Lily Wilson was an overachiever. Growing up, she had always dreamt of a life away from Redcar, her hometown. A former Steel town, her father had been one of the few lucky enough to hold onto his job while various companies tried to salvage the plant, but she had seen enough to know that a life in a single industry town was tough. Seeing the lack of opportunity she focused on her education as her ticket out. At just 11 years old, she had decided that when she grew up, she would leave and build a better life.
Her parents were supportive. Her mum, Susan, encouraged her, "You can be anything you want to be, Darling. Just make sure you remember us when you take over the world." She would say with a kiss on the head and a cup of tea as Lily concentrated on her homework.
Her father, Bill, though supportive, was less convinced. "There's nothing wrong with having dreams, Love, but there's nothing wrong with Redcar," He told once when she was 13, while she was laying out her hopes for the future, "We've built a life here over generations; be proud of where you come from."
She wasn't ashamed of where she came from. Her family was loving; they might have been working class, but she had always been provided with everything that mattered. Maybe she didn't get every luxury she wanted, but she never doubted her parents' efforts to provide what they could.
At school, her teachers encouraged her, glad to have a student so determined to learn and improve. Many of her friends had similar ambitions, but they weren't quite as comfortable with the idea of leaving home. Those who did want to leave didn't have a concrete idea of what they wanted in the future. Most of it was just abstract ideas of leaving and making it big, but no real ideas on the journey.
When she turned 16, she got a weekend job in her local shop. She saved half her wages. She gave a quarter to her parents to help out and used the rest on herself. Her dedication to her studies and job minimised her social life, but she didn't care. There would be time for that later. As soon as she turned 18, she went to the local pub her father frequented and begged for a job, doing Friday and Saturday nights. Her little free time went to running and the gym an outlet for all the pressure and stress she put on herself.
Her hard work paid off when she finished her A-Levels. As expected, she got top marks and was accepted at Oxford with her top choice of College, Christ Church, to study PPE - Politics, Philosophy and Economics. She had her ticket out of Redcar.
Her parents were proud of her achievement. She was the first person in her family to attend University. The weekend before they drove her down, they threw a party to celebrate her success. All of her family attended: her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Despite the happy mood, Lily was subdued; in her head, this was just the start.
"That's my girl," Her grandfather exclaimed proudly. "You show those posh people in Oxford what Redcar is made of!"
Lily accepted all the praise and well wishes. She was surprised at the end of the party when her grandmother gave her a cheque. When she saw the amount, she wanted to refuse it. Five thousand pounds, she knew in the grand scheme of things it wasn't a large amount of money, but to her family, it was a big sacrifice.
"Take it, love," her grandmother pressed, "we all contributed. We're so proud of you."
"Thanks, Nan," Lily replied with a tight hug. "Don't be proud of me yet. This is just the start of my journey."
"I know Petal. You're going to do great things."
Oxford was a different world to Lily. In Redcar, she had been the outlier, the overachiever, and the best. In Oxford, she was surrounded by people who were all as clever as she was. She was no longer the leader of the pack; she was just one of many trying to find her place. Lily used this as motivation. She was just as good as these people. Of course, there were the elitists who believed it was their right to attend Oxford rather than something to be earned. She learned early to avoid them where possible.
There was one boy on her course who particularly got to her, Alex Taylor. He appeared to be everything that she thought represented the entitled Oxford 'elite'. His grandfather had taught economics for 45 years, and his grandmother had taught history and first-year politics. He was the third generation to attend Oxford, his uncle had studied history at Merton, and his father was Christ Church Alumni who had also studied PPE. He didn't need to act entitled to this world; he was born into it. To Lily, he became just another silver spoon nepo baby, who was only there because it was expected of him.
She had met him at an orientation party. She had initially been drawn to him because he appeared different to the rest of the crowd. He didn't have that clipped private school accent and appeared more down to earth, lacking the entitlement and privilege the others had. It helped he was handsome, with a mixed-race skin tone, around 6'2, with a well-muscled build. He was polite and charming, showing genuine interest in her background and where she came from.
Lily was interested in his background. She learned he had grown up in Botswana, close to his mother's family, for most of his life. His father ran a business that invested in start-ups and attracted foreign investment. Then, Lily learned about his Oxford connection and immediately thought he was showing off. Her initial attraction turned to disdain.
