The Mob from TAC

by Richard Pinkerton

CHAPTER 23:

  Sneaking out

  The night of the dance had finally arrived and Chelsea couldn’t wait. The talk at lunch had been about the dance and who was going to be dancing with whom. Chelsea felt terrified and at the same time excited.

  ‘Ah, Chelsea, you’re home,’ her mother greeted her once she arrived home from school. ‘Your grand parents are here. They’ll be joining us for dinner.’

  Everything around Chelsea seemed to come to a grinding halt. It was one of those moments in a movie where the background music came to a sudden stop and the needle got dragged across the record. ‘They’re here? Now?’ All she could think about was getting out to the dance. She had been hoping to crawl off to her bedroom straight after dinner, but now that would be impossible. Her parents would expect her to stay out in the lounge with the entire family.

  Her original plan was to say that she was going to her room to read or study. If she was lucky, she would have at least an hour or two before her parents realised that she wasn’t there. Now it meant they would find out a lot sooner.

  Dinner started around 6pm and that just made things even more urgent. She had to be at Laura’s house by 6:30. The dance was due to start at 7:30pm.

  ‘Is everything alright, darling?’ her mother asked just before dinner began. ‘You seem rather pre-occupied.’

  ‘Oh… I don’t know. I guess I just feel a bit off, that’s all.’

  Chelsea began to eat her dinner, debating whether to scoff it down and get it out of the way or peck at it, to make her parents think she wasn’t well.

  Anxiety set in. Every time she glanced at the clock on the wall, it seemed to leap forward another five minutes. If she didn’t get going now, she would be late and Jacqui wouldn’t like that. She wanted to look her best for the dance too, so it was important that she got there in time for the girls to do the makeover on her.

  ‘I’m not feeling too well,’ she complained, trying to come up with any reason she could to get away from the table. Is it all right if I go and lie down on my bed for a bit?’

  ‘You’ve hardly touched your meal,’ her mother said.

  ‘I don’t feel like anymore.’

  ‘Mmmmm, very well, off you go then.’

  Chelsea wasted no time in heading to her room. She already had her gear packed in a bag ready to go. All she needed to do was grab her dress from the closet and she was ready.

  She was about to open her window when a knock came at her bedroom door. She flung her bag behind the bed, flopped down upon it and fixed a tired expression on her face. ‘Come in,’ she said, feigning discomfort.

  Her entire body tensed up as the door opened and her mother entered the room. ‘Are you sure you’re all right?’

  ‘I think I’ll be all right.’ It was 6.25pm and it would take her at least five minutes to get to Jacqui’s. ‘If I just lie here for a while, I think that I’ll be all right. I think that I’m slowly coming right.’ Her voice became strained due to the frustration, but at least it made her sound as though she wasn’t feeling well.

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘I’m sure.’

  ‘All right then. Is it just a stomach-ache?’

  ‘Yes.’ She tried so hard not to show her frustration, but it was getting very difficult.

  ‘It could be serious you know.’

  ‘I’ve had it like this before. I’ll be fine!’

  ‘I hope so.’ Her mother turned to leave but then turned at the last moment. ‘If you’re not feeling better in fifteen minutes you’d better tell us, all right?’ I'll come back soon to check on you.’

  ‘I just wanna sleep, Mum.’

  Her mother sighed. ‘Okay, well you get some sleep then. I’ll check on you later.’ She left, closing the door behind her.

  At last!

  Chelsea leapt up off the bed, grabbed her dress and bag, climbed through the window and leapt down onto the grass. A sudden thrill ran through her body as she realised there was no turning back. Who knew what the night would bring? Right now, everything was a complete and utter mystery and Chelsea wanted to be the one to solve it.

  She arrived at Laura’s house five minutes late. Not bad considering the amount of hassle she had to go through to get away. Several of the other girls were there including Holly. Jacqui didn’t seem too worried that she had arrived late. She was already dressed and wearing a figure hugging skirt and low cut top. Her hair was all done up and she had a light covering of makeup with hoop earrings and necklace to top off the look.

  Holly didn’t need makeup at all, but had a little foundation and lipstick. She looked perfect, as always, in a patterned top and blue skirt.

  Chelsea held out her dress for her friends to see and it brought smiles to their faces.

  ‘Perfect,’ Jacqui said. ‘Once we’ve finished with you, you are going to look fantastic! Now there’s no time to lose. Sit over here. We’re going to do something about your hair.’

  Jacqui pulled out a large pair of scissors and Chelsea widened her eyes. ‘What are you going to do with them?’

  ‘What do you think?’

  ‘You can’t!’

  ‘Of course I can. Don’t worry - I’ve done it before. You’ll look great, trust me.’

