John pollard arrived home from school later than usual; he had been studying for his exams. His mum wandered where he had been so late and told him off. He swore that he phoned and spoke to her. “Don’t you remember offering me a lift home?” he asked abruptly.

“I can’t remember you phoning; stop having me on I am not an idiot.” Mum replied angrily.

John shrugged his shoulders knowing that he wasn’t going to win against “the queen of arguments.” He often listened to her and his father argue for hours; she would wear him down and in the end he would just say “Have it your own way” in a tired tone of voice. This would be just to have a peaceful night.

John went to his room, put on some music on his record box.  He stripped to his “Y” Fronts and changed into his denim jeans and spent a few minutes combing his hair like his idle “James Dean.”

It was now dark, the nights were drawing in fast, dancing around in his bedroom to the music and miming into his brush like a microphone, he was well away until something outside the window flashed past. He stopped still for a moment in a hypnotic state, the record stuck in one place and the music kept repeating.

His mother called him down for tea, again something flashed past the window; then John re-gained consciousness. The music left off where it stuck and finished the song track; his mother called again. “Didn’t you hear me John? Your tea will get cold.”

John put on his shirt and his pointed shoes; they called “winkle-pickers,” and ran down stairs. He ate his food quickly as his mother fussed that he would have indigestion.  His father just spoke from behind the newspaper. “Leave the lad alone Love, I think he’s seeing someone tonight.”

The phone rang and John ran to pick it up before his mother could move. He knew that she would interfere and ask his girl around for tea. He didn’t want that sort of relationship and knew that Mum wouldn’t approve of Mary.

His smile dropped as Mary’s Mum said that she wouldn’t be able to make it because she had flu, but said that she would like to see him later. He agreed and asked where to meet her but then the phone went dead.

The night was still, John was restless watching Television and waited for the phone to ring. He was concerned to why Mary’s mother wanted to meet him and why didn’t Mary phone him? He thought she must be quite ill and he knew he hadn’t touched her. He hadn’t met her parents but had seen her mother pick her up at school. John remembered her long red hair, pale skin and bright blue eyes. She was tall and quite beautiful and saw the resemblance of Mary. He knew he wanted the relationship to be more intimate but didn’t want the hassle of parents or to get too much in love. He loved his motorbikes and the image and longed to get one when he reached seventeen next year.