Chapter 20

20 Friday 3 June 2022

Larissa’s first lecture on Fridays was with her old group from last year, and it was one of her favourites simply because she got to hang out with them, including Maria. She was sitting in the lecture room waiting for Maria, looking at her course notes; like all her subjects, she was several lectures behind; that was true for all her subjects today, she really needed to catch up on her lectures desperately. Exams were just around the corner. Annabel sat down next to her, and said hello quietly. Little mousy Annabel was a nerd who never said anything, and had no friends, which is why Larissa sat next to her.

Suddenly a voice in front her said, “Look! The princess has deigned to join us. Aren’t we just so lucky!”

Annie. Larissa looked up, and she could see immediately that Annie was looking for a confrontation. She steeled herself not to give Annie any satisfaction. “Hi Annie, it’s nice to see you. You’re sure right that I haven’t been here anywhere near enough, I’m way behind.”

“I really thought you’d moved on from us, all that self-promotion stuff you’re doing in the media, stiffing the uni after all those special rules they made for you. I do wonder who you had to sleep with for that magazine article, given how you look.”

Ouch. Back to that again. She sat up straight, she had the backbone to not engage, to not bite back. “I’m sorry if it looks like that.”

“Oh, it does. And now you’re attacking everyone’s fun. Stuck-up righteous bitch, huh?!”

That fucking hurt. She went to explain and then, as she was about to say something, she realised: there was no point in explaining, what Annie was looking for was trouble. “I ... well, you don’t have to listen.”

Annie leaned in closely and said in a low, furious voice no one else could hear, “Oh, I won’t, fuckwit. But you, go sleep around like the slut you are, and then you’ll have to have an abortion like your supposed sister.”

Larissa fell apart inside. Suddenly she was blubbing like a baby. She hadn’t cried for Steph in her heart since Jane had called her that first time, but she’d had this bubble of sadness inside her ever since, even through all the adventures that had followed. Steph had that same bubble, but so much bigger and closer to her surface, and suddenly that bubble had popped and exploded into a despair that filled her heart. She had no control, no way to stop the wails of pain that flowed.

After a little while, she felt an arm around her. Maria had come, so she put her arms around Maria and pulled her in tight. She needed her best closest friend and she did feel better. But still, given Zara’s excitement, Isabella’s passionate emotional decision to keep her baby, in the face of all the expectations to the contrary ... Larissa had nothing but tears in her heart, and she shed them on Maria’s shoulder.

She was getting control over herself, taking a deep breath, when Maria suddenly straightened.

Larissa looked up and saw the lecturer looking at her with concern. “Larissa, are you OK?” She shook her head, she wasn’t in a condition to say anything, but she tried really hard to stop, to be quiet, so the lecture could go on. The lecturer turned to the class. “Does anyone know what’s up with Larissa?”

A voice called out from a couple of rows behind. “Annie came in and insulted her several times, and Larissa was very nice and polite back to her. Then she said something quiet to Larissa we couldn’t hear, and Larissa’s been bawling her eyes out ever since.”

“Annabel, what did she say?”

Annabel replied in a very quiet voice, “She said Larissa will get pregnant and have to have an abortion like her supposed sister.”

Maria tried to pull away, and she could feel the rage that filled Maria, so she held her tighter, wouldn’t let her go. Maria going and fighting with Annie would make things worse.

“Get out,” she hard someone say behind her. “That’s the worst. You’re not welcome here. Are you even human? Leave now.”

“Fuck off,” Annie replied.

The whole class erupted in shouts of anger. Seething rage might be more accurate. Larissa turned to look, surely this would turn violent based on how angry they were. But the girls immediately around Annie hadn’t moved, and they were blocking some others who were standing, though those girls were glaring at Annie.

After a couple of minutes, the lecturer got control of the class, got them to be quiet. She said, “Everyone, get control over your temper. I agree that what Annie said is the worst, but don’t you respond in kind. Temper does’t solve anything.”

One of the girls from the party last year said, “Surely what she said is against the uni code of conduct, and you can throw her out?”

There was a pause, and Larissa could see the lecturer going through the code in her head. “I’m not sure. I don’t think we ever imagined someone saying anything quite that awful. I’ll at least ask, and you can make a formal complaint if you want.”

