New Year at TAC

  Mandy Evans awoke suddenly. Lights from above blinded her. For a moment, she felt disorientated. The room around her became clearer. A satin sheet covered her body and she lay in a huge king-sized bed, in a large spacious room, immaculately kept. If she didn’t know any better, she would have assumed it was the penthouse suite of some fancy hotel.

  She sat bolt upright. ‘Oh no! I fell asleep! Rex, why did you let me fall asleep?’ she turned her head to the muscular frame of the teenaged boy lying next to her. He lay on his back, his elbows back, with his wavy dark head rested on the palms of his hands, looking very nonchalant. His magnificent blue eyes sparkled at her and a smile creased his lips, but he said nothing. She stared at the radio alarm clock on the bedside table next to her. ‘It’s 11:45pm! It’s late! Oh man… Your parents will be home soon and I promised mine I’d be home by midnight.’ She scrambled out of the bed and began to throw her clothing on. ‘Why didn’t you wake me?’

  Rex sat up. ‘You looked so gorgeous sleeping there. I just wanted to watch you a little longer.’

  Mandy zipped up her jeans and froze when she heard a bang and some noises from somewhere else in the house. Her eyes widened and she stared at him in horror. ‘Your parents are home!’

  ‘Yeah, it sounds like it.’

  She couldn’t believe how calm he was. ‘How am I going to get out of here now? I’ll have to go through the window.’

  Rex slid out of bed and hauled on his own jeans. ‘We’re on the second storey, so I wouldn’t advise that.’ He still seemed frustratingly calm.

  ‘Oh my god…’ Mandy’s heart pounded. ‘I can’t believe you let me fall asleep. We’re dead if they catch us.’ She pulled on a T-shirt and peered about anxiously as Rex did the same. Should she hide somewhere in the room? There were certainly plenty of places. He had his own lounge suite and television, computer desk and even a gaming corner. There was a walk-in wardrobe and an en-suite. She could surely hide in one of those if necessary. ‘How am I going to get out? You’ll have to distract your parents for me.’

  Rex stepped over to her. He was so big, towering over her, nearly six feet tall. She often referred to him as McDreamy, because he totally was dreamy and much, much more. It was remarkable to think he was only fifteen years old, nearly sixteen. He took her in his strong arms and planted a warm kiss on her lips. Her head buzzed like it always did when he kissed her. For a few seconds, the room became hazy again. She’d never done drugs, but was sure it must have felt something like she did right then. In fact, the entire evening had been like some psychedelic experience, but it was always that way when she was with him… which was way too infrequently.

  She dragged herself back to reality, but spoke in a gentler tone this time. ‘Rex, there’s no time. I have to get home before my parents come searching for me. I don’t want them to know I left the party. I’ll never hear the end of it.’

  McDreamy released her, a smile on his face. Mandy wanted to gaze a little longer into his magnetic sky-blue eyes, but knew she couldn’t.

  ‘Ok,’ he said. ‘Let’s go.’ It was as if it was no big deal to him… like they could just walk out there without a care in the world.

  He walked to the door and opened it wide, beckoning her to go out first. Mandy could only stand there for a few seconds, dumbfounded. She couldn’t just walk out, not if his parents were somewhere in the house. Sure, it was a huge house, but the chances of getting caught were too great. ‘Come on!’ he urged her. ‘You don’t want to get into trouble with your parents, do you?’

  For a moment, she had second thoughts. An argument with her parents would actually be preferable to getting caught sneaking out of a boy’s house by his parents. She barely knew Mr and Mrs Cassidy. They might cause a real big stink, which would get back to her parents and she’d be in even more strife.

  She felt like kicking herself. Why did she promise her parents she’d be home at a certain time for? She could have just said she’d be home when she felt like it and to hell with what they said. However, she had been in such a hurry to get going, she hadn’t wanted to hang around to be harangued by them, so she made the rash promise to be back at the time they suggested.

  She had to take her chances and assume the coast was clear, so stepped out into a hallway and made for the staircase; a large spiral one that lead down to the main living quarters. Rex made no effort to remain inconspicuous and casually made his way down. Mandy stopped at the top, anxious about proceeding down.

  ‘Hello, Mandy,’ a voice said from back down the corridor.

