Chapter 12

That first Thursday the immediate pace was a shock to all of them. In an odd way Andrew was pleased, the work was going to tax him and he could focus on his studies. At the end of that first day he thought about the structure of the course. There were lectures they attended where a variety of instructors, some full professors, others who had only just starting their post-doctoral careers, went over the material of the course. They also had labs several days of the week, mostly working on their own but sometimes in pairs as well. The lab tables held four people, two on each side and it was that group that Olivia had joined when Giles pushed her out of her initial group. Matt and Keith were on one side of the bench and Olivia and Andrew were on the other. The final aspect of the course, as important as the labs, were Supervisions. These were small study groups held at College, usually for two, sometimes three, students covering the different aspects of engineering. The first two years was all general engineering, ensuring that the students had a broad range of knowledge across multiple disciplines in engineering, before specialising from third year onwards. The supervisors, as with the lecturers, had a variety of seniority from Fellows all the way down to research students. They changed regularly as the syllabus moved very quickly, covering a wide range of engineering topics. That first Michaelmas term there were only two of them in Andrew’s Supervision and they met twice a week to review assignments, check their understanding of the course and the material and ensure that they stayed on top of all the work.

So there you are, academic life as an engineer, lectures, labs and tutorials, called Supervisions at Cambridge. Just like at every other Engineering Department around the country or indeed around the world. It was the pace of progress that surprised Andrew, they were going through a lot of material at a fast pace. All the preparation had happened in the two days before term started so on the first Thursday morning it was straight to work. Andrew was full of nervous excitement and just wanted to dive in. He had given his approach some thought and was going to try to follow the same routine as he had at school. Stay on top of the work and try and read ahead, study ahead so that he was always prepared for each class. He had no idea if this plan was remotely realistic, given the pace of the teaching in the lectures. All of that first term Andrew worked hard to keep on top of everything. The thing that also helped him was the knowledge that the second term, Lent term in Cambridge parlance, had a focus on Maths and Computing, both of which he excelled at and would give him additional time to focus on things such as drawing and lab work.

So after an intense couple of days of classes by Friday night Andrew was ready for a break. He had worked in the evening the night before and was happy with the first couple of days. He was going to the hockey tryouts in the morning but was not entirely sure if he was trying out just for the College or for the University as a whole. Andrew found it confusing as to which sports were done centrally and which were done collegiately. On top of that there were sports that were both, rowing being the most obvious one. Regardless he had no illusions about his ability, other than one half with the teachers at the end of school he had not played a hockey match in his life. He coached well but had no idea about playing as part of a team and definitely not with male teammates. He wasn’t nervous because he had no illusions of his standard but was unsure what the following morning would bring. He was going to skip running and swimming to make sure he had the energy and reserves to compete. When Andrew got back to the corridor the only person around was Emma, he had banged on Navya and Helena’s doors but there was no answer and all the rest of the doors were closed.

“Do you fancy a break from Hall and see what Cambridge offers on a Friday night?”

Andrew stood at Emma’s door.

“Super idea Andrew, all I have heard is how the first couple of days have gone so I want a break from all that. If you promise to not talk about your course then I will not talk about mine.”

He nodded emphatically.

“Deal. 30 minutes? I need to shower and clean up.”

Emma nodded and he went next door. Clean up? He was still only shaving every other day but would scrape his chin and have a quick shower. Andrew had brought the clippers from home and was quite adept at buzzing over all his head and not missing any parts. He did a quick test and took them with him as well. And so 28 minutes later he was freshly shaved, buzz cut and dressed in clean clothes. Andrew banged on the common wall between him and Emma and shouted ‘You ready?’. He was really classing up the place.

“Five minutes.”

12 minutes later Emma knocked on the door. Like Andrew she was not dressed up but she cleaned up nicely. She had applied a little makeup to her face and her eyes really popped out. They were her most distinctive feature and she had subtly accentuated them. They headed out, waving at the Porter at the Gate and stood standing on Trinity Street looking up and down it.

“Do you want to do a 20 minute walk round town and see if anything catches our eye? I’ll eat anything.”

Andrew shrugged.

“Sure, why not. There are bound to be a load of places catering to students so sure.”

The two of them walked down the street and turned into the main part of the town. Cambridge is small, and the town centre did not take long to walk round. They found a Chinese restaurant that was nice and busy but didn’t have a queue. Neither of them wanted a drink so over tea they chatted away.

