It was 7:10, Katie had said be ready for 7:00 I knew there was no way she'd be here on time. It was gone 5 before we got back from the supermarket and Katie always took ages. I'd taken my time getting ready; I'd changed my clothes twice before I had finally decided to wear what I had originally put on, my favourite pair of blue jeans, a black vest top with a little black cardigan over it, it was November after all and I didn't want to catch my death. I remembered the information leaflet Katie had left on the desk, it was pretty standard stuff, the library was open 9 till 9 Monday to Friday, 9 till 5 Saturday and 10 till 4 Sunday. The pool and sports facilities opened at seven but closed at the same time as the library, presumably to encourage the students to use the amenities before class. Katie knew I had always been an early bird and I knew Katie hated mornings, it was kind of her to remember I'd need something to do in the mornings whilst she slept through till lunch.

I glanced at my watch, it was 7:15 and still no Katie, I'd give her five more minutes then I was going to the kitchen to make a start on one of the bottles of wine I'd bought from the supermarket. The plan for the evening was drinks in the kitchen with the girls for an hour or so and a bite to eat, then over the landing to the party. With a loud bang on the door Katie announced her presence. I opened the door and she was impatiently looking at her watch,

"God I've been waiting ages for you" she joked, she knew how much her tardiness infuriated me and was trying to diffuse my irritation.

"Come on everyone's in the kitchen, you'll love them I guarantee." Smiling slightly apprehensively I followed her down the passageway and into the kitchen, she was right all eight girls had assembled and as we entered the kitchen they all turned to look at me, each with a smile, with some looking more convincing than others. I noticed we all seemed to be wearing a uniform of sorts, every girl had jeans and a black top on, so much for being an individual. One of the girls, with one of the more genuine smiles on her face, handed me a glass of wine,

"Katie said the white was yours so I poured you a glass, hope you don't mind",

"No that's great, thanks". Glad to have something to do with my hands and somewhere to hide my face, if only for a couple of seconds within the glass I was eternally grateful to the girl. Katie introduced each to me, the girl who had given me the wine was called Sarah and she was from Sheffield, I'd quickly drank my first glass and returned with another for myself and one for Sarah, we chatted easily about what we were studying, musical tastes and the abundance of good looking male students. After a couple of initial curious glances the girls settled back into their conversations and their interest in me obviously waned. One of the girls took a couple of pizzas out of the oven; she sliced them and put them onto two plates, which she placed onto the table.

By the time the pizza had been demolished the alcohol was flowing freely, the more we all drunk the friendlier they seemed to become. Naomi had been talking to Katie and me for most of dinner,

"So, what do you think of us all?" she asked,

"Katie was right, she had told me you were all really nice and I have to admit you've all made me feel very welcome." I answered honestly.

"That's great, the girls can be a bit funny sometimes, a bit edgy about competition, but Katie's told us all about you, all about your moral convictions, you know."

I choked on my wine, coughing and spluttering all over Katie and Naomi, "What! Katie what have you been saying about me?" I spat furiously.

"Nothing but the truth, I told them how terrific you are, how great...", but I cut her off I didn't want to hear her flannel I just needed to know exactly what she'd told them about me,

"Katie, the truth, what have you said?", still stumbling over her words I turned to Naomi, "what's she been saying about me?"

"She just said you don't put out, that's all" she said matter of factly.

"Oh that's all" I said sarcastically to Naomi, although I didn't take my glare off Katie, "Anything else, I'm a bit afraid to ask" I replied,

"No really, she's been telling us how great you are and how much we'll all love you, she was saying how everyone loves you, and it was just that a couple of the girls got a bit worried if you were as great as she said you were then their boyfriends would think you were great too, so she told us not to worry as you'd never do anything like that and you certainly would not jump into bed with one of them, I don't think she meant to upset you and she wasn't really talking about you behind your back she just wanted to explain how great you were, that's all, really." Although still livid I controlled myself, there was nothing I could do, I couldn't un-tell them and I didn't want to let them know I was upset by Katie's perfidy.

"Hmmm, well it's not a state secret or anything it just doesn't normally come up within the first hour of meeting people that's all."