  She almost leapt out of her skin and spun around to see Mrs Cassidy standing at the doorway to one of the bedrooms. Had she seen them come from Rex’s room or had she just entered the hallway from one of the other rooms?

  ‘You’re here pretty late tonight,’ Rex’s mother commented

  ‘Umm.’ Mandy’s knees were weak and she stared at Mrs Cassidy, not knowing what to say. Rex’s mother was a very attractive woman in her mid-40s. She had long dark hair and a slim figure. Her big brown eyes were friendly and not angry at all. Was it possible she didn’t suspect what had been going on in her son’s room?

  Rex returned up the stairs. Mandy expected him to be alarmed, but he still remained unaffected. ‘Hi, Mum!’

  ‘Hello, Rex. Entertaining a lady friend again, I see.’

  ‘Sure am. But she’s gotta get home.’

  ‘I hope you’re going to walk her.’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Well take care.’

  Rex took Mandy by the hand, but had to give her arm a tug to get her moving. Mrs Cassidy disappeared down the other end of the hallway into another room.

  ‘I don’t believe it,’ Mandy said as they made their way down the staircase. ‘She doesn’t suspect anything.’

  Rex just delivered her a wry smile and said nothing.

  They reached the bottom of the stairs and came face to face with Rex’s dad. Oh oh, thought Mandy. Surely, he wouldn’t be as gullible as Rex’s mother.

  ‘Well, well,’ said Mr Cassidy a tall man, like Rex, but of average build. He didn’t work out at the gym like his athletic son. ‘Leaving already, Mandy?’

  ‘It’s late. I’ve gotta get home.’

  Mr Cassidy grinned. ‘I don’t know, you teenagers today. Always losing track of time. What were you doing that occupied so much of your atten…? Never mind, I can guess.’ He chuckled and headed up the stairs.

  Mandy stood there for a moment, bewildered.

  She peered at Rex who met her gaze with a gleam still in his eye and said, ‘He probably thought we were playing computer games.’

  ‘Oh…’ Mandy continued to stare at him, unconvinced.

  ‘Are you coming?’ Rex chuckled. ‘Your parents will be wondering where you are, right?’

  ‘Oh yeah, let’s go.’

  Mandy’s family had only just moved to Te Arawa before the Christmas break. Before that, they lived in a house in Akato, a 20-minute drive from there. Mandy was so pleased they had. Most of her friends lived in Te Arawa, which was a pain when it came to afterschool activities. She rarely got to be involved before. Now she could hang out with them whenever she wanted too and best of all she could see Rex a lot more.

  Her house was only a five-minute walk from his. They headed off along the road, hand in hand, not saying anything, just enjoying walking together. It wasn’t long before they arrived at her place. It was a very nice wooden house, surrounded by fruit trees and tall fences. Nowhere near as magnificent as the Cassidy house, but very comfortable all the same. They both came from wealthy families, but the Cassidys were the richest family in town.

  ‘I can’t believe your parents.’ Mandy stopped outside her gate. ‘They are either very gullible or very liberal.’

  Rex smiled, but didn’t comment.

  A thought began to cross her mind as he gazed at the twinkle in his eye. ‘Why do I get the feeling I’ve been had? I think you were tying to scare me. Making me think they’d be angry.’


  ‘Why would you think that?’

  ‘Well you never said anything when they got home. You must have heard them before I did, surely?’

  McDreamy simply smiled again.

  She gave him a friendly thump and giggled. ‘You knew we wouldn’t get in trouble.’

  Rex smiled again then peered towards her house. A light was on in the front window, indicating at least one of her parents were still up. ‘You better go in.’

  ‘Not just yet.’ She figured a few more minutes wouldn’t make any difference. ‘I just want you a little bit longer before I have to give you back to all the other girls at school.’ She moved up closer to him and put her arms around him, just holding him, resting her head against his rock-hard chest. ‘You’re an amazing guy, Rex. I’m so lucky to have you as a friend.’ Her heart felt heavy as she said the words, because she knew that was all she could expect from him. Even though, they had spent intimate time together, she knew he was not the type to go steady. She knew that long before they even became friends, so wasn’t bitter. She was grateful to be as close as she was too him, even if she did have to share him with the other girls. She didn’t mind so much, after all, she was only sixteen years old and enjoyed being single as much as he did. No strings attached. That’s the way she wanted it. Nevertheless, she still couldn’t help but feel that if she had the chance to go steady with Rex, she would.

