Dark Days at TAC

CHAPTER 1:

  Misleading the Reaper

  They’d been sprung. They were in deep shit. Pete Cook had to think fast if he wanted to get out of this one. Darn teachers. They always turned up just at the wrong time. Who would have thought, that this morning of all mornings the Reaper would be on the warpath.

  As usual, Pete Cook had arrived at school early and was indulging in a quick fag. The short teenager always chose the incinerator area, as it was private and was usually burning at that time of morning. It was in a really good spot as he could see if any teachers were approaching and if they did, he could quickly throw his cigarette into the fire.

  It was unlikely though, that any teachers would be there that early, especially not on the first day of term. Pete relaxed, puffing gently on his cigarette. His green eyes sparkled and his spiky fair hair rustled only slightly in the cool breeze.

  He was a year-twelve student and he had a simple philosophy, which was that he was really only at school for the social scene. He didn't really have much confidence in his ability to pass any exams. Mainly he was looking forward to hanging out with Rex Cassidy, the coolest guy in the school. Wherever Rex was, there was action. It was where all the fun was. Best of all, it was where all the hottest girls were. Maybe this term, Pete would strike it lucky and one of the most popular girls would decide to chase him instead of Rex. Maybe he would be able to brag that someone like Rachel Lyndsey was his girl or maybe even Jacqui Donaldson.

  OK, so maybe he was setting his sights a bit too high, but he could easily settle for someone like Wanda Newton, or even Martha Sherwood. Yes, he would be very happy with either one. Who knows, maybe he could have both, after all, if Rex could date two or more girls at one time, why couldn't he?

  ‘You're dreaming!’ Was Will Ullman's gruff reply when Pete voiced his hopes for the term. Will, or Wal, as he preferred to be called, puffed with contempt on his own cigarette. The two often met at the furnace for a fag and Wal thought that he was God's gift to women. ‘Jacqui Donaldson? You must be kidding. She'd never go out with you. Besides, she's my girl, you know that.’

  ‘Now who's dreaming?’

  Wal's eyes protruded from his head. What did you say, Cook?’

  ‘She dreams about you Wal, that’s what I was saying. She's your girl, everyone knows that.’

  Wal flicked back his long rocker locks and he grimaced, his lip curling up. ‘Well she will be anyway. It's only a matter of time. So you needn't go wasting your time, Cooks.’

  ‘What, like you’ve wasted your time in the past like when you tried to impress Chelsea? And then last term when you made an idiot of yourself over Vanessa?’

  Wal steamed. ‘That was your fault about Vanessa. You leaving that note in my locker, making me think it was from her!’

  ‘Don’t blame me! You should have known she would never send you a note like that. She only has eyes for Rex, you know. She won’t even look at another guy. Anyway, you’ve bombed out with every girl you’ve ever made a play for in this school.’

  ‘Watch it, Cook! I’ll smack you one in a minute!’

  Pete knew he had hit a sore spot there and didn’t dare keep prodding. He couldn’t blame Wal for falling for Vanessa though. There wasn’t a guy in the school that didn’t have her name circled in a love heart on their books or pencil case. ‘Well, what about Wanda Newton then? Think I have a show with her?’

  ‘Only a shit one. She's out of your league too. Everybody’s out of your league when it comes down to it.’

  ‘Jacqui's out of your league.’

  The stocky sixteen-year-old shot Pete an evil glare. ‘Everybody’s in my league!’

  Pete felt his courage building up again. ‘Well why does she hate your guts then?’

  ‘She does not hate my guts!’

  ‘She does. She's said so.’

  ‘Whadda you know?’

  ‘A hell of a lot more than you do!’

  Wal's hand swooped down and clipped Pete roughly across the ear.

  ‘OWW!’

  ‘Another crack from you and you'll get my fist across your face!’

  Pete knew it was not a good idea to get Wal riled up, as he was one tough guy. In fact, he was one of the toughest guys in the school. He had gained a fair bit of a reputation over the years, having done over many so-called tough guys in the past. Wal himself was one pretty big dude too. He was strong, had a powerful punch and could take a lot of punishment. Pete had seen many tough guys give Wal a pounding but then give in when Wal continued to fight back. It seemed that the more a guy pounded on Wal, the wilder it made him.

  Most of Wal’s muscle had been gained while working on his Dad's farm. Despite his sometimes arrogant attitude though, Pete held him in high esteem. Wal had proved time and time again, why he was one of the toughest guys in the school.

  ‘Anyway,’ said Pete. ‘Denise was pretty hot.’

  ‘Yeah, she was,’ agreed Wal. ‘You got really lucky there.’

  Pete missed her. She was the only real babe who had ever taken an interest in him and their relationship had grown quite strong until her family left Te Arawa the year before. He’d had no luck with girls since then.

  ‘You should have moved a little faster with her, Cooks. You never even got to sleep with her.’

  ‘We never had a chance.’

  ‘You mucked around too much, that was your problem.’

  ‘No, I was just being a gentleman.’

  ‘Pffffft! You, a gentleman? Whatever, Cooks!’

  Pete exhaled tar-filled smoke from his lungs and glanced in the direction of the classrooms. Something had caught his eye. ‘Oh oh, It's Mr Reaper, he's coming this way.’

