“And you should. I’ll go with you to take it to the police tomorrow. I want you to file a formal complaint because it’s obvious from what you told me that whoever did this did try to run you over and that’s attempted murder, Vanessa, so it should be reported.”
“And I will report it,” I replied. “Oh, and there was another fuckin’ red rose in my vase when I got in!”
She shrieked! “Vanessa! No!”
“Yeah, there was! But this time I didn’t throw it away. When I got home, I put on my mom’s gardening gloves because there were thorns on it, and put it was well in a bag. I’m gonna have it tested, too, because I believe it was put there by the same person who tried to run me over and threw the can at me.”
“Good for you, Vanessa.”
I took a sip of my water as she stared at me. “What?”
“Do you have anyone in mind that you think might have done this?”
“I really can’t think of anyone. The car was not recognizable. Look, I know I’m in this secret relationship with Brad now, but I don’t think it was John because that was not his car, and I know that he doesn’t know that I’m secretly seeing Brad now, but I do have the feeling that he could know that I could be seeing someone.”
“What if it was him, Vanessa?”
“Well, we’ll know from the can because it has the person’s DNA on it — but I don’t know about the rose because it has thorns on it so they might’ve worn gloves. Like I said, I’m glad we had the DNA Day yesterday along with my interest in DNA, or I would’ve never thought about collecting the can that the person was stupid enough to throw out of their car, or the rose that the person was stupid enough to leave in my car again. Maybe it wasn’t anyone that I knew when it comes to the can; maybe it was just some maniac. You know the way people speed through those parking lots, that’s why they need to have speed bumps everywhere in them. But the rose definitely seems more personal, so by sheer coincidence it could’ve been two separate people.”
She smiled. “I agree, Vanessa. So, are you gonna tell your parents about this?”
“I don’t know — should I?”
“I think you should. I mean, you could’ve gotten very hurt tonight.”
“You’re right, I could’ve. I’ll tell them, then.”
She continued to stare at me.
“What?” I asked.
“Are you gonna tell Brad?”
I sighed. “I thought about that, and I decided that I’ll tell him, too. I mean, I have to admit that being in this secret relationship and those secret texts has me on edge and even jumpy about everything and everyone, but I didn’t jump on the hood of my car because I was hallucinating about that car coming right at me — it was coming right at me — and I know that I would be as flat as a pancake if I didn’t run and jump on the hood of my car.”
“Please don’t say that, Vanessa, that hurts me to even think about it,” she said with her head lowered.
“It’s okay, Ava. As you see, I’m here. Nothing bad is gonna happen to me, you, or anyone else, okay? Like I said, I’ll tell my parents and Brad, and we can go to the cops tomorrow to report it and I’ll give them the can and the rose so they can send it to a lab for DNA testing.” I let out a sigh.
She looked at me. “What is it?”
I held up the plastic bag and looked at the can in it. “I have to admit something about this can.”
“What about it?”
“That this is the soda that John drinks. I see him drinking it at school and he always has cans of it in his car as well as in his bedroom when I would always go to his house. But then again, millions of people drink this brand so I can’t go jumping to conclusions.”
“True, Vanessa. But just remember, you did end your secret relationship with John to stay in a secret one with Brad, even though he doesn’t know that you did.”
“And he’s never gonna know. But that wasn’t John’s car. Like I said, I have no idea whose car that was — it was totally unrecognizable. I haven’t even seen any cars like that in the student parking lot at school so I really don’t know.”
“Well, that can in that bag right there will tell us everything we need to know, and hopefully that rose will, too.”
I nodded. “It sure will.”
An hour later, I sat at the kitchen table as I told my parents what happened to me after work.
“I don’t know, Vanessa, that sounded intentional. You’re not fooling around with any girl’s boyfriend at school, are you?” Dad asked.
“Cliff!” Mom said.
“Well, Janet, I’m just asking,” Dad said.
