The Mob from TAC

By Richard Pinkerton

It's a new year at Te Arawa College, a New Zealand High school, and two Schools merge into one, bringing with it all sorts of complications.

New student Tucker Pyles terrorises the school, while plain Jane, Chelsea Brown attempts to get in with the popular girls, while oddball Rick Maverick is just trying to fit in.

Peer pressure comes in the form of alcohol, cigarettes and sex. But who is the mysterious Rex Cassidy, who was expelled from his previous school and is about to make his mark on TAC? Will that be a good thing or more complications for the Mob from TAC?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Richard Pinkerton
• Release date: Oct 26, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370630165

Richard Pinkerton

I am in my early 50s and have been writing now since I was 12. I prefer to write light-hearted drama but have written a little fantasy horror and science fiction too.I have an entire series of high school novels (19 of them so far) set in New Zealand (The Mob from TAC series), which I will gradually publish if there is a demand.I prefer to use a mix of quirky and outrageous characters you would never come across in reality and also your every day Joes.My writings are aimed at teenagers mainly, but also young adults.I have also written a series of detective novelettes, most of which can be found on my website. The majority require work, to be able to be published here, mainly due to copyright issues.Please do leave feedback or contact me if you want to know more about my books.

Book preview

The Mob from TAC

(Book 1 in the Mob from TAC series)

Published by Richard Pinkerton at Smashwords

Copyright 2020 Richard Pinkerton

Other books by Richard Pinkerton

Dead End High

Dead End Town

Time Warped

The Rex Cassidy Investigators Series

The Mob from TAC series

1 - The Mob from TAC

2 - Mismatched at TAC

3 - Trouble at TAC

4 - Heroes at TAC

5 - Scheming at TAC

6 - Murder at TAC

7 - New Year at TAC

8 - Challenges at TAC

9 - Boot Camp at TAC

10 - Dark Days at TAC

11 - Jealously at TAC

12 - Choices at TAC

13 - Redemption at TAC

14 - Vendettas at TAC

15 - Aberrations at TAC

16 - Final Year at TAC

17 – Conspiracy at TAC

18 – Godly People at TAC

19 – Sabotage at TAC

20 – Distrust at TAC

21 – Competition at TAC

So Long, TAC

Acknowledgements

Joseph A Comm

Katherine Lato

Tobias D Robinson

Karen Williams

And other members of Critique Circle:

Kmart

Tootsweet

Lisa

To Georgina

who started high school when this was first published

CHAPTER 1:

Cutting Class

‘I hope nobody saw us.’

Fifteen-year-old Chelsea Brown never considered cutting class a good idea, especially not on the first day of school. Yet here she was, a model student, doing just that, all so her two female classmates would think her cool.

‘Sweet! I think we’re safe,’ said Holly Robinson, her newest friend, a refugee from the old high school at Akato.

‘Nobody saw me,’ Jacqui Donaldson said in a slightly snobby tone of voice. ‘So, if anyone followed us here, it was one of you two who gave the game way, not me.’

It was Mr Reaper, Chelsea worried about. The Reaper as they called him, was the deputy principal at Te Arawa College and not someone you wanted to mess with. He even looked like the Angel of Death with his dark crooked eyebrows and unsmiling thin lips. He was a real pain who often seemed to know when the students were up to no good and exhibited a knack for being able to extract information out of people, causing them to incriminate themselves no matter how hard they tried not to.

The three of them met up with Rog Shepherd at the end of the playing fields and they climbed the back fence into the fields beyond. Chelsea was thankful for the wooden stile because she didn’t have to hike her uniform skirt up too high to get over.

Trees and bush provided them plenty of cover from the blazing sun and the school cross-country track followed a river, their main destination.

‘Anyone see you guys?’ Rog asked.

‘Nah, it’s cool, Sheep,’ Holly said, using Rog’s popular nickname. ‘No teachers on patrol.’

‘Told ya it would be all right.’ They reached the river bank and stopped. ‘You okay, Chelsea?’

