“I don’t want to,” I honestly said.
He laid back down. “C’mon, I’ll hold you, baby. I just don’t want you to leave here upset. Just calm down and then you can leave, okay?”
I looked at him. “Okay,” I said with a slight smile, and reluctantly laid back in bed with him.
“Get on top of me; I need to feel you on me,” he said.
I reluctantly got on top of him again and he wrapped his arms around me. I had to admit that his scent and the warmth of his body did calm me down . . . but just a little. Suddenly, the chime on my phone made me jump off of him! I grabbed my phone off of his nightstand. Already cheating on Brad, huh? I shrieked!
“What? What’s wrong?” he asked me.
I stood staring at the text; I was speechless. I looked at John as I was now a hundred percent convinced that it was not him that was sending me these texts because of the obvious — I was in bed with him when it came in. “I . . . I got another text from that secret person,” I finally told him.
He stared back at me. “Let me see it.”
My hand shook like crazy as I handed him my phone.
He looked at the text; he handed my phone back to me as I still stood by his bed. “Wow. Well, are you now convinced that it’s not me?”
I continued to stare at him in shock. “Yeah . . . I am,” I honestly replied. I walked over to his window and looked outside of it.
“What are you looking for?” he asked.
“The person who sent me this text, John! I don’t know who the fuck this is now since it’s now confirmed that it’s not you. They’re obviously right outside of your house since they said that I’m cheating on Brad, and I did!” I cried as I looked out the window. I looked every which way I could, but didn’t see anyone in sight or any cars that I recognized.
He got up out of bed and walked over to me. “Relax, Vanessa. C’mon, get back in bed.”
“I don’t wanna get back in bed, John! I did cheat on Brad with you! FUCK! This was so fuckin’ wrong!”
“The person who sent you that text has no proof that you did, now do they? Your car being over here proves nothing; it only proves that you’re over here — we could just be studying together.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that before!”
“Well, it’s true, though. They have nothing but your car being over here. Who knows who it could be, Vanessa. Is there someone else pissed off at you for being with Brad besides Lisa?”
I looked at him. “Do you think it’s Lisa?”
“I have no idea. If you believe that it’s her, then ask her,” he suggested.
I sighed as I walked back over to his bed and sat on the edge of it. I looked at the text again. “I just don’t think it’s Lisa; I just can’t explain it. I know she’s pissed about Brad and I being officially together now, but I can’t seem to convince myself that it’s her.”
“But you are a hundred percent convinced now that it’s not me, right?” he asked with a slight grin.
I looked at him. “Right, John. I’m sorry that I thought that it was you. I just need to find out who this is because now it’s really getting to me.” Suddenly, my phone rang; I looked at it to see who it was — it was Brad! I jumped up from John’s bed! “Hey, baby,” I said as I walked towards the window again because I wanted to see if he was outside of John’s house.
“Hey, beautiful. I just wanted to see how you were doing,” Brad said.
“I’m fine,” I replied as I tried not to sound nervous. I peeked out the window again, and once again, there was no one in sight.
“So, what were you doing before I called?” he asked.
I looked back at John; he continued to sit in bed as he smiled at me. “Just homework,” I lied as I continued to look at John; he smirked. “What were you doing?”
“Watching TV. I called you about twenty minutes ago, but I didn’t get an answer.”
“Oh, I had my ringer off so I could concentrate on my work. Sorry about that,” I said, hoping that he would believe what I’d said.
“No problem, baby. I need to do some homework myself. Do you want me to pick you up tomorrow?”
I smiled. “Sure, baby, that’s fine.”
“Okay, beautiful. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Okay. Good night, honey. Sleep well.”
“You too, baby. Good night.”
I hung up, and then walked back to John’s bed and sat at the edge of it. I looked at him as he continued to smile at me. “You had me as Brad’s girlfriend, John, and Brad can never know about this, okay? I mean it!”
“I know you mean it, Vanessa. I said that this is a new secret that we’ll keep between us, and I mean that.”
“I feel like I have to throw up,” I said, because I really felt like I had to. He got up and grabbed the trash can and sat it in front of me. I sat for a few seconds, and then grabbed the trash can fast and vomited all in it. I knew right then that I’d literally got physically sick for what I’d done.
“Damn, Vanessa!” he said as he stroked my back, “I didn’t think it was this serious. I won’t tell him anything like I told you before — I swear.”
I lifted my head up slightly but continued to stare at the floor, knowing that there was no way that I could undo what we did. “Brad is so good to me — treats me like a queen — he really takes care of me in all aspects, and I go and do this to him. You’re one of his good friends — don’t you feel anything for what we did?”
“Yeah, I do. This is the first time that I’ve officially had sex with one of Brad’s girlfriends. I never had sex with Lisa; I’m just not attracted to her. I can see how good Brad is to you because it shows in every way. And he’s really into you as well, and it’s no front by any means. Call it selfish, but I wanted to have you one more time. I had an interest in you for almost as long as he’s had, and thought that when we got into our secret relationship that we would become an official couple one day, but that one day never came for me . . . it came for Brad.”
I nodded, and then got up. “I better get going for real this time.” I got completely dressed, and then left his room and walked down the stairs as he followed me.