“Damn right I’m going to do that!” The girl shot back.

The lecturer nodded. “You have that right. Annie, if that complaint is upheld, you can be suspended or even expelled. Do you want to try and apologise right now?”

“Fuck no. You might all be on her side, but I see what she is.”

There was more hissed anger, the lecturer tamped it down and said, “I’ll take that as a no, I’ll definitely be making a complaint now, but any of you can too. Now, if I give you all a couple of minutes while I get ready, am I able to do this lecture?”

There was sullen silence in the room, but Larissa smiled and nodded to the lecturer. She should go on, and Larissa was feeling better. The grief had been so overwhelming that she hadn’t had any emotion left to get angry with Annie, though shit, she was a nasty piece of work. But everyone was pissed off with Annie. Instead, Larissa focused on getting Maria to calm down.

Once the lecture got going, Larissa messaged Julian, and told him what happened.

✉ Julian: Babe, that’s the most awful thing anyone could ever say! So dreadful. Are you OK?
✉ Larissa: I am, mostly. I had a really big cry. I haven’t cried at all since I talked to Jane while I was at the hospital
✉ Julian: I understand. What happened to Annie?
✉ Larissa: The rest of the class is furious. She refused to leave, and I thought she’d get lynched, but they managed not to
✉ Larissa: She’s going to get reported. Maria’s doing it now while we listen
✉ Julian: Of course, and she should. But, can I ask?
✉ Larissa: What?
✉ Julian: There’s something wrong with her, yes?

Larissa thought about that. Facing a united class like that, and insulting all of them instead of at least offering a token apology? She turned around and checked out Annie as surreptitiously as she could: Annie’s face was set hard, and there was no evidence of tears. The other girls had moved away from her, or were leaning as far from her as they could. That was all quite bizarre, so maybe Julian was right? Yes, there was definitely something wrong with her, it was just a question of quite what.

✉ Larissa: Maybe you’re right. But I won’t be polite to her ever again
✉ Julian: Of course not. Do you want me to come up to uni for the end of the lecture and hold you and glare at her?
✉ Larissa: No. Thanks but I’ll be OK
✉ Larissa: Changed my mind. Why turn down a kiss? I’d love you to hold me me, as long as you don’t glare at her.
✉ Larissa: Being her is enough punishment for her
✉ Julian: Promise, and I agree. See you soon.
✉ Larissa: Love you, thanks

She felt better, and she concentrated on the lecture.

Late in the lecture, she got a text pointing her at the unofficial social media page for the university. Someone had posted an anonymous report of what Annie had said to Larissa, and everyone had piled on about it in the comments. Comments were toxic at the best of times, but this thread ... she’d never seen anything like it. Alarmed, she wrote a message to her old WhatsApp group of course friends, many of whom were in the room:

✉ Larissa: What Annie said to me was thoroughly horrible. Julian and I think there’s something actually wrong in her head
✉ Larissa: But the thread about it on the uni page is way more dreadful. If she’s even vaguely human, it very well might drive her to suicide. It doesn’t name her, but everyone will know who it is about
✉ Larissa: Pass the word around, I’m begging whoever it is to take that post down
✉ Larissa: I’m going to report it to the site, and I’m making a comment like this on the post

The girls on the thread responded with nasty comments about Annie, but also they promised to spread the word and try and get the post taken down. It must have worked, because a few minutes later Julian walked into the lecture hall and sat on the floor against the wall, and by that time, the post was gone,

When the lecture finished, the lecturer said, “Everyone, please remain seated for a minute. Annie, pack your stuff and leave with me now.” There was some little sense in Annie, because she did as she was told, and they walked out in silence. As the lecturer turned to leave with Annie, she did something on her computer, and the screen changed to show the university page for reporting violations of the code of conduct. Well, that made it perfectly clear how the lecturer felt about it.

As soon as Annie had left, the room erupted in noise, and Larissa rushed over to hug Julian. It was nice how they all supported her, but eventually Maria quieted them all down, and said, “Everyone, Julian and Larissa think that there’s something wrong inside Annie’s head. And I agree. So back off, and don’t pick a fight with her. Just everyone ignore her, don’t say a word to her, and wait for her to get suspended. OK?” They reluctantly agreed.

