Chapter 4

There was a rare period of a couple of weeks when they were fourteen, that Paul Jennings and Penny Palmer fell out and didn't speak to each other. Like a lot of quarrels it was over something quite silly that was said, but Penny went off in a huff. It had happened before, but usually after a little while she cooled down and would sidle up to him and take his hand and then whatever it was would be forgotten. But not this time...

He didn't see her any more that Saturday, nor the next day, either. They were next door neighbours and on schooldays they usually met up outside Penny's house, where she would take Paul's hand and they would travel to school together. However, that Monday she wasn't there. He was unsure what to do, so he waited a few minutes before setting off on his own. She wasn't at the bus stop, either, so he just waited by himself.

Paul Jennings was by nature a quiet, intelligent boy, who was just as happy to be at home on his own reading, or using the computer in his bedroom. He was popular at school ... and not just because he was the friend of the very pretty and outgoing Penny Palmer; but because he was a nice boy, who people looked to for his thoughtful, common-sense attitude. But a lot of his friends at school were also Penny's so he expected things to be awkward, as she was fiercely loyal and her girl friends were equally so to her!

As he walked through the school gates he saw people he knew, but he either just smiled briefly, or nodded in acknowledge­ment. He shared most of his classes with Penny, so when he saw her and she still had that look on her face, he just looked away and carried on with whatever he had to do. He didn't consciously avoid her, they just acted as if they were strangers ... and for the time being it suited him to do so.

It was the same the next day and then the day after that. And then it was Friday. Not to say that Paul didn't miss her company ... she had an infectiously bubbly personality and sense of fun that always cheered him up and made him glad to see her and they had been really close ever since Penny had moved into the house next door to his when they were five, so what they had was a lot deeper than friendship! Every day that their estrangement continued, he hoped it would soon end, but he just couldn't be the one to apologise ... especially as he didn't know what he would be apologising for!

And then another week went by and still no reconciliation. One day he had looked up in the school corridor and seen one of Penny's friends hurrying towards him as he was on his way to class. It was Suzie Valentine, who Penny and Paul had known since primary school. She didn't stop to talk, but she smiled and as she passed him she said: "She's really unhappy, Paul," then she carried on walking, but looked quickly back behind her.

It was Friday afternoon and Paul was standing at the bus stop waiting to go home after school and as was often the case, he was reading a book while he waited. Someone came up beside him and slipped an arm around his and rested their head on his shoulder.

'I've missed you so much!' was all she said. His brown eyes looked into her blue ones and they smiled.

Penny had been liberated by her date with Kenny Watson at thirteen, and during the next year or so she had been on several more with other boys. She had taken to dating like the proverbial duck to water ... she liked being with boys almost as much as she liked being with her female friends, and they liked her company, too. There was never anyone who came close to being as good as her best friend, Paul, but lately there had been one boy who had lasted longer than most did. And now, coming up to her fifteenth birthday, he was the only boy, apart from Paul, that she'd come nearest to being 'serious' about.

At just before nine o'clock in the evening the doorbell rang at Paul Jennings' house. He was alone and he opened it to find a less than happy looking Penny Palmer on the doorstep.

"Hello, Pen ... I didn't expect to see you tonight. Are you coming in?"

"Can we go for a walk, Paulie ... I need to tell you something, but not here."

"Are you sure ... there's no one else home."

"Please, Paulie ... I'd rather not!" He ran upstairs to put on his shoes and grab a jacket, then he met her in the hall again.

They walked in silence for a while, Penny clutching his hand a little tighter than usual. They had been best friends for almost as long as they'd known each other ... Penny moved into the house next door when she was five and he was fifteen now ... and although they were only good friends, Penny had always held his hand going to school and coming home, or other times when they were out together. Penny had obviously decided that the time was right, because she stopped walking.

"Paulie ... I've just had sex with Michael Stewart," she said, quite matter-of-factly, although Paul was sure that she was trembling as she said it. " ... And it was horrible!" Paul seemed calm, but his mind was racing.

"Did he make you, Pen..." She squeezed his hand.

"No, it's all right, Paulie! I didn't really want to go all the way yet, but we were kissing and stuff ... and then it all started getting very 'intense'. And the next thing I knew, he was pulling my knickers down and I didn't try to stop him, Paulie ... even though I should have.

"Well, then things started really happening! He said to me: 'I've got a condom, Penny, ' and I was getting all excited and kind of fascinated watching him get bigger. And then he was pushing it in, Paulie ... but he was too keen, too rough, and it hurt ... but there was no way he was going to stop! I think it was his first time, too, despite what people say. And then it was over and I was crying; but he just had a silly grin on his face! So I put my knickers back on and ran home ... but I couldn't go home, Paulie..." Paul looked serious ... he was thinking.

