September 2, 2010 Oxford, England
Elizaveta Hedarvary was not nervous at all. Everyone around her was ridden with anxiety, but she knew exactly what was going on. She was graduating a year early from Oxford with a degree in war strategy. One might think that her parents would be proud of her, but unfortunately, they were not. Eliza's father had died when she was young, and since then, nothing could please her mother. Until she had a degree in something that did not involve war, or anything governmental for that matter, she would not have her mother's approval.
It also wouldn't hurt for Eliza to be married, but she didn't even want to think about that right now.
Everyone running around the main campus was looking for their friend or dorm, but this year Eliza did not have to worry about that. She had convinced her mother to let her rent a flat, since she was saving money on the year that she wouldn't be paying for tuition.
She only had two classes this semester, so she would have more than enough free time. Getting a job could help her pass the time, but she regretted not having friends to do things with. In her past two years of University, she had been so serious about studying and cramming in as many classes as possible, she hadn't had any time to socialize.
Eliza was not a very outgoing person, but lately she had been especially reclusive. She was in such a hurry to graduate, but now she realized what that meant. She would have to go back to Hungary.
The thought of her country brought back thoughts of the time before she left. The day after she had finished school, she had bought a train ticket to France, and from there took a boat to England. Eliza hadn't even been accepted into Oxford yet, but she needed to get away. Her mother was so unhappy with her, and everything that had happened with Gilbert…
She never wanted to see him again.
Eliza tried to forget Gilbert, and whatever had gone on between them. The more she tried to name their strange bond, the harder it was to think of anything else. She continued walking the few blocks between the campus and her flat, though her mind was in the Czech Republic.
Though she nor Gilbert was Czech, the lived there, along with their Austrian friend Roderich. They were all close in age, though Gilbert was a few years older than Eliza, and Roderich was a year younger than her. They all lived on a large estate in the Czech Republic with their mothers, while their fathers worked in the governments of their countries. They wanted their families to live elsewhere because they had plans to change their governments and unite them into a new version of Nazi Germany. Before they could actually do anything to work towards this goal, though not before they could gain a high social status and amount of wealth, somebody found out about their plan. They were evicted from their jobs and convicted as criminals and traitors to their countries. Roderich's father was pardoned, and he moved his family back to Austria. Eliza had not seen him since. Her and Gilbert's fathers' intentions must have been much darker, and before their trials, they were mysteriously killed. Their mothers were close, and so instead of moving back to Russia, Gilbert and his mother moved back to Hungary and lived on a piece of land close to Eliza's mother's. By this time, Elizaveta was fifteen. Even though none of them were children anymore, they still kept the same personalities. Eliza had always been twice as boyish as Roderich, and though her mother tried to stifle this, it never worked. Her and Gilbert often fought each other and bullied Roderich. It was only when they were a little older that Eliza learned to appreciate this softness, for she would sit on the grass under his window and listen to him playing his piano for hours. She would always leave before she thought he would notice, but he always knew that she was there. As they grew into adolescents, they took up a secret interest in each other, only to be abruptly stopped by Roderich's moving away. GIlbert was older, and had already had an interest in Eliza before she was even old enough to realize such things. Out of grief of Roderich's leaving, she fell for it. So for the next three years, she thought that she loved Gilbert. Her mother was thrilled, for he was actually more of a boy than she was. When she turned eighteen and finished school, she applied for the Oxford University and bought a train ticket. Before she left, she told Gilbert that she hated him and told her mother that she had always been too overbearing. Eliza hadn't looked back since.
By the time she recounted all of the events leading up to her running away, she had reached her flat. She had only locked and unlocked her door a few times, though she had already learned some of her neighbors.
The person that lived to the left of her was only slightly interesting. He was small and hardly spoke, but when he did, it was in thickly accented Italian. He was always alone.
The flat to the right of Eliza was vacant. A strange man called Francis lived to the right of that. Eliza swore he was an alcoholic. She walked through the door and locked it behind her, for some reason afraid of her life back in Hungary, and that if she didn't lock the door, it would come and get her.
She had nothing to read or study, which was rare. She knew that she would tomorrow though, so she thought that enjoying the peace and quiet would be fitting now.
