New Year at TAC

by Richard Pinkerton

When Sheep arrived at school that morning, he felt nervous. In fact, he had been dreading this moment for the last 24 hours. At the school gates, he reached into his bag and brought out a pair of reading glasses. They were a cheap pair he’d brought when in New Plymouth the day before. After he’d tried on several pairs, he had found this one, which strangely enough improved his eyesight. They did give him a bit of a headache if he wore them for too long though.

  He’d have to grin and bear it for now.

  ‘Sheep!’ a fellow classmate greeted him as he walked by. ‘Didn’t know you needed glasses, dude.’

  ‘Optometrist said I needed them.’ Sheep walked on.

  He came across a younger student who had been a junior the previous year. ‘Hey Sheep! Have you joined the nerd brigade?’

  Sheep lunged out at the boy and attempted to grab him, but the cheeky teen took to his heels and ran. ‘You better keep running, you little spaz!’

  Many other students gave him strange looks as he passed by, most of whom Sheep sent evil glares in return. Most didn’t stare too long, because they knew he wasn’t the type to be messed with, even with glasses on.

  ‘Hey Sheep, since when did you wear glasses?’ asked a bolder student.

  ‘Since now!’ Sheep growled. ‘Sod off!’

  He headed towards his usual hang from the year before, out outside E Block. He expected most of his friends to be there now. Boy would they be surprised. However, he hoped to impress Chelsea and as he had studied himself in the mirror that morning, he really did have to admit, he did look very smart and quite sexy.

  He came to a halt when he saw Rex sending a student tumbling into the B Block locker bay, which also acted as the main entrance to the school library. There was trouble. He rushed over, eager to witness a confrontation. If Rex was involved, it would be sure to be worth seeing.

  Rex hauled a student to his feet. It was Luke Shirley and he had a defiant look on his face. He was a skinny red-haired guy with a real attitude problem. He’d only started at school in October the previous year, but had been in constant trouble ever since with teachers and other students alike. He tried to shove Rex back, but the muscular teen wouldn’t budge.

  ‘Rex has got Surly!’ a boy called out to another. ‘Scrap!’

  Surly was the nickname Luke had adopted early on and it was certainly apt. Sheep never did like Surly, in fact very few people did. He was a nasty piece of work who had no respect for anyone, so deserved what he was getting. Surly was no match for a guy like Rex who grabbed him, sending him sprawling into the B Block toilets.

  Blonde-haired Laura Stott stood nearby, looking a little frightened. Judging by the scary look on Rex’s face, it probably had something to do with her. Rex didn’t like anyone messing with his friends.

  ‘I should have dealt with you last year, asswipe!’ Rex hauled him to his feet again. Everybody crowded around the entrance to the toilets, eager to see what would happen next.

  ‘Go to hell, Cassidy!’ Surly tried to take a swing at Rex. As his fist swung through the air, Rex grabbed it and assisted it on its way… into the side of one of the cubicles.

  Surly screamed out in agony as his fist hit the door with full force. Rex swung the door open and shoved him in headfirst. Surly let out a cry of horror as he went crashing down on top of the bowl.

  Spectators attempted to cram through the door of the toilets to get a closer view. ‘Laura, what the hell happened?’ Sheep asked her.

  ‘That creep!’ the tall blonde beauty snarled. ‘He tried to grope me. What he gets now is his own just-desserts.’

  Sheep felt like having a piece of Surly himself now too. He could just feel the fury building up inside him. ‘Teach that asshole a lesson, Rex!’

  Rex did just that. He grabbed Surly’s head and shoved it right down into the bowl. Surly screamed out in protest, but his cries fell on deaf ears. Rex shoved his head right down into the water and then flushed the toilet.

  Hooting and hollering filled the locker bay as a helpless Surly was shoved down again, then finally hauled back to his feet, coughing and spluttering, dripping wet. Rex hauled him out of the cubicle and slammed him back first into the wall. He peered at Surly’s dripping wet face with an evil glare. ‘Don’t you ever lay a hand on any girl in this school again, you got that ass clown?’

  ‘OK! OK!’ Surly spluttered. ‘I won’t, I promise!’

