TAC Boot Camp

  ‘This is getting beyond a joke!’ Wal grumbled as he stood in a queue in the F Block corridor, outside his woodwork class. ‘Bloody Mr Harris and his new rule about standing in an orderly queue outside each class. Why can’t we just go in and sit down like we always did?’

  ‘Because this is Boot Camp now, remember?’ Pete replied.

  ‘Well stuffed if I’m tucking in my shirt for Mr Hill.’

  ‘What’s that Will? Refusing to tuck in your shirt?’ Mr Hill stepped up to inspect him. ‘Come on Will, you know the new rules. Everyone must be inspected before entering the classrooms. Be thankful you’re getting to wear sandals at the moment, because if it were winter, you’d have to worry about your socks being pulled up at all times and that would be another impossible task for you to accomplish.’

  ‘Ah, bugger that!’

  ‘Come on, tuck in your shirt, and tidy your hair up a bit, that’s all you have to do. Just be glad Mr Harris hasn’t ordered all you boys to have a crew cut, otherwise you’d be in trouble with that long hair of yours.

  ‘I definitely ain’t cutting my hair,’ Wal grumbled, slowly tucking in his shirt.

  Mr Hill inspected each boy and the few girls who were in the class and then did a mocking salute to them all. ‘Onwarrrrrrrrd MARCH!’

  Most of the boys did silly marches into the classroom. Wal however, was not impressed and wandered in casually with a scowl on his face.

  It was straight to work on their latest project, the creation of a wooden cabinet. Wal had to work at the same bench as a classmate he particularly didn’t like, Wayne Clooney. Wal saw Clooney as someone who was way too big for his boots. Talked a lot of shit, but very rarely ever backed it up. He had a number 3 haircut and a head that seemed to be too big for his body. He had a weasely type of face that was just begging to be punched and it often took Wal all his effort not to punch it.

  ‘Come on Clooney, give me a bit of space will you,’ Wal grunted, as he lay a piece of timber out on the bench.

  ‘Hey, this is my bench too, you know.’

  ‘Yeah, but you’re here just to bugger around with a few bits of wood and some nails. I’m here to build.’

  Clooney snorted, but shuffled aside a little to allow Wal more room.

  Wal paused to talk to Mav at the next bench. ‘Yo, Mav. Still going to the game on Friday?’

  ‘Yeah, I’m still in. Will you be able to get your bro’s car?’

  ‘Yeah, he walks to work, so it won’t be a big deal. I’ll just have to get hold of his keys before he leaves.’

  ‘Sounds risky.’

  ‘I can deal with it.’

  ‘Are you guys going to the rugby?’ Wayne asked.

  ‘Mind your own business, Clooney!’ growled Wal.

  ‘Ah, so you’re skipping school?’

  ‘What of it. You better keep your mouth shut.’

  ‘I couldn’t care less what you guys do.’

  ‘Good.’

  Tucker stepped up, with a plane in his hand. ‘What? You guys skipping school? Can I come?’

  ‘No!’

  ‘Ah, come on. Why not?’

  ‘Because you’re an assclown. Geeze, Clooney, why didn’t you just keep your mouth shut. I don’t want the whole school to know.’

  ‘Where are you going?’ Tucker asked.

  ‘Mind your own damn business.’

  ‘Are you going to the rugby match in New Plymouth?’

  ‘No!’

  ‘Yes, he is.’ Wayne smirked.

  ‘Hey, I want to see that game,’ Tucker declared.

  ‘Well tough shit,’ Wal said. ‘And Clooney, if you don’t shut your mouth I’ll smack you one!’

  Wal turned back to his work, refusing to give neither Wayne nor Tucker another second of his time. He fumed, annoyed with himself for having tried to discuss the trip with Mav during class. He should have waited till after class. The last thing he wanted was a whole lot of untrustworthy people knowing his plans.

  After class, he arrived at the E Block lockers with Pete and Mav to deposit their books and get their lunch. Pete noticed a printed out photograph on the notice board with writing underneath. It was a picture of a junior groping a surprised Vanessa. Underneath it, words read:

  Trent Nord makes the moves on Cassidy’s girl.

  When Wal saw the photograph, he began to feel anger bubble up inside of him. The thought of anyone touching Vanessa like that, riled him up. ‘That dirty little creep!’

  ‘Nah, no way,’ Mav said. ‘You can see he’s fallen down on her, that’s all.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Pete agreed. ‘I know Trent Nord and he’s like a scared little guinea pig. He’d never do something like that on purpose. Man, you have it really bad, don’t you, Wal? Getting all jealous because some little junior got a free grope of Vanessa. I bet deep down you wish it was you, but you know you’ll never get that opportunity.’

