four

Rosser Hall was the most luxurious and most expensive of the halls of residence on campus. The university had built it to cater for the corporate clients that hired the conference facilities during the summer. The bar was designed to fit in with this corporate world.

"We call it the airport lounge," Phil told Dylan and his friends as they entered.

That was a fitting description. Large comfortable chairs surrounded low tables. At regular intervals around the room, portable televisions were tuned to MTV or Sky Sports. And the place was as dead as a Travelodge on Christmas Eve. It was completely empty. It was after nine and it was unheard of to see a student bar this empty at that time of night; but Rosser was.

Andy and Rich made straight for the pool table in the corner of the room. Dylan went to the bar with Mark and Andrea. Mark brought Andrea a drink, and by the time the lone barman had dealt with the order, the rest of the hall had arrived. Dylan got his order in quickly. As the barman turned away, Dylan felt a finger jabbing in his side.

"You ran off and left me you bastard," said Jo. "I bought you a drink, and you didn't even stick around to say thanks."

"Sorry." Dylan was taken aback at how forward Jo was being. "Can I buy you one now to make up for it?"

"Thanks, I'll have a Bacardi and Coke."

He told the barman to get the drink. Jo added, "make it double will you. He owes me."

"God. Remind me to never really upset you."

"Well, I suppose it's not your fault, but I might as well blame someone."

"What are you babbling about woman?"

"As soon as you were out of the way, that letch of a friend of yours started hitting on me."

"Who?"

"That long-hair woosie over there." She nodded in the direction of the jukebox by the entrance.

"What, Dave? He's harmless." Dylan hoped it was true.

"Yeah, well. Leave me alone with him again, and I'll rip your nipples off."

"Jo!"

"Sorry. But I know that I can trust you," Jo said.

"How d'you know you can trust me?"

"Well, you've got a girlfriend, and I know you wouldn't want to cheat on her would you? And so I can count on you to keep me from being a naughty girl in the club tonight."

Dave was busy chatting up on of the girls that the boys had met earlier in the evening on their way down to the TV room. He had moved in on her after Jo had deserted him on the way to Rosser. Like a predator, he had separated his pray from the girls that she was with. Now he had her alone at the jukebox, selecting tracks.

"Two left. What else should we put on, Toni."

"Erm, I don't know. You choose this one." Toni glanced across the room to her new friends. She signalled to them behind Dave's back to come and rescue her.

One of them took the hint.

"Oh, Dave, have you met Kerry? She's in the room next to mine."

Dave nodded at the new girl. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," said Kerry.

"Would you like to pick a song? Only one credit left."

"Thanks, Dave." Kerry looked at the list of songs and quickly decided.

"Good choice," Dave said.

While Dave's attention was on Kerry, Toni nodded in the direction of the other girls.

"Toni, I've got you a drink over here," Kerry said.

"Thanks. Better go and get it then. See you later, Dave."

"Yeah, see you later," Kerry added.

"Sure."

The two girls walked away. "Thanks, Kerry. You saved me there. He was coming on really strong. I mean, could you even imagine?" Toni shuddered.

"Oh, I don't know," said Kerry. "I thought he was cute."

"Shall we grab a seat? There's plenty of space," Dylan suggested to Jo.

"Hmm. The chairs look really comfy too."

They sat by a window, which Dylan opened. With Jo in the state she was, he was afraid that she might fall asleep in the inviting chairs.

"Why have you opened that for?" Dylan noticed that she was struggling with grammatical accuracy.

"Let a little air in, I'm feeling a bit hot."

"Good Idea. I'm a little warm as well."

"How many have you had Jo?"

"Oh, I don't know." Her voice trailed off as she tried to remember. "There was the all wine in the hall; that was nice. Then I had some cider at the village, oh and an Archers. Then two lagers at Cwrt Mawr, and a Vodka ... and this!" She finished off the drink Dylan had brought her. "Want another?"

"Maybe you should have it without the Bacardi this time? You don't want to pass out before you get to the Union do you?"

"I'm fine!" she insisted. She tried to stand up. "I just need a little air, that's all."

"Just wait there. I'll get the others, and we'll head off."