"I suppose you've got your phone on you, Pen. Ring your mum and tell her that you're going to a party and you probably won't be home tonight. But tell her not to worry: because I'm with you and looking after you. Then we'll go back to my house and you can have a nice, hot bath and then stay the night. Do you want to do that?" She smiled and nodded.

"Yes, please! Sounds good!"

They walked back to Paul's house: Penny hung back until he'd opened the door. She didn't like deceiving her parents, but at that moment she would rather be with Paul than at home.

"I've got lots of T-shirts that you can wear, Pen. You go and have your bath. It's a bit early for bed, but we can talk, or watch TV. I'll make us a hot drink when you come out." Penny kissed his cheek.

"I only fibbed to mum about the party, Paulie ... you really are looking after me ... thank you!"

While Penny was in the bathroom: running the water for a bath, Paul sorted out some clothes that he thought might fit her. Then he went downstairs again to make them both a drink.

"Paulie!" she called out, after a few minutes, " ... Can you come here!" He left what he was doing and went upstairs and into the bathroom.

"Look," she said, holding out her knickers, " ... and it's coming out of me!" He looked at her underwear: he recognised the stain straight away.

"Do you know what this is, Pen?"

"No, what is it ... is it normal after sex?"

"Yes, it can be ... but not in this case. It's Michael's semen: I think the condom must have spilt!"

"Oh, Paulie! So I could get pregnant. Oh, I wish I hadn't done it!"

"It's all right, Pen ... we'll sort it out. Finish your bath and then we'll talk about it."

While Penny was in the bath ... trying to wash away as much of Michael Stewart as she could see ... Paul was in his bedroom, on the Internet. He left his bedroom door open and she came in drying her hair. The jogging pants he'd lent her were baggy and too long; but he just smiled instead of laughing, as he might usually have done.

"I tried, but I don't know if I got it all out of me! What are you looking at, Paulie?"

"I Googled 'morning after pill' and it says that it is available over the counter at the pharmacy: but I really think you ought to go to your doctor, Pen. They aren't allowed to tell your parents."

"And you'll come with me?"

"Yes, of course! It's my doctor's, too ... and I'll tell them it was me." She hugged and kissed him again.

"You're so lovely, Paulie! We usually go into town on Saturday, but we'll go there first."

"Do you want to watch TV, Pen?"

"Maybe for a little while."

"Are you still sore?"

"Not too bad! Paulie, it's done now: but I'm sorry it happened. You know, somehow I always thought it was going to be you. But I'm not going to let another boy ... not until I'm really ready! It's just a good job that Michael doesn't go to our school ... I'm not going to tell anyone ... not even the girls. And he'd better be careful what he says ... where he goes to school my big brother is in the sixth form!"

"You know it doesn't make any difference to me, Pen ... just as long as you're all right."

"I know, Paulie. I'm all right now I'm here with you." They watched TV for an hour or so.

"I think I'd like to sleep, now," Penny said, " ... can we get into bed this time?" Paul took off his jeans and his shirt and Penny got into bed wearing just his T-shirt.

" ... Cuddle, please, Paulie!" she said, as she snuggled up to him. She kissed him again. "Night, Paulie ... it really should have been you!"

Even though Penny knew that she was doing the right thing, she was still nervous. Before they went out, she went home, only next door, to change her clothes. She had washed her pants last night ... she was pretty sure that her mum didn't inspect her dirty underwear, but she couldn't take the chance. A few spots of blood on a girls' knickers is normal; but having washed her older brother Stevie's clothes regularly, Mrs Palmer would surely recognise a semen stain on her daughter's.

So instead of stopping at the bus stop, Penny and Paul, hands clasped as usual, continued walking to their doctors' surgery. Penny was usually the more outgoing of the two of them, but on this occasion she was more than happy to let Paul handle the situation.

"Hello! We don't have an appointment, but would it be possible for us both to see one of the doctors, or even a nurse?"

The receptionist had seen them both before and even though she would usually have enquired about the nature of their visit, she had been doing the job long enough to know that when two young people came in, holding hands and wanting a joint appointment, it was usually only with regard to one thing! A slot was found for them with the duty doctor, but they would have to wait for at least an hour, so they took them­selves off to the waiting area and hoped that no one else that they knew would come in. The doctor smiled when she saw them.

"And what can I do for you today?"

"Well, Doctor," Paul said, "we had sex for the first time yesterday and although we used a condom, we think that it split. We looked up the morning after pill, on the Internet, but we wanted to ask your advice."

"You did the right thing coming to see me," the doctor said, " ... the thing that you're talking about is an option; but it isn't right for everyone!"

