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    Trouble at TAC
    Trouble at TAC
    Trouble at TAC
    Ebook243 pages3 hours

    Trouble at TAC

    By Richard Pinkerton

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    About this ebook

    Fascist, Mr Upton, has declared war on Rex Cassidy and will not stop until he has him expelled and will use underhanded tactics to do it.

    Tucker Pyles is being forced by his mother to do a part-time job to help support the family, and he hates it. However, his new alliance with a new boy at school may assist him, once again, to become kingpin at Te Arawa College.

    A new darling arrives at the school. But what is her deep dark secret?

    Holly Robinson has been sick an awful lot lately. What is really wrong? Chelsea Brown is determined to find out.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRichard Pinkerton
    Release dateOct 30, 2016
    ISBN9781370471454
    Trouble at TAC
    Author

    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.

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      Book preview

      Trouble at TAC - Richard Pinkerton

      Trouble at TAC

      (Book 3 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

      Vera Gordon

      Katherine Lato

      To Colin

      As tough as Hew. At least on the inside.

      CHAPTER 1:

      Guilty by Association

      Forty-five-year-old, Mr Francis Upton strode up the hallway in the direction of the staff room, his head held high, and smiled on the inside as students moved out of his way.

      That was how it should be.

      Although still quite new at Te Arawa College, he had already gained a reputation as a man not to be messed with. He brimmed with pride because of that and loved the way he instilled fear into the students.

      His pleasure turned to displeasure as a very obese student slowed his way forward. The student concerned, ambled along the hallway like a drunk elephant, seemingly oblivious to the fact that someone needed to get past him. Upton attempted to veer around him, but a long line of students came from the other direction. He didn’t want to get trampled so stepped back in line behind the fatty.

      Upton grunted loudly when the large out-of-shape student came to a halt, nearly causing him to run into his wide back. The student dug around in his school bag.

      ‘Tucker Pyles!’

      The fatty nearly leapt into the air and spun around to face him.

      Upton felt a smug sense of satisfaction at having given the student a shock. ‘Are you unaware you are obstructing traffic in this hallway? Making people behind you have to stop. Do you not think to make sure you are out of the way before you go rummaging around in your bag? If you were driving an automobile, young Tucker, you would have caused a serious accident. You were already slowing down the traffic as it was.’

      The tubby face of Tucker Pyles, a year-11 student, stared blankly. ‘I… I don’t own an automobile.’

      Upton let out a frustrated sigh. ‘Of course, you don’t own an automobile, you silly boy. No one in their right mind would ever let you drive one. Not only that but you are only fifteen years old.’

      ‘Sixteen.’

      ‘Sixteen? All right, sixteen then. I certainly hope you never do own a car as you would be a total menace on the road. It’s just as well this is a school corridor but you need to realise that at this time of the morning, it is very busy and people are trying to get places. Also, due to the rain outside, there are more people here than usual. Do I need to put you in detention so you can learn a little bit more about consideration for others? Well… do I?’

      ‘No, sir!’

      Upton grunted as a student pushed past him. Others moved past as well, peering at him through narrow eyes. Where had they all come from? He had no idea but they were building up behind him.

      ‘See? Look at what you’ve done. Now we have a whole lot of people trying to get by, all because you had to stop in the middle of a busy corridor and rummage around in your bag. What is so important that you need it right now?’

      Tucker pulled out a sandwich. ‘Just this.’

      ‘Couldn’t you wait until you got outside like everyone else?’

      ‘But it’s raining out there.’

      ‘There are plenty of shelters outside.’

      ‘I needed it now. I would have eaten it in Woodwork but we’re not allowed to eat in class.’

      ‘So, you block off almost the entire width of the corridor because you have no self-control? For goodness bloody sake, you are unbelievable. Go on, get out of here, you silly boy, and next time be a little more aware and considerate of those around you, otherwise, you will find yourself in detention.’

      Mr Upton went to move around him when another student, coming from behind, knocked into him. It was a female student and she stumbled back, hit the wall on the other side, and nearly collided with another student coming in the opposite direction. She landed on her bottom.

      Upton let out a gasp. ‘Where the heck did you come from?’ He bent to check on her as she sat on the floor nursing her shoulder. It was another year-11 student, a blue-eyed blonde girl by the name of Chelsea Brown. ‘For goodness bloody sake girl, why don’t you watch where you’re going?’ He helped her to her feet. ‘What do you think this is? A playground? You don’t go bowling into people like that’

      ‘I was trying to get around you. You were blocking the corridor. And then you veered out in front of me.’

      Upton narrowed his eyes. ‘Oh, so you are going to blame me for your clumsiness?’

      ‘I…’ Chelsea stared at him with indignation in her eyes. ‘You walked out in front of me.’

      ‘Nonsense! You were simply in too much of a hurry to get where you were going. Mmmm, no doubt to spend time with your dubious friends. You really should be choosier about who you spend your time with.’

      He pictured some of her friends in his mind. Some of them were real troublemakers. One of them was the biggest menace in the entire school. Rex Cassidy. Troublemakers, and those they hung out with, were right on his radar. They all had to be dealt with. After all that had happened at his previous school, he knew first-hand the importance of dealing with those types.

