The Fresher - 5. Chapter 5

Sleep eluded me. I found it impossible to switch off. I tried putting on the TV quietly for a while, thinking the background noise might help send me off to sleep. It didn’t. Trying another tack, I grabbed one of the textbooks I had bought for the first semester off my shelf – The Penguin History of Europe by J. M. Roberts – hoping that it might just be dull enough to help me drift off. That didn’t work either. If anything, I felt even more awake. Getting out of my bed, I sat at my desk and did something I hadn’t done in a long time. Pulling a blank sheet of paper out of my printer, I grabbed a pencil from my drawer and started to sketch. It had always helped me to relax in the past. Without any conscious thought whatsoever, my pencil moved across the page, reproducing the image that seemed to be burned into my mind.

I don’t know how long I sat there sketching, but the next thing I knew I was awoken by a light knock on my door, just as the sun was rising and bathing my room in golden light. I must have fallen asleep at my desk, because my head was resting on top of my folded arms when I opened my eyes. I stretched my body trying to get out all of the kinks in my neck and back as I walked to the door, and got the shock of my life when I opened it. It was Matt, in a hospital gown, looking just about as rough as I felt.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. “Matt! What the hell are you doing here? I was gonna come down to the hospital this morning to check on you. How are you? Is everything okay?”

“Hey, man. Can I come in? I know it’s early.”

“Of course, mate. Get your butt in here.”

He groaned as he lay down on my bed. “Quite a night,” he said, with a bit of wry smile.

“Don’t even joke about it, Matt. I was scared out of my mind last night. Seriously, mate, I had images of having to phone your parents to tell them what was going on. How are you feeling now?”

“Well, I’ve definitely felt better…” Seeing the look on my face, he sighed. “Okay, okay, you want the long version. Well, my vision’s still a little blurry and I’ve never felt this sick in my entire life. My head’s pounding, man. Imagine the worst hangover you’ve ever had, then multiply that by about ten. Ten thousand.”

I was incredulous. “Should you even be here?”

“Well, they’d finished giving me the fluids and said it was just a case of time before I’d start to feel normal again.” Seeing that I was about to protest, he raised his hand to stop me. “There was nothing else they were gonna do, Andy, so I didn’t see any point in hanging around and taking up one of their beds. God knows the NHS is stretched enough as it is.”

The guilt started to wash over me. “I’m so sorry about last night, Matt. If I hadn’t shown you that bloody drink, none of this would have happened.”

“Are you kidding me, Andy? It’s not your fault. I was the idiot who drank it. You didn’t make me. And I should have known better anyway. I was stupid to ignore the warning. I feel embarrassed… ashamed, even. The last thing I remember is downing that drink. I have absolutely no recollection of what happened much longer after that.”

“Well, it was Jake to the rescue.” Seeing Matt’s puzzled look, I continued, “I went off to the bar to get you some water, but after telling Jake about what was going on, he went and got some paramedics to check you over. They decided to take you down to the hospital, then me and Jake followed you down there. I don’t even know your last name, mate. I didn’t think they were going to tell me anything at the hospital.”

“Purcell.”

“What?”

He chuckled. “That’s my surname, you dolt!”

“Oh! Well, I’ll file that away for future reference – not that you’re allowed to pull anything like this ever again, Matt. I’m so glad you’re okay, mate. You have no idea.”

“Thanks, Andy. For caring… For looking out for me.” He looked misty-eyed.

“Get over here and give me a hug, you moron.”

Standing up, he came over and I wrapped him in a tight hug. After a few moments, with his head looking over my shoulder towards my desk, he must have seen the picture I’d drawn.

“Dude! You drew this?” He untangled himself from me and picked up the piece of paper.

I turned my usual shade of red. The embarrassing part was that it was a drawing of Jake’s face. “Oh crap! No one was meant to see that.”

“This is seriously good, dude! Quite the arty type, aintcha?” He grinned. “And you’ve got it bad for Jake, huh?”

Grabbing it back from him, I hid it in the top drawer of my desk. “You know what, Purcell? As good as the hospital gown look is on you, I think it’s time you got out of my face and cleaned yourself up. You stink, you know?”

