Chelsea didn't look forward to going home that day, because of what her parents would say to her about skipping class. It was hard enough as it was, sitting in the senior mistress’s office. She had never been in there before and it was not an experience she cared to repeat. Nevertheless, that was nothing compared to how her parents would react.
She sat with her friends in Maths class, waiting for the teacher to arrive. She said nothing to them. Holly and Jacqui didn’t seem at all concerned and were talking happily with some of the other girls.
Sheep arrived and sat down at a desk beside her. ‘Hi, Chelsea.’
Chelsea felt a thrill course through her. ‘Hi, Rog.’ It was so unusual for him to even look at her, let alone talk to her. Perhaps having cut class this morning would have some benefit after all, in that it had finally got Sheep to notice her.
‘What you doing after school?’
‘Well…’ she said. ‘I guess I’m going home to get an ear blasting from my parents and will probably be grounded for life.’
Sheep chuckled. ‘Yeah, I know that feeling. I’m kind of wanting to avoid going home tonight myself. My Dad is gonna kill me. Hey, I know, how about we hang out for a bit after school. Delay the agony for as long as possible.’
Chelsea nearly fell out of her chair. Had she really heard him properly? Was he really wanting to spend time with her? It just seemed too good to be true. ‘Sure!’ she gushed. ‘I’d love to.’
‘Neat. I’ll catch up with you at 3:30 then, huh? We can go down to the domain or some place.’
‘That would be good. Just no rivers ok?’
‘Ha ha ha ha ha. You can count on that.’ His face screwed up as someone entered the room. ‘Oh no, not that fat spaz.’
Chelsea couldn’t help but stare when Tucker Pyles entered the room. He was massive, not to mention ugly with his fat cheeks, double chin and beady little grey eyes.
Jacqui snickered. ‘Who’s that fat moron?’
‘He’s grotesque.’ Holly screwed up her face. ‘I can’t believe someone would let themselves get like that. Ewwww.’
Tucker strolled to a desk and sat down. Chelsea was amazed he didn’t crush the chair.
The teacher entered the room a few seconds later. Her name was Mrs Tantic from Akato College. She was a friendly looking lady, but she didn’t fill Chelsea with of a sense of confidence. She appeared soft and when she spoke, she spoke in a strained sort of a voice. ‘Hello class, my name’s Mrs Tantic...’
‘Mrs Titanic!’ Pete Cook called out from down the back of the class.
There was laughter from the other students. Even Jacqui seemed amused, so Chelsea put on a laugh for her benefit.
Mrs Tantic ignored the comment. ‘I’m not going to do too much teaching today...’
‘Thank God for that, I hear you say,’ Pete called out again.
She cleared her throat and gave Pete a dirty look. ‘But over the next week we will be learning about...’
‘The Titanic disaster!’
Mrs Tantic delivered Pete an evil glare this time. ‘Look you. I’m not going to have you interrupting me every time I talk, do you understand?’
‘Yes Mrs Titanic.’
‘The name is Tantic! Please do not interrupt again.’
‘Yeah, shut up, Cook!’ Jacqui said, much to Chelsea’s surprise. It wasn’t like her to stand up for a teacher. ‘We’re here to learn, not listen to your pathetic jokes.’
‘Thank you.’ Miss Tantic seemed pleased to have an ally.
The fat guy, Tucker, made the next comment and directed it at Jacqui. ‘Who do you think you are, the Prime Minister? Why don’t you shut up?’
Jacqui shot him a glare. ‘Why don’t YOU go on a diet?’
Tucker’s eyes narrowed. ‘Watch it you cow, or you’ll be sorry!’
‘Oh, you’d hit a girl would you?’
‘If you get smart to me, I will!’
‘What a creep!’
‘That’s enough!’ Mrs Tantic snapped. ‘I’m not going to have you threatening people in my class young man, especially not girls.’
Tucker scowled. He glared across at Jacqui and hissed, ‘We’ll finish this later.’
Chelsea tensed up. She didn’t like confrontations and even ones involving other people made her nervous.
‘Fat git!’
