One Perfect Summer

Hall. It all sounds so unfamiliar. In truth, I’m intrigued.
    Great Hall is already bustling with students sitting at four long tables spanning almost the entire length of the enormous room. I feel like I’m at Hogwarts as I survey my surroundings. The walls are clad in dark wood, the ceiling beams are gilded and there are stained-glass windows towering overhead.
    ‘That’s the High Table,’ Lukas explains as we walk past some smaller tables on a raised platform. ‘That’s where the members of the Fellowship sit.’
    ‘ No way? ’ I gasp. ‘Frodo sits there?’
    He chuckles at my joke. ‘Trinity came before Tolkien,’ he replies.
    I take a seat opposite him. It’s like another world, here. An exclusive, elite world that I can’t imagine ever being a part of. I have to admit I’m envious. To study within the walls of this college . . .
    ‘Lukas!’ Someone calls his name and I look up to see a tall, but slight, young man approaching. He has dark, dishevelled hair and round glasses. He’s attractive, if a little nerdy, and he’s wearing a tweed blazer and a checked shirt that hasn’t seen an iron in who knows how long.
    ‘Hello, Harry, take a seat,’ Lukas says amiably, pulling one out for him.
    ‘I’ve got the Mallard!’ he tells Lukas in a conspiratorial whisper, opening up his backpack to reveal a wooden duck inside. What the hell? All of a sudden, Harry notices me. ‘Hello, hello!’ His accent is terribly posh.
    Lukas introduces us.
    ‘What’s this about?’ I ask.
    ‘The Mallard fell down,’ he says with excitement.
    Is he barmy?
    Lukas leans forward to explain. He points to the eaves above our heads. ‘There’s usually a duck up in the rafters. Don’t ask me why. It’s one of Trinity’s traditions.’
    ‘I’ve heard about it!’ I suddenly recall a vague memory.
    ‘Not “it”: “them”. A veritable flock have fallen down over the years,’ Lukas reveals. ‘Harry wants to put the next one up.’
    ‘How will you do that?’ I ask with curiosity. It’s a very high ceiling.
    He taps the side of his nose.
    ‘Well, be careful,’ I say, a little worried about this strange, er, stranger.
    ‘Aw, she’s concerned about me,’ he tells Lukas with delight, before turning back to me. ‘I haven’t seen you around. Are you a first year?’
    ‘No, second.’
    ‘Alice doesn’t go to Trinity,’ Lukas explains.
    ‘Don’t tell me you go to John’s,’ Harry teases. ‘Boo! Hiss!’
    The two colleges have an age-old rivalry, although it’s mostly good-natured.
    ‘No.’ I smile. ‘I go to Anglia Ruskin.’
    ‘Aah . . . O- kay ,’ Harry says knowingly.
    Why is he saying it like that? Is he being rude?
    ‘Now it all makes sense,’ he continues. ‘I thought I must need new glasses.’
    I stare at him, confused.
    ‘He clearly thinks you’re as beautiful as I do,’ Lukas interjects, instantly making me blush.
    ‘I was sure I would have noticed you before,’ Harry adds.
    ‘I’m surprised you haven’t seen Alice on the river,’ Lukas says to him. ‘She works as a tour guide on the punts.’
    ‘Argh, no!’ Harry exclaims with mock horror, sitting back in his chair and throwing his hands up in the air. A few students sitting further along the table turn to look at us. ‘I hope you’re not one of the ones spewing ridiculous stories.’
    Lukas tries to keep a straight face.
    Harry continues in a silly voice. ‘Trinity has a fortune of over two billion pounds; you can walk all the way to Oxford . . . or York . . . or London . . . on land owned by Trinity . . . What a load of tosh.’
    ‘Er—’ I start.
    ‘Just ignore him,’ Lukas interrupts, nodding at Harry. ‘He’s a mathematician.’
    My brow furrows. ‘Meaning?’
    ‘They’re usually either very introverted, or very extroverted, like Harry, here.’
    Harry lunges forward in his seat, making me jump. ‘So is that how you two met, then? Did you spy Alice on the river?’ he asks Lukas.
    ‘Yes,’ he replies.
    ‘Well, it wasn’t quite like that,’ I start to correct him. ‘You saved me from the wrath of a cyclist, first.’
    ‘I had seen you on the river several times before that,’ he reveals, calmly meeting my gaze.
    ‘Really?’ I ask with surprise. I’d never noticed him. Then again, I don’t suppose I’d been looking.
    ‘What are you reading?’ Harry drags my attention away from Lukas.
    ‘Um, Heart of Darkness at the moment,’ I reply. Harry looks perplexed.
    ‘He means, “What are