Student Affairs

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Book Excerpt

Chapter One 

The skies above Chattlesbury City were ablaze with a kaleidoscope of breath taking vibrant colours; splashes of scorching reds mingled with cool blues, that erupted against the back drop of a pitch-black night void.  Stars pulsed like diamonds, revolving around a crescent moon, shining beams of silvery light through curling clouds onto the earth below.  Fireworks whizzed and banged as they exploded, then dwindled to nothing; the remnants of ash and smoke that hung above the spectator’s heads.  The air was cloy with an array of pungent aromas; roasting onions, the sickly sweetness of freshly spun candyfloss, the acrid bitterness of petrol fumes vied with the smell of newly mown grass and the perfume of wild flowers.  It was a night of fun, of rejoicing diversity and uniqueness.  It was the annual summer carnival.   

This particular August evening was perfect for the celebration.  It had been a hot day which had stretched into a balmy humid night, an excellent environment for enjoyment and laughter.  The streets rang with it; merriment and excitement.  It was tangible in the atmosphere, an ambience that encapsulated the good vibes of a dynamic growing city which was celebrating another year of prosperity.  There was hope surging within the crowds, hope for continued good fortune, health and happiness for its residents.  The pavements were lined with people of all ages, who had come to listen to the mayor’s inspirational speech and watch the carnival pass through the streets, now they surged and pushed to gain a glimpse of the final procession.  Children clapped and laughed with delight as the characters on the flotillas waved exuberantly at them.  The carnival snaked around in a giant horseshoe, passing shops, banks and restaurants.  It was a hive of children’s TV and book characters, exotic dancers and melodic musicians selected to participate in a carefree weekend jamboree.

          Juliette Harris grabbed her daughter, lifting her up so she could see the feather covered ladies twirling.  There was a cry of surprise, as one male

dancer grabbed his colleague by the waist and threw her upwards.  The crowd held their breath for a few moments until the smiling lady landed gracefully back into his arms, her legs splayed into a set of elegant splits. 

“Wow!” cried seven-year-old Molly, her face suffused with excitement and happiness.  Even cool and calm Harry looked impressed.

They had been standing here for an hour now and the procession was almost over.  A group of musicians were the last to pass by, guitar strums and a drum beat accompanied an ebony skinned singer who owned the most exquisite voice.  Juliette began clapping along, with hundreds of others, as she sang the last few words then bowed theatrically.  

Suddenly the fireworks stopped, and bored looking police were encouraging the crowd to move on. 

Juliette gazed at the car park and the hordes of people flooding towards it.

“Would you like an ice cream?”  She decided, an excuse to stay out a bit longer and let the crowds disperse.  They had had such a wonderful evening, Juliette was reluctant to go back to the concrete jungle of home. 

“Yes, yes,” came her children’s eager replies.

Juliette took their hands, leading them back towards the shops.  Thankfully the ice cream parlour was still open.  A brightly chalked board advertised all sorts of delicious flavours.

“Can I have mint choc chip?”  Pleaded a wide-eyed Molly.

“I should think so,” Juliette teased, “and what would you like young man?”

She ruffled her son’s hair.  He looked up at her with a wide smile and dark eyes, so much like her own.

“Triple chocolate of course Mum,” he replied. 

          They managed to grab a window seat.  Juliette left them spinning on high stools with strict instructions not too fall off and hurt themselves.  The girls behind the counter looked harried.  They rushed around, multi-tasking and were extremely efficient.  In no time Juliette was at the front of the queue and placing her order.

“Cone or pot?”  The fresh faced young lady asked.

“Pots please,” Juliette dug deep for the right change. 

Her purse was feeling worryingly light after her summer holiday splurge; a week’s trip with her sister and brother-in-law in a modest caravan holiday that had eaten into her wages, her family allowance and her meagre savings.  Thankfully she would be paid in four days’ time and the end of the month couldn’t come soon enough.  Juliette thought back to the long sunny days spent at the beach and the fair.  It had been a hot summer this year with none of the habitual flooding and it had been so lovely to swop the pollution and built up drab greyness of the city for rolling green hills, woods and clean, fresh air.  Now they were back to reality; work and chores and the rush of everyday life.  Juliette watched the assistant wedge chocolate flakes into the sweet cold mounds, “do you go to Chattlesbury uni?” 

The question startled Juliette out of her reverie, “Yes I do: English.”

“I’ve seen you in the refectory,” the young girl replied, “I’m an art student.  You hang around with a cute, dark haired guy, young?”

“Will,” Juliette smiled, thinking fleetingly of him.  How different it would be for him this year with a baby to care for.  

“Do you know what you want to do after you’ve finished your degree?”

“Primary teaching hopefully,” Juliette replied, “and you?”

“I’m moving to London with my friend.  I want to be an illustrator; books, comics that sort of thing.  My friend wants to work on a pop magazine.  Our shared ambition is to become mega rich and famous,” she laughed, and Juliette felt her financial worries slipping away to be replaced with a different kind of anxiety.