      ‘I mean it, young Chelsea. If you want to get somewhere in this world, the company you keep can be a major factor. You’ll get nowhere if you get in with the wrong crowd.’

      ‘I’m sorry, Mr Upton, but I consider my crowd the right crowd and I like them.’

      Mr Upton huffed but allowed her to continue on her way. He shook his head, straightened his tie and patted down the jacket of his navy-blue suit before continuing to the staffroom. Once there, he made himself a coffee in the kitchen area and was in time to hear another staff member complaining about the student he was just thinking about.

      ‘That Rex…’ said Mrs Tantic, a fellow maths teacher who was nowhere near as good as he of course. To him, she seemed rather incompetent. ‘I can’t believe the way he behaves. Always late to class… cheeky… and always fooling around with the girls. I don’t understand how he can get away with it.’

      ‘What? The cheekiness or the fooling around?’ asked Mrs Whiterow, a geography teacher.

      Mrs Tantic held a cup of coffee near her lips. ‘All of it. But the fooling around with the girls is the most dumbfounding. They love the attention they get from him and I’ve yet to see one reject him.’ She drank from her cup.

      Mrs Whiterow dunked a biscuit into her cup of tea. ‘He certainly is the charmer. I’m sure if I were their age I’d be besotted with him too.’

      Upton scowled. Charming? What nonsense. Cassidy was nothing but a delinquent. He’d had his fair share of problems with the lad. He’d almost come to the end of his rope with the boy. It seemed nothing he ever did made a difference.

      ‘Is he so bad though?’ asked Miss Brannigan, one of the school’s office ladies. She was an extremely attractive brunette in her early to mid-20s. In his past dealings with her, Upton had found her incompetent and rude. For some reason, she had taken an instant disliking to him and seemed to enjoy making things difficult for him. ‘Every time I see him, he’s so sweet.’

      Mrs Whiterow laughed. ‘Oh yes. And you know why that is, don’t you? A teenaged boy is hardly going to give someone as young and beautiful as you any trouble. Rex is going to lay on the charm. I know for a fact that a lot of the boys fancy you, Miss Brannigan.’

      ‘Yeah, I know. I’m forever having to shoo them away from the office.’

      Mrs Tantic spoke again. ‘It’s all very well for you two but you don’t have to teach him. I do. He always has some wisecrack and sometimes disrupts the class. He thinks it’s a great joke and so do the other students but it’s not funny when I’m the one suffering the brunt of his shenanigans.’

      Mr Upton had heard enough. He strutted across the floor and sat with them at their table. He normally sat on his own in the lounge area but desired to have his say. Both Mrs Tantic and Mrs Whiterow smiled but Miss Brannigan barely acknowledged him.

      ‘I too have had more than enough of young Cassidy’s shenanigans.’

      Miss Brannigan snorted. ‘Yeah, I know. You’re forever complaining about him at the office.’

      ‘The boy goes too far. He’s always going too far. And the rest of the student body encourages him, especially the females. Ladies, there’s only one way we can deal with this boy because nothing else is working. We have to have him removed from this school.’

      Miss Brannigan gasped. ‘No way! Why? There are way worse kids in this school than Rex.’

      ‘Huh! I’ve never had as much trouble with any student as I have with him… except for perhaps that Bodine boy. But thanks to me, he’s been expelled for his rotten behaviour. We need to do the same with Rex Cassidy. It’s the only way.’

      ‘Jeff Bodine’s behaviour was malicious,’ Miss Brannigan said. ‘His treatment of staff was downright abusive at times. Rex, although he can be cheeky, wants to entertain his fellow students—’

      ‘At the teacher’s expense!’

      ‘Not necessarily. He usually has a valid point to make and even when he doesn’t, it’s all in good fun. There is nothing malicious about Rex.’

      ‘That is your opinion.’

      ‘He stands up to bullies for those who can’t. He’s always willing to help other students in need. I think he’s a darling. ’

      ‘You would.’

      Miss Brannigan’s eyes narrowed. ‘What do you mean by that?’

      Upton snickered. ‘He’s only a few years younger than you. It’s no wonder you like him so much.’

      ‘Now, now,’ Mrs Whiterow said as Miss Brannigan’s face darkened and her green eyes blazed. ‘Let’s not get personal here. And Miss Brannigan is right. Sure, Rex sometimes does cross the line but he’s a great kid.’

      ‘Come now,’ Upton said, tiring of the wishy-washy attitude of his fellow staff members. ‘We need to take a hard line here. None of the other methods we’ve used has worked with this boy. And the man who’s supposed to be in charge of keeping that student in line sure isn’t doing anything.’

      ‘I wouldn’t say that,’ Mrs Whiterow said. ‘Mr Harris has been spending time with Rex.’

      ‘Socialising from what I understand. For some reason, he likes the kid and sees nothing wrong with his behaviour. We need someone else to take control of him.’

      ‘Who?’ Miss Brannigan said sarcastically. ‘You?’