“What?! No! I’ve never done that and I never will!” I lied, as I tried so hard to show that I was offended by what he’d said. But he was right, I was seeing another girl’s boyfriend in secret, but I didn’t consider myself to have been fooling around with him because I feel that what Brad and I have is special, even though it’s in secret because we know it has to be, but I wasn’t counting on it being in secret forever . . . and neither was he.
Dad gave me a look of suspicion. “Well, because of what happened, I don’t want you working there anymore. You know that I don’t like you working at night and walking out to your car by yourself.”
I shrieked! “What the hell?! I like working there! Then what am I gonna do for money, huh?”
“We’ll give you an allowance starting this week. You are to call them tomorrow and quit — that’s the end of it,” Dad said.
I looked at Mom; she nodded with a slight smile. “Well, okay. I guess this’ll take away some of the stress that I’ve been under.”
“Glad to hear it,” Dad said. “And I want you to file a report with the police about what happened. I want this on their records that there’s a possibility of some sick predator trying to run down teen girls — you just don’t know who that could’ve been, Vanessa.”
“And since you said that you didn’t recognize the car, honey, he’s right,” Mom said.
“I know. I told Ava that I’m gonna file a report tomorrow after school. I’m still a little shaken by it,” I said.
“You can stay home tomorrow if you need to so you can rest,” Dad said.
“It’s not often that I hear that from the two of you, but I’m okay so I’ll go to school tomorrow,” I replied with a smile.
They nodded as they smiled back at me in complete surprise.
Several minutes later, I was up in my bedroom as I continued to think about what had happened to me. I didn’t think I’d ever be convinced that the person driving that car did not intentionally try to hit me. I sat on my bed as I looked at my phone. I went to Brad’s name and called him because I really needed to talk to him about this.
“Hey, baby. What’s up?” Brad said.
“Hey, Brad,” I said. I let out a long sigh.
“Vanessa? What’s wrong, baby?” he asked in a very concerned tone.
“Brad, if I tell you, you can’t tell anyone. I just wanna let you know that I did tell Ava and my parents about it, but I just don’t want anyone else to know about it right now.”
“You told your parents? If you told them then it must be something serious. What happened, baby?”
I let out another sigh. “Brad, when I got off of work tonight and was walking to my car, someone tried to run me down.”
“WHAT?!” he shouted.
“I swear I’m not kidding, Brad. The person was coming at me at a high rate of speed and this was in the damn mall parking lot! I had to jump on the hood of my car to get out of their way, Brad! Then, they made a very sharp U-turn and came back towards me and threw out a can when they did, and I think they tried to hit me with it since they didn’t hit me with their car. I watched until the car was out of sight, and then I got into my car, and there was another fuckin’ red rose in my vase!”
“Oh, shit!”
“Yeah, that’s what I said! But I didn’t throw it away this time; I didn’t even touch it. I was about to drive off, but something told
me to get that can that the person threw out of their car, and I would’ve never even thought about doing that if it wasn’t for my interest in DNA and the DNA Day we had at school just yesterday, all thanks to you. I have the can and the rose and I’m gonna go to the cops tomorrow and report it after school because my parents and Ava want me to, and Ava’s coming with me.”
He let out a long, deep sigh. “Damn, Vanessa. I’m so sorry that happened to you. Did you get a good look at the car?”
“I got as good of a look as I could get of it, but I couldn’t make out the license plate number. It looked like a new car, but not an expensive one. It was small in size and dark in color — like a midnight navy blue or black — but I don’t know for sure about the color. The windows were deeply tinted so there was no way I could see who was driving. I was just so shocked that it’d happened that I thought that it was some maniac speeding and almost lost control — maybe it was. But we’ll find out from the DNA on the can and rose.”
“That’s exactly right, Vanessa. I can’t help but to think that this was intentional, too, and I’m gonna see what I can find out. I hate to start suspecting people, but you know since we’re in this secret relationship we just have to be more aware of our surroundings.”
