Lycra

"We'll start you out at the most absolutely basic level," the receptionist informed me, her tone making it clear there was no flexibility on this. I knew she didn't even think her most absolutely basic level was going to be a good idea for me.

She looked straight out of sixth-form, and nothing at all like a first-year university student. No, this was an ex-prefect more than happy to keep her trim skirt and ponytail, keen to join the real world right away and start bossing people round outside the school gates. I squirmed be to standing before her like this.

Still, I signed up, even though just getting to the sports hall meant being swept up in a tide of boys on their way to the main courts. It was all hormones and freckled snub-noses and the kind of eagerness to play and win that had me too frightened to look at anything but my sneakers as I hastened along, not so much with the crowd as trying my best to keep out of its sight. I could only imagine the teasing I'd have been in for if they'd noticed me, a beginner so much bigger than they were!

Of course, I needn't have worried, because the most absolutely basic level wasn't going to be with boys anyway. It meant gym with the dreaded girls!

So there I was, blushing uncontrollably, right in the middle of a whole different gender and age-group all stretching and chatting and getting ready and paying no attention whatsoever to me. Was it really that long ago since I did something like this? Looked like it! Because there were none of the pleated PE skirts like the ones that used to make me blush, just Lycra as far as the eye could see. Lycra skirts, Lycra leggings, and those tiny little Lycra shorts which hid so little that if you asked me the girls needn't have bothered putting them on!

That first lesson was when I met Evie, who I ended up partnered with for one-on-one. She was one of those girls who was growing outward fast, with reddish-blonde hair and a cheeky smile. I still felt like Lycra had suddenly taken over the world, and it took a bit of getting used to. That said, Evie was so much faster than me and so much better at the game that I soon became very well-acquainted with her black Lycra shorts, the rear end of them anyway!

That was why I doubted she'd noticed me much that first evening or would remember me afterwards - since after all, half the game she'd not even been looking at me! I was wrong though, because a couple of nights later we happened to bump into each other at the department store.

Evie was wearing a green sweater and light grey leggings so incredibly tight and smooth they showed every curve of her. You could tell she wasn't wearing panties, and in fact she probably never did. So for her to see me in that shop, while I was buying underwear, was one massive blush! I didn't think I'd ever live it down.

Flustered and embarrassed I thrust the three-pack of white underpants I was holding behind my back. That made me feel even sillier in front of Evie though, so blushing the more I tried to shove the things back on the rack. Of course they fell, landing straight at her feet.

"Hey," she said to me kindly. "That was fun the other night, but you went off before I had a chance to scan your phone. We could get a bit of extra practice in, if you like, just in case you're worried about not getting any better."

It goes without saying I stammered right away that I'd love that! "And thanks," I added, meaning every word.

The warm smile stayed on Evie's pretty face, only now there was a little touch of amusement too. I soon knew why! For she picked up the three-pack of underwear from the floor and handed it back. Mortified I shoved it behind me again.

After telling me where and when, Evie sauntered off. Her easy motion in those leggings made me feel almost hollow. Couldn't believe I was the one who still needed little underthings, and this girl younger than me had apparently grown out of them! What had happened to the world?

"Mum says my being in my teens takes her back," Evie told me while we were getting ready to start our game. "Not sure what she means, the smell probably!"

Her tiny light pink shorts today were just about the thinnest and tightest ever. You could totally see her butt, and that wasn't all. She was already making me hot and bothered.

"Let's play," I suggested anxiously, not wanting to add that if we didn't start soon, all my confidence would be gone.

Afterwards, Evie declared: "I like playing you because you don't flip at me when I win, like boys my age do."

"I'm never mad at you," I assured her. Which was a lie, because it left me fuming every time I lost to this girl! However, she was the only one at our club who'd been sweet to me, so I'd made a point of never giving her a hard time.

"Must be because you're that bit older," Evie concluded. "Mum says it's easier for us now than when she was my age. I've seen some of the cheesy things girls had to wear!" she added with a laugh.

I blushed to talk about this topic. In fact, I'd blushed about it when I was even younger than Evie!

"I mean, can you imagine girls today having to go to school in stockings and knickers and that?" Evie went on.

"Er, I'm not quite as old as your Mum!" I cried, incredulous. "But I bet she didn't make a fuss about stockings. Maybe you should give them a try!"

This idea seemed to delight Evie, and she told me there and then that tomorrow she would.