***
They left via the Porters’ Lodge. The Porters were responsible both for guarding the college and dealing with the day-to-day running of it. Harriet had already heard the rumours that they were all ex-army, perhaps even ex-SAS. It sounded unlikely, but their watchful demeanour meant she didn’t dismiss it out of hand. As she walked past, one of them caught her eye.
“You’re Harriet French, aren’t you? I remember your mother and father when they were at the college. I never forget a student. None of us do. Don’t worry about anything. We’ll keep an eye out for you.”
Harriet smiled, but before she could reply, the crowd of students swept her away and she found herself out on the street.
She told Caroline and Olamide about Tom as they walked.
“Oh, I think I know who you mean,” mused Caroline. “I’m sure I talked to him just before dinner. Bloody gorgeous. If you think you’ve got a chance you’d better get together with him quickly before someone else does.”
Harriet laughed, but the thought of all the glamorous girls milling around made her heart constrict.
After a long walk and a longer queue outside the club, they finally made it inside. Every fresher in the University had had the same idea, as had many older students. Harriet had never seen a club so full. Dancing in the middle of the crowd seemed impossible, as did tracking down Tom. The college rep, however, announced that Lilith had a VIP area booked. Harriet could barely hear him over the music and the crowd, but she got the gist and along with her companions, followed him to a door at the back of the room.
The door led to a large balcony that seemed to be populated exclusively by Lilith students. Harriet glanced down at the hordes in the main room. The contrast couldn’t be more pronounced. She couldn’t wait to try out the dancefloor that actually had enough space for dancing.
The music combined a mixture of the latest tracks, lots of cheesy stuff and a bit of RnB. In other words, if not the classiest combination, it was guaranteed to get a room full of slightly drunken students dancing like idiots. As Harriet gyrated, it struck her that she’d never really come across drunken posh people before. It was a slightly surreal experience. Nonetheless, she appreciated the number of both athletic rowing and rugby types, and floppy haired pretty boys.
Suddenly, in the middle of “I Am the One and Only”, Caroline grabbed her hand and dragged her towards a corner of the room.
“Over there, that’s Ben. Finally. He must have come in late, or got lost in the big room.” Despite having spent most of the evening talking about him, Caroline’s wide-eyed expression suggested that she’d rather do anything else than speak to him.
“Okay,” said Harriet. “I’m going to buy you one more shot, and then we’re both going over there whether you like it or not.”
Caroline nodded and downed the proffered Sambuca. Before she could change her mind, Harriet marched her over to the sofa where Ben was sprawled.
“So, I’m definitely thinking of doing a bit of rowing,” he said to the guys sitting around him.
Harriet’s blood rushed to her head as she realised that one of his companions was Tom. Somehow, she’d failed to notice him from across the room, but now she couldn’t tear her gaze away from his hypnotic good looks.
“Caroline!” Ben shouted. “Amazing to see you again. You totally disappeared earlier.” He grabbed her and kissed her on each cheek before picking her up and spinning her around.
Caroline laughed as he placed her back on the ground.
Ben shuffled to the edge of the seat to make room for them both.
Ben’s reaction made Harriet smile. It seemed that Caroline wasn’t going to be disappointed. Tom, on the other hand, had barely registered her presence.
“Hi Tom. Good to see you again,” she finally managed, after agonising for far too long over what to say.
“Harriet. Hello. I’m glad you made it here, and I hope you’ve been having a pleasant time so far.”
His oddly formal and distant tone confused her. “Yes, it’s been great. The college is amazing, the people are lovely, and tonight’s been really fun. Ready for some dancing?”
“I’m pleased to hear you’re enjoying yourself,” Tom replied. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to speak to someone.”
He gave Harriet one long look that made her shiver, deep blue eyes staring out from under his dark fringe. Then he disappeared into the main room.
“Wow, sorry about that,” said Ben, breaking off from a conversation with Caroline that had been causing her to laugh hysterically whilst carefully tossing her hair and fluttering her eyelashes. “I don’t know what all that was about. He was the year above me at school, and he’s got lots of chat usually. Must be having a bad night.”
He smiled the easy smile of a man who who’d had everything go right for him from the moment of his birth. “Now, let me get you both a drink.”
Harriet and Caroline turned to each other the second Ben left for the bar.
“Oh my God, Ben’s even lovelier than I remembered,” Caroline giggled. “What do you think? Do you like him? Do you think he’s into me?”
“He seems nice,” Harriet replied, looking down at the ground. “And of course he’s into you. His eyes lit up when you came over and he hasn’t stopped staring at you since. Unlike Tom.”
“Oh no, sweetie, what a dick. I can’t believe he basically blanked you.”
“So you don’t think I’m just being oversensitive?”
“Of course not, but like Ben said, he’s probably just having a bad night. I’m sure if you talk to him tomorrow, he’ll be much friendlier. From what you said earlier, it sounds like you’ve got all kinds of books and music in common.”
Ben came back, beaming and carrying drinks. Harriet took her vodka Red Bull gratefully. Ben and Caroline tried to include her in their conversation, but through their politeness, they clearly only had eyes for each other. After a while, she got up to dance.
“Just give me shout if you want me or you’re ready to leave,” she said to Caroline. “Otherwise I guess I’ll see you tomorrow. Great to meet you Ben.”
Harriet danced with lots of people she barely knew, all of whom seemed fun and in the mood for making friends. Despite the electric atmosphere in the room, her enthusiasm withered and died. She glimpsed Tom briefly across the room at one point, but couldn’t risk humiliating herself further by speaking to him again. She forced herself to keep dancing, to have some more drinks, to look like she was having fun and not to leave before the lights came on.
Chapter Three