  Rex flung him down onto the floor and he lay there, quivering, looking up at his assailant in fear. Rex turned and pushed his way out of the toilets.

  ‘Way to go Rex,’ Sheep patted his back as he and Laura left the locker block.

  ‘Thanks Rex,’ Laura said gratefully. ‘You sure taught that creep a lesson he’ll never forget. The jerk!’

  ‘I don’t know if that assclown is capable of learning anything,’ Rex said. ‘I’m gonna have to keep a closer eye on him.’ He turned his eyes to Sheep, paying particular attention to his spectacles. ‘Soooo Sheep…’ He paused as if waiting for Sheep to interrupt.

  ‘Yeah, I know, since when did I need glasses?’

  ‘Yeah, that question did sort of cross my mind.’

  ‘Why are you wearing them, Sheep?’ Laura enquired. ‘I thought you had 20/20 vision.’

  ‘I should have been wearing them ages ago. I just never wanted to.’

  They met up with some of the others, hanging around outside E-Block under the trees. As expected, everyone wanted to know why he was wearing glasses. He gave the same excuse. He was particular interested in Chelsea’s reaction, but she had said nothing so far. She just looked at him with a surprised expression on her face.

  ‘So, what do you think, Chels?’ Sheep asked. ‘Do they suit me?’

  ‘Err… yeah, I guess so.’ She didn’t sound too convinced. ‘They look fine.’ She was either being diplomatic now or just found it difficult to get used to the fact he was wearing them. He hoped it would be the latter; otherwise, he was humiliating himself for nothing.

  Mandy changed the subject, ‘Rex, you have to tell us about Vanessa. What happened between you two? Is she here to stay? We saw her a few minutes ago.’

  Rex’s manner changed. He went from cheerful and friendly to looking very uncomfortable. ‘I’d rather not talk about her.’

  ‘Come on, Rex!’ Pete said. ‘You can’t leave us hanging like this. She is geeeeoooorgeous! Is she your ex-girlfriend? The one you never talk about?’

  Rex seemed irritated by the question. He peered over at Biggles. ‘What have you told them?’

  ‘Bugger all. There’s not much I could tell them.’

  ‘So?’ Pete urged him on. ‘Is it she? Is that the mystery ex?’

  Rex let out a deep sigh. ‘Yeah, it’s her.’

  Mandy gasped. ‘The one you never talk about? That one who broke your heart? The reason why you won’t let yourself fall in love again?’

  All was silent and Rex’s eyes seemed dazed. Finally, he spoke. ‘We were together… for about a year.’

  ‘So, what happened?’ Pete asked.

  ‘I’d rather not talk about it.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Pete!’ Chelsea scolded him. ‘Give the guy a break. It’s obviously personal.’

  ‘Typical Cook,’ Sheep snorted. ‘Can’t keep his mouth shut.’ Even though he was intrigued as the others, he decided to change the subject, just to annoy Pete. ‘Hey Rex, you were talking last year about having a beach party as sort of a coming-back-to-school celebration… not that coming back to school is anything to celebrate. Are we still going to do it?’

  ‘Of course.’ Rex seemed to be relieved the subject had changed. ‘Any excuse for a party. I reckon we can all meet up at Pone Rd Beach and bring party food and drinks. I can bring a portable barbeque.’

  ‘That’s awesome,’ Chelsea said. ‘It will just be our little group of friends though, won’t it? Not all our classmates.’

  ‘Just us.’

  There were smiles all round. Sheep was particularly keen, because it would
offer him a chance to socialise with Chelsea. Just as long as Wal wasn’t hanging around. ‘I’ll bring a portable stereo, so we can have some music playing. No 60s crap though. Gotta make up for that abortion of a party at Sandro’s…’ his voice trailed off. ‘Oh, oh…’ he noticed a teacher walking swiftly towards them. ‘It’s the Reaper.’

  Mr Reaper was the disciplinary man of the school. His dark crooked eyebrows and unsmiling thin lips made him look fierce, which he was. He was mean and took no nonsense. If anyone ever saw him on the warpath, they ducked out of the way quickly. By the business-like expression on his face, he was not in a good mood. ‘Cassidy! I want you now. Damn it Cassidy, for once, can’t you avoid getting into a fight on your first day of school?’

