School, Sex and Secrets (School, Sex and Secrets #1)

by Sheila Michelle

  “YOU ARE OUT OF LINE, LISA! I DON’T HAVE TO TELL YOU ANYTHING!” Brad yelled back.

  “YES YOU DO! I’M YOUR GIRLFRIEND! NOT VANESSA! I HAVE THE FUCKIN’ RIGHT TO KNOW!” Lisa yelled as she started to cry.

  “Lisa, calm down, okay? Like I mentioned before, you know things haven’t been good between us and we haven’t even talked about it. It’s obvious that neither one of us are happy with each other so we need to stop pretending that we are. We need to realize that this relationship between us will not last if we’re not honest with each other, so I’m gonna be honest with you. Yes, I have been seeing Vanessa — I’m not gonna lie about that — we started seeing each other over two months ago. Don’t blame Vanessa because I pursued her; she even turned me down at first because she thought about you.”

  “Oh, how thoughtful,” Lisa sarcastically replied.

  “Well, she did; you can believe it or not. I just started to tell her how I felt about her but that I still have feelings for you as well, otherwise, I would’ve ended things between us a lot sooner.”

  “You can’t have both of us, Brad,” Lisa said as she wiped her eyes.

  “Yeah, I know that, Lisa. But c’mon now, let’s be real. We’re not in love with each other, and you’ve cheated on me, too, so don’t go blaming all of that cheating shit on me.”

  “Yeah, I did, Brad. But I haven’t cheated on you since last year and I’ve apologized for it a million times.”

  “I know you said that you were sorry to me for it, but that proved to me that you don’t love me. Lisa, you know we don’t love each other,” Brad said.

  Lisa didn’t respond to him; I found this very interesting. She probably didn’t love him, but I felt that she still wanted to be with him. But it appeared to me and to everyone else that Brad was trying to end things between the two of them, so everything he told me regarding the both of them was indeed the truth.

  “This has been coming for a long time, Lisa, and you know it — it’s no surprise to us or to anyone — so you know what’s the best thing that we can do now.”

  Lisa just stared at him for a second. She then took off a silver necklace and a ring off of her right ring finger and handed it to him. “Let’s just call this what it is, then,” she said.

  Brad put the jewelry in his pocket. “Okay, let’s do it.”

  Everyone was dead quiet.

  “It’s officially over between us; we’re both agreeing to this, right?” Lisa said.

  “Yes we are. It’s over. Bye, Lisa,” Brad said. He then opened his car door and put the jewelry inside it. He shut the door, locked it, and walked back inside the shop as Marc, Ken, and Zac followed him.

  John didn’t follow him; instead, he walked toward his car as he continued to stare at me very coldly. He got into his car and left. I knew he was very pissed off that I was in fact seeing Brad in secret, and I knew that there was no doubt in his mind now that I’d ended the secret relationship that I had with him just to get into one with Brad.

  Seconds later, Lisa was standing by her car as she cried uncontrollably as Natalie tried her best to console her. I watched her as I was just as stunned as everyone else that she and Brad had officially broken up, and I felt that it was all my fault.

  Ava looked at me. “Whoa! I can’t believe what I just witnessed! Now that’s something I didn’t think I would ever see in person!”

  I continued to stare at Lisa. “I’m shocked as well. I honestly didn’t know when they were gonna break up; I especially didn’t expect it to be tonight. I feel that this is all my fault, Ava.”

  “Vanessa, don’t blame yourself. This was bound to happen with the two of them. And Lisa was right, you are the one that he’s always wanted; you see how he didn’t say anything when she said that.”

  I sighed. “I know, but I still feel guilty.”

  “I wouldn’t feel guilty at all. Lisa wasn’t faithful to him and you see how she admitted it. Even though she tried to act as if her unfaithfulness only happened last year, there’s been a lot shit going around that she’s cheated on him a lot since then. They didn’t need to be together anymore. Do you wanna go back inside now?”

