New Year at TAC

‘The Reaper sucks.’ Sheep sat in the detention classroom the next day at lunchtime. ‘Three days of detentions just for shooting out to the dairy to get a bottle of Coke.’

  Wal glanced up from his desk beside him, a pen in hand. ‘Which wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t tried to steal my idea!’

  Sheep flicked over a few pages of a printed handout. ‘This is bullshit. New Zealand Politics of the 20th century? What good is writing this out word for word? Couldn’t Mr Hill have given us something more interesting to write out? Something that’s gonna have some educational value?’

  ‘Derrr, that’s why they call it detention, you moron.’

  ‘Who the hell is Sir Robert Muldoon anyway?’ Sheep continued to gripe. ‘Man, he is one ugly bastard.’ He proceeded to draw a Hitler moustache on the photograph on the handout in front of him. ‘I’ll give him Think Big…’ He added a clown’s nose and then drew a silly hat on his head. He did his best to hold back a laugh. He paused to look across at Wal and saw that he wasn’t writing out the passages the teacher on duty had assigned them. He was writing something else. ‘What the hell are you doing, Ullman?’

  ‘My detention.’

  ‘Bull! You’re not copying out anything from that handout. You’re not even reading it.’

  ‘I don’t need to.’

  Sheep shot out his hand like a snake attempting to strike its victim and grabbed the sheet of paper on which Wal wrote. He leapt to his feet and backed away to give himself a chance to have a quick read. Just as well he did, because Wal hauled himself up out of his chair, almost knocking his desk over. ‘Give that back, Shepherd!’

  Fortunately, the duty teacher Mr Hall was not in the room, or they would have been shot down before they even began their war.

  Sheep dodged in behind another desk. The few students that were in the room paused from their work, thankful for some kind of relief from the tedium of writing about New Zealand politics. Sheep quickly scanned the paper again, while Wal stood there glaring at him. When he read some of the words, he couldn’t help but burst out laughing. ‘What the hell is this?’

  ‘Shepherd, you better give that back right now or I’m gonna smash your brains out!’

  Sheep began to read what Wal had written. ‘You are so sweet, you are so fine, you make me lose my mind…’

  ‘I’m warning you Shepherd…!’

  ‘…if I could make you mine, I’d open a bottle of wine?’ Sheep cracked up laughing again, but then he noticed the furious look on Wal’s face and knew he had gone too far. He handed the sheet of paper back over. Wal snatched it from his hands, glaring maniacally.

  Sheep inched his way back to his desk making sure that Wal would not go through with his threat.

  The burly teen calmed down and sat back down. ‘It’s a song I’m composing.’ He scowled.

  Sheep almost burst out laughing again, but held it back for fear of the backlash it might attract. He coughed instead. ‘What for?’

  ‘What do you think?’

  ‘For Chelsea?’

  ‘Yes!’

  ‘Man, I don’t wanna offend you or anything, but that’s gotta be the worst lyrics I’ve ever seen.’

  ‘Well what do you expect? I only started writing it this morning. I’m still fine-tuning it.’

  ‘I think it needs more than fining tuning. It needs a complete overhaul.’

  Wal’s face turned sour again. ‘Watch it, Shepherd, or I really will smash you!’

  ‘So, what are you intending on doing? Turning up at her place one night and serenading her through the bedroom window?’

  ‘I don’t know yet.’

  ‘If you sing that crap to her she’ll be so embarrassed she’ll never want to talk to you again.’

  ‘No, she won’t, she’ll love it. She won’t worry if it’s not all that great. She’ll just be thrilled that someone wrote her a song. She’ll think it’s romantic.’

  ‘You romantic? Give me a break. That’s like serving up caviar and French Fries on the same dish. No one would buy it. She’ll think you’re a try hard.’

  Wal’s face started to darken. ‘Just shut up, Shepherd, I mean it!’