Julian walked her to her next lecture, the marine biology one, and sat down, clearly not going anywhere. “Babe, I can work here as well as there, and I’m always on your side. Anyway, I’m meeting Hannah after this lecture.” She leaned into him and hugged him. Everyone in the world was on her side, and her man was awesome, and Annie couldn’t touch her heart. She’d cried for Steph, not herself. And Isabella just a little. She was going to be fine, and she was ready for the rest of the day, a very big day coming her way.

Tamara picked her up after her project lecture, and they drove down to the main high school at Traralgon together. Larissa was really looking forward to this, a whole hour in the car with Tamara, and she knew it was going to fun. It started with Tamara telling her that the vote had been done that morning and it was unanimous: do the campaign with Larissa, and the plans were in place for tonight’s match and campaign launch. Going to be awesome. They came up with all sorts of hilarious scenarios for the TV launch - they shared a very similar sense of humour. Then they talked about their plans for Traralgon - that was going to be fun. And they grabbed some lunch on the highway on the way down - they wouldn’t have time for lunch once they arrived. And Larissa updated her presentation with a couple of videos from Tamara too.

When they arrived, it was lunch time, and there were students everywhere. Louise met them in the car park, and led them to the staff room, where she met with the senior staff from the high school, other senior staff from the high schools in Gippsland, and additionally, Bob and Mary and a couple of their staff.

“Welcome everyone, and particularly welcome Larissa and Tamara,” the headmaster for the high school said. It was interesting looking at him from an adult perspective, rather than as a troubled student to a headmaster. “Thanks for joining us. For this meeting, Louise, Larissa, Tamara and Mary are going to introduce the campaign that Larissa’s going to lead, and then we’re going to talk about what I agreed to do for this high school. We’re asking all the rest of you to sign your school up for the same program.” He looked around, and everyone was nodding over their lunches. “OK, first of all, I’m sure you’re perfectly aware, but both by consumption, and consequent outcomes, our students are drinking more than ever post covid, and in more trouble then ever. I know that most of you don’t need any evidence; I’ve spoken in despair to most of you.” They were all nodding. Right. “I’m going to ask Louise to introduce the campaign, but before I do, I’ll introduce Louise properly.” He told them about her olympic history, both playing and coaching. “OK, Louise, tell us about it.”

Louise told them about the program, what Deanna was planning, and what had been signed off on the day before - Larissa had quickly scanned the updated copy, but it was what they’d talked about it, and Suzy had helped them. Then she described the pivotal role Larissa was playing. “This campaign is really Larissa’s; she’s the only one who can front it. Larissa, where do things stand now?”

“Thanks Louise. Well, the campaign is formally approved and we’re getting going as quick as we can. I was in Canberra on Wednesday, and I met the Minister for Women, and the Prime Minister, and they both gave us their personal support, and they’ve asked the entire government to support it.” Right, that was a pretty good pair of names to drop, it certainly made people take notice. “I also was at a meeting with some ministers and industry leaders where Deanna briefed the drinks industry and they agreed that they were on board.” She grinned at Bob. “Bob was there, do you want to say more?” No, he declined. For now, no doubt. “Deanna confirmed to me this morning that we’re all go. And another piece fell into place today. Tamara?”

“Thanks, Larissa. This morning, the entire playing roll of my club, both male and female senior teams, voted to say that we’ll be playing a leadership role in this campaign, supporting Larissa as much as we can, and I’m launching the campaign on TV tonight with Larissa.”

“Thanks Tamara. So we’re all go. And I’m here to speak to the students at this school, which is my own, and I have deep connections to the students, and I hear the same stories. Trouble. So I’m super excited to effectively start the campaign here.”

“Thanks, Larissa,” her headmaster said. “I’m sure you all know exactly who Bob is.” Right, there was no way they didn’t. “Right, Bob, can you add to that?”

