New Year at TAC

CHAPTER 12:

  Casterton vs Evans

  That evening at the Casterton farm, Mandy was enjoying hanging out with Dale and a handful of other seventh formers – both male and female. She felt quite special, being the only sixteen-year-old there.

  They had moved the celebrations into the woolshed where Dale and his pals had some cans of beer, which Mandy quite happily accepted one of.

  ‘Can’t let Mum and Dad see we’ve got these,’ Dale said. If they come in, we chuck them into this bin here alright?’ He pointed to a metal bin a few feet from him.

  His friends agreed.

  ‘Mandy, it’s so cool you’re here.’ He sat down on a pile of wool they pulled from one of the baskets. She sat down right next to him and he put his arm around her. She nestled in contentedly. ‘I really like you, Mand and I hope we can see more of each other from here on in.’

  ‘I like you too. I’d like us to hang out more.’ She took a small sip from her can. Dale skulled back the rest of his and hurled it towards the bin. It reached its target and landed inside. He ripped off another can from a six-pack.

  ‘What would Rex say about that?’ He delivered her a twisted smile.

  ‘Rex would have absolutely no problem with that.’

  ‘But aren’t you like one of his girls?’

  She giggled, thinking it was a nice thought. True, she guessed in a way, she was one of his girls, but he would never have ever seen her as such.

  ‘What’s so funny?’

  ‘I’m not one of his girls. We’re friends and we do stuff together sometimes, but that’s all.’

  ‘So, you’re not err… you know…’

  ‘What?’ she knew what he was going to ask and really hoped he wouldn’t. She wasn’t sure how she would reply. She didn’t want to lie, but if she didn’t, she’d make her previous claims sound like contradictions.

  Dale was about to speak, when one of Dale’s friends arrived at the woolshed.

  ‘Hey Maurice, you’re late!’ Dale called out.

  Mandy recognised Maurice from school. He was tall, well-built and known as being a little obnoxious by other students. He had playful grey eyes and a cheeky smile, which gave Mandy the impression he was looking for whatever he could to poke a little fun at. He strolled over to them. ‘Hey man, congrats on making head boy.’ When he recognised Mandy, his smile broadened. ‘Hey, it’s Randy Mandy!’

  Mandy absolutely despised that nickname. She was about to speak, but Dale came to her defence. ‘Don’t call her that, Maurice.’

  ‘Sorry.’

  Mandy decided to speak up anyway. ‘Why do people call me that for? I mean I know it rhymes, but I’m not like that. I’ve only ever been with the one…’ her voice trailed off when she realised what she was about to admit. She glanced at her beer can and realised she was feeling a little too relaxed.

  ‘What?’ Surprise appeared on Maurice’s face, as well as amusement. ‘You’ve only been with one guy?’

  Mandy blushed. She wasn’t embarrassed it was only one, she was just embarrassed that Dale and his mates now knew that fact.

  ‘She’s only sixteen.’ Dale came to her defence once again, but seemed to be hiding a look of surprise.

  ‘Yeah, I know, that’s ok. I’m not putting her down or anything, I’m just surprised, that’s all, because you’re pretty darn hot. Would have thought you’d have been with heaps of guys, but I guess we know who that one guy is, huh?’

  ‘Don’t jump to conclusions,’ Dale said.

  ‘Well it certainly wasn’t you, Dale.’ Maurice smirked. ‘We know you’re still a virgin. Of course, its gonna be Cassidy, it doesn’t take a genius to figure that one out.’

  There was silence. Mandy didn’t know what to say and didn’t like the pained expression on Dale’s face. She finally spoke, ‘Look, is it any big deal really? It’s none of your business anyway, Maurice.’

  ‘Yeah, it’s not.’ Dale glared at him.

  Maurice shrugged, helped himself to a beer and moved over to one of the other partiers.

  Dale fell silent. Mandy touched his arm. ‘Sorry. I wasn’t trying to mislead you, but you’ve got to believe me when I say Rex and I are just friends. If ever I got in a relationship with someone, I’d be loyal to that person. You do believe me, don’t you, Dale?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Dale said half-heartedly. ‘Of course.’

