Chapter One. Panty-Snatcher
His mother always called him Paulie. Of course, he hadn’t minded when he was younger, but now he was in secondary school, it was an embarrassment. His friends Mikey and Josh were super cool. He wanted them to call him PJ – his second name was James – but after hearing his mother say things like, “Paulie, could you fetch in the washing?” or “Paulie, could you help Sam find her doll?” – Sam was his younger sister, Samantha – Mikey and Josh not only dropped the ‘PJ’, but even started teasing him with the ‘Paulie’.
He did his best to get her to drop it.
“Mum, could you please stop calling me “Paulie”? I’m not a little kid any more!”
“But it is your name, dear. What else am I supposed to call you?”
“Actually, mum, it’s not. My name is ‘Paul’, remember?”
“But we’ve always called you Paulie, ever since you were a baby.”
“Exactly! But I’m not a baby any more, and my friends think it’s stupid. Haven’t you seen them smirking every time you use it?”
“No, dear, I certainly hadn’t noticed. Oh, well, all right. When they’re around I’ll try to remember. But to me, you’ll always be my little Paulie.”
His mum did try, but her attempt usually came out as “Paulie, oh, I mean Paul”, so it wasn’t much of a help. Due almost entirely to the connotations of the babyish name, his friendship with Mikey and Josh began to fade. However, he still had one close friend, Nathan. Nathan didn’t try to be cool or smart or grown up. Perhaps it was because he had an older sister, Emilia, whose influence had prevented him getting fancy ideas about himself. She was pretty and clever and sensible and two years his – and Paul’s – senior. Nathan looked up to her in every way. Despite being a girl, she was an example to him of everything that a teenager should be. She stood out from her peers, male and female. Sometimes one would to put her down, but her natural wit was always equal to the occasion, and often much superior to it, so that her detractors were disinclined to try a second time. And to Paul – well Paul, whether he knew it or not, Paul was half in love with her, and the half that wasn’t in love with her worshipped the ground she walked on, as the saying goes. When Paul was invited to their house, as he often was, he spent an unusual amount of time in the bathroom beforehand, and if it hadn’t been for these visits he would otherwise probably never have combed his hair or cleaned his teeth properly. So even if his regard was apparently unrequited, his feelings for Emilia at least served to keep his appearance passably in shape.
On these occasions, it was Paul’s greatest delight to find himself in Emilia’s bedroom, which sometimes happened when the three of them ended up playing one of her board games. On the day in question, a Sunday in May, they were sitting on the carpet having a game of Scrabble. The boys both knew that Emilia could wipe the floor with them if she put her mind to it, but since she was almost totally lacking in vanity, she satisfied herself by playing in a half-hearted way by laying down virtually the first word that came into her head. In this way she gave her opponents a chance of winning. Paul liked Emilia’s bedroom because it was full of Emilia’s stuff, her clothes, her books, her stuffed animals, her posters, and of course, her bed. On this particular day, the game was interrupted by the children’s mother calling from downstairs.
“Emmy? Nathan? Your aunt’s on the phone. Come and wish her a happy birthday!”
They jumped up and thundered down the stairs, leaving Paul alone in the room. He stood up and looked around, taking in the atmosphere and trying to imagine what its occupant might do in the evening or at bedtime. He noticed the top drawer of her chest was slightly open. Creeping over, he peered inside. Yes, her clothes. With a thrill he saw, right on top, a little pile of knickers, the uppermost pair yellow and satiny and covered with minute red bows. Hardly daring to breathe, he reached out and touched them. He could hear talking from downstairs, and he guessed his friends wouldn’t be back for a minute or two, so with a pounding heart, he carefully lifted the little garment out of the drawer and examined it. He marvelled at the softness and silkiness of the material. There was a little cloth sachet of potpourri in the drawer, which had scented everything. He lifted them to his face, and inhaled the perfume. His head span. For a moment he lost concentration, and suddenly became aware of footsteps climbing the stairs. In panic he threw the knickers back at the drawer and collapsed to the floor by the Scrabble board. But he had missed his aim, and they fluttered down next to him. Instinctively, he grabbed them, and stuffed them in his pocket, the instant before Emilia and Nathan returned.