“Thanks Harry. For those of you who don’t know, I’m proud to call Larissa my daughter.” Right, only a few didn’t know that. “In addition, I own nearly 80% of the retail alcohol distribution in the valley here, along with a significant portion of the licensed premises.” Nodding in the audience - most of them knew that, if not the numbers. “So I’m right in the middle of this. And I’ve heard the same stories you have, through my staff and my family, and I and my staff have been troubled by that, wondering what to do. My staff are people with families, and they live here and care too. So we’re completely in support of the campaign, and we’ll be doing some pretty active support starting early next week. But in order to support my wonderful daughter, we’re going to go further than that in the schools in the valley here. For any of you who are willing to be part of this, I’ll be putting up a not insignificant cash prize at each school for the student leader who does the most to promote this campaign within the school. In addition, I’m putting up a program where students can rent a non-alcoholic drinks service - a mobile dry bar - for their parties, and I’ll be subsidising that to establish the idea. In addition, I’ll be supporting schools to adopt the campaign - if you have resourcing challenges, talk to me. Mary and I have decided that we’re all in for helping our schools to deal with this problem.”

“Yes,” Mary said. “We feel strongly that owe the valley, and this an area where there’s a real need.”

“OK, thanks,” the headmaster said. “We really appreciate that. After our lunch finishes, Larissa and Tamara will be speaking to all my students to introduce them to the campaign, and for the younger students, we’ll be incorporating the campaign into their curriculum. You are all invited to bring your schools into the program as well, and we’ll share our resources. Does anyone have any questions?”

“Hi, Larissa, I’m Mary from Sale College.” She looked around. “My students are already well aware of Larissa and her ideas from last year, thanks very much, Larissa. So I’m certainly in in principle, but Larissa, you’re only one person. You won’t have time to visit all our schools, will you?”

“No, I’m afraid not. I have no idea how that’s going to work, really. I’m already full time, and only supporting the campaign in my spare time. If there was anyone else they could pick, they would, though Tamara would be a pretty awesome substitute. But so is Louise, you know - I’ve spoken to her about it deeply, and she’s very much on board.”

Her headmaster said, “I did wonder about gathering all the high school students from all our schools, or maybe all the senior students, into the Latrobe stadium here, and having Larissa speak to all of them at once, and then doing a massive dance party for them. Bob said he’d support that with a dry bar.” Wow, that sounded cool, Larissa would love that.

“What, in their underwear?” another teacher said. Well, good that she was informed, at least.

“Wouldn’t have to be,” Larissa said. “I mean, sports bra and leggings, that’d work, and footy shorts and singlets for the guys, we could say that. But it’d have to be optional. You could put it to the students.” Several of the headmasters laughed for that; they knew what the students would say about that.

Back to their headmaster who said, “Larissa was right when she mentioned Louise, by the way. Louise has just started working for us, in a fitness and wellness role, and also to do coaching for us.” He smiled at the surprised look on Louise’s face. “Louise and I have been talking about this but Louise, this is your official notification that it’s all approved now, and you start as soon as you’re ready. I’m super excited to have Louise working with us, and the students are flipping out about it. I want you to know that while Louise is settling in at this school, she’s available to support all your schools with this campaign or other wellness related activities. But you can’t have her for coaching.” The other headmasters laughed at the way he said that least bit.

The other headmasters were thrilled by that, Larissa could see, and she gave Louise a pleased congratulatory smile.

“Larissa, I’m David from Mirboo North High School.” Right out there in the sticks, the ones that the rest of them looked down on. She smiled at him. “All of us know what’s going on, so I don’t see how we can’t be all in for this. I know that some of the parents will have a big problem with parts of it, and with some of Larissa’s history, but we’ve got no choice but to go with this. Bob, I want to thank you for your support, I really believe it’s going to be critical. But can I ask you to split the prize up, so it’s got more coverage over the students, rather than a single prize?”

“Sure, we can talk about how to best do it for your school. I want to do whatever you think gives the biggest impact, the best outcome.”

“Umm,” said another teacher, a rough looking one, “I’m Terry from Orbost. I don’t know you, Bob, but this whole dry bar thing ... how can I believe that you won’t turn that into a way to encourage kids to attend your bottle stores, a way to actually encourage drinking?”

