Dark Days at TAC

by Richard Pinkerton

CHAPTER 17:

  Three very different meetings

  Holly sat with Mav at the local domain. It was starting to get dark and the grounds were deserted. With the pool emptied, it was the ideal place to come and talk it was a great place just to come for a little peace and quiet. The upper area containing the squash courts and playing fields would no doubt have a few more people there, but it was rare that any would come past the pool on their way too and from it.

  ‘Rex has just gone too far this time,’ Mav said, digging his heal into the grass and twisting some loose. ‘Kissing you like that in front of the entire class. Acting like he doesn’t give a stuff that you’re my girlfriend.’

  ‘Come on, Mav, you know he’s not right. Those guys did more than just knock him on the head. They… you know… forced drugs on him too. You can’t be angry at him.’

  ‘Who says?’ Mav asked. ‘It could be that what we’re seeing is the real him and that his nice guy routine has always been a façade.’

  Holly thought back to what Rex had said earlier. Even he had suggested it might have been one. ‘I can’t believe that. He’s always seemed too genuine. He’s never done anything that I can see to suggest it was all an act…’

  ‘He slept with you that time.’

  Holly cringed. She hated to be reminded of that fact and still couldn’t look Mav in the eye. ‘But he really, really tried to make amends for that…’

  ‘An act? How do we know it wasn’t? How many things has he done and done it in a way that makes him look like he didn’t mean to hurt anybody? Perhaps he really wanted to get with you, had his fun and then pretended to be all remorseful about it.’

  ‘No, I don’t believe that.’

  ‘He’s a good actor, you know. We’ve seen it before. What about that time when he pretended that he and is cousin Biggles hated each other. They had us all fooled.’

  ‘Yeah, but… It wasn’t like he was up to anything devious. It was just for a laugh, really.’

  ‘Why are you so determined to stick up for him?’

  ‘Because he’s… you know… a good friend… to all of us. He always thinks of other’s first.’

  ‘But for all we know he could have had ulterior motives.’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘I don’t know. I can’t be expected to work out what goes on in his head, can I? Man, I even remember when he first came to this school I had my doubts about his integrity. Maybe I should have gone with my instincts.’

  Holly felt frustration welling up inside of her. ‘Come on, be fair. Even if and I’m stressing the word “if” here… even if he’s just acting now without all the filters, without a conscience and all that, you can’t blame him for it. It’s the amnesia or maybe the drugs they pumped him full of. We would all act completely differently ourselves if it wasn’t for our conscience and our morals. Without them, who knows what we’d be doing.’ She couldn’t help but add in one more comment, more out of irritation than anything else. ‘If you didn’t have your morals, you might be going around seeing people behind my back.’

  ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

  ‘Nothing!’ she said, although she didn’t mean it. ‘I’m just saying, that’s all. If it wasn’t for the restrictions we place on ourselves, we would do that sort of stuff. We’d all be… you know… a bunch of selfish jerks who can’t be trusted and who cause nothing but suffering for each other.’

  Mav stared down at the grass. He stubbed some more of it with his heels. ‘Maybe. But why couldn’t he have picked on someone else? Why not Jacqui? Why not Vanessa? Why you?’

  ‘Because I was the one he remembered.’

  ‘So he says.’

  Holly rose to her feet with an angry sigh. ‘I think it’s time for me to go home.’

  ‘I’ll walk you.’

  ‘No. I’d rather go alone.’

  ‘But it’s getting dark.’

  ‘I’ll be fine. It’s Te Arawa, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yeah, but look what happened to Rex.’

  ‘I’ll be fine! I’ll stick to the main streets, in the lights.’

  Mav leaned back down on the grass. ‘Fine. Go.’

  Holly didn’t wait for a further invitation. She headed for the main gates of the domain, walked quickly across the wooden swing bridge and headed towards the centre of town. As she approached one of the main roads, a crunching sound caught her attention. She spun around and was just in time to see a shadow disappear behind an acorn tree. A heavy layer of leaves covered the ground, so it could only have been the sound of feet on leaves that she heard.

  ‘Mav! Is that you?’

  No reply came. She huffed and stormed over towards the tree. ‘Why are you following me, Mav? Are you that paranoid that…’ As she reached the tree, she nearly screamed. It wasn’t Mav behind it, but Paul Burgess. ‘Oh my gosh, what the hell are you doing here? Have you been following me?’

  ‘I was… I was just…’ Paul stared wide-eyed at her.

  ‘You little freak! How long have you been following me? Were you watching me and Mav down at the domain?’

  ‘N… no… yes… I was just there and saw you guys.’

  Holly felt a shiver of horror. ‘Oh my gosh, you’re stalking me, aren’t you?’

  ‘I just wanted to say hi to you.’

  ‘So you hide and follow me, sneaking behind trees? Is that the way you say “hi”?’

  ‘I really like you, Holly. I want to be your friend.’

  She felt sickened at the thought. ‘You have got to be kidding me! I would never want to be the friend of a creepy little stalker junior like you. Sod off! Leave me alone!’

  Paul’s eyes narrowed. ‘I’m just trying to be friendly.’

  ‘Stalking people and being creepy towards them is not friendly.’

  Paul’s voice took on a courser tone. ‘Why are you being so rude to me? All I want is to be your friend.’

  ‘Well I don’t want to be yours!’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Because you creep me out. Can you not get the message? I am not interested in you. I have a boyfriend.’

  ‘But he’s cheating on you.’

  ‘No, he’s not!’

  ‘I’ve seen him.’

  ‘What?’ Holly shrunk back.

  ‘I’ve seen him alone with someone.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘One of your friends.’

  ‘Which one of my friends?’

  ‘Jacqui.’