Eliza tried to relax, but she couldn't. It was too silent, for the sound of Roderich's piano had been gone for too long now.
Alfred Jones was excited. There weren't many times when he wasn't, but today was special. It was his first day of college. He loved being in England, for he had never left America before. The only difference he had noticed so far was that the weather was far more dreary, and that everyone had those wonderful accents. Alfred hoped that his roommate would have one too.
In his parent's anger, they told him that they would not pay for him to have his own apartment. (He didn't understand why people called them flats here.) He was happy to live in a dorm, because it gave him the opportunity to make new friends.
Even though his parents sent him to Oxford for no other reason than to get rid of him, he was still happy to be here. They had more money than they knew what to do with, and he Alfred was the product of that. Always happy, reckless, and without a care in the world. He had never done well in school, but that didn't keep him from getting into college. With a generous donation and a halfway filled out application, his parents got him into the easiest of all programs, general studies. A few months later he began college in England.
His parents said they sent him away because they were tired of his reckless trouble making, but he knew the truth. They just wanted him off of their hands so that they could continue climbing the social ladder of Charlotte, North Carolina without having an eccentric son to deal with.
Alfred was so excited to be out of North Carolina, and couldn't stop thinking about how he wished his roommate had one of those British accents. He hoped that he was friendly, and liked football, and liked staying out all night…
As he opened the door to his dorm, his hopes were shattered. The boy on the left side of the room sat on his bed in the dark, pecking away at his computer. Alfred turned on the light and smiled at the boy. "Hi, I'm Alfred." He said.
"Arthur," said the boy, "I see you've come from The States."
Alfred was too shocked by Arthur's voice to reply right away. His accent was thick and his voice was deep, despite his size. He was small and had blond hair, just like Alfred's, only lighter and cut shorter.
"Yeah," Alfred said, not noticing just how southern his accent really was until he heard it right after Arthur's, "from North Carolina."
"Liverpool." Arthur said, not looking up from his computer. He hadn't stopped typing.
"Do you ever speak in full sentences?" Alfred shamelessly asked.
"Why, I hope I'm able to, as I do study english." Arthur replied, his typing slowing.
"Why would a perfectly english speaking, English boy take english classes?" Alfred asked, stepping closer. He was entirely fascinated in his new roomate by now.
"I imagine your major is something better then?" Arthur said, slowly starting to close his laptop but not looking up.
"General studies." Alfred said with a shrug, not entirely sure what that meant.
Arthur slammed his computer shut and looked up, startling Alfred.
"Bloody hell, you came all this was for general studies? What kind of an idiot are you?"
Alfred was shocked, "I don't know, my parents sent me."
Arthur looked his roommate over. With a quick inspection, he knew what he was. "Rich kid." he said, "I should have known." With that he got up and sat his computer on the desk next to his bed.
Alfred didn't know what to do. "What?" was all that he could say.
"That's the reason you're here," Arthur said, standing in front of him now. "You didn't have to work or try or do anything to get in." He then walked over to a dresser and pulled what looked like a worker's uniform out of a drawer. "I have to go to work now." He said.
"Where do you work?" Alfred said, perking up again.
"In a shop." Arthur replied, eyeing him. "I bet you've never worked a day in your life."
That was true, but Alfred didn't want to admit it. "Sure I have." He mumbled.
Arthur stepped past him to the door. "Goodbye Alfred, I'll be back sometime in the night." With that he was gone. Before he left, Alfred noticed him give a small smile. He pondered its authenticity for a while.
He couldn't tell if Arthur liked him or not. He hoped he did, the only reason he wanted to live in a dorm was so that he could make new friends. Alfred wondered what Arthur had against people with money, though he had never thought about having it before. It was so normal to him, he had forgotten to realize that not everyone had what he did.
All of his friends had lived in the same expensive neighborhood, and went to the same private school. They all had the same amounts of money to get in trouble with. He never thought that people would resent him for this, and he suddenly felt ashamed.
Alfred fell asleep that night in the small bed on the opposite side of the room from Arthur's with so many things on his mind. Most of all, he wanted to make friends with his roommate, the only person he had ever met who was not like his parents.