Fifteen Going on Grown Up (36 page)

Hally gave him a scathing look.

“I’m not defending her, really, I’m just telling you what it was like.”

Hally relaxed a little.

“Sorry.”

She said sheepishly. Wes gave her a smile that melted her heart but didn’t let him see this in her expression.

“She had new clothes all of the time, not like Corrinne does, I mean she demanded them. And she had to have matching shoes and bag with every outfit. She had really expensive makeup and used to get her nails done at a fancy nail place and her hair done at the top salon in Oxford. Honestly, I don’t know why I put up with it all. I didn’t have loads of money yet she would always expect me to pay when we went out. One time I bought her this perfume for her birthday, and she looked at the box and didn’t even open it because it wasn’t the latest celebrity perfume. That was one time I broke up with her. Then she came sobbing back saying she was so sorry and the present was lovely. I stupidly took her back, but you know, she never did open that perfume.”

Wes sighed then picked up his mug of coffee, sipped it but put it down as it had gone cold.

“Do you want some fresh?”

He shook his head, not wanting anything to interrupt them

“Well when she was at my house she was all sweet and lightness. I’ve always had a good relationship with my parents and we can talk quite openly, but well, I was a young teenager with a big ego. I didn’t want to tell my parents or let them see how she treated me. Do you understand Hally?”

She thought she could see his point. It must have been hard for a boy like him, popular with the crowd, probably the dominant one of his peers, feeling used and manipulated by his girlfriend. How could he tell his parents otherwise? So she nodded that she did understand and he carried on.

“Well they thought she was wonderful. She would come in and give my mum a hug, make dad a cup of tea and chat about all sorts. She never showed her shallowness ever, when my parents were around. I don’t know if it was deliberate or whether she just enjoyed the attention she got from them, (a sad frown crossed his face and he paused) I think maybe it was deliberate, but still I stayed with her.”

Wes took a deep breath and took Hally’s hand raising it to his lips and kissing it lightly. She didn’t resist this time.

“Go on.”

She encouraged. She already had a million questions but they could wait.

“Well I suppose being with her became a habit. Some of our friends had paired up, her new best friend had got together with my closest mate, so we kind of drifted through the next couple of years. She was very forward and pushy, always going on about how sexy she looked and how so many lads gave her ‘come on’ looks where ever she went. I wasn’t comfortable with the whole sex stuff. I mean, you know we did stuff, touching and kissing, but I wasn’t ready to go the whole way. She used to take the mickey out of me, she even told her friend once that I couldn’t get it up ”

Wes blushed with embarrassment and humiliation and Hally felt a powerful surge of pure hatred for the girl who had stolen his heart and then destroyed it. She took both his hands and squeezed them tightly.

“Oh Wes. That’s just so horrible. How could anyone do that?”

Wes gave her a loving smile and shrugged.

“Well, again stupid idiot me just let it go. But it got to me so I started getting a bit more, you know close. We got near to going all the way a few times, but it was difficult. It was always at her house and her parents were always home. Then it was my birthday, she was already sixteen. We had been out, a whole group of us. We had been to a pizza place then the park for a bit, but it was too cold to stay out for long. So me and her, we went back to her house and for once her mum and dad were out. She started snogging me as soon as we got in the door and putting her hands down my jeans. I got… well I don’t have to tell you what I got…but we ended up on the lounge floor. She took off her jeans and underwear and pulled me on top of her. I didn’t even get my own jeans off, she tugged them down and without even thinking it happened.”

Wes took his hands out of Hally’s and covered his face, tears dripping between his fingers. Hally sat motionless unable to give him comfort for she didn’t know what he was crying for at that point.

“Wes…what is it?”

With his face still covered he mumbled through his sobs.

“It was awful. It was over and done with in an instant. We had barely started when I… well you know…came…”

The last word was little more than a whisper, but he carried on.

“Sophie started laughing. ‘What was that?’ she asked me. I couldn’t look at her. but I managed to ask her what she meant. She laughed again and told me it was feeble and couldn’t I have just waited a bit. I didn’t know what to say. I managed to get up and pull my jeans up without having to look at her. She got dressed and stood up looking in the mirror, fluffing her hair and wiping at her smudged makeup. Without even looking at me she told me it had been a waste of time. I had been so quick that she hadn’t even had time to get properly worked up herself. I tried to apologise but she put her hand up in front of me. I won’t ever forget what she said then and how she said it.”

Wes stopped, took his hands from his face and with tears glistening on his cheeks faced Hally and said.

“She said. ‘Wesley you are such a loser.’ Just like that with a look of distaste on her face, then ‘You better get yourself sorted. That was the worst sex I have ever had.’ I just stood there. It took a few seconds for it to sink in. When had she done it before. I somehow managed to ask that and she gave me such a contemptuous look and told me it was the times we broke up. At first that didn’t register, when we broke up it was like two or three days at a time, and then it did sink in. She had said times, not just once before and my mind sort of went into turbo speed, we had broken up several times so did that mean she had been with someone else every time?”

Wes’ pain and humiliation was tangible to Hally. She unfolded her feet and stood up repositioning herself on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and held her like his life depended on it. She held his head in her hands and kissed the top of his head. Anger and hatred for Sophie filling her soul.

“You don’t have to tell me anymore right now.”

She whispered to him. He pulled back and looked into her face.

“Yes I do. I need you to know everything.”

Hally nodded and let him continue.

“I knew then that it had to be over. All the times she had been a bitch and we had broken up I had let her come back to me. But this was too much. Not only did I realise what a really nasty person she was; but finding out that she had cheated on me many times was the limit. I mean I know we technically broke up, but to me it was still cheating. So, at first I couldn’t speak. Then I got angry and told her I never wanted to see her again. I told her she was an evil bitch and that it wouldn’t do her any good to come running back this time because it was over. Do you know what she did?”