Dylan sought out Jez and asked him the quickest way to the Union. Then he found Natalie, Andrea, Lucy, and the boys and told them that he was taking Jo for a slow walk to try to sober her up. He told them that he would meet them there, and save them a place in the queue. Andy and Rich bade Dylan farewell. Frank, Mark, and the girls said that if he hung on for a moment and let them finish their drinks, that they would go with him, instead of meeting him later.

Dylan went back to get Joanne. She was starting to fall asleep in the chair. He helped her to her feet, and then guided her outside. The October breeze was strikingly cold. The two of them huddled close to keep warm while they waited for the others. Dylan stared up at the sky again.

"You looking at the Milky Way again?"

"No. There's too much light around here to see it."

"So what you looking at then?"

"Well, you see those three stars in a row there?" Dylan pointed to Orion's belt. "If you look at these around it, you can make out a shape like a man pulling back on a bow and arrow."

"Where?"

"You have to use your imagination a bit before you can really see it."

"Oh yeah, I got it."

"Well that's Orion, the Huntsman. Hundreds of years ago, they used to believe that when they could see Orion in the sky, the hunt would be successful. If he was obscured by clouds, they wouldn't bother to hunt because they didn't believe that they would catch anything."

"Does that mean that we will find food tonight?"

"Probably. There's a pizza bar in the Union isn't there?"

"So it works then? Excellent. I'm sorry for being short with you earlier."

"That's O.K. I deserved it."

"No, you idiot. Not just now. You definitely deserved that. I meant on the way to Cwrt Mawr. I normally love looking at the sky, it's quite awe inspiring, but the way you were going on, you sounded like Patrick Moore or something. I thought; please don't let this guy be boring like all the morons who did Physics at college. But you're not are you? You're really sweet; looking after me like this. I nearly fell asleep in there you know. If you hadn't have brought me out here, I would have missed the party. Then I would have been upset. And embarrassed. I mean, only piss-heads fall asleep in pubs. Thanks, Dylan." She kissed him tenderly on the cheek.

The others came out of the bar to find Dylan holding Jo tightly in his arms, and pointing out various stars to her.

"Oh," said Nat. "What's going on here then?"

"Nothing," said Jo. "It's just cold that's all. Dylan was keeping me warm."

"Damn," said Frank. "I knew I should have brought you out here."

Everyone giggled, and Dylan let Jo go. The group walked slowly towards the Union. Mark seemed to know where he was going, and he led the way. There was a queue when they got to the Union, which they joined the end of and waited their turn.

Back inside the bar, Rich and Andy were still playing pool. The bar was becoming increasingly empty. Phil came over to them when they were just about the only ones left in the bar.

"Don't you guys have tickets to the Union?"

"No." said Rich.

"Well, Chris and I are going back to Cwrt Mawr. You're welcome to join us."

"Thanks for the offer," said Andy. "But I think we're gonna stay here. This place is so empty we can have the table all to ourselves."

"You know, that's a good point. Hey, Chris, these two are staying here to play pool. Doesn't look like there will be anybody else after the table. Fancy it?"

"Yeah, why not."

"You don't mind do you?" Phil asked Andy.

"Course not. It'll be great to have a bit more company."

The Union foyer was drab and dingy. To the left of the entrance was a small branch of Midland Bank, and directly in front of it were three sets of stairs. On the far right side the steps led up to the main dance hall, from which came the pulsating lights and roaring sounds of a DJ warming up. The centre set of stairs led downwards, to the cloakroom, toilets and Union offices. On the left was another set of stairs up to the dance hall, with a separate bar off to the left at the top. The girls decided en-mass that they needed to go to the toilet. Frank and Mark headed for the bar.

"I owe you a drink," Mark said to Dylan. "I get you a real beer shall I, make up for that sissy rubbish you've been drinking."

"Okay. I'm gonna go piss. I'll meet you in the bar."

On his way back from the bathroom, Dylan stumbled across Dave. He was with girls Dylan had seen him with earlier.

"Dylan, mate. This is Toni, Kerry, Julie and Stacey."

"Nice to meet you," Dylan said to the girls.

The slim black-haired girl, who Dave had introduced as Toni, smiled at Dylan. "Hi."

"Are you going to the bar, Dylan? I'll come with. See you girls later, okay?"

Dyaln and Dave left the girls and forced their way through the crowded foyer.