nine

It was early morning and the campus was like a ghost town. The sun took an age to rise above the hills to the east, and cast long, lazy shadows. In the hall of residence affectionately known as DB, the early morning sun peeked through a break in the clouds and burst through flimsy curtains on the eastern side of the building. The unwelcome intrusion forced the occupants awake.

It was raining heavily. A gale blew in from the sea and up Penglais Hill. Dylan groaned, rolled over and pulled the bedclothes up over his head. He appreciated the breathtaking view over Cardigan Bay that he had from his window, but the wind rattled glass and made his room cold. He shivered. He had uncovered his feet when he moved the duvet and quickly tucked himself into the foetal position to keep warm.

He closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but couldn't. He got out of bed and went for a shower instead. With his hair still wet, he went into the kitchen and made some toast and a cup of tea. Then he went back to his room checked the itinerary for the day.

Lectures began on some courses, but not his. The only thing happening during the day that concerned Dylan was the Student's Union Club Showcase. This was the opportunity for the university's sports, academic and social clubs to encourage the new intake to join. Dylan looked down the list of clubs. There were a lot. He wondered how such a small university could sustain so many.

"So where is it then?" Dave asked. He, Dylan, Frank and Andy were standing in the kitchen drinking coffee.

"It's in a big marquee behind the Arts Centre," said Frank. "I saw it on my way to my lecture this morning."

"How was the first lecture?" Dylan asked.

"Boring. The doc just introduced himself and gave us a run-down of the course."

"Was he some old crusty?" Dave asked.

"No. He couldn't have been more than thirty. He seemed pretty cool."

"That was one of the things I noticed when I came on my open day," said Mark. "The lecturers all seemed really young. I mean, you come to University and expect to be find rooms full of old men who never got out into the real world. I'm not saying that they don't exist 'cause they do, I've seen a couple around, but most of them seem almost normal."

"I wouldn't go quite so far as normal," said Dave. "The guy I spoke to at my interview was only in his late twenties, maybe early thirties, but he was a little weird."

Rich, Natalie and Joanne walked in as Dave finished talking.

"Hi, folks," said Rich.

"First Lecture?" Andy asked.

"Yeah."

"How was it?"

"It was okay actually," said Natalie. "Very interesting. I'm really looking forward to my course."

"We were talking about the lecturers, what was your like?" Frank asked.

"Man! She was hot," said Rich.

"Richard!" Joanne shot him a look that would have silenced lesser men.

"I'm sorry, Jo, but it's true. She was totally hot. I tell you guys, one of the things I love about being a linguist, is that the majority of other language learners are hot women. And the better they are as a linguist, the hotter they tend to be."

"Really?" Dylan said.

Joanne and Natalie turned around and stomped away.

"Totally. And this place is no exception."

"Well they must be two talented young linguists that you walked in with," said Frank, a little louder than was necessary.

Rich glanced along the corridor. "Tough break, Frankie boy. They've already gone into Nat's room. They wouldn't have heard you."

"Are we going to this Union thing or not?" Andy asked.

"Yeah, come on, let's go," said Frank.

A huge marquee had appeared on the previously empty field behind the Arts Centre. The field was muddy from the night's storm, but the organisers had laid some planks of wood for the students to walk on from the pavement to the tent. Under the cover of the marquee, a large wooden floor covered the muddy ground. Throughout, groups of people stood behind tables representing their club. The boys walked around the tables, looking at what was available.

The layout was simple, but effective. The tables were arranged in two concentric circles. The outer circle, pushed back against the edge of the tent, was home to the sports clubs, while the inner circle, contained the academic and social clubs. The walkway between the two sets of tables was crowded with students fighting to go in opposite directions.

"You'd think they'd have made it a one way system," said Dylan.

"Nah," said Dave. "Too sensible."

"Look." Frank pointed. 'Isn't that Toni and Julie?"

"Sure is," said Dave.

Dave grinned at the girls and waved. They spotted him and waved back. It was a few minutes before they managed to get close enough to talk.

"Hey, boys," said Julie.

"Hey, yourself," Dave replied.

"Signed up for anything yet?" Toni asked.

"Not yet," answered Dylan. "We're still looking. We want to join the badminton club." Dylan indicated himself and Mark

"Really?" said Toni. "What a coincidence, Julie and I were going to do that too."

"Were we?" said Julie. "Oh yeah, I remember now. Of course we were."

"Anything else?"

"Just the usual you know. The department's academic club and aerobics."

"Aerobics!" said Dave. "That's a bit girlie, isn't it?"

"A little," said Toni. "Just don't tell Stacey, okay."

"Okay."

The boys walked off, leaving the two girls alone. Julie waited until they were out of earshot then turned to Toni.

"You could have let me know what you were gonna do beforehand."

"Sorry," said Toni. "It was a spur of the moment thing. It's okay with you, isn't it?"

"I said I'd help you get what you wanted, didn't I?"

"Yes."

"Well then. If you think this will help, then I'm with you. Just as long as you know that I'm terrible at badminton."

"Thanks, Jules. I owe you one."

"You can just pay my club membership fee."

"Sure thing."

Dylan, Frank, and the others had arrived at a table festooned with posters from various movies and television shows. The poster baring the name of the club read "Aber-SFFS".

"What's this then?" Frank asked.

A short dark blonde boy wearing dark-rimmed glasses answered him. "We are the official Aberystwyth Science Fiction and Fantasy Society."

"And what do you do?" Rich asked with a smirk.

"We gather together to watch films and TV shows of a Science Fiction nature. We have a book exchange, and we have theme nights, quizzes..."

"Yeah, Yeah. We get it. Saddo City," said Andy. "You;re not actually thinking of joining these geeks are you?"

"Nah," said Frank. "Just wondered if it was real, that's all."

"Dylan, look," said Mark. "The badminton club's over there."

"Oh yeah, I see it. Are you coming?"

"I'm there."

The two of them left. Some of the others followed, leaving Dave and Frank at the Sci-Fi table. Frank looked at Dave, who nodded back at him. They turned to the bespectacled chap behind the table and said as one, "Where do we sign?"

Dylan and Mark signed up for the badminton club and discovered that the courts were available free of charge two nights a week and Wednesday afternoons. As they walked off, Toni and Julie were adding their names to the list.

"We'll give you guys a game one night," Toni called after them.

"And you'll lose," Dylan called back.

"Are you two okay now?" Mark asked.

"It seems that way," Dylan replied.

"That's good. I'd hate to have seen you with enemies so early on."

"Thanks," said Dylan. "What about you and Stacey, Andy?"

"What about us?" Andy said.

"Are you two an item?" Mark asked.

"Don't be daft. I mean, she's a great bird an' all, but I don't exactly want to get tied down, know what I mean. After last night I'm sure she'll want some more, but as long as she realises that she will have to share with every other girl on campus."

"That's funny," said Mark. "I'm sure that she said almost exactly the same thing about you."

"When did you talk to her?"

"At breakfast this morning, before lectures."

"Hmmn! Well, I've signed up for what I wanted, I'm off. Rich and I are playing pool with those post-grads tonight. We want to get some practice in. You two wanna join us?"