For the remainder of the game he was in a panic. He had to get the panties back in the drawer, or Emilia would guess it must have been he who had had taken them. They were all going for a meal with Nathan’s parents that evening, after which he would be taken home. So the deed had to be done before they left. It would be impossible to return them immediately after the game – Emilia would hardly allow him to hang about in her room after she had left – so he devised another plan. After they had all gone downstairs, he would pretend to need the toilet, and go back up and enter her room and put them back. Yes, that would work. So just before they were about to leave, he made his excuse and returned upstairs. First, he went into the toilet, which was just along the landing, waited a suitable time, and flushed it for the sake of authenticity. Then, taking the panties out of his pocket, he crept back and slipped into Emilia’s bedroom. He was half way to the chest of drawers when he froze.
“Paul? Can I help you?” Emilia was standing in front of her wardrobe mirror putting on her earrings. Then she saw what he was holding.
“What…?” She stared at him, questioning. “What are you doing with those?” she exclaimed.
Paul stood there like a frightened deer, unable to speak or think for a minute, with an expression of terror on his face.
“Well? Answer me?” She put her hands on her hips. “Did you take them out of my drawer?” She held out a hand. “Thank you. I’ll have them back, please. Right now!” At last Paul found his voice.
“I…I …I found them on the floor…they must have fallen out of the drawer…I was just…you know…putting them back?” He phrased his stammering reply in the form of a question, as if saying, “Don’t you believe me?” Clearly Emilia did not.
“Really? They fell out of my drawer, did they? Into your pocket? How convenient. Then she registered that he had just been to the toilet. Her eyes narrowed. “What have you been doing with them?” she asked, in an accusatory tone.
“Nothing, Em. I swear!”
“You’d better tell me the truth. The whole truth. Right now. Or you can come downstairs and explain yourself to the others, too.”
“I, er, I…I”
“Ten seconds, young man.”
“I…I…your drawer was open. I was afraid they were going to fall out. I went to push them back in, but they fell on the floor. Then you both came running back upstairs…”
“You were afraid the panties were going to fall out of my drawer. Oh, I see. Now it’s all perfectly clear. You saved them from a terrible fall.” She held them up. “Thank you so much. I would have hated it if they’d got torn or soiled. Fortunately, my little knight in shining armour was there to save them!”
Paul looked at the door, the floor, then the window, as if he were contemplating escaping that way. Anywhere but at Emilia. He squirmed with discomfort, shifting from one foot to the other and back again. The poor little thing looked so sweet, she thought. But she couldn’t resist torturing him a little longer.
“Well, if that’s your story, I think Nathan and my parents would be interested to hear it. I’m sure they would want to thank you for protecting my interests. Shall we go?” She indicated the door.
“No, please, Emilia. I’ll do anything…”
“The truth then. Or I’ll take you downstairs right now.”
Paul hung his head. Tears welled up in his eyes. “I thought they were…pretty. I just wanted to look. Then you came back up, and I accidentally dropped them on the floor. I didn’t have time to put them back. I just stuffed them in my pocket. I just came to put them back now. I didn’t realise you were in here…”
“Thank you, Paul. There. That didn’t hurt, did it?”
He shook his head, slowly, still looking at the carpet.
“So, having had the privilege of being able to examine them close up, what do you think? What’s your considered opinion?”
“Sorry?”
“Do you like them?”
“No! I mean, yes! I mean I like the design…Please. I’m sorry!”
Emilia looked at him for a few moments, considering. The she said,
“I’ll tell you what. I’ll keep your little secret for the time being. But you have to do something for me.”
“Yes. Anything!”
“Go back into the loo. Take off your underpants and put on these panties instead. They should fit you nicely. Then get dressed, and bring me your underpants here.”
“What? No…”
“You said you like the design. Now you can see if you like the feel of them.”
“But, couldn’t I…?
“No. You don’t have a choice. You’d better hurry too, before I change my mind, or Paul the little pantie-snatcher will find himself a minor celebrity. Here. Take them.”
Paul reluctantly took the offered garment.
Nathan called from downstairs. “Come on you two! We’re waiting to go!”
“Just coming!” Emilia shouted back, “I just came up to get my purse. And Paul’s just in the loo.”
“Go! Quickly!”
As they came downstairs, Emilia’s mum noticed Paul’s red cheeks,
“Are you all right, Paul? You look a bit flushed.”
“I’ve just been showing him my wardrobe. He has very good taste in girls’ clothes, for a boy!” smiled Emilia.
“Y-yes, thank you, Mrs Dic-kinson. I’m fine,” he replied. The unaccustomed feel of the panties against his skin made him tremble slightly. They were surprisingly small, but the material was so silky and stretchy it contained him with a reassuring firmness. He walked uncertainly, with little steps, trying to adjust to the new sensations. His mind was in a whirl. He was actually wearing a pair of her panties! Panties that she had worn herself, probably only a few days before! He gulped.