All heads spun around to the boy who had uttered the insult. There was stone silence for a moment. Chelsea couldn’t believe that someone was willing to cause further conflict, especially against the likes of Tucker. The fat newcomer rose to his feet, his face flushing. He clenched his fists by his side and looked directly at the offender. ‘What did you say ubbhead?’
Wal rose to his feet. ‘I said... Fat git!’
Chelsea sighed. Of course, it had to be Wal. He was known for getting in the face of people like Tucker. He liked a good fight, all though he only picked fights with people who irritated him. Tucker seemed like he would be an expert at irritating people.
Mrs Tantic moved forward quickly. ‘Sit down boys!’ She moved in between them. ‘There will be no fighting here in this class. Either you both sit down, or you’ll be at the principal’s office quick smart!’
‘Yeah, sit down, Will!’ Jacqui snapped, rolling her eyes. ‘He’s a wimp! Only wimps would threaten girls.’
Wal continued to glare at Tucker for a moment longer then returned to his seat. Tucker did the same.
‘Ridiculous behaviour!’ Mrs Tantic muttered. ‘I can’t believe that such things could happen in my class, I really can’t…’
Tucker glared across at Wal, his eyes full of venom. He then turned and peered in the direction of Chelsea and her friend, Jacqui in particular. Jacqui ignored him. Tucker’s eyes then turned to Chelsea herself and he delivered her a deep scowl instead. A chill ran down Chelsea’s spine and she quickly turned her head away. She prayed that this boy would not go through with his threats on Jacqui. The last thing she wanted was to be caught in the middle of it all.
Fortunately, no further incidents occurred. When the last period of the day finished, Chelsea could hardly breathe at the thought of meeting up with Sheep. She felt certain Sheep was gonna cancel on her, but was delighted when he turned up at the locker blocks as she collected her school bag.
‘You all set?’ he asked.
‘You bet!’
‘Come on then. Let’s go for a walk.’
She expected him to lead her in the direction of the town Domain, but instead he headed in another direction. ‘Where are we going?’
‘Oh nowhere in particular.’
‘I thought we were going to the Domain.’
‘Nah, too many people there at this time of the year. Soon it’ll be full of primary school kids at the pool. We won’t get any privacy.’
Now Chelsea became even more nervous. Privacy? Just what did he have in mind? As much as she’d fantasized about being alone with Sheep, she didn’t know whether she was ready for that step yet. She first wanted to spend time with him as a friend so that they could get to know each other better. She didn’t argue though. ‘Ok.’
They headed in the direction of town cemetery, which made her feel a little better. There was surely not much chance that they’d do anything there in the middle of a graveyard.
‘You know,’ said Sheep as they walked. ‘I never picked you as the type of chick Jacqui Donaldson would ever hang out with. You always seemed kind of… err…’ He words trailed off as if he were ashamed to say it. ‘
‘Nerdy?’
Sheep laughed. ‘Well yeah. With those glasses of yours and the fact, you’re always reading and doing school work in your lunch breaks… Not really the type that Jacqui hangs out with.’
‘I’m trying to change that,’ Chelsea said honestly. ‘I began to realise I’m missing out on all the fun.’
Sheep turned his head to her as they walked and he smiled. ‘That’s good to hear. I guess Jacqui has figured that one out too. Just a pity about your geeky glasses and hair though. Y
ou should do something about those.’
Chelsea tried not to let his negative comments bother her. After all, he was a teenaged boy and like many, they didn’t think that their words might be taken badly. ‘I do have contact lenses… but the thought of using them freaks me out.’
‘You should talk to Jacqui and Holly. Have them do a makeover on you. I’m sure they can make you a hundred times more attractive.’ He smiled at her as if he’d just paid her a compliment.
‘Errr… maybe.’
‘Seriously. I mean you have a nice figure. You just need to do a little work on your face and hair that’s all. You’d be great, I reckon.’
Chelsea didn’t reply that time. They entered the cemetery grounds and Sheep led her to a bush out the back. She became more nervous as they neared it. There was nobody around so it seemed like the perfect place if you wanted to make out. Chelsea wasn’t even sure whether she was bold enough to do that though. ‘Are we going in there?’