He laughed. “What happened to ‘Nice Andy’?”

I grinned back at him. “Don’t push your luck, douchebag!”

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Later that morning after I’d managed to take a nap – feeling better now that I knew Matt was okay – I fired a text message off to Jake to ask him if he was still up for a meal later on. It was the day of the Clubs and Societies Fair, and Jake told me that as he was going to be there, we could make plans when we bumped into each other later on.

Matt and I headed over to the Student Union for the fair at around four in the afternoon. He was still feeling ropey, but he didn’t want to miss out on finding out about the various clubs and societies on offer. Once we got inside, we decided to split up and go our separate ways, both of us being interested in different things. After having a long chat with – and eventually joining – both the German Society and Russian Speaking Society, I stumbled across the Rugby Club, and Jake. Literally. Looking around at all the various stands and their displays, I walked headlong into him.

He smiled down at me and laughed. “I know I said we’d come up with a plan when we bumped into each other, but this is a little more literal than I imagined!”

Jake and the rest of his teammates were kitted out in the university rugby strip, and as you’d expect, looked fantastic. They all looked like they’d been poured into their kits.

“Oh my God. Sorry, Jake. What an idiot! I wasn’t looking where I was going. Talk about embarrassing!” As I stepped back and took in the view, I noticed that unlike his teammates, Jake was wearing an armband. I pointed at it. “So, you’re the team captain, huh? I should have guessed.”

He looked embarrassed and guided us away from the stand and out of earshot of his teammates. “Oh, uh, yeah. Not that the lads ever pay any attention to me when they should. How are you doing after yesterday anyway, bud?”

“I’m feeling pretty shattered, to be honest. I couldn’t get to sleep last night and ended up falling asleep at my desk. I’d still like to do something tonight though, like we planned. If you still fancy doing something, I mean?”

“I sure do. But I was thinking, I’m kinda shattered after last night too, so how do you fancy coming over to my flat tonight instead? Your mum seemed pretty keen for you to learn how to cook something other than pasta and pesto, so maybe we could rustle something up together, if you like?”

“Sounds good! I haven’t got a clue how to get around town though, but if you give me your address, I’m sure Google Maps will lead me in the right direction.”

“Tell you what. We’re going to be packing up here in the next half hour or so. How about I stop by yours when we’re done and I can drive us back to mine?

“Works for me, Jake. Looking forward to it.”

“Me too, bud. See you in a bit.”

After saying our goodbyes, I went off in search of Matt. I found him over by the Skydiving Club – the guy clearly had a death wish – and after watching him sign up and rolling my eyes at him, we made our way back to Conygre Terrace.

The knock at my door came about an hour later. When I opened the door, Jake filled the doorway, still dressed in his rugby kit.

It took me a second to get my breath back. “Come on in, Jake. I’ve just got to nip to the loo, but then I’m ready. Make yourself at home.” As I was going about my business in the bathroom, I shouted through the door. “Would you mind just grabbing my wallet for me, Jake? It’s in the top drawer of my desk…” I realised my mistake as soon as the words had left my mouth and cursed under my breath.

“Sure,” he replied.

I heard the desk drawer open, but then there was silence. It was almost deafening – a real tumbleweed moment. When I eventually mustered up the courage to step back out of the bathroom, Jake was standing with the picture I had drawn of him in his hands, staring at it intently. I couldn’t read the expression on his face.

“This is incredible,” he almost whispered, eventually breaking the silence. When he finally looked up at me, his cheeks were a shade more pink than normal.

“Oh, uh, thanks,” I said, before starting to babble. “I was just trying to get myself off to sleep last night. I haven’t drawn anything in ages, but I’ve always found it relaxing. I used to draw people all the time and I guess you must have been on my mind after everything that happened last night–”

“Well, I’m flattered,” he interjected, before surprising me. “Can I keep this?”

“S-s-s-ure,” I stammered. “If you want to, I mean. It’s really not that great though, so don’t feel you have to on my account. I won’t be offended. We should probably just bin it–”

“This definitely doesn’t belong in the bin, Andrew. And I’d be offended if that’s where you put it.”