“You’re right about that, Brad. But I even told Ava that even though it was not John’s car, I can’t help but to think that he could know that I’m seeing someone else even though I told him that I wasn’t.”
“Well, he can’t prove anything, Vanessa. He’s still pissed off at you for ending it with him, even though he tries not to show it.”
“How do you know?”
“I notice the way he’s been looking at you since you broke it off with him when you don’t notice that he is. When he sees you in the halls at school, he would shake his head or smirk, but he wouldn’t say anything to me or to any of his other friends about you.”
I nodded. “Yeah, that’s to be expected.”
“What time did this happen at tonight?”
“A little bit after seven-thirty,” I replied.
“John was supposed to meet me at my house around seven o’clock so we could watch a football game; I’m still waiting for him to show up. I called him and texted him and he hasn’t responded to any of them.”
I gasped! I couldn’t believe it! “Oh, my God! Please, don’t tell me . . .”
“Vanessa, we don’t know if he had anything to do with what happened to you tonight.”
I heard his doorbell ring.
“Hold on, baby,” he said.
“Okay,” I replied.
“Vanessa! It’s John!” he said in a whisper. “I’m gonna answer this and put you on speaker so you can hear him while I ask him where was he around seven-thirty, so stay quiet until I take you off of speaker. Hold on, okay?”
“Okay,” I replied. I was very nervous.
“What’s up, man?” Brad said.
“Hey,” John said.
I could hear him walking inside of Brad’s house.
“Where were you? You were supposed to be over here at seven, man. I tried to call you and text you for over an hour,” Brad asked.
I continued to listen intensely because I wanted to hear what John had to say.
“Sorry, man. I was studying for a test in my Neurobehavioral Sciences class — I have a A+ average in this class and I wanna keep it that way since you know I wanna be a neurosurgeon, man.”
“Then you’re excused,” Brad said.
“Who are you talking to, man?” John asked!
Brad looked at his phone; he switched it off the speaker. “Oh, shit! Lisa? Are you still there?”
“Yes, I’m still here,” I said, obviously pretending to be Lisa.
“John is here so I’m gonna go, baby. I’ll call you before I go to bed tonight,” Brad said.
“Okay,” I said with a grin.
“Bye, baby,” Brad said.
“Bye,” I replied with a grin, and then hung up. I just couldn’t get myself to fully believe that it wasn’t John who tried to run me over tonight because it was obvious that he was supposed to be over at Brad’s and he said that he forgot about them watching a game together because he was studying for a test? I needed more proof that he was at home studying because with everything that had been going on since I broke off the secret relationship with him, I just couldn’t rule him out in the least bit . . . only DNA was gonna do that.
Hours later, as I laid in bed looking at my phone since I couldn’t get to sleep, a call came through on it — it was Brad. “Hey, Brad. Shouldn’t you be in bed?”
“I am in bed, baby, and I wish you were in it with me,” he said in a soft, sexy tone.
“Stop it, Brad. You drive me nuts when you sound like this over the phone and especially when you tell me that you’re in bed and that you wish I was in it with you.”
He laughed quietly. “I know, baby. But I told you I was gonna call you later.”
I grinned. “Actually, you told Lisa that — I was pretending to be her.”
He laughed quietly again. “No, I was really telling you that,” he stressed.
“Oh, okay. I believe you,” I said with a smile. “So, you didn’t tell John what happened to me, right?”
“Not at all, baby. It’s none of his business unless it was him who did it, and since you collected that can, we’ll find out soon enough.”
“Brad, I just can’t shake the fact that it could not have been him, I don’t know why. It wasn’t his car, but that doesn’t mean that he wasn’t driving someone else’s. I just don’t want this to happen to me again. I forgot to tell you when I called you about it that my parents are making me quit my job, and I’m gonna do that tomorrow after school after I go to the police to report what happened and to drop off the can and rose so they can test it for DNA.”
“Sounds good, baby. You know I’ll take care of you; I told you that the first time you were over my house, remember?”
