P
Pia
Guest
It’s Lisa again. You remember me, don’t you? You know, I told you all about my little adventure in the Chestnut Wood. You remember now I think. Well, school’s finished now and I got to the university I wanted, so I did quite well I think.
I’m sitting here in my very tiny study bedroom in Vandyke College. Some people were lucky and got rooms overlooking the lake, but mine just stares across the court to a wall of other rooms, just the same as mine. It’s cosy and I like it. It’s where I wanted to come. Oh, I forgot, I’m at Ridingham University now, doing English Lit, just like I wanted. The last term at school was a lot of hard work but it was worth it in the end I guess. All work and no play really.
I broke up with Will over Christmas. It was all a bit difficult after that afternoon in the woods. I tried really hard to make him feel comfortable with me, and we hung out with all my other friends, Kate and the others, but I could tell he felt embarrassed when he was with me. We slept together a few times, and I tried to get him to play games with me, but he just didn’t want to. Just little things, like tying me up a bit. In the end he broke up with me. I didn’t mind really. He was good to be with in bed, but I could tell that I just made him nervous and that wasn’t really good for either of us I suppose. Anyway, after New Year I’d decided I wanted to really focus on my grades, so I became a bit of a recluse I suppose. Once in a while I’d go clubbing in M.... with Kate and Romy and Clare and the others and we’d have too much to drink, but mainly I just hunkered down in my room, in my pyjamas, hunched over my books and my laptop. Oh, and when I wasn’t working I’d be chatting to Sallie and my other online friends in that group I mentioned.
Sallie really kept me going, I guess. Sallie and lots of coffee! She encouraged me really well and told me that it would all be worth it and that I’d have so many opportunities at uni, and not just for study. And now I’m here I think she was right. But I’m jumping ahead. I really should tell you about the summer holiday. Would you like that?
Well, I’m going to anyway. Once exams were all over and we’d had the leavers' party everything felt sort of like an anti-climax. Just waiting for results and all that. I got a job working the till in the Co-Op and saved a bit of cash. It was ok work really, and quite nice as I knew so many of the people who came in. But once I had enough I wanted to have a proper holiday. A lot of my friends went off with their parents to Italy and Spain and Greece and everywhere. Some of them had their own villas. Of course, we didn’t normally have much of a holiday. We just hung around and barbecued and things like that. But I had other plans this year. In the end I got mum to agree. She was a bit nervous ‘cause she’d never met Sallie, but in the end I got her to do a Skype with her and so she said yes.
I’ve not told you much about Sallie, but maybe I should. She’s a bit older than me. She’d finished college and worked in an IT company in B.... She’d arranged a week holiday in a place in France with a few of her other friends and asked me if I’d like to come along too. Of course I wanted to. She said it wouldn’t be expensive. I just had to get myself on the easyJet to Bergerac and she’d pick me up there. Sallie was going to drive down so she could bring load of wine back with her she said. Mum was still a bit worried because my results would come out while I was away and she was worried about Clearing and everything, but I knew I’d done alright, so I told her not to fret about it. She worries about me a lot. I understand why; after all, she’s had to work so hard to keep me and by brother going since Dad left. But she’s going to have to let go sometime. I keep telling her that.
Anyway, back to the holiday. I didn’t take much, just a little backpack with some underwear, a bikini and a few light dresses and things. It was going to be hot, Sallie said. She was there to meet me at the little airport in Bergerac and the drive to the house wasn’t that long. Everywhere looked, well, so much like I imagined the south of Europe would look! Vinyards and rolling hills and red-tiled houses in piled-up towns that looked like they’d grown from the soil. They’re called Bastides apparently. They were a kind of planned town build in the thirteenth century, each with its little square and weekly market. We passed through Villeréal and then Monflanquin and then turned off towards a really tiny little hamlet called Montagnac-sur-Lède. It’s such a pretty place. You can see some really big ancient castles on the hills nearby. And really quiet too. The place we were staying was amazing. Not even in the village, but up a tiny little track. I don’t know how Sallie found it but it was just brilliant. A low stone farmhouse, all beautifully converted, with gorgeous pale blue shutters and a fantastic pool! I couldn’t believe it! I was asking her questions all the way down. I think she probably thought I was crazy. But it was weird really. I mean we’d talked a lot online and Skyped and stuff, but this was the first time I’d met her, like really met her. I should tell you about her a bit shouldn’t I?