  ‘I’m glad you’re my friend too, Mandy.’ He caressed her long brown hair.

  ‘Hello,’ a voice spoke from near the front gate, making Mandy jump. It was a soft female voice, very mellow - one she didn’t recognise. ‘Sorry to interrupt.’

  Mandy released Rex and turned to see a tall, voluptuous girl of about seventeen standing there. Mandy reeled, because she was extremely beautiful. Dumbfoundingly beautiful in fact. She had long dark wavy hair and bright sapphire eyes. She had full lips and a rounded chin. Her complexion and skin was flawless and for a moment, Mandy couldn’t help but marvel. What a girl like her was doing out in the middle of the night was a mystery.

  ‘Hi, Rex.’ The girl smiled sweetly. ‘It’s been so long.’

  Mandy turned her eyes to Rex and seeing the expression on his face made her recoil. Rex’s mouth was agape and his eye’s wide. He tried to speak, but couldn’t. Mandy had never seen him look so shocked.

  The dark-haired goddess continued, ‘I… I know this must be quite a surprise, seeing me here. I hope you’re not angry, me showing up like this.’

  Rex finally managed to force some words out of his mouth. ‘Vanessa… I can’t believe it’s you…’

  ‘I’ve missed you.’

  ‘I…’ Rex’s voice trailed off. Mandy could see the look in his eyes now. There was something there, something deep and even painful. These two had a history, but just how deep it went, Mandy couldn’t tell. Rex finally came to his senses. ‘Why are you here, Vanessa? How did you track me down?’

  Vanessa’s eyes softened. She looked pained. ‘It wasn’t that hard. I just went to see some of your old friends. I had to come and see you.’

  ‘Are you staying here in town?’

  ‘Yeah huh. Will you talk to me?’

  ‘I… I don’t know.’

  ‘Please?’

  Rex turned his eyes to Mandy and seemed to notice her concern. ‘Mandy, I have to go, but don’t worry. I’ll see you at school on Monday, ok?’

  ‘Ok,’ she said reluctantly, examining Vanessa one last time. She turned slowly and walked towards the front door.

  Once inside she peeked out the window to see what they were doing. They were walking off down the road. She wanted so much to follow them and find out who this mysterious girl was, but she had already been out too late.

  ‘Amanda Evans! Where the hell have you been?’

  Mandy sighed deeply as her mother stepped up behind her.

  ‘Do you realise what time it is?’

  ‘Yeah, yeah, spare me the lecture,’ Mandy groaned.

  ‘You promised you’d be home by 11pm. It’s past midnight now!’

  ‘Wow Mum, you actually learnt to tell the time?’

  ‘Don’t get cheeky with me! Where have you been?’

  ‘You know.’

  ‘I do not know! We tried ringing you but your phone was switched off. Your father went to the party to pick you up an hour ago, but you weren’t there!’

  ‘It was a pretty crap party, so me and a few friends went for a walk.’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘Nowhere in particular, just around.’

  ‘We were so worried about you! Why did you have to turn your phone off?’

  ‘I didn’t want people bugging me!’

  ‘What if something happened to you?’

  ‘Nothing happened to me, Mum.’

  ‘But what if something did?’

  ‘It wouldn’t. My friends would see to that.’

  ‘Amanda, you can’t just go wherever you like, you know? You’re only sixteen years old!’

  ‘I know that! I’m not a primary school kid anymore.’

  ‘Don’t get lippy with me! You’re still too young to be out this late.’

  ‘I was safe, alright? I wouldn’t do anything that might put me in danger.’

  ‘That’s beside the point…’ Her words trailed off and she gave a sniff. ‘What’s that smell?’

  ‘What smell?’

  She took a step closer to Mandy and sniffed again. ‘That! I smell sex! Amanda have you…?’

  ‘Whatever, Mum!’ She pushed past her to go to her room, eager to get out of range of her mother’s perceptive nostrils. If only she had had time to put on some deodorant before she left Rex’s.

  ‘Amanda, you come back here right now!’

  ‘I’m going to bed, Mum. I’m tired!’ She marched off down the hallway, not looking back at her flustered mother. She bowled into her room and shut the door with a bang.

  CHAPTER 4:

  The Mysterious Vanessa