Previously...

‘I like your new Mum. I don’t blame you for sort of unofficially divorcing our parents. They haven’t done much for you or any of us for that matter.’

‘No, they haven’t. Am I wrong to hate them? I know now that Mother, as I like to call her, is ill. Should I feel guilty about it?’

‘After she and Dad abused you? No, I don’t think so. As I’ve said before, none of this is your fault. You’ve started a new life. You should let the past stay there and move on. I’m doing it, so is Tommy and I think you should too.’

Our heart-to-heart chat made me feel better. For years I had wondered if it was my fault that they didn’t love me. Now I was older, I could finally see the bigger picture and start looking forward rather than back at my troubled past.

And now the story continues…

It was decided that Anne would stay with us, despite her protests that she didn’t want to put us out. She was given the room that I would have had if I hadn’t been sharing with Hannah. She had about a week before she had to go to Oxford to sort out her accommodation and studies for the next term.

Thanks to our dear Nan, she had no financial worries about paying for the fees and accommodation. Antonia had never told us of the extent of Nan’s fortune, but it appears that she was rather wealthy and had made shrewd investments throughout her lifetime. She made sure that certain monies would be available to us when we reached an age. What that age was, we had no idea. In the meantime, our education was being paid for and other expenses that Antonia felt were appropriate, like my medical expenses for example, would be paid for as and when necessary.

I did wonder what my birth parents thought about the fact was they inherited nothing from Nan and we kids would receive what amounted to a small fortune according to subtle hints made by Antonia. I found out sometime later that Nan did assist my parents several times when things got tight, but they tended to forget that fact. I understood that my parents did try to contest the will but Nan was very clever and she made sure that it was watertight. I think that Nan had the measure of them and acted accordingly.

My parents obviously knew that she was far from poor as she had helped them out in the past and I could just imagine how frustrating it must have been that they fell out with her and that she considered that they treated us kids badly in different ways.

Maybe this was yet another reason why my parents resented me and hated me. I and my siblings would gain something that they couldn’t have; our inheritance. Who knows. I was, by now, past caring. The fact that my brother and sister would also benefit from Nan’s kindness was the icing on the cake for me.

It was lovely my connecting with Anne. My only regret was that we had not been closer. She was in contact with my brother and his girlfriend and we agreed that we would all meet up during the next vac.

The following evening, Hannah, Anne and I had agreed to meet the other girls down at the quay. I hadn’t shown off my sister to them yet and it was a good opportunity to introduce my friends to her. Let’s face it, I was rather proud of her. It was all so different from before when I thought that the whole family was against me. Yes, my brother in particular had been a bit of a prat before, but at least I knew now that there was a reason for his behaviour and I looked forward to receiving a grovelling apology when I saw him.

It was a lovely evening and there was still some light in the sky, although the sun would soon dip towards the horizon.

We had agreed to meet up at The Sunset Café, well named as it was always a good place to see the sunset, depending on the weather, of course!

All the girls were there waiting for us and after introducing Anne and getting some drinks in, we were soon having a great time. I could see that Anne liked my new friends and they liked her. I won’t go into forensic details about what we talked about, just the usual things like what bands we liked, makeup, clothes, boys/girls we fancied off the TV and videos. All much like similar conversations taking place all over the country with girls of our age.

Eventually, after the sun sank below the horizon and it had started to cool a bit, we said our goodbyes and made our way home. Hannah and I were holding hands and Anne thought that we looked sweet. I grabbed her hand and we all giggled, not caring what we looked like or worrying about the sometimes weird glances that we were getting from some of the passers-by.

The village was lovely at this time in the evening, with the lights from the cottages and houses dotted all over the hills and along the lanes giving a distinctly homely glow to the village. The stars were out and the moon was high in the sky, giving us just enough light to see our way home.

We let ourselves into Seashell Cottage and Dad came out of the sitting room.

‘Had a good evening girls? He asked, smiling.

We all nodded, giggling for some unknown reason.

He shook his head and sighed and then turned to me.

‘Emma, can I have a word?’

He pointed towards the kitchen and I followed, leaving the other girls to go into the sitting room and me wondering what he wanted me for. I didn't think that I had done anything bad!

