Jealousy at TAC

by Richard Pinkerton

Rex arrived at school the following morning and made his way to the usual assembly point out front of E Block where he normally met up with his friends.

  It surprised him to see Jaspy there talking to Holly and Maggie. ‘I was so scared. I was really sure those guys were going to hurt me.’

  ‘Wow,’ Holly said. ‘Now it’s got me worried.’

  ‘If it wasn’t for Rex coming along, I think they would have.’

  ‘Rex intervened?’

  ‘Yes. Oh, he was so wonderful. Those guys were so scared of him.’

  ‘Did he punch them out?’ Maggie asked. ‘I love it when he punches out some creep.’

  ‘No, they just took off. They were petrified, but they shouted out stuff once they were far enough away.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘That they were going to teach him a lesson.’

  ‘Oh no.’

  Rex stepped up. ‘No need to worry about it.’

  ‘Rex!’ Jaspy blurted. Her eyes lit up and a broad smile appeared on her face. ‘It’s my hero.’

  Rex chuckled. ‘No, I wasn’t your hero. I just stuck up for you, that’s all.’

  ‘Sounds like you were a hero to me,’ said Holly, a twinkle in her eye.

  ‘Nah.’

  ‘Modest as usual.’

  ‘That is so cool what you did,’ Maggie said. ‘I would have loved to have seen their faces.’

  Jaspy continued to beam. ‘Rex is the most wonderful guy.’

  ‘We know,’ Holly said.

  Rex cringed. ‘Will you girls stop?’ He forced an embarrassed smile.

  Jaspy bounced over to him and looped her arm through his. ‘I want the whole school to know just how wonderful you are.’

  Rex took hold of her arm gently and lowered it back down. ‘No, I don’t want the whole school to know. Besides, its better you don’t get people all worried. The last thing people need is to be all paranoid about roaming the streets. This was obviously an isolated incident, so let’s not spread a lot of fear around.’ It was a valid excuse, even though it was an excuse. He really didn’t want everyone putting him up on a pedestal, even though many of them did that already. He certainly didn’t want Jaspy singing his praises and hovering around him all day.

  ‘Rex, are we all still on for the aquatic centre on Saturday?’ Maggie asked.

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘I’m bringing my boyfriend, Shawn.’

  ‘Great, we’ll finally get to meet him.’

  ‘Wow, can I come?’ Jaspy asked.

  Rex didn’t want her there, but didn’t want to refuse her. He hoped that maybe at least Holly might object, but she said nothing.

  ‘You could, but I’m not sure how you’d get there,’ Rex said.

  ‘We can pick you up,’ Holly said. ‘My mother is going to drop me off in town.’

  ‘Cool!’

  ‘It’s going to be mainly seniors,’ Rex said. ‘Some may not appreciate you around.’

  ‘I won’t be a pain. Honestly. Besides if my parents take me, I’ll be there anyway.’

  Rex said nothing. He didn’t want to be seen as trying to make excuses. Perhaps it would do no harm. It seemed to Rex unlikely she would gain any close friendship with any of his friends anyway. She’d soon give up.

  Relief came in the form of Vanessa. No longer did he have to bask in the adoration of Jaspy. He pricked up an eyebrow when he saw Nadia walking along side of her. Vanessa had rung him last night to tell him and it still blew his mind that she had a sister nobody knew about.

  ‘Hey!’ Vanessa reached Rex and planted a kiss on his lips. ‘Hi everyone. This is Nadia. You’ll never believe it, but she’s my half sister!’

  Eyes widened and jaws dropped.

  All except for Rex. ‘Now I get it. Similar facial features… yeah.’

  ‘Absolutely,’ Vanessa replied. ‘I can’t believe all this time I’ve had a sister I didn’t know about. We spent some time last night getting to know each other.’

  Nadia stepped up to Rex and her eyes sparkled. ‘She told me all about you.’

  ‘I sure did.’

  Rex couldn’t help but admire her. She had that same gorgeous figure, the same flawless skin, the same dark wavy hair.

  ‘I’ve really been looking forward to meeting you,’ Nadia stepped up so close to him that her ample breasts nearly touched his. ‘I hope you can show me around the school.’

  Rex had trouble breaking his gaze from her magnetic green eyes. ‘Sure, why not. Nessa, why don’t we take her on a tour?’

  ‘Let’s go.’

  ‘I’ll come too!’ Jaspy volunteered.

  Rex tried his best not to cringe. Something in his expression must have alerted Vanessa, because she eyed him for a few seconds, then turned and faced Jaspy. ‘No, Jaspy. This is senior business. Sorry. Besides... four’s a crowd.’