  “Yeah, maybe we should. I’m just gonna leave Brad alone. I don’t think he expected for him and Lisa to break up tonight.”

  “Well, you heard him; it was coming for a long time. I told you at the beginning of the school year that there was nothing left between them, and it’s good now that they both finally came to grips with it.”

  “But I’m scared, Ava. John was looking at me like he knew from the start that Brad was the reason why I ended the secret relationship that I had with him; he has never looked at me like that before. I feel so bad and guilty. Lisa really put me and Brad’s secret relationship on blast tonight so I know people aren’t saying good things about me, and what can I really say about it?”

  “Well, in terms of John, you told him that you didn’t want a serious relationship with him, so as hard as it’s gonna be for him, he needs to know that you obviously had stronger feelings for Brad than for him. It’s fucked up how he found out about the two of you, but I think in time he’ll get over it.”

  I sighed. “I hope so.”

  “And in terms of what people think of you? Well, they don’t know the whole story, only what they heard tonight about Lisa yelling about the fact that you were the one that Brad has always wanted. There’s nothing that anyone can really say about you or about him because you two are the ones that should’ve been together all along, not him and Lisa.”

  I sighed with a nod. “I wish that everyone will see it that way, but unfortunately, not everyone is going to.”

  “Well, fuck them. Who cares?” she said with a grin.

  I chuckled as we still stood outside as we still kept our distance from Lisa as Natalie still tried to talk to her as she still cried with her head buried in her left arm as it leaned on the top of the driver’s side door. I knew that she blamed me some for their breakup — I would be damned if she didn’t — and if she did, I couldn’t blame her because I would blame me, too. I looked back inside the shop and saw Brad talking to his friends, but I could see that he was clearly upset about the breakup, but it would’ve surprised me if he wasn’t because nearly four years was a long time to be with someone. “Okay, let’s go back inside,” I said to Ava.

  We turned around and started walking towards the door.

  “VANESSA!”

  Ava and I turned back around.

  “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

  It was Lisa!

  Ava looked at me.

  “Sure, Lisa,” I said, and walked over to her.

  Ava and Natalie walked back inside the shop, but they stood inside by the door as they watched us.

  Lisa and I stood staring at each other. I was waiting for her to say something first because I didn’t wanna say the wrong thing.

  “I just wanna say that I don’t fully blame you for what went on between you and Brad. I know he came on to you first and that he has liked you since freshman year. I may have been in denial about it, but I’m not stupid. He didn’t think I noticed or didn’t care about him looking at you all of these years and talking about you to me and his friends as well; I just never said anything because after all, I didn’t wanna lose him. I may have had him, but to me, I feel like he’s always wanted to be with you. I honestly felt like I was his second choice, but I was happy to be that than to not be his choice at all. I mean, he is Brad Johnston, and there is no way any girl would turn down a chance to be his girlfriend. I felt lucky to be with him for these years, even though he cheated on me, and as you heard, yes, I cheated on him. But there was something about being with him; I felt that I had so much power being his girlfriend — but it’s obvious that I was powerless against a girl that he has always liked, which is you. I’m actually very surprised that the two of you didn’t start seeing each other sooner. I’m hurting over this breakup and I will be for a while, but I’ll be fine.”

&nb
sp; I was completely shocked at the way Lisa had just poured her heart out to me over all of this. I thought she was really gonna cuss me out or give me a nice punch in the face because if I was her, I would’ve. “Lisa, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know that Brad liked me as much as he did until he told me himself. I always asked about you, and I believe he felt bad about cheating on you. And he even said that he was probably gonna be with you for a while still, so I’m surprised that you two officially ended things tonight.”

  “Well, he was right. There was nothing left between us, and for these past few months we’d been spending less and less time together. I admit to cheating on him more because there were rumors going around that you both were secretly seeing each other, and when I got the video of the two of you dancing at Sparkle on my phone and then the one of the two of you kissing in the school parking lot, I pretty much knew it was over between the two of us, even though I tried so hard to make our relationship work. My last efforts to hold on to him obviously failed, showing me that our relationship was beyond repair; he obviously didn’t wanna work anything out.”

