She had this idea that if he gave me a present then he would expect 'favours'. I couldn't get her to understand that this wasn't the case, that he was giving me a present because it was my birthday and nothing more. So I gave it back and explained to him what she said. I was so embarrassed, and sad to see a perfectly good watch go back to the shop.
We didn't always stay with the group. Sometimes we would walk into the local small town and go to a pub there. One day Davey said to me "The landlord keeps looking at you. Why don't you smoke a cigarette, it will make you look older." Well, my parents both smoked and I hated the things. Davey smoked but I wish he didn't. I really didn't want to smoke. He lit a cigarette and gave it to me. The landlord was probably amused at the scene with me holding this lighted stick, feeling self-conscious, trying to put it to my lips but not being able to get it nearer than 6 inches. So I just sat there with the cigarette between my fingers while it burned down and tried to expertly flick the ash into the ashtray. I never went through that charade again.
Phyllis Briggs lived in my village and she had been in my class at Primary School. She would often make some remark which made me feel awful and I was upset when we ended up at the same secondary school. For the first few years she was in a different class but by age 14 we were in the same class again.
Before Davey started going out with me, he went out with another girl in my class called Lindsey Brown. I think she was one of the girls I sat with at lunch, who introduced me to the Sunday club. There was an advert on Television at the time for Hovis bread which had the slogan "Don't say Brown, say Hovis." So Phyllis Briggs, called her Hovis and would often quote the slogan as she walked by.
Lindsey happened to be away on holiday with her family the day I met Davey and, I didn't know this but, they were still a 'couple' before she went away. Of course she was upset when she got back and found she'd lost her boyfriend to me. It's funny that Phyllis Briggs, who up 'til then had shown no affection for me whatsoever, sided with me in the 'discussions' about it at school. I'm sure it was because she felt more affinity with me than with Lindsey, because of our shared primary years.
One Sunday afternoon I couldn't find Davey anywhere and so I asked around to see if anyone had seen him. One guy said "I saw him walking down the road with a blond Scottish girl." I laughed, not believing him, but sure enough it was true.
He came to me an hour later saying we were finished because he was getting married. The girl had come to visit him because she was pregnant and he was the father. This was a bit of a shock because he had been quite a gentleman with me, probably because of my age.
So that was the end of my first boyfriend and my last visit to the Sunday afternoon club. I was ready to move onto going out on Saturday nights.