  Jaspy’s face dropped.

  Vanessa stepped up beside him and looped her arm through his. Nadia did the same on the opposite side. The three of them departed. Rex felt relieved that he no longer had to deal with the besotted fourteen-year-old.

  ‘Thanks Nessie,’ Rex said once out of hearing range. ‘She’s becoming a real pest.’

  ‘Unwanted attention, huh?’ asked Nadia. ‘I know what that’s like.’

  ‘She’s decided she’s in love with me or something, after I scared off those two gang members who were harassing her for money.’

  Nadia’s eyes widened. ‘You scared off two gang members?’

  ‘Yeah. Wild Dogs.’

  ‘Wow! Vanessa, you never told me he was so brave. I think you’re keeping secrets from me.’

  ‘Oh, I can tell you plenty of stories about how heroic Rexy is.’

  ‘Please don’t, you’ll make my head balloon out,’ Rex said.

  ‘Well we can’t have that,’ Nadia said. ‘Your head is deliciously perfect just the way it is.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Rex smiled wryly. ‘Ok, over here is F Block. This is where most of the practical options are done. Woodwork, Engineering and stuff like that.’

  ‘Yes, I was shown here yesterday. You have some really nice technology. Much better than my old school.’

  ‘So you’ve already had a tour around the school then?’

  ‘Yes, but you make the tour so much more interesting. Adds more attractive... scenery to the place.’

  Rex had to admit, she was definitely a charmer. She reminded him a lot of Vanessa when they first started to get to know each other. Never shy and never afraid to say what was on her mind. It was one of the things he liked so much about her. ‘Well let’s continue then. We’ve still got ten minutes before class starts.’

  They made their way around the block, past the bike sheds and to the back field. There they stopped for a few moments.

  ‘We spend a lot of time out here,’ Rex said. ‘Mainly just hanging out, but sometimes playing games.’

  ‘Games, huh?’ Nadia moved right in close again. ‘What sort of games?’ She smiled cheekily.

  ‘All sorts.’

  ‘That’s right.’ Vanessa slipped in beside him and put her arm around his waist. Nadia did the same from her side.

  Both girls’ faces only inches from him. He put one arm around each. ‘Wow, this must be my lucky day. Two extremely hot sisters, both so close.’

  ‘We can get closer,’ Vanessa said.

  ‘I like the sounds of that.’

  Rex, Vanessa and Nadia arrived at Maths class late. In fact it was half over and it just so happened, a relieving teacher was in charge. It was one Rex had never seen before. She was in her early twenties and Rex had to say that she was hot. She wore a figure hugging outfit, showing off her voluptuous curves and Rex could see that most of the male population were enamoured by her, due to their lovesick stares. She had long blonde hair, full lips and light green eyes. She wore glasses that made her look like the sexy secretary type. Rex thought they actually suited her.

  ‘Well, well,’ she said. ‘Latecomers. I guess you must be Rex Ca
ssidy. I guess, these other two must be Vanessa Dante... and, yes, the new girl Nadia Harrison. Nadia, isn’t this your first day? Do you really want to get off to a bad start by being late to the first class of the day?’

  ‘I kind of got distracted,’ Nadia said. ‘And the distractions are just so great in this school.’ She glanced at Rex and winked.

  ‘So I can see,’ the teacher replied. ‘I’ve heard that young Rex here can be a real distraction to the girls in the class. I can see I’m going to have to watch him.’ She smiled. There was something in the smile that Rex couldn’t help but notice… something that told him she thought he was indeed an alluring distraction. Rex didn’t mind. A hot teacher like her was welcome to smile at him in that manner. ‘Please, sit. My name is Ms Grainger by the way.’

  All the desks were separated. Rex sat down at one, while Vanessa and Nadia went to separate desks. Both took their chair, carried them back to Rex’s desk and sat either side of him. Rex couldn’t help but feel pleased with the seating arrangements.

  ‘Ummm, excuse me,’ Ms Grainger said on seeing them all sharing one table. ‘You can hardly do any work all sharing the same desk.’

  ‘That’s fine,’ Rex said. ‘I’ll just watch.’

  ‘Oh really? You’ll just watch?’ She frowned at first, but then smiled. ‘Very cute. Well as long as you don’t talk and you don’t mind being cramped between two girls that’s ok.’

  ‘Oh, I don’t mind. In fact I’m really enjoying it.’

  ‘I bet.’

  She began to show the class some examples on the whiteboard. Vanessa leaned to his ear and said softly. ‘So have you sorted out transport for Saturday?’

  ‘Yeah. I’m heading over there in the morning with my parents to buy a car. Then I’ll come back and pick you and Maggie up. We can take Nadia too.’