‘Close the door please Emma,’ he said.

I did as he asked and sweeping my skirt under me, I sat opposite him at the kitchen table.

‘Right, I have some news for you regarding those boys who attacked you.’

My heart sank. Things were going so well for a while and I had a feeling that the news that he was about to give me wasn’t in the “good” category.

‘Despite being advised by everybody, including, I understand their solicitor, they are sticking to a not guilty plea. It appears that they want to have their day in court and it looks like they want to put you through the ringer.’

‘The ringer?’

He smiled.

‘Sorry, an old term you might not understand. It means that they want to embarrass you in court and bring up your past.’

‘They can’t do that, can they?’

‘Well, you are only sixteen and therefore have a lot of protection from the court. Your name cannot be mentioned, but sometimes these things get out. If called, you must give evidence. Also, the only witnesses you have are all of a similar age to you, all under eighteen, and as such they cannot be named but once again, what with the uncensored social media we have now, there could be leaks.’

I looked at him with a sick feeling in my stomach.

‘Also,’ he continued, ‘we have an added complication that due to the seriousness of the offences the case will be referred from juvenile court to the Crown Court and there will be a jury. What I’m saying is that it could get a bit messy. I have an opinion on this, but I want your views.’

‘What are you asking me?’

He looked at me long and hard and I wondered what he was going to say.

He sighed.

‘Sorry, I have to ask this. Do you want to drop the charges?’

I was waiting for this. So, did I want to go through all the hassle of a court case and did I want my dirty washing, if that’s the phrase, to be aired in public? Then there were the other girls to consider. They would have to appear in court to testify that what I was saying was true and accurate. It could be a horrible experience. I had the photographic evidence of the physical injuries of the attack and that went someway as proof that everything occurred as I said it did but did I want my friends to go through a grilling by an unfriendly barrister?

Then there were the threats made against me with that message that was left at my cottage.

I didn’t know what to do. I just wanted it to be over with.

I wondered if my new family would be dragged into the mess. Those thugs had threatened me, could they extend the threats to my family; a family that I had grown to love?

‘Dad, have you been able to find out anything about the people who wrote that threatening letter?’

He smiled.

‘I wondered if you would ask me that. Good news, we have found out who they are and they are to be charged with threatening behaviour and anything else that we think might stick. They are relatives of the accused and they are not very nice people, with a string of offences to their names. In the meantime, they are under caution and a restriction order has been placed against them, preventing them from going near you. If they break that restriction then there will be severe penalties handed down. I don’t expect any more trouble from them, but that doesn’t mean that you should drop your defences for now and be careful where you go, especially by yourself.’

‘That’s good, I suppose.’ I replied doubtfully.

‘You haven’t answered my question Emma; do you want to pursue the charges against those boys?’

I thought of my nan and what I thought that she might do. I could almost hear her say, ‘Stand tall Emma.’

What to do?

It took me a few moments of indecision and self-doubt and then I made my mind up.

I looked at Dad’s kind face and took a deep breath.

‘If I do nothing they might attack another girl and she might not be so lucky, so yes Dad, I still want to go after them, but I hope that Hannah and my friends are okay with this, as they might have to appear in court. I will need to speak to them.’

‘I’ve already asked them on the quiet and they all agree that they want to see those boys punished. Hannah did mention that they should be hung, drawn and quartered, but I had to tell her that that wasn’t allowed now. She was quite disappointed!’

We both laughed.

I was quite upset when Anne had to go to Oxford and we had a bit of a tear-fest as we said our goodbyes. We would keep in contact and would meet up sometime soon together with my brother and his girlfriend. I agreed to take Hannah too. I wanted to show her off and anyway, we were joined at the hip, as Mum said on occasion. I asked if Anne had a partner and she just tapped her nose mysteriously.

‘It’s for me to know and you to find out,’ was all she said, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

That of course got my spidey sense going. I would have to contact my brother Tommy to find out what he knew. I had his phone number now and although we hadn’t spoken yet, I was looking forward to it, sort of. The last time we spoke, before I ran away from home, he wasn’t very nice. Anne said that he had improved out of all proportion now that he had left the influence of my father and had a sensible girlfriend to keep him in place! Time would tell if that was the case; I was suspicious and cautious, wondering if a leopard could really change its spots. Anne had evidently told him of my so-called change of status from a seeming, if not very convincing, boy into a pretty girl. He hadn’t thrown a wobbly as Hannah charmingly put it, but time would tell.