  Mandy wasn’t sure what to say to make him believe her. She’d always had the reputation of being a bit of a rebel, someone who didn’t care what anyone else thought. She might cut class a lot, get cheeky to teachers and all that, but she didn’t sleep around, not like many people seemed to think. Rex was the only guy she’d ever been with and that was only on the odd occasion. ‘Dale, I…’

  ‘It’s ok. It’s not like you’re my girlfriend or anything.’

  ‘But if I was, I’d want you to know nothing like that would ever happen while I was seeing you… I mean, you’d be the only one.’ She felt embarrassed about talking with him about such issues, even when they weren’t officially a couple. She didn’t understand why she was so embarrassed really. She had no problems talking about sex with her friends, but it was different with Dale. Possibly because there was a real chance of a romance blossoming between them, one where she didn’t have to share with other girls.

  He looked at her hopefully. ‘Would you ever go for a guy like me? I mean, I’m no athlete. I’m more of a nerd than a jock. You always hang out with jocks.’

  Mandy giggled, thinking it was funny he was using such terms. She figured he watched a lot of US TV shows and movies. ‘Well for a start, I don’t just hang out with jocks. I mean there are some geeks and nerds like Pete Cook and Rick Maverick. Then you’ve got a preppie like Sheep. Oh, and you could definitely call Will Ullman a greaser.’ She laughed again.

  ‘But you would be one of the cheerleaders… Way out of my league. You wouldn’t be caught dead with someone like me.’

  ‘Hey, I’m cuddling up with you at the moment, aren’t I?’

  ‘Well, that’s true.’ a glimmer of a smile crossed his face.

  ‘A cheerleader and the head boy. That would turn a few heads, wouldn’t it?’

  ‘It would.’

  ‘So, err… want to give it a try? She what reactions we get?’

  ‘Yeah.’ Dale’s eyes lit up. ‘Casterton vs Evans?’

  It was along serving tradition at Te Arawa College that if ever a girl and guy became a couple, their names were joined together in that fashion. Pairings of names would be written on desks, on toilet walls and even on people’s pencil cases. Sometimes it was for a joke, sometimes wishful thinking, but other times it was for real.

  ‘Sure!’ Mandy felt a thrill at the idea. ‘Sounds great.’ Mandy had seen her name written many times in various locations, but those instances normally came under the second category.

  ‘Alright! I think this calls for another beer.’ He ripped a couple more beers from the pack and twisted open each one, handing her the first. ‘A toast,’ he said. ‘Casterton vs Evans.’

  ‘Cheers!’

  It was 10pm when Mr Casterton dropped Mandy off home. She took a breath and entered the house, knowing she was in for an ear bashing. Her siblings were in bed, but both her mother and father were there when she slipped quietly inside.

  ‘Mandy! Get in here now!’ her father’s irate voice boomed from the lounge.

  She sighed and anxiously entered the lounge where her parents sat on the couch. Both her parents were in their early 40s. Her mother looked very business-like with one leg folded over the other, her arms crossed and her dark brown hair tied back. Her bald-headed father looked equally as serious, with glaring green eyes and his hands on his lap with fingers crisscrossed.

  He uncrossed them only long enough to point at one of the armchairs. ‘Sit!’

  Mandy reluctantly obeyed. To avoid having to look at her parents she focussed her eyes on other objects instead. She chose the old wooden radiogram that her parents used to make t
he place look retro. It had long ceased to play records, but the cupboards underneath created good storage space. It suited the old 50s style jazz sofa, easy chairs and coffee table they sat at.

  ‘I can’t believe you’ve been out all evening,’ her mother scolded her. ‘We tried ringing you on your cell but got no reply.’

  She continued to stare at the radiogram. ‘I had it switched off.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘So you wouldn’t bug me!’

  ‘You weren’t even here for dinner.’

  ‘It’s ok, I did eat.’

  ‘Where?’ her father demanded to know.

