Angels

The Taylors

I had done myself out after and hour and a half and reluctantly pulled myself out of the water. I decided I'd be nice and help out Josh in the shop after I'd done, it was very hot and I didn't mind serving whilst he worked the backroom with Jed.

"You remember Georgia Taylor, the one who won the award right?" I asked Josh, I was starting a conversation. I thought he might know a couple of details about her, as he'd have had to take them down when she signed up. "Yeah, short, blonde. I remember her. Why?" He asked, bringing a large crate of diet coke cans out to the front of the shop. "What else do you know about her? Just out of curiosity?" He shrugged. "She moved to Canada, well, she's moving. The whole family. What a bunch they were, I knew them before she came to the classes. They live on Drury lane. But down the end, the dodgy part. Theirs is the very run down house as you come out near the chapel. Looks a little shack-like. Millions of them there were, never seemed to stop having kids. And Georgia... Well, nasty piece of work she was." I was shocked, I thought she was everything good. "What do you mean? What did she do?" He started unpacking the crate whilst talking to me. I started helping. "She was expelled from her last school and put in the special department down at Hawthorne College." Let me explain, the special department was for those who were expelled, or had done badly at previous schools, not the dumb ones. The trouble-makers. I couldn't imagine Georgia there though." I sighed and chewed my lip, it's not like he had thought of the wrong person because we were talking about exactly the same girl. "Really?" He raised his eyebrows and chuckled, then went out back and came through with a large crate, this time full of Dr Pepper. "She's one for first impressions though, comes across as a perfect Angel. But there's always rumours going round about the Taylors. Always believe them, I bet you tons of people are glad they're gone, not that they would have sold the house." I tried to laugh, but I couldn't. I was friends with Rufus, and Georgia and I'm sure they weren't as bad as Josh was making out. "Are they really that bad?" I asked, lost in confusion. Not sure that I knew Georgia anymore. Josh sighed and sat on top of the crate. "Fine, I guess I just got a little caught up in the history I have with them... And their extended family." And the plot thickens... I thought. "Three years ago. Dakota came for a trial class here. Georgia's younger brother, and that's when Jed was going through a little bit of training, learning the basics. And I was unintentionally favouritising towards Jed. Mrs Taylor, Georgia's mother, didn't realise he was my little bro. And made a formal complaint towards the club. It was out of my hands and everything went overboard. Bottom line is, I almost lost my job, my world, to that family. Something I guess I'll never let go of. And Georgia wasn't technically expelled, they applied for her to get into the grammar school, couple miles out. And she didn't get in, Mrs Taylor, took up a formal complaint, as she is known to do. About how wonderful her daughter is, and she went a little crazty, just being over protective. Georgia was kicked out after a week because of her mad mother and recommended for Hawthorne, she lasted a month there but couldn't deal with it at all." I frowned and looked at him. "How do you know all these things about them?" I grabbed one of the cans straight out of the crate and took a long sip. "As I said, rumour gets around. Sad thing is, most of them are true." That went against everything I'd ever heard from my parents, but at this moment in time, I was willing to believe anything. "You swear everything you've told me is true? Not a single lie?" Josh nodded and held out his pinky finger in order to pinky promise. "Nawh y'alright with that one." I said, and laughed. Jed walked out of the backroom, all sweaty. I didn't even want to step foot in there today, what with it being 25 degreesc. "Where should I put these? I have enough to fill the freezer and nowhere to put these ones." He was holding seven different flavoured giant lollies. One lemon, one grape, one strawberry, one tropical, one lime, one cherry, and one blue raspberry. "Knock yourself out, eat them all, you look pretty hot." Jed looked more happy than I had ever seen him at the prospect of eating all seven."Do you know anything more?" I asked, but could tell he was getting a little suspicious "why do you need this information all of a sudden?" I shrugged, and took another, even longer sip from my can of Dr Pepper "just interested in getting to know some new people." Josh also took a can from the crate "oh please, you know everything about everyone! If I didn't know any better I'd say you had something going on." "Nothing going on here Josh!" I smiled, got up and sighed, but sort of groaned at the same time. "Well if you say so Beau." I raised my eyebrows approvingly.