Katie smiled nervously "so we're ok, still friends?" I half smiled back at her and shrugged "see I told you she was great" she beamed.

We finished our drinks and got our things together for the party. I grabbed another bottle of wine out the fridge and the bottle of vodka I'd specifically bought for the party. If the last hour had been anything to go by this was going to be a very long night.

The rest of the girls had already gone into the party but we were a couple of minutes behind them as Katie had just popped back into her room to check her make-up. The front door was open and I could hear an Irish lilt calling to Katie to get a move on,

"That's James" Katie whispered.

"At last, thought I'd be holding this door all night" he said, as she walked through the door Katie pecked him on the cheek,

"Now be nice James, I've led Alex to believe you're wonderful don't ruin the illusion before she even gets through the door." She headed down the corridor and into one of the open doors. Still at the door I smiled up at him with the bottle of vodka in my outstretched hand like a sacrificial offering, he smiled back and I immediately thought Katie's description had not done him justice.

"So, this is the great Alex, charmed to meet you" he said with a flourish, spying the vodka in my hand he flung his arm around my shoulder, "Ooh, Katie was right about you", and he relieved me of the bottle and marshalled me into the kitchen.

"Lads" he proclaimed, and half a dozen of his room-mates turned to look at us, "I'd like to introduce you to my future wife", clearly I'd been right this was going to be a very, very long night, I was contemplating opening the wine I still had in my other hand and start drinking it straight from the bottle, when Sarah again came to my rescue and handed me a glass,

"looks like you could do with this" she sighed sympathetically, again I owed this girl a debt of gratitude, and for the second time in an hour I was glad I'd bought six bottles of wine instead of the two I had originally planned on, how foolish I'd been to think they would last me all weekend I'd be lucky if they lasted me the night, I had the third in my hand and after I'd given Sarah her pay off glass I'd be going back for the forth. Students get a bad reputation I mused for being alcoholic layabouts but now I realised they just need to stay 'beered up' to cope with one another.

My university experiences and theirs were worlds apart; I went to lectures, studied in the resource centre, went for the odd drink with a friend or two and then went home. Using Katie as my example, she went to the odd lecture or two, never visited the library and got drunk the whole time, I'm not sure who really got the point of university and who was the one missing out.

"Looks like someone's made a friend", came a familiar voice from within the group of lads making up James' audience, the voice belonged to Daniel and unlike the other boys he hadn't turned to look at us.

"Listen lads, only a fool would let a woman bearing vodka slip out of his hands", and he held up the bottle like a trophy.

"So are you going to introduce us then to your future wife?" the voice belonged to a broad shouldered hulk, he stood up amidst the group of boys and held out his hand to take mine, lifting it to his mouth he kissed it gently. The stark contrast between his appearance and his demeanour caught me by surprise; I turned to James for our introductions.

"Oh Chris, this is Alex, your Katie's friend ",

"Really?" came his, somewhat startled reply, I was temporarily wrong footed by his reaction, and I suddenly noticed the others in the group had turned their attention to me, I could feel my face flushing with self-consciousness. "So you're the super great Alex", Chris looked again at me with more intensity.

"If I hear how great I am one more time I'm going to knock someone out" I hissed, the guffaws from the spectators I thought were a little insulting. "James", I turned back to him "why is everyone looking at me like I've got two heads?"

"You're not what we were expecting that's all" I recognised Mark's voice, he held out my bottle of wine and motioned for me to lift my glass so he could refill it, I hadn't even noticed I'd drank three-quarters of the glass, I was beginning to worry I was developing a drinking problem when I remembered what Mark had said,

"Why what were you expecting, what did Katie tell you about me?" and for the second time in less than an hour I dreaded the reply.

"It's more, she only gave us half the story and that's what's led to the confusion?" I recognised Daniel's voice, unlike the rest of the room-mates he'd remained seated at the fully extended table, having already met me his tone indicated he found the conversation at best a little dull. "You don't know what I mean do you?" he countered I shook my head and he continued,

"Lads, in the eight or nine times Katie told you her friend was coming down this weekend how did she describe her?" A tall, skinny youth responded first, laughing as he did so,

"She said you were great, and you were clever",

"No super clever", another interjected, and then the first continued

"And nice, and funny, and lovely and great, oh yeah she told us you were the best friend anyone could have", he said in a mock pre-teenage girl voice, I was cringing into James.