  Sheep didn’t get to say anymore anyway as Mr Hill returned to the room. All went quiet again. Sheep sighed and returned to the job at hand, but even as he did, he couldn’t help but feel a little worried. Wal just might have valid points about his so-called love song. It might just impress Chelsea more than what Sheep first thought.

  Sheep and Wal left the detention room at the same time and headed for the next class of the day – Biology.

  ‘Can you believe we’ve got Mr Nut again this year?’ grumbled Sheep.

  ‘He’ll be good for a laugh,’ Wal said. ‘Especially once Rex starts giving him stick.’

  ‘I’m surprised Nut didn’t demand to be assigned to classes that didn’t include Rex.’

  ‘Probably the new Principal’s doings. He probably dictated who he was teaching.’

  They entered the Biology lab and moved to one of the benches at the back where Chelsea and Jacqui sat.

  ‘I just can’t believe it!’ Jacqui seemed pissed about something. ‘Why would you want to undo all the good work you did last year by joining the school orchestra? Do you realise how square that is, Chels?’

  ‘Jacqui, you know I play the clarinet and I’ve wanted to get into the band. I didn’t last year because I was still only learning. Besides, being able to play a musical instrument is actually quite cool.’

  ‘Yeah, maybe if it was a sax, a keyboard or a bass guitar or something you’d play in a modern band, but an orchestral instrument? That’s really nerdy, Chelsea. I thought you were beyond that.’

  ‘It’s not nerdy and I’m going to go to the Musical Arts meeting this afternoon to sign up. Why don’t you come, Jacqui? You can sing… you could join the choir.’

  Jacqui goggled as if Chelsea had just grown another head. ‘You are kidding, aren’t you?’

  Wal spoke up, ‘Yeah, you gotta be kidding, Chels. Jacqui hasn’t got a cultural bone in her entire body.’ He chuckled as he surveyed the evil glare on Jacqui’s face. ‘Just jokin’, Jacqs.’

  ‘You’re a butthead, you know that, Ullman?’

  Sheep decided he didn’t want to be outdone in the chivalry department by Wal, so added in his comments in defence of Chelsea. ‘Give her a break, Jacqs. Just because you’re not into classical music doesn’t mean it’s not cool.’ He didn’t really believe that for a minute, but added in another white lie to impress Chelsea, ‘In fact I’m a huge Beethoven fan.’

  Chelsea lifted her eyebrows. ‘You are? I didn’t know that.’

  Jacqui stared at him in disbelief and was about to speak, but Wal got there first. ‘I prefer Rachmaninoff actually. I think he had a lot more talent that Beethoven.’

  Sheep knew full well that Wal was talking through a hole in his head, but he would just have to show him up. ‘Yah, but come on Wal, Beethoven was a genius. I mean he started composing as a young kid. Wrote the Magic Flute when he was 10 years old.’

  ‘That was Mozart.’ Chelsea said.

  ‘Oh yeah, sorry, my mistake.’ Sheep waved his hand in the air, trying to make it seem like it was just a slip of the tongue. He hoped she bought all the BS.

  ‘My gosh.’ Jacqui was disgusted. ‘Chelsea if you know stuff like that you really are as square as I thought.’

  Sheep looked her dead in the eye. ‘Shut up, Jacqui.’ It seemed to have the desired effect. She sat there, sulkily, but said no more. Sheep puffed his chest out, feeling proud that he had stood up to Jacqui on behalf of Chelsea. He got a warm feeling inside as Chelsea flashed him a smile of gratitude.

  ‘Hi guys!’ Vanessa arrived and dropped down on a seat next to the boys. She turned to face the four of them. ‘What’s new?’

  For once Jacqui spoke to her in a civil tone, but Sheep could sense she was just looking for an opportunity to ridicule her. ‘Tell me, Vanessa, what are your thoughts on classical music? Does it st
ir you emotionally? Does it make you feel as though you have culture in your life?’

