CHAPTER 24:
Final Justice
Holly sat with Rex and a group of their friends, with still ten minutes remaining until the bell rang for school to start. Vanessa, Chelsea and Mav weren’t there, but it suited Holly that at least Mav and Chelsea weren’t.
‘So it was all an act, Rex?’ she asked. ‘Making us think you were friends with Melissa and Ben?’
‘I needed to get alongside Ben, because I knew he was a gang member and that he did drugs like P. I hoped he’d lead me to the actual dealer. I knew the Wild Dogs were involved because Rod and his pals talked about them, while they had me drugged up. As for Melissa, well I knew she was only using Pete. I wanted to draw her away so that Pete wouldn’t be suckered in any more. I wanted him to see her true colours, so that’s why I made the moves on her in Biology. I also wanted to talk to her to confirm my suspicions about her. I realised that she was definitely the sort of person who would do the things she did. A nasty piece of work.’
‘I saw the cops come and take her away,’ said Jacqui. ‘Do you think they’ll lay charges?’
‘I don’t know. She didn’t actually steal the money, but trying to frame someone is pretty serious. She’ll be expelled, I should imagine.’
‘Good. I mean, I’m no fan of Pete, but I think it’s really really low what she did.’
‘I still can’t believe it,’ Pete said. ‘I never thought she hated me that much. I guess it must have a lot to do with the way I picked on her in primary school when I was really young. The thing is she started to stick up for herself so I stopped. I always tried to be nice to her after that, but it never did any good. Seems she never forgave me.’
‘Don’t feel bad for her, Pete,’ Jacqui said. ‘She doesn’t deserve any sympathy for what she did.’
‘Rex, I have to know,’ Holly said. ‘I understand that you were still suffering from amnesia at the police station, but what about that time in class when… you know… you kissed me. You had your memory back then, right? You really riled up Mav.’
‘I knew about him and Chelsea. He told me about it all… before I was abducted. I told him he had to tell you. He wouldn’t. Said it would be alright and that he and Chels would just be friends, but I could tell it wasn’t going to be alright. I’m not one to interfere, but I saw an opportunity there to try to make Mav buck up his ideas. I hoped it might help him realise what he was going to lose. I guess I may not have achieved that and not only that, but it got me into some trouble when we were at my place that time. I came that close to grabbing you and continuing from where we left off at my birthday party last year.’
‘You did?’ Holly couldn’t help but feel chuffed about that. ‘Sweet!’ Then she blushed when she saw the surprised looks of some of her friends. ‘Just joking!’ But she wasn’t. At least now she understood why Rex had pushed her away, making excuses about how he wanted Chelsea instead. He’d done it to prevent yet another possible mistake. ‘But in the police station… I really was the only one you remembered, right?’
‘At the time, yes. I could remember my birthday party and what happened there between us. There were all these other feelings too, really strong ones. However, once I got my memory back, I realised that those feelings were actually the ones I have for Vanessa. Even though I have strong feelings for you too, Hol, they’re not like those ones. Somehow in my jumbled mind, you became Vanessa.
‘Oh…’ Holly couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed, but she smiled anyway. She knew, deep down that she could never have the place in Rex’s heart that Vanessa did.
He touched her arm gently. ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry that you got hurt by all this.’
‘No, it’s sweet, really. You brought down a P operation and the whole community can be grateful for that.’
Rex nodded. ‘So what are you going to do now? Are you going to work things out with Mav? I’d hate to see you and Chelsea as enemies too.’
‘I don’t know. I’m really broken up about all this. I try to tell myself I put him in a similar situation last year, but it wasn’t like this. Was it?’
‘I don’t know. You tell me.’
She hung her head. She’d never really been able to let Rex go. She’d always secretly hoped they could be more than just friends. But then she was torn between her love for Mav and her desire for Rex. She told herself she had to stick with the stable relationship, not go after the fantasy one. She had made her choice a while back, even though she wondered whether it was the right one. Now perhaps she had to allow Mav to make a similar choice? ‘I guess I need to talk to him. To try to work things out.’
‘I think you need to. Even if it’s to end the relationship and move on. Mav and I, we managed to patch things up between us. Maybe you can do the same with Chelsea?’
‘Maybe.’
Jacqui touched her shoulder. ‘You know I’m here for you, Hol. I know I’ve been a bit of a bitch lately, but it’s only because I’ve had stuff going on at home that’s been bothering me. I never meant to take it out on you.’
She seemed sincere. ‘Thanks, Jacqs.’
‘Hey, what’s happening about that stalker of yours? Paul?’
‘He’s been taken care of. Between Vanessa doing her goddess routine and the police having taken him in to talk to him, I’m confident I won’t have to worry about him anymore.’
‘He needs to undergo psychiatric evaluation he does.’
‘I’m sure he will.’
Vanessa trotted up the path towards them, a huge smile on her face. She held some papers in her hand. ‘You’re not going to believe this!’
‘What?’ Holly asked.
‘Reverend Flanders called me to his lab. I wasn’t going to go, but apparently he wanted to apologise. Anyway, I went in there. The guy was as white as a sheet. Seemed scared to even look at me. He was fumbling and making a complete idiot of himself, like he was really spooked about something. Handed me these papers and said he was really sorry, but there had been a mix up. He found my original assignment. He gave me a merit for it!’
‘Ah, he’s just trying to butter you up again,’ Pete said. ‘Get in your good books.’
‘No, he was really polite and very apologetic. But I couldn’t get over his whole manner. It was like he’d had some ghostly visitation and was told “Give Vanessa a merit, or I’ll eat soul!”.’ Her eyes met Rex’s. ‘It was you, wasn’t it, Rexy, my darling? You’ve got something to do with this. I can see it in your eyes.’
Rex chuckled. ‘Let’s just say I went to see him yesterday afternoon and had a gentle word with him.’
‘What, you didn’t assault him, did you?’
‘It was tempting, I tell you. Hell, I had a lot of trouble just holding back my rage in Biology class when he tried to give you a fail on the bogus assignment paper of his. But no, I didn’t use physical violence. Let’s just say we came to an agreement and you can guarantee he will not be causing you any more trouble, Ness.’ He stepped up to her and put his arm around her. ‘And I promise that from now on if ever I put on any act like that ever again, I’ll make you’re aware of it. I hate the thought that you suffered over all this.’
‘It’s ok, dollbaby,’ Vanessa said. ‘I understand why you did what you did and I’m so proud of you.’
‘From now you will know about everything. I promise.’
She smiled. ‘I’m just glad you’re back to normal now. The guy I love so much.’
‘Same here. I can quit being the asshole bad-boy Rex Cassidy and go back to just being the lovable bad-boy Rex Cassidy.’
‘I’m glad,’ Vanessa said. ‘Because we wouldn’t want you any other way.’
Holly grinned. ‘Amen to that!’
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Dark Days at TAC Page 31