New Year at TAC

  Vanessa Dante didn’t know what to expect when she arrived at the beach that morning.

  All she could think about was Rex and she didn’t know whether she could be the happy-go-lucky seventeen year old girl, she normally was. Would she be able to remain strong, when she saw him flirting and having fun with the other girls? She could handle it, if she was amongst them, joining in on the flirty fun, but not if she was an outsider, looking in. That would hurt too much.

  There was no question about going to the beach though. She loved a good party. She considered herself a party girl, but she was no exhibitionist. People expected her to be one, based on her outgoing, sometimes very flamboyant personality. Also because of the fact, she was gay, which she made no secret of, but she was also a very private person and people soon found out there were many things she did not share. Her troubled past was one of those things and if she had known it was about to be made public, she would definitely have not come that day.

  The party was lots of fun at first. In fact, she was becoming very relaxed, chatting happily with her new friends. There were the odd times when she peered over at Rex though, when her heart became heavy. He had made no effort to come over and say hello to her. It seemed he was determined to keep his distance, no matter how much it caused her to suffer.

  She didn’t blame him. She figured if she were in his shoes, she would be doing the same thing, but it was his reluctance to open up to her about the reasons, that troubled her the most. They used to tell each other everything… their deepest darkest secrets, their hopes and dreams. No subject was taboo and they were so comfortable in each other’s company. If only it could be that way again.

  The first incident of the day, if you could call it an incident, was the arrival of Tucker Pyles. Vanessa felt no anxiety about him being there. As far she was concerned, he was just an annoying, if not, unintentionally comical buffoon. In fact, she had thoroughly enjoyed making a mockery of him on their previous meetings. When he came up to talk to her, ten minutes later, she didn’t really mind all that much, although couldn’t help but be repulsed by the way he scoffed down food and talked at the same time.

  ‘Hey Vanessa, babe! How’s things?’

  She wasn’t going to allow him to irritate her. She’d use this as an opportunity to create some amusement for herself and some of her new friends who stood there alongside her. ‘You know, you really shouldn’t talk while you’re eating. You may choke to death… no wait, scratch that. Stuff some more in your mouth and keep talking, please!’

  The small group who stood there with her were highly amused and snickered at her comments. Tucker didn’t seem to be put off. ‘You’re looking mighty fine today. You know, I think you look fantastic at school, but I don’t quite know what it is about you today, but you look even better than usual.’

  ‘Err, gee whiz,’ Laura Stott said, ‘I guess it’s got nothing to do with the fact she’s wearing a bikini and you can see so much more flesh than usual, is it?’

  ‘Err…’ Tucker didn’t want to sound like a pervert. ‘Of course not. In fact, I didn’t even notice she was wearing a bikini. Hey, fancy that! I would never have realised it if you hadn’t pointed it out, Laura.’

  Laura stared at him in disbelief and then rolled her eyes. ‘What a dork!’

  Vanessa had some sarcastic comments to make herself but a movement off to her left caught her eyes. Rex was on the move and with him was Mandy. They were making their way toward the rocks and for a few moments, Vanessa felt concern. A tinge of jealousy niggled her, which was unusual, because she was not the jealous type. She’d never felt like that any other time if he went off with a girl somewhere. Vanessa always knew where she stood with him, so was never threatened. Nevertheless, it was different this time.

  ‘Where are they going?’ Tucker asked.

  ‘Maybe they want to be alone for a bit,’ Ginge said.

  ‘It’s none of our business,’ said Laura. She patted Vanessa on the shoulder. ‘Don’t let it get you down, Nessa.’

  This shook her back to her senses. She had to be strong. She didn’t want them all to think she was the pathetic quivering wreck she felt inside, so resorted to humour to distract them. ‘It’s ok. Really. I was just worried that he didn’t put any sun block on, that’s all.’

  ‘Oh, don’t worry about that. Jacqui and Chelsea were the first ones to volunteer to slop some over his back, his delicious chest and muscular biceps… drool.’