  Chelsea’s stomach churned, but she decided to leave herself in the hands of her friends. She hoped like hell that Jacqui wouldn’t make a mistake, because the last thing she wanted was to be embarrassed in front of guys like Rex and Sheep.

  Jacqui began to snip hair from the sides. Chelsea shut her eyes and held her breath. She seemed to be clipping off an awful lot of it. It didn’t take long for Jacqui to finish the job. Chelsea itched to see what she had done.

  ‘You just wait until we’ve finished.’

  ‘That’s right,’ Jacqui said. ‘An artist never reveals her work until the job is complete.’

  Jacqui removed Chelsea’s glasses, so that everything became less clear, then got to work with a little lip-gloss, eye shadow and eyeliner. They did it very quickly and then Holly sat down to do her nails. They found themselves alone as Holly did them.

  ‘Sheep is gonna be blown away,’ Holly said. ‘In fact all the guys are gonna be.’

  ‘I’m still not sure about it all,’ Chelsea said. ‘Even if Sheep does like me, I’m not so sure I really want him. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to dance with him and I want him to think I’m beautiful, but I still have serious doubts about him.’

  Holly turned he eyes up to her. ‘Really?’

  ‘I’ve been thinking about it. Before this year, Sheep never even gave me a second glance and I never even let on I fancied him. Then he finds out that I’m into him and then he’s inviting me off to private locations to make out. I’m thinking that all I am to him is a conquest.’

  Holly gazed at her. ‘You really think so? I mean, I’m sure he’s a shallow as the next guy but he’s always treated me with respect, even though I haven’t known him long.’

  ‘That’s just it. I don’t want to be with a guy who’s shallow and he hasn’t treated me with respect. I realise that now. He just wanted sex and when he realised he wasn’t gonna get it he went back to ignoring me again. I saw that at the beach the other day.’

  ‘Yeah…’ Holly nodded and went back to work on Chelsea’s nails. ‘I guess you’re right.’

  ‘Oh, I just wish I had experience with guys like you do. If only I had more confidence.’

  ‘Experience?’ Holly smiled wryly. ‘Hardly.’

  ‘Oh but you’ve had boyfriends, right?’

  ‘Nope.’

  Chelsea reeled. ‘Seriously?’

  ‘Seriously,’ Holly said. ‘And I’m not just gonna hook up with anyone either. Whoever I end up with has gotta respect me and love me because of who I am, not because of what they can get out of me. Chels, if you want respect, you also have to respect yourself. Don’t let some guy make you feel bad just because you won’t get with him. He can go to Hell. You’re worth more than that. You’re not ju
st some desperate blonde bimbo. You’re smart and you deserve respect. I hope this make over will really help you with that, because Chels, whether you believe it or not, you’re beautiful and not just on the inside. You really are gorgeous. You just need to – you know - highlight your features… and come out of your shell too.’

  Chelsea couldn’t help but smile. She couldn’t believe that someone as popular and beautiful as Holly was saying things like that to her. It made her feel warm inside. ‘Thanks, Holl.’

  Minutes later, they finished. The girls all assembled around and admired their handy work, with smiles on their faces. Chelsea couldn’t stand it any longer. ‘Please, can I have a look now?’

  ‘I think she’s done,’ Holly said.

  ‘Yeah, she’s done,’ agreed Jacqui. ‘Wait! Your contact lenses, did you bring them?’

  Chelsea’s eager anticipation turned to dread. ‘Oh no, do I really have to?’

  ‘Yes, you do,’ Holly said.

  ‘You certainly can’t wear your dorky glasses,’ Jacqui added

  ‘Unless you want to go to the dance as blind as a bat.’

  ‘Okay.’ She fidgeted with the hem of her dress. ‘They’re in my bag.’

  ‘Relax,’ Holly said. ‘You do want the guys to notice you don’t you? I’m telling you, without those glasses they will.’

  ‘Get dressed first,’ one of the other girls said. ‘She might as well be completely finished before she looks in the mirror.’

  ‘Fair enough,’ Jacqui agreed. ‘We’ll go out. You just stay in here and get dressed, Chels.’

  They gave her a few minutes to get dressed before Holly poked her head back in. ‘Ready, Chels?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘Contacts?’

  ‘Oh yeah.’ She hesitated at first and cringed as she put them in, but it wasn’t as bad as she thought. They felt uncomfortable at first and her eyes began to water, but as she continued to blink, they began to feel better. The room became clear again and it felt so strange to be able to see, but yet have nothing sitting on her ears and nose.

  ‘Alright?’ asked Holly, looking amused.

  ‘Yeah, I’m okay.’

  ‘Sweet! You look absolutely gorgeous. Come on into the other room and take a look at yourself.’