As classes began, Lily settled in and got over her perceptions. Oxford was so much more than the university. Away from the historic city centre was a different world. Twenty minutes walk from College was the Cowley road with its diverse community. There was Jericho, an old industrial area where the University Press was housed and where there once were ironworks, now an emerging suburb with bars and restaurants. Even the student body wasn't what she expected. Yes, many of her peers had been born into privilege and had attended private schools, but just as many came from humble beginnings like she did. They all had to earn their place. She was just entitled to this world as they were. Their backgrounds meant nothing as they all worked to find their place under the gruelling expectations that came with attending Oxford.
In this, she found friends quickly as she joined clubs and study groups, determined to make the most of the opportunity. She joined a running society for exercise. Her only problem was Alex. It all seemed to come so naturally to him; the workload, social life and general expectations and Lily resented him for it. He seemed almost disinterested in all of it. Almost as if the expectations didn't matter to him. Lily saw it as arrogance. Maybe it was. Lily thought he probably had his life planned out for him. He would graduate and then work a cushy job for one of his father's connections in London for a few years before he returned to Botswana to take over the family business.
Away from classes, she kept her distance from him, but she still heard snippets of his achievements. He was picked to play rugby for the College's first team, one of only two freshers with that honour. He was extremely popular and never seemed to lack female attention. He seemed to have a different date for every social occasion.
In their shared classes, she quickly realised he was out of her league academically. He shared insights and thoughts that never would have come to her despite doing all the required readings. He never shared his marks. She would ask him after their essays were returned, and he would just shrug and tell everyone he did 'alright' before moving on.
Lily started using him as her benchmark. Whatever he could do, so could she. She learned how to network and became a social butterfly. She started dating but never pursued a relationship. It was just a distraction from her goal of being the best. The sex was fun and filled a need, but ultimately, it was meaningless, and the men she met never held her attention for long.
Lily and Alex were finally pushed together at the end of their first year when they were randomly paired for a project on the second Russian Revolution for the politics portion of their course. He insisted that they have their first meeting in a pub rather than the library. She tried to protest, but he wouldn't budge.
"Let's be honest, we're not going to do any work in our first session," he told her calmly. "We'll argue about schedules and who is doing what. We might as well have a drink at the same time and be open with each other."
Lily wanted to argue but couldn't fault his logic. "Fine, one drink, but not at a pub. The college bar will be fine," she agreed.
Lily was surprised when he paid for her drink, given the circumstances, but he just shrugged, "I insisted on this. A pint of cider seems a fair price."
At their table, Lily was all business, "Okay, looking at our timetables and other commitments, our best times are Tuesday nights and Sunday afternoons."
"Can we do Sunday mornings or nights instead? Sunday afternoons is my time with my Grandma. That's not negotiable," he replied firmly.
"Can you even get up on Sunday mornings?" She asked in return. "I thought Saturday nights are when you and your rugby mates drink this place dry before heading into town."
Instead of answering her question, Alex gave her a firm look. "I get it. You don't like me even though I've never done anything to you," he told her bluntly. "The second you learned my background, you thought I was just another privileged posh kid, here because of the family I was born into and not because I earned it. If you had ever actually tried to get to know me, you would realise that's not true. I earned my place here just like you. I take my work seriously; if I commit to Sunday mornings, I'll be there."
His bluntness took Lily aback. "You're right, I don't like you," she conceded. "I'll acknowledge that you're clever, probably the cleverest on our course. I just think you're a bit too smug about all of this. From the outside, it appears too easy for you, like you're here to amuse yourself."
"If I wanted to amuse myself, I would have gone to a party town. I'm here for a reason," he answered quickly. "How about this? Why don't you come with me and we can work on this at my Grandma's? Russian politics is one of the things she taught; she'll probably give us some good advice."
"Ah, so that's why you have all those clever insights in our tutorials. They're all your grandmother's ideas, nothing original from you," she replied harshly.
Alex shrugged, "Grandma is a teacher at heart. She might advise or point me in the right direction, but I still have to do the work. Look, it's a free lunch, and trust me, at least initially, we can get as much work done there as we can in the library."
"Fine, what time?" Lily answered, now curious.
"Lunch is typically around one, so let's meet at 11.30. We'll get there by 12, and that'll give Grandma time to meet you before we eat."
