Under Pressure

When Sam and Phil met at school the following Monday, there was an awkwardness between them.

'Look, Sam I'm sorry.' He begged her to forgive him. He hated, her being upset with him. He needed her in his life. Without her, he didn't feel like he could function.

'You should apologize to Stuart not me.' Sam told him. He knew she was right, but hated the image of Stuart's smarmy face when he had to apologize to him. He looked into her face. She bit her lip, and looked into his chocolate-brown eyes. The way she looked at him, made him feel like she was looking straight into his soul.

'OK! I'll do it.' He said begrudgingly.

She linked her arm through his and they went to their first lesson together. Ramani saw the two together, and couldn't help but admit to herself how good they looked together; however everyone now knew that Sam was with Stuart. They hadn't met Stuart yet, but from what they heard from Phil, he didn't sound very nice. All though they knew he was biased. Sam's description of Stuart was a lot pleasanter, but they could all tell it was rose-tinted.The gang wouldn't meet him till the following Saturday, when they would all go to the cinemas together. The thought of spending a couple of hours in the same room as Phil, Sam and Sam's boyfriend filled them all with dread. Terry had managed to persuade them to go along with it for Sam's sake. If she was happy, they should be and anyway in a cinema what could happen?

The thing was, she wasn't as happy as she appeared. Stuart didn't make her feel safe like Phil. He pressured her into things. A week together and they had already reached third base, and he wanted things to go even further after Saturday. She also hated his attitude towards Phil. He tried to keep them apart, telling her to keep away from him. She really disliked this quality in him, but tried to convince herself this was because he cared so much about her. In reality it was because he was egotistical, and everything else Phil thought of him.

When Saturday came around, Sam was terrified. Not only did she have to sit with Stuart and Phil in the same room together, she was also aware of the fact Stuart wanted to take things that bit further. She wasn't ready, but she felt that everyone was doing it. All the way through the movie she felt sick. Her heart pounded and a cold sweat trickled down her face. Phil noticed all this and kept regularly turning to her, to ask what was wrong. Each time she was asked, she denied anything was wrong. He wasn't convinced, and felt helpless.

The movie ended and Stuart walked Sam back to his house, totally unaware of her feelings. He led in her into his room, and sat on the bed. He started kissing her. Her heart was pounding. She felt his hand on her thigh, going towards the button her jeans. She froze. She couldn't do it. It wasn't right. He wasn't right.

'I thought you wanted this.' Stuart said, trying to undo her jeans.

'I thought so too, but it's not.' She was nearly in tears. She couldn't believe here she was being pressured into doing something with someone she didn't even love.

'Well what's wrong? Is it Hunter? He's got to you hasn't he?' She shook her head. 'Well it can't because your frigid 'cos we've done plenty of other things so quickly.'

His words hurt her. She couldn't believe he was sitting there blaming Phil for the problems in their relationship and was basically calling her easy. Fury built up inside her. She stood up and looked straight at him.

'I liked to say this hurt me more than it hurt you.' She started.

'What you on about? Have you gone frigid on me?' He asked looking puzzled.

'Bang!!' She thumped him straight in the nose. Blood going everywhere.

'Like I said I wished I could say it hurt me more- but I'd be lying.' With that she got up, and walked off. There was somewhere else she needed to be.