I would ring him soon.

As it was, time moved on. I didn’t have any more nasty notes on the doormat and Dad said that things had gone quiet. The court case wasn’t due for at least a few months because of the backlog caused by Covid and I had been advised to put it all to the back of my mind, although I sometimes woke up in a cold sweat thinking about it.

It was one of those times when I woke up in a sweat that Hannah and I got all the more intimate. We had, up until then, not done anything heavier than French kissing and maybe, touching and rubbing each other’s breasts. We were a bit uncomfortable about doing anything else as Mum and Dad were in the next room and well, parents close by can be a bit of a passion killer.

Anyway, I woke up after a rather nasty dream about those boys. I can’t even remember the exact details but it was very upsetting.

Hannah must have heard me whimper and as I awoke properly, I realised she was cuddling my back and holding one of my breasts through my satin nightie.

‘It’s alright Emma, it’s only a nasty dream,’ she whispered in my ear.

I glanced at the clock; it was just after one in the morning.

I breathed a sigh of relief that it was only a dream and the details of it were thankfully fading away.

I turned over and hugged Hannah. Her pert breasts were there, in front of me and without thought, I stroked one and she moaned slightly. She did the same for me and I felt a shudder run through my body. That was rather nice and I soon forgot about my dreams and then things got more intense as we went further than we had ever gone…

We woke up the next morning naked, slightly sweaty and in each other’s arms. I don’t need to paint a picture about what we got up to but my poor excuse of a penis wasn’t too involved except that I had a semi-erection, which was unusual, to say the least, and I think that I had a sort of minor leakage and orgasm, I wasn’t too sure, having never experienced such a thing, but it felt a nice, almost whole body sensation that defies description and Hannah, who thinks she knows everything, said that was what I must have had. She said that she definitely had more than one orgasm herself and it was cosmic, very intense and wonderful. It's amazing what you can do with your tongue... Oops, too much information!

We both felt that we had crossed a line, one that I hoped we would cross on a regular basis. If this was what girlie sex was like, I was all for further experimentation!

The sheets were a bit soiled for some reason and we stripped the bed and put the offending items in the wash basket. We would do a wash later when Mum wasn’t about. We were a bit shy about what we had been up to and wanted to keep our lovemaking secret, if possible, even though we knew that it was legal at sixteen.

We showered together in the bathroom and that was rather interesting if a little intense. We couldn’t keep our hands off each other!
Luckily, Dad was on an early shift and Mum was in the kitchen banging about with pots and pans and loudly humming an off-key nameless tune, so the coast was clear upstairs.

After finally getting out of the shower and dressing, we went downstairs, following the delish smells and saw that Mum was making breakfast.

We sat at the kitchen table and had cereal and toast and bacon, washed down with mugs of tea. Soon Mum joined us and sipped at her drink, looking at us quizzically.

‘So girls, did you have a nice time last night in bed?’

Hannah was mid-sip and she sprayed the table with tea and nearly choked. I pounded her back as Mum looked on with a blank expression.

Looking at Hannah, I could see that her face was very red and I knew that I was blushing from how hot I suddenly felt.

‘I don’t know what you mean Mum,’ said Hannah, not very convincingly, after she had caught her breath.

Mum looked at her and smiled.

‘I was young once Hannah, although to you, it seems hard to believe. The sounds you two were making would wake the dead.’

‘I thought that we were quiet,’ I said shyly.

‘If that was quiet Emma, I would hate to think what loud would sound like.’

I looked at Hannah and Hannah looked at me. This wasn’t the sort of conversation that we should ever have with a parent.

‘Struck dumb Hannah? That’s unusual for you. Look girls, John and I knew that sometime, you would both feel the need to take things further. I’m surprised that it hasn’t happened sooner. You are both in love and are hopefully sensible. We don’t have any objections to what you get up to at night. Let’s face it Hannah, your Dad and I had sex in the back of his dad’s Morris Marina the day after my sixteenth birthday and two years before we married, so I can’t be hypocritical about this.’