I smiled. “Yes, I remember.”
“And I really mean that. Listen, I’ll see if John really has a test tomorrow in that class that he has. I know the teacher since I had him for two classes in these past years there, so I’ll look him up tomorrow at school while I’m in my office and see if he’s gonna be giving a test tomorrow in the class that John has with him. John told me that he’s averaging an A+ in that class — can you believe that?!”
“Yeah, I can. He’s very smart. We both know that he wants to be a neurosurgeon, but what we both don’t know is if he knows that we’re seeing each other in secret now.”
“You’re right, baby, we don’t know. But I don’t think he knows because I think we’re being pretty discreet about this, so you know we have to unfortunately continue this until I talk to Lisa about calling it quits.”
I gasped! “So you’re really gonna do it, huh?”
He sighed. “Well, we’ve been having so many problems in this past year that I feel that we should’ve ended things before we even started our senior year.”
“Wow! I’m surprised to hear this, I have to admit. The two of you aren’t the type that yell at each other all the time and always making a scene, but I can tell at times that you’re not happy.”
“You’re right, I’m not happy in my relationship with her anymore and I haven’t been for quite a long time — but it’s not that easy to break it off, especially since we’ve been together since our freshman year. I feel that I’m not happy in it anymore because I feel that I should’ve always been with you.”
I gasped when he said this! I couldn’t even hide it! “Wow. That’s deep, Brad. Like I told Ava, I feel like I’ve wasted so many years not being with you, but we’re together now, even though it’s in secret. But I can’t help but to think that after what happened to me tonight that someone doesn’t want us to be together.”
“I know, baby. But like you said, we’re together even though it’s in secret — but you have to trust me in the fact that we’re not gonna be in secret like thi
s forever.”
“I trust you, Brad.”
“Great. Also, could you do me a favor in terms of going to the cops tomorrow to report your incident and to give them that can and rose?”
“What is it?”
“Could you go in the morning before school starts? I wanna hear about it. I’ll get Ava excused for first period, but I’ll get you excused for the first two periods.”
“Why for second period?”
“Because I wanna spend some time alone with you in my office,” he said in that sexy tone.
“Shit, Brad! Don’t make me have to wipe my Whoa! as Ava says, okay?”
He laughed quietly. “Sorry, I try not to! That Ava and her sex sayings!”
“Yeah, she’s invented a lot of them!” I said with a laugh. “Okay, I’ll text Ava and tell her to meet me at the police station tomorrow morning before school. So I take it that we’re gonna talk in your private office?”
“That’s right, baby. Business before pleasure . . .”
“Brad!” I chuckled.
He laughed. “Well, I’m gonna get to sleep now, baby. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”
“Okay. Good night, Brad.”
“Good night, beautiful.”
After I got off the phone with him, I immediately texted Ava and told her to meet me at the police station before school, and all because Brad said that he was gonna get us excused for the first period . . . but decided to tell her later that he got me excused for second period also because he wanted to be alone with me in his office. She told me that she could already see the benefits of seeing Brad, even though it was in secret.
I stared up at the ceiling as I smiled. What could’ve potentially turned out to be a horrible day turned out not to be that bad, and I knew that it all had to do with Brad. Even though we were in a secret relationship and I didn’t know how long we were gonna be like this, I didn’t mind it at all because he definitely made it worth it.
I jumped at the chime of my phone. There was a text from that secret person! Next time you won’t be missed. I began to hyperventilate since I knew that this person knew what happened to me in the mall parking lot tonight, and now I was convinced that it was John since he was supposed to be at Brad’s during the time that this happened to me. I started to shake as I squeezed the phone in my hand as hard as I could since I didn’t wanna throw it since it was brand new. I tried to calm myself down because I knew that since I got the person’s DNA that I’d know who did this in no time because with DNA, there are no secrets.
School, Sex and Secrets (School, Sex and Secrets #1) Page 12
