One Perfect Summer

relationship returns to normal, although ‘normal’ has changed somewhat. Lukas no longer lives in his bedsit on Trinity Street. Now he’s moved closer to his campus, to Burrell’s Field. It’s on the western side of the river, further away from town. Unfortunately, he still has a single bed, so I don’t stay over very often. And, thanks to Jessie’s cold shoulder, he doesn’t stay at mine very much, either.
    Two weeks before I’m due to start my third and final year at Anglia Ruskin, I bump into one of my tutors in town. Mitch Turville is my favourite tutor, and I’ve always done my best in his classes. Even when I was practically catatonic in my first year he managed to coax an A out of me.
    ‘Alice!’ he says. ‘How are you?’
    ‘Good!’ I reply. ‘How’s your summer?’
    ‘Excellent, excellent. Spent a lovely couple of weeks in Spain with the family. You?’
    Mitch is in his late forties and has thinning brown hair and glasses. Sometimes he has a beard, sometimes not. Today he appears to be at the halfway stage.
    ‘Actually, I’m glad I bumped into you,’ he says after I’ve responded to his question. ‘Did you ever put any thought into becoming a member of the literary society?’
    Before we broke up for summer he asked me if I’d like to be involved, but I never got back to him. Between punting, reading zillions of books and seeing Lukas, I don’t have much spare time.
    ‘Sorry,’ I say. ‘I wasn’t sure if—’
    ‘Because we could really do with someone like you to get involved,’ he interrupts, sensing my reluctance and refusing to accept it. ‘Victoria, Rachel and Kelly are keen for another person to help out during Freshers’ Week. Can I tempt you?’
    And so it is that I find myself dressing up as Alice from Alice in Wonderland during Freshers’ Week and helping to rope in new recruits. Victoria, Rachel and Kelly have been friends with each other since the first year. They’ve always been nice to me and I like them a lot. I haven’t actually lived a proper student life in the respect of having a group of fellow students for friends, and it’s something that I’ve suspected I’ll regret. It was with this in mind that I agreed to Mitch’s request.
    Victoria is dressed up as Dorothy, Rachel as the White Witch and Kelly as Little Red Riding Hood. We manage to sign up an impressive forty-three undergraduates thanks to our enthusiasm, and the day is much more fun than I expected it to be. When our work is done we decide we’ll stay in character for a laugh and head to the pub to celebrate. I text Lukas to let him know that I probably won’t be able to see him tonight after all, and then set about helping the other three to clear up. It’s not until we’re walking towards the main entrance that I think to check my phone and see that I have seven missed calls from him. No voicemails, though. How odd. I’m about to call him back to ask him what’s wrong, when I hear the sound of several car horns beeping.
    ‘Who on earth is that?’ Victoria asks, but my face has already flushed with embarrassment because that , my new friend, is Lukas.
    He has pulled up on the double yellow lines on the main road outside college – in his Porsche, no less – and is being persistently tooted at by cars trying to get past him. I want to bury my head in a sandpit.
    ‘God, sorry,’ I say to the girls. ‘That’s my boyfriend. I have no idea what he’s doing here, but I’d better go.’
    ‘Can you join us later?’ Kelly asks hopefully.
    ‘I’ll try,’ I say, running towards the car. Lukas leans across the passenger seat and pushes open my door.
    ‘What are you doing?’ I hiss, climbing in because I have no other choice. The people in the cars behind are getting increasingly angry and right now I want to be as far away from here as possible. Lukas screeches away from the kerb and goes straight through an amber light.
    ‘Why didn’t you answer your phone?’ he snaps, putting his foot down.
    ‘I didn’t hear it!’ I reply indignantly. ‘I was about to call you.’
    ‘Too late. I had to resort to this.’ He glances across at me with a look of distaste. ‘What the hell are you wearing?’
    Anger rushes through me. ‘I told you about this! Alice from Alice in Wonderland ? Children’s Literature is one of the modules of my degree.’
    ‘That’s right,’ he sneers. ‘I remember thinking how ridiculous that sounded.’
    ‘What would you know?’ I demand.