‘MUM, too much information!’

Mum was enjoying seeing Hannah so uncomfortable and after the shock of listening to this all too embarrassing information, I was loving the exchange between the mum and blushing daughter, whilst wondering vaguely what my birth parents would think about seeing Hannah and me doing bedroom gymnastics under the roof of their house, I shuddered to think!

She turned to me. All of a sudden I was in the firing line.

‘Did you wear a condom, Emma?’

‘What!, er no, I can’t do erm, that and anyway, I’m a girl and…and…

I didn’t know what to say. This had suddenly become a beyond awful conversation.

I never wanted to make love as a boy anyway. Even if I had a stiffy as certain boys at school used to call it. I didn’t want to have penetrative hetero-type sex with Hannah, we weren’t in that sort of relationship. That didn’t mean that we wouldn’t experiment. We had spoken about such things. Evidently, there were sex toys you could use… I was brought back to the present by Mum.

‘I suppose you made a mess of the bedding?’

I nodded. This was getting a bit surreal. We had both had a certain amount of emissions for lack of a better word, mine minimal but hers rather more. Mum was so matter-of-fact about everything. Hannah looked like she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her and I sort of felt the same.

‘We put the sheets in the wash basket,’ I said quietly as Hannah had evidently lost the power of speech.

‘Good, you can both do the wash today, I would set the machine on a hot wash, we don’t want any unsavoury stains left do we?’

With that, she smiled and left us to it. Hannah looked at me. She was in shock and I felt the same.

We didn’t say much and just went upstairs to get the sheets.

Needless to say, we tried to keep as quiet as possible with our lovemaking from then on but we found it very hard to do!

I continued my pre-college studies and the time was coming close to when I would have my first day as a real-life student there and not just be on the periphery. It was late August now and the days were getting shorter. Luckily, the weather stayed wonderfully warm and apart from a few showers and one humungous thunderstorm, the weather was kind to us.

I knew that during the winter, there was a lot of wet weather in Cornwall but luckily, where we were, it rarely got mind-numbingly cold and snow rarely fell.

I wanted to stay healthy and I joined the local tennis club and dragged Hannah along with me, kicking and screaming. I say local, but it was in Penzance.

To Hannah, exercise was something where you got sweaty and tired. I made it my life’s ambition to get her to see the error of her ways and see the light.

I wasn’t holding my breath.

I had managed to get her to join me on a few runs, but her heart just wasn’t in it. In the end, Megan sometimes ran with me and it was nice to have her company and have conversations that only we could have due to our circumstances.

Anyway, I’m rambling, back to tennis.

As usual, most times we went anywhere, we were given a lift. This time, to the club, by our resident taxi driver – Mum.

Hannah always said that it was the duty of parents to give children lifts as and when necessary. I wasn’t too sure that Mum agreed with that and occasionally we had to use the bus. Something that Hannah didn’t like, but had to put up with.

On a shopping trip to Penzance the previous week, we bought some tennis gear. I had left my racquet back at my old home and I therefore needed a new one. Also, I needed some tennis gear. According to the club website, there wasn’t much of a dress code unless you were actually playing a match against another team, which I would never do, or an in-club competition or ladder match.

I decided that I would get two sets of clothes, one for practice and one for if and when I played in an in-house competition, where they insisted on whites, like at Wimbledon. A bit old-fashioned but who was I to complain?

Hannah just chose casual as she had no intention of doing anything serious and was only playing because, according to her, I was being a bit of a pain about it all. Still, she liked buying clothes, any clothes, and she wanted to look cool even if it was only on a tennis court.

Penzance Royal Tennis Club was quite posh really. It was called Royal as one of the future kings had played there in their youth and wanted to give the club some acknowledgement of the fact. Membership, even junior membership, wasn’t cheap, but luckily I could afford it. I paid for Hannah as a way of bribing her to come.

The club had several grass and clay courts and also some indoor courts, used mainly in the winter, which was, of course, approaching.

That first time we went, Mum dropped us off at the club, promising to pick us up at lunchtime.

