Freshers Ch. 03

Fish 'n' Chips 'n' Fond Farewells (Beth)

It was amazing how time had flown over the past few days. It was also amazing what an effect Alex and Jenny's visit had had on Tommy. He was a little cagey about discussing what he and Alex had got up to during their evening alone together, but a smart girl like me could easily put two and two together. Plus, the used condom half-heartedly wrapped in tissue paper that I spied in the bin the following morning kind of told its own story! Eventually I managed to tease it out of him and he admitted that yes, he and Alex had indeed had sex. And you know what? I couldn't have been happier for him. For both of them, in fact.

For the rest of our American friends' visit, they were almost inseparable - to the point at which I guess Jenny felt a little neglected. But nonetheless, seeing Alex so happy with Tommy clearly made her feel a similar warmth inside to what I was feeling. And besides, she would have him all to herself once more in good time. The night that followed Tommy and Alex's first time together, we all went out for a few drinks together at a pub in the city centre. Alex grumbled that in the more than two weeks he had spent in England so far, he still hadn't got around to trying something he had never tried before.

"But y'already did that... last night with Tommy. Don'tcha remember ya big doofus?!" Jenny teased, nudging him with her elbow.

"Notthat!" Alex groaned in reply, realising he had left himself open to that one, "No, I meant I haven't tried fish and chips yet!"

And so it was that we traipsed out into the night in search of a fish and chip shop. I pointed out that the pub served fish and chips, but Tommy scoffed at that suggestion saying that if our American friends wanted to try what many considered to be our national dish, they would have to do it properly in a genuine English chippy.

"Having it served on a plate in a pub just isn't the same." Tommy insisted, "For the authentic experience ithasto be served wrapped in paper!"

So it wasn't long before we found ourselves in the queue of a little fish and chip shop on Low Petergate. It was obviously quite a popular place since the queue stretched out of the shop and onto the pavement outside, but that didn't seem to deter Tommy as he insisted that his fellow archaeology students had declared it to be the best place in town. I couldn't argue with the divine aroma that emanated from the place - the longer we waited the hungrier we all felt. It was a chilly November evening and the warmth from inside the place caused a beading of condensation on the inside of the windows and the light from the fluorescent strip lights spilled out into the street casting long shadows across the shops, now closed for the night, on the other side of the road. When we eventually came to the head of the queue Tommy ordered for us.

"Cod and chips five times please." He said to the woman behind the counter who almost immediately called back to her colleague that was tending to the fryer.

"Five cod Edna!"

Edna nodded her affirmation before returning to her job at hand.

"That'll be eight pound fifty please luv." The woman behind the counter said in her heavy Yorkshire accent as she returned to address Tommy, "Salt and vinegar?"

"Yes please." He said as he handed over a crumpled ten pound note.

Ten minutes later we all spilled out onto the street once more, each with a portion of cod and chips wrapped in paper in hand. We walked a short way to King's Square where we found a bench to sit on - judging by the litter bin that was overflowing with discarded fish and chip wrapping it was a popular spot for the shop's customers. We all took a seat and unwrapped our servings of cod and chips.

"Well, here goes nuthin!" Alex announced as he tore off a small piece of crisply battered cod.

Tommy sniggered a little to my left.

"He said that just before he... y'know...went inthe other night!" He whispered in my ear.

I couldn't help but giggle myself.

"What?" Alex said in puzzlement at our chortling.

"Nothing!" I giggled in reply.

Alex harrumphed and returned his attention to his food.

"Aw man this is good!" He enthused as he savoured the crispy deep fried cod in batter, "Sure is greasy but mercy me it sure tastes amazing!"

His sentiments were clearly echoed by Jenny a few moments later.

"Nice innit?" Tommy said as he chomped on a piece of fish.

"Dude, that's a freakin' understatement!" Alex chuckled.