"However", Daniel added, "when asked what you looked like I think her actual words were 'you know she looks normal', average height and weight, that was it." Another voice, belonging to a short burly boy, who was looking at me behind thick unkempt curly golden hair joined in,

"You look more than alright to me, I mean I'd shag you, I don't know what she was on about",

"Well thanks for that, erm glowing recommendation" was all I could reply. I could see the amusement on Daniel's face out the corner of my eye. Before I had even realised Mark was pouring the last of the wine into my glass.

Chris, was suddenly standing right in front of me, his huge build and frame, like a man mountain, a ginger man mountain, I'd just realised, in front of me,

"Yeah at no point during any of our conversations about you did she mention those", his hands were just in front of him making grabbing motions and his eyes were fixed firmly on my chest. James drew me into him and shot Chris a warning glare,

"Enough! That's my fiancé you're ogling". I had decided Chris was a knob-head, and there was no way I was letting him get away with that, I'd dealt with idiots like him all the time in the pub who thought you were a piece of meat they could just grope and use alcohol as an excuse for bad behaviour. I stepped away from James and into Chris, I beckoned him to lean down so I could reach his ear, I put one hand on his waist and the other cupped his face, and I whispered,

"I don't think Katie would be too pleased to know her boyfriends just tried to touch up her best friend do you? And her parents certainly wouldn't want their daughter shacking up with a sexist prick, who needs to belittle women in public to augment his delicate ego". Then stepping a few inches back and raising my voice so they could all hear me, "And Chris, just so we both know where we stand, if you ever touch me without my permission I promise, I will cut your testicles off whilst you sleep", then I kissed him gently on the cheek, took my glass of wine off James and walked out of the kitchen. I could hear male voices jeering in my wake and smiled to myself.

James was rushing out the kitchen after me, grabbing me by the hand he pulled me into the room next to the kitchen. Closing the door behind us he ushered me to sit next to him on the bed.

"Are you ok? Chris got a bit out of hand" he was still holding my hand, not in a romantic way more like a social worker or counsellor, I could see the concern on his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks for before", I looked at him then and not just a cursory glance, I noticed his blond hair was a couple of shades lighter than his eyebrows, which framed his clear blue eyes. I noticed his petite button nose and his full lips which stretched wide over his perfect, white smile. Then I noticed his crisply ironed navy blue shirt, complimenting his eye colouring, making them appear almost translucent. Everything about him was clean and fresh.

"You're quite tough aren't you, Katie didn't tell us that about you either." James nudged me. "I don't know what you said to Chris but his face was a picture, and threatening to cut off his testicles was the funniest thing I've heard since being here, think some of the lads will give you a wide berth though just out of sheer fear." He laughed.

"What, I don't scare you?" I joked; he put his arm round me and squeezed my shoulder,

"No, I think you and I will get on like a house on fire." We sat there for a while as he talked about his family and how much he missed them, then about the teaching degree he was doing and what it was like living here, with this lot. The more I chatted with James the more I liked him, my heart wasn't beating faster and harder and all that kind of thing I realised I just actually liked him, as a person, there was no attraction at all it wasn't like that. With his arm round my shoulder James reminded me of my older brother, looking out for me making sure I was ok, James was right we could be friends, good friends I felt relaxed and comfortable around him, which was a first for Wrexham.

"What you thinking about?" he asked,

"I just thinking how much you remind me of my eldest brother, Stuart, I have three brothers", I continued, "Stuart is seven years older than me and then there's the twins, Matt and Dominick, they're two years older than me. Growing up the twins were inseparable so whenever they decided to gang up on me Stuart would step in and protect me, he's still like that even now, although I've learned to fight my own battles it's still nice to know you've always got someone in your corner", he smiled at me then kissed my forehead,

"I'll take the comparison as a massive compliment then."

James still held the vodka in his hand and as if suddenly remembering it

"Do you want another drink" he nodded towards my again empty glass,

"Yeah, that'd be great, I just need to pop back across the landing and get another bottle out the fridge", and I moved to get up, putting his hand on my shoulder

"No it's fine I'll get it, you stay here I'll only be a minute". He left the door open and I could hear loud music thumping in the background, looking round the room and taking in my surroundings for the first time I noticed how tidy it was, there was not a single thing out of place, the books on the desk were stacked neatly as were the CD's and DVD's, I knew if I looked in the bathroom everything would be lined up with the labels facing the right way, I half smiled to myself.

Well this is cosy" came a voice from the door, I looked up to see it was Daniel, stepping across the room and sitting down in the desk chair, "You and James, I mean".

"Yeah James is great", I said sincerely, Daniel looked at me with raised eyebrows as if insinuating something, I was shocked,

"No it's nothing like that we were just talking, I don't think I'm really his type", and there it was, I'd realised without really consciously thinking about, James was gay, of course he was, it was so obvious.

"Hmmm, I think you're probably right about that." I involuntarily shot Daniel a quick look, I had hoped he hadn't seen it as I had the feeling James was still firmly in the closet with the doors closed and locked, after all Katie had painted him as my love match for the weekend. "What was the look for", clearly he'd noticed,

"What look?" I said unconvincingly, he opened his mouth to speak just as James came back into the room. He handed me the glass,

"Oh sorry Dan, do you want your room back? We were just chatting",

"She said, no you're fine in here I was just passing and noticed her sat on her own so I thought I'd check she was alright", Daniel never once looked in my direction as he spoke.

"I thought you'd been introduced, Dan this is Alex, Alex this is Dan", with his hands moving backwards and forwards between the two of us.

"We have been introduced, guess he just forgot" I said slightly curtly. Completely ignoring my comment Daniel added

"So what have you two been up to in here then?"

"As is I said", James defended quickly, "We've just been having a chat, I thought Alex would probably like to get out of the kitchen and away from Chris, he was out of order before".

"She handled herself alright, I don't think you need to worry" came his reply.

"I've just seen him in the kitchen, the others are still taking the piss out of him, don't think he's much of a fan of yours somehow" James chuckled.

"Yeah, think that probably applies to most of them, not sure I made a very good first impression", I mused.

With a somewhat derisorily snort "Oh I don't know, you've got James and Mark eating out of your hand" Daniel countered. At some point I'd obviously pissed him off, I wracked by brains trying to remember but nothing came to mind.

"Erm Daniel", James asked, "What's that about?" I was relieved to see he was as baffled as I was.

"What? I was just saying that's all" said Daniel nonchalantly.

"You were just saying what? What's with you?" James voice had risen slightly and reminded me so much of my brother's, I noticed Daniel's shoulders relax a little as he said

"Sorry you're right, I didn't mean anything, it just came out wrong, that's all", he again spoke to James, who looked between the two of us in an attempt to work out what was going on.

For the next twenty minutes or so Daniel stayed in the room with us, mainly talking to James about nothing in particular whilst I polished off yet another glass of wine, noticing the empty glass James stood and reached for the glass,

"With the way she drinks it'd be better to just bring the bottle" Daniel said looking directly at me hoping for a reaction,

"He's probably right, at this rate you'll be exhausted by the end of the night", unexpectedly Daniel let out a short laugh, with an unintentional look of surprise on my face a quickly glanced at him.

"What? It was funny" and he laughed again, this time I could see the humour in his face, James was smiling too,

"Well this is much better, Dan do you want another?" with Daniel's nod James retreated to the fridge. As soon as James was gone Daniel closed the door and moved to sit very close to me and lowered his voice

"Don't say anything about James, the other's don't know, please".

"I figured that out for myself, and of course I wouldn't say anything what do you take me for" I said with a little more venom in my voice than I'd intended, readjusting my tone to match Daniel's asked "How can they not know, I could tell after ten minutes?"

Shaking his head "I don't know, but I don't think he's ready to admit it to himself yet, never mind a bunch of chauvinistic rugby players".