Bob nodded. “That’s a perfectly reasonable question, and I’m not sure I have a better answer than trust me. However, I can tell you several things. First of all, on Wednesday I sat in that meeting at Canberra that Larissa was at, and listened to the Minister of Finance outline a new tax that they’re introducing that will hammer bottle stores and other licensed facilities unless they are reconfigured to include a significant line of non-alcohol based entertainment supplies, in which case they’ll be exempt. That tax is almost certain to get through, and will force me to make long term changes to the nature of the bottle shops anyway, though they’ll certainly still sell alcohol as long as people want to buy it. Now, of course, what I’m doing definitely is a plan to encourage kids to buy their entertainment supplies from us, so yes, that part’s true. But not to buy alcohol. That’s a promise. And none of this is being done in secret. You’ll all be watching me, as will my staff and the local journalists, I can’t afford to let the outcome you’re worrying about happen. I’ll be putting my promise on record up and down the valley as part of this campaign. And the scariest person watching me is Larissa, because she’ll tear me apart me if that happens. Believe me, she’s a formidable woman who’s beyond corruption. But I’ve already told you I count her as a daughter, so why should you believe that?” He shrugged. “You’ll have to exercise your own judgement.”

Terry looked sceptical. “That’s nearly a good answer. But do you really think that tax will get through? You don’t think the industry will fight that?”

“Ordinarily, I would expect that they’d fight and win. Money talks, right? You know how the world works, and so do I. But not this time, I think. In the meeting, the usual suspects started down the path of fighting the new tax when the minister outlined the details, and in response she put it to them, get on board with the program, or we’ll crucify you in public for being in support of domestic violence, and when one of them, chair of the board of a huge brewery company, he still didn’t get it, so Larissa proceeded to destroy him on the spot. I predict he’ll get sacked from his board position within six months. One thing you should not doubt is Larissa.”

“Wow,” Tamara whispered to her. “I want to hear that story!”

Terry was nodding, that made sense. He looked around at the other teachers. “Do you buy that? We can depend on that for our kids welfare?” He got nods, and the opinion that it wouldn’t be worse anyway even if Bob was lying, so he turned back to Bob and said, “Thanks. And thanks for letting me ask a really hard question there.”

“No problem,” Bob said. “I understand your concern. Thanks for thinking about your kids. I’ve heard how much you care for them, the programs you run for them.” Terry looked surprised and pleased with that response.

“Larissa,” another asked, “Janie from Maffra. Can I go back to the question of parental approval? I don’t know much about you, but David said that parents often object to you. Why’s that?”

“Well, I’ve been speaking to schools quite a bit since I rescued Lacey. While I do talk about rescuing Lacey, what I really talk about is not drinking, and building solid friendships to help you resist or recover from sexual coercion, sexual abuse and bad family relationships. If you google me, you’ll find videos of me in my underwear, I’m known for that, and we quite famously danced in our underwear at my wedding and put that on YouTube. And you can find a picture of me kissing a girl rather passionately, though she’s only a friend. I just like kissing people. But now I’m winding things up significantly, and saying, reject alcohol and pursue great sex instead. Parents who think that neither alcohol or sex are on the table tend to be bothered by me, and won’t like that. And I can understand that a bit, because the sex not alcohol message is for adults. For high school students, it’ll be, you can’t afford to drink at all, even if you think you’re getting away with it. Instead, build good relationships, and grow into sex responsibly. So I think that mostly parents are responding to the overall optics, which is that I’m generally viewed as pro-sex, and they somehow think that they can bury their head in the sand on that issue.”

“Anyway, what typically happens is that the school says that any parent that wants can write for the school not to let their student watch me, and then at the last minute they leave it to the students to do the right thing, which means that they pretty much all come and watch me anyway. I know there’s a few of you from Christian schools here, and I want you to know that I’m talking about my campaign at the youth group of my own church tonight, and I am able to modulate my message accordingly, but for a lot of parents, it just doesn’t matter.”

She got some pretty thoughtful looks for that.

Then for a few minutes the discussion veered into curriculum, and then one of the headmasters asked Bob about fostering joint programs between the schools and local businesses, and they came up with some pretty good ideas.

Then her headmaster said, “OK. Larissa has another meeting now, a private one with our school captains and leaders, and then she and Tamara are talking to the whole school. While she’s meeting with the leadership, you’re welcome to talk to Louise or Bob’s team, and you’re very welcome to stay for the assembly. Larissa, Tamara, come with me.”