Trying to change the subject, I blurted out, “I guess we should start making a move… unless you want to cancel, I mean.”

Jake frowned. “Why would I want to cancel?”

“Oh, uh, I don’t know. Just ignore me, Jake. I didn’t get anywhere near enough sleep last night. Come on, let’s make a move.”

<><><>

It took every ounce of my willpower not to spend the entire drive to Jake’s flat staring at his thick, solid legs and the way his muscles tensed every time he changed gear.

Pulling up outside a row of grand Georgian townhouses overlooking the rugby ground in the centre of town, Jake spoke up. “Here we are then.”

“Wow! This is incredible. How many people are you sharing with, Jake?”

“I’ve got a one-bedroom flat on the top floor here, so it’s just me actually. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to eat. How does Spag Bol sound?”

“Nice! One of my favourites! Let’s hope I don’t ruin it, for both of us. We’re probably going to end up with food poisoning if you really expect me to help though, you know?”

He laughed and smirked. “Ha! I’ll have to make sure I keep an extra close eye on you then, won’t I?”

When we reached the top floor of the building, Jake unlocked his door and held it open with one arm, inviting me to enter first with a nod of his head. Stepping inside, the place was a little messy, but I instantly liked the space. It was warm and inviting, yet undeniably masculine. It was the epitome of Jake. There was a poster of a professional rugby player on one wall, a couple of large, framed photos of iconic buildings hanging on another, and on the TV unit opposite the sofa I noticed a couple of framed photos of Jake playing rugby himself. They were fantastic action shots and captured his strength and skill beautifully. Another unit was filled to overflowing with various cups, medals and trophies. On closer inspection, I saw that many of them were from piano competitions.

“What was it you said the other night?” I did my best to mimic his deep voice. “‘I doubt I’m that good any more,’ wasn’t it?” I picked up one of the trophies in the shape of a piano and tapped the inscription with my forefinger. “Judging by the dates on some of these trophies, I think a certain Mr Wright has been telling porkies, no?” He looked really embarrassed. “I’d love to hear you play sometime, Jake.”

He chuckled nervously. “We’ll see, Andrew. We’ll see. No promises though.” He started to walk around the room picking up bits and pieces. “Sorry about the mess in here. I told you I wasn’t as tidy as you, didn’t I? I’m just going to go and get changed and then we’ll get started. I think there’s a bottle of wine open in the fridge, if you fancy it?” He pointed towards the door to the kitchen. “Kitchen’s just through there. I won’t be a sec.”

Jake disappeared into his bedroom so I headed into the kitchen. Unlike the living room, the kitchen was immaculate. I chuckled. I guess he really was a bit of a chef. Opening random cupboard doors, I eventually found the wine glasses and set them down on the work surface before making my way over to the fridge. I froze in mid-step when I saw the photo that was pinned to the door: a photo of Jake with his arm around a stunning brunette girl who was positively beaming at him, her face clearly full of adoration for Jake. I felt like I’d been winded and then realised, much to my embarrassment, that Jake was regarding me curiously from the doorway. He looked great, as always, this time barefoot in a pair of grey jogging bottoms and a sweatshirt. It didn’t seem to matter what he wore; everything looked like it had been tailor-made to his body.

“Everything okay?” he asked, slightly bemused, before walking past me and using one of the spare magnets to pin the sketch I had drawn right next to the photo of him and the girl on the fridge.

I shook my head to clear it. “Oh, uh, yeah, of course! You ever get those moments when you walk into a room and then completely forget what it is you went in there for?” I lied, trying to put on a brave face. I didn’t dare ask who the girl was, and I was determined not to show my disappointment.

“Sure,” he chuckled. “I hate that!”

He opened the fridge and poured us a glass of wine apiece. He then switched on the radio and started to get out all the ingredients we were going to need, making small talk as he did so.

“Okay. Let’s get you cutting up the veg first.” Placing a couple of onions, carrots, celery sticks, garlic cloves and sprigs of rosemary on the chopping board in front of me and handing me a knife, he looked at me expectantly.

