Dropping Out of Uni

One of the things Andy had realised during the previous run was that he didn't need to stay on campus to stay in the time loop. He'd spent a whole night out of town with Elaine last time around and things simply continued as they had done ever since the first time he arrived at the University.

His aim for this week was to date Tina in much the same way he had just finished dating Elaine (except without the opportunity for any Leah side action, sadly). Trying to pass himself off as a third year was going to be impractical over a five day period for all kinds of reasons, and her affection level needed raising significantly before she would consider dating him as a Fresher. Therefore his best option would seemingly be to pretend he wasn't a student at all. He could crash in his dorm room at night if he really needed to, but had enough money in his bank account to check into a cheap hotel near Tina's place for the rest of the week, as well as several methods of making enough cash to acquire himself a much grander pad to impress her with.

First things first though, he needed to actually locate his target and meet her in a way that felt organic and would allow him to make a good first impression. This initially involved something that felt uncomfortably like stalking as he headed to her street and skulked across the road from her flat for a while, doing everything he could not to look suspicious. After around twenty minutes he was relieved to see the front door open and Tina emerging from it.

To Andy's delight she was alone and heading inwards the town centre rather than the University. That worked much better if he wanted to run into her while passing himself off as something other than a student. He followed her at a safe distance.

When she reached the High Street Andy's mark first headed into a Boots pharmacy. That would be a pretty awkward place to engineer a first encounter, so he feigned interest in something in a nearby shop window until she left. Next she visited a convenience store. Better, but still not great. Tina then wasn't in there for long before walking further down the road and and entering a sports shop, the windows of which were adorned with several replica football shirts - finally something he could really work with. Andy subtly followed her into the shop. The budding athlete didn't spend too long there, picking up a pair of goalie gloves and some shin pads before taking them directly to the counter. He made a note of the time she joined the queue as well as who was standing in front of her in the line. He then discretely left the store soon after she did.

Next Tina went into a bookies. Now she was really playing into Andy's hands - whether she was betting on the evenings football matches or the afternoons horses he had all the winners memorised. She went and stood at a screen showing the odds for the next race before tapping out her prediction, which was completely off, and scanning her bank card. It was at this point Andy became slightly concerned Tina was going to notice the weird guy who had been following her everywhere and was now hovering behind her to check she had bet on the wrong horse. He really didn't feel like having any awkward conversations with her and had all the information he needed for now anyway, so..

"Pittsburgh!"

---

Andy was back in the sports shop just in time to see Tina walk in and head over to inspect the goalie gloves again. He held on a moment, pretending to check out some golf clubs, until the middle aged woman who had been directly in front of his target in the queue before walked up to the counter with her basket again - he then followed her there. Moments later, Tina was behind him in the line, right where he wanted her to be - he had choreographed this perfectly. Once the customer in front of him had completed her business Andy stepped up to the counter, ready to perform.

"Excuse me mate, I realise this is a bit of a long shot but you don't sell the Leyton Orient shirt here do you?"

"Orient?" the young man serving him laughed "No, sorry mate"

"Do you know anywhere I could get one?"

"Maybe Leyton? If anyone even supports them there. There's certainly no demand here."

The guy was being a bit of a prick about this, which played perfectly unto Andy's hands.

"You have a Barcelona shirt in the window. How many people from Barcelona come to Mansfield to do their shopping?"

"Yeah, but they're a proper club aren't they? Not some shitty non-league team."

"Hey, we're a proper club., and we aren't non-league!" the ever feisty Tina had taken the bait just as anticipated and stepped up next to Andy to remonstrate with the disrespectful youth "Okay, we are a bit shit sometimes, but at least the people who buy our shirts are proper fans and not glory hunting wankers.. Who's your team?"

"Man City" the lad answered smugly.

"Jesus! I'll take my business elsewhere"

Tina left the items she had been intending to buy on the counter and walked away, as did Andy.

"Can you believe that?" she asked him.

"I know, Man City, right?" Andy rolled his eyes, with no clue as to why that was supposed to be bad.

"Yeah, fucking typical. Still, it's nice to meet a fellow O's fan so far from home. How come you support them? You don't have an East London accent?"

"No, I grew up in the West Country, but I moved just a few streets away from the stadium a few years back and got hooked. Do you know Osborne Road?"

"Know it? We're practically neighbours!" Tina's eyes lit up with enthusiasm, before she pursed her lips and studied Andy closely "come to think of it, you do look familiar. So what are you doing all the way up here. Uni?"

"Actually, I'm in town on business"

Tina looked intrigued. Apparently that was more interesting to her than him being yet another student.

"What kind of business?"

"Well, it's probably going to sound a bit strange" Andy rubbed the back of his neck in mock modesty "I make a living on the horses."

"No way! Do you mean betting?!"

Now he definitely had her full attention.

"Yeah, I've been very fortunate with it so far and it beats working" he told her "I was actually going to put a few wagers on at the bookies down the road after leaving here."

"Me too!" Tina smiled excitedly "Perhaps we could go together? I could definitely use some tips from a professional with the run I've been on lately."

"Sure, and maybe we could have our own private bet to make things even more interesting."

"What do you mean?"

"If I predict all five winners this afternoon you let me take you out to dinner to celebrate."

"Wow. Do you usually ask a girl out before you ask her name?" Tina smirked.

Shit. He had to remember these women didn't know he knew them already.

"Sorry, I'm Andy" he told her as he extended his had.

"I'm Tina" she answered as she shook it "And I accept your bet"