She pushed aside some of her long straight hair that hung down both sides of her face. ‘Oh… I’m cool.’ She delivered him a big smile and fumbled with her thick-rimmed glasses. Her mother had bought contacts for her but the thought of putting things into her eyes made her cringe. She gazed at her athletic, fair-haired classmate. She’d fancied him ever since she was about 9 years old. She found it hard to draw her attention away from his piercing blue eyes and confident smile. ‘You know this is the first time I’ve ever skip-’

Sheep immediately turned his back to her and faced Holly. ‘So, Holly, I hear you’ve known Jacqui since you were little kids.’

‘Yes, we did. Our parents go way back, so we see each other all the time. It’s cool that now we’re in the same school together.’

Chelsea’s heart sank. For a moment there, she thought Sheep was going to engage her in conversation but he seemed more interested in the Akato refugee. It wasn’t surprising; after all, Chelsea could hardly compete with a beauty like her; the big brown eyes, the rounded chin and shoulder-length, flowing brown hair. The only thing she didn’t have going for her was height but she had a figure to be envied. If only Chelsea had half the sex-appeal Holly had, maybe Sheep would take notice of her.

Don’t put yourself down. You have beautiful blue eyes, dear. You have wonderful bone structure but you won’t let anyone see it.

Her mother had said those words to her many times but who listened to their mother about things like that? They were biased anyway.

‘…isn’t that right, Chelsea?’ Sheep turned to face her.

Chelsea jerked to her senses and realised she stood there like a dumb blonde. She did have blonde hair but didn’t want to endorse the stereotype. ‘That’s right.’ She didn’t have a clue what they were talking about. Sheep continued to look at her as if expecting her to say more. All Chelsea could do was smile again.

She wanted to kick herself, wishing she’d paid attention. Now he would think she was a flake if he didn’t think that already. So much for skipping class to look cool. She was digging herself into a pit she’d never get out of.

‘What are you lot up to!’ a voice boomed from the nearby trees.

Chelsea nearly jumped out of her skin. Her friends leapt in fright too and for a brief second, they thought they had been sprung and that the Reaper had come for their souls but when they saw who it was, they groaned in unison; relief for Chelsea but what sounded more like irritation for her friends.

‘What the hell do you want, Cook?’ Sheep growled as a short smiley-faced, brown-haired teen stepped out. Chelsea had known Pete Cook for years. He was the typical class clown, always fooling around, so it was hard to know when he was serious and when he wasn’t. He was a fun-loving guy who also had a habit of getting into trouble with the teachers and his fellow students. He enjoyed riling people up with silly remarks and insults and often found himself the target of bullies. Most of the time, Chelsea and the other girls just tolerated him but sometimes he was good for a laugh.

Next to Pete stood a taller individual who she had never seen before. He had dark brown hair and hazel eyes with a cute smile Chelsea liked. Another Akato refugee? With Akato College closing due to a low roll, it was difficult to figure out who was from there or who was simply new to the area.

The expression on Jacqui’s face had Chelsea wondering if she’d just stepped into a pool of vomit.

‘Have you two been following us?’

‘We were just hanging out.’ A gleam appeared in Pete’s eye. ‘Did I make your heart skip a beat, Jacqui?’

‘Rack off, you dork,’ Jacqui snorted.

The insult seemed to wash off his back. ‘Didn’t expect to see you guys here. What you up to?’

Jacqui rolled her eyes. ‘What does it look like? We just wanted to get away for a bit.’

‘Yeah, and be free of bozos like you.’ Sheep snickered.

‘That’s for sure.’

Sheep pointed back towards the school grounds. ‘Why don’t you hop it? We don’t want you polluting our atmosphere. You’ll just cramp our style.’

The taller boy beside Pete grinned. ‘You don’t have to worry about style clashes with us around. Style is something totally foreign to us.’

Neither Jacqui nor Sheep smiled. Chelsea wanted to laugh but kept a straight face. If Jacqui didn’t find it funny, then neither did she.

As for Holly, Chelsea found it hard to tell whether she was amused or not. ‘Mav, since when did you skip classes?’

So he had to be from Akato too,

The tall boy smiled. ‘I considered just walking out of class was a little cliché but skipping seemed more… I don’t know… getting with the rhythm of Te Arawa College?’

Jacqui screwed up her face. ‘Are you for real?’

‘Nah, I’m simply a cheap imitation.’ Mav winked. ‘Of what, I have no idea but an imitation nonetheless.’