  ‘I can’t wait. Finally you’re going to have your own set of wheels. It will be awesome sitting there with you driving along. Maybe somewhere romantic, just the two of us.’

  ‘I reckon.’

  ‘Maybe the three of us?’ Nadia said softly.

  Vanessa grinned. ‘Might be fun.’ She nuzzled into him. ‘I hear there are some major road works going on along the main road at the moment. You’ll get your new car all dirty. Unless they’ve finished them. Have they finished yet?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘You don’t?’ Vanessa asked. ‘When was the last time you went into New Plymouth?’

  ‘Over a week ago.’

  ‘Oh...’

  Rex couldn’t help but notice a change in her expression. Her eyes seemed a little glazed. ‘You ok?’

  ‘Yeah huh.’ She smiled. ‘I’m fine.’

  ‘Ok,’ Ms Grainger said in an extra loud voice. ‘I want you to turn to page 143 in your text books and there are some problems there similar to the ones I’ve just gone through. I want you all to have a go at doing them. Oh and Rex, I want you over here at the front in this desk.’ She pointed to a vacant one right in front of hers. ‘I told you not to talk, but I see you aren’t willing to listen.’

  Rex considered being difficult, but she was just so damn cute he didn’t want to cause her any trouble. As much as he hated leaving his position between Vanessa and Nadia, he decided to obey. He rose to his feet and strolled across the room, being sure to keep his eyes locked on their new teacher. He sat down, folded his arms and smiled.

  Ms Grainger studied him for a few seconds. ‘Didn’t you bring your text book?’

  ‘No. I seem to have misplaced it. I don’t normally have much use for them.’

  ‘But it’s used all the time in class, isn’t it?’

  ‘Your point being?’

  The side of her mouth curled up into a distorted smile, but she said nothing. She stepped over to her desk, sat down, and opened up a log book of some kind. Rex leaned back in his chair and glanced around the room. Most of his fellow students had already got to work. Vanessa had gone to a separate desk now and peered over in his direction. She winked and smiled. He turned his eyes to Nadia who licked her lips suggestively.

  ‘Rex!’ Ms Grainger said. ‘Stop distracting the girls. Here. Read something.’ She handed him a maths text book. ‘Yes, I realise that might not be your preferred reading material, but it will have to do.’

  Rex took the book from her and flicked it open. He browsed through some of it, seeing nothing there that he didn’t already have a handle on. It was then that he felt a foot gently rubbing his leg.

  He jerked his eyes up to Ms Grainger whose eyes were locked on his. She smiled, still rubbing her foot against him. Rex’s reaction was to smile back. In fact, he couldn’t even stop himself; after all she really was a babe.

  Ms Grainger’s eyes lowered and her foot stopped rubbing his. Nevertheless, she definitely had his attention now. He continued to watch her, waiting for her to resume eye contact. She did. She glanced quickly around then smiled and winked. Immediately her foot began to caress his leg again. She looked down at her book with a smile on her face. Rex couldn’t resist but play footsies back with her. This continued for a few minutes until Ms Grainger rose to her feet.

  ‘Ok, that’s enough time. I’d like to get a few of you to write some of the answers up on the board for us.’ She walked over and wrote one of the problems up. ‘Rex.’ She turned around. ‘How would you like to be the first? Seeing as you seem to think you know all this stuff because you don’t feel the need to do the exercises.’

  ‘No problems.’ Rex rose to his feet. She held out the pen to him, her eyes not breaking their gaze from him. Rex smirked, took the pen, walked over to the board and wrote the answer in. He handed the pen back to her and then strolled back to his desk.

  Ms Grainger’s eyes widened when she saw it.

  A hand rose in the front row.

  ‘Umm.... yes... you are?’

  ‘Pete Cook.’

  ‘Yes, Pete?’

  ‘That one’s not in the book.’

  ‘Ummm. Yes, I know. It’s one from the year 13 text book. A much much harder one.’ She turned and stared at Rex. ‘And he got it right.’

  Rex crossed his arms and eyed her without giving away any emotions.

  ‘I’m impressed. Very impressed indeed.’ She smiled. ‘Ok, who’s next?’

  Near the end of the class, Ms Grainger came around with a worksheet for homework. She stopped by Rex’s desk first. ‘Well obviously you don’t need to do this as you seem to know it all, but I’ll give you one anyway.’ She handed him the worksheet.

  Rex started to fold it up to put in his pocket, but noticed something written on the back.

  Call me. 023 8932323

  Rex smiled, finished folding it and put it into his pocket.

  CHAPTER 10:

  Managing Difficult Staff Members