  Rex didn’t seem concerned with the appearance of the Reaper and smiled at him. ‘Hey Mr R, great to see you. It’s been too long. How was your Christmas break?’

  ‘I’m not in the mood for small talk, Mr Cassidy. You’re wanted in the principal’s office right away.’

  ‘Oh, great!’ Rex beamed, ‘I get to meet the new Principal. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Tell him, I want my coffee white with one sugar.’

  ‘Rex!’ Mr Reaper glared at him. ‘I said, I’m not in the mood! Get over there now!’ Any other student and Reaper probably would have blasted his eardrums out, but he had learnt to tread carefully with Rex. If he didn’t, Rex would become even more difficult to deal with.

  ‘Ok, well we can’t keep the new Principal waiting, can we?’ Rex smirked.

  ‘No, we can’t.’

  ‘Ok guys, I’ll catch you in assembly. I’ll do my best to delay the start of it for as long as possible.’ He winked.

  Mr Reaper rolled his eyes and they headed off toward the office block.

  It seemed Rex was as good as his word. When 9am rolled by the bell hadn’t rung yet. It was just as well too, because a couple of Sheep’s friends had not yet arrived. He sat with the ones that were, listening in on talk of Vanessa. Everyone was debating possibilities of why Rex and she had split and why he was so reluctant to talk about her.

  ‘She’s a psycho – nutcase.’ Pete chuckled. ‘So, maybe she tried to kill Rex?’

  ‘Don’t be spaz, Cook.’

  ‘Maybe she came out of the closet and announced she was gay.’ Holly giggled. ‘That would really crush a guy’s ego.’

  Sheep considered another possibility. ‘She probably just left him for another guy or something.’

  ‘Get real,’ Mandy said. ‘No one’s that stupid. Who in their right mind would dump Rex for some other guy? I think he’s still in a state of shock, with her turning up out of the blue. Maybe he’ll be more willing to open up once he gets used to the fact she’s staying. I think…’ Her voice trailed off when someone else arrived on the scene.

  It was Vanessa.

  ‘Biggles!’ Vanessa said with a smile on her face. ‘Rex told me you were here now. How are you?’

  Biggles grinned. ‘Not bad, Vanessa, not bad. Boy am I surprised to see you here.’ He rose to his feet and gave her a hug.

  Sheep couldn’t help but stare at her. She was as breathtaking as the others had claimed. What amazing blue eyes she had. What a figure. Her smile was the type that could knock a guy flat by one flash of it. The nose stud really complimented her whole look. How Rex could ever have let this beauty go was a total mystery… unless of course it was she who let Rex go.

  ‘Is Rex around?’ she asked in a smooth mellow voice.

  ‘Wow,’ thought Sheep. ‘She even talks sexy’.

  ‘He’s been called to the office,’ Biggles replied. ‘In trouble with the Principal.’

  Vanessa laughed. It was like music to Sheep’s ears. Was there anything about her that wasn’t magnificent? ‘Oh, he is so bad!’ She giggled. ‘He hasn’t changed that’s for sure. I’m so glad about that!’ She noticed Mandy standing there. ‘Oh hi! Sorry about turning up when I did the other night. I have a habit of doing that – turning up at the wrong time. Hope I didn’t interrupt anything, you know… romantic.’

  ‘No, it’s ok,’ Mandy said. ‘I was about to go inside anyway.’

  ‘You must have been so pissed at me, turning up like that.’

  ‘I was tired anyway. I needed to get some sleep.’

  ‘Oh yeah huh, I know how Rexy can wear a girl out… in a good way of course.’

  ‘So, how did you end up here in Te Arawa? Didn’t you know Rex from Taukauri?’

  ‘Yeah huh. Actually, it’s not that much of a coincidence. My mother works in daycares and when her last one closed down and she had to find a new job, she asked me where I wanted to live. Te Arawa was the obvious place.’

  ‘Because Rex lives here?’ Holly asked.