  ‘And don’t try to give us that cock n bull story about being with your friends,’ her mother added.

  ‘But I was with my friends.’ That was true to a certain extent.

  ‘Where were you?’ her father repeated.

  ‘At Dale Casterton’s house. He was celebrating getting made head boy. He was having a little party…’

  ‘A party?’

  ‘It was no big deal. His parents were there.’

  ‘Why didn’t ya tell us about this party?’

  ‘It was a last-minute thing. I had to go straight from school.’

  A sour look appeared on her mother’s face. ‘And you didn’t think to ring us?’

  She cast her mother a glare. ‘I didn’t think about it. Anyway, it’s not like I stayed out all night, it’s only ten o’clock.’

  Her her mother drew a sharp breath. Her lower lip quivered and her brown eyes glared. ‘Only ten o’clock? It’s a school night, Amanda Evans and you know that you can’t be out that late.’

  ‘Oh pleeeease, Mum, I’m not a kid anymore.’ She turned her eyes to another object in this lounge. This time the wide screen TV set. It was the only thing that really seemed out of place in their lounge, not fitting in with the 50s retro theme.

  ‘That’s just it, you are still a kid, girl’ her father argued. ‘By definition, a sixteen-year-old is still a kid and still has to obey the rules set by her olds.’

  Mandy rolled her eyes in defiance. ‘Give me a break!’

  ‘No, we won’t give you a break!’ her mother snapped. ‘I want to know exactly what you got up to tonight.’

  ‘We just hung out. We had a few laughs and had a good time. Nothing to get all paranoid about!’

  ‘Don’t you dare take that tone of voice with me, Amanda Evans!’ Her mother leaned forward a little and took a sniff.

  ‘No, I haven’t been having sex,’ groaned Mandy.

  ‘I smell alcohol! You’ve been drinking!’

  ‘I only had one beer, no big deal.’

  ‘No big deal?’ her father gasped. ‘It’s illegal for a kid to be drinking alcohol! Who provided you with it?’

  ‘We just found it in the woolshed. Dale’s dad must have left it there. We hardly had any at all.’

  ‘So, this Dale boy encouraged you to drink it then?’ her mother challenged.

  ‘No! I just decided to have one that’s all. Geeze!’

  ‘Damn it Mandy, you’re not helping the situation!’ her father growled.

  ‘This Dale boy,’ her mother said. ‘Was he who you were with on Saturday night?’

  ‘No!’

  ‘Then who were you with Saturday night?’

  She turned her eyes back to them with venom. ‘Like I told you on Saturday, my friends.’

  ‘Which friends?’

  ‘My usual friends. You know, Chelsea, Sheep, Wal, Rex…’

  ‘Rex.’ Her mother frowned. ‘I should have known. So, it was him you were with that night?’

  ‘No!’

  ‘Don’t lie to me, Amanda Evans!’

  ‘It’s none of your business!’

  ‘It is. I’m your mother!’

  ‘I don’t go asking you about your sex life!’

  ‘So, you’re admitting it!’ her mother glared. ‘You did have sex that night!’

  ‘So, what if I did?’ snapped Mandy, really getting riled up now. She now regretted drinking the beer, as the facts were just slipping out from her mouth, but there was no going back now. ‘I don’t have to have your permission, you know? What do you expect me to do, bring in a permission slip for you to sign to say it’s ok?’ She rose from her seat in defiance. ‘Rex and I have sex all the time, so get used to it! And if I want to do it again, I will, without your permission!’

  ‘No, you will not!’ Her mother rose to her feet again. ‘Because I’m grounding you.’

  ‘You can’t ground me. Not unless you lock me in my room and board up the windows, but then if you do that I’ll just report you to the cops for imprisoning me. You’ll be up on child abuse charges.’

  Her father rose to his feet too. ‘Now you listen here, Mandy, this is a serious situation. You’ll sit down and you’ll talk to us calmly and rationally.’

  ‘No! Go to hell!’ With that, Mandy marched away to her bedroom, slammed the door and locked it behind her.