  “Again, Lisa, I’m so sorry. Can I see those videos that were sent to you?”

  She showed me both videos; I was shocked. It was in fact the one that she was yelling at him about earlier — the one of me dick-teasing dancing with Brad that first night we met up with each other at Sparkle. The second one showed Brad as he walked up to me while I was waiting for him in the parking lot after school like he told me to do earlier that day, and then us just talking . . . and then kissing. The videos looked like what they were; he was definitely cheating on her with me. “Do you know who sent these to you? Oh, my God! I didn’t know someone was video-recording us both times!”

  “No, I don’t. They were sent to me anonymously, and I don’t know if they were sent by the same person or two different people. The one from Sparkle was sent to me when I was at the movies and while you all were still there; I just didn’t say anything to Brad about it. That’s actually the real reason why I wanted to go to Sparkle with him that next night. When he told me that he was going there, I knew he was going there to see you because he used to never like going there. Then, when I saw you, I knew it was true. I tried so hard to act like I didn’t know what was going on. I admit, Vanessa, I was really trying to make you jealous because I wanted you to know that Brad was mine and that you weren’t getting him.”

  “I was jealous, Lisa, believe me. And I have a secret I need to tell you about that night because I won’t be able to live with myself if I don’t.”

  “What is it?”

  I took a deep breath. “I’m the one who pushed you off the stage. Lisa, I’m so sorry.”

  She smiled at me! “You’re forgiven. I guess I deserved it because I was making you jealous on purpose. I would’ve probably did it to you if it was the other way around. Thanks for the confession.”

  “Thanks, Lisa. I’m glad I didn’t hurt you; I really thought I did. I don’t know what came over me that night because I usually never act like that.”

  “I know you don’t but I provoked you so it’s okay, really. But in terms of the other video that was sent to me, it had to have been someone out in the parking lot that was sitting in their car that you both couldn’t see. But this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I didn’t wanna keep getting these videos of the two of you together, and I felt like I was gonna lose it when I was sent the second one. I waited this long to confront Brad because like I said before, I was trying my damn hardest to make our relationship work, but as the weeks went on, it just got worse. But I wanted to wait until tonight to confront Brad about these videos since he told me that he was coming here, but I didn’t know if he was coming here to see you or not. When I got here and saw you, I have to admit that I felt like losing it on you as well, but I wanted to talk to him first.”

  I nodded with a smile. “And if you did, I would not have been able to blame you one single bit.”

  She nodded with a sigh. “Well, I won’t be seeing much of Brad because I’m switching my locker with one of his teammates; it’s just a step that I have to take with moving on. Oh, and don’t be surprised if Brad asks you to be his girlfriend tomorrow — you can say yes — I’m not gonna be mad. This has been coming for a long time and I knew that I was gonna have to face it one day.”

  I was shocked! I couldn’t believe that she was saying this! “This is all so unbelievable to me in lots of ways. I thought you and Brad would be together throughout high school and years beyond. Like I said, he told me that he just didn’t know if things between the two of you would end, but now that they have, I think he’s gonna wanna take some time to be by himself.”

  She smiled. “You don’t know Brad; he doesn’t like to wait on things. But what I’ve always meant to ask you is did he buy you those platinum hoop earrings?”

  I looked down at the ground. “Yes, he did,” I confessed. I was glad I wasn’t wearing them tonight for fear that she would’ve probably ripped them out of my ears — but now since we were talking like this, I didn’t believe that she would do that.

  Once again, she nodded with a sigh. “I knew it. You know, I did ask him that this week and he denied it, naturally, but he doesn’t have to deny anything to me anymore,” she said. She pulled her purse out of her car; she dug into it. “Before I forget . . . here,” she said, as she handed me my lipgloss!

  I tried not to look stunned as I stared at it. “Um . . . that’s not mine,” I lied.

  She stared at me like she knew that I was lying. “Actually, Vanessa, it is — take it.”

