Track 3
‘ADAM AND EVE’ (PAUL ANKA)
Adam and Lily had both applied to the same universities – apparently unintentionally – and they were both accepted by Edinburgh; both four-year BA (Hons) courses; Journalism for Lily and English Literature for Adam.
They had been overjoyed and had got rather drunk to celebrate.
It was just a continuation of life as they knew it. Always together, never apart.
Edinburgh University had been the first choice for both Adam and Lily for several reasons.
To begin with, it wasn’t a million miles away from home in the Scottish Borders.
Secondly, Edinburgh was the most amazingly bright and culturally varied city, making it an exhilarating place to study.
The atmosphere was electric, and the history was enough to keep even the most enquiring minds sated.
The multi-coloured buildings of Grassmarket’s curved street brought a smile on the dullest of days, and the multitude of bars and restaurants meant that even a student’s meagre purse could be accommodated.
Another attraction for the pair was the Fringe Festival that took place annually in the month of August right in the city centre.
It was such a blast with comedians and street performers taking over every available inch of the Royal Mile and every venue with a room to spare.
The place came alive with laughter, fancy costumes, and vivid colours.
Myriad aromas wafted through the air from vending carts, tantalising the taste buds, and a wide variety of music vied for the attention of each person’s auditory senses.
You could walk down the street and be accosted by all manner of characters, wielding leaflets and free tickets, trying to entice you in to see their shows.
Both Adam and Lily had been making the trip up to the capital city every year, together of course.
When they were younger, they would travel to the festival with their parents, who had become friends through their children, but once they got older, they travelled by themselves, feeling very grown-up and independent.
Although they had spent many Christmas shopping trips in Scotland’s capital, both Lily and Adam never failed to be overwhelmed by the stunning stonework as they gazed upward.
The Scott monument stood in its proud position overlooking the main shopping thoroughfare of Princes Street.
The imposing castle, high on its rocky precipice, peered out over the city below.
History and hidden stories from days past oozed from the very mortar of the churches and tenements in the Old Town area.
Even the hidden street of Mary King’s Close had eerie, spooky tales of witches and foul play to share beneath the now modern and bustling city above.
Edinburgh truly was a spectacular city and the decision to study there had been made with very little trepidation.
Freshers’ week was a blast. Too much alcohol, but so many laughs and new friendships were established. The excitement got the adrenaline pumping because this was the start of life as an adult; the first week of the rest of their lives.
‘I can’t believe we’re finally here, Adders!
’ Lily twirled around, arms spread, and head back with her long chocolate waves flowing like streamers, as they took in the centre quadrangle of the Old College.
They had been taking the self-guided tour of the campus and had stopped on the grass to take a break and grab a quick drink of water.
The sun was surprisingly warm for the time of year, and its presence, hanging low in the early-autumn sky, cast a golden glow over everything, giving an ethereal quality to the old architecture.
Adam watched Lily with an expression of incredulity as she collapsed dizzily in a heap next to him. ‘Yup, it’s pretty spectacular, eh? Bit of a change from high school, that’s for sure.’
Lily stood again. ‘You’re not kidding. I’m looking forward to being treated like an adult,’ she stated as she began to spin around again with her eyes closed.
He burst out laughing. ‘Yeah… because that’s what you are, eh? An adult!’
Lily stuck out her tongue and plopped herself down beside him again.
‘Durrr, I’m officially eighteen, so, yes.
Are you happy you decided to live in halls for the first year?
’ They had several options, from renting a place, to driving in every day, to living in halls. They had both chosen the latter.
Adam replied, ‘Yeah. I think it’ll be much better to get the whole university experience.’ He pulled at blades of grass and threw them at her.
Lily rolled her eyes. ‘Yeah right, that’s the reason. I think what you mean is that we’re out from under our parents’ scrutinising gaze, and what they don’t know can’t hurt them.’ She pulled a huge chunk of grass and threw it back at Adam in retaliation.
