New Year at TAC

CHAPTER 2:

  Yearning for Chelsea Brown

  Rog Shepherd was always up for a party, but Tony Sandro’s 16th birthday party, wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. In fact, it was dull, dull, dull. The music was humdrum and there were adults there watching their every move, but the thing that bothered him most was the one girl he really wanted to dance with was too busy with another guy.

  He stared over to the spa pool outside on the back deck of the house. There she was – Chelsea Brown, cuddling into Rex Cassidy. She looked so lovely with her short blonde hair, soaking wet. To think that a just over a year earlier, he wouldn’t have given her a second glance. Who would have possibly thought that over such a short period she could have flourished from a plane-Jane to one of the most desirable girls in school?

  He regretted that he hadn’t taken more notice of her then. He knew she had a crush on him at the time, but he had been a complete jerk towards her. He’d also been more interested in the likes of Jacqui Donaldson and Mandy Evans. Speaking of Mandy Evans, she was in the spa pool too, on the other side of Rex, cuddling into him as well.

  Sheep tried not to feel embittered towards Rex. He was a great guy and he had become firm friends with him over the last year. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but feel a certain amount of envy. The guy was extremely athletic, sportier than even Sheep and had a fantastic physique, with impressive biceps and a six pack. Not only did he have the body, but he had the pretty boy looks too, with the bright sky-blue eyes, long eyelashes and muscular jaw. He was good at everything too. No matter what it was, Rex could do it and do it with style.

  His luck with the girls was what Sheep envied the most however. Chelsea, Jacqui, Mandy and just about every other girl he knew had gone gaga over him when he first arrived at Te Arawa nearly a year earlier. Chelsea in particular became very close to Rex and slowly lost interest in Sheep. Ever since she had her makeover, given to her by Jacqui and the girls, he had tried to reignite her interest, but so far had no luck. Heck, he had even given up smoking twice to impress her, but that hadn’t worked either.

  He hadn’t given up all hope though. He wasn’t a quitter. His father had always taught him to go after what you wanted and never, ever give up.

  ‘Hey Sheep, what’s up?’ Will Ullman, or Wal as he was better known, stepped up beside him with a glass of punch in his hand. They both stood upon the deck gazing over at the spa and the trees beyond.

  ‘Bored. Where are Jacqui and Laura anyway? I thought they were going to be here tonight?’

  ‘They probably got wise and decided to stay home.’ The burly, longhaired Wal smirked. Here was another guy who had an athletic physique, but Sheep saw him more as a meathead than an athlete. He’d be the type of guy who’d make a good pro wrestler, but not much of anything else… although Sheep had to admit he was a great rugby prop.

  Sheep sighed. ‘I’m beginning to wish I’d stayed home like them.’

  ‘Hey, can’t be all bad. Chelsea’s here.’ Wal gazed over to the pool. ‘And Randy Mandy. Whoa, what I’d give to be Rex right now. Whoarrr.’

  Sheep couldn’t help but wish the same. Mandy was one awesome looker too. She was slim and lovely and had wavy long brown hair and large wholesome brown eyes, that made her look like a sweet and innocent young teen. Although the fact was, she was a bit of a rebel and great fun to be around - always smiling and never seemed to have a care in the world. Sheep sighed. ‘I’d be happy to settle for a dance with either one of them.’

  ‘Yeah true, but which one to choose?’

  ‘Come on, Wal, we all know you have a thing for Randy Mandy, you always have.’

  ‘I thought you did too.’

  ‘Well yeah, but my preference is Chelsea these days.’

  ‘Forget about it, Sheep, she’s mine.’

  ‘As if!’ scoffed Sheep. ‘Since when were you interested in Chels?’

  ‘Quite a while now. Ever since she…’

  ‘Had the makeover?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Join the club.’

  ‘Remember, she bid for ME at the high school bachelor auction last year.’

  ‘Only because she felt sorry for you.’

  ‘She had to compete for me, you moron! Against another bidder.’