  Mr Reaper, possibly the toughest teacher in the whole school zeroed in so quickly that the two boys only just had time to hurl their cigarettes into the incinerator. They tried to look nonchalant as Mr Reaper strode around the incinerator to intercept them, but deep down Pete was terrified. The Reaper very rarely fell for anything. If he was going to make up a cock-n-bull story, he had to make sure that he piled on the manure big time.

  ‘What's going on here?’ the bulky bearded man boomed. He was only a young teacher, in his early 30's, but he had a reputation as one of the most shrewd.

  ‘Oh, Hi, Mr Reaper.’ Pete smiled pleasantly. ‘Nice morning isn't it?’

  Mr Reaper peered around the incinerator area, a grimace on his face. He sniffed deeply and then turned to stare at the two offenders with a piercing glare. ‘Have you two been smoking?’

  ‘No.’ Pete said.

  ‘I smell smoke!’

  ‘From the incinerator, Mr Reaper.’

  ‘Cigarette smoke!’

  ‘We haven't been smoking. Actually, there were some boys smoking here so we came around to see who they were. I was… you know… going to tell them to cut it out before they got in to trouble.’

  ‘Oh were you now, Mr Cook? You've become a saint all of a sudden have you? Worried about the health of your fellow students, eh, Mr Cook?’

  ‘Yes Sir, Mr Reaper, smoking’s a bad habit.’

  Mr Reaper snorted and eyed Pete with contempt. Pete started to worry that maybe his story was not as convincing as he had first thought. ‘All right then. Who were the boys you caught smoking?’

  Pete had not expected that question. His brief interlude of relief, thinking that Reaper had believed him after all, quickly faded. ‘Ah... I don't remember,’ was the best thing Pete could think of to say.

  ‘You don't remember? Well you'd better remember, Mr Cook! If you don't give me some names now, I'll have to assume that it was you two smoking.’

  ‘But that would be telling tales.’

  ‘You've been telling me tales all along, Mr Cook! Another one won’t make any differ
ence. Besides, if you're so keen on helping your fellow students quit smoking, you will tell me. I'm sure that I will have more success than you.’

  Pete really started to worry now. There seemed to be no way out. It was either accept the consequences or come up with some names. He peered across at Wal who had a deep frown on his face. If he got Wal into trouble, there would be even more strife for him afterwards. Wal would be sure to make him pay. There was no option, he would have to drop a couple of names, but who did he dare get into trouble? Who did he want to get into trouble? He couldn't very well be vague and say it was some junior whom he didn't know. He would have to point him out to Reaper later on and he didn't want to get some poor year-niner into trouble.

  Suddenly Pete had a brainwave. He didn’t care much for one boy. In fact, he couldn’t stand his guts. In fact, when it came to the despising of guts, this boy had a lot to hate. Getting him into trouble would really earn him some payback for all the things he had done in the past. Yes. His was the name to drop. ‘Tucker Pyles, Mr Reaper. Tucker was here.’ Pete couldn't help but smirk. ‘He was the one who was smoking.’

  ‘Tucker?’ Reaper frowned. ‘By himself?’

  ‘With Joe and Colin.’ Pete referred to two of Tucker's best mates. ‘But Joe and Colin weren't smoking though.’ He didn't really want to get those two in trouble, because they weren't as bad as Tucker and he didn't really want to get on the wrong side of them either. It was then that another name came to mind, a name that he just couldn't resist adding; The name of one of his friends in fact and one that he knew that Mr Reaper would not appreciate hearing. ‘And Rex Cassidy, Mr Reaper. I have to be truthful. He was smoking a fag too.’

  ‘Rex?’ Mr Reaper’s eyes widened. So did Wal’s for that matter. In fact, there was a definite air of indignation in his eyes at dropping one of their best friends’ names in the poo. Mr Reaper grunted. ‘I didn't think that Rex smoked. In fact, I thought he was always against it.’

  ‘He was just having a few puffs to see what it was like.’

  ‘With Tucker? But I thought that those two didn't get along.’

  ‘They're trying to overcome their differences.’

  Mr Reaper scowled. ‘You're trying to pull a fast one on me, aren't you, Cook?’

  ‘No sir, I'm not!’ whined Pete, putting on his most innocent look. ‘It's the truth. That's why I didn't want to tell you. I knew you wouldn't believe me.’

  ‘Is this true, Will?’ Mr Reaper turned his eyes to Pete’s companion.

  Wal’s expression quickly turned to neutral as Mr Reaper turned his eyes towards him. Pete delivered him an appealing look begging him to back him up. He relaxed when he did. ‘Yo, sure is, Mr Reaper. It's all as Pete said.’

  ‘It had better be, because if it's not, you're both going to be in big trouble. Now get out of here!’

  The two boys hurried away.

  ‘You’re nuts, Cooks,’ Wal said once out of ear shot. ‘He's going to find out that you were lying. Hell, I’m surprised he didn’t try to smell our breath.’

  ‘If he did that, we’d have him up for sexual harassment. People would think he was some kind of pervert. He wouldn’t wanna risk that.’

  ‘Maybe, but he’s the least of your worries. Rex is gonna kill you when he finds out you dropped his name.’

  Pete smiled. ‘No, he won’t.’

  ‘It was a darn good idea though. You've really got him believing your story giving him the name of a friend, but still, friends don't go setting up friends. You're dead meat.’ Wal burst out laughing and his eyes twinkled merrily. ‘You are dead meat.’

  ‘I won’t be.’ Pete smirked. ‘You'll see.’