  ‘Of course. But I didn’t tell her that though.’

  ‘Why?’

  Vanessa let out a sexy laugh. ‘I’ll leave that one to your imagination.’

  Sheep’s imagination certainly ticked over furiously. He found it hard to believe she’d go to so much trouble to track down Rex if she’d been the one who dumped him… unless of course she’d come to regret splitting up with him.

  Pete piped up, ‘Why did you and Rex break up?’

  Any other time, Sheep would have berated Pete for asking such a personal question, but he was as intrigued as the rest of them about that one. Sheep expected Vanessa to go all serious like Rex did, but she didn’t. Instead, she beamed a cheeky smile. ‘Who said we ever broke up?’

  She then winked.

  There was silence for a few moments as they all tried to make out whether she was serious or not. Her manner was so light-hearted it was hard to tell. It certainly provided more questions for Sheep’s mind. If they had never officially broken up, what had caused them to part? Surely, it couldn’t have simply been because one of them moved to another town. They could have continued to keep in contact online.

  ‘So, Vanessa,’ Laura spoke up. ‘Does that mean you and Rex are continuing from where you left off?’

  For a moment, her beautiful sapphire blue eyes looked pained. Then she smiled and they lightened up again. ‘Don’t worry about it.’ She radiated another glorious smile. ‘I’m not here to try and steal him from you if that’s what you think.’

  ‘Then why choose to come to Te Arawa then?’ Holly asked.

  ‘I missed him. I needed to see him again.’ Vanessa’s smile faded and her voice dropped a little. ‘But I’m not so sure he’s all that happy to see me.’ She gazed down at the ground for a few moments, then up again and the smile returned. ‘But I hope that will change.’

  Pete Cook spoke boldly, ‘Well I can’t understand why he wouldn’t be happy to see you.’

  Vanessa smiled brightly and gave his cheek a tweak. ‘You are so sweet.’ She turned back to Mandy. ‘Really, I’m not here to stomp on any toes. I hope we can be friends.’

  ‘Maybe.’

  ‘I hope so. The last thing I want is to have to make friends with that fat dweeb I saw earlier. What was his name again? Tucker? I mean what sort of name is that to give a fat baby? I’m assuming he must have been a fat baby, if he turned out like he is now.’

  Everybody laughed.

  ‘That’s Tucker Pyles.’ Laura smiled. ‘And it would be social death to make friends with him.’

  ‘I take it he tried to chat you up?’ Mandy giggled.

  ‘Well yeah, if you can call lines like “What’s a nice girl like you doing in a dump like this” chatting someone up.’

  They all laughed again.

  ‘That’s Tucker for you,’ Holly commented.

  ‘I guess I should be thankful he didn’t burp it.’

  ‘I guess you should.’

  ‘He has guts, I’ll give him that.’ Then a look of horror came over Vanessa’s face. ‘Oh no, did I really say that about a fat guy?’

  ‘He calls it muscle,’ Sheep said. ‘By the way, I like your nose stud.’

  Chelsea did too. ‘Is that a real diamond?’

  ‘Ye
ah huh. Isn’t it great?’ She rubbed it gently with the tip of her finger.

  ‘I reckon.’

  The others agreed.

  ‘The teachers will probably try to make you remove it,’ said Pete.

  ‘Just let them try!’

  Sheep hoped she didn’t have to remove it. It really suited her. Moreover, he hoped she would be their friend, he really did. He couldn’t think of anything more wonderful than seeing her gorgeous face around on a regular basis. Then he remembered the glasses on his face and the fact he was trying to impress Chelsea. He had to be careful that he didn’t appear too infatuated with this new girl, especially when Chelsea was around. He glanced over at her. She looked happy enough. Their eyes met and they exchanged smiles, but then a strange look appeared on her face and she peered beyond him. ‘It’s Wal. He’s here. But… my gosh, am I seeing what I think I’m seeing?’

  All heads turned to meet him as he strolled toward them. When Sheep saw him, his eyes widened even further than his friends.

  Wal too was wearing glasses.

  CHAPTER 7:

  Dealing with the Tough Nuts