Holly sat with Mav outside the hall and felt so happy. She clasped his hand and gazed deep into his eyes, elated at how things turned out. ‘I’m sorry for being such a jealous cow. I had no right to be pissed off when we weren’t even a couple.’
‘It’s ok,’ Mav said. ‘I don’t blame you for being pissed. I shouldn’t have been so wishy-washy and should have done the right thing before this dance. I didn’t want to hurt either of you or Sam but because I couldn’t made a tough decision it ended up making things worse. Fortunately Sam made me see sense and I realised it was you I wanted to be with.’
Holly felt warm inside. ‘It’s been difficult for both of us trying to get our heads around all this. I never would have thought I would have ever fallen for you, but when you stood up against Tucker for me and Jacqui it all became so clear to me. I really did have feelings for you. I guess I was stupid because it took that one act by you to make me see it. I should have seen how great you were long before then.’
‘Me great?’ Mav grinned. ‘I think you might have a case of mistaken identity there.’
‘Oh don’t be silly.’ Holly laughed. ‘You may not be the greatest athlete in the school, in fact you suck at sports, but you’re a wonderful guy. Any girl would be happy to have you on their arm and write their name vs Maverick on toilet walls.’
‘Yeah, well maybe toilet walls are the best place for a name like mine.’ He winked.
Just then, another harsh voice spoke and immediately Holly tensed up. ‘What are you two doing out here?’
When she saw who it was, she couldn’t help but roll her eyes. It was Ben Tamati. ‘Oh, Ben, will you just leave us alone?’
Mav rose to his feet and Holly could see some venom in his eyes. She stood too and hoped desperately that there was not gonna be another fight, not when things had turned out so sweet. ‘Give us a break, Ben. We’ve already had enough drama for one night.’
‘Tell me about it,’ Holly said. ‘What do you want?’
Ben smirked. ‘Looks like you’re hanging out with my girl there. Can’t have that.’
‘I’m not your bloody girl, Ben!’ Holly said defiantly. ‘And I never will be! I’m with Rick now.’
Ben smirked. ‘Oh really? Maverick vs Robinson? Can’t see it.’
‘Well it’s true,’ Holly said. ‘So why don’t you just rack off?’
Ben snickered. ‘I’m surprised to even see you here, Maverick. I would have thought they would have banned you from the dance for robbing the tuck shop.’
Holly reeled. ‘What?’
‘Oh yeah,’ Ben said. ‘Didn’t you know? He’s the culprit.’
‘No way! You’re lying!’ She just simply couldn’t believe that Mav would do something like that.
Mav intervened, ‘So it was you who reported me?’
Holly flinched. It was Mav who robbed the tuck shop? Surely it couldn’t be true?
Ben smirked. ‘Yeah, Maverick it was. I report you. Ha ha ha ha ha ha.’
Holly could see fire burning in Mav’s eyes now and she worried. She knew that Mav would not be able to handle Ben if it came to a fight. ‘Well your plan backfired, Tamati,’ Mav said. ‘They know it wasn’t me.’
Holly couldn’t help but feel relief at that revelation. His innocence was all that mattered to her.
Ben screwed up his face. ‘Oh yeah and how did you wangle your way out of that one? I saw all that stuff in your bag. I can’t believe you got away with it.’
Immediately doubts returned and Holly peered at Mav with concern. ‘What’s he talking about, Mav? Did you really rob that tuck shop?’
‘Of course he did!’ Ben snarled. ‘Like I said, I saw all the loot in his bag. Looks like it’s gonna have to be me that deals a little justice then, isn’t it?’ He stepped forward in an aggressive manner.
‘Hold it right there, Tamati!’
Yet another person arrived on the scene and this time it was Wal. Holly didn’t know whether to be relieved or more worried. She also wondered where he’d come from because she had not seen him at all so far that evening.
Their burly classmate strode up towards them, reached Ben and shoved him sideways. ‘So it was you who dobbed us in, huh? You Tamati?’
‘What?’ Ben said. ‘No! I reported Maverick, that’s all! I don’t have a problem with you, Ullman.’
