Scandalous Read Free

card onto plastic, hands it to
me and snatches the next certificate.
    I couldn't care less now, I've got my student card at
last. This is it, a new chapter of my life is beginning. I
feel confident and serene, holding my future in my own
two hands, on this stupid bit of plastic.
    Laura D. First year of Modern Languages Spanish.
    Classy.
    I head back to the Métro, relieved.

Chapter 2
A Stipulation
    8 September 2006
    A FTER WORKING A FULL DAY at the restaurant I walk
back into the apartment where I live with my
boyfriend, Manu. We've being going out for a year and
moved in together two months ago.
    At the time I was desperately trying to solve the
problem of where I could live for the start of the
academic year. I had no money at all and my parents
couldn't help me financially. On top of that, they don't
live in V but, ever since I got my Baccalaureate results,
I've known I would have to study here. Manu's been
living here since he started his physics course and I was
really happy to be joining him. So I started looking for
an apartment, skimming through the small ads at the
student welfare office to find a cheap little room. I soon
realised that an actual apartment was far too expensive,
not to say completely out of the question. I just wanted
a roof over my head, but even that seemed out of reach.
I wasn't looking for anything swanky; my budget
wouldn't allow for that, anyway.
    I'd come to a dead end. Because I wasn't entitled to a
grant, I didn't get any help from the State, and that
meant no help for accommodation either. The welfare
office favoured people with grants for places in student
lodgings, and my parents really couldn't put up 200
euros a month for rent. Apart from finding a job or
giving up on uni, I couldn't see how to make it work.
Plenty of students manage jobs at the same time as
studying, but they are often the ones who fail exams or
give up during the course of the year. I couldn't abandon
my studies, I knew my future was at stake. Giving in now
and finding work would mean drawing a line under my
ambitions.
    I carried on looking frantically for a miracle in the
pages of free papers. At the same time I even went to
hostels for the homeless to get information about them.
I tried to convince myself it would be my only chance of
going to uni and that, once I got there, I could try to find
something else. But the thought of spending a night in
one of those places made me shudder, it just seemed so
degrading.
    I was beginning to despair of finding an acceptable
solution and one day when I was crying with frustration
Manu jumped at the opportunity.
    'We could live together! It would be great! Between us
we could pay a reasonable rent and we'd be together the
whole time!'
    His eyes were shining. I liked the idea, but my financial
problems stood in the way.
    'Manu, look, I really can't. I haven't got any money.
I've hardly got enough for a room, so a whole apartment
. . .'
    'You could get a part-time job, uni won't take up all
that much time.'
    I explained my reservations. Manu's family is comparatively
well off and he doesn't always realise all the
expenses I have to cover myself. To convince me I could
combine my studies with paid work, Manu showed me
the university site with timetables on it. I had a lot of
lectures but it was workable. I was seduced by this little
glimpse of the dream he was offering me.
    'You see, you can do it. I'm sure you can. Go on, say
yes! It would be so good to be together the whole time.
And, basically, you haven't got any choice.'
    It was true: I didn't really have a choice. I was so
happy I jumped into his arms, and I moved into his
apartment the very next day. It was complete luxury for
me: not just a bedsit but a one-bedroom apartment in
the centre of V. I felt like a princess in that palace! I
dumped my two heavy suitcases by the door and started
twirling round the apartment, making him dance with
me.
    My parents were relieved when they heard our solution,
even though they're not