“Like this?” I asked, doing my best to chop up one of the onions as finely as I could, just like I’d seen celebrity chefs do on TV. My mind was still reeling from the photo though, and I was just sort of hacking into it and bits of onion were flying everywhere.

Jake sniggered at my efforts. “Uh, not quite. Try holding the knife like this…” He took the knife from me, pulled the chopping board over to where he stood and demonstrated the proper way to do it.

After taking back the chopping board and knife, I tried my best to mimic his actions and failed miserably. I was beginning to get frustrated. “This is hopeless, Jake. What am I doing wrong?”

Taking a different approach, Jake put both of his arms around me from behind and guided my hands with his own. As his stomach and chest pressed gently against my back, I could feel the heat coming off of his body and began to feel light-headed.

“Like this,” he said, his mouth only a fraction of an inch from my ear. It felt like every single hair on the back of my neck was standing on end.

As we continued to chop the onion together, I found it difficult to breathe and was lucky I didn’t slice my fingers clean off. He clearly didn’t have a clue how much of an effect he had on me.

“That’s it, buddy! You’re getting it,” his deep voice rumbled through me. He then took a step back and gave my shoulder an encouraging squeeze with one of his big hands.

With all the preparations done, under Jake’s instructions I put a large saucepan on the hob and poured in a dash of oil. Cutting up small chunks of bacon into the pan, I fried them until they were golden and crisp and then added the chopped vegetables and herbs, cooking them until they had softened. Increasing the heat, I added the minced beef and cooked that until it was browned. Then came the tinned tomatoes, chopped basil, oregano, a couple of bay leaves, tomato purée, a stock cube, a finely chopped chilli, a bit of red wine and some cherry tomatoes. Stirring it all with a wooden spoon, I brought the mixture to the boil before reducing it back down to a gentle simmer and covering the pan with a lid. I cooked the spaghetti in a separate pan and then stirred it into the Bolognese sauce once it was done. Dishing up two hearty portions and sitting down at Jake’s small dining table by the window overlooking the street, he finished the plates off with some grated Parmesan cheese.

“This actually looks pretty good!” I said, feeling proud of my achievements. Despite the earlier upset, I was enjoying myself far too much to dwell on the photo.

“It tastes good too,” he replied with his mouth full of food, directing a wink at me.

“Just remember you said that when you wake up with a bad stomach in the middle of the night!” I raised my glass to his. “Cheers!”

“To new beginnings!” he added.

“Yeah, to new beginnings,” I agreed. “I know it’s really sad, but I’m actually looking forward to lectures starting next week.”

Jake smirked and paraphrased my words. “Just remember you said that when you’re sat in the library at the end of the semester, trying to finish five different essays at half three in the morning!”

I laughed. “Hey now! I’m a good student!”

He goaded me. “Yeah, yeah. That’s what they all say.”

I took the bait. “I’m a straight-A student I’ll have you know!”

“Like just about everyone else studying here then,” he quipped.

“You trying to tell me I’m not special?” I asked, faking hurt.

He grinned. “That depends what you mean by special.”

I groaned. “You’re as bad as my mum and dad, you are! Why does everyone seem to get so much pleasure out of winding me up?”

“Probably because you make it so easy. Which reminds me. What was that story your parents were starting to tell about you the other day before you shut them down?”

I avoided his eyes and feigned ignorance. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Jake.”

“Oh yes you do. It was something to do with a trip to Skegness when you were younger…” He paused as he tried to remember the few details my parents had gotten out before I realised where they were going and stopped them dead in their tracks. “Yeah, that’s right, something about an arcade game…”

“I will kill you and make it look like an accident,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Oh, come on Andrew. Don’t be a spoilsport!” He laughed.

I huffed. “Fine! But if you tell anyone else, just remember that I know where you live now, Jake.” I sighed. “Keep in mind that I was probably about six or seven when this happened, okay?” He nodded, still grinning broadly. “So, we always used to go to a holiday camp every summer during the school holidays. This one time, we went to Skegness. I think it must have been the first time we’d ever been there. I became totally obsessed with a game I found in an arcade there. I think it was called Wardner, or something like that. Every night, without fail, I would play on it for hours on end. My dad just kept on plying the machine with coins whenever I died. Which was probably a lot. But anyway, I was so damn addicted to this stupid game that…” I paused, reluctant to go on.

