Dead End High

The bell rang for class and Adam’s talk time ended. Neither Scott nor Darren knew what had become of their friend. Doug had visited Adam a week earlier in hospital and promised to take him deep sea fishing with his dad once he recovered. There had to be a logical explanation for his disappearance.

An uncomfortable thought came to Adam’s mind as they made their way to their first class of the day. ‘Oh man, what if I passed my illness onto him?’

‘Don’t even think that, dude. Hey why don’t we go over to his place tonight? If nobody turns up, we’ll damn well hang around there until someone does, man. And if he still doesn’t show, we’ll search the place for clues. Whadaya reckon?’

‘Sounds like a plan.’

As they neared their classroom, Darren piped up, ‘I wonder who our new English teacher will be.’

‘Someone with a bit of class, hopefully,’ Adam said.

‘Whoa dude, did you just say what I thought you said?’ Scott smirked. ‘A teacher with class? That’s a real bad pun, man.’

‘Not to mention an oxymoron.’ Darren chuckled.

‘Man, you have to stop talking like that. People are gonna start believing you really did learn stuff in Mr Bastion’s classes.’

‘True, true.’

They arrived at their allocated room where students had already begun to congregate. It was set out like any other classroom with rows of desks, a teacher’s desk in one corner, a large whiteboard and walls covered with posters and students’ work. Chatter filled the air.

Daisy Kendrick walked by and the scent of her perfume lingering as she passed. The plain grey school uniform on any other girl looked like something you might wear at a funeral - but on her, it looked perfect. He couldn’t help but smile, gazing upon her as she sat down at the back of the classroom.

His smile disappeared when Drake Radnor, one of the school athletes walked across and sat on the edge of her desk. He was tall, muscular and good-looking – the sort of guy who always got the girl in the movies. His family had money too.

Daisy sat there with a huge smile on her face, her blue eyes sparkling as she ran her fingers through her dark hair. She seemed mesmerised by him, not shaking her gaze and Adam felt a touch of envy course through his veins. If only he had a tenth of the charisma, style and money of Drake Radnor, he would be very happy.

‘Tough luck, Ad,’ Darren said. ‘Look’s like Radnor’s stolen your girl. Now if you had half the dolleros that guy had, you might be in with a chance.’

’Out of the way Braddock, you moron!’

Todd Spencer, the bully Adam had seen earlier, shoved him aside, nearly forcing him into a nearby desk. Todd continued to walk, but spun around at the last moment. ‘What are you doing back, Braddock, you pillock?’

‘Well, I’m better now, I...’

‘I thought you had gone to another school, but obviously not. Just our luck! Why didn’t you just stay away?’

Adam rolled his eyes. ‘I was sick, not expelled, sheesh!’

Todd grabbed him by the shirt and stared him in the face, with green eyes full of venom. His upper lip quivered as he spoke. ‘Not a wise decision, talking to me like that after you’ve been on holiday, halfwit!’

‘I wasn’t on holiday Todd. I was sick.’

‘Leave him alone, Spencer.’ Scotty stepped up beside Adam. He tried to stand staunch, but his shaky voice gave away his anxiety.

Todd glared at Scott. ‘You stay out of this, Hitchens or I’ll smack you one!’ He shoved him, causing him to stumble back a few steps.

Todd tightened his grip on Adam and spoke with mock sympathy. ‘So we were sick, were we? Had to stay home so that mummy could look after you, did we? Little Adam Braddock couldn’t handle a little tummy bug.’

A hand clamped down on Todd Spencer’s shoulder making him jump. Adam had been so scared he hadn’t noticed his rescuer’s approach. For a split second, he assumed a teacher was there to sort out Todd, but it was Drake.

‘You got a problem, Spencer?’ Drake said in a sharp and business-like manner, giving the bully a steely glare.

Todd let go of Adam and the fire vanished from his eyes. ‘Ah… no, Drake. No problem at all. I was just welcoming Braddock back. Saying “hi”!’

Todd’s colour drained from his face. He tried to step away, but Drake held him firmly, his eyes narrowing. This time Drake spoke in a gentler tone, but still one that made Adam’s skin crawl. ‘Let me get one thing straight, Spencer. I don’t like you. And I don’t like the way you treat other people. You’d better watch yourself, asswipe. You got that?’