‘Yeah, it’s nice in there. And private. We can be alone.’
Chelsea’s heart beat faster. They entered the trees and went deeper in. A gentle breeze rustled through the leaves of the trees and the air was alive with the chirping of birds. It would have been lovely if she wasn’t so damn nervous.
Sheep then sat down on fallen log and opened up his bag. Chelsea anxiously sat down beside him. He rummaged around inside. ‘Nice here, huh?’
‘Yeah, it is.’
He pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Chelsea was surprised to see them. She had no idea that Sheep smoked. ‘Want one?’ He offered her an open pack.
‘Ummm, no thanks. I don’t smoke.’
‘Pity. It would make you cooler.’
Chelsea didn’t argue. She didn’t believe that at all and thought cigarettes were disgusting, but definitely didn’t want to put Sheep off spending time with her.
‘You sure you don’t want one?’ he offered again.
‘No, thanks. Really.’
‘Yah, gee, Chels. And I thought you were trying to be cool.’
‘Does Jacqui smoke?’
‘Nah, she’s paranoid it will ruin her gorgeous looks. That’s what she says anyway.’
‘Well…’ Chelsea said. ‘Perhaps that’s the reason I don’t smoke? Because I don’t want to ruin my looks.’
Sheep snickered. ‘Says the girl who wears nerdy glasses.’
Chelsea felt a little stab of pain at his attitude, but remained strong. She didn’t want him to think she was a whiny little girl who couldn’t handle a bit of ridicule. Despite his words and despite the cigarette that now drooped from his mouth, he was still just as desirable in her mind. She could surely handle the cigarette smoking and if she really did consider changing her look, then he would have nothing to complain about.
They sat there for a few minutes as Sheep puffed on his cigarette. They talked about trivial things and stuff that was happening at school. They talked about Tucker Pyles and how he was trying to intimidate people.
‘He doesn’t intimidate me though,’ Sheep said. ‘I mean look at the guy. He’s all blubber, isn’t he?’
‘Well he is one big guy,’ Chelsea said. ‘With all that weight behind him, I’m sure he could pack a punch. And I think he has some muscle under all that fat.’
Sheep didn’t argue. He squished out his cigarette and turned to her. ‘You know, Chels, I never thought I’d ever see the day where you and I would be alone like this in a bush. It’s funny how things change. It’s funny how you notice things about someone that you never noticed before.’
Chelsea was curious. ‘Like what?’
‘Mmmm.’ Sheep smiled and looked down at her developing bust. She had the top button of her blue uniform shirt undone and had some cleavage showing.
Chelsea squirmed a little.
‘You really do have a nice figure, Chels. I guess it’s only been over the last couple of years that I’ve started to notice.’ Before she could reply, he moved closer to her and began to put his arm around her. ‘You know… now that we’ve finally got a chance to get to know each other, I think I’d like to get to know you more.’
Chelsea felt herself tense up. His face was close to hers now and she could smell the overpowering stench of tobacco on his breath. She really wanted to pull away, but at the same time, she didn’t want to discourage him. She’d always wanted him to kiss her and here they were in the perfect situation for it.
His lips connected with hers and he began to kiss her. The smell of tobacco though was just too overwhelming for her and she had to pull back after a few seconds to breathe. She did her best to pretend she wasn’t bothered by it.
‘You ok?’
‘Y… yes… I’m ok.’
‘Then just relax.’ He began to kiss her again and his hand stroked her right breast. She was so scared now that she couldn’t even kiss back. She couldn’t believe this was happening, but the terror insider her was so much, it had completely killed any enjoyment she might had by it, especially with his foul cigarette breath.
He squeezed hard on her breast and it actually hurt her a little.
She pulled away and this time couldn’t regain her composure. ‘I’m sorry.’ She rose to her feet.
‘What? Hey, Chels, don’t’ go!’
‘I… I’m sorry. I can’t do this. It’s… it’s… I’m so sorry.’
With that, she hurried away.
CHAPTER 5:
The Boy Who Should Be Expelled