‘Have a nice game girls.’

‘Yes Mum,’ we replied in unison.

Hannah and I had our sports bags and racquets and we made our way over to reception. It was quite busy as it was still school holidays and I had had to book a court for us several days before. I was going to try to teach Hannah the game. She had watched Wimbledon on TV, so she knew most of the rules and I hoped that she would pick things up quickly.

The lady behind the counter looked up and smiled.

‘Can I help you?’

‘Yes, I’m Emma Penhaligon, I rang up last week and joined with my sister?’

She looked at her screen.

‘Oh yes, here you are and you are Hannah?’ she asked turning to her.

‘Yes, that’s me, although I’ve never played before and have two left feet.’

We all smiled.

‘Right, here are some information leaflets. You are on court two, that’s an artificial grass all-weather court. Just follow the signs. The women’s changing rooms are over there to the left.’

She pointed the way.

‘Here are keys for your lockers. Have a good game. If you need any help, the club pro is around and some other regulars are always on hand. I hope that you like the club, we are very friendly.’

She smiled and we thanked her. She seemed like a nice lady.

We made our way past the bar/café, which was doing a roaring trade, and then past the men’s changing room and then onto the ladies' one.

When researching the club online, I had already found out that there were individual changing booths and that was good as I didn’t want to show anything unnecessary to any gawping, nosy women.

I wasn’t so scared now of going into places like these. I knew that I appeared as a girl, indeed, with my body issues, I considered myself to be one, despite that annoying worm in my panties.

I went into one changing booth and Hannah went into the one next to me.

I quickly changed into a shortish pink tennis skirt with white contrasting piping on the hem, matching panties and a white tennis top with pink piping. I loved the combo as soon as I tried it on. I slipped on some white socks and tennis shoes, then scrunchied my hair. I wasn’t wearing any makeup as I wasn’t keen on that.

Without makeup, I still looked girlie enough for me not to worry about my appearance. As I say, I was much more comfortable with myself now and didn’t think that I would be seen as anything other than the girl that I am.

One final look and I was ready to go. I left the booth and went over to the designated locker, put my things in and locked it. Just then Hannah came out wearing similar things to me but in sky blue.

She looked at me and licked her lips.

‘I love a girl in a uniform,’ she said.

I looked around, it was lucky that the changing rooms were empty.

‘Control yourself,’ I said and then quickly gave her a deep French kiss.

‘Blimey, you’re the one that needs controlling. Wait until I get you in bed tonight…’

Just then a young girl came in, smiled and went into a booth. Two seconds earlier, she would have had a bit of a shock!

Giggling, we left the changing room and went to the designated court.

Passing other courts, I could see that they were all occupied; some by children, others by adults. Some players looked good and others, not so good.

We opened the gate and went onto the court.

Soon I was trying to teach Hannah the game, first serving and then receiving. It was hard work as she lacked coordination. After about twenty minutes, she was getting a bit fed up.

I was just trying to show her how to serve for the twentieth time when…

‘Hello.’

We turned around and the was a man there; I would say that he was in his thirties, looked very fit, in tennis gear and carrying a racquet that looked like he knew how to use.

‘I’m Mark, the pro here. You might need to book a few lessons,’ he said looking at Hannah.

‘I’m useless.’

‘I’m sure we can do something for you. Just ask at reception.’

He turned to me.

‘Do you need lessons?’

‘I don’t think so,’ I replied shyly, ‘although I can always do with some help.’

‘Would you like a few games with me as your friend seems a bit tired?’

‘Go ahead,’ said Hannah wiping her face with a towel, ‘I’m cream-crackered.’

‘Alright,’ said Mark, ‘shall we?’

He let himself in. Hannah went over to a bench seat and sank down gratefully, breathing like an asthmatic sheep.

‘What level are you?’

‘Not bad.’ I said.

‘Let’s see shall we? You serve first.’

So that’s what I did and served an ace.

‘Well done,’ said Mark ‘was that a fluke?’

‘Probably.’ I replied smiling, crossing the court.

