She was now fifteen. She had filled out and grown a few inches, so she was now taller than her adopted mother. Gone was the gangly twelve year old, for in her place was a very slim and attractive young woman. She was due to take her O levels this summer, as she was still a year ahead of her age group.
“Gather round, and I’ll show you the reproductive organs in these two specimens.”
The group of girls gathered round, with Amber at the back, smiling quietly to herself. As the others jostled to get a better look at the rats, the girl met the teacher’s eyes.
Mrs Scriven liked Amber immensely. She found her a polite, bright and charming girl, but she also was very uneasy about her. There was something very adult and strange about the way she looked at the world, and Mrs Scriven was unable to pinpoint exactly the nature of her unease.
Amber had been at St.Helens for over two years now, and was a strikingly pretty fifteen year old. Alarmingly mature for her age, yet demure and understated about her appearance and demeanour. Never flaunting the school dress code, as some of the girls her age were prone to, she quietly got on with her work and involved herself in many activities, particularly Drama and sports.
She’d been assigned a leading male role in the junior play at Christmas. Being an all girl school, all parts had to be filled by girls, even the male ones. She’d smiled a very strange smile when assigned the role, but had managed to produce a very believable performance on the night. They’d put on The Recruiting Officer, a Regency farce by George Farquhar, with Amber in the title role.
Miss Beatty, the English and Drama teacher had been surprised at Amber’s vocal range. She’d managed to deepen her voice to produce an almost male voice, and the girl caricatured the male swagger most hilariously.
Amber had no trouble at school. This was not the case at home, however.
Gareth was flying more than ever, leaving Jenny to cope with the growing family. Stephen was now a little boy of six and he had a younger brother, Michael, who was born in 1964. Charlie and Amber were inseparable teenagers, who both looked the same age and were in the same year group at school. If anything, the taller Amber looked the elder of the two, but no one ever said anything for fear of upsetting Charlie.
The trouble did not come from inside the home, but from outside, in the form of boys!
Amber was used to gentle manipulation to avoid undue attention, however, in the realm of testosterone, she found herself relatively powerless. She found that any mental manipulation was over-ruled by sexual urges and instinct. She found that boys really did think with their dicks, and she had little or no control over that part of their anatomy. Or so she thought!
As a pair of very attractive teenagers, both Charlie and Amber found favour with the local male population.
It had started at a party. Helen Weedon lived in a big house and invited about sixty people to a dance. Thirty of them were boys, so for most of the girls this was the first proper mixed party they’d ever attended.
It had been great fun buying new dresses, or in some girls’ cases, getting mothers to make one. But on the day, there was much excitement as they all arrived and entered the large house with the huge room stripped of furniture for the dance.
The boys congregated down the left hand side and the girls down the right. A drinks table had been set up in an alcove at the end of the room, which became an acceptable area to actually meet and speak to a member of the opposite sex, over the large bowl of non-alcoholic fruit punch.
Most of the boys attended Abingdon School, the large Public School in the Town. Many were brothers of the girls at St. Helens, so many knew one and other already.
It took an hour before the ice melted to start to fraternise with the enemy. Being forced to dance is a great icebreaker. But waiting for equally shy boys to ask one to dance proved too much for some. One or two of the braver girls ventured across the floor and approached the boys.
Parents hovered conspicuously in the background, carefully watching for anything slightly suspect from any of the boys. Some of the girls started to flirt outrageously, Charlie being at the forefront. Amber could see the dangers, but Charlie was unaware and was enjoying herself.
A spotty youth was thrust in front of Amber by an adult hand.
“Um, um, you, um, would you?” he stammered, almost unable to meet her eyes.
“Dance?” she asked, helpfully.
“Um, yes,” he said, blushing bright crimson.
“Okay.”
Amber allowed herself to be led onto the floor, where they gyrated vaguely to a Beatles tune. The boy, whom Amber eventually managed to find out was called William, was uncoordinated and whose dancing resembled Pinocchio with his strings tangled.
His conversation skills were nil and he sniffed continually. At the end of the record, Amber smiled and walked back to where she had been standing. She watched with some amusement as Charlie was attempting some braver rock and roll moves with Mike Weedon, much to Mrs Weedon’s alarm.
“Hi, wanna dance?” said a voice.
She turned and looked up into a strange male face.
“I suppose so,” she said.
“I’m Jay, who are you?”
“I’m Amber.”
He was a tall boy, and she vaguely recalled he was the elder brother of someone in her year group. He was in the sixth form at Abingdon School. He was quite good looking, having styled his hair like Elvis, with a huge quiff at the front, having smeared Brylcreme on it.
“I’ve seen you about before, I didn’t know you were in my sister’s year, I thought you were older.”
She smiled sweetly, but said nothing.
He could also dance.
Amber relaxed and tried to follow his movements.
“Hey, you groove!” he said with a grin.
“Whatever,” she said, under her breath.
They danced for three numbers before he grabbed her hand and started to push and pull her about in good old rock and roll style. Charlie and Amber had practiced these moves while listening to their record player, but it was very different with a real boy.
For a start, he was much stronger than Charlie, so Amber found herself being tossed and flung about as if she weighed nothing. She also began to enjoy herself, feeling the rhythm and going with his lead. She was unaware that their performance had caused everyone else to stop dancing and watch them.
When the record finished, the applause startled her and for about the first time in her life she was genuinely surprised. Blushing a deep red, she allowed Jay to escort her to the cool of the garden and fetch her a drink.
“Got a boyfriend?” Jay asked.
“No, not really,” she admitted.
“Want one?”
She shook her head and laughed.
“Why not?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Too much trouble, I suppose.”
“I’ve got a motorbike,” he said, as if this was the secret to seduce her.
“Good for you, I’ve a horse.”
He grinned and scratched his head. She decided she didn’t like all that stuff on his hair, as it looked too greasy.
“Where do you live?”
“Off the Radley Road. Why?”
“I could give you a lift home after this, if you want?”
“No thanks, I’m off luxuries this week.”
He laughed again, but he seemed a little put off by her lack of response.