In Halls

Opening Night

The music was cheesy, self-consciously cheesy in a way that said that the Student Union was trying hard to be uncool in a cool way. It was heavily reminiscent of school discos, except that no school disco that I had ever seen had been as loud and crowded as the Union building was. That was somewhat of a relief to me, as it meant I didn't have to worry too much about whether I was supposed to think the music was cool.

Banners and electric signs pronounced that we were welcomed to Freshers Opening Night as we pressed through into the main club area, holding onto wrists to avoid getting separated as a flat. As soon as she found a few square inches of space, Tara pulled us into a circle and began dancing.

I had to admire her confidence. She didn't stop to assess the dancing style of everyone else in the club. She just flung herself into it, swinging hips, boobs, tassels and arms in a waving motion. The guys were checking her out, of course. Which was probably her aim.

Elizabeth's dancing matched the music, cheesy as a Dad at a wedding, accompanied by singing along at the top of her voice. It seemed like she'd really bounced back. She'd vomited into the kitchen bin after being forced to drink the King's cup in Ring of Fire, causing loud jeering, and I thought that she might have opted out for the night. But apparently that's not what students do. Instead Christopher had created a "Chunder Chart" on a piece of scrap paper and put a big tally next to Elizabeth's name, and Tara had persuaded her to come out with us.

Since Tara's dancing was way out of my league, I went for an Elizabeth approach, matching my moves to remembered lines in the lyrics. It was... fun. Tara pulled out her phone from time to time, snapping us or filming tiny clips, pulling people in to pose with her, doing silly faces. I wasn't big on night clubs, but there was something good about this, fooling around with a group of people who I was feeling like I might get along with.

Half a group. Josh and Ed snaked off to find the bar after a while. It was hot in the club, and there were people continually jostling and pressing against me.

No, it was one person. A guy was dancing right up against my back, and somehow in the press of bodies from all directions I hadn't even noticed right away. I stepped away and glared at him, and he backed off with a look that suggested he was questioning my right to be offended. His mate was dancing behind Elizabeth, and I had to grab him by the wrist and give him an unequivocal sign to clear off.

It turned into a bit of a pattern. Every few minutes some other group of guys would materialise behind us. I resorted to elbows at convenient moments, Tara pulled them in on her dance moves and was basically grinding on them, and Elizabeth was mostly oblivious. Between us, Christopher and I took care of hers.

"Probably creepy second years," he said in my ear as we sent another batch packing. I nodded. My brother had told me to watch out for second years in Freshers week, but I hadn't expected it to be like this.

This was starting to spoil my night. I was pissed with the random guys, and illogically also pissed with Ed and Josh for wandering off. If they'd been around, the guys could have shielded us more. Not the way that life is supposed to be, perhaps, but the way that it was. And why did they even need to buy more alcohol, we were all frankly drunk enough. Drinks would be so overpriced in here as well.

At least Christopher had hung around. I was really starting to warm to him. He had a very relaxed attitude, and he looked pretty hot under the club lights. Plus, he was dancing pretty close to me, leaning in to my ear to make comments on the music or the guys.

From somewhere in my foggy brain came the strong reminder that I had to live with him for an entire year, and I wanted to steer well clear of all flat relationship drama. I put just a tad more distance between us.