Simon could hardly explain that he had attacked Sidney because he was too scared to attack Barry Spence.

He saw the moist tenderness of Daniel's lips afresh. He wanted to feel it again.

Simon had never dreamt that he would ever be on the stage receiving the plaudits of the entire school.

Simon was fighting against being queer; all the social and professional pressures were against it even though homosexual acts between consenting adults in private were about to be decriminalised.

So began a divorce between his body and brain that would be problematical for Simon in the years to come.

In Simon's eyes, he was the most beautiful creature walking on God's Earth.

He loved the feel of his healthy young body coursing through the water, the weightless agility.

The eyes! Cold and calculating, hard grey eyes, with the feel of a malevolent intelligence behind them.

Did losing virginity have to be with the opposite sex? Had Daniel lost his virginity with him, Simon?