“Did Nigel come and apologise for Monday night, no Sunday night. Hell, whatever night he threw up outside your door?”

“Yes he did and I heard at dinner that you got him back on Tuesday.”

“Yes, Tuesday was interesting. I ended up at Cindies with some guys from the OTC but after just one dance I had to help an Art School student back to her dorms. She was only just smaller than me and all her friends were your size. When I finally fended her off and got back to the College there was Nigel lying beside the Gate with a Porter glaring at him.”

“So you had two drunks in one night, classic.”

Emma was oozing sympathy.

“It was fine. I wonder when Nigel is going to slow down. I haven’t seen him since I got him back to his room on Tuesday night. He is one of many who were going pretty hard this week.”

“It is when everyone gets grabby that it starts to piss me off. It is nothing completely overt like grabbing a boob but there is a lot of brushing past and rubbing against your arse when you are at the bar.”

“Even here?”

“God, yes. I was in the bar on both Tuesday and Wednesday and it was pretty bad. Like I said, the place was so packed that everyone had an excuse but it was starting to piss me off.”

“I never realised. I have not been aware of anyone doing that to me, but I don’t get into the scrum round the bar very often. It is one of the big advantages of being so tall. I can catch the barman’s attention from a distance and reach over for the drinks.”

He told Emma about the two French women from the summer.

“Were they suitably grateful?”

The last word was said with a raised eyebrow.

“Stop being so dirty!”

All he got was a giggle.

“As a matter of fact they came up to Edinburgh about a week later and my friend Pete was thoroughly seduced by one of them. The other one had a serious boyfriend so we just chatted. She was really interesting, she went to one of those Grande Ecoles, in Design. She was nice and I have a guide if I ever end up in Paris. What about you? Other than being harassed in pubs what do you do in your spare time? Not that we get much of that.”

“Too right there. I am very musical and play the Cello, so I am going to audition for the Orchestra. I enjoy singing but the rehearsals for the choir are too much. I will try and find a local amateur choir that I can join.”

“What have you played, any of the famous concertos?”

“I am not quite that good. I played the Elgar concerto at school but I was terrified. I have played several of the more famous concertos as part of my studies but I am solid orchestral player not a soloist. What about you, you sound like you know your classical music?”

“I played double bass at school but because of an issue I never played in the school orchestra after I returned from my treatment. The only concert I have played in years was at Easter.”

“So you played bass all through school but didn’t play in an orchestra?”

Andrew gave Emma the five minute version of the fight, exile and bass lessons.

“You had weekly bass lessons for four years and never played?”

“I know. It was what I did on a Thursday lunchtime every week. I didn’t practice very much and looking back I could have, and probably should have, stopped years ago but it was all worth it last Easter. I got to play the Choral Symphony. Talk about being terrified. It was both nerve racking and wonderful and went by in the blink of an eye. My teacher is in an amateur orchestra, really high standard, lots of instrument teachers, borderline professional musicians, and they were light on basses. She talked me into it and I am so glad she did but there were a couple of times I was not sure it was a good idea. It might be the last time I play the bass, I haven’t played it since and it sits in the corner of my bedroom, untouched.”

“No desire to carry it on?”

“I don’t like to do things half-heartedly. I stretched myself thin at times at school and some things have to be put aside. For me music is one of them. I won’t get rid of my bass and for a few years I will be able to join in something if the need arises but realistically it is not my passion.”

As usual he shrugged.

“That is a shame is some ways but you can’t do everything. What are your priorities here other than your degree?”

“There are two parts to it. The first is easy, UOTC, hockey and maybe the Engineering Society, those are going to be the things I am going to do outside the course although the last one is more of the same. The second, and for me more difficult part, is understanding myself, working on getting to know different people, especially guys. For the last five years I have found it much easier to get to know women rather than men. I only really have two close male friends. The rest are older, mentors and role models although several of them are friends. That is why I was at Cindies for instance on Tuesday. It is Fresher’s Week, the place was packed full of desperate men and women, hot, noisy and sweaty. I hated it but went because three decent blokes from the OTC evening wanted to go. I have to force myself to make an effort like that. Being naturally shy and studious means that I always have to watch that I don’t backslide into my own little world. Shit, why am I doing all the talking? Enough about me, what about you Emma?”

“Oh no, not so fast. I am fascinated by the way that you have analysed out your faults and are consciously working on them.”