  ‘Yeah a real dog! She didn’t want you to have to suffer the humiliation of having to go to that dinner with that barker.’

  ‘She could have bid for you, Shepherd, but she didn’t. You had your chance Sheep, she was after you yonks ago.’

  ‘So that gives me the advantage, doesn’t it?’

  ‘Not if I put on the old Ullman charm.’

  ‘What, you mean when you piss a girl off so much, she ends up telling you to rack off?’

  Wal delivered him a wry smile. ‘You better watch it Sheep, otherwise I might have to smack you one…’

  The two continued to watch the two girls as they laughed and chatted with Rex. Sheep would have gone into the pool himself if there were any room.

  ‘This party sucks,’ Wal said. ‘I might head off.’ However, he stopped and stared back at the pool as Rex and Mandy climbed out, but not after Rex kissed Chelsea on the lips first.

  Sheep felt a stab of pain as he saw that. It felt like Rex was kissing his girl, but Wal was right, he blew his chances ages ago, so he couldn’t really be jealous.

  ‘Looks like Rex and Mandy are out of here.’ Wal finished off his glass of punch. ‘Lucky bastard. But still, looks like Chelsea’s available for me to chat up now.’

  ‘Not likely,’ Sheep said. He moved over to the spa pool, but then Chelsea rose to her feet and began to climb out. Wal reached her first and offered her a hand up, which she took graciously.

  ‘Thanks, Wal.’ She smiled.

  Sheep wanted to give Wal a dirty look, but had to keep up appearances with Chelsea. ‘Hey Chels, you planning on doing some dancing tonight?’ he asked her, before Wal could say anything.

  ‘Well, I don’t know,’ Chelsea replied. ‘What is that stuff they’re playing anyway?’

  ‘Wouldn’t have a clue,’ Sheep admitted. ‘It’s pretty ancient stuff. Nothing we listen to. I think it’s Mr Sandro’s type of music, whatever it is.’

  ‘It’s the Beatles,’ Wal replied.

  ‘Oh, of course.’ Chelsea gave her head a light thump.

  ‘Never heard of them,’ Sheep scoffed.

  ‘Sheep, you can’t be serious.’ Chelsea looked at him in amusement. ‘They may not be the hippest act on the planet anymore but anyone who knows anything about Rock N Roll knows who the Beatles are… or should I say were.’

  ‘Well, if you have to add that extra bit at the end, then they can’t be all that marvellous.’

  Chelsea giggled. She had a cute laugh and an even cuter smile. He still couldn’t understand why he had never noticed that smile before and those bright sapphire blue eyes, were so inviting. In fact, Sheep had to admit they were probably the most beautiful eyes of all the girls. He wished he’d noticed them a year ago when she wore glasses. He figured it must have been the glasses that detracted from them before. He had to admit that switching to contacts was a major factor in her transformation.

  ‘My cousin’s really into the Beatles,’ Wal said. ‘But then he’s a real geek. Into his computers and all that. Oh, and he plays the piano and listens to classical music. Now how geeky is that?’

  ‘Yeah,’ sniggered Sheep.

  ‘What are you guys saying?’ Chelsea snorted. ‘That just because a guy’s smart and is into classical music, he’s a geek? I love classical music and I think a guy who knows how to play a musical instrument is quite sexy. I’ve always dreamed of having some guy serenade me while playing a guitar or something… even better, having him sing me a song, while playing a piano. Now that’s really hot.’

  Sheep pondered on her words for a few moments. It had certainly given him something to think about.

  ‘So, what else makes a guy sexy?’ Wal enquired, asking the question Sheep would have asked, if he
had been on the ball.

  ‘Well… hey athletes are cool, but I reckon I’d much rather prefer a guy who has a bit of culture, you know…’

  ‘A Sensitive-New-Aged Guy?’

  ‘Yeah, I guess you could call him that.’

  ‘Rex isn’t exactly Mr Sensitive-New-Aged-Guy you know.’ Sheep smirked.