He laughed heartily and wagged his finger at her. ‘Oh yeah, that’s what I meant.’ He brushed the grass from his shirt. ‘Seriously though, I think it’ll be cool.’
Lily grinned. ‘I reckon so. And we’re close enough by so that if you need me for anything—’
‘If I need you for anything? Don’t you mean that the other way around?
You’re the one who’s always forgetting shit.
I can see it now. Ooh, Adders, I’ve run out of coffee…
ooh, Adders, I can’t find my textbook on the Principles and Practices of Investigative Journalism…
Oooh, Adders, my boyfriend has dumped me because I’m still in love with Paolo Nutini. If I need you, pah!’
Lily’s obsession with the Paisley-born singer had started back in 2006 when she had first heard him singing ‘Last Request’ live on some TV show. The heartfelt lyrics had made her cry and that’s all it had taken.
She hit Adam playfully with her satchel.
‘Bloody cheek. The only part of that likely to come true is the last part. I only have eyes for Paolo Giovanni Nutini,’ she said with a dreamy sigh.
‘God, he’s so gorgeous. I mean, what’s not to love?
He’s Scottish, he writes incredible lyrics, he has those amazing doleful eyes, he’s ridiculously handsome, he has Latin European heritage like yours truly, and he sings, there isn’t a more perfect specimen of a man on earth as far as I’m concerned.
’ She threw herself backwards onto the grass swooning and feigning a black-out.
Lily had been raised on seventies rock and nineties grunge thanks to her father’s eclectic tastes, and she rarely found anything newer that she liked quite as much but Paolo Nutini had been an exception.
She had dragged Adam along, under duress, to see him play live at a few gigs and festivals and had posters of him plastered on her bedroom walls.
He smirked. ‘I can think of a gazillion more talented musicians.’
‘Erm, each to their own, Adders. And anyway…’ She paused as if to find the right words. ‘He’s timeless. They just don’t make men like him any more, Adam.’
‘Yeah, well, I’m pretty sure he’s off touring so you’re not likely to bump into him here, so get over it… Cheesy.’
At that, she sat bolt upright and pursed her lips. He readied himself in case she decided to launch one of her infamous attacks, but instead she stood up, huffed and stormed off.
‘Oy! Lil! Come back, you muppet!’ He ran after her. And so was laid the foundation of their time at university…
Lily and Adam forged many new friendships and made the most of the social aspects of the wonderful city of Edinburgh during their time at uni.
Both found part-time jobs in local bars – Lily in the rather swanky Voodoo Rooms which was housed in an old Victorian building and served fancy cocktails in opulent gold-painted surroundings; and Adam in the student favourite Jekyll and Hyde bar that had been an Edinburgh staple since the late nineties, but they still managed to spend time together in between.
Summers and Christmas holidays were spent at home with their families, and two years on, at the halfway point of their time at uni, things were going well, in most ways.
After their gruelling second year, Adam and Lily embarked upon a summer holiday in 2013 to the Spanish resort of Magaluf, where they and their friends had overindulged in alcohol and raised hell like normal twenty-year-olds.
In spite of the fact she hated flying, Lily had been desperate to travel the world, but her meagre student earnings wouldn’t stretch very far so a package holiday had to suffice.
And again, she had watched as Adam broke countless hearts, leaving a slew of bereft young women in his wake.
She had, on several occasions, called him out for his promiscuous ways.
His response was always the same. ‘It’s not like I sleep with every single one though, Lil. I’m not some kind of pathetic gigolo.’
‘Well, put it this way, if it was me behaving like that, I’d have an awful reputation by now!’
On their arrival home the two friends returned to their respective residences they had found after their first year in halls. Lily’s – a flat with another girl from her course, and Adam’s – a house he shared with three other male students; getting back just before their next term was due to start.
Back to reality and the first week of lectures for their 2013–2014 semester came around quickly.
They met up to walk in together and made plans to meet for lunch so they could regale each other with tales of their first encounters with new lecturers.
Lily talked non-stop about the fact that one of her lecturers for this year had worked all over the world for The Times and she was so excited to meet him.