Dead End High

‘Can you believe Miss Crazy?’ Adam walked with his pals to the next class of the day. ‘She’s one strange woman. Did you see the way she was looking at me all through class?’

‘You really think so?’ Scott appeared sceptical. ‘You sure it’s not a little paranoia setting in there, dude?’

‘I’m sure of it.’

Scott chuckled. ’Chill, dude. I think you’re getting a little carried away. As my grandfather always says - you can convince yourself of anything if you want to believe it badly enough. It’s called Blind Faith.’ He winked.

‘As if she’d be interested in a teenager!’ Darren scoffed.

‘Get real, dude.’

‘Miss Casey seems pretty gnarly to me,’ Darren said. ‘I just drew doodles in my English book all period instead of reading and she didn’t give a shit.’ He looked off into the distance for a few seconds. ‘Mmmmm. You know, I’m not sure that’s such a good thing really…’

At lunchtime, Adam kept his promise and provided the entire school with lunch in the main auditorium. It was a magnificent spread with cakes, pastries, pizza, club sandwiches, everything a student could possibly ask for with no expense spared. A few teachers were there to keep order, but most of them were absent, including Miss Crazy.

Drake and Daisy stepped up, each holding a glass of Coke.

‘Quite a shout you’ve put on, Adam.’ Drake lifted his glass in the air as if making a toast.

‘This is great.’ Daisy took a swig from her glass. ‘You really were telling the truth. That is so cool! You must be rapt!’

Adam smiled. ‘It’s great alright.’ Her friendly, cheerful manner warmed him.

‘You’ll have to let us come visit your new house sometime.’

Wow. Was Daisy asking to come round to see his place? That was something he never thought would happen in a million years. ‘Sure! Perhaps after school some time.’

‘Great!’ She moved away with Drake.

‘Well, dude…’ Scott took the last slice of chocolate cake. ‘Looks like you’ve become Mr Popularity. Even Daisy seems to like you now, man.’

‘Give me a break!’ Jack stepped up giving them each dirty looks. ‘What would she see in a loser like you, Braddock? Even money wouldn’t make you attractive. Then again, she is a gold digger, so you never kn…’

‘She is not!’ Adam clenched his fists.

Mr Vennie entered the building, walked up onto the stage and switched on the microphone. His face appeared contorted and he didn’t look his usual cheery self.

The hall fell silent.

‘Students.’ His voice rang throughout. ‘I’m afraid I have some disturbing news.’

The students murmured.

‘As you may be aware, we have had some missing students over the last 24 hours. I’m afraid to say that several more have gone missing. We had some students who did not turn up to school today. Six to be exact. Two more students - Martha Madison and Kurt Hutchings arrived at school today, but did not return to class after interval. I have also just received reports that Ken Williams and Debbie Hockings have also gone missing since last period.’

Ken was in quite a few of Adam’s classes and had been there last period, but now he came to think of it, he hadn’t seen him in the hall for lunch.

Mr Vennie gave a deep breath. ‘I’m afraid that I must enforce a buddy system. Under no circumstances does anyone leave the school grounds without a buddy. Don’t go walking around town on your own, even during the weekend. We shouldn’t jump to any conclusions about what has happened to them, but we need to take care.’

Whispers from the students grew louder and Adam exchanged grim looks with his friends.

‘Now there is no need to get all worried,’ Mr Vennie continued. ‘We just ask that if you are walking home tonight that you do not go alone. Make sure you are with someone. If you can’t do that, then please see a teacher and they will ensure you get home safely. I hope I’ve made myself quite clear.’

The students nodded and murmured in agreement.

‘So far there have been no reports of any suspicious people around town. It may be that there is nothing at all to be alarmed about. But students don’t just disappear, so please be careful. Police are here on site, so please do not be alarmed if any of them wish to speak to you and ask questions. Any information, no matter how insignificant it might seem, may be of use to them.’

He stopped talking for a moment and looked down at the stage. When he looked up again, he had a smile on his face. ’But anyway. The last thing I want to do is bring you all down. It seems you are having a great party here compliments of the Braddock family. But I do want to make one further announcement. This one concerns a lot of you. As you may be aware, I have not been particularly pleased with the quality of work of some of my teachers. One in particular is Mr Ramsey. Actually I should refer to him as Mr Rahahahahamsey, right?’

Some of the students laughed, but most were still in a state of shock from the previous announcement.

‘Ramsey,’ Darren said under his voice. ‘Don’t talk to me about Ramsey.’

Mr Vennie continued. ’Mr Rahahahahamsey has had many complaints laid against him due to his dubious teaching skills and his inability to relate to his students. Because of this, I am happy to announce that Mr… Rahahahahahamsey, is no longer a teacher at this school.’

All the students gasped, including Adam. He disliked Mr Ramsey as much as the next guy, but never expected Mr Vennie to fire him.

’Yes! Mr Ram… Mr Rahahahahahamsey has been fired.’

This time, the murmuring lightened a little and some of the students even smiled.

‘In case you’re wondering who will be replacing him. Well… no one. Because I have decided that from now on, there will no longer be Maths taught in this school. All Maths classes have now been cancelled!’

Gasps echoed throughout the hall. Even some of the mingling teachers looked shocked, their mouths dropping open. Adam couldn’t believe his ears. Was Mr Vennie insane?

‘And no, that doesn’t mean I’m firing every teacher who teaches Maths,’ Mr Vennie declared, addressing the teachers in the back. ‘I will assign other classes for those teachers. In fact, I have several ideas for subjects that I would like to include in the school curriculum. What the hell, I might as well tell you about those now. First off, each day every student will have one period of Video Games classes. The school will be providing gaming machines for every student.’

The students let out cries of delight and high fives to each other. Adam’s mouth dropped even further than before. This had to be some wild dream.

‘These classes are aimed at improving your hand and eye coordination and attention span. The skills you will learn from these games will be invaluable to you later on in life when it comes to learning how to drive cars, flying aircraft and handle firearms. Studies have shown that students who play computer games and take out their frustrations on electronic characters and objects are far less likely to take out their frustrations on real people and items. People are far less likely to commit crimes if they do them in computer games instead. The benefits are endless. And I’m sure you will agree, it will be a very popular subject.’

More cheers came from around the hall and it now seemed that the missing students were the last thing on anybody’s minds.

Adam could almost hear Dora Collins’ voice. ‘What about our intellectual wellbeing? What about the skills and knowledge we’ll need out in the workforce? We’ll all be a bunch of clueless, unemployed losers who are desensitised to violence!’

Adam pushed Dora’s imaginary voice to the back of his mind. She was no longer there, so there was no need to listen to her anymore. What did she know anyway?

‘Last of all,’ Mr Vennie continued, pausing briefly for everyone’s attention. ‘I would like to announce that from now on, school will be starting at 10am as opposed to 9am. That way you can all get an extra hour’s sleep. After all, who can be bothered getting out of bed early just to come to boring old school? Am I right or am I right?’

A chorus of cheers rang throughout the hall, Adam’s cheer possibly the loudest of all. He couldn’t help but think how ironic it was - Mr Vennie saying school was boring, when it now started to look like an exciting, fun place to be. Perhaps getting up early to go to school wasn’t such a bad thing after all?

’This is ridiculous!’

The voice of a female resonated from the back of the hall. A woman stormed towards the front and stopped just below the stage. ‘What sort of a principal are you? You can’t just do things like this!’

For a few seconds, Mr Vennie looked stunned, but finally he spoke. ‘May I ask who you are?’

‘My name is Alice Diamond and I want some answers!’

’Bret’s mother,’ hissed Jack. ‘What does that old slag want?’

‘Well, this is a school, so you’ve come to the right place, but I think we need to take this to my off…’

‘I’m not interested in going to your office. What needs to be said should be said here in front of everyone!’

‘Now there’s no need to caus…’

’Video games classes? What sort of absolute nonsense is that? What educational value could that possibly have? They get enough of that at home!’

‘Not everyone has gaming machines, Mrs Diamond.’ A smile appeared on Mr Vennie’s face.

‘That’s beside the point! At school there are more important things our children need from you.’

Adam couldn’t help but feel amused by her outburst. It was almost as if Dora Collins had returned in a woman’s body.

‘You can’t cancel Maths classes!’ she continued. ‘You can’t tell me that playing video games has more value than Maths.’

‘Come now Mrs Diamond, everybody hates Maths.’ His smile remained.

’That’s beside the point!’

‘That’s exactly the point! Do you realise how many teenagers leave school with inadequate Maths skills?’ Vennie asked. ‘The school doesn’t teach those skills properly. So why bother having the classes?’

Mrs Diamond looked dumbfounded. ’What? How can you say that?’

‘It’s true! Just look at the statistics.’

’What, so we make things worse, by cancelling Maths classes altogether?’

‘Mrs Diamond, the primary school system teaches basic Mathematics, the skills one needs for everyday life. Anything more can be learnt later in tertiary education for specific industry. Why fill our students’ heads with mumbo jumbo most of them will never need to know?’

’You’re an idiot!’

Mr Vennie looked at her for a few seconds, an amused look in his eyes. ‘Mrs Diamond, I am the school principal. I was not assigned this role because I am an idiot.’

‘I want to know what you’re doing about these disappearances!’

‘Well why didn’t you say so in the first place?’ His smile broadened. ‘Well Mrs Diamond, I think you need to forward any concerns you have towards the police.’

‘They don’t seem to be able to do anything! Our students are here under your care and they are still going missing. This makes this your issue too! I want to know what you are doing to protect our children.’

‘I’ve already given instructions to the students about that.’

‘This school should be closed! At the very least, we should have security here to ensure nothing happens to them.’

’Well, if the school could afford to finance such an expensive operation, maybe we could, but even so, I don’t think there’s any need to go that far. There’s no need to cause unnecessary panic, and may I say that you are doing that with your outburst here this afternoon.’

‘My son has gone missing!’ Her voice rose higher. ‘Something has to be done!’

Mr Vennie’s smile began to fade and he looked at her, his eyes becoming glazed. ‘I’m sorry Mrs Diamond, but there is nothing I can do. I’m sure your son will turn up before much longer, but let’s not start promoting conspiracy theories here. Let’s try to stay calm.’

’I will not stay calm! My son is missing!’

‘Please Mrs Diamond, this is not the time or place. I understand you are upset, but you can’t just…’

’Our children are in danger!’

Two male teachers intercepted Mrs Diamond. Once she saw them, she relented. She gave one last forlorn look at Mr Vennie and allowed the two teachers to escort her out.

‘Wow,’ Scott said to Adam. ‘That’s heavy shit.’

‘I reckon.’ Adam nodded. ‘I feel sorry for her though. She must be so upset about Brett going missing.’

‘Still there’s no need to come making a big scene about it in front of the entire school.’

‘I don’t know,’ said Darren in a deadpan tone. ‘You’d expect a lot more fuss to be made than what’s currently being made.’

The final class of the day ended. Darren had a bus to catch, so he hurried away. Scott wanted to shoot into the toilets before he and Adam headed off home. Adam made his way to his locker to collect his bag and almost ran into a man coming around the corner of one of the blocks.

‘Whoa!’ The man leapt back in shock, nearly tripping over himself. He stared at Adam, looking shocked, but then quickly composed himself. ‘Didn’t expect… who are you kid?’

Adam had never seen the man before and wasn’t about to volunteer his name to a stranger. ’Who are you?’ he asked.

‘Now, now, no need to get all concerned. I’m here to…’ and then his voice startled to become muffled, just like it had with Tania Casey the previous week. Adam looked up at the man’s mouth trying to get some idea what he was saying by reading his lips, but he had no luck. The man’s mumbling voice trailed off and he looked at Adam with a frown. He said something that looked like “are you alright?”

‘I… I can’t hear you,’ Adam said. ‘It’s an illness I had. I… I think I’m still getting over it and sometimes my eyes play tricks on me or I have trouble hearing people. Everything gets muffled.’

‘I see.’

Adam heard the man that time. His voice was clear again.

Adam sighed. ‘I can hear you again.’

‘Good. You had me worried there for a second.’ The man’s green eyes sparkled in a friendly manner. He looked at Adam carefully for a moment and then spoke again. ‘I guess there’s no…’ His voice startled to muffle again.

Adam slapped his ears a few times and the man stopped talking, looking at him puzzled.

‘Is it happening again?’ His voice once again spoke clear.

‘Yes,’ Adam said, shuddering. It seemed to be getting worse.

‘I see.’ The man’s puzzled expression vanished. ‘I’m sure you’ll be fine. I’ve heard that some illnesses can cause recurring problems.’

He could have been a new teacher, but he spoke like a cop. He even looked like one judging by his height and his trimmed goatee beard. ‘You must be here investigating the disappearances,’ Adam surmised, hoping desperately his hearing would remain intact from here on in.

The man paused for a second, before smiling. ‘Why yes. How did you guess?’

