Chapter 2

The next morning came too early and reminded me that I needed some thicker curtains. I was never one to just lay in bed and try to get back to sleep unless I was awoken a few hours before the sun. I put on some running shoes, shorts and a t-shirt and headed out for a jog. I didn’t run directly there but had in mind to stop by the boathouse.

It was almost 9am but there weren’t many kids out and about on campus yet. There were people down by the boathouse and as I walked up, I was surprised to see Julie. When she saw me, she stopped and stared before breaking into a run to come to me. As she got closer I could tell that she wanted to just jump into my arms but instead stopped to make sure it was actually me. “Nick, what are you doing here?”

“Starting school. What about you? What are you doing here?”

Looking down at her Cambridge sweatshirt, she said, “I needed to get away so after a year at Yale, I transferred across the pond and this will be my second year here. If I’m a junior here that means that you should be a senior at Emerson. Did they kick you out?”

“My parents were transferred to Russia and wanted me to go with them. I did my last year in Russia and they only have eleven grades. I finished up and graduated. My parents are now in Bermuda and I think it will be my dad’s last stop. He is slowing down a little and mom likes the island life better than Moscow.”

“Are you rowing?”

“I wasn’t invited to but was hoping to use an erg here to stay in shape. If not, I will get one for my room.”

“Come, let me introduce you to some people.”

She introduced me to her roommate that she was rowing with, Sara. “Sara rows on the team and I work out with her and row on the weekend or in the off season when she needs a partner.”

Julie knew the coaches and others on the team and took me into the boathouse and introduced me to the men’s coach. Coach Radcliff. “Coach, I want you to introduce you to my friend, Nick. He rowed with me in high school and was the best rower on the team. He wants to use an erg but I think you should see how he stacks up and let him try out for the team.”

Coach held out his hand and we shook. “Nice to meet you, Nick. I can’t promise anything but I can always see what you have to offer the team.”

“I have pulled an erg almost every day since I was eight. I was in Russia last year and didn’t row competitively but still worked out.”

“Let’s go up and have you pull on the erg and see how you do and see if you would fit in any of our boats.”

“I wasn’t really planning on that but I guess if I can perform at my worst, I can do better when I wasn’t out all night at the clubs.”

He just shook his head and we went inside and into a nice weight room with a row of twenty ergs. He called over Ethan. After introductions, Coach said, “Ethan is the captain this year and will see how you do. I am looking for consistency over the length of the race and not some sprint to the first split.”

Ethan sat down and I sat next to him. “Just follow my stroke and we will go 5,000 meters.”

Nodding my understanding, I strapped in and gave a few pulls on the erg to see how much tension I would be pulling against. We warmed up for a couple minutes to get the muscles working and then stopped to reset the machines and start our test. It wasn’t really a race since I was just pulling with him. By the end of the pull, I was with him pull for pull and didn’t drop off or lose pace. I was only about 50 meters behind him or 1% off of his power for the length of the pull. Both he and coach looked at each other and nodded their heads.

“Care to go out on the water and show us if you can do that for real?”

“If you want me too, I can. I wasn’t really planning on it this morning but don’t have any other plans today.”

Julie and Sara were off to the side and smiling. We went out and I helped Ethan get down a two-man boat. It was a sweep boat with one oar on each side. Ethan said, “The two-man sweep is a hard event because you have to find two guys that are close in their abilities or one will dominate the pull or have to give less than 100% to stay even. I am the top on the team and right now you would be number two based on that pull.”

It was just the two of us as we pushed away from the dock. “I haven’t been on the water since the open race in the states over a year ago and I was pretty drunk when I left the bar a few hours ago. I really don’t know how I would stack up against you or any others if I was actually ready to race.”

“Well I’m glad that you stopped by when you did. I’m not going to try to kill you but just want to see how consistent you are with your pulls with the power you put into each pull.”

“You can sit in the stroke position and I will try to keep up.”

We had both just had a good pull so we went upriver at a leisurely pace. The river was not straight at all and we were always making corrections to stay on course. Eventually Ethan said, “It’s five thousand meters to the boathouse. Let’s see what we can do in this thing.”

I thought he was going to kill me as he pulled long, hard and steady strokes. I was sweating and breathing hard as we crossed the finish line and I saw him stop his stopwatch that was on a mount in front of him.

“Nick, we could have just won almost any 2 man races. That was a great time. I don’t know much about getting people officially on the team but as far as I’m concerned, you have earned a spot.”

“I think you just killed me. I want to puke up all those shots from last night.”

“You kind of got ambushed this morning. If you were really out drinking all night, you may be better than me when we can see the real you.”

Julie was sitting out in an Adirondack chair. Getting some sun and watching as Ethan and I took the boat out and stored it back in the boathouse. “Hey Ethan, how did he do?”