And so we sat and ate together and marvelled at our friends' reaction to their first ever taste of genuine English fish and chips, but there was an elephant in the room that simply wouldn't go away. Our friends were leaving for London the following morning, and from there back home to California in time to spend Thanksgiving with their parents. This was to be the very last night of their European adventure.

-- -- -- -- --

"So... this is goodbye then." I heard Tommy say to Alex as we stepped onto the southbound platform of York railway station.

"But not fare-thee- well." Alex replied, "I'm gonna make sure we come back to visit just as soon as we can!"

"And y'all better make sure you guys come visit us just as soon as you can afford to y'hear!" Jenny added.

"Just try and stop us!" I replied, "I can't wait to see California, I'm gonna start saving up right now!"

"Yeah, and you owe me tickets to one of your Condors games!" Tommy added.

"Man, it'd be an absolute pleasure - consider it a date my friend!" Alex said with a slight sniff that I interpreted as an attempt to stifle a tear.

"Speakin' o' which..." He continued as he rummaged in his bag momentarily, "I want you to have this."

He held out his blue baseball cap emblazoned with the emblem of the Playa State Condors. Tommy's eyes lit up as he took the hat from Alex's hand.

"Wow, er... thanks Alex!" Tommy grinned.

"Now you make sure you wear it with pride OK?" Alex replied.

"I will! I doubt that anyone else in this country will have one like this." Tommy enthused, "Erm... Soar Condors!"

"Soar Condors!" Alex replied brightly, pumping his fist in the air.

"Platform 3 for the 10:28 service to London Kings Cross."The public address system interjected as Alex and Jenny's train arrived into the grand old station,"Calling at Doncaster, Grantham,Peterborough and London Kings Cross. Platform 3 for the 10:28 service to London Kings Cross."

"I'm... I'm gonna miss you Ally-cat." I heard Tommy over the noise of the train's Diesel engines as it rolled past us.

"I'm gonna miss you too Tommy-bear." Alex replied sadly.

The five of us, since Terri was able to come with us to see our friends off, engaged in a group hug. Terri, having obviously enjoyed being reunited with Jenny over the past few days, sniffed and fought back her tears as best she could. But eventually she had no choice but to submit herself to her emotions.

"One day Jen..." She said tearfully, "You and me and Beth on Rodeo Drive!"

"It's a date!" Jenny replied tearfully, "And y'all make sure you come see us real soon 'kay?!"

"As soon as we can afford to!" I pledged.

We helped to get our friends' hefty rucksacks onto the train and followed them along outside the train carriage as they found a vacant pair of seats. We waved at them through the window as the guard blew his whistle to set the train on its way south to London. Later that evening they would be on a flight from Heathrow airport back across the Atlantic to Los Angeles to be met by their parents after their four-month backpacking adventure around Europe. I know they couldn't wait to see their family again but for us, despite our pledges to see them again soon, we knew it could be several years at least before we would be able to see them again.

The InterCity train's diesel engines revved up with a brief clag of black diesel exhaust from its roof and it slowly began to roll out of the station. We waved at Alex and Jenny and they waved back as we walked, then jogged and finally sprinted along the platform as the train accelerated out of the station, only stopping once we reached the end of the platform. Our friends gone, the three of us gathered ourselves into a tearful 3-way embrace. We knew we would all be together again, one day, but at the time it had a depressing sense of finality about it - we were under no illusions about how expensive it would be for us as mere students to travel all the way to California to see them, but we were all united in a common desire to see our friends again. Standing there, in the rain at the southern end of platform 3 of York railway station, we pledged solemnly to do whatever it took to save as much money as we possibly could in order to see our friends again. It was a pledge that, for Terri in particular, would turn out to have far-reaching consequences.

-- -- -- -- --

So, what exactly are the 'far-reaching' consequences that Beth was alluding to? You'll just have to wait for the next chapter to find out!

Huge, huge thanks to my good friend Natchez for her invaluable help proofreading, editing, and for being my go-to gal for all things American. And thanks also to my no.1 fan Jack for his encouragement.