Holly grinned at Chelsea and humorously rolled her eyes.

Jacqui delivered them both a dirty look. She was born and bred in Te Arawa like Chelsea. She had always been so nice in primary school but over the last few years, she had changed. She’d always had flawless skin, glossy hair and alluring crystal blue eyes but in the previous couple of years, she had begun to blossom and become tall and shapely, being noticed by the boys. She’d also become pickier and chose only to hang out with the other pretty girls and handsome guys.

Sheep spoke up, ‘Come on, girls. Let’s go down to the river bank.’ He turned away from the two boys and made his way down. Chelsea and her female companions followed. She glanced back to see Pete and Mav tagging along. It seemed they were stuck with them as well.

The river flowed swift and wide and the sparrows twittered in the trees as the wind rustled through the leaves. that combined with the rushing of water and the smell of wildflowers made for a tranquil scene. Beyond the trees was majestic Mount Taranaki, unobscured by even a single cloud. Who could want a more beautiful location to hang out?

A rickety old, narrow, wooden swing bridge stretched across with a danger sign nailed to the entranceway. It was widely known to students as being unsafe to cross but Chelsea had heard boys would use it as a shortcut into town. Someone had nailed barriers up on both sides to deter people from crossing but they never lasted long, as often one or two wooden boards were pried off by potential adventurers.

‘Let’s go across.’ Sheep gave the girls a twisted smile.

‘Rack off,’ Jacqui scoffed. ‘You’re just crazy. Half those planks on the bridge are rotten.’

‘Yah! No worries. There’s plenty of solid support. I’ve been across before. What’s the worst that could happen? We’d end up in the drink. We can all swim, can’t we?’

Jacqui curled her nose up. ‘You may want to get soaked but we don’t. And this may be a boring school uniform I’m wearing but it’s new and I don’t want to get it ruined with river muck.’

Sheep shrugged. ‘Suit yourselves. I’ll go across myself. I’ll bring us back drinks from the shop.’

‘Bring me back a Coke.’

‘Me too,’ Holly added. ‘A proper Coke, you know? Not that other crap.’

‘One for me too, Sheep,’ piped up Pete Cook.

Sheep scowled. ‘Get your own, spaz.’

As much as Chelsea adored Sheep, she had to admit he had a negative side to his personality too. He was popular, like Jacqui but had little time for people he didn’t like. Anyone, he took an instant disliking to, usually had a black mark next to their name and it would take a lot for Sheep to ever consider rubbing out that mark. Pete Cook had that black mark next to his name as long as Chelsea could remember.

She didn’t like the idea of Sheep crossing the swing bridge and didn’t want to be the voice of reason because that was uncool but she couldn’t help herself. ‘Why go to town? Why not go to the dairy down the road?’

‘And go back through the school grounds? Too risky.’

‘Too risky?’ Holly giggled. ‘And you’re crossing that river?’

‘I’d rather take my chances with the river than run into the Reaper.’

Jacqui commented, ‘Yeah, well, Mr Reaper isn’t the type of guy you want to mess with, so I don’t blame you.’

‘You shouldn’t go,’ Chelsea said yet again. ‘It’s too dangerous.’

Sheep just grinned but didn’t reply.

Jacqui frowned at her. ‘Lighten up. He’ll be alright. Just as long as it’s not me who has to go. No way do I want to fall into that sewer.’

Chelsea sighed as Sheep strode towards the bridge. Getting wet was the least of their worries. The current looked strong and she doubted even Sheep would be able to swim against it.

The group followed him to the bridge where he climbed over the wooden barrier using footholds cut by a pocketknife or something similar. On the other side of the barrier, Sheep moved cautiously along, testing each plank and holding both ropes as he went. The bridge swayed a little as he redistributed his weight to firmer positions.

Chelsea straightened. ‘Careful!’

‘No worries,’ returned Sheep from the middle of the bridge.

‘This is crazy,’ Chelsea muttered.

‘Shut up, Chelsea.’ Jacqui scowled. ‘Just lighten up, will you? Experience a bit of excitement for once.’

Excitement was one thing to Chelsea but danger another. Nevertheless, to say that to Jacqui would be an unwise move.