She looked at him curiously.

“Do you ever do anything spontaneously?”

“Oh yes, all the time. I don’t want it to seem that I am trying to tick off a checklist or something like that. It is more that I just have to be conscious of balance, that’s all. I would study all the time if I wasn’t careful so I do have to think about things like tonight. It would have been easy to go to Hall and then head back to my room and either relax or tidy up my notes. But it is more important that I get to know people here, especially my fellow corridor-mates, if that is a word. And before you ask, I am not ticking off everyone and making sure I get to them all. You were around and I asked you, spontaneously.”

She bowed her head at the riposte and smiled.

“I deserved that. It is nice getting to know you.”

They spent the next half hour talking about Emma. She was an interesting woman, as her father was a mathematician and academically famous. All that meant was that Andrew had never heard of him. Given her passion for music he did wonder if she was being forced into following her father but she seemed happy to be reading Maths there. She was one of five children which did excite comment. She was the second oldest and she admitted that she was very happy to have escaped from her three younger siblings. That allowed Andrew to mention Rowan and Scott but they quickly moved on from annoying families.

“What do you think about sex Andrew?”

That came out of nowhere.

“What do you mean, what do I think?”

“Come on don’t be coy, we are at university now, we are supposed to be challenging ourselves, and according to some of the people I have met, the social order.”

“Okay, I understand all that but what does that have to do with what I think about sex?”

“Andrew, maybe we need to have had a few beers or glasses of wine, in vino veritas and all that, but don’t tell me you weren’t totally frustrated at all the rules and constraints at school and home. That was what I meant. There are guys and women here who are bed-hopping every night, just like Nigel and his booze but with sex. Although drinking a lot first does seem to be part of the ritual.”

“Okay, I understand better now. In fact the girl at Cindies on Tuesday was exactly like that. It went from hello to take me home and fuck me in the space of one conversation. She was drunk and had a roommate so I don’t quite know what was meant to happen and where. I never bothered reading up on all the rules about guests in the College but I suppose I better. As for the sex, I need to have a connection with the person I am with before I can do anything with them. I knew that before Tuesday but it was reinforced for me then. What about you? You seem to be more of an observer of the scene than a participant.”

“I am like you in a lot of ways, I am not going to do the ‘desperate at the nightclub’ tactic, at least I hope not. And without being too graphic I want to enjoy university life fully, in all its aspects.”

He nodded.

“I think everyone has the same idea. Some people emphasise different aspects but for a lot of students, particularly first years, the sexual side is a high priority. As you said, it is a chance to escape from the constraints of home, school or church, whatever. There is no one here to try and enforce the rules you previously had to live by.”

“You say all that but you have not been at the bar the last three nights and you admitted to getting nowhere at Cindies. You don’t seem as needy as most of the guys here.”

Andrew looked at Emma who was staring at him with those amazing eyes. She raised an eyebrow and returned him look. He smiled and shook his head.

“I am not biting at that Emma Granger.”

“What do you mean?”

“I never talk about my sex life, and I am not about to start now. As you said, I am not needy or desperate. I will take my chances.”

“What would you do if I asked you back to my room later tonight?”

Wow, she was not playing around. Blinking owlishly Andrew looked at Emma.

“Tonight, I would come in and hope that you were going to play something on your cello for me, Brahms maybe. Later in the term, you will have to ask me again and see what the answer is.”

Suddenly the confident air seemed to vanish and she looked young and vulnerable.

“Emma, we have four years, everything does not have to be rushed in the first week.”

“I know that Andrew!”

She snapped back at him. Throwing some money on the table she took her coat.

“I am going to head back to College on my own.”

They were five minutes from the College and they had not even been away for an hour. Andrew sat in shock as he looked at Emma’s retreating back. He finished the food and then stood and left. He turned south away from the College and headed in the direction of the pool. It was his morning run circuit but in reverse. He passed Peggy’s café, closed that late at night, and kept walking. He thought about Emma and her offer, was one of the reasons he had said no, at least that night, Helena? Andrew was a borderline slut, he knew that, but he didn’t want to immediately make life complicated right there in the corridor. Fucking Emma less than a week after Helena seemed too casual. He shook his head. Typical Andrew, never miss the chance to overthink something. He turned and headed back to College, it was Friday night and if Pedro was in his room then it was time to explore the music scene.