The headmaster led her to another class room where a bunch of students were waiting for her. She actually recognised one of them, cousin of a friend or something, but she didn’t know the rest. She shook each of their hands, and Tamara followed her around. “Thanks for coming to meet with Tamara and I,” she said to them, though she could see that they were all super keen for this meeting. She gathered them around in a circle, just her, Tamara, and the twelve leaders with her. The headmaster stayed in the background, listening. “Do any of you know what I’m doing here today?”

Yes, most of them had some idea. One of the two school captains, a girl named Ebony, told her about the campaign - what she’d read in the magazine. “Right - that’s it. We’re launching that campaign today, and that’s why I’m here with Tamara, who’s launching it with me on TV tonight. So we’re about to talk to the school, explain it to them, encourage all the kids to live differently. Tell me, do you guys know why we need to do that, to take on the problem of alcohol?” She looked around the circle at each of them. They were nodding their heads quietly. “Right. You all know. You’re drinking, or your friends are drinking. And you’ve seen people get shitfaced.” Yes. “And you’ve seen or heard of kids who got in trouble, hurt a lot, because if it.” Yes. “Doing sex they shouldn’t be.” Yes, that too, for most of them.

“OK. We’re declaring war on alcohol. I’m the face of the war, and Tamara’s in on it too. Tonight, on TV, Tamara’s going to take a pledge with me. Tamara, tell them about it.”

“Tonight, kids, Tony and I - you know him from dancing with the stars - and I are going to declare on national TV that we’ll never drink again, and instead of drinking, we’re going to drown in sex. As much sex, and as good sex, as we can figure out how to have. Both of us are pretty high profile.” The kids grinned at her for that, they were indeed. “So I know we’re going to get a lot of attention for that.”

“Thanks Tamara. Now I’m not asking you to take that pledge. Of course, I think it would be good for you all, even those who are not old enough for sex or drinking yet. But I’m not asking you to do that. But I am asking each of you to take a leadership role, to support the campaign, and model acting in the right way for the other kids around you.” She looked at each of them again. “I’m not asking you for easy here. I know that. But think about what’s at stake. Now we’re going to talk to the school now, and then afterwards, we’re going to talk to just you again, in detail, about what I’m asking you to do. But you know enough, right now, to decide whether you’ll wear a ribbon on your arm while I talk. I’d like you to do that, and I’ll draw attention to that during my talk. For now, all you’re saying is, I think the campaign is a good idea.”

Tamara pulled out the box of ribbon’s she’d brought with her. In the footy club colours, and Larissa had been astonished when she saw them - they had the words “The Larissa Pledge: Nothing but our Best!” cut into them, the official words they’d agreed to the day before. Some machine the club had, Tamara told her.

“They’re in Tamara’s footy club colours, if you can bring yourself to wear them. If you’ll wear the ribbon, take one, and get someone else to tie it with a nice bow to your left upper arm.” Tamara went around the group, handing out ribbons. They all took one, and got their gender partner captain to tie it on them. While they were doing that, Tamara and Larissa did each other’s. “All of you,” Larissa said, looking at them. “Thank you very much, that means a lot to me. Let’s go.”

“Larissa,” Ebony said, “wait!” She turned to the other kids. “Does anyone else here remember Larissa being at school here? Not just when she came last year to talk to us, but when she was a student?” A couple of the older students remembered, yes. “And what were she and her friends known for?” No, they didn’t want to say. “You’re going to talk about this, right, Larissa?” She nodded, she definitely was, but she didn’t realise kids here would remember that well. “Larissa and her friends were famous for drinking and fucking, and being pregnant at school.” Well, no wonder they remembered. It hadn’t been quite so obvious from inside the circle, she guessed. “I remember sitting in a bus behind Larissa and her friend, and her friend was complaining that she wished she wasn’t pregnant so she could still drink.” Larissa looked at her in surprise. She didn’t remember that, but it was definitely believable. “But being able to fuck anyone made up for it.” Even more believable, Larissa shook her head in amazement. “How times have changed! Larissa, thanks for coming, and doing the campaign, and I’m really looking forward to this, you’re awesome. I’m very proud to wear your ribbon!”