He said nothing on the drive to the restaurant. Emilia sat beside him in the back, and put one hand affectionately on his knee. She put her lips close to his ear, and whispered.
“Look after them, Paul. You can come and see me on Friday evening. The others will be out till after ten. Make sure you’re wearing them, mind. Understood?”
He nodded. His face was still burning. All through dinner he hardly said a word. His new underwear was so light, it made his jeans feel loose, while being constricting enough to make him fidget awkwardly in his seat.
“Are you sure you’re feeling all right?” Mrs dic-kinson enquired again, looking concerned.
“Yes, thank you.”
“I think he is ill, mum,” said Nathan. “He normally eats like a hippopotamus, but tonight he’s only being a giant hog!”
Later that night, Nathan’s mum drove him home. Emilia was sitting next to the door, and got out so he could do the same. In the instant they were standing there together unobserved, she whispered,
“Wear them for me all week, Paul. They’re yours now.” And she gave him a little silent kiss on the cheek.
“Night, Paul!” called Nathan. “See you at school!”
“Night, Nathan.”
Paul made his way inside.
“Did you have a nice day, Paulie?” asked his mother.
“Yeah, great, thanks, mum. But I’m tired. I think I’ll go to bed now.”
“Oh, all right. Don’t forget to clean your teeth, will you?”
“Nah.”
As he undressed for bed, he thought over the events of the day. Why did Emilia want to see him again on Friday? Well, it didn’t matter. He was going to get to be alone with her for a few hours. That had to be good news. He undressed down to his new panties. He looked at himself in the mirror. They were so little compared to his own underpants. He contemplated what he should wear to bed. He decided that it might be risky to leave them lying about his room. It would be safer to leave them on. She had said he could, in any case. The consideration that they had recently been next to her skin played no part in his decision, he told himself. As to tomorrow, he could decide then what to do next.
He took ages to get to sleep. The silky caress of the panties kept him awake. And when he finally did fall asleep, his dreams kept him tossing and turning all night. He looked so worn out the next day, his mother kept him home from school. Nevertheless he made what he told himself was a rational decision to keep them on during the day.
“Mrs Dic-kinson rang last night to say she thought you were sickening for something. It’s looks like she was right.”
“Yes. Mum.”
“Oh, and Emilia has invited you over on Friday evening. You asked her for some help with your school project?”
“I did? Oh, yes, that’s right. I did.” Crafty excuse, he thought. She’s even more devious that I gave her credit for.
“She said it’ll be nice and quiet because her parents and Nathan are going out to a play. How nice of her to help you. She’s such a nice girl! She obviously likes you, anyway.”
“Maybe.”
“Oh, no, she does, believe me. She was saying how of all Nathan’s friends, you’re the most interesting.”
“Really?”
“Yes. She was asking whether she could take you swimming or ice-skating some time. Nathan’s not really into sports, you know. He’s much happier sitting at home reading.”
“Yes, I know that….”
“And she thinks it would be fun. I told her she can take you wherever she pleases! She’s so grown up for her age, don’t you think?”
“Yes, I suppose so…”
“And she’s offered to babysit you and Sam whenever I like! Isn’t that sweet of her? She knows I have my work cut out looking after you two and going to my meetings and those conferences. I’d pay her, of course, though she said she’d be happy to come around anytime I needed her. I’m definitely going to take her up on that.”
Paul digested this information with mixed feelings. Why the sudden interest in him? It felt like Emilia had an ulterior motive, but what it was he couldn’t imagine. Maybe she was just keen to help out. Maybe she really did like him, and she was taking this opportunity to show it. Nevertheless, he felt slightly uneasy. He wished he hadn’t left her knickers on. By doing so he felt he was colluding with her plans. But what was he to do? If he hadn’t kept them on, he would have had to hide them somewhere, and by sod’s law his mother would have found them. He would like to have dumped them in the bin, but of course he dared not do that. He resigned himself to wearing them the rest of the week. He would wash them tonight in the bathroom, and hang them on his radiator to dry. What about school? He’d have to wear them to school too. He dare not leave them at home. He swore, mildly, in his frustration. It was like being a prisoner on release, wearing a tag. He couldn’t take them off, and he would have the constant worry about somebody noticing them. If Emilia had intended to keep him on a tight lead the whole week, with a constant reminder of his misdemeanour, she couldn’t have come up with a better method.
“Roll on Friday,” he said to himself. “Just a few days, and I’ll be able to get back to normal…..I hope,” he added, as an afterthought.
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Topic: The Innocent (Read 39468 times)