‘Well Mr Vennie did say there would be some cops around and you sure look like one.’

‘Mr Vennie?’

‘The new principal.’

‘Of course, silly me. Yes, I’m a cop, here to investigate the disappearances. My name is Constable Clements.’

‘You’re not from around here.’ Adam felt relieved now, especially seeing as his hearing had come right again.

‘No. Definitely not. I’m from New Plymouth. Manpower is fairly light down here, so they needed to send in more men. So can I ask you your name now?’

‘Adam Braddock.’

‘So Adam, what can you tell me about the disappearances?’

Adam mentioned the missing students. He spoke specifically of Doug and how he and Scott had been to visit him, but nobody had been home. He omitted the part about entering the house to look around.

‘Did you report the disappearance?’

‘Well we thought he might have been on holiday or something.’

‘Fair enough. Have you seen anyone around the neighbourhood, who you might find… suspicious?’

‘Well…’ He thought about Miss Crazy. She had started out very suspiciously. But should he make accusations against one of his teachers, just because she seemed a little strange?

‘Think carefully. Any little thing can help with the investigation.’

‘Well there’s this new teacher called Miss Casey…’

‘Casey?’ The constable’s eyebrows lifted.

‘She started this week. But she’s a little strange.’

‘Would this be Tania Casey by any chance?’

‘Yes! Do you know her?’

The constable was silent for a few moments, looking thoughtful. ‘Tania Casey, huh? Oh yes, I know her well.’

Adam was intrigued. Did she have some deep dark past she was trying to keep a secret? Perhaps this officer may be willing to give him some answers. ‘What’s wrong with her? Is she a wanted criminal? Is she dangerous?’

The constable seemed amused by his comments and smiled. ‘I wouldn’t say dangerous… but then again who can tell for sure. But what I can tell you is that you shouldn’t take anything she says too seriously. She err… she is known for making up some pretty wild stories. I guess you could say, she is a little mentally disturbed.’

‘And she’s teaching here? Shouldn’t the school be told?’

‘No,’ Constable Clements said. ‘She is not a criminal. She has never had a criminal record. To start making accusations without any real evidence is a mistake. But I would like you to keep this matter between you and me for now. This is something I need to investigate myself. But there is something you can do for me, young Adam.’

‘Anything.’

‘I want you to keep a close eye on her. Tell me what she’s up to. I’m going to be spending some time here in Pungaru and I’m sure you’ll see me around. If you need to speak to me, I’ll be at the station. Can you do that for me, Adam?’

‘No worries.’ Adam felt a thrill at being asked to assist the police.

‘But I don’t want you talking to her. And I want you to take anything she tells you with a grain of salt.’

‘Do you think she might be involved in the disappearances?’

‘She could very well be. That’s why you should not trust her. Don’t take any chances, do you understand?’

‘I understand.’ Adam felt butterflies in his stomach.

‘Now I need to get your address details.’ He tapped his clothes a few times and sighed. ‘You have a pencil case and paper there?’

‘Yes.’ Adam juggled his gear to get a pen and paper and wrote down his name and address. He nearly wrote his old address down until he remembered he was now living in the Donaldson house.

‘Great.’ Constable Clements smiled as he folded up the paper and put it in his pocket. ‘I will be in touch. And remember what I said, come to the station if you have any information for me.’

‘Ok.’

‘Good. Well I’ll see you around, alright Adam?’

‘See you around.’

No sooner had Constable Clements departed than Scott arrived back. ‘Who was that frood, dude?’

‘Frood?’ Adam had never heard him use that term before. ‘He’s a cop.’

‘Wow, I thought so. A man who really knows where his towel is.’

‘Huh?’ Adam gave him a weird look. He thought about how he had mentioned his favourite author in class and figured Scott was simply using terms from one of his novels as a laugh. Douglas Adam insists that the towel is the most important thing you can ever take with you when hitchhiking around the galaxy. Adam could imagine Constable Clements using it on a criminal, using it as a whip to subdue him, perhaps even throttling him and then using it to bind his hands afterwards.

‘Investigating the disappearances, is he?’ Scott asked.

‘You got it.’

‘Did he say anything interesting?’

Adam was about to say yes, but then remembered what the constable said about keeping things between the two of them. ‘Nah, not really. He just asked a few questions that’s all. I don’t think they have any real leads. Not that he mentioned anyway.’

‘Well he wouldn’t. Anyway, let’s get going. I want to get home.’