What I hadn’t told him was that I was quite a good player. At my old club, I was the leading junior boy and had actually played for the county and won a few cups. The fact that I had no support from my family meant that they couldn’t care less about that fact. They only knew that I was out of their hair a few times a week whilst I got up to something that they had absolutely no interest in. I never told them how good I was or that I had won a few things. I kept the cups and medals at the back of my closet. The less they knew about what I got up to the better, as far as I was concerned.

Of course, Mark was better than me, he had me running around the court like a headless chicken, but I scored several points and I thought that I didn’t disgrace myself.

After a few games, our time was up and two girls about our age were waiting to come on court.

They had all the gear and looked like they knew what they were about.

Mark, Hannah and I left the court and the girls smiled and said hello as we passed them.

‘Are you a member? Asked one of them.

‘Just joined,’ I replied.

‘Great we can do with some good players. Hope to see you soon.’

‘You too,’ I replied smiling,’ I’m Emma and this is Hannah.’

‘I’m Sue and this is Charlie, short for Charlene.’

We said our goodbyes and the girls went onto court.

‘Well,’ said Mark, ‘I think that you are shoe-in for the team, Emma. You play very well. Too good for a lot of people here.’

‘I’ll think about it. I’ve got a lot on at the moment.’

‘Okay, no pressure. I’ll see you around and Hannah, don’t forget to book a few lessons, bye.’

With that, he was off and we made our way back to the changing room.

I knew that there were several showers in the Ladies, these were individual rooms that had toilets, wash basins and showers in them. This was important for me, as I needed my privacy.

I would have loved to have shared the shower with Hannah, like we did sometimes at home, but we both regretfully felt that this wasn’t the done thing in the tennis club, so we regretfully parted after a quick kiss.

As soon as we were clean and presentable, we made our way to the café and grabbed a few cokes and rather nice Belgium buns. We sat outside in a patioed area overlooking the courts. It was warm and sunny and we sat at a table that had a parasol.

We watched the play on the nearest court. It was two kids with parents and they were having a lovely time full of laughter. I thought wistfully that I would have loved to have done that when I was younger with my parents, but it wasn’t to be.

‘So,’ said Hannah after noisily sucking her drink on a straw, ‘you never said that you were a whiz at tennis.’

I shrugged.

‘I’ve always loved tennis; it was the one thing that I was good at games-wise. Otherwise, I was just a bit of a swot. I wasn’t into those sports that were more rough, tumble and contact like football or rugby. Luckily the school had access to local courts and had a team and I played. I liked it so much that I joined the local club and was considered quite good. I told my parents and once or twice asked them to come and watch. After hearing several feeble excuses as to why they couldn’t come, I stopped asking them.’

She put her hand over mine.

‘Never mind, your new Mum and Dad will want to see you play for the club. Remember Mark said that you were good enough, if not better than a lot of other players here.’

I looked at her and sighed.

‘I can’t play for the team here, well not against other clubs anyway.’

‘Why not?’

I looked out at the court where the family were playing and enjoying themselves.

‘Officially, I’m a boy and as such I can’t play any club matches as a girl.’

‘No one would know.’

‘I would be found out.’

‘Can’t you ask? Let’s face it, no way are you a boy.’

I dragged my eyes away from the court and looked at her.

‘The rules are clear. I was born with a penis and that, as far as sport is concerned, means that no matter how I look or what drugs I’m taking, I’m a boy. It’s all about the chromosomes. Let’s go home.’

In theory, I supposed, that I should tell the club about my unique status, but I wasn’t a boy as far as I was concerned and I didn’t have the muscles, size or frame of a boy. If we played other clubs, it may get out. There could be silly blood tests or something. I had no idea what happened in these cases and I wouldn’t take a chance. I would play anyone who asked me in the club, but I would never play for the club against other teams. It was the rule and I would just have to grin and bear it.

I just hoped that the impending court case wouldn't lead to unwanted information leaking out, making things difficult for me at the club.

Mum picked us up outside the gates. Hannah had booked a few lessons and I promised to come with her. Time would tell if she could learn to love the game as much as I did.