  “Lisa, it’s not mine,” I said, trying to sound firm. But the more firm I sounded, the more I sounded like I was lying . . . and I was.

  She looked down in her purse and pulled out a piece of paper. “I think this should clear up your beliefs,” she said, and then handed me the paper.

  I took the paper from her, unfolded it, and read it; I almost dropped it. On it was the DNA test results on the lipgloss! The paper clearly stated that the test had concluded that the DNA on the item in question matches Vanessa Ellis . . . me. There was no way that I could dispute this and I wasn’t even gonna try. I continued to stare down at the paper; I slowly looked up at Lisa as she stared back at me. “Where did you find it at?”

  “Underneath Brad’s desk . . . in his office at school,” she informed me as she continued to stare at me. I knew she wanted me to admit that I was underneath the desk that day.

  I tried not to gasp. I didn’t even realize that I’d lost it since it was a color that I only wore with the hoodie that I’d worn that day, and hadn’t worn it since. It obviously fell out of my pocket while I was sitting underneath his desk. “I’m sorry, Lisa.”

  She continued to stare at me. “I felt that I needed some hard, concrete proof that you and Brad were with each other that day in his office, so I went back in there the next day before classes started and snooped around in it. Since I have my own key, it was easy for me to go in there anytime I wanted. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but something was telling me that I was gonna find something . . . and I did. So you were obviously hiding underneath the desk that day?”

  I sighed as I looked at the ground. “Yeah, Lisa, I was,” I finally confessed.

  She nodded as she continued to stare at me. “Well, if you wanna know, I was gonna confront you about finding your lipgloss underneath Brad’s desk that day that I found it, but I wanted proof that it was yours so I had it tested for DNA, and they told me that the test results would take a few weeks since everyone at our school had given their DNA on that Monday. I told the lab that I only wanted the girls tested because since it was a lipgloss, it was obviously a girl’s DNA that was on it. I used some money that Brad had given me that I’d saved to have the personal test done since those tests are very expensive to get done for personal reasons — but I had to get it done. I knew that since the whole school had their DNA on file in the labs and police databases that I was gonna find ou
t whose it was. I mean, it could’ve been any girl’s, but I suspected that it was yours but I needed the proof, and I got it.”

  I nodded in shame. “I’m so sorry, Lisa,” I said for what it seemed like the hundredth time.

  “You don’t have to be sorry anymore, Vanessa. Brad’s all yours now,” she said, and then looked at her watch. She waved Natalie to come outside. “Well, I’m gonna get going. I have no reason to stay around here anymore. See you around school.” She opened the doors to her car as Natalie got in on the passenger’s side.

  “Okay, Lisa. Good night,” I said with a smile.

  She flashed me a not-so-genuine smile, and then backed out of the parking lot and left.

  Ava came walking towards me. “So, what did you guys talk about?”

  “Well, she said that she knew how long Brad has liked me and was surprised that us seeing each other didn’t start sooner. She said she didn’t blame me for their breakup, but I don’t know if I believe all of that. I even told her that it was me who pushed her off the stage that night.”

  “You did?! What did she say?”

  “She smiled and said that she forgave me — I would’ve punched me in the fuckin’ face if I was her.”

  She laughed. “Well, she didn’t so you did get lucky! What else did she say?”

  “She said she knew I was seeing Brad officially when she received that video of me dancing with him at Sparkle that first night we met him and Marc there. Then, she was about to lose it on him and me when she got the one of us kissing in the student parking lot. She said both videos were sent to her anonymously.”

  “Whoa! Oh, my God! Do you think you’ll ever find out who sent both of them?”

  “Who knows? It could be two people, then again, one person could’ve sent both of them,” I said. I looked at her. “But you won’t believe what she also found.”

  “What?”

  I pulled my lipgloss out of my purse. “This.”

  She gasped! “No way, Vanessa! Where did she find it at? And how did she know for sure that it was yours? It could’ve been any girl’s lipgloss!”