“Much better than expected. We are used to kids thinking they are good enough to walk on and compete but it takes more than muscles. Nick has the natural rhythm that’s needed to glide through the water.” Turning his attention to me he said, “Come by Monday around four and we will have the rest of the team here.”

By now it was almost noon and I was drenched in sweat. Julie said, “You need a shower and then we can get some lunch and catch up.”

“Are you going to come and help me wash my back?”

A frown crossed her face. “I’ve been dating a guy for about a year now. His name is Ian and you should meet him. I would appreciate you not talking about the times we have gotten together in the past. I will just say that we went to the same high school.”

“No worries. I’m just surprised we both ended up here.”

“Me too but Emerson is one of the top high schools in the world. Cambridge is one of the top universities in the world. Three or four students from Emerson end up here most years. The same is true for Harvard, Yale and Stanford. The first two in the Northeast the numbers are almost double that.”

“That makes sense I guess but either way, it is a pleasant surprise to see you and I’m used to getting the cold shoulder from you, so it shouldn’t bruise my ego too much.”

“I’ll bruise you,” she said as she punched my shoulder.

She told me where to meet her for lunch and we decided on 1pm. I went back and showered. I didn’t know where the place was but found it pretty easily. I sat at the bar and ordered a beer. The workout had burned some calories and I was in the mood for something cold and wet. The girl behind the bar was cute and the guy three stools down was flirting with her. It sounded like he was a regular.

Twenty minutes later Julie came in with her roommate and the guy down the bar got up to meet her at the door. She didn’t see me and they went to get a table. I went over after I finished my beer and Julie got up to introduce me to Ian. He gave me the once over to see who his competition was, or at least that was the impression he gave me.

Sara smiled at me and she gave the impression that Julie had told her a few stories of our days at Emerson. Ian asked, “So how well do you know Julie?”

“Fairly well. Her best friend was dating my roommate and best friend at our high school so we saw each other fairly often. She was a few years ahead of me and left after one year but I did go on a date or two with her younger sister. We did a lot of group activities and would go to concerts or skiing with our group of friends. I’ve met both of her parents at some of the rowing regattas.”

“You row? Are you rowing for the college?”

“I don’t know, I went down to pull some on the machines this morning and the coach asked me to row some with the captain and he seemed to offer me an invitation to row or at least stop by on Monday. So I guess we’ll see how things work out.”

“Well, good luck with making the team.”

The burger looked good on the menu so that’s what I had but switched to club soda with a lime for a drink. The beer was good but if I was going to row, I would need to limit the intake. I asked, “Where did you learn to row, Sara?”

“I’m a local from London and rowed for a club and at school. I enjoy the quiet mornings on the water. It is kind of like Tai Chi. So calm and yet still a good workout. Once I started, I was hooked and luckily did well enough to row for Cambridge. My father rowed here back in the day.”

Our food arrived and the burger was alright. The girls each had salads and Ian had a steak. There was some chitchat during the meal. As the meal came to an end, Ian asked, “So what business is your father in, Nick?”

“He works for the government.”

“My family is in textiles and makes fabrics. It is one of the largest in Great Britain.”

“I don’t know much about fabric but I did sew some pajamas for my home economics project in high school. I got an A on it.”

Julie laughed as she remembered being in class with me and Sara thought it was funny. “Do you still wear them?”

“I am bigger now than I was then and to be honest, I only wore them around the apartment but never to bed. I don’t like to be confined in bed.”

Smiling, Sara touched my arm and said, “You’ve grown nicely.”

“Get a room, you slut,” came from Julie as Sara blushed.

When the check came, Ian snatched it up and said he would take care of it as he whipped out daddy’s credit card. “Thanks for lunch. I’ll get the next one.” was all I could say.

Julie asked, “What college are you in?”

It took me a minute to figure out what she was asking. The university is made up of many different colleges. The colleges also provide the housing so it was almost like asking what dorm I was in but the classes were assigned by college. I replied, “Caius, I’m studying Computer Science.”

Ian popped in with, “There are a lot of tech companies moving to Scotland.”

“They’re starting everywhere. There are a lot out near San Francisco as well.”

Julie asked, “What did you have to do to get into Caius? Sara and I are in Kings and Ian is across the river at St. John’s.”

“I don’t know. I just showed up and that is where they told me to go. I had someone else do the paperwork for me.”

“Nick, I did mine and spent months going back and forth trying to figure out which college to apply to. I think you had a lot less stress in your life.”

“I don’t stress about much.”

We all split up to go our separate ways. As I was about to enter my building, I heard my name called. I looked up to see a girl walk up to me. It was Lisa from when Kari came to visit me in New York and talked to me about college. “Can we take a short walk?”

