five

Dylan woke around ten the next morning. He switched on the television at the end of his bed so that he could watch the Saturday morning kid's shows. He made himself a cup of tea and looked back on the previous night. Despite what everyone had said to him, he still felt guilty over the way he'd acted. Claire might never find out, and she might never be hurt, but he'd know. He'd always know that on his first night away from her, he'd cheated.

He started at the TV and drank his tea. "Kid's shows were much better when I was little," he said to himself.

He felt peckish, so he put on his robe and slippers and trundled off to the kitchen to make some toast. As he passed the stairwell, Dave came bounding up the stairs from the hallway that linked DB to Rendell. He looked dishevelled, and was still wearing the same clothes as the previous night.

"Where've you been? You dirty stop-out," Dylan said.

"I," Dave grinned. "Got laid."

"First night too. Unbelievable. But impressive all the same."

"Yeah, well. I'm just irresistible."

They reached the kitchen. Dylan went in to plug in the toaster, and Dave passed through into his room.

"Want some toast?" Dylan called.

"No, thanks, not yet. I need a shower and change of clothes first."

Dave left Dylan alone. He waited for it to cook then took it back to his room, where he slumped on his bed and continued to watch the dross that passed for kid's TV. He savoured his toast as if it was the last meal of a condemned man, then went for a shower. Dylan quickly washed himself and rinsed his hair. After drying off, he wrapped his towel around his waist and wandered back to his room.

As he walked along the corridor, naked from the waist up, Dylan was shocked to find middle-aged woman standing in the door of the only room on the corridor that remained unoccupied.

"Hello," she said.

"Hi." Dylan tried to hide his embarrassment at his state of undress.

"You should get to your room; you'll catch your death."

"I was just going..." He was interrupted by a call from the stairwell.

"Mom, leave him alone will you."

Dylan turned to see a blonde haired man carrying a large cardboard box. "Sorry about her, mate. She's always sticking her oar in where she shouldn't. I'm James, just moving in to this room."

He offered his hand for Dylan to shake.

"Oh right," Dylan said. "I'm Dylan, that's my room there. Your late arriving aren't you."

"Yeah." He spoke in a broad northern accent. "Two years in this place have taught me that it's best not to arrive on a Friday, the whole town just gets too packed."

"Oh right. Shame 'cause you missed a cracker last night. Look, do you need a hand; it'll only take a sec to throw some clothes on."

"No problem, mate. I should be fine, but thanks for the offer."

Dylan returned to his room, leaving James to continue moving in on his own.

Later that morning, Dylan and Dave went for a walk around the campus. They called in to the Physics building, where they expected to spend most of their time, and the Union, which looked decidedly different during the day. Most of the chatter while they were walking was mindless. It was the kind of conversation that they had both had what felt like a hundred times. When they were in the Union bar at lunchtime, with a pizza on order, the conversation turned to the previous night.

"So what happened between you and Lucy last night?" Dylan asked.

"What do you think happened?"

"See I couldn't do that, just pick up some girl and shag her. I felt guilty just snogging Andrea for Christ's sake."

"It feels a bit weird the first time, doesn't it? But it gets easier."

"So how many times have you done it? Had a one nighter?."

"A few," replied Dave.

"That's pretty vague. How many's a few?"

"I don't know. Something like seven or eight."

"Including last night?" Dylan asked.

"God, no. I can't count last night yet because I don't know if it was a one nighter or not."

"So something might come of it?"

"Probably not. She couldn't get rid of me fast enough this morning. I think she was a bit embarrassed. Still, I might get another shag if I play my cards right."

"What happened to those other girls you were tailing last night? The cute dark haired one and the blonde."

"Toni and Kerry? They might take a bit more work, but that doesn't mean I've given up on them. I'm a patient man. What about you and Andrea?"

"Nah. I'm not after a girlfriend or anything; I've already got one back home."

"And you think you can keep that going do you?" Dave asked.

"Definitely. She's a great girl, and I love her to bits. It took us long enough to get together in the first place, it'd be a shame to break up without putting the effort in."

"Well." Dave held up his glass in a toast. "Best of luck, mate. But don't get too disappointed when it all falls apart. Long distance relationships don't work."

The pizza arrived and they ate swiftly. Then they went back to the hall, and spent the rest of the afternoon watching TV in Dylan's room.

Toni and Kerry had rooms on the top floor of Davies Bryan hall. There were only two other first year students on that floor, the rest of the rooms were occupied by final year students. The four girls gathered in Toni's room after lunch to talk about the previous night.

"So what do you think of this place?" Toni asked the others.

"It's okay," said Kerry. "The Union might isn't as big as clubs back home, but it was alright."

"Yeah," said Julie. "I think I'm gonna enjoy this year; as long as they don't overload us with too much work"

"But, I was talking about the boys," Toni said.

"Not bad. But that long haired geek who was hanging around was a bit full on for me," said Stacey.

"I thought Dave was kinda sweet," said Kerry.