The old swing bridge creaked underneath his weight. Sheep reached the halfway mark and Chelsea’s heart stopped when a piece of rotting plank gave way beneath his foot. Fortunately, he held himself up using the ropes and looked back across at them with a smile. He continued onward and safely reached the other side, jumped off the edge of the swing bridge to dry ground, delivered a brief wave and jogged off across the field towards more bush.

‘Phew,’ Holly breathed. ‘That was close.’

Pete shook his head. ‘Idiot.’

Jacqui delivered him a dirty look. ‘Rack off, Cook.’

‘Why should I?’

‘Because I said so!’

Pete sat on the bank. ‘I’ll give it some thought, shall I?’

Mav sat with him.

‘Butthead,’ Jacqui said, then turned back to Chelsea and Holly. ‘Sheep will be gone for about fifteen minutes. We might as well just stay here and wait.’ However, she didn’t sit near Pete; she walked a bit further down the river. Chelsea and Holly joined her and they sat on the bank for a few minutes - watching the river meander by.

Chelsea attempted to make conversation. ‘It’s weird having so many new faces this year.’

Jacqui plucked a few daisies from the grass. ‘Well, what do you expect? We have about 150 of them from Akato College.’

‘It’s a pity they had to close that high school down.’

‘Not enough of us there,’ said Holly, taking a swipe at a fly that insisted on landing on her bare leg. ‘For ages, Dad has been saying it was going to merge with Te Arawa. He said it was inevitable. He was right. My gosh, I hate having to say my dad was right. that’s just wrong.’

The three of them laughed.

‘At least there’s a heap of cute new guys.’ Chelsea glanced at Jacqui expecting to get an agreement.

Jacqui raised an eyebrow at her. ‘You are kidding, aren’t you? I’ve seen more talent at the zoo. I think Te Arawa College has got a real raw deal out of this.’ She plucked another daisy out of the grass.

‘Gee, thanks.’ Holly smirked. ‘Nice to know what you really think of us guys from Akato.’

‘Hey, I wasn’t including you in that statement. Just losers like that friend of yours over there.’ She glanced across towards Pete and Mav.

‘Mav? He’s okay.’

‘Not if he hangs out with Pete Cook.’

Holly snickered. ‘Well if he’s a big a geek as you say he is, then no doubt Mav will soon figure that out and decide he can’t be bothered with him.’

‘Huh! Seems to me they’re two of a kind. I’m betting they’ll become great mates.’

Holly shrugged and said nothing more.

Several minutes passed before Sheep arrived at the other side of the river. In his hand, he held a plastic bag containing the drinks. He squeezed through a gap in the barrier and looped his arm through the handle of the plastic bag.

The girls rose to their feet in anticipation of another nail-biting crossing. It was a little more difficult for him to get across with extra weight on one arm. For one thing, his balance wasn’t so good and it caused the bridge to swing a lot more than before.

The girls watched wide-eyed. Even Jacqui didn’t look so cocky and flinched several times when Sheep struggled to remain upright on the bridge. He reached the halfway mark and strained to keep steady. The planks groaned with the pressure as he tried to keep himself straight.

‘Come on Sheep, you can do it!’ Holly called out. Just as her words came out, his whole body lurched to the side. The plank below his feet gave way. The girls shrieked and Sheep cried out in horror as he toppled over the edge and into the water with an almighty splash.

‘Oh, good lord!’ Chelsea shrieked.

Within seconds, he surfaced, but no longer held the plastic bag. It had sunk below the surface. It wasn’t until then they noticed how far Sheep had drifted. The current had quickly taken him several metres downstream.

Jacqui moved off along the bank after him. Chelsea and Holly quickly followed with Mav and Pete just behind. Sheep struggled to swim to shore but no sooner had he neared the bank when an eddy grabbed him and pulled him back out again.

‘Come on, Sheep, swim!’ Jacqui shouted as she ran along the bank. ‘You can make it!’

With renewed vigour, Sheep put all he could into the strokes but the current was too strong. Sheep grabbed hold of an overhanging willow branch, part of a larger tree that hung low over the river. For a moment, it looked as though he was going to hang on but much to Chelsea’s horror the smaller branch broke away and he disappeared underneath.

‘Sheep!’ Chelsea and the girls rushed towards the willow looking frantically for any sign of him.