"I promise I won't say anything, but I've already told him he reminds me of my older brother, my gay older brother", incredulously he asked

"Did you tell him that?"

"Yes, well I told him he reminded me of my brother I left out the gay bit but I'm sure it'll be mentioned by Katie in conversation as she doesn't seem to have left anything else out. Perhaps he won't put two and two together" not sure if I was trying to reassure myself or him.

"Perhaps you're right, anyway we can't do anything about that now" I wasn't sure if he knew he'd said the last bit out loud. "Oh and about before, I'm sorry I was out of order, it was just I hadn't expected you to suss James out and you threw me a bit" he said quietly.

"It's ok, I swear I won't say anything", I looked him straight in the eye so he knew I was being sincere, maintaining our stare he answered,

"I know, I believe you".

We heard the fumble of the door handle and as James walked in we sprang apart, James looked at us with amusement clearly written across his face, and the three of us burst out laughing,

"So, I take it there's been a cease fire then" James said with a knowing look.

"As soon as you were out the room she dived on me, what can I say I'm irresistible", although he was only joking I had a feeling this was going to be the version of events relayed to the rest of the dorm.

"Yeah that's exactly what happened, you need to at least make up a story which has a chance of being real" I sighed dramatically, "James, Daniel was just telling me how great you were and threatened to severely beat me if I treated you badly, that's all".

"Oh well that's alright then" James beamed and Daniel gave me a grateful smile.

For the next couple of hours I shadowed either James or Katie as we meandered through the kitchen or the four or five rooms which had been left open by their inhabitants. As well as the residents of the five dorms in this house there were also fifteen or so other kids from next door who had heard the commotion and gate crashed, everyone seemed to be having a good time. As the evening progressed and the party goers got drunker and drunker I noticed many of the girls I had met earlier that night were starting to take it in turns to take me under their wings, each pointed out available suitors and each girl introduced me to their boyfriend. By about the third girl I noticed a pattern, I was introduced as not only Katie's friend but their friend also, each girl touched her boyfriend, a lot, when introducing me to them and not one of them called them by their actual name, it was all 'this is my boyfriend, oh, come and meet my boyfriend', remembering what Naomi had said earlier about the girls liking me I questioned whether what she actually meant to say was they wanted me to like them, as all girls know the rules regarding mates boyfriends.

Interspersed with these guided tours was the odd comment from some of the more leery males at the party, usually these comments included either or both of the words shag and desperate, usually with me responding using the sentence, 'I'm not that desperate'.

After my initial, manic thirst at the start of the evening I'd only had a couple of glasses of wine in more than three hours and with my glass empty I headed back to the girls dorm for another bottle, it was after midnight and the party still had hours ahead of it. The door to the girl's dorm was wide open and I strolled into the kitchen with my head full of names and faces, knowing I'd never be able to put the matching pair together.

"Hiya, Alex", the voice took me by surprise and I let out a shrill cry,

"Oh my God Daniel, you've just frightened the life out of me, I didn't think anyone was in here. What are you doing here anyway?" I puzzled.

"I just wanted a bit of peace and quiet, that's all, What about you, come for some more wine?" he guessed.

"You know me so well" I giggled, "Sorry if I've disturbed you, I'll just get the bottle and go".

"No it's alright, take a seat, I didn't say I wanted to be on my own, I just wanted to be able to hear myself think, if you know what I mean." As I brought the bottle back to the table I picked a glass off the draining board. I poured the two glasses and slid one over to Daniel.

"I can't sit drinking by myself, I'd feel like a lush", laughing he took the glass.

"So have you enjoyed the party?" he asked conversationally.

"Yeah, it was a bit ropey to start with, but after a few glasses of wine it improved", I tilted my head in the direction of the bottle.

"Don't be so hard on Chris, it was Katie's fault, you know" pausing for my reaction before continuing, "She'd given us an impression of you as 'plain Jane, super brain', and although she'd never actually said it, she'd implied you were a bit of a doormat. Obviously she was wrong, something Chris found out to his peril within two minutes of meeting you." He was again laughing, I liked it when he laughed, his whole face lit up, it was as if his good humour was contagious.

