CHAPTER 8:
The Cantankerous Ms Cann
Mandy wanted to dislike Vanessa Danté, she really did. She had enough competition when it came to getting Rex’s attention, without having someone like her around, especially someone who had meant a lot to Rex at one stage and perhaps still did. Nevertheless, she was just so damn likeable. Her personality shone through like the moon through a cloudless night sky.
Who could possibly hate her?
Well, one person… Jacqui. If there was anyone who would find Vanessa that much of a threat, it was her. She met up with them just as Biggles was introducing all their friends by name. ‘Oh my God, Mandy, please tell me that’s not her, the one you were talking about on the phone.’
‘It is,’ Mandy said.
The blue-eyed brunette seemed overwhelmed at first, but then she scowled. ‘This is all we need… another Daryl Chambers. We have to do something about her Mandy. I do not like this one little bit.’
‘I don’t think there’s much we can do. The fact is she’s Rex’s ex. They already have a history. Don’t get carried away though, Jacqs, she’s really nice. Besides, she’s assured us, she’s not here to try to steal McDreamy from us.’
‘And you believe that crap?’
Mandy wasn’t sure. She was beginning to have her doubts. If she was in Vanessa’s shoes, having been in love with Rex, she’d do anything she could to get him back.
‘So, you’re Vanessa?’ Jacqui said to her once she reached her. ‘Gone from Rex’s life… now suddenly you just turn up out the blue unannounced?’
Jacqui was awesome to look at with her dark spiral hair and killer figure, but next to Vanessa, she looked very plain indeed. It seemed ridiculous to Mandy that could ever be the case. Jacqui, was a dark-haired beauty, just like Vanessa. She had all the features any girl could want and the money to go with it. She visited the hairdressers regularly and had a gorgeous spiral perm to enhance her look. The main difference between the two seemed to be their personalities. Jacqui could be very conceited and intolerant of people, whereas Vanessa seemed very amicable. At least going by first impressions.
‘This is Jacqui,’ Biggles said. ‘And she’s not always such a bitch.’
‘You’re a stalker too from what I’ve heard,’ Jacqui continued. ‘Sneaking up on people in the middle of the night.’
‘I don’t stalk,’ Vanessa said calmly.
‘So, you just happened to run into Rex and Mandy, in the middle of the night, even though they weren’t anywhere near Rex’s place?’
‘I, err…’ Vanessa started, but then the bell sounded for assembly. She seemed relieved.
‘Better get moving,’ said Biggles.
As much as Mandy wanted to hang around to continue interrogating Vanessa, they had to move. It was already coming onto 9.15am. As she entered the hall, she was met by Dale Casterton and his green eyes sparkled. ‘Hey Mandy, you’ll never believe it. Guess who they’ve asked to be head boy this year?’
‘Who?’
‘Me!’
‘You’re kidding!’ Mandy stopped in her tracks. ‘Wow, that’s really cool! Congratulations, Dale!’
Dale beamed. He had a great smile with perfect teeth. Although he wasn’t the athletic type, he was in good shape and the type of guy Mandy appreciated. She couldn’t help but feel it would be cool to be dating the head boy. ‘I’m celebrating tonight. Me and some friends at home. Dad’s picking a group of us up from here and will drive them home after. Want to come?’
‘I’d love too.’
‘Great, I’ll see you after school then.’
Assembly in the school hall was a rather humdrum affair. They all sat in their forms, the juniors in the front rows, the seniors in the back and intermediates in the middle. Now that Mandy was in year-12 she was classed as a senior, which was great, but it didn’t really seem that different than being in the middle rows, except that the teachers on stage were that little bit further away.
New teachers were introduced, including the new Principal Mr Ropata. He seemed like a very approachable sort of a guy. He was a cheerful Maori man, with curly dark hair and a neatly trimmed goatee. He wasn’t afraid to smile, which was a change from Mr Andrews who always had that dour look on his face and never smiled. He even spoke in a friendly manner which also made a change because Mr Andrews always seemed to be grumpy. Mandy figured that it was because he was still relatively young - in his late 30s. She figured that after a few years of being in charge of Te Arawa College, he’d end up just as miserable as Mr Andrews was.
