Francesca
'Of all creatures that can feel and think, we women are the worst treated things alive'How it all started...
It was so very loud.
I had never thought of my own home as being quiet. Sure, there had been quite a few times that noise from my younger brother had echoed against the walls, and the homes of my friends had always been louder in comparison. Even my best friend Victoria's house didn't seem as loud as Oxford halls. And she had older siblings. But how did a hall housing university students manage to produce so much sound?
The university was so strange and foreign to me. I was situated in one of many colleges, mine was named Somerville. Which sounded sweet enough, but there was nothing sweet about the building. The tour guide that looked so edgy and effortless showed us around, she was a third year student with braids and a nose ring, she'd called the building, Margery Fry, I was too nervous to ask why on earth it was named after the first female magistrate. But I was happy there was some attempted at feminism, or appearance of it.
When I had woken up at home that morning, my eyelids heavy and my Mum's perfume filled the room. I had never been more anxious and excited than I'd been for anything in my life. Walking into my dormitory for the first time had sent a shiver down my spine, getting my pass from the dorm leader, I hoped didn't notice my hands shaking. I could breath a sigh of relief once I was in my own four walls, which would be mine for the rest of the year. I'd relished arranging everything in my room, just right. I knew I had taken far too long, and was buying time before having to actual think about the real gritty stuff. Like meeting people, studying hard and walking into lecture halls full of faces I didn't recognise, but I pushed that dreary reality out of my mind and tried to enjoy myself nonetheless. Freshers week came first, apparently.
Finally, the fact that I was a real Oxford university student had suddenly felt earth shatteringly real. It was incredibly exhilarating. I mean come on, Emma Watson, Oscar Wilde and even Gandhi had studied here.
The time flew by in a matter of hours.
Which meant that my family had to leave. They left me behind, both of them waving with a sad or proud smile. Though my younger brother was on his phone. Maybe Oxford wasn't too far away, but that didn't make much of a difference. I had expected the homesickness to feel a lot like missing home when I'd had been on holiday with my family. On holiday, I would often get a sense of longing for my own bed, but I would always end up pushing past those feelings and enjoy my new surroundings of a different country. But this was different. It was deeper, driven at least as much by fear as by sadness. 'I'm sure you want to start meeting people, darling' Mum had said as she hugged me goodbye and tried to hold back tears. For a while, I wasn't sure how long, I laid on my bed, listening to the noise out in the hall. Eventually it subsided.
Silence.
Already, I seemed to be getting to know the odd creaks well. I hadn't yet had an opportunity to get as used to the sounds of people which I knew would come once I adjusted to living at university. Clearly, the other students were better at making friends on their first day than I was, or maybe it was only the older students who were partying at the Student Union? The other first years might have been hiding away like I was? I texted Victoria. To find out if she was enjoying moving day. Maybe she was holed up in her room feeling paralysed with fear too? Even though I didn't want that for her. Believing that made me feel better and less pathetic.
Then a familiar voice could be heard out in the hallway. I hazarded a guess that it was several doors down from my own, but it was in the hallway, not in a room. I perked up, lifting my head off my pillow. Her footsteps headed towards my door, and my heart raced despite the fact my door was shut. I jumped up and yanked the door open at just the right time, startling my best friend Vicky, who had been coming down the hallway to find me.
YOU ARE READING
THE OXFORD BET *VirginityGames*
RomanceFour Posh English Boys in their final year, vow that this last year will be full of debauchery. Francesca Taylor is a normal girl, who likes her food and her sarcasm. Still in the midst of new beginnings, she finds herself accidentally falling into...