He opened the door for me as he looked down at me. “You forgot something,” he said.
“What?” I asked.
He held up the rose. “This.”
I sighed as I looked at it. “John, you know I can’t take that with me. Sorry.”
He nodded. “I understand. But stop looking so worried, okay? What we did today will never be told.”
“It better not be, John,” I warned. “See you tomorrow.”
“Of course. Good night,” he said with a smile.
“Good night, John,” I said, and then walked to my car and got in it . . . and there was another rose in the vase! I screamed! I jumped out of my car and ran back up to John’s house and began ringing the doorbell as I knocked on the door.
The door opened to John staring at me as if I was crazy. “What the fuck, Vanessa?! What’s wrong?”
“Come here!” I said.
He walked out to my car with me.
I pointed to the rose. “See! There’s another rose sitting in my car!” I cried.
He shook his head as he stared at it. “Well, it’s obvious not the one that I tried to give you a few minutes ago.” He reached into the car and grabbed it. “I’ll throw it away for you. Now go on home and stop worrying — at least you know it’s not me behind both of these things, right?”
I continued to stare at him. “Right.” I got back into my car and finally left.
Back inside John’s house, he went back up to his room as he smiled to no end. He laid the second rose right next to the first rose. His phone rang; he pressed the talk button. “Hey, man. What’s up? Me? I’m as fine as a great wine! You have something to tell me? Okay, well, I have something to tell you, man . . . .”
As I drove home, I prayed like hell that John wouldn’t tell because after sending Lisa that first video of Brad a
nd me when we were secretly seeing each other out of spite of me ending our secret relationship, he didn’t completely have my trust, but I completely believed him now that he wasn’t the one who was sending me the secret texts or putting the roses in my car. I didn’t even know if I wanted to tell Ava what I’d done, but I wanted to tell her about this latest text and the rose, and it was impossible for me to tell her about it without telling her how I knew for sure that it wasn’t John.
I walked into my house and up the stairs. My mom came out into the hall; I froze.
“Hi, honey. Were you with Brad tonight?” she asked.
“Yes,” I lied.
“Well, tell him that I said hi.”
“Okay, I will. He’s picking me up tomorrow.”
“Great! Good night, sweetie.”
“Good night, Mom,” I said, and then walked into my room and shut the door.
I sat on my bed as I choked back tears. I just didn’t know how I was gonna sleep tonight because of what I’d done. I got up and went into the bathroom and took a shower, put on my pajamas, and then sat down at my desk and got on my computer. I couldn’t concentrate on homework so I didn’t even bother taking anything out of my bag. I got up and looked in my closet at all the beautiful things that I had now because of Brad, and this was how I repaid him for it by cheating on him. I sat back down at my desk and started to cry.
My phone rang; it was Ava. “Hey, Ava.”
“Hey, girl. I haven’t heard from you all night. What’s going on?”
I took a deep breath. “Ava, I had sex with John tonight.”
She sat in a stunned silence. “Vanessa, please tell me you’re kidding!”
“I wish I was. We talked first and I was just about to leave when he told me that he wanted to tell me something.”
She gasped! “What was it?!”
“That he knew that I was hiding in Brad’s closet that day,” I told her.
She gasped again! “NO! How did he know? Did Brad tell him?”
“No, he didn’t . . . my perfume told him,” I said.
“Holy shit, Vanessa! I love that scent you wear, and it’s distinctive as well as expensive. It obviously left a trail at Brad’s house!”
“And he told me that he followed that trail up the stairs and right into Brad’s room and straight to the closet, and as I told you, he almost caught me in there until Brad stopped him.”
“Damn, Vanessa! I think you better change your perfume!”
I laughed. “I’m thinking about it!” I sighed. “But like I told you, John and I did have sex, and he mentioned this before we went upstairs to his room. Oh, my God, Ava, I can’t tell you how bad I feel about this. I begged John not to tell. And something else happened while I was over there.”
She gasped again! “Oh, shit, Vanessa! What?!”
“I received another secret text,” I informed her.
She shrieked! “Fuck, Vanessa! Oh, shit! If you received a secret text while over at John’s, then that means—”
“He’s not the one who’s sending them to me,” I interrupted her.
“Exactly! My goodness! So who the hell is it?!”
“I have no fuckin’ idea, Ava. This is just driving me insane. I showed John the text and he even asked me was I now convinced that it wasn’t him, and I told him that I was. He also asked me did I know of anyone who could still be bitter towards me for being with Brad since the text assumed that I was already cheating on Brad . . . and it was right.”
“Do you think it could be Lisa?”
“John asked me that, too, and I can honestly say that I don’t know what it is, but I just don’t think it’s her.”
“Really?!” she asked in a surprised tone.
“Yeah, I really don’t. I honestly don’t know who it is, but I know for sure that it’s definitely not John, considering the fact that I was lying in bed with him when the text came in. Oh, and then after that text, Brad called me while I was still over there! I almost fuckin’ freaked out!”
