Forbidden Fruit

Chapter 2

Finding the place I would be staying for the next year wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but it definitely was tiring. It gave me another reason to not be so quick to go back home. 

The college town I had chosen wasn't somewhere you could fly to from the UK, so I had to stop off somewhere in the mid-west and change planes. This was fine and it went smoothly, but it made the journey even longer than it already was. I'd been awake since the early hours of the morning and now I just wanted to sleep. 

By the time I landed in the town evening was beginning to fall, and when I finally left the horrible, security-heavy American airport the sky was already starting to darken. I took the bus I found out went straight to the University campus, which introduced me to getting my head around using dollars instead of pounds, and arrived about half an hour later. 

The campus seemed...posh. I almost wondered if I'd somehow ended up in the wrong place, but as I went to go look at the university map I saw the name of my halls. With a kind of tired shrug I made my way up towards the edge of the campus, struggling to carry my bags and suitcases along the path. I passed a lot of well dressed people, also with suitcases and bags although they had parents to accompany them, going the opposite way to me.

I didn't make eye contact with anyone. I really wasn't in the mood to chat, especially since I was the odd one out with no family next to me. I wondered how many times their kids had jetted off to another country with only a note as a goodbye. 

I kept walking past modern buildings and manicured patches of nature, taking a left and then a right per to the map's instructions, until I came to a block of buildings that definitely matched my kind of price range. And the sign that read 'James Headingley Flats' clarified my intuition. 

It wasn't like some sort of homeless shelter they could charge us for living in, but it definitely wasn't the gorgeous modern flats they also had here. I'd had to go for the cheapest place available, and it still wasn't exactly what I would call a good deal. But at least I'd got here. That was the most important thing. 

Besides, from the outside it didn't look bad at all: just a standard, mundane block of flats you could get anywhere. And at least it was surrounded by a nice patch of greenery and trees. 

As I had gotten into the uni campus, I had signed in and been given a key to block C, flat 72 room B. I made my way to the third building and opened the glass door entrance with the black fob.

On first glance it didn't look too shabby, but I didn't want to get my hopes up early on. I went up the stairs and passed the selection of mailboxes to my right, glumly wondering whether I would receive any kind of postcard but knowing I wouldn't. I hadn't even given them an address so how would that happen anyway? 

Luckily flat 72 was on the second floor so I didn't have to lug my stuff up for much longer. I reached the door and opened it, not allowing myself any hesitation when there was no turning back now. 

As I walked in I was pleasantly surprised. The place was decked out in laminated wooden flooring and the modern vibe I'd got from the entrance continued on in the kitchen diner to the right, which definitely did not scream 'student accommodation'. It looked like an actual decent place to cook in and I wasn't expecting that. It reminded me that I needed to go on a food shop. 

I walked out of the kitchen and into the hallway, before spotting room B at the end of the corridor opposite room A. When I let myself in I wasn't as impressed as I had been with the kitchen, but I definitely wasn't mad either. It was a bog standard bedroom with empty grey walls and a small adorning en-suite, which was a great plus but the negative side was the single bed that I knew wasn't going to be the comfiest. There was a desk and a good load of shelves, so storage space didn't seem to be a problem.  

Even though I was tired, I started unpacking. I didn't want to wake up tomorrow with an even larger mountain of tasks to do than I had already, and I wanted this place to look as homely as possible. I needed to fool myself somehow. 

As I was putting up a couple photos of some of the people I'd left behind, I heard someone knock on my open door. I couldn't help but jump slightly as I turned around, not expecting anyone else to be in. The flat had seemed empty when I'd arrived. 

"Hey," a blonde guy with a southern, Texas accent drawled as he crossed his arms across his chest. "I'm Logan your new flatmate." 

I smiled and got up to greet him. "Jack. Nice to meet you." 

He was shorter than me but had the buff build of a rugby player, so I could already guess he was into sports and that seemed like a good sign, although I wasn't really a fan of American football. Hopefully I had one thing in common with a guy I was sharing a flat with.  

"British?" He grinned, showing a set of pearly white teeth. "I love you guys; you're always so polite." 

I chuckled. "That's really not true but you can believe it if you want." 

We fell into an easy conversation and Logan appeared to be a pretty chilled guy. I hoped a lot of the people I was going to meet would be this easy-going; it was nice to talk about random crap instead of some of the heavy stuff that had been on my mind recently. It was a great distraction. 

"Are you going to the big Freshers party tomorrow night?" 

I shrugged. "I'm not sure, I mean I don't really know anyone." 

"You can come with me dumbass. Come on it's gonna be wild and I know you'll have fun." 

"Okay I'll come." I had no idea whether I'd enjoy it or not as I'd heard all kinds of different stories of fresher experiences, ranging from terrible to great. But I was here to escape the pressure of responsibility and if there was an opportunity to party, I should be saying yes regardless.

"Cool, I promise you won't regret it." 

I chuckled again: what a foolhardy thing to promise.