Chapter 3: Settling In

This chapter takes the reader through the first term, finishing at the christmas break and Victor’s awaiting HIV test back up north. It is all about Victor’s outrageous desires, ambitions and the early signs of excessive behaviour. We witness Victor organise his London social life, including planning for his twenty first birthday, while writing letters home to friends, describing his new life, with the same enthusiasm as he puts into his studies. He takes the reader through his panic after registering at his new doctor’s only to receive a diagnosis of non-specific Urithritis and the ensuing reverberations into his new social life.
We see his support of the England football team’s World Cup ‘94 qualifying campaign at Wembley and the Fresher’s Ball he attends at The Ministry of Sound. Victor fills his life with extra curricular Italian lessons and jumps out of an Aircraft for charity to test his ‘theory’ about dying.

We see him make friends with Lewis, Dean and Diago through various parties at the college bar and in Halls of Residence. He begins to take drugs at venues like Whirl Y Gig in Shoreditch and gets abysmally drunk at a “Seduction” night in The Milk Bar and falls off a deance stage. He also develops a clubbing partnership with Carl, a BMXer from Eastbourne, who also loves visiting different London clubs every Saturday night.

In his more sober states he takes us through the first main module of “Visual Representation”, what he learns, what he produces for it and how he rates other student’s solutions, specifically Nathan Foreman who is beginning to intrigue him. Victor also picks up an 85% mark for the second module “Introduction to Graphic Language” for condensing a three year degree into six weeks by representing the course as a colour coded timetable inside a predefined prospectus folder.

Sadly, just before Christmas, Victor’s Grandfather dies unexpectedly, leaving his Nan a widow and his mum, now living 65 miles away from her, with a problem. On his return north at the end of term, a petrified Victor completes his HIV test in secret and alone.
The aim of this chapter is to show Victor’s lust for life, his taste for highs and the way he approaches, reacts to and relieves stress.

This chapter is divided into six parts:
1) Organising and executing the perfect social life
2) Dealing with the embarassing yet frightening prospect of harbouring an STD
3) Being number one at college
4) Excess in cigarettes, alcohol and especially drugs in “all the right places”
5) Dealing with the death of your Grandfather
6) The courage it takes a young man to have an HIV test.