I woke up one morning and Hannah wasn’t there. That was strange as I usually had to use a crowbar to get her up. I felt an itch and lifted my nightie and had a scratch on the small scar was where I had the keyhole surgery on my hernia. Thankfully all pain had gone from the area since my operation. Then my rather erect, sensitive nipples started to feel itchy and I had to rub them. It was a wonderful feeling! It was great that my breasts were getting fuller now and I would soon be able to wear a bra without padding. That would be nice!

Hannah came in wearing a towelling dressing gown, her hair was all wet.

‘Still in bed young Emma. You need to get cracking.’

‘Why?’

‘What day is it?’

‘Mon…oh my God!’

I looked at the wall clock. If I didn’t hurry, I would be late!

‘Why didn’t you wake me up?’

‘Well…’

I wasn’t listening. It was the first day proper at college. How could I possibly forget that? I got up suddenly grabbed my dressing gown and rushed out to the bathroom before she finished speaking.

I had a quick shower and washed my hair. Then I ran back into the bedroom to find that Hannah was still undressed and finishing drying her hair, just wearing bra and panties and not looking in the least bit hurried.

‘Look at the time!’ I said pointing at the clock.

She glanced up, unconcerned.

‘Oh that, It’s an hour ahead.’

‘What!’

‘I changed the time last night after you were sleeping and snoring your head off.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I wanted to see you panic this morning,’ she replied, grinning evilly.

I swore at her and threw a pillow at her face.

So there I was, sitting with many others in the lecture room facing my first lecture and my first lecturer was none other than Professor Cheshire. He was the tutor who had looked at me strangely and with whom I had an uncomfortable conversation when I sat in on a lecture the previous term. I couldn’t read him, but I had the distinct feeling at the time that he was not my number one fan.

A bit earlier, I had seen my course tutor, Olivia Hatcher. She welcomed me officially to the college and handed me some papers and a few books for me to read at my leisure, not that I expected to have much leisure from now on as I expected to be very busy.

I was wearing a nice satin top and a denim skirt. I was wearing sheer tights for the first time, as the weather was a bit cooler by now. I loved the slightly restrictive feeling of the nylon against my legs. I had been careful with my makeup that morning and I think that the overall effect was nice without being overboard. Hannah liked the look anyway and I had to physically restrain her from messing it up by over-exuberance in the kissing department!

The professor breezed in as though he owned the place and arrived at the lectern. He looked around and smiled. His eyes narrowed slightly when he saw me and then his glance moved on. Was I being paranoid or did I have the distinct feeling that I wasn’t welcome?

He shuffled through his papers and then looked up.

‘Good morning everyone, it’s good to see so many new faces. Now, let us begin.’

He was good, very good and he was informative, using flow charts, PowerPoint presentations and then a short video.

Once he had finished that section of the lecture, for some reason he looked straight at me and frowned.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, let’s see if you have been attentive with the coursework that was allocated to you prior to the start of term. Let’s see, Ms Penhaligon, isn’t it? What is the primary function of the mitochondria in a cell?’

He put the emphasis on Ms and it took a moment to concentrate.

‘Erm,’

‘Come now, Ms Penhaligon, do you or do you not know the answer?’

He had a certain look on his face that I just couldn’t read.

‘The erm, primary function of mitochondria in a cell is to generate energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate or ATP, through a process known as cellular respiration.’

He looked at me for a moment raising his eyebrows momentarily and then turned to a girl in the second row who looked like she was about to go to sleep as her head was dropping slightly.

‘Ms Heffner, What is the role of DNA polymerase in DNA replication?’

She started at the sound of her name.

‘Not sure?’ he continued.

‘No professor?’

‘I see. Tell me Ms Heffner, what would you like to do on completion of your studies, that is if you do complete them?’

‘I want to be a chemist.’

‘Well, if you manage to stay awake during my lectures, you might, and I say might, be one. Please look up the answer to my question and write a two thousand-word essay on it, to be completed by the end of the week.

And so it went on, asking a few others some questions. I was only glad that didn’t ask me anything else and that the lecture finally ended.

I was one of the last to leave and the professor was gathering his things together as I passed him. He looked up.

‘Ah, Ms Penhaligon, could I have a moment?’

To be continued...

Please leave comments and let me know if you want this to continue. Oh, and if you can, please do the kudo-thingie... thanks! ~Sue