“What? You can’t stop there, Andrew! Tell me!”

“You promise you won’t tell another soul? You won’t ever make any references to what I’m about to tell you, however obscure you think they may be?”

He held up his three middle fingers with his thumb touching his little finger. “Scout Promise!”

“… I wet myself…” I half whispered.

He almost choked on his mouthful of wine, and when he finally managed to swallow it, he burst out in hysterics.

“And… and it happened on more than one occasion…”

He actually started to howl he was laughing so hard. I couldn’t help but join him. “Are you happy now?”

He had to wipe the tears from his eyes. “Oh, Andrew, I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard. That’s classic!”

“Yeah, well, laugh it up, douchebag.” I pointed my fork at him menacingly with one eye closed. “Just you wait till I get some dirt on you!”

After he’d calmed down, Jake started to clear away the plates from the dining table, but every now and then he’d start laughing again and shake his head, reliving my embarrassment.

A couple of hours later, having moved through to the lounge for a more comfortable place to sit and chat, Jake let out a big yawn and looked at his watch. “Crap! I didn’t realise it was that late already. We should probably think about getting you back to the uni soon, huh? I’ve got rugby training in the morning, and I’ll be helping out on the pub-crawl tomorrow night.”

“Oh, yeah, I guess so,” I replied, failing to hide my disappointment. I’d had such a great evening. Even on the rare occasions we had lapsed into silence, it had always felt comfortable. “You don’t need to give me a lift though. I can catch the bus, Jake.”

“Nah! Don’t be stupid. Let me just grab a pair of socks and my trainers.”

<><><>

As we pulled up outside Conygre Terrace in Jake’s car, I turned to face him in my seat. “Thanks for a great evening, Jake. I think I’m gonna take a quick walk around the campus or something before turning in.” I patted my stomach and chuckled. “Not sure I’m cut out for rugby player portions just yet. I think I need to walk off some of that Spag Bol. I’ll catch you tomorrow though, yeah?”

To my surprise, Jake turned off the engine. “I know just the place…”

Locking up the car, he led us off in the direction of the trees at the far western edge of the university campus. As we approached, I noticed a gate up ahead, which Jake nimbly vaulted over. Not wanting to end up flat on my face the other side, I took my time using the wooden slats to climb over the top. It might have taken a little more time, but it was far less likely to end with yet another trip to A&E, this time with a split lip and mild concussion.

As we trudged downhill at a leisurely pace through a field with only moonlight for illumination, I asked Jake to explain some of the rules of rugby – it wasn’t a sport I’d ever really watched or been into – and as he spoke enthusiastically about the game, I could understand what he’d meant by his comment yesterday about finding someone else’s passion for something infectious, even if you didn’t know anything about it yourself. Turning the discussion back to me, he asked if I was sporty at all, but as I started to tell him about being a runner on the cross-country team back at school, I was completely distracted by what appeared to be part of a castle wall in a clearing in the treeline in the distance.

I realised that we were heading directly for it and pointed at it. “Whoa! What’s that, Jake?”

“It’s called Sham Castle.” He started to become animated. “It’s what’s known as a folly, which basically means it’s a building which is constructed for decoration, but its design suggests a much more grand purpose. So what we’ve got here is a small section of castle wall with a central pointed arch flanked by two three-storey circular turrets, extending sideways to a two-storey square tower at each end. There’s not that much detail on the rear side where we are at the moment, and we can’t see it at the moment anyway because of the floodlights from the front obscuring our view, but when we get there, you’ll be able to look at it from the front and see it in all its glory. You see, anyone looking up at the front of this structure from down in town will be thinking there’s actually a much larger castle up here than there really is. It’s pretty cool!”

Once he’d finished, he appeared slightly embarrassed that he’d got so carried away. He couldn’t see the expression on my face because it was so dark, but I was smiling like an idiot, completely taken in by his enthusiasm and getting wrapped up in his excitement.