Mav joined them at the riverbank. ‘Perhaps he’ll come out the other side.’

‘Sheep!’ Jacqui cried out.

All they could hear was rushing water.

Chelsea dreaded that he had been dragged under by the current because she couldn’t see him anywhere.

‘Maybe he’s been caught by a root or something?’ said Pete.

Chelsea’s blood ran cold and by the terrified look on her girlfriends’ faces. Then came a sharp cry of pain from within the willow’s leaves and branches. Chelsea breathed a sigh of relief as Sheep’s head finally appeared.

‘Bloody blackberry!’

He hauled himself out covered in scratches.

‘Sheep!’ the girls chimed in and moved towards him.

Pete attempted to give Sheep a hand to climb up onto the bank but Sheep pushed his hands aside with a grunt and climbed up himself. He had a sour look on his face and held up his hands with a sigh of frustration, ‘I’ve lost our drinks.’

Chelsea simply felt relieved he was fine and joined the other girls in their giggles at the dishevelled state he was in.

‘We’re just glad you’re okay,’ Holly said.

As they trudged back in the direction of the school grounds, Sheep grumbled as he attempted to wring water from the corner of his uniform shirt. ‘I can’t go back to school looking like this. I might have to hang out back here until school finishes.’

‘At least you’re okay,’ Chelsea commented. ‘You could have drowned back there.’

Sheep smiled at her and his eyes met hers for a few moments before speaking again. ‘Nothing like a refreshing dip though. It’s flaming hot, I was about to jump in any way.’

A man’s voice echoed through the trees, causing them to jump sky-high. ‘It looks as though you already have.’

The deputy principal, Mr Reaper, stepped out from the trees and he looked ready to strike them down with an imagery sickle.

CHAPTER 2:

Facing the Music

Holly Robinson sat on a bench outside the senior mistress’s office alongside Jacqui Donaldson. Skipping class was not a foreign thing to her as she’d done it many times, however, this was the first time she’d ever had the opportunity to do it with her oldest friend Jacqui. What a pity they had been caught so easily. Where had they gone wrong? Had someone seen them after all, or did the Reaper often make visits to the back fields to catch out wayward students?

‘It’s just so sexist,’ said Jacqui, glaring at her with her angry crystal blue eyes. ‘The boys, they end up at the Reaper’s office and we end up with Mrs Groucher?’

Holly snickered. ‘Groucher? That’s her name?’

‘It’s Mrs Towcher but we call her that because… oh, you can figure it out. It’s still sexist though. I guess the old tart would have nothing to do if they didn’t pass us girls on to her to deal with. She’d most likely be sitting around knitting or getting on the Internet and complaining about how terrible the world is today. Although I can’t imagine her being able to work out how to use the Internet. She’d be like my grandmother. Can’t even figure out how to operate her TV set and use streaming services.’

Holly admired her friend’s wit and sarcasm. She’s always looked up to Jacqui ever since they were little because she always seemed to know about everything. Sometimes she’d lead them both into trouble but it never mattered as far as Holly was concerned. Jacqui was everything she wanted to be… beautiful, desirable and someone you didn’t want to mess with.

Holly drummed her fingers on her bare knee. ‘Maybe the Reaper was - you know - too busy to deal with us all. Or maybe they deliberately kept us separate so we couldn’t work together to come up with a story as to why we were back there.’

Jacqui nodded. ‘You’re probably right. Oh God, what are the boys gonna say? I bet that dork Pete Cook will just make up some stupid story that the Reaper will never believe which will just get us into even more trouble.’

Holly sighed. ‘We might just have to – you know - come out and tell them we were just skipping class for fun.’

Jacqui snorted. ‘You mean tell the truth? Oh, my god, are you being square like Chelsea or something?’

Holly recoiled. She didn’t want Jacqui to think she was square. ‘Of course not. Hell no. But what are we gonna say? We were there on a nature study or something?’

‘Mmmmm, not a bad idea.’

‘Right. And you really think Sheep is gonna come up with that same excuse? Or even Chelsea who’s in there with Mrs Groucher as we speak?’

Jacqui folded her arms with a huff. ‘Oh, God, you’re right. That geek, Chelsea is gonna be spilling the beans and probably blaming it on us.’

Holly