After assembly, they went to their first classes of the day. English was first up for Mandy and most of her friends were there, Rex included. They arrived at one of the English rooms in B Block, down the far end of a long corridor. Inside the tables were all set out like in an aircraft, three on the left and three on the right, with an aisle down the middle. At the front was the teacher’s desk, which had nothing on top of it, next to a large whiteboard, which was wiped perfectly clean. The walls were all clear too, but Mandy had no doubt that as the term progressed, students work and educational material would soon end up there.
‘Rex, how did it go with Mr Ropata?’ Mandy asked as they entered the room.
‘He’s not a bad guy. He figured out what a piece of crap Surly is.’ Rex glanced to the far-right corner of the room to where Surly had parked himself. When Surly saw him glaring at him, he quickly turned his head.
Vanessa stepped up beside Mandy. She seemed hesitant, which was very different from the confidence she exuded when they met her outside. ‘Hi Rex.’
Rex stared at her for a few seconds. Mandy noticed that many eyes peered in their direction, no doubt curious as to how he would respond to her. ‘Hey, Nessa,’ he finally replied. ‘So, you really are enrolled here?’
‘I am,’ she said, her gaze lowering for a brief second. ‘Are you ok with that?’
Rex paused for a moment, and then replied. ‘Of course. Grab a seat.’ He moved to a row and sat in the middle desk. He tried to act casual, but Mandy could still see something in his eyes that said otherwise. Vanessa sat on the desk beside him next to the wall. Mandy quickly scored the aisle seat.
Vanessa gazed at Rex, but he peered straight ahead ignoring her completely. In a way, Mandy felt sorry for her, but at the same time intrigued. The way she gazed at him, with pain in her eyes, made it clear to her that she still had strong feelings for Rex. The more she thought about it, the more she became convinced that Vanessa had been at fault for the split. It was something she had done that pushed Rex away, so now she had returned to try to fix up what had gone wrong. Whatever she had done, it must have been something serious.
Their teacher arrived. She was one of the new ones, a skinny woman of around 50 years old with shoulder-length burgundy coloured hair, which Mandy had no doubt was a dye job. Her worn face was plastered in makeup, but she still looked miserable and aged, not once smiling as she walked in.
She stepped up to the whiteboard and scribbled a name up.
Ms Cann
Of course, she was a Ms. Mandy could just tell by looking at her. No man would ever want to marry such a sour looking old hag.
She faced the class. ‘My name is Ms Cann.’ Mandy felt like responding and telling her that they could actually read what she had written, but she decided to tread carefully. She looked like she’d be the type who wouldn’t appreciate sarcasm.
The class was silent. Mandy half-expected Rex to make some snide comment, but he seemed deep in thought, as if he was in a world of his own. Vanessa still kept gazing at him with pain in her eyes, but he never glanced her way. Mandy was sure she had a tear in her eye. Her feelings for him obviously ran very deep. Whatever she had done, Rex certainly seemed to be holding a grudge.
Ms Cann continued her introduction, ‘I will be taking you for English lessons this year.’
Wow, thought Mandy. She really was one for stating the obvious. She either thought they were really dumb or not paying attention.
r /> ‘Obviously because of the late, extra long assembly, we will not be doing any actual work as such, but I will be talking about the things you can look forward to this year. You’ll be pleased to know that we will be doing some case work on Shakespeare’s Macbeth…’
There were groans from some of the class members.
‘Excuse me?’ Ms Cann snapped. ‘That’s enough of that, thank you very much. I’m shocked at your attitudes. Are you telling me you don’t like Shakespeare?’ She stared at them in disbelief.
Most of the students shook their heads. Mandy expected Rex to speak up and lay into Shakespeare like he had the previous year, but he said nothing.
‘I’m appalled. Really, children these days just have no respect for the classic literature.’
Pete raised his hand in the air.
‘Yes, young man?’
‘We did Hamlet at the end of last year. Do we really have to do another one?’
Of course, we do! Don’t be so absolutely absurd. Really, you should be grateful to be able to study such wonderful literature. Surely, we have at least one student here who likes his works. Anybody? Come now, don’t be shy, raise your hand.’
If anyone did like Shakespeare, they didn’t have the guts to admit it.
‘Really! How uncultured. I don’t know what’s gone wrong with kids today. I can see I am going to have to teach you to appreciate the classics.’ She scanned the room and her eyes fell on Vanessa. She was writing something on a sheet of paper now. ‘Excuse me. You, the young girl writing.’