"So should I take it then that it's also Katie's fault that several, charitable gentlemen have offered to take one for the team as one of them put it?" Daniel's gulp of wine exploded from his mouth, luckily he'd turned his head as being drenched in a mixture of saliva and wine would just add insult to injury I felt. He was laughing again; a proper belly laugh and I found myself laughing at him laughing. Finally, he pulled himself together

"Well, I bet you feel really special, and yes that's also Katie's fault, so she's your best friend you say?"

"Think I may change that to past tense, she was my best friend" I joked. I took another mouthful of wine and noticed he was staring at me, feeling a little uncomfortable "What? Why are you staring at me?"

"I'm just trying to work you out, you seem great, there's that word again, so why haven't you got a boyfriend? From what I've heard you've had several offers tonight and yet here you are sat with me." I could see him thinking it through,

"Perhaps you're approaching this from the wrong angle" I suggested, "You think I haven't got a boyfriend through lack of choice, but you've never considered the possibility of me not having a boyfriend out of choice, and I'm starting to get a little offended by everyone's assumption that there isn't a single man on earth who'd want to go out with me." I said sulkily.

"Stop pouting, it really doesn't suit you" he said chastisingly, "And that's not what I said, you haven't answered my question".

"Ok, I don't know anyone who I want to go out with and I don't see the point in filling in time with just anyone, cause while you're wasting your time with someone who isn't right for you, your perfect match could slip through your fingers and you'd never even know." I answered honestly.

"So you think there is one ideal person out there for everyone, a soul-mate?" he pushed,

"Well yeah, don't you? Surely you must feel that way about your girlfriend." I argued.

"I think that's a naive way to look at things, how will you ever know if you've met the right one if you don't give anyone a chance?" he countered.

"You're misunderstanding what I'm saying, or I'm not making myself clear. When I meet someone who I want to get to know better and who wants to get to know me better then I will go out with them, during that time I will be working out if they are the right match for me, and I'm sure they'll be doing the same thing. Once you know they're not the right one you should move on, free yourself up for when someone else comes along. There are so many people who don't even like their boyfriend or girlfriend but they don't like the idea of change more, I have just never been one of those people." I sounded like I was preaching and felt my face warm,

"So what you're saying is, actually what are you saying?" he asked.

"Oh I don't know, it makes perfect sense in my head, and that's how I live my life, perhaps I need to read the fine print before I try to sell it to the masses" I shrugged. He was smiling at me again, I warm friendly smile that touched his eyes.

"You're a strange one, that's for sure" he reflected. "Where's your girlie, romantic take on love, you make it sound almost mechanical, someone needs to have a word with your mum and tell her ", I didn't hear the rest of what he said

"What?" certain I'd misheard him,

"I said someone needs to have a word with your mum and tell her she needs to tie you down and make you sit through hours of slushy romance films or something." I felt like I couldn't breathe, it had been so long since I'd had a real conversation with someone who didn't know about my mum I didn't know what to do, should I laugh, cry, what? I just didn't know. Daniel obviously had no idea, I couldn't believe Katie had told them all about every detail of my life and left the most important, defining event to ever happen to me.

"Earth calling Alex, come in Alex", I woke from my stupor, "Alex, are you ok? Did I say something wrong? What's up?" I could hear the concern in his voice, and I wondered how I looked, from the sound of his unease it was probably somewhere between crap and awful.

"Oh yeah I'm fine, it's just been a really long day, I think I might head off to bed, I'm tired" I lied.

"Why don't we just finish the bottle first" he held the bottle up and I nodded my agreement, as he poured I noticed him glancing at me,

"So what are you doing here?" I knew it was a lame conversation choice but it was the first thing I could think of. His smile had returned to his face,

"You mean apart from drinking all your wine I take it. I'm doing an Engineering degree", I pulled my face, "What does that mean?" confused by my expression,

"You must be very clever, far too much physics and mechanics, it's a bit beyond me".

"Really, I thought you were a genius, you're doing a maths degree aren't you? I'm sure Katie told us you got A's in maths and sciences at A-Level, are you sure you're not just being modest?" He teased.