The doctor then asked Penny a lot of questions about her menstrual cycle and her general health and when she'd finished she said:

"I really think in this case we don't need to do anything! If you say that your cycle is fairly settled and regular and the dates that you gave me are correct, there is only a very slim chance that you will conceive, Penny. You don't have that long to wait for your body to tell you, anyway, but if you are a little late, don't worry, but make another appointment to see me. You both seem quite sensible, so just be careful how you put those condoms on in future, Paul..."

From the doctors surgery they walked to the nearest bus stop that would take them into town. As they stood at the bus stop, Penny laughed.

"Don't you forget what the doctor said, Paulie ... but next time I'll put the condom on you!"

Frank and Christine Palmer adopted their daughter, Penny, when she was a baby. They already had a son, Stevie, who was over two when they brought her home. Penny was accepted by Stevie, who never ques­tioned the sudden arrival of his baby sister ... and even later, when he understood, he didn't tell and he never used the information in order to try and hurt her, or get his own way. The Palmer's, knowing how difficult it might be for Penny to find out the truth, left it until just before she was ready to move to her secondary school to tell her.

By this time, Penny Palmer was an intelligent and physically and emotionally mature child, with pretty looks, a sweet disposition and the body of a young teenager. She was popular at school, and she had many friends, but her very best and oldest friend, was Paul; the son of the Palmer's own friends and next door neighbours ... Carol and Geoff Jennings ... who was a little older than Penny. Their friendship had begun the day that the Palmer's moved into the house in Harrow, when Penny was five and had hardly ever faltered: both children were now fifteen.

At least once a year, the Palmer's had taken Stevie and Penny away on holiday, as did the Jennings' their son. Penny had always loved beach holidays and usually came home with her blonde hair bleached a lighter-than-natural shade, while her skin was tanned a much darker one. Paul Jennings, on the other hand, liked to swim, but was equally as content just sitting on a beach under an umbrella, reading his way through his vacation.

Although Paul didn't develop physically as fast as Penny, he had inherited his father's tall height and broad stature genes. He was also intelligent, emotionally mature ... although more reserved than his friend ... and he tended to think as logically as his engineer father, and was as sensible and responsible as any mother could wish her child to be. His birthday was in February and by the summer holiday after his fourteenth birthday, he had asked his parents if he could stay home while they headed for a well-earned sunshine break. Having successfully negotiated fending for himself that year, the Jennings' had no qualms about leaving him the subsequent year. However, things were not quite so simple in the Palmer household...

" ... But, Mum, if Paulie can look after himself, I'm sure I can!" the recently turned fifteen year old Penny Palmer exclaimed, " ... Of course, if you don't trust me..."

"It's not a case of not trusting you, Love," her mother replied, "but you've always looked forward to going away and now you're getting older, you're out much more, so your dad and I were looking forward to having you to ourselves for a couple of weeks! Is it Paul?"

"Um ... kind of!" Penny admitted.

She and Paul were by now much closer than merely friends, although, except when she was very little and didn't really understand the concept, she had never thought of him as her boyfriend. In fact, she was pretty sure that no one except Paul knew, but she was no longer a virgin. She had dated the other boy a few times, but her first time was unplanned and she hadn't enjoyed it, and it had been Paul who had comforted and looked after her afterwards. And although she really did enjoy her summer breaks in the sun, she genuinely thought that for the first time in her life, she would miss Paul more than she missed her parents or the beaches.

Although it was now over twenty years ago, Christine Palmer could still remember what it was like to be a teenage girl. And she knew that although her pretty daughter seemed mature beyond her years, she wasn't yet the finished item: she had a way to go before she would truly think and act like an adult. That being the case, she wanted her daughter's journey there to be as stress- and problem-free as she and her husband could help to make it.

"Let's see if we can find a compromise, shall we!" Mrs Palmer said, "I know Paul was intending to stay here while his parents went away this year, but why don't you ask him if he wants to come with us when we go."

The look on her daughter's face answered her question. Penny put her arms around her neck and kissed her the way that a much younger Penny had used to do, and then she was out of the house and heading for next door.

" ... So mum said you can come to Majorca with us this year, if you want to. Oh, please say yes, Paulie! We'll have to have separate rooms, of course, but we can go off on our own sometimes, too. And I don't mind if you just want to read ... as long as you're there with me."

"Okay! I'll see what my mum and dad think, because we can't expect yours to pay the extra, but they'll probably say it's all right!" Penny hugged and kissed her friend with the same enthusiasm as she had her mother shortly before.

The Palmer's had booked their holiday from the first Saturday in August and the Jennings' from the following weekend, so Geoff Jennings offered to drive Paul and the others the thirty-five or so miles to Gatwick Airport. As usual, Penny held Paul's hand as she sat in-between him and her mother in the car. They had left home early, so during the flight, Penny slept with her head resting on Paul's shoulder.