  ‘Shut the hell up, Cook!’ Wal ripped the picture from the wall, screwed it up and hurled it into a nearby rubbish bin. He didn’t know why it pissed him off so much, but it just did. One thing was for sure, he was going to make sure Trent’s life was made difficult for a little while, just to teach him a lesson.

  At his locker, he discovered that something had been slid under the gap. A note. On it were the words:

  Wal, you are a sexy hunk of muscle and I think you’re really hot. Yeah huh, I do.

  A chuckle came from behind him. ‘Oooh, you hunk of muscle, you. Some one loves you, Wal.’ Pete chuckled.

  ‘Hey, this is private!’ Wal shoved him away with his strong arm.

  ‘Whose it from? “Yeah huh”? That sounds like Vanessa.’

  ‘What?’ Mav stepped over to see. ‘Why would she be writing notes to Wal? Let me see.’

  Wal handed him the note.

  Mav snorted out a laugh. ‘You have got to be kidding me. I think someone’s messing with you, Wal.’

  ‘Come on, be fair on the guy,’ Pete said. ‘He’s a desirable guy, right, Wal?’

  ‘You bet I am!’

  ‘Why wouldn’t someone write you a note?’

  ‘That’s right!’

  ‘And why wouldn’t it be Vanessa?’

  Mav laughed again. ‘Pete, you need to get real. If you were any less real, you would have been born attached to Michael Jackson’s face. Vanessa only has eyes for Rex... oh and other girls. And even though on a good day, Wal’s hair looks womanly, he’d still make a pretty damn ugly female.’

  Wal cast him an evil glare to warn him about insulting him. He really hoped he wouldn’t have to slap him one because Mav was a great guy.

  ‘Well,’ Pete said, ‘if she likes one guy, why not another?’

  Mav shook his head. ‘Pete... soon you’ll be so unreal you won’t even qualify to be an artificial nose. If Vanessa liked him, she’d say it to his face. She’s not the sort to hide behind anonymous notes.’

  Wal did have to admit Mav had a point, but still, even if there was a glimmer of hope the note was from Vanessa, he really wanted to hold onto it. He folded up the paper and put it into his pocket. ‘Forget about it. So Vanessa likes me? What’s the big deal?’

  Both Pete and Mav studied him for a few seconds then burst out laughing at the same time.

  ‘What’s so bloody funny?’

  ‘Do you really expect us to buy the fact that you don’t care what Vanessa thinks of you?’ Pete said.

  ‘Do I look like the sort of guy who worries about what women think of him?’

  Mav smirked. ‘Well no, Wal, you tend to rely on wishful thinking when it comes to that sort of thing. You spend all your time concocting fantasies about what women think of you.’

  Wal clenched his fist in annoyance. If it had been anybody else, he would have roughed him up a bit and demand some respect. He compromised and gave him a shove sending him back a step. ‘Your confusing wishful thinking with optimism.’

  ‘Whatever you say, Wal, but in this case, I’m gonna indulge in cynicism.’

/>   They joined their friends for lunch in the tree and garden area just outside of E Block. Vanessa was there of course and Wal couldn’t keep his eyes off her. Could that note have really been from her? There was no doubt he had some secret admirer, he just hoped desperately it was her.

  Their eyes met and she winked.

  For a moment, Wal had to give himself a mental shake. Was that really a wink or had she just blinked funny? No, it was definitely a wink. He had never seen her wink at anyone before like that. He dared believe that it was a confirmation that it was she who sent him the note.

  A hand waved in front of his face. ‘Wal, are you fantasizing again?’

  Wal came to his senses and frowned at Mav. ‘No, I don’t fantasize. I thought I made that clear.

  ‘Some of us guys are heading down the back of the field. Coming?’

  ‘You guys go ahead. I’ll be along in a few minutes.’

  They left him sitting there, still pondering over the note. Vanessa, Maggie and Mandy were the only ones left and they were preparing to take their bags back to the lockers.

  Wal leapt to his feet and bowled over to them. ‘Hey Nessa, can I carry your bag?’

  Vanessa raised her eyebrows, but then smiled. ‘Why, Wal, since when did you become such a gentleman?’

  ‘I have a lot of hidden charms.’

  Mandy snickered. ‘Yeah, and they certainly remain well hidden. In fact they’re so well hidden, you’d swear they were non-existent.’

  ‘A little like the fairies in my garden, huh?’ Vanessa handed him her bag.