I’m sitting here in my very tiny study bedroom in Vandyke College. Some people were lucky and got rooms overlooking the lake, but mine just stares across the court to a wall of other rooms, just the same as mine. It’s cosy and I like it. It’s where I wanted to come. Oh, I forgot, I’m at Ridingham University now, doing English Lit, just like I wanted. The last term at school was a lot of hard work but it was worth it in the end I guess. All work and no play really.
I broke up with Will over Christmas. It was all a bit difficult after that afternoon in the woods. I tried really hard to make him feel comfortable with me, and we hung out with all my other friends, Kate and the others, but I could tell he felt embarrassed when he was with me. We slept together a few times, and I tried to get him to play games with me, but he just didn’t want to. Just little things, like tying me up a bit. In the end he broke up with me. I didn’t mind really. He was good to be with in bed, but I could tell that I just made him nervous and that wasn’t really good for either of us I suppose. Anyway, after New Year I’d decided I wanted to really focus on my grades, so I became a bit of a recluse I suppose. Once in a while I’d go clubbing in M.... with Kate and Romy and Clare and the others and we’d have too much to drink, but mainly I just hunkered down in my room, in my pyjamas, hunched over my books and my laptop. Oh, and when I wasn’t working I’d be chatting to Sallie and my other online friends in that group I mentioned.
Sallie really kept me going, I guess. Sallie and lots of coffee! She encouraged me really well and told me that it would all be worth it and that I’d have so many opportunities at uni, and not just for study. And now I’m here I think she was right. But I’m jumping ahead. I really should tell you about the summer holiday. Would you like that?
Well, I’m going to anyway. Once exams were all over and we’d had the leavers' party everything felt sort of like an anti-climax. Just waiting for results and all that. I got a job working the till in the Co-Op and saved a bit of cash. It was ok work really, and quite nice as I knew so many of the people who came in. But once I had enough I wanted to have a proper holiday. A lot of my friends went off with their parents to Italy and Spain and Greece and everywhere. Some of them had their own villas. Of course, we didn’t normally have much of a holiday. We just hung around and barbecued and things like that. But I had other plans this year. In the end I got mum to agree. She was a bit nervous ‘cause she’d never met Sallie, but in the end I got her to do a Skype with her and so she said yes.
I’ve not told you much about Sallie, but maybe I should. She’s a bit older than me. She’d finished college and worked in an IT company in B.... She’d arranged a week holiday in a place in France with a few of her other friends and asked me if I’d like to come along too. Of course I wanted to. She said it wouldn’t be expensive. I just had to get myself on the easyJet to Bergerac and she’d pick me up there. Sallie was going to drive down so she could bring load of wine back with her she said. Mum was still a bit worried because my results would come out while I was away and she was worried about Clearing and everything, but I knew I’d done alright, so I told her not to fret about it. She worries about me a lot. I understand why; after all, she’s had to work so hard to keep me and by brother going since Dad left. But she’s going to have to let go sometime. I keep telling her that.
Anyway, back to the holiday. I didn’t take much, just a little backpack with some underwear, a bikini and a few light dresses and things. It was going to be hot, Sallie said. She was there to meet me at the little airport in Bergerac and the drive to the house wasn’t that long. Everywhere looked, well, so much like I imagined the south of Europe would look! Vinyards and rolling hills and red-tiled houses in piled-up towns that looked like they’d grown from the soil. They’re called Bastides apparently. They were a kind of planned town build in the thirteenth century, each with its little square and weekly market. We passed through Villeréal and then Monflanquin and then turned off towards a really tiny little hamlet called Montagnac-sur-Lède. It’s such a pretty place. You can see some really big ancient castles on the hills nearby. And really quiet too. The place we were staying was amazing. Not even in the village, but up a tiny little track. I don’t know how Sallie found it but it was just brilliant. A low stone farmhouse, all beautifully converted, with gorgeous pale blue shutters and a fantastic pool! I couldn’t believe it! I was asking her questions all the way down. I think she probably thought I was crazy. But it was weird really. I mean we’d talked a lot online and Skyped and stuff, but this was the first time I’d met her, like really met her. I should tell you about her a bit shouldn’t I?
Last edited by a moderator: