The Crush (21 page)

A live band began rocking in the double garage as Matt arrived at the party. Footy players, teachers, friends, parents and girlfriends ate, drank and laughed as they mingled inside the kitchen or under the backyard pergola. A banner proclaiming
Better luck next time
sagged above the barbecue sizzling with sausages, chops, hamburger patties, onion rings and the odd splatter of rain.

Pulling his cap down, Matt hid in the corner of the garage as he watched the band thrash out one of their own songs. He'd make his appearance, stay for a couple of minutes, then head for home. Surely his mum needed help with the packing.

He saw a flash of short dark hair sneaking out the back of the garage and followed it. Kelly! But when
he caught up with her, he realised it was only Grover's sister.

‘Matty! 'Bout time you showed up.'

Chris walked over to him and offered him one of his snags on bread.

‘How's it going?' Matt mumbled.

‘Great! The party's going off. The neighbours have complained twice, Hazem is over there tonguing some chick and best of all, I think Anna Hughes likes me. She's been eyeing me all night.'

Matt nodded and Chris gave him a querying look. ‘What, no witty one-liner?'

Matt put his half-eaten sausage sandwich down and said he had better go.

‘Why? You just got here.'

‘I feel uncomfortable, that's all.'

‘Uncomfortable? You? Why?'

Sighing, Matt shrugged his shoulders then slipped his hands in his jeans pockets. ‘I feel bad for losing us the match today. I let everyone down.'

‘No you didn't. The Lions cheated and won. End of story.'

‘Yeah, but I should have kicked that last goal.'

‘Rubbish. If anyone's to blame, it's me. I should've kicked that last goal. But I couldn't sitting on the bench, could I?'

‘No, but—'

‘Don't dwell on it, man. The rest of us are trying not to. It's over. We can't change it.'

‘But we came so close, Chris.'

‘Okay, Princes won. So what? It's just another trophy to them. It'll sit in a glass cabinet and be forgotten. But look around you. Everyone's laughing, aren't they? You know why? Because we got something better. We got a bunch of new mates.'

Matt glanced around at all the guests, talking away or stacking up their paper plates with food. At the start of the year he didn't know any of those guys. Now they were all firm friends.

‘Am I right?' the Sundance Kid asked. ‘Yeah, that's what I thought. So stop feeling sorry for yourself and have some fun, okay? It's a party.'

Hamburgers, coleslaw and Pepsi filled Matt's gut as he joined his friends and joked about. No one had a go at him for missing the final kick. In fact, everyone slapped him on the back and thanked him for getting the team to the finals.

The hot topic of conversation wasn't about their loss, however. It was about Blackwell and his run-in with the talent scout. Everyone crowded around Matt as he told the story, amazed at the revelations. The news fired up their spirits to the point where
they were laughing at Aaron's misfortune. Grover was about to ask Matt about his own prospects when Rhino hobbled into the backyard on his crutches.

‘Trouble,' he grunted.

The party flooded onto the front lawn, just in time to see balloons full of purple and yellow paint bomb their parents' cars. Goons in a sleek black Mazda shouted, ‘We're number one!' before speeding away.

‘That's my car!' one mother cried.

‘Princes!' Hazem spat.

‘They just couldn't resist, could they?' Matt said.

‘What are we going to do about it?' Grover asked.

‘Get them back,' Chris said.

Matt squished into a souped-up Ford that belonged to Rhino's two older brothers. Before their parents could stop them doing anything stupid, they floored it out of there.

With windscreen wipers flicking side-to-side to scrape away the paint, the four-car convoy raced up the main driveway of Princes Boys College. In the distance they could see guys in suits and girls in expensive dresses flitting outside over the pebble and grass courtyard or kissing away from the eyes of teachers. The sound of roaring cars caused them to
look up. They stood stunned, as the rain-speckled headlights bore down on them.

The cars screeched to a stop outside a giant sandstone building, scattering pebbles and students everywhere. The guys slammed their doors behind them and stormed the party inside.

‘Paint bomb our cars, will you!'

Hands grabbed shirts, threats were made and guys rushed from the ballroom to defend their mates. Shouting turned into shoving and before long it was on. One of the Lions players accidentally slipped onto the ground in his shiny suit and shoes. The Lions thought he'd been hit and threw the first punches. Caught in the middle of it, Matt tried stopping the fight without success. He ducked one swinging arm then another before seeking shelter by the right staircase.

‘Matt?'

He turned around and looked up. Wrapped in a long black dress with a split to the thigh, Kelly was looking down at him with concern. Her hair was perfect. Her make-up highlighted her beauty even more. And her naked shoulders and arms stirred all-too-familiar yearnings within him. He wanted to grab her right there and kiss her. He didn't care who saw them.

‘What's going on?' she asked.

He met her halfway. ‘Princes paint-bombed our cars.'

‘And that's an excuse to start a fight?'

‘I tried settling them down but they wouldn't listen. They're too angry.'

Fists smacked flesh and the first casualties hit the ground. The Mongrels were outnumbered but they were holding their own. Teachers rushed from the ballroom as the fight intensified.

The squealing of tyres distracted Kelly, and she looked out the window. She moved closer to it then clomped down the stairs and towards the main doors.

‘What's wrong?' Matt asked.

‘It's Aaron.'

They rushed outside and stopped on a slope overlooking the oval. In the middle of it, a blue Porsche was burning muddy doughnuts and the driver yahooing with delight. Soon, the car was bogged, and after a couple more revs, the engine was killed. Blackwell stepped outside, slammed the door then swore madly. He trudged to the boot, but lost his footing and fell onto the wet ground. It only made him angrier.

‘He's drunk,' Kelly stated.

‘Knuckles is going to kill him.'

The fight spilled out into the car park and distracted Matt and Kelly. They watched as two guys hit each other then wrestled to the ground. Inside, a couple of security guards were flinging Lions and Mongrels aside, trying to grab the main combatants.

Strange, Matt thought. What was that smell?

A large flash of orange lit up the darkness. They turned back to see the Porsche fully alight and Blackwell stepping back from it, holding a can of petrol. ‘That's for you, dad. Try and run my life, will you?' he shouted, before laughing. Glass cracked and tyres popped as the flames consumed its entire length.

‘He's crazy!' Matt said.

‘We've got to help him.'

An explosion of glass forced them back. Waves of heat buffeted them as they covered their faces. When they looked again, Blackwell was lying on the ground, unmoving.

‘Aaron!'

Matt tried grabbing Kelly, but she pushed past him and rushed to Blackwell's side. She knelt in the mud beside him to check if he was okay. Bending down, she fussed over him until he grabbed her face with dirty hands and stole a kiss. Disgusted, she shoved him onto the ground as he laughed.

‘Don't go, Kel. There's more where that came from.'

He stood up just as a small crowd milled outside the main building. They were pointing at the burning car, wondering what had happened.

‘Let's get out of here,' Kelly said to Matt, turning to leave.

‘Stay,' Blackwell said, grabbing her. ‘I want to talk to you.'

‘No, we've done enough talking. We're through.'

‘But this is our party, Kelly. I said I'd win the grand final for you.'

‘I don't care anymore. I'm not your girlfriend.'

‘But you were kidding, right? We were having a tiff, that's all. We can kiss and make up.'

‘No we can't. I meant what I said. We're finished.'

‘I don't believe you. C'mon, give me another kiss. Make me feel better.' He puckered up and swayed forward. Matt pulled Kelly out of the way.

‘You're drunk,' Matt said. ‘Go home.'

‘Who are you to tell me what to do?' Blackwell said.

‘Listen to what he's saying, Aaron,' Kelly said. ‘Go home and we'll talk about this tomorrow.'

‘I can't. I'm kind of without a ride home all of a sudden.'

He turned round and laughed at the burning Porsche. Teachers were yelling at students to grab fire extinguishers.

‘Aaron, call your dad. You need help,' Kelly said.

His spun back to her. ‘My father? Why would I ever want to talk to him again? He's ruled my life for too long. He's pushed me and pushed me and pushed me. For what? For him to ruin my career by paying some kid to plant drugs on Wonder Boy here.'

‘Aaron, please, ring your dad,' Kelly repeated.

‘Only if you tell me you love me.'

‘No, because I'd be lying.'

‘I don't believe you. You're saying all this to impress your new lover, aren't you?'

‘No!' Kelly and Matt snapped together.

‘And don't call him that,' she added. ‘We're just friends.'

‘You're so naive. Ain't that right, Wonder Boy?'

‘Just go home, would you?' Matt answered. ‘Haven't you caused her enough grief already?'

‘First you take all the glory, then you take my girl. You're a sly one behind all that niceness, Cassidy, you know that?'

Fire extinguishers blasted the car as the crowd arrived. One of Blackwell's mates asked if he was okay, but Aaron pushed him away.

‘Kelly, let's go,' Matt said, grabbing her arm. The rawness of the conversation was starting to unnerve him.

She agreed and they turned to leave. Blackwell clutched her shoulder and twirled her around.

‘I still want to talk to you,' Aaron said.

‘And she said no,' Matt growled.

‘Oooh, is that jealousy in your voice, Cassidy? C'mon, I'll fight you for her. That's what you want, isn't it? Winner takes the girl?'

‘I don't fight.'

‘Good, that'll make it easier for me.'

The first punch hit Matt straight in the eye. He buckled and collapsed to the ground. Most of the students saw it and stopped. A teacher rushed over to Blackwell, but he too was pushed to the ground.

‘Get up and fight!' Blackwell shouted at Matt, as he rolled on the wet ground. ‘Prove that you're a man for once.'

‘Aaron, no!' Kelly said, hurrying to Matt's aid.

‘See, you do love him. You'd never do that for me.'

‘Stop saying that!'

‘Why? It's the truth.'

And to make his point, Blackwell kicked Matt in the guts. The pain was biting. His stomach felt like it had burst.

‘Aaron, don't!'

‘Only if you promise to get back with me.'

He kicked Matt a second time. Kelly started crying and placed herself between Blackwell and Matt, before he sunk the boot in a third time. Aaron considered another attack, before a couple of Princes boys grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him away. The teacher who had been pushed to the ground, yelled at a student to get help.

‘Hey!' Blackwell protested. ‘What are you doing? She's my girlfriend.'

‘Getting you out of here before you get yourself into any more trouble,' one Princes boy answered.

‘Let go of me! Let go of me!'

Blackwell bucked like a brumby, until his two peers couldn't hold onto him any more. They released him, only to find him turning on them.

‘Traitors! Both of you! All of you!' he shouted, waving his arms. ‘None of you are my friends, you hear me? You only like me because I'm popular. Well, you know what? I've never liked any of you. You all disgust me.'

‘Aaron, that's enough,' one of his mates said.

‘Don't tell me to shut up. I can look after myself. I'm sick of people criticising me. You, my mates, my teachers, my girlfriend, my dad … Especially my
dad. It's not easy being me, you know. You all want to be me but you've got no idea, do you?
Do you!
'

Another of his friends tried calming him down. ‘You've said enough tonight. We're calling you a taxi.'

‘Stop treating me like a baby!' Blackwell said, spinning around. ‘I can look after myself.'

‘Fine, but this is a party and you're ruining it.'

The Lions captain shoved his mate in the chest. ‘You wouldn't be celebrating if it weren't for me, would you?'

‘Back off, or you'll regret it.'

‘What are you going to do, Doherty? Fight me?'

Blackwell threw a drunken punch but missed. Doherty dodged it, but didn't have time to retaliate. A group of Princes Boys jumped on Blackwell and wrestled him to the ground. He threw several punches as he struggled to get them off him.

A siren shrieked in the distance. The wrestling match stopped and everyone looked up. Blackwell's face paled. The cops! He had to run!

He staggered past the car but a couple of security guards were lumbering his way. He turned back but almost bowled over a couple of his angry mates. Finally, he ran through the back of the crowd and across the school grounds. The security guards chased after him, holding their radios as the siren
grew louder. They disappeared into the darkness just as the fire truck appeared.

Kelly bent over Matt, who was in severe pain. He tried smiling but wasn't doing a good job of it.

 

The police arrived shortly after. They took Aaron away in a patrol car for questioning. The guards had caught him cowering in a garden. He'd lost one shoe and he was bleeding from where rose thorns had cut him.