  Wal began to head towards C block.

  ‘Err, Wal... my locker’s here in E.’

  ‘Oh... Duh!’ Wal felt like a complete idiot. Most of them had their lockers at C Block the previous year, but this year they were in different blocks. Seconds later he had placed the bag on the hook Vanessa directed him too. It all took less than ten seconds.

  ‘Hope you didn’t wear yourself out, Wal,’ said Mandy.

  ‘Nothing’s too much trouble for the lovely Vanessa.’ Wal nearly gulped after he said those words. It was not like him to talk so sweetly to anyone, especially in such a dorky manner. This girl certainly had him behaving differently to the way he normally did.

  ‘Oh, my God!’ Mandy scrunched up her face. ‘Come OUT alien, what did you do with the real Wal?’

  ‘Perhaps Wal is just showing us his true sweet nature?’ Vanessa smiled.

  ‘No, that’s not Wal. He’s possessed by a demon or something.’

  ‘Well Wal, us ladies have to be going. I’m sure you have lots of sports to play and exercise to do to build up those muscles of yours...’

  ‘Muscles?’ Wal asked, thinking back to the note.

  ‘Yeah huh, you do want to be a hunk for the ladies, don’t you?’

  ‘Err yeah,’ Wal said, his heart pounding profusely. Surely this was a confirmation that it was she who had written the note.

  ‘It’ll take more than working out at the gym to make him a hunk,’ Mandy scoffed.

  ‘Well Mandy, no one ever said that hunks had to be sexy now, did they? There’s some hunks of stuff that are very unattractive.’

  ‘True, true.’

  The girls left him standing there alone at the lockers and it took him a few seconds to come to his senses. ‘Whoa!’ he muttered to himself.

  He had to find out whether the note was from Vanessa. There seemed one obvious way to confirm it and that was to compare the handwriting. Her locker. It didn’t have a lock. Perhaps he could check some of her exercise books?

  He peered around the corridor, making sure nobody was around and moved towards it. However, a group of junior boys entered the block before he could. He cursed under his breath, but then noticed that one of them was Trent Nord.

  ‘Hey Nord! Get over here!’

  The junior jumped. He and his friends peered nervously over at him. Trent hesitantly walked towards him, while the others stayed glued to the spot, wide-eyed.

  ‘Nord, you sick little pervert! I saw that photograph of you making a pass at Vanessa!’

  ‘What? Oh no! I heard someone had been posting up those around the school.’

  Wal grabbed him by the shirt and delivered him his most homicidal glare. ‘You realise what you’ve done?’

  Trent’s face paled and his knees quivered. ‘It was an accident! Honestly! I was pushed onto her.’

  ‘You expect me to believe that crap?’

  ‘It’s true!’

  Wal continued to give him the evils. ‘You know what Rex Cassidy’s gonna do when he gets his hands on you?’

  ‘N... No.’

  ‘Do you know what he did to the last perv that tried to cop a feel on Vanessa?’

  ‘He... he beat him up?’

  ‘A beating was like Heaven compared to what he got! And do you know what happened to the guy named Luke Shirley who tried to rough her up last year? He had to be carried to hospital on a stretcher. He was in a coma for two weeks!’ Wal couldn’t help exaggerate, especially on the second account. He loved the fear that welled up in the junior’s face.

  ‘A... a coma?’

  ‘YES!’

  ‘Oh lor...’

  ‘No, the Lord won’t do anything for you, pal. I think even the Lord is scared of getting in the way of Rex when he’s on the warpath. You don’t mess with his girl, kid! You are going to learn that the hard way!’

  Trent continued to stare agape at Wal but didn’t speak.

  Wal, satisfied he had spooked the junior enough, shoved him back and released him. ‘If I were you, Nord, I’d remain underground for the next few weeks, at least until Rex has had a chance to calm down. Better stay well away from him and Vanessa, you got that?’

  ‘Y... yes!’

  ‘Now scram!’

  Trent hurried back towards his mates and they all exited the way they had come.

  Wal smirked and was about to leave himself, when he remembered the task he had set himself. Taking another glance around, he opened Vanessa’s locker and pulled out an exercise book. It was almost new, but he expected to find a few week’s worth of work in them, but there was nothing apart from a few drawings.

  A ring binder looked more promising. It had love hearts drawn all over it with Rex’s name in it and he ignored those, opening it up. There were some half-assed attempts at Biology notes in there, but ideal for the purposes he had in mind. He pulled out the note and compared them. His eyes widened and he couldn’t stop from smiling.

  The handwriting was identical.