It was probably about twenty-three degrees in the clammy dormitory, but Lily was noticeably shivering. Mary had only just stopped her recently initiated nightly routine of feel-better-cramming after realising the lack of exams to cram for. Shaking her head at the deteriorating state of mind the sudden end of the examination period caused, Mary's rolling eyes caught her dorm mate's sorry figure.

'Lily?'

The girl in question raised her eyes from the sheets upon which her mind has been drawing an investigatory time line, and settled an empty look upon her features as she gazed at the bed post beyond Mary's back.

'I just want to go to bed. Thank you for today.'

She was referring Mary quickly realised as she settled back down on her bed, to the evening of distraction, the comforting silences, the diverting of prying questions and the silencio's of I-told-you-so's. The Lily downstairs had remained social and in good spirits, but exuded a slight dejected air nonetheless. The Lily upstairs curled up under her summer sheets, her solemn eyes now drawing her time line across the opposite wall, as she continued to shiver. Yet neither struck Mary as the Lily she knew and was growing up with. Mary finally recognising the shivering as a sign of things to come, took some breakfast chocolates with her as she crossed the room and got into the bed with Lily, pulling her close as she began to shake with earnest and the first sad tear rolled sideways down her cheek.

Meanwhile as their respective dorms carried on around them, two boys were realising what losses their actions had caused today. One still held onto a frankly naive hope, the same naivety would again cost many people several years later. A realisation that set the other boy apart and started him on his journey to manhood was that some of these losses weren't even tangible; some of these losses weren't even his. And the consequences of his actions began to bowl into him so hard and fast that James had to take a few shots of the illegally acquired firewhiskey being passed around, in rapid succession in order to hinder their hitting home.

Much too little, much to late for the girl with the breaking heart.