Nineteen-year-old Fermat Hackenbacker was going to England, to do a PhD at the University of Oxford. He had attended MIT for his Bachelor's and Masters degree. During his time at MIT, he had grown up a lot. He still had the stutter, but in general, he was more confident in himself. Whilst not muscular, he was not the skinny child he had been. The thin, black-framed glasses he now wore also suited him much better than the thick, blue ones he had favoured as a child.
Mr Tracy had purchased a small, three bedroom house in Oxford for Fermat to live in whilst doing his PhD. The smallest bedroom would be set up as a study, and the second bedroom would be ready for if he had guests.
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Having registered at the University, he had been introduced to his supervisor, who had introduced him to the others that they supervised. There was a second year guy called Ben, a girl called Madison, who was also a second year, two third year guys called Greg and Dean, and a fourth year guy, Theo. They were also joined by another first year guy, Will.
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As the end of the first week approached, Ben invited them all to come to his step-sister's first gig that night. She was a first year student at Oxford Brookes, studying Computer Science. She had done music at A-Level, along with computing and physics, and enjoyed performing.
Fermat entered the pub and soon found the others. As he got a drink at the bar, a girl with blonde hair, the ends dyed a pale pink, stepped into a performance area, a guitar over her shoulder. She wore a jean skirt, long, brown boots and a purple, flowery top.
"Hi everyone. My name is Fee. I hope you enjoy the gig" she said. "First song is a favourite of mine." She began playing Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift. She followed up with a number of different songs, including some eighties stuff, a bit of Avril Lavigne, and a little Paramore, interspersed with original songs. Fermat thought she was amazing. She was cute too.
After the gig, Fee had joined them for a drink.
"It's so good to see you Ben" she hugged him. "Thanks for coming."
"Of course" Ben replied, returning the hug. He then introduced the others to Fee. She thanked them all for coming too and they lapsed into conversation.
Fermat found he enjoyed talking to Fee. Before she left to get the bus back to her halls, they exchanged phone numbers.
x-x
He began to message her regularly, and after a couple of weeks, he got the courage to ask her on a date. She said yes.
She said yes again a couple of weeks after that, when he asked her to be his girlfriend.