Todd’s voice wavered a little. ‘Sure, Drake,’

‘Now sit down and shut up!’ Drake planted him down in the closest chair. Todd nearly fell off it, but quickly righted himself and sat stock still, hardly daring to breathe.

Drake didn’t stay to acknowledge Adam. He seemed more interested in getting back to Daisy who smiled at him with starry eyes, as if he was some kind of superhero.

Adam looked down at Todd. His face, which had been a shade of pale a few moments earlier, was now red and he looked at Adam a flame returning in his eyes. He spoke under his voice, ‘I’ll deal with you later!’

Adam and his two companions found a block of tables off to the side, well away from Todd and sat down to wait for their teacher.

But none came.

They chatted for quarter of an hour, mainly on the topic of Doug until finally a teacher arrived.

‘It’s Mr Venables!’ Darren nudged Adam.

The class quietened as he stepped up to the front of the class. He was a tall, smiley individual and greeted the class cheerfully with a strong Australian accent. ‘Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, I’m afraid we have still not managed to get in a replacement for Mr Bastion. So I’m happy to announce that today’s period is going to be a free one.’

The class cheered at that news. This was a first as no teacher had ever given them a free period before.

‘All I ask is that you stay here in the classroom and do something quietly. As long as there are no reports of rowdiness or unacceptable behaviour, you’ll have no problems with me.’

‘Mr Venables, when will we get a replacement?’ pimply faced Dora Collins spoke up. Everyone knew her as a bit of a prude and she could be quite annoying at times.

‘Not too sure yet. But until then, I’m sure you can keep yourselves occupied in English class. Read a book or something. Hell, read a comic, I don’t mind. In fact, I really must ensure we get comics brought into the library. What’s a library without comics? A pretty boring one if you ask me!’

‘Mr Bastion says comics are not appropriate reading material at school.’ The bespectacled girl tapped her desk with her fingers. ‘He doesn’t like them.’

‘Pah!’ Mr Venables waved his hand in the air. ‘What would he know? That probably explains why he was teaching English instead of running the school.’

‘Why aren’t we getting a reliever in?’ Dora asked.

He gave a snort that almost sounded like a snicker. ‘Why would you want a reliever? I mean, really, what’s the point? You wouldn’t do any work anyway, would you?’

‘I would.’

‘Good God girl, lighten up. This is a high school, not a university. You’re only 14- year-olds. You’re not supposed to spend your whole day studying. What’s the point in coming to school if you can’t have a bit of fun sometimes? When I was at school, I hardly did any bloody work at all. I came to school to socialise, not learn.’

‘Yeah, tell her, Mr V!’ Will Stetson, one of the class tough guys called out.

‘Mr Venables,’ Jack piped up from a few desks away.

‘Please, please, call me Mr Vennie. No need to get all formal here. In fact, as of now, I’m going to establish a new rule. Every teacher must be given a nickname. Not a nasty one, mind you, but just a fun one. You can call Mr Drinkwater, Mr Passwater and Mrs Ledbetter, Mrs Bedwetter. Oh and Mrs Tantic can be Mrs Titanic, how about that?’

The class thought it was a great joke and laughed accordingly. Adam would have a lot of fun trying to figure out humorous names for all the teachers.

‘And what about Mr Ramsey the Maths teacher? You could have a lot of fun with that one. Mr Rahahahahamsey,’ he said, making the first part of the name sound like the baaing of a sheep. It sounded a bit like the noise of imaginary machine gun fire, the type Adam used to make in primary school, when playing war games with his friends.

The other students nearly fell to the floor with laughter. Only Darren had ever been game enough to call Mr Ramsey that to his face and had got into big trouble for it.

‘I don’t think Mr Ramsey will like that at all.’ Dora screwed up her nose.

‘Well if he doesn’t like it, tell him to come and see me. I’ll tell him to lighten up a little.’

‘Mr Vennie,’ Jack said again, ’I heard rumours that we’re going to be able to have McDonald’s lunch orders.’