      Upton puffed out his chest. ‘I would sort him out, I’ll tell you that much...’ It was his job to sort out wayward students. At his previous school, he’d let one such delinquent get away with his behaviour and it resulted in major humiliation for him. That could never happen again. ‘I’d sort him out good and proper.’

      A male voice with an English accent spoke from behind. ‘You sort him out? Huh! You’re dreaming.’

      Mr Upton nearly leapt out of his chair. He swung around to glare at the teacher who stood behind him. He was a tall, skinny man with a goatee, dressed in Khaki pants and black boots. He wore a green T-shirt and his hair was unkempt. He held a coffee cup with a dark liquid in it. A scowl crossed the Englishman’s lips. It was Mr Harris, the head of the PE department.

      Harris spoke before Upton could. ‘Why don’t you get off your high horse? If you knew how to handle Rex Cassidy, you wouldn’t be having the problems you’re having. If you seriously think you can do a better job than me, then you’re seriously deluding yourself.’

      Upton found the wild-eyed PE teacher rather intimidating but he refused to let on that to his fellow staff. ‘So, what are you doing? Cassidy refuses to attend detentions and he continues with his behaviour, flaunting the school rules but you do nothing about it.’

      ‘When he steps over the line, Uppity, I’ll do something about it. It’s as simple as that.’

      Mr Upton glared at the PE teacher’s angry eyes. Fancy calling him names. He was almost as bad as his students, the way he mocked him and disrespected him. How Mr Harris had ever become a teacher at Te Arawa College was a mystery, let alone the head of a department. The man was a terror, especially the way he treated his students.

      It irked Upton that Mr Harris never had anything nice to say about Upton himself - a far superior teacher than anything Harris could ever be.

      ‘That’s it,’ Upton snarled. ‘There you go, sticking up for him. He has stepped over the line time and time again but you are unwilling to acknowledge it. Because that boy is the top sportsman in the school, you have some crazy idea he should be given special treatment. As if athletic prowess was the most important thing for a student.’

      Sports was a complete waste of time. School was about academia. Kids had plenty of time to run around and play sports outside of school hours. Why should the school waste time funding things like sports and athletics when literacy and numeracy skills were lacking so badly in society?

      Mr Harris delivered Upton an evil glare. ‘The only person who thinks they deserve special treatment around here is you, you great pillock. Gordon Bennett, I’ve never heard as much whining and whinging as comes out of your mouth.’

      ‘How dare you? I will be talking to Mr Andrews about your disrespectful attitude. I should not have to put up with this. We should be supporting each other, not some delinquent teenager.’

      ‘Oh, shut your mouth, you snivelling--’

      ‘Alright, alright, enough.’ Mrs Whiterow intervened. ‘You two are letting your tempers get the better of you. I think this conversation should end now before it gets out of control.’

      Mr Harris simmered down. ‘Right, you are, Mrs Whiterow. I apologise ladies.’

      The bell rang for the second period of the morning.

      ‘However, you sir…’ Harris eyed Upton. ‘Will get no such apology out of me.’

      Upton snorted. ‘Well, the feeling’s mutual.’ He quickly finished his coffee and headed off to his first class of the day.

      Minutes later, he stood in front of his classroom of students and computers and his temper once again rose. One student had not yet arrived. ‘Where the deuce is Rex Cassidy?’

      All the students remained silent. There was not a murmur, nor even a rustle of paper. Not even a cough or someone clearing their throat. Mr Upton was happy with that.

      At last, they had learnt.

      Nobody dared speak in his class without first raising their hand or being asked a question. Well, everyone except for that Cassidy delinquent. He was the only one who thought it was okay to defy him - to break the rules he set. This time around it was being late to class. Right now, he was at least five minutes late.

      He thought back to his previous school to the delinquent whose behaviour he’d overlooked. That bully who had made the life of one of his students a misery, so much so, that the student committed suicide. It was that incident that made Upton determine he would never again give a student an inch. Not even a millimetre.

      ‘Well? Does anyone know where he is?’ he said loudly, glaring at his students. They all sat there at their computers staring blankly at him.

      Even Rick Maverick was silent. Mr Upton had previously had trouble with that boy in the past too. Very disrespectful. At least now he toed the line but he had a black mark next to his name because he was good friends with Rex.

      Guilty by association.

      ‘Maverick! What about you? You’re his friend. Do you know where he is?’

      ‘No idea, Mr Upton.’ An innocent expression appeared on his ruggedly handsome face. He didn’t look like a troublemaker. He was a cheerful, friendly teen, tall but of average build, witty, bright but certainly no genius. In any other circumstance, he’d probably be a good student but the lad lacked respect for his betters.

      ‘You better not be lying to me, lad.’

      Maverick’s expression didn’t change.

      Go on, say something, Mr Upton willed the boy in his mind. Make one smart comment so I can put you in detention.

      He did not like this boy. He hadn’t liked the boy who had been bullied at his old school either. That kid was a whining little upstart who complained about everything, so it was only natural that Upton should stand back and allow him to be bullied. However,

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