The second year of university loomed ahead of her.  Juliette had already began poring over reading lists and deciding which modules she could take.  The thought of seeing Ben Rivers again sent a shiver down her spine, even though the evening was warm.   The last time she had seen him was at the end of May when she had participated in the class trip to Haworth.  It had been a lovely day, interesting and inspiring to see the Bronte house and the pretty village where the famous writer sisters had grown up.  Yet her memories were clouded with thoughts of their last conversation.  Juliette had insisted they should remain just friends, so why was she constantly thinking of him?  She sighed and picked up the ice creams, “come and say hi next time you’re at uni.” Juliette gave the friendly assistant a thankful smile and moved away from the queue.

          “Thanks Mum,” her children chorused as she set the rapidly melting desserts down on the table.  Juliette watched with a wide smile as they dived straight in with their spoons.

“So, your Dad is taking you to Alton Towers then?”

“Yep,” came Harry’s emphatic reply.

“And pizza after,” Molly reminded her. 

“Is that okay Mum?”  Harry’s eyes were wide and filled with worry.

Juliette reached across to rub his arm, “of course it is love.  Me and your dad, well we’re sort of friends now and we just want what’s best for you two.”

“Cool!”  Harry nodded happily.

 “Daddy’s got a girlfriend,” Molly divulged.

“Oh, has he now?”  Juliette wasn’t surprised, Marty had always been attractive to the opposite sex, with his boyish good looks and bad boy image.

“Shush,” Harry berated his younger sister, “Mum might get upset.”

“Oh no, sweetheart,” Juliette replied after a moment’s hesitation, “don’t worry, I’m happy for him…have you met her yet?”

“Nope,” Harry scratched the bottom of the empty pot for any remaining dregs.

“Her name’s Charlie and she’s a hairdresser.” Molly piped up, “Dad said she could do my hair when we get to meet her.”

“Well that will be nice,” Juliette said with a laugh as she held up her own wild, red curls, “maybe she could do something with mine.”

Harry put down his spoon and looked at his mum with a serious frown, “Mum, me and Molls have been talking and we think it’s time you got a boyfriend.”

Juliette spluttered, “why on earth would you think that?”

“You never go out Mummy,” Molly explained, “my friend Lola’s Mummy was all on her own too and she was sad, but now she’s getting a step dad and they all have lots of fun together.”

“You think I’m sad?”  Juliette’s shoulders slumped in dismay.           

Harry and Molly looked at each other then nodded.

“You pretend you’re okay,” Harry replied, “but I heard you crying on the phone to aunty Maz.”

“And when you watch Disney films with me you get tears in your eyes.”  Molly wagged her finger.

“But…but, I’m going out this weekend, remember, with Aunty Maz and Uncle Dave and…and Clive.”

Harry sniffed suspiciously, “is Clive your boyfriend then?”

“No.”  Juliette shook her head, “he’s just a friend, but he’s very lovely and I have lots of fun when I’m out with him.”

There was silence.  Juliette sighed, “I’m perfectly fine on my own with you two you know.  We have lots of fun together don’t we?”

There was reluctant nodding. 

“Oooo-kay,” Juliette decided to change the subject, “how’s about we head home and watch a DVD together?”

It worked, Harry and Molly had immediately forgotten their Mum’s love life and were bickering over whether to watch Disney, Transformers or Harry Potter. 

          As soon as she was back home and her children were settled in front of the television, Juliette tiptoed into her bedroom with the cordless phone.  Marie answered after a lengthy twenty rings.

“You took your time,” Juliette rasped.

“Oh, hello sis, I was in the bath and I am pregnant you know.  I can’t rush like I used to.”

Juliette was contrite, “Sorry!  I keep forgetting you’re carrying my future niece or nephew.  How are you feeling by the way?”

“Fine, apart from fat bloated ankles.”

“You need to rest, especially in this heat,” Juliette wiped at her perspiring forehead, “it’s hot tonight!”

“How was the carnival?”

“Fantastic as always.”  Juliette swiped at a large fly, which was buzzing around her lampshade, “erm Marie, have the kids said anything to you about me having a boyfriend?”

There was a short silence then Marie chortled, “no, why?”

Juliette relayed the earlier conversation.

“It was almost surreal having romantic advice given to me from my own children, I thought maybe you might have put the idea in their head.”

“Of course I haven’t,” Marie’s tone was brisk, “they’re not stupid you know Jules, you have been miserable just lately.  Has a certain lecturer got something to do with it?”

“I am totally over him,” Juliette shrieked, colouring at her own fib, “and I’m perfectly fine on my own.”

Marie snorted, “who are you trying to convince?  Don’t you miss being intimate with someone?”

Juliette gulped, as her mind wandered to the night of passion she had enjoyed with Ben Rivers.

“Sex isn’t everything,” she sounded unconvincing, even to her own ears.

