, or something, but when I jogged passed him, there was someone under him, and…" Her eyes welled up with tears again. "I think he was dead." She squeezed out before flinging herself into Simon's arms instead. Simon's face leaked a pleased look before he had to return concentration from to trying to hold the girl upright.

"Why didn't you go to the police?" Curtis asked. The girl looked at him over Simon's shoulder.

"When he heard me running around, he turned and saw me. He had a police badge on his shirt." She gasped. "I'm afraid he will come looking for me. I can't go home."

The boys all looked sympathetic, except for Nathan, who was looking at her ass. Kelly, who was next to him, gave him another disgusted look and smacked him on the arm and he hissed shit again.

"I didn't mean that, Kelly!" He muttered as he rubbed his arm. "And if you don't like me thinking about shaggin', why don't you stay out of my head?"

"It's not like I can, is it?" Kelly waved her hand around. "I wish I could, but it's not like I can control it. You just want me out so you can have your pervert thoughts run around your mind like headless chicken. That's right, innit?" She growled.

At the argument the girl burst out into harder tears, drawing Curtis closer to Simon.

"Look, hey it's okay. We'll find some place for you to stay." Curtis said, putting a hand on her arm. "Maybe our probation worker can take you in though, we're not living to accommodate." He looked to the rest of them. The girl's face shot up, full of horror. A little too horrified, Ethan thought.

"Oh no! I can't go to anyone in authority! What if they know the policeman?" She whimpered, squealing harder. "I can't! I can't!" She repeated.

"It's okay, I can take her." Nathan said. Curtis took a step toward and warned in a low breath; Nathan.

"What?" Nathan said, putting his hands up innocently. "I'm not gonna do anything bad, I'm serious! My mum's out with Daniel to some holiday thing for a while, about a week, so she can crash at mine. Don't worry Curtis, I'll treat her like a perfect gentleman."

Curtis's eyes narrowed as the girl hurried back into Nathan's arms with chants of Oh thank you you're so great to me much to Simon's dismay. Nathan just smiled back at him.

"So what's your name, love?" He wiped her hair from her face.

"Patricia," She replied. "But if someone comes looking for me, I've never been here, right?"

All the boys nodded in agreement. The girls unconsciously huddled into a group, silently judging Patricia's character and circumstances. All three of them smelt fish.

Every time one of them tried to get information from Patricia about the policeman and the body or just anything concerning what had happened, Patricia would start crying, and none of them wanted to deal with that. But it wasn't until the end of the day that something happened. Alisha, Curtis and Simon had all left, and Nathan was waiting outside for Patricia. Kelly was at her locker as well as Patricia, and Ethan was in one of the stalls. She wasn't doing anything, she just needed to send a text, and didn't want anybody reading or asking about it. On account that it was to her dad about the funeral arrangements for her mum later that month, she wanted none of the people here to know about it.

That's what the fight was about, really. The fight that put her here. Her mum dying. But Ethan didn't want to talk about it, think about it. She just wanted to lock all the memories and feelings of her mum away in a chest, and sink it in the middle of the ocean. It was a thin growled sentence that snapped her back to reality.

"I want you to stay away from him, do you understand?" Ethan heard. She frowned and peered through the thin slit of the stall door, drawing her feet up onto the lid of the toilet. Patricia had grasped Kelly's shoulders, and trapped her against a locker.

"What?" Kelly said, frowning at Patricia. Ethan was surprised Patricia, of her size could pin someone like Kelly down. She easily looked like someone who lifted whereas Patricia just looked like a tiny hamster.

"I want you to stay away from Nathan, because he's mine." Patricia hissed.

"What?" Kelly repeated, even more confused.

"Don't play dumb you chav, I see how you and him act." Patricia spat, now not as cute as she was before. Ethan couldn't see much through the crack of the stall door, but Patricia's breathing was now audible, like a rabid dog. "I don't want you to go near him, do you understand? Nathan is mine, mine." At the second word she shook Kelly and slammed her back against the locker door.

Kelly's breathing was audible too, because she was evidently scared of this crazy girl. Quite rightly so, Ethan thought. The bitch is crazy! By the sound of it, Patricia had grabbed her bag, and left. Before the squeaking door shut, Ethan heard Nathan.

"Hey, ready to go?" He asked. Patricia replied yeah in her now horrifyingly fake voice, like an innocent child.

Ethan cautiously opened the door a crack, and when she was sure that Patricia had left, she walked out into view of Kelly, who looked at her with her eyes wide and mouth open.

"Bloody hell." Kelly breathed.