Vanessa peered up at her. ‘Huh? Me?’
‘Yes, of course you! Who else do you think I was talking too?’
‘I have no idea.’
‘What are you writing? I haven’t started teaching yet, so it’s obviously not anything to do with English.’
‘Well... no, it’s not English, it’s French.’
There were chuckles and giggles from the other students.
Ms Cann face turned sour. ‘Then what is it?’ She walked purposefully to her desk and snatched the sheet of paper from her. She examined it and her face soured even more. ‘What on Earth?’
‘I did tell you it was in French.’
‘This looks like a letter. Why on Earth are you writing letters in French? What does it say?’
For a moment, Vanessa was silent, as if thinking up a good answer. She finally came up with one. ‘It’s a song.’ She smiled. ‘Tell me what you think…’ and she said the words she had supposedly wrote, ‘Alouette, gentille Alouette Alouette je te plumerai’ what do you think?’
Ms Cann stared at her for a few seconds, her mind ticking over and her eyes narrowed. ‘Nonsense, utter nonsense! It says no such thing…’ She was about to continue to say some more on the issue, but then she frowned. ‘What on Earth is that thing you have on the side of your nose?’
‘What thing?’ Vanessa asked innocently.
‘That… that shiny thing.’ She pointed to it.
Vanessa touched her nose stud and then a horrified look on her face. ‘Oh my God! How did that get there? Agggh, get it off!’ She shrieked and scraped her chair back as if trying to escape, getting shocked looks from those around her, all except for Rex, who didn’t seem at all concerned. She then settled back down and smiled. ‘It’s a nose stud, Ms Cann.’
Those around her relaxed and some even laughed. Rex now peered down at the desk.
Ms Cann’s eyes narrowed again. ‘Do you realize we have rules against wearing jewelry in this school? Ear studs are fine, but anything else is a violation of the dress code. You’re going to have to remove it.’
‘Mmmmm, let me think about that… It’s against the rules?’
‘Yes!’
‘Should I remove it? Mmmmm… Nuh uh! It stays.’
Ms Cann’s jaw dropped. ‘Are you refusing to remove that stud?’
‘Yeah huh, that is what I said, didn’t I? Oh, maybe I need to write it on the whiteboard, just to be sure.’ She smiled sweetly.
The rest of the class chuckled. Mandy thought it was great and had to bite her tongue to prevent from bursting into laughter herself.
‘You better watch yourself, young lady! I will not have that sort of cheek, you hear me? That’s not on. Now remove that nose stud this instant, or you’ll be in the senior mistress’s office quick smart.’
‘I’m going to have to decline, sorry.’
Ms Cann’s face turned red. Her eyes bugged and he jaw tightened. ‘How dare you refuse to obey me?’
She went to grab Vanessa by the arm, when suddenly another hand appeared and grabbed Ms Cann’s arm instead.
‘Don’t even think about touching her!’
There was stoned silence as every eye in the class went from Ms Cann and Vanessa to Rex. He was still seated, but had leant out to grab her bony arm. His face was all business like and he peered at her through narrowed eyes.
Mandy couldn’t believe what he’d just done. All this time he’d been sitting there as if uninterested in anything Vanessa had to say and then suddenly just out of blue he made a move like that? Mandy shuddered to see the ire in Rex’s eyes. What was it about this girl that could suddenly turn his manner from Dr Jeckyl to Mr Hyde so quick?
Ms Cann’s face turned pale and quickly released Vanessa’s arm. Rex then did the same with her arm. He leant back in his chair and turned his eyes to the front of the class as if nothing had happened. It was very bewildering to Mandy, but as for Vanessa, she had a huge smile on her face and beamed at Rex, as if he was her hero. Mandy couldn’t help but imagine that maybe Ms Cann was a witch whose touch could cause withering and death and he’d just saved Vanessa’s life?
Ms Cann shivered, but then quickly recovered. ‘Young lady, that nose stud better be removed by tomorrow or there will be trouble.’
Vanessa didn’t even acknowledge her. She continued to smile at Rex, even though he still looked straight ahead.
‘Anyway…’ Ms Cann returned to the front of the class. ‘As I was saying, we have lots of wonderful literature to study and we will be learning so much about…’ and so she waffled on.