The Lights Behind the Shadows

There was a fine, cold drizzle outside. Boris was approaching the University's imposing building when an unusual sight caught his attention. He had never seen so many bikes in one place before. It was his first student day and he didn't feel quite confident. Following the flow of students he entered into the building. Time was flying and he had to find quickly the room where the first lecture would be. He read the programme on the Internet and now he looked at his phone, where he had...
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There was a fine, cold drizzle outside. Boris was approaching the University's imposing building when an unusual sight caught his attention. He had never seen so many bikes in one place before. It was his first student day and he didn't feel quite confident. Following the flow of students he entered into the building. Time was flying and he had to find quickly the room where the first lecture would be. He read the programme on the Internet and now he looked at his phone, where he had saved it. He assumed it was on the second floor and after he climbed the stairs, he started to wander along the hallways.
The building seemed just as unwelcoming from the inside as it was from the outside but it was as if in tune with the frowning and humid weather... Those thoughts quickly flew away because he had to go in. The hall was a pretty big one - a typical amphitheatrical university aula. He had seen such one in Greece once, in a private school, but this one had quite impressive sizes. He expected there to be more people. Everyone sat tense and alienated. They were scattered on the benches. He glanced around and paused on some white hands that looked somehow as if they were transparent, somewhat tiredly relaxing on the faded surface of the benches. Immediately he imagined that they belonged to some small blond almost white-headed child from some Scandinavian country. And then he heard his name:
"Mister Boris!"
"Okay, I am going to explain again about my name," he thought. Since they came to Scotland this had already started to get annoying! His name was Boris but the Scots often put the emphasis on the O and so his name became familiar and convenient to them. He felt tempted but did not correct him. He had to suppress the desire to attract attention. As his mother used to say: "If they know your name at school then you're not impersonal!" She was the smartest and most interesting person, always ready with a piece of advice on any situation. She would be immensely proud if she could see him now starting with confidence what she had dreamed of most!
He found a seat and sat down. The teacher already knew his name so he didn't have to introduce himself. The gentleman had a sloppy look but he had a pretty expressive face. Without many introductions he began the lecture. The attendees seemed to Boris as if they were a little carried away, although what the teacher was explaining was not boring. History has always been Boris's favorite subject but "History of law" was a completely unknown matter.
"We will have to study hard", the young man thought. Still, everything seemed unreal to him. He - at the University of Edinburgh, right according to his mother's plans. Not that he followed her dreams but for as long as he could remembered, she has been constantly saying that her son must get a diploma. Of course, he absolutely agreed with her but sometimes he liked just being lazy, hanging out with friends or making out with his girlfriend. His girlfriend was in Greece and he missed her a lot. They have been together for a year. He wrote to her regularly, they spoke at least once a day over the phone and he sent her pictures. He really wished she were here and they could go through everything together. There were quite a few girls who "fell for him" in Greece. Tall and charismatic, with a rather noisy and sometimes theatrical style, he preferred a girl with a behavior contrary to his. At the first conversations in his family about Edinburgh, he had reacted very violently above all because of her. He knew it would be hard to keep in touch from a distance. For his eighteen years and her seventeen, it was a great ordeal.