"I never said he wasn't. Just full on, that's all. I prefer my men a bit more timid. They're easier to manipulate that way."

"He lives down on the bottom floor doesn't he?" Julie asked.

"Yeah, there all lads down there," said Stacey. "I wonder how many I can get through."

"I think there's one girl down there," said Toni.

"Lucky bitch," said Stacey. "I think we should get to know those lads tonight; before she bags 'em all for herself."

"Well they did look the best prospect when we were in the TV room yesterday," said Kerry. "Apart from Jez, of course."

"Oh yeah, he's hot," said Stacey. "I have got to have him."

"I tell you what," said Toni. "We'll find Dave early on, and get him to introduce us."

All the DB residents crammed into the TV room later that evening, where more free beer was available. The ground floor boys, along with Joanne, Natalie and Andrea, congregated in one corner. Toni and the girls from the top floor had found some seats against the opposite wall.

No sooner had Dylan opened his first can of lager than Phil got up on a chair. "We off into town tonight, folks. It's a long walk, so bring your tinnies with you and drink 'em on the way. Jez, mate, lead the way."

Jez led everyone through Rendell hall and out of the main entrance. He led them past a cash machine, and many people took the opportunity to withdraw some money having spent more than they intended the previous night.

Phil was at the rear of the group with the ground floor boys. As they walked through the campus, he pointed out the various buildings to them. One of buildings was the Welsh speaker's hall, Pantycelen.

"Word of warning for all the Englishmen," he said. "That's the hall where the Welsh Nationalists hang out. Stay away unless you fancy having your fucking head kicked in."

"Bloody hell," said Dave. "Are they really that bad?"

"Some of 'em. Aber's the centre of the Nationalist movement. Plyd Cymru holds the parliamentary seat, and it's from research done here that the party lobbied to have Welsh added to all the road signs."

"What about English women?" Nat asked.

"Nah, you'll be alright. After all, a shag's a shag, no matter what country she's from."

The group emerged onto the main road that ran down Penglais Hill into town after passing Pantycelen. It was just under a mile, but didn't seem like that far to Dylan, probably because it was downhill. Within ten minutes, they entered the town centre.

This was the first time Dylan had been into the town apart from the lunch he had had with his parents after moving in. He was curious about every little detail. The first pub they came across was painted in the red, white and green colours of the Welsh flag. It was called Y-Cwps. Jez didn't lead the group into it. Eager to find out which pubs they would be going in, Dylan asked Phil about the plans for the night.

"How many pubs are we going in tonight?"

"Just five," Phil replied. "Starting from the Cambrian, which is opposite the train station, we're going to move on to the Central, the Glen, the Bear, and finish up in the Bay, where they've got a disco."

"They're the best pubs then?" Frank asked.

"Some people think so. There are better ones, like Rummers, down by the river, but this being a pub crawl, we wanted some kind of route. We couldn't get Rummers in without having a big walk between stops.

"The walk between the Central and the Glen is going to be a bit of a trek as it is. The Glen is right at the bottom of town. People normally start out there, then work their way back along the sea-front to the Bay. Unfortunately the only decent bar between the Glen and the Bay is the Bear. Although, that's not strictly true. The Bear is a bit shit to be honest. But it does serve Jello."

"Jello?" asked Rich.

"Jello. It's a small tub of jelly made with different spirits. Each different colour is a different flavour."

Jez took the group along Alexandra Road, one of Aber's three town centre streets that ran parallel to each other and the shore. They passed the main bus stop and train-station, with its grand Victorian station house frontage. On the opposite side of the road, nestled between houses, was The Cambrian.

'Looks a bit small doesn't it?" said Frank.

"Don't worry, it's like the fucking TARDIS; small outside but fucking massive inside," said Phil.

It was a half-timbered building, painted white in-between the dark oak beams. Inside the wooden theme continued, with exposed beams, and rustic tables. Photographs of Aber at the turn of the century hung on the wall. Dylan ordered a drink, and then joined Frank, Natalie, and Mark at a table in the corner of the room. James, who had joined the first years before a planned meeting with his own friends, also found himself a seat at the table. The conversation turned to the previous night.

"So what did I miss? Is there any gossip yet?" James asked.

"Well," began Nat. "We toured the bars on campus. Jo over there," Natalie pointed to the bar where Jo was laughing with Andrea, Rich and Andy. "She got totally pissed, and had to be carried to the Union."

"Not strictly true," Dylan said. "She just needed a slow walk there to sober her up enough to enjoy herself, that's all."

"And he got off with Andrea, even though he's got a girlfriend," Nat finished.

"You hound," said James. "I hope for your sake, she doesn't find out."

Dylan tried to defend himself. "I was pissed. It shouldn't have happened and it certainly won't happen again."

"No. It'll be someone else next time." Mark nodded towards the bar. He and Frank started laughing.

"No," Dylan said. "I mean it won't happen with anyone again. Least of all who you're thinking of. Besides, it's not like I slept with her, unlike someone I could mention."

"Who's that?" Nat asked.