“Sure.”

We walked together until we found some place quiet. “How’s it going so far?”

“Hakim showed up yesterday and we went out drinking last night. I have a key to his room but he has one to my room in case one of us gets locked out. I don’t see how I’m going to see much in his room though. If you want to try the same thing that we did in Russia, but put a camera in his.”

“Video would take up too much storage.”

“Tell Adam to put a motion sensor on it and beam it across to my room and have a recorder there. Maybe hide it in a new stereo. That way his word processor would be plugged in. My stereo would be plugged in. No need for batteries. I don’t know where his desk is compared to the bed but if it’s at a weird angle, we can change it on the upgraded version.”

“That sounds like a good idea. So you need one more?”

“I have one that I brought with me but why not send me five. I will send mine back and set a routine of being a tester. If you want to put a camera in another one, I will give it to Julie for her room.”

“Be professional Nick.”

“I was just kidding. How do you want me to get the recordings to you?

“I’m enrolled here as well so we can be friends and I can stop by.”

“I won’t tell Kari if you don’t.”

“Keep dreaming, Stud. I will call Kari and see how fast they can get the devices sent over. Who will be getting them?”

“Me, Hakim, both of our suitemates, Andy and William. The last one was really for Jill and her suitemate Sara.”

“We live in the same building but I’m on the ground floor. Room 108.”

“Are you taking classes? You can help me study.”

“I think we have one or two together. I was like you and brought in right out of high school. This is a real college education for me and also here to assist you if you need anything.”

“Well if you need any help just ask. I want you to do well in school.”

“Thanks Nick. I’ve heard stories about you and don’t know if they are all bullshit, or if you are really that good.”

“Maybe we can compare notes one day and figure it all out.”

“Maybe we will.”

As people were getting to know the school and hoping to meet new friends. There were a lot of doors open down the hallway. Andy saw me walk by and called out to me. “Hey Nick where have you been? I stopped by to see if you wanted to get some breakfast.”

“I skipped breakfast but tried out for the crew team and had a date for lunch. I also met a girl on the first floor. It hasn’t been a bad day.”

“Cambridge is known for its crew team. I don’t think you have much of a chance.”

“I’m free now, do you want to hang out?”

“Come on in. I’m just unpacking some things and setting up my room.”

“I got in a few days ago but still have some things I need to get.”

He had a chair that had a few things on it but he moved it and I sat down. He asked, “What do you think about being away from home and starting college? I really don’t know what to expect.”

“I’ve traveled all over so I’m not worried about living in England. I went away to boarding school for a couple years. I was in America but my parents were in Japan. I guess I’m already used to it. I said something yesterday and it’s true. College isn’t any harder than high school. The biggest difference is that you don’t have your parents there to harp on you to do your work. If you can make yourself get up, go to class, study and do the work, you will have nothing to worry about. There are tutors and places to go if you need help but you can’t let yourself fall behind.”

“So basically all I have to do is grow up.”

“You will have to at some point in your life, Peter Pan. Just think about what it will be like when you graduate with all A’s and B’s. Your dad will be begging you to come and work for him so you can learn and take over the family business instead of finding a place to put his freeloading son. He won’t have to argue with your mom about how much he has to pay you. He will know that if he doesn’t pay you that someone else will take you away and gladly pay you what you’re worth.”

“That puts a different spin on it.”

“All it takes is setting up a routine. Working hard and being honest with yourself about how well you understand the subject.”

“Can you help me out if I need it? I did okay in high school.”

“Sure, I even spoke to a friend today about getting something for all us guys to help our grades and speed up the work we have to do.”

“What is it?”

“Like a typewriter but it’s called a word processor.”

“I think my dad’s secretary has one. It cost a lot of money. I don’t think he will splurge for me to have one for my papers.”

“My friend invented them. He sends them to me to test out and give him feedback. I told him to send me five if he could.”

“Who are the five?”

“You, me, Hakim, William and the girl I had lunch with. She isn’t a girlfriend but a girl I met at school in the states a few years ago.”

“Is she cute?”

“She’s a hottie, but has a boyfriend. She’s also three years older. Her sister is just a year younger than me.”

As he got his room in order, we chatted about growing up in the families we did and the differences in the countries I’d lived in. We played a few games of backgammon with a ten-pound bet on the winner of the match to 64. It would give us a reason to get together and chat.

William was walking out of his room and poked his head in to ask, “Do you guys want to get some dinner? Hakim and I are going out in a little while to get some food.”

“Sure,” I said after getting a nod from Andy. We decided to leave in an hour and I went back to my room. I called Adam since it was a reasonable time in Boston. “Hello brother.”

“Hey, how are things in England?”

“Good. I want to get some word processors sent over for me and some friends. One of my friends you know.”