Wes asked Hally indignantly. Hally shook her head and Wes continued.

“She had the absolute nerve to turn away from me and say ‘Whatever’. I stormed out of her house and walked and walked until I was so cold and tired. I finally went home and when I got there my parents were waiting. Mum gave me a worried look and asked where I had been. I was confused ‘cos I wasn’t late in but then she told me Sophie had phoned in floods of tears. She told my parents we had a row and I had stormed out. That she didn’t really know what it was about, something little that she’d said and I over-reacted to. I was actually lost for words. Mum made me a hot drink and asked me to tell her about it. Finally I knew I could talk to her about all of it, to both of them. So we sat down and I poured out everything. It was really difficult, especially about the sex stuff, but they listened without comment until I finished. They were both stunned. Sophie had duped all of us and they were hurt too. They blamed themselves for being so taken in, but I managed to convince them it wasn’t their fault. They both hugged me and told me they would help me as much as possible to get through it.”

Wes again took a break and again Hally asked if he wanted another drink. His voice had become husky through crying and talking and so he agreed, but told her he only wanted water. Hally went to the kitchen and found a note from mum saying they had taken Nathan to football training and were then going to the shops, and that Corrinne and Clia had come round and she had told them to call back later. Hally looked at the clock and saw it was already past nine. She hadn’t realised how long she and Wes had been in the lounge and then she remembered texting the girls asking them to come round early. She went back to Wes and explained about the note and that she had to text Corrinne and Clia and let them know what was going on. Wes gave her a worried look.

“Oh not everything, not yet, just that we are talking.”

He gave her a relieved look as she quickly keyed in the message and sent it each of her friends.

so sorry i know i said come early but wes came round and we really need to talk promise to tell you all later love you xxxx

She then settled herself back on his lap and after a long drink of water he carried on.

“So anyway. I kept away from Sophie. At first she tried the old ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it’ stuff, but I wasn’t interested. Then she turned it around and started telling her friends I had dumped her straight after having sex with her. Of course they believed her and in a way it was true, and for a while I got a lot of flak from them. I told my close friends exactly what had happened and they were with me, even the girls I was close to, so it didn’t really cause me much trouble. In some ways I was relieved it was finally properly over. It was like I could breathe again and I realised that for so long I had been under this girl’s control. Anyway everything seemed to settle down, it was quite nice being single and just hanging out with my mates. Then about four months later Sophie and her parents came round my house one evening. Mum and dad didn’t want to let them in; but they were all indignant and stating what they had to discuss could not be done on the doorstep. So my parents took them through to our lounge. They didn’t offer seats or drinks just let them stand in the middle of the room. Mum and dad stood either side of me and dad said. ‘Well?’ Sophie’s mum crossed her arms in front of her and lifted her shoulders as though no one had ever dared speak to her like that before. Sophie’s dad puffed out his chest, pointed at me and said ‘He got our little girl pregnant’”

Wes’ voice shook at the memory and he drained the water from the glass. Hally felt the shock of the news as if she was actually there and she shivered in reaction to it. Wes rubbed her shoulders aware of how it all sounded to her. It took a few moments before he was able to carry on. Then with another deep breath he said.

“We just all stood there. It was like a freeze frame in drama, like someone would appear and start asking students what feelings were going through so and so’s mind at that point. Mum was the first to speak and honestly, it would have been funny if it hadn’t been so damn serious. She pulled herself up as tall as she could get and well you know, being so short anyway, well she lifted her chin and said straight out. ‘Your so called little girl got herself pregnant. She’s been at it like a rabbit with half the boys in town, so she should know how to use contraception by now.’ Sophie’s parents reacted like they were one person, or rather like a fish. Their mouths opened and closed exactly at the same time like they were gasping for air, but they couldn’t speak. I don’t think anyone had ever made a derogatory remark about their daughter.”

Wes smiled a real smile for the first time since she had seen him at the hospital. It lifted her spirits too and as she looked at him imagining the scene she gave a little giggle. Wes joined in and briefly they laughed together, almost as though nothing was in between them. Then it was over and Wes got back to telling Hally about his past.

“Well they stood like that for some time and then dad piped up with ‘Anyway, how does she know it’s even our son’s?’ I hadn’t thought of that, but of course after what she’d told me it wasn’t exactly an unreasonable question. But it was Sophie who answered. She pressed herself close to her father and in a little girl voice said. ‘Daddy, that’s a lie. I only did it with him ‘cos he said he’d break up with me if I didn’t. Of course it is his, I had my period just before we did, you know, and since he dumped me straight after, well. And I’ve been too upset to even think about any other boys.’ Her dad patted her arm and told her it was all ok they believed everything she said. They completely overlooked what my mum had said about the other boys. Well my mum and dad were furious; I didn’t know what to say and just stood there like a plank. Her mum noticed this and pointed at me again and said. ‘I see he has nothing to say for himself. So what are you going to do about this mess?’ Before I even got the chance to answer mum stepped up to Sophie’s mum and looked right up at her. She jabbed her finger towards Sophie’s mum and in a really quiet but angry voice said. ‘Don’t you point at my son. He’s not going to do anything until she (indicating Sophie) has had this child and we get a paternity test. Then if it is his, he will take responsibility then.’ Sophie’s mum was shocked into silence. I mean mum might be little but she can pack a punch without raising her voice or hand.”

Again Wes smiled, love for his mother showing in the way he spoke of her. Hally was very glad that he had parents he could rely on just as she had and began to get an understanding of the situation they had all found themselves in. It didn’t alleviate the hurt and anger at Wes for keeping all this from her, but she was beginning to see why he had.