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rules) – she had still managed to have a good time. She’d had a few glasses of wine and the food was fantastic. She had forgotten what it was like to socialise. Even though she couldn’t quite be herself, obviously there were still moments when she had started to relax. Like when Alex (backpacker from New Zealand) had announced that he could read palms and had gone around the table predicting their futures. Or when Liv (student from Scotland) had challenged a waiter to a drinking competition and he had sat down at the table with them and downed five shots in a row before returning to his job clearing the tables looking perfectly sober while Liv looked ready to pass out.
    Now as Hannah put on her pyjamas and climbed into bed she found herself wishing for the first time that she did have another day off tomorrow. India had asked her if she wanted to come and watch ‘the boat race’ – a rowing competition on the Thames between Cambridge and Oxford universities – with her the next day. But still, she supposed it was for the best that she was working and unable to make it – it wouldn’t be right to go along to something that was that much fun. She set the alarm on her phone and then rolled over and closed her eyes. She was thinking of India as she drifted off to sleep and wondering whether or not they really could become friends.
    A couple of hours later she woke to the sound of her phone ringing. There was only one person who could be phoning her at this time – it must have been about three in the morning. Her heart quickened as she picked it up and looked at the screen. She recognised the number immediately. Her eyes clouded over and her head swirled. She squeezed the phone tight in her slippery hand – her palms had instantly become sweaty – as she fought hard against the desire to answer. It didn’t ring for long.
    After it had stopped she lay sobbing in her bed for an hour. It had been about three days since the last time he had rung. At first he used to ring every day, sometimes five or six times a day.
    He’s already starting to give up , she thought.
    And she cried even harder.

The two girls were falling about giggling when a cute looking guy knocked on the door of their compartment. It was a little after two in the morning and they had decided against using the overnight train journey as a chance to catch up on some sleep. Consuming vast quantities of vodka seemed like a much more sensible use of their time.
    He held out an envelope and announced that he had an important mission for them. Christine caught her friend’s eye and they both collapsed into further fits of hysterics.
    ‘He. Has. A. Mission. For. Us?’ gasped Michelle through wheezing bursts of laughter.
    ‘Maybe he’s CIA, or I don’t know, what would the secret service be called in this country?’ Christine cackled at her own wit.
    The boy was looking a bit upset then, and they realised that they must have hurt his feelings.
    ‘Oh, we’re sorry, sweetie,’ said Christine and she patted the seat next to her. ‘Tell us what the mission is then.’
    After it had been explained both girls gave the obligatory chorusing ‘Awww’ sound that he had been hoping for.
    An hour later when the envelope had been safely stashed in Michelle’s bag, she carefully squeezed past the tangled legs and out of the compartment in order to give Christine and the boy whose name they didn’t even know yet a little privacy, rolling her eyes at the wet sound of their vodka-ry kisses.

CHAPTER THREE
    India was making friends again. She was sitting at the long wooden table in the common room of the hostel, playing a card game called Up The River, Down The River with a group of American backpackers. It was late, and her opponents were all incredibly drunk, so India was winning with ease, which was especially good because they were playing for money. Not that India particularly wanted to relieve them of all their cash, but they were the ones who had