"No, I'm not, I hate physics and dropped it after GCSE, I did maths and the other sciences at A-level but no, forces, energy and trajectories not really my thing, even in maths we did pure and stats, so my physics is poor" I confessed.

"Didn't you do something like eight A-Levels?"

"No, now you're just making things up, I did five and one of them was General Studies" he looked blankly at me, "What you didn't do General Studies?" he shook his head, "Oh my god, it's the easiest subject ever, basically in the exam you have to write a couple of essays on topics of interest, we didn't even go to classes, a month before the exam our tutor gave us handouts every morning to read during registration, Katie only made it to registration six times during the entire year and even she got a B, I thought everyone did General Studies. I also did Spanish, I have family in Seville and I stay with them for at least a month every summer, but that's it, not eight at all. So how's your course going so far?" I asked, genuinely interested.

"Yeah, it's fine, what I expected really, I like all the physics stuff it's the maths I sometimes find difficult, perhaps I should make the most of you being here and get you to do my calculations." Not sure if he was serious or not.

"So this is where you two got to, not disturbing anything am I?" James asked mischievously, before Daniel could accuse me of stalking him I jumped in,

"Actually yes, Daniel was just about to offer to help me with my course, that's right isn't it?" Daniel shrugged,

"Yeah sure, I'll help you and you can do my assignments for me" he said grinning.

"Doesn't anyone want my help?" James asked sulkily,

No" Daniel answered quickly, James expression made me giggle,

"You're supposed to be on my side" my chided me, changing the subject "So what are your plans for tomorrow?" he asked,

"Well, I'm going shopping with Katie around lunchtime, but before that I don't know, I might go for a swim and I've got some work to do".

"Oh right, so what time you going swimming then?", he enquired,

"Hmmm I don't know probably quite early, why? Do you want to come with me?"

"No, I'm not a fan of early, and you'll need a student card off one of the girls or they won't let you in. So what you going shopping for?" he asked.

"Well apparently my clothes are too conservative, so we're going for me a new dress for tomorrow night".

"That sound's fun" Daniel interrupted sarcastically,

"No actually it'll be alright, it's like a game, Katie picks up something awful, it's usually black with some degree of lycra in it, she then tries to persuade me it'd suit me, this goes on for several minutes, I then convince her it's more her style, she tries it on, loves it, buys it and I get to wear one of the two dresses I have hanging up in my wardrobe, everyone's a winner", I finished giggling.

"So is Katie going swimming with you?" Daniel cut in,

"I very much doubt it, she's clearly of the same mind as James when it comes to mornings" I replied.

"So you're just going to go on your own?" Daniel looked at me with incredulity,

"I'm going to swim, it's hardly a team sport, I don't need anyone to go with me, I'll swim a few lengths and get out."

"Besides "James countered, "You go running by yourself all the time, it's the same thing".

"Yeah buts that's because no one will go with me, I'd happily run with other's".

"And I'd happily swim with other's but they're hardly queuing up, unless of course you're offering", I added.

"No, I'm not a swimmer".

"Well that settles it then I'm going on my own". Daniel was clearly still unhappy about the situation. Sarah and another girl whose name I couldn't remember stumbled into the kitchen, I could see confusion clouding their faces, they couldn't quite understand why we three were sat in their kitchen, clarity slowly dawning over Sarah's face,

"Oh hiya Alex, I thought you'd gone to bed, you alright? Good night wasn't it", she stated.

"Erm Sarah, Alex wants to go swimming in the morning can she lend your student card" James asked.

"Yeah sure if she wants, but Anna's is in the drawer, you can keep hold of that all weekend, you'll be able to use it to get into the library and student union", she took the card out and handed it to me.

"Thanks, that's great, see you in the morning", I said appreciatively to the back of the girls heads as they headed for their rooms.

"Well, I'm going to love you and leave you as well", James said,

"Hang on a minute I'm coming too" Daniel downed the last of his wine and followed James out the kitchen, turning to face me just as he reached the door, "I'll knock at 7:30 in the morning and take you to the sports hall, good night", I nodded after him