‘Yeah? Well I have a problem with you!’ Wal drove his fist into the jaw of Ben Tamati. Ben sprawled back and crashed to the ground violently. He quickly leapt to his feet, holding his jaw and with wide eyes, rushed away with his tail between his legs.
Wal seemed content with that and smirked. ‘Douche! That will teach him.’
Holly turned her eyes to Mav who now stared at Wal with clear anxiety in his eyes. Holly couldn’t understand why he would be so nervous when Ben had been sent packing. She was also still completely confused about the whole thing involving the school tuck shop. ‘What’s going on? Ben reported you guys? Were you guys really responsible for the tuck shop robbery?’
Wal peered through narrow eyes at Mav. ‘I’m lucky to be here. Thought I was gonna be banned from coming, but instead I’m gonna be working after school for my dad for the next month, paying for what I took. No thanks to you and your big mouth, Maverick.’
‘Sorry, Wal,’ Mav said in a rather uneasy tone of voice. ‘I never meant to give you away. The Reaper figured it out.’
Holly ran her fingers through her hair, unable to believe what she was hearing. Now she feared for him again, because Wal didn’t seem like the type of guy to go easy on someone who gave him up to the teachers, even if it was unintentional.
Wal released a burst of air from his lungs. ‘Don’t worry about it, Maverick. I should never have forced you and Pete into carrying that loot for me anyway. I was a moron. Not your fault either that, that scumbag Tamati reported you to the Reaper. And not your fault that the Reaper is way smarter than you are.’ A wry smile appeared on his face.
Mav let out a sigh of relief. ‘I’m glad you’re not pissed. I was dreading running into you tonight. Thought you were gonna kill me.’
‘Yeah, well count yourself lucky this time. It’s a good thing I’m a merciful guy. So what’s this? Maverick vs Robinson?’
‘Yes,’ said Holly, glad that the unpleasantness was over and that Mav was not guilty of the tuck shop robbery.
‘Way to go Mav!’ Wal slapped him heavily across the back causing him to grimace in pain. ‘So apart from you two hooking up, anything else been going on I should know about?’
Holly laughed. ‘Oh yeah. You missed out on some real drama.’
‘Why, what happened? Hell, Maverick, don’t tell me you got into a fight? Wondered what those red marks were all over your face. Clearly isn’t lipstick, mate. Did Tamati do that?’
Mav chuckled. ‘No, but you’re never gonna believe what happened.’
They told Wal what had gone down between Rex and Tucker and all Wal could do was stare in amazement with a huge smile on his face. ‘Whoa! Cassidy is the man! Damn, I wish I’d been there earlier to see it, but I only just got here. Damn, I can’t believe I missed it!’
Holly looped her arm through Mav’s and the three of them re-entered the hall where the music still played and the dance floor was full. When they reached their fellow classmates, the questions started flying.
‘Mav, Holly, did you see the fight?’
‘Did Rex really beat up Joe and Colin on his own?’
‘Hey, what is this, are you two going around together? Maverick vs Robinson?’
‘Robinson vs Maverick,’ Holly corrected them with a smile on her face. ‘Let it be known, let it be written on every toilet wall.’
Jacqui huffed. ‘Who cares about that? Did you see the fight? Did it really happen?’
‘It sure did.’ Mav smiled. ‘Old Rex made mincemeat of Joe and Colin. Prepare for a feast of pies later on.’
‘Where are Rex and Chelsea?’
‘Last we saw of them, they were heading for the trees. Let??
?s hope there’s no monkey business.’ He winked.
‘There had better not be!’ Jacqui said coldly.
‘Don’t worry about it,’ Pete said. ‘I’ll be there for a shoulder to cry on it you need it.’
Jacqui glared at him with venom in his eyes. ‘Rack off, Cook!’
Pete grinned in the direction of Mav and Holly. He winked.
‘Oh boy,’ Holly said to Mav. ‘That Pete never learns, does he?’
‘Nope. He sure doesn’t.’
Epilogue