  All the other girls awaited Chelsea and she couldn’t help but feel a bit like a model on a catwalk as she entered the room. They all smiled. When she first saw the mirror, she couldn’t believe it was herself. She advanced towards it cautiously just in case it was some kind of illusion, but with every step she took, the more amazed she felt. Even she had to admit that she looked incredible. Her hair was cut short and now delicately framed her face. The make up was lightly applied but had succeeded in highlighting - what others insisted - were her best features; her eyes and her cheekbones. ‘Wow!’ She stared. ‘I can’t believe this.’

  ‘Awesome, eh?’ Holly smiled.

  ‘It’s incredible! I never thought that I could ever look this good.’

  ‘The boys are going to go crazy,’ said one of the others.

  For a few moments, Chelsea stood there, gazing at her reflection the mirror. She couldn’t help but wonder whether it was all some kind of trick. Perhaps this wasn’t really her reflection at all?

  She soon came crashing back to earth though when Jacqui reminded her about the phone call that they now needed to make to her parents.

  Her stomach churned even more violently than before, as she followed Jacqui to the hallway phone. Jacqui did not seem concerned at all and without even hesitating, she picked up the receiver and dialled.

  Chelsea held her breath when she heard her mother’s voice on the other end. ‘Tania Brown speaking.’

  ‘Ah, yes, Mrs Brown, it’s Jacqui Donaldson here, a friend of Chelsea’s?’

  ‘My gosh, yes, Jacqui! Is Chelsea there with you? If she is, I need to speak to her now.’

  ‘Err sorry, Mrs Brown, Chelsea’s not here.’

  ‘Do you know where she is? She took off and we’re worried sick, not to mention furious. Is she going to the dance, do you know?’

  ‘That’s what I wanted to call you about.’

  ‘Do you know where she is Jacqui?’

  ‘Well, yes and no.’

  ‘What do you mean by that?’

  ‘I’m really worried, Mrs Brown. We told her not to, but she just wouldn’t listen.’

  ‘Not to what?’

  ‘Well, she went off to New Plymouth with an older girl who...’

  ‘New Plymouth? Why on Earth is she going there? Who is this girl? Do I know her?’

  ‘Probably not. She doesn’t go to school anymore, I’m not even sure of her name. Chelsea was pretty pissed about not being able to go to the dance so just decided to go into New Plymouth with her tonight. We told her that it was a stupid thing to do; after all, you guys grounded her. We tried to tell her that she would just get into more trouble with you, but she just wouldn’t listen.’

  Chelsea was impressed. Jacqui sure was great at making up stories and she sounded so sincere too.

  ‘When did she go? Where in New Plymouth?’

  ‘She left fifteen minutes ago, so I rang you as soon as I could get to a phone. All I know is that they were going to go to New Plymouth for the evening, they are going to come back, but I don’t know where they were going. I know you’re probably really worried, Mrs Brown, but don’t worry too much. It’s just that Chelsea was really unhappy about being grounded the night of the dance. I’m sure she’ll be fine. It’s just that I thought you ought to know what’s going on. I’d hate you to be searching all around Te Arawa for her and getting all worried over nothing.’

  ‘Worried over nothing? If she’s taken off to New Plymouth, that’s even more of a worry. If she had gone to the dance at least we’d have been able to go and get her.’

  ‘Well, I think she realises it would have been really stupid going there. That would be the first place you’d turn up, wouldn’t it? I’m really sorry, Mrs Brown. The last thing we want is Chelsea to get in trouble with you guys. I just hope that you won’t tell her that I told you, because I’d hate to lose her as a friend. Normally she’d never do anything wrong. She’s certainly had a good effect on us. She’s shown us the importance of sticking to rules and things, so I just hope that she doesn’t get into too much trouble.’ Jacqui glanced over at Chelsea and covered her mouth, trying to hold back a laugh. She certainly was hamming it up. Chelsea had never heard such garbage in her life, but she was sure her mom would buy it.

  ‘Thank you for saying that, Jacqui. It’s good to know that she has friends like you looking out for her. And thank you for ringing and telling us, we really appreciate it.’

  ‘You’re welcome, Mrs Brown. I hope that you find her.’

  ‘So do I.’

  ‘Bye, Mrs Brown.’

  ‘Bye bye, Jacqui.’ Then the line went dead.

  Jacqui turned to Chelsea and delivered her a huge smile. Chelsea smiled back half-heartedly. Sure, Jacqui did a good job, but Chelsea couldn’t handle all the deception. Her parents would be worried sick all night and might even try looking around New Plymouth for her. She began to wonder whether it was all worth it.

  CHAPTER 24:

  Sorting out Jacqui