‘You heard right! I’m doing my best to make that a reality. But unfortunately, a few of the staff are against it. But don’t worry; I’m the principal, so it’s only a matter of time. What I say goes around here.’ He winked.

Dora put up her hand. ‘But Mr Venables, that’s not healthy. I thought the school had a policy about only having healthy food at the school canteen?’

‘Healthy Smealthy. Come now, young Dora, if you had a choice between filled rolls and Big Macs, which would you choose? I want people to enjoy coming to school. The food here should be the sort of food you want to throw in your mouth, not the sort of food you want to throw up.’

Adam leant over to Scott. ’I like this guy. McDonald’s for lunch?’

‘Yeah, sure beats Vegemite sandwiches, man.’

Will Stetson called out. ‘Mr Ven, dude, last week Mr Bastion put me on detention. Do I still have to go?’

Mr Vennie looked over at him for a moment and smiled. ‘Nah! Don’t worry about it, Will, old chap. Who cares whether he put you on a detention or not? He was a total jackass anyway. What did you do?’

‘I called him a jerk.’

‘Well he is a jerk! The truth hurts. He didn’t like it, so he put you on detention. What a loser. I’ll have no teachers like that in this school. If a teacher is a jerk then they damn well need to hear it. There are some other staff here too, who I’m seriously considering giving the chop, if they can’t get their act together. If a teacher needs to put a student on detention, then they need to look at their disciplinary skills. A good teacher is one who earns the respect of their students.’

‘Woohoo!’ Will thrust his fist into the air.

The door to the classroom swung open and another teacher entered.

‘Whoa, it’s Mr Bryce!’ hissed Scott.

‘What the freak is he doing here?’ Darren said.

‘I don’t know, dude. But he looks pissed.’

’Venables!’ the grey-headed ex-principal stormed into the room. ‘You low-down, underhanded snake!’

Mr Vennie stepped back suddenly, colliding with the whiteboard. An alarmed look crossed his face, but then as quickly as it came, it disappeared and he stood tall, putting on a staunch look. ‘Now, Mr Bryce, this is not the time or the place.’

‘I’ll give you the time and place!’ Mr Bryce moved towards him, but Mr Vennie circled around the wall, behind one of the students. Mr Bryce attempted to go round to get him, but the new principal quickly manoeuvred himself round behind another student, this time it was Jack.

‘Mr Bryce, you need to calm down right now. There is a class full of students here and you can’t just come marching in here making unfounded accusations!’

’Unfounded accusations?’ Mr Bryce’s wrinkled face looked as though it was about to explode. His green eyes blazed and he again tried to get around Jack to get to him. Mr Vennie darted around behind another desk. This time it was Adam’s and he moved in close behind him. Mr Bryce came from the opposite side and Adam sunk down in his chair just in case he got caught in the middle of a physical confrontation.

‘You set me up, Venables! Now don’t try to deny it, you falsified the evidence, just to get me fired!’

Mr Vennie gave an insane grin. ‘But you didn’t get fired. You quit.’

‘And how long before I did get fired? It was only a matter of time. You had me well and truly screwed!’

‘Now, now, Mr Bryce, I think you’re getting carried away here. Why would I want to set you up?’

‘You wanted my damn job!’ Mr Bryce made a lunge for the new principal, nearly swiping Adam’s head off in the process. The desk pushed into Adam’s stomach and he had to struggle to get to a more comfortable position. He wanted to move away from the desk, but he was sandwiched in between the two men.

‘Now, now, Mr Bryce.’ Mr Vennie chuckled anxiously. ‘I think you’re being counter-rational. I couldn’t possibly have set you up. I had no access to the school accounts. You need to calm down. Your actions here are only making matters worse. Look, you’re scaring the students.’ He patted Adam on the shoulder. Adam shivered and stared up at Mr Bryce, afraid of what he would do next.

The former principal looked down at Adam and his eyes softened. He looked around the class at all the frightened faces and took a step back. Adam relaxed and was finally able to breathe again.

‘I ah… I’m sorry class.’ Mr Bryce sighed. ‘This is not appropriate. I shouldn’t be here.’ He turned and trudged toward the door, but swung around one more time to face Mr Vennie. ‘You haven’t heard the last of this, Venables! I’m going to prove it was you, mark my words. You’re going down!’