  ‘Wow, Jacqui, that’s an unusual question to ask in Biology class. I would have expected some question more along the lines of do you believe the human appendix has some bodily function we haven’t yet discovered? Now that could bring up some really interesting debate.’

  ‘So, I take it then, you find Biology much less mind numbing than classical music?’

  ‘Mmmmmmm, you know, I never even insinuated that.’ She smiled, but elaborated no further.

  Jacqui seemed dissatisfied with the answer, but didn’t push it. If she wanted to make a mockery of Vanessa’s tastes in music, she wasn’t going to get the opportunity just yet. ‘So, have you managed to sink your claws into Rex yet?’

  Vanessa spoke in her usual cheerful manner, ‘Jacqui, Jacqui, your insecurities are just screaming to get out. You need to haul them back in and put a muzzle on them.’

  Jacqui delivered her a cold glare, but didn’t retaliate. Either she was afraid of upsetting her and getting Rex on her case, or she realised she was no match for Vanessa’s quick wit and intelligence. Sheep suspected it was a mixture of both reasons.

  ‘So, Vanessa,’ said Chelsea. ‘How are things between you and Rex?’

  Vanessa sighed. ‘Not much better. He still doesn’t want to talk to me. I did manage to get him alone for a little at the gym last night, but he won’t crack.’

  ‘I thought you could wrap him around your little finger?’ snorted Jacqui. ‘That’s what I heard anyway.’

  Vanessa let out a little squeal of delight. ‘Jacqui, you are so delightful with your cynical comments. So adorable and so sexy. Ooh la la, I could just eat you up.’

  Jacqui didn’t seem to know how to respond to that. She just stared at her now, stumped for words. Even Sheep had to give his head a rattle over Vanessa’s response. He liked it; it was just somewhat bizarre in a very appealing sort of way. It certainly shut Jacqui up.

  Rex entered the room. Sheep noticed Vanessa’s eyes light up when she saw him. He stepped up and sat down on a stool furthest away from her and greeted them all with a cheerful hello.

  ‘Rex.’ Jacqui smiled a bright smile. ‘I bet you’re not going to that Musical Arts meeting after school today, are you?’

  ‘Me? Nah, I’ll wait for the opportunity to audition for an acting role when they start preparing for the big school production.’

  ‘That’s more like it. It’s nice to know that someone around here hasn’t gone totally weird on me.’

  Chelsea smirked. ‘Jacqui here thinks I’m a nerd because I want to join the school orchestra.’

  ‘I didn’t say that!’ Jacqui retorted.

  ‘You did!’

  ‘You said she was square too,’ Sheep interjected.

  Jacqui delivered him an evil stare.

  ‘Remember all that stuff you said?’ Sheep continued. ‘And then you were mocking her because she knew a lot about classical music.’

  ‘Nothing wrong with classical music,’ Rex said.

  ‘Err, no… of… of course not!’ Jacqui backtracked. ‘I was only kidding about that, you know. I love classical music.’

  ‘Since when?’ sniggered Sheep.

  She sent him a homicidal glare this time.

  ‘Vanessa, why don’t you come along to the meeting?’ Chelsea said. ‘Do you play a musical instrument or sing?’

  ‘No, but I dance.’

  ‘She’s a fantastic dancer,’ Rex said, but didn’t look at her.

  ‘You should come along,’ Chelsea invited her. ‘It’s a chance to get into some classes this year. You could even get yourself into the school production later on in the year.’

  ‘Mmmmm,’ Vanessa said. ‘It might be fun to get involved in something like that.’

  ‘Come along then.’

  ‘I think I will.’

  Sheep couldn’t help but notice the thoughtful look on Wal’s face. Their eyes met and a gleam appeared. Sheep knew what he was thinking. He was going to go along to the meeting even though he couldn’t dance, couldn’t play a musical instrument and Sheep was pretty sure… couldn’t sing. There was only one thing for it. Sheep would have to attend the meeting also.

 

  CHAPTER 16:

  Complications for Mandy