“Puts a smile on your face though,” Marie let out a sensual chuckle, “and I think Harry and Molls are very astute.  It’s time you got off the shelf, life’s passing you by.  At this rate you’re going to end up a lonely old spinster.”

“But,” Juliette was about to give her sister the prepared speech, all about independence, girl power, not needing a man to complete her life, but she realised a lot of it was bull.  She was lonely, she did like male company, heck yes, she missed sex!    

“Jules, they have given you their blessing to go find someone, love their little hearts, they just want you to be happy.”

Tears sprang to Juliette’s eyes, “I know,” she sniffed, “maybe I’m not completely against the idea of finding true love.”

“That’s the spirit.  You’re beautiful Juliette, you know that?  No, I don’t think you do,” Maz said in a firm tone, “Inside and out, upside and down, all the ways a person ever can be – you are kind and quirky and lovely and sweet all rolled into one.  Why don’t you forget about Ben Rivers?   Yes, he’s extremely attractive, but he has plenty of other students that already tell him that.  He’s heart-breaking and he’s too dangerous for you.”

“I” Juliette shook her head, “I, just find him irresistible and it’s not just his looks, it’s the way that he spoke to me, the things he said and the way he made me feel.”   Juliette gripped the phone, “I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me, I’m usually so level-headed.”

“Get your head out of the clouds.  He’s all shades of fifty that one,” Marie decided, “did you like the trilogy by the way?”

“Yes!  I did.  I think E L James gets a bad stick, she’s a good writer and extremely inventive.”

Marie laughed, “I enjoyed it too!  I think Dave’s a bit worried that I’m going to tie him to the bedpost and cover him with squirty cream though.”

They both laughed at the thought of it.

“Well it’s not my usual genre but it was certainly entertaining.”  The conversation shifted away from books to socialising matters.

“Listen, about the weekend, I’ve booked us into a Thai restaurant.  You know the one by the bus station that’s been there for yonks.  It has excellent reviews, I can’t believe we’ve never tried it before.”  She then proceeded to rattle off some of the dishes from the menu.

“It sounds delicious,” Juliette felt her spirits rise with excitement.

“Then Dave and I thought that we could all go back to ours.  Watch some Saturday night television or a film maybe.  I don’t really fancy traipsing around pubs in this heat.”

“Of course,” Juliette replied smoothly, “I’ll bring some wine for me, pop for you and beer for Clive and Dave, looking forward to it.  Now you should go and rest.  Call me if you need me.”

“Okay sis.”

Juliette cut the call and wandered into the kitchen, where she spent the next hour ploughing through a basket full of ironing.  By ten o’clock she was exhausted.  After shooing the kids to bed, she flopped down on her own, still fully clothed.  The lamp cast a warm glow around the room, as Juliette snuggled into the duvet with a contented sigh.  She reached for her current read; a light-hearted book on friendship and food by Lucy Diamond, but found it hard to concentrate.  Her mind was whirring away and in frustration she reached for her phone.  Her Facebook feed showed a vast array of new stories.  Juliette scrolled through them, liking the pictures of adorable animals and children frolicking on beaches.  Then she paused as she read over a few posts by Sophie.  Feeling sad, the first one intimated, underneath which Sophie had written, single life is awful, I miss my husband.  Then a few hours later, another status revealed that Sophie was feeling angry, how could he do this to me.  There were over sixty replies, the majority of them sympathised with her, but a few who must be friends of her estranged husband Ryan, had pleaded with her to give him another chance.  Then at the end, she noticed a succinct reply from Ann: ‘forget the cheating git, you can do better, be strong and you’ll get through this’.  Juliette chuckled, the response was typical of Ann, straight forward and honest, it mirrored Ann’s personality in real life, she certainly was a tough cookie but a lovely friend and person too.

It had been months since she had seen the university gang and she hoped that they were all okay, she missed their company, the fun and laughter they had shared.  Thanks to social media, she knew that Hema had given birth to a baby girl.  Will had posted a series of exquisite shots of them both, with the beautiful, tiny baby.  Sophie had posted holiday pictures of herself with a happy looking Evelyn.  They had been to Lanzarote; which Sophie had proclaimed to be the best holiday ever.  In a few weeks’ time they would be meeting up again.  The registration for year two at Chattlesbury university had been allocated for mid-September.  It would be great to see Ann, Evelyn, Sophie and Will - Juliette had missed them.  They were all good friends and she enjoyed their company.  University had become about so much more then studying.  When Juliette enrolled, she had no idea that she would enjoy it so much.  Over the past year, so much had happened, her head felt lightheaded when she thought of it.  She had met some lovely people, learnt so much that her brain felt like bursting sometimes and then there was Ben.  A brief fling with an English lecturer which had ended disastrously.  Now they were just friends and it was a fresh start.  A chance for new beginnings, a possibility to shine and prosper.  Juliette’s eyelids drooped and she found herself being pulled into a nightmare of epic proportions, with dragons and witches, snakes and gigantic rats. All of which she had to battle alone.