one

The car pulled away and Dylan waved it off. Once it rounded the corner and was out of sight, he looked at the floor, he turned on his heel and re-entered the hall of residence that had been his home for the past nine months. He wandered back to his room, thinking about all that had happened and trying to put it into perspective. He lay down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. His room seemed so empty without his posters and possessions. His parents had taken his belongings home for the summer but Dylan had insisted on staying until she had left. He had wanted to spend every second with her that he could.

Mark popped his head around Dylan's door. "Did she get away okay?" He spoke with genuine concern. Dylan had never known a man with so much compassion for others.

"Yeah," said Dylan. "She's gone. Can you believe I miss her already? It's crazy, I'm seeing her in a couple of weeks. It's just that can't imagine life without her."

"I'm not surprised. I know how you two feel about each other. I think we all kinda knew you'd get together in the end. It was just a question of when. Look, Dad's challenged me to a game of pool before we leave, do you fancy it?"

"Yeah. I've got nothing better to do."

Dylan grabbed his wallet and followed Mark out of the hall and up towards Rosser bar. Over the next hour, they had several games of pool. Dylan lost the first few games. He put it down to lack of concentration, but he was competitive and refused to leave until he'd caught up.

"We'll have to enter the tournament next year," Mark said on the way back to the hall.

"It might finally prove who's better," Dylan replied.

"I doubt it."

"When are you off on your travels?"

"A week Saturday. Andrea needs to sort out a few things first."

"I hope you two have a great time."

"Cheers, Dil."

"Mark?"

"What?"

"I just wanted to say..."

"Don't, Dil. There's no need."

"Yeah, but ... I don't know. You're a real mate, you know that?"

"So are you."

They hugged.

"I'll see you in September."

"Yeah, see ya."

Dylan returned to his barren room, packed the last of his belongings into his car, and locked up. Before hitting the winding road home, he deposited his key at the reception and took one last stroll around the campus. He might have been there for less than a year, but he felt as if he belonged in Aber. It felt like home.

It was a glorious summer's morning. The sun was threatening to shine all day in a near cloudless sky. The general populous went about their business as they always did, albeit wishing they didn't have to and could spend the day be the sea instead. But a great many of Britain's eighteen year olds had something more important on their minds than the weather. It was the most important day of their lives.

For them, 'A' Level results day was when their future would be determined. Some would experience delight, as two years of hard graft paid dividends and they had their university place confirmed. Others would find themselves heart-broken, and be forced to undergo the nightmare of clearing. Control of their future was no longer in their own hands.

Dylan Thomas was worried. The potential physics student had tossed and turned for most of the night. He felt as if he had only just fallen asleep when his alarm went off and it was time to go and collect his results.

Dylan was desperate to get his place at Aberystwyth. Partly because he was the only person in his school that had a firm offer from a university, but mainly because it would make his parents proud. Not to mention that he thought he deserved it after all the work he had put in. Dylan got out of bed, had a shower, then dressed and went downstairs to where his mother had prepared a full English breakfast.

Another potential Aberystwyth physics student had slept very soundly, although that was probably due to the amount of beer he had guzzled the night before. Dave Jones never worried about the results of tests; he always passed them with flying colours. His school posted the results to students' houses, and so Dave had felt no need to get up early. No one would open his mail, they wouldn't dare. When the alarm sounded, he turned it off, rolled over and went back to sleep.

In Tranmere, Natalie Kinsey was on her way to her best friend's house. Joanne and Natalie had offers on the same degree in French and German course at Aberystwyth.

Natalie had barely knocked on Joanne's door before it opened. Joanne greeted her friend with a big smile.

"How you feeling?" Jo asked.

"I'm terrified to be honest." Nat's accent was more evident than her friend's. "I don't think I've been this nervous since I played the Virgin Mary in the nativity play at junior school."

Joanne closed the door and they walked to the bus stop. The pair were were often mistaken for sisters. Both dressed similarly, were a similar build and wore their hair the same way. Only Joanne's black hair set her apart from Natalie, who was strawberry blonde.

"You can remember that far back?" Jo asked.

"Oh, yeah. I remember that in rehearsals the baby Jesus' head fell off when I picked him up out of the manger. I was so scared that if it happened in front of the vicar he would think I was evil or something and banish me to hell."

"What happened?"

"They fixed the doll and everything was fine. I wonder if remembering that story is an omen."

"There's no need to be scared because it will all work it in the end. That sort thing?"

"Exactly. There's no need to be scared 'cause in two months time both of us will be away from this dump."

"Remind me again why we opted for a tiny town on the Welsh coast, miles from anywhere. Aberystwyth doesn't even have a McDonalds."

"You know why, Jo. Besides, you remember the fun we had on that open weekend. Don't tell me you've forgotten those two rugby players already."

"I hadn't. I was just testing."

A couple of hundred miles south, on the Gower peninsular, Dylan drove his red Mini to school. He picked up his girlfriend, Claire, on the way. They didn't talk. All Dylan could think about was what would happen if he didn't get the grades he needed. He had studied hard for the exams, but wasn't confident about the results. He was sure that his answers had been gibberish. He excelled at maths, but he found it boring, and while physics fascinated him, it was his weakest subject.

When they got to school Dylan parked his car, locked it, and then accompanied Claire to the Head's office. There was a short queue outside it.

"Hi, Dylan," said Josh, one of Dylan's classmates. "You nervous?"

"Not at all. Walk in the park. Nothing to worry about."

"Don't listen to him," cut in Claire. "He's terrified."

"Oh good. Just as long as I'm not the only one." Josh hadn't been offered an automatic place but was hopeful his results would be good enough to get him a place through clearing.