“Totally!” I exclaimed, making sure he knew I was right there with him and thought it was just as cool as he’d said it was.

Although a little eerie, when we walked through the central arch from the back and turned around to look at the façade, I was completely blown away and just stood there taking it all in for a few minutes.

Suddenly, Jake spoke up from somewhere close behind me, his deep voice reverberating through me. “Now, I know I said that Sham Castle is pretty cool, but there’s something even better to see up here. This has got to be one of my absolute favourite places.”

We made our way over to a spot just beyond the floodlights on the ground, me following in Jake’s footsteps. No longer blinded by the glare from the impossibly bright lights aimed at Sham Castle behind us, my eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. A panoramic view of the entire city of Bath opened up before us. All the lights in the town centre twinkled like stars in a night sky. It actually took my breath away, and I immediately understood why Jake would love this particular spot.

The back of Jake’s right hand brushed up against my left as he started to point out some of the most iconic sights we could see from up there: the intricate spires of Bath Abbey, the ancient Roman Baths just behind them, the majestic sweep of the Royal Crescent further up the hill in the distance. The list seemed almost endless. The intimacy of the moment had the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end again, causing me to shiver. Thinking I was cold, Jake wrapped his arm around my shoulder, hugged me tight against his side and then rubbed his hand up and down my arm.

As we were standing there in companionable silence admiring the beautiful view, a firework suddenly exploded in the sky directly in front of us. It took me completely by surprise and caused me to jump. A few more fireworks streaked into the night sky almost immediately afterwards, exploding into fantastic displays and casting the city below in vivid blues, reds and greens.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the impossibility of it all and turned my head to look up at Jake. He laughed too at first, but as he looked back down at me, his chuckle slowly died away on the breeze. He turned to face me square on and gently raised my chin up towards his face. Slowly licking his lips, he bent down towards me, closing his eyes as he did so. Holding my face in both his large hands, Jake gently brushed his soft lips against mine and I felt his tongue tentatively press against my lips, seeking out my own. I slid my hands underneath the warm material of his sweatshirt and hesitantly caressed the hard muscles of his stomach with my fingertips. Jake removed his hands from my face and slowly slid them down my back. I gasped into his mouth when they finally reached their intended target and he pulled me tight against his body. There was no doubt that he was just as turned on as I was.

Feeling emboldened, I pulled back slightly, moved my hands down towards the waistband of his jogging bottoms and delicately traced the outline of his bulge with my fingertips as we continued to kiss. My heart was practically beating out of my chest. When my fingers eventually reached the tip of his bulge all the way over by his hip, he broke the kiss and sucked air through his teeth, resting his forehead against mine as he stared deep into my eyes. I cupped as much of the length as I could in the palm of my hand and gave it a firm squeeze. He groaned before his lips attacked mine once more.

Jake gripped the back of my neck with one of his hands and I completely gave into the moment, surrendering all control over to him. It was entirely new territory for me, but I loved the way he was taking control. I not only wanted it, I needed it. And it sure felt like Jake needed it to. Pulling back once more, he fixed his intense gaze on me, his eyes glistening in the moonlight.

His voice was low and husky. “You know, I can’t believe that only a couple of days ago I was standing there in the rain in that ridiculous fluorescent jacket waiting to dish out directions, when the next thing I know, I’m looking at the cutest guy I’ve ever laid my eyes on.” I lowered my eyes, embarrassed by the compliment, but he used his finger to raise my chin back up towards him and continued: “Then, when you finally looked up at me after searching through all of those papers on your lap, I felt this spark of electricity the moment our eyes met – just like now – and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from you. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since then, Andrew.” He chuckled. “I caught some serious flak from the other helpers for bailing on them and coming to help you move in, you know? I wasn’t really meant to do that, but I just had to spend more time with you.” He shook his head and exhaled sharply. “It’s crazy. I’m actually kind of frightened by just how quickly all of this has come on. I’ve never felt like this before, about anyone.” His face suddenly clouded over. “But, uh, there’s something you really should probably know…”