  The world stood still for a few seconds and a cold chill rushed through Holly’s body. ‘You’re lying!’

  ‘No, I saw them.’

  ‘When? What were they doing?’

  ‘Sitting down together outside the back of one of the classrooms. They were really close to each other, talking really softly. And afterwards they cuddled.’

  ‘Cuddled?’ Holly stared at Paul in horror. ‘How big a cuddle?’

  ‘Just for a few seconds. And then they left.’

  ‘Did they kiss?’

  ‘No.’

  Holly didn’t know what to think. A short cuddle didn’t necessarily mean they were romantically linked, but what were they doing alone like that? Mav was certainly not Jacqui’s biggest fan. However, what really did concern Holly was the fact that Jacqui once had eyes for Mav. Was it possible that now Mav’s feelings for her had changed?

  Holly shivered. ‘No. You’re lying.’

  ‘I’m not! It’s true.’

  ‘Well I don’t care. I’m not interested in you. And if you keep stalking me, I’m going to report you to the police. You understand?’

  Paul’s peered at her, his eyebrows low. It sent another chill into Holly’s body and for the first time she felt a little scared. All she wanted to do now was get away from the creepy little year-nine boy.

  ‘No more following me!’ she said sternly and hurried away down the street.

  She walked as quickly as she could, turning back every few seconds to ensure that Paul was not following her. He still stood
at the tree before she turned down one of the side streets. She breathed easy. Nevertheless, as much as she wanted to relax, the things Paul told her continued to play on her mind. Was he telling the truth? Had he really seen the two of them alone? Could Jacqui be the one who the mysterious card was meant for? ‘No, Holly, stop thinking that!’ she told herself.

  She had to pass by Rex’s place on the way home. She had no intention of stopping there, but something made her come to a halt outside the gate. It was a mixture of curiosity, concern and desire. She wanted to know how he was and if any of his memories had returned. She also had a desire to see him and confide in him and with the new knowledge she had gained from Paul, she even had a desire to be held by him and be comforted by him.

  Any other time and she would have had no hesitation, because Rex always seemed pleased to see her, but this time she felt tremendous anxiety as she approached the main door. After knocking, it was Rex’s mother that answered.

  ‘Oh, hello, Holly. Haven’t seen you for a while. Would you like to see Rex?’

  ‘Well yeah. Is he ok? Has he regained any more of his memories yet?’

  ‘Well maybe you should speak to him about that.’

  ‘Sweet.’

  Mrs Cassidy ushered her in, then spoke into the intercom next to the door. ‘Rex, Holly’s here to see you.’

  Holly heard his voice. ‘Holly? Ok, send her up.’

  Mrs Cassidy turned to her. ‘He’s in his room. I’ll let you find your own way up.’

  Holly made her way up the winding Cassidy staircase to the second floor, her body tense. It seemed bizarre to be so afraid of going to see Rex, however, with the current circumstances she figured it wasn’t very surprising.

  She entered his room. He sat there on the couch, his legs stretched out. His widescreen TV was on, but muted.

  ‘Hi, Holly,’ he said. ‘Come and sit down.’

  Her heart beat fast as she walked over and sat down on the couch next to him. He moved right in and put his arm around her. With his other hand, he touched the side of her face and then moved his lips forward to kiss her. At first, all she could do was sit frozen to the spot, but then her own desires got the better of her and she moved her mouth forward to his. For a few seconds they sucked on each other’s lips, but then Rex withdrew. ‘What would Rick Maverick say?’ He smiled.

  Her whole body tingled and she wanted more. She couldn’t hold back and planted her lips back on his. She didn’t want to think about Mav right now. She completely ignored her conscience screaming at her to stop, but she couldn’t. For several more seconds, she kissed him, the passion becoming more intense by the moment. In her head, she tried to convince herself that it was ok, because Mav was cheating on her.

  Once again, Rex pulled away. ‘Whoa, whoa… take it easy. You shouldn’t be doing this, you know?’

  ‘I don’t care. I want to.’

  Rex rose to his feet and turned to face her. ‘We should stop.’

  ‘But… but I thought you wanted me?’

  Rex smiled. ‘I thought I did too, but earlier this afternoon some memories came back to me and now I realise that you and I were indeed a mistake. There is someone else now who I realise is the person I care most for and I realise that my loyalties must be to her.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Chelsea Brown. I can remember how we met now and how close we became. I can’t help but feel now, that it’s her I love and I have done right from the beginning. I’m sorry Holly. But unless you have something you need to talk to me about, you should probably go.’

  Holly couldn’t help but feel let down and embarrassed. She had the overwhelming desire to be with him right now and to learn that he no longer wanted her was painful.

  ‘I suggest you go back to Mav, Hol,’ Rex said.

  ‘I don’t want to. He’s… he’s… you know… cheating on me.’

  Rex smirked. ‘So you’ve been saying, but yet you have no proof.’

  ‘I… I think it might be Jacqui.’

  ‘Jacqui? I thought you suspected Samantha Drysdale.’

  ‘No, I don’t think it’s her.’

  ‘Why Jacqui?’

  ‘I’ve just been… you know… hearing some things… and well…’ She thought about recent conversations she had had with her. ‘She’s been rather short with me lately. Like she’s annoyed with me for some reason.’ The more she thought about it, the more the suspicions began to rise. ‘Yeah… she’s been quite rude to me at times.’

  ‘Well you need to find some proof it’s her then.’

  ‘Will you help me?’

  ‘I don’t think so. Sorry, babe, but I’ve got better things to do than go on wild goose chases. You better go anyway. I’ve got something I want to watch on TV.’

  ‘Sure,’ Holly sighed and rose slowly to her feet. ‘I guess I’ll see you at school.’

  CHAPTER 18:

  Serious Accusations