  Vanessa giggled. ‘Need a cup for all that saliva, Laura?’

  ‘Always.’

  Tucker seemed determined to get her attention back. ‘You know, Nessa, I reckon its fate that brought me here today…’

  ‘Yeah huh, they talk about karma, don’t they? What goes around comes around?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘That’s sorta harsh really, because I’ve been a really good girl lately, so I don’t see why so much bad karma should be coming my way. Of course, you could always leave and then my fortunes would be reversed.’

  There were more snickers and chuckles from those there with them.

  Tucker seemed to consider what she said, then frowned. ‘Well you must have done something.’

  Vanessa sighed, realising her sarcasm had gone right over his head.

  Tucker continued, ‘Some people reckon that to like members of the same sex is wrong. Maybe that’s why you’re getting so much bad karma lately.’

  Faces darkened around them.

  ‘What the hell are you insinuating?’ Laura growled. ‘Who likes members of the same sex?’

  ‘Vanessa,’ Tucker said, a look of concern coming over his face.

  ‘You are such a flaming spaz, Tucker!’ grunted Sheep. ‘Why don’t you just shut your mouth, you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about!’

  ‘It’s ok.’ Vanessa touched Sheep’s arm to tell him she’d take care of it. Tucker really was taking her joke about karma seriously. ‘If you’re trying to upset me, you’re not going to succeed with claims like that. I’m not ashamed of who I am and I make no secret of the fact I’m a lesbian. So, try again.’

  Laura and Sheep both reeled and stared at her. Suddenly there was an uneasy silence. As far as Vanessa was concerned, if they didn’t like that revelation, that was tough. She wasn’t going to pretend to be something she wasn’t, just to be popular. She decided to ask them flat out, ‘Do you guys have a problem with that?’

  ‘No, of course not,’ Laura quickly said.

  ‘Fine by me,’ Sheep replied. In fact, he seemed to have a twinkle in his eye.

  ‘I definitely don’t see a problem,’ Ginge said. ‘This is the 21st century and what right does anyone have to judge, right guys?’

  ‘Exactly,’ Sheep said.

  ‘Of course,’ Laura added and smiled.

  ‘Well then…’ Tucker seemed determined to come up with some reason why her so-called karma was so bad. ‘Maybe it’s because you tried to commit suicide a couple of times. That’s gotta get you some bad karma, they say that su…’

  Vanessa’s entire body tensed up and nausea swept over her. She blurted, ‘How, the hell did you know about that?’ He couldn’t possibly know that fact… unless he had overheard her conversation with Gloria at the gym. Had he been there?

  Immediately all heads in hearing distance turned to stare at her.

  Tucker stood frozen to the spot, his face paling.

  ‘It’s true?’ Laura stared at Vanessa wide-eyed. ‘But… but you have so much going for you…’

  Vanessa could no longer maintain her cool demeanour. This little fact was something she didn’t want anybody to know. She had only confided in Gloria because she was an adult and she felt she could trust her. To have all her new friends knowing she was so weak and needy was truly humiliating. She shook and her words quivered as she spoke. ‘At the gym! You were listening in on me… when I was talking to Gloria!’

  Tucker face turned 10 shades of red. ‘I… err…’

  Vanessa glanc
ed from one face to the next, seeing their shocked looks. She turned to Tucker and narrowed her eyes. ‘I can’t believe you eavesdropped on my private conversation! And then you come here and you blab that information to everyone?’

  There was silence all around. Someone had even turned off the stereo.

  ‘You had no business talking about that!’

  ‘I’m… I’m sorry.’

  Vanessa couldn’t stay around any longer. It was too much to take. They all knew now how pathetic and weak she was. They’d all think she had some psychological problems. Jacqui would think she really was a sociopath. Holding back the tears, she began to walk, determined to get away from them – to get to a place she could be alone and cry. A couple of them tried to call her back, but she ignored them and broke into a jog. She made for an inlet, where a river flowed out onto the beach. It was the perfect place. She could hide amongst the trees, up on one of the banks. Hopefully, no one would find her there...