“Vanessa, my goodness! I don’t know what to say, but all I can say is that you’re human. I know you didn’t think this would happen, especially with John, but it did. I feel that John will keep his mouth shut about this since him and Brad are talking again so I just don’t think he’ll say anything. Do you wanna tell me what you and John did?”
I sighed. “Sorry, Ava. I don’t wanna go into detail about what I did with him, but all I’m gonna say is that I felt sick and threw up literally at what I did. But I think you’re right; I don’t think John will tell, but I’m still scared. What if Brad and John get into another fight? I don’t want me fucking John to come up in it.”
“I don’t think it will. John is probably cherishing what you two did. He’ll probably keep this a secret more than he did about the secret relationship that the two of you were in, and especially when he forced you to have sex with him that one night. Vanessa, you made a mistake; it happens. You obviously still had a lot of sexual feelings hidden in your subconscious about John.”
I nodded. “Thanks for the psych evaluation. But you know, Ava? I think I did, and I tried so hard to get them out of my mind, but when he started kissing me, I just couldn’t stop him. I had sex with him so many times and it was like when I was over his house today, I tried to act as if I’d never been over there since I’m Brad’s girlfriend now. Oh, and not only do I know that John’s not behind the texts, he’s also not behind the mysterious rose that are being left in my car.”
“Really?! How do you know?”
“Because after we had sex, John tried to give me a rose. When I left his house, he tried to give it to me again to take with me and I refused. But when I got into my car, there was a rose sitting in the vase. I now believe that it is the same person who is sending the texts is the same one that’s been putting a rose into my car. I ran back up to John’s house and had him come outside and see it for himself. He took the rose out of my vase and told me he would throw it away for me. Now I can officially rule him out in terms of both things.”
“Damn. Well, we’re gonna find out who this person is, Vanessa. But in terms of what you and John did today, you know I’m not gonna tell anyone, so just go and get some rest and I’ll see you at school tomorrow. Wear something pretty for Brad tomorrow. Hold his hand when you two see each other in the halls; have him hold you while you’re standing at his locker and when he’s standing at yours, you know, stuff like that. Kiss him more than usual. Let John know from this affection that you are very much into Brad and what the two of you did today was a one-time thing and it’ll never happen again.”
I smiled. “Thanks for the advice, Ava. Brad is picking me up tomorrow; he suggested it. See you tomorrow. Good night, love you.”
“No problem, honey. Good night, love you, too.”
I sighed as I hung up the phone. I walked to my closet and picked out something pretty to wear as Ava suggested. I got back in bed and stared up at the ceiling. All I could hope was that John was gonna keep what we did with each other a secret, because the sex that we had this time was far different from all the other times that we did it, and he knew it. Him keeping this a secret was really gonna be put to the test, and even though he told me that he would never tell Brad, I still didn’t trust him.
I jumped at the chime on my phone. I looked at it. It’s sooooo over for you! the text said, along with an emoji of a dead rose! I threw my phone down on my bed and cried, because I knew at this point that this secret person was the one putting the roses in my car, but they especially knew that I’d cheated on Brad, and it was all a matter of time before he found out. I was very scared to face Brad tomorrow morning.
CHAPTER 23
I waited for Brad to pick me up the next morning. I followed Ava’s advice and wore something pretty for him, which was a silk-printed, multicolored top with a scoop neckline and short, slightly-puffed sleeves, a pair of dark-blue skinny jeans, and satin yellow stilettos with a square crystal buckle on them. I wore my diamond ea
rrings and necklace set that he bought me since it was something that I rarely wore to school.
Minutes later, he pulled up in his red luxury sports car, a car that he hadn’t driven since we first came to school officially as a couple. I grabbed my black leather bag and left the house.
“Hey, sexy baby,” he said with a smile.
“Hey, baby,” I said as I shut the door. “You always turn me on with those sunglasses on.”
He laughed as he pulled out of my driveway. “So, what homework did you do last night?”
I stared out the window as I felt a sense of panic come over me. I felt like he was testing me to see if I was telling him the truth last night. “Just calculus and English. I had a tough time with the calculus so I might get a tutor — I don’t know,” I said.
“Ned can tutor you if you need it,” he said as he stared at me.
Even though I didn’t look at him, I could see out of the corner of my eye that he was staring at me. “Yeah, I know,” I said while I still stared out the window.
We remained quiet for almost a minute.
He looked at me again. “I drove this car because it’ll be the last time that you’ll be riding in it.”
I looked at him. I couldn’t believe what he’d just said, and I got a sick feeling inside of me. I knew what he was gonna tell me next — that it was over between us. We had only been together for no more than a month and he was about to tell me that it was over. I knew John couldn’t keep his fuckin’ mouth shut about what we did yesterday. I continued to look at him as he stared straight ahead as if he was waiting for me to say something. “How come?” I asked in a shaken voice.
“Because . . . ,” he said as he continued to stare straight ahead.
We were at a stoplight and less than a minute from school.
“Because . . . what?” I asked, trying to fight back tears.
“Because my mom told me this morning that her and my dad got me that limited edition car that I’ve been talking about since last year! There were only ten of them made, Vanessa! It’s one million dollars! It’s my early graduation gift! YEAH!!” he said excitedly, and then held on to my hand!
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