He left the classroom.

For a few moments, there was an uncomfortable silence. Mr Vennie still appeared a little shaken, but then he came to his senses and smiled at the class with his insane grin. ‘My word.’ He chuckled. ‘He does appear upset, doesn’t he? But then who can blame him? You commit a crime, you get caught and you want to pin the blame on someone, don’t you? You have to save your reputation somehow.’ He patted Adam on the shoulder, then wandered to the front of the class and delivered them all another big smile. ‘But not to worry, the guy’s obviously as crazy as a loon. I’m surprised he was principal for so long. It won’t be long before he’ll be locked up in a padded white cell somewhere, won’t it?’

Adam couldn’t help but feel that if he did, it would be the wrong man locked up. He had always known Mr Bryce to be a cool, level-headed type of guy and it was unusual to see him so worked up.

Scott leaned across the aisle and whispered to Adam, ‘No wonder he got this job so fast. He must have already been hanging out for it.’

Mr Vennie walked towards the door and turned one last time. ‘Relax, relax, I’ll sort this one out. I’ll make sure Mr Bryce gets the help he needs. Enjoy yourselves.’ With that, he departed.

There was silence for a few moments before chatter started up again.

‘Damn,’ Scott said. ‘What do you reckon about that?’

‘Bryce has lost it.’ Darren shook his head. ‘Mr Vennie’s too nice a guy to set someone up like that. How would he pull it off anyway?’

‘Good question.’

’He’s an idiot!’ Dora peered around at her classmates, with a disgusted look on her face. ‘What sort of a school principal is he? I think he did set Mr Bryce up, otherwise how did he even get the job?’

‘Shut up, Dora,’ snarled Jack. ‘He’s cool. Mr Bryce deserved what he got. And Mr Vennie is right; you should lighten up a bit. It’s about time a guy like him was hired.’

‘Yeah, Dora,’ someone else said. ‘Get a life!’

Dora fumed as she sat hunched in her chair.

Chatter built up in the classroom and some of the students joked and laughed, although Adam was still worried about his friend Doug. But the atmosphere quietened quickly when the senior mistress - Mrs Evans, appeared at the door. ‘Please can I have your attention for a moment? I would like to know if anyone knows of the whereabouts of one of the juniors – Brett Diamond. Has anyone seen him yesterday evening or this morning?’

Murmurs echoed around the room, but nobody had any clue. Adam knew of the boy. He was in year nine and was a nice enough guy. Adam figured he had just skipped class or something, but Mrs Evans’ face seemed pale and haggard. ‘This is very serious,’ she continued. ‘He did not go home last night and his parents are very worried. Nobody has seen him since school yesterday. Is everyone sure they haven’t seen him, not even in passing?’

Everybody looked about with blank looks. Adam felt goose bumps. School kids didn’t just disappear, especially not in a small town like Pungaru.

Mrs Evans looked around one last time. But in the end, she sighed and left without another word.

‘Damn.’ Scott clicked his tongue a few times. ‘I wonder what happened to him. Kidnapping maybe? What’s the bet some dude rings his parents soon demanding ransom payments?’

Darren spoke up, ‘He probably fell into the river and drowned. Someone will drag up his body in a few months.’

‘Nah, he’s just run away from home, you morons,’ Jack sniggered.

‘What would you know, Miles,’ Darren scoffed.

‘I know his father and he’s a complete scumbag. Wouldn’t surprise me if he took off to get away from him.’

‘Since when did you know his dad?’

“I’ve known them for years. Friends of the family.’

‘Since when did you have friends, Miles?’ Scott snickered.

‘He’ll turn up!’ Jack gave both of them the evils. ‘He’ll probably be back at school tomorrow. His parents and Mrs Evans will feel like right dorks for getting all paranoid.’

‘What about Doug?’ Adam piped up. ‘He’s still missing too, you know? What if the disappearances are linked?’

‘Nah!’ Jack waved his hand in the air. ‘You’re getting way too paranoid. He’ll turn up. You’ll see. They both will.’