  Chelsea narrowed her eyes a little and he quickly regretted saying it ‘That shows you how much you know about Rex. What you see at school is the bad boy side of him. What you never see is the side he brings out in a more romantic setting. Did you know he has a whole set of Classical CDs at home?’

  ‘No,’ both of them replied.

  ‘He does. He has stuff by Mozart and Beethoven… not just modern stuff. And he can sing. Have you ever heard him sing?’

  They both shook their heads.

  ‘He’s sung to me a few times. Ok, he doesn’t play a musical instrument, but I’d love to see him do karaoke. You know he even came along to a show with me during the holidays. The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra were playing in New Plymouth. I asked him to come. I know it wasn’t really his cup of tea, but he came anyway. I think that’s really wonderful that he would do that for me.’

  ‘He’s the man,’ Wal acknowledged, but gave Sheep a weird look when Chelsea glanced away.

  ‘That’s my type of guy.’ Chelsea smiled. ‘It’s not all about looks and sex appeal you know, all though he certainly has all that. You know if he had glasses, I’d still want to be with him. In fact, I reckon glasses are quite sexy on a guy.’

  ‘You do?’ Sheep asked.

  ‘Sure. They make a guy look intellectual.’

  Sheep took mental notes. ‘So, brains are sexy too, are they?’

  ‘Of course! But hey, I’m tired and I’ve about had enough of this place. I’m gonna head home. One of you guys want to walk me?’

  ‘Yes!’ chimed in both of them at once.

  ‘Oh!’ She seemed quite taken back by the offer. ‘Well...’

  Sheep met her gaze and hoped desperately she would pick him.

  ‘Why don’t you both walk me home? That’s if you don’t mind.’

  Sheep puffed his chest out. ‘No worries.’

  ‘Let’s cruise.’ Wal winked.

  The two boys led the way and once outside walked either side of her.

  ‘You guys are so sweet, walking me home.’

  ‘Our pleasure,’ Wal said for both of them.

  ‘Where did Rex and Mandy head off to? Sheep asked.

  ‘His place.’

  Sheep thought it best not to say anything more himself, just in case it upset Chelsea.

  She had more to say though. ‘Don’t worry Mandy is still single, so you can still chase her, you know.’

  ‘Err, yeah,’ Sheep said, thinking that maybe she hadn’t clicked about the reason for his silence. If Chelsea really thought they were more interested in Mandy than her then she was in for a surprise. ‘But how do you feel about it?’

  ‘I’m fine,’ she said unconvincingly. ‘I’m not his girlfriend, you guys know that. Unfortunately, I will never be the mysterious ex he never talks about, even though I apparently have her eyes.’

  ‘She must be bloody awesome then,’ Wal said.

  Sheep scowled, annoyed that Wal had got a complement in and not him. Nevertheless, he had to agree. If this mysterious ex of Rex’s had eyes as stunning as Chelsea, she must have been something. In fact, if all she had were those eyes and the rest of her face was ugly, Sheep probably would have been into her anyway. The eyes would more than make up for the rest of her.

  Minutes later, they arrived outside her house, a tidy brick house with immaculately kept lawns. She turned and beamed at them. ‘Thanks guys. I’ll see you both at school on Monday, ok?’

  ‘You bet.’ Wal grinned.

  ‘See ya, Chels.’ Sheep smiled.

  Chelsea went inside, leaving Wal and Sheep standing outside the gate. The two studied each other in silence for a few moments. An idea stirred inside Sheep’s head. A remarkable idea. A plan to score Chelsea’s attention once and for all. It seemed like a crazy one, but it had tremendous potential.

  ‘You know,’ Wal said, before Sheep could give it much more thought. ‘I’m gonna go home. I’ve got some things I need to do.’

  ‘Yeah, same here.’ Sheep nodded. ‘I’ll catch you at school on Monday. Oh and by the way…’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Be prepared for a surprise.’ He delivered Wal a wry smile, then saying no more, he departed.