Chapter 1: A New Life

When we moved to Yorkshire two years ago, I was sent to the local boy’s grammar school. This was a big shock as I had had a number of girl friends and girlfriends at my previous mixed grammar school and had a busy social life. Now, the nearest girls’ school was at the other end of town, so we did not even meet any girls on the bus home. Fortunately, I made friends with Brian and Dave who, being 15 like me at the time, were more than a little interested in girls.

Brian tried to set me up with friends of his string of girlfriends, but while I was very attracted to some of his girlfriends, I was not particularly attracted to any of their friends. I even tried to go after his ex-girlfriends, but that never worked.

Dave had a girlfriend, Sue who he had been going out with since they were 13. They both lived very close to my house and went to the small Methodist church just down the road. They had invited me to join them at the youth club which was held in the rooms at the back of the church, after the Sunday evening service. My mother was already a regular worshipper and she initially dragged my Dad along too, but I refused to go with them. However, once she had made friends with Dave and Sue’s Mothers, Dad chose to go to the local working men’s club with Sue’s Dad for a couple of pints and a game of snooker instead.

I was tempted by Dave’s offer to introduce me at the youth club, especially as he told me there were plenty of pretty girls, but I did not want to get involved with any prudish religious types. When I explained my misgivings privately to Sue, she looked around quickly to see that no-one was watching and planted a very sexy kiss on my lips.

She laughed. “So, do you still think we’re all prudes, Jeff?”

I was a bit taken aback but laughed too. “OK. You’ve convinced me!”

The following Sunday, I waited for Dave and Sue outside the back entrance to the church. A number of teens walked past me through the gate, including quite a few pretty girls, who almost all gave me a shy little smile as they walked by. I was feeling much more enthusiastic when my friends arrived and took me in to meet Clifford, the youth club leader. He welcomed me and told me to have fun.

The youth club was held in a room the size of an average lounge and was too small for the number of people. Fortunately, there were passages and other small open rooms where teens were also hanging out. The lighting was dim and the music was loud and just what I liked, a mixture of the Beatles, the Stones, the Who and all the current rock bands. All of the girls wore miniskirts, some more mini than others! I was still eyeing up the talent, when a pretty girl came up to me, introduced herself as Jessica and asked me if I wanted to dance. So they were not all shy then, I thought and soon we were dancing. The music was too loud for conversation, so we eventually drifted into one of the nearby open rooms where a few couples were chatting and one or two were snogging. Jessica introduced me to a few other girls and a couple of boys.

I became a regular member of the club and was even persuaded to go to the church service a couple of times, although it still did nothing for me. I had fun dating lots of the girls over the next two years and enjoyed many of the club activities, especially hiking over the moors.

There was one particular girl, Jenny who I really liked, she was a year younger than me, very pretty, with sparkly eyes and a lovely smile. She was slim but had a nicely developing figure with quite full breasts for her age. She had a sexy round bottom which I loved to watch when she was dancing. She often wore a very short light brown cord miniskirt with white lacy tights and a fitted roll-neck jumper in the winter. I managed to get a number of dances with her but, unfortunately, she was going out with Mick, a boy from my school, in the year above me.

Soon after I turned 17 in February, Sue knocked on the door to our house one Tuesday after school. When I opened it, she grinned and asked me to go for a walk. I agreed, but I was very wary. I liked her and she flirted with me a lot, but Dave was one of my two best friends. When we got to the park, she looked up at me, smiled and said “Mick broke up with Jenny after youth club on Sunday. Jenny told me all about it at school. He’s going to Bristol university after the summer and doesn’t plan to come back, so he didn’t see any point in them continuing. Apparently, he doesn’t get on with his parents.”

“Poor Jenny!” I replied. “Was she really upset?”

“Yes, but not as much as I expected” Sue said. “I know you fancy her, so I thought I’d let you know.”

“Thanks, Sue, I’ve fancied her for ages!”

“Just be careful, you have to get your timing right. Rush things and it could be just a rebound affair but if you leave it too long, there’s a couple more boys sniffing around” Sue advised.

“Do I have a chance?” I asked.

“Sure. I know she likes you. You can see it in her eyes when you two are dancing together”

“Thanks, Sue. Wish me luck!” I replied.

The next Sunday at youth club, Mick was not there but I spotted a sad looking Jenny talking to Sue over the far side of the room. Sue caught my eye and nodded which I took as meaning it was a good time to approach them. I wandered over and asked Jenny to dance. She managed a little smile and took my offered hand. After a couple of dances, she shouted over the music that she was thirsty, so we went for some drinks. It was quieter in that room, so we could talk.

“I suppose you’ve heard” Jenny said.

“Yes. I’m sorry Jenny, Sue told me in the week.”

“It was a bit of a shock at first and I cried a lot, but he obviously didn’t love me enough, so I know it’s for the best. How’s your love life?” Jenny asked.

“Non-existent!” I replied. “I seem to date for a few weeks, then realise I’m not really interested, or they do.”

We went back to dancing and she danced with a couple of other boys too. Despite what Sue had said, I decided I had to act soon, before she was taken, but I would then take it slowly, while she got over the breakup. When I saw her briefly standing on her own, I wandered over and she looked pleased to see me again. I tried talking but the music was too loud so she pointed to one of the quieter rooms.

“Jenny, I know you live in Bailiff Bridge and it’s quite a long, dark walk, so can I walk you home, when you want to go?”

“Would you mind?” Jenny replied. “That’s really sweet! I was worried about walking back on my own, but it will be a long walk for you there and back.”

“No problem and I’d like to” I answered.

I made a point of not monopolising her but later, Clifford put on the Drifters classic, as he always did to announce the end of the evening. Jenny thanked her current dance partner and came over to me, smiling. We both joined in the chorus as we danced. “But don’t forget who’s taking you home, and in whose arms you’re gonna be, so darlin’, save the last dance for me!”

We were both still laughing when we got our coats and ventured out into the cold night air. When we had been walking in silence for a few minutes, Jenny said “Everyone’s been so nice, especially you, it’s so good to have friends when you’re having a bad time.”