A Study At Bullimore

3

"Hello."
"Fucking hell." John sat bolt upright gripping the covers of his duvet, the welcome pack sliding off his stomach and onto the floor. The room was darker than when he had lay down, the sun less bright washing the room in a peachy orange glow. There was a figure in the doorway. John bent down to pick up the pack off the floor.
"Nice to meet you too." The voice replied cheerfully, smirking, before stepping into the room.
He had brown wavy hair with blue eyes and a wide frame. He somehow looked familiar, but John couldn't quite remember why.
"Hang on. Is that you, John?" The voice said, now with a familiarity to it.
"Um yes. Sorry, do I know you?" John asked, pressing his back against the wall. His brain was still foggy.
"It's Mike. Mike Stamford? We went to school together?" It did not ring a bell.
"Yes, Mike. Hello." John leant forward to shake his hand. Mike walked towards him and took it. He did not know who Mike was.
"So what brings you here?" He asked, sitting on the opposite bed. It creaked below his weight.
"I'm doing the fourth year, here on a scholarship." John cursed himself for telling Mike his secret straight away.
"What's your subject?" Mike pushed his thin framed glasses up his nose.
"I'm not on a single subject. I've, eh, got a complete scholarship. So they're all..." John rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess it'd be science though, biology." That was another aspect of Bullimore John liked, he could take all the subjects he wanted to, not just one like at undergrad. The idea of just studying science and maths for another year felt paralysing, so John picked up enlgish and history to help even it out.

Mike blinked twice.
"Bloody hell John, they only give out 100% scholarships once in a blue moon. You must be smart." John cleared his throat.
"Well..." He paused, wanting to change the subject as quickly as possible. "Are you on a scholarship?" Mike laughed.
"No, no, my granny's paying for this. My family want me to go to go into government or something, so they think I need the best education. Not sure how well that's going to be quite honest." John nodded and Mike cracked a smile at him. Imagine being able to pay £20,000 a semester.
"So, have you been here long?"
"All of undergrad, the accommodation is just over there, which is nice. Means we don't have interact with them. "Mike replied, gesturing with his head behind him. Over £200,000 on just university. John couldn't imagine that kind of money and made a note to ask if Mike's granny wanted another grandson. There was silence for a moment, before John cleared his throat again.
"Are - are you my roommate?" John enquired. He partly wanted Mike to say no, simply because he couldn't remember anything about the man, and he would have to fill in parts of information when he could. He wasn't sure how Mike knew him at all, and he felt as though playing a guessing game all year long wouldn't be fun.
"Oh no; I'm in the room next door. I don't know who yours is. I only came in because your door was open. Dinners at 7:30 by the way. It's in the main hall. We can go over together if you want?" Mike said, as he left.
"Yeah; thanks Mike. Knock for me, I guess"
"If you need anything, just ask."
"I will, thank you." And Mike shut the door with a click.

-

Whilst he had been asleep, his case had been dropped off. It was mostly jumpers, t-shirts and trousers, although there was one green polo shirt that John could make look smart if the situation arose. At the bottom of the case was the robe that he had to wear for exams, long and burgundy. John put it on over his jumper. It was a little big for him, even over the cable knit, the hem brushing against the bottom of his socks. Hopefully, he would grow into it. He wasn't sure if he was still growing at all, but this seemed like something Harry would have said to him and usually she was right. Not that he'd tell her that, it would go straight to her head.

He was glad to have met Mike. Although he couldn't remember much of him, it meant he would have half a friend at least – he just needed to remember the other half. He hoped that they weren't all posh twats. At least Mike seemed nice enough and, if his friends were similar, John felt as though this year wouldn't be that bad after all. As he unpacked, the hubbub from downstairs grew as more students were arriving. They sounded excited, greeting each other eagerly after the summer break. John remained upstairs, however, not wanting to introduce himself to a large group of people. He would wait to say hello in the halls, or when getting a cup of tea in the morning. It seemed like a more manageable way to do it, rather than a group question and answer session.