CHAPTER 7
It was midweek, and I was standing at Brad’s locker while he held me as Ava, Marc, Ken, and Zac talked by Ken’s locker. There was still no word about John’s whereabouts, and Brad, Ava, Marie, and I pretended that we had no idea where he was as well.
I looked to my left . . . and was shocked beyond belief . . . .
John came walking down the hall!
I tried to suppress my gasping and as I did, I felt like I couldn’t breathe as I watched John walk down the hall in what it seemed like slow motion as he stared right at me with a very evil grin. He knew by the way I was looking at him that I thought he was dead. I nudged Brad.
“What, baby?” he asked.
“Look!” I said, as I nodded to my left.
Brad gasped! “Fuckin’ shit!!!!” he said as quiet as he could as John continued to make his way towards us. “Please tell me I’m fuckin’ seeing things!”
“Oh, my God! What the fuck?!” Ava said, as I could tell that she now noticed him, too! She walked very fast over to us. “John is here! He’s fuckin’ here! I thought he was dead!”
“Stay calm, ladies,” Brad said, as he tried not to hyperventilate as I could feel how hard he was breathing as he held me very tight.
“JOHN!” Marc said, since he now spotted him. “Man, where the fuck have you been?! We haven’t seen or heard from you in almost two whole fuckin’ weeks?! What’s up, man?!”
“Not much, man. I had pneumonia; it’s the second time in my life that I’ve caught it. I didn’t want you all worrying about me that’s why I didn’t wanna say anything. My parents wanted to call you all to let you all know what was going on with me, but I told them not to,” John replied.
Fuckin’ liar! I thought. And I knew that Brad and Ava were thinking the same thing.
“Well, it’s good that you’re doing better, man,” Ken said with a smile, and then shook his hand.
“Thanks, man,” John replied with a smile.
Zac shook his hand, too — but with caution. “Nice to see you back.”
“Thanks, man,” John replied, and then looked at Brad, Ava, and me. “What’s up, y’all?”
Brad still stood with his back up against his locker as held me very tight as we all tried not to look shocked that we were seeing John alive and well right in front of us. We couldn’t say a word to him.
“Damn, what’s wrong with y’all? Y’all look like y’all seen a ghost!” John said with a grin.
Marc, Ken, and Zac laughed.
Brad, Ava, and I stood stunned — we still couldn’t say anything.
“Okay, I get it. I’ll just wait to talk to y’all after y’all have had your coffee,” John said with a grin, and then went over to his locker and unlocked it.
“Let’s go to my office and talk right now,” Brad said to Ava and me. “Oh, and baby, call Marie right now and tell her to meet us in it — I’ll tell the secretaries that I’m expecting her.”
“Okay,” I replied. I got on my phone and called Marie as we all walked to Brad’s office, and I felt so weak in the knees and lightheaded as I did.
“Hey, Vanessa. What’s up?” Marie said.
“Marie, where are you?” I asked, as I tried not to sound like I was in a panic.
“I just got here. What’s going on?” she asked.
I let out a deep sigh. “I need for you to meet me in Brad’s office the second that you get in here, okay? Don’t even go to your locker first, okay? Come straight here.”
“Vanessa, what’s wrong? You’re scaring me.”
I sighed again. “Marie, please come here right now, okay?”
“Okay. See you in a few minutes,” she said.
I hung up with her as we walked into the administration office and to Brad’s office.
“Ava, can you wait outside in the hall to make sure she comes straight here? Or better yet, go to the front entrance where she comes in at?” Brad asked.
“Sure, Brad,” Ava replied.
Brad and I walked into his office and he shut the door.
“FUCK!!!” he shouted. He stood up behind his desk as he pressed both of his hands on it. He sat down fast in his seat as he let out a long sigh. “Tell me I’m fuckin’ dreaming, Vanessa.”
“I wish I could, Brad,” I said, as I stood over his desk because I was nervous about John seeing Marie before Ava did. I walked around his office. “Well, it was obvious that the motherfucker was pretending to be dead. I don’t know what it was, but when there was nothing reported about him missing, I thought about the possibility of him still being alive. He really tricked the shit out of all of us, Brad, and now you know he’s got some fucked-up shit in mind about what he wants to do to us since he did survive, and you know he’s really got some fucked-up shit in mind about what he wants to do to Marie since she shot him. Dammit! Where are they?” I asked, as I was referring to Ava and Marie.
There was a knock on the door.
“COME IN!” Brad shouted.
The door opened to Ava trying her hardest to hold Marie up. Brad jumped up to help me and Ava get Marie to one of the chairs in front of his desk.
“She saw John in the hall while she was on her way here,” Ava told us.
Marie looked very pale and was very much in shock about seeing him alive. “I thought I killed him! I thought I fuckin’ killed him! What the hell is he doing here?! He’s supposed to be dead! I shot his fuckin’ ass twice!!!” she said, as she breathed very heavy while slumped down in her chair.
Brad gave her a bottle of water. “We all thought he was dead, Marie. It was obvious that he was holding his breath when I checked to see if he was still alive. He fooled all of us. But Marie, we’re very worried now that he has some fucked-up shit in mind that he may wanna do to you since you shot him, so you really need to be on your highest guard all of the time whether you’re here or anywhere.”
Marie shook her head as she started to cry. “I can’t believe this shit! I can’t fuckin’ believe it! Just when I didn’t think that this nightmare could get any worse!”
“This is fucked up for sure. But please, Marie, we need for you to be careful,” Brad pleaded with her.
“You can even hang with us now if you want,” I said.
Ava nodded in agreement.
“Thanks, ladies. But what about his DNA now? You had his DNA with that can, but now you know he destroyed it since he’s still alive!” Marie said.
Ava and I looked at Brad.
Brad let out a deep sigh. “We’re gonna have to try and find another way to get it from him because since he’s alive, he’s really gonna be on his highest guard when it comes to us trying to get it from him, but like I said, I got it from him once before and I’ll get it from him again,” he pledged.
“That’s right. One or both us will get it from him, Marie. It may take a little longer this time, but we’re gonna get it from him again,” I told her.
“And I’ll try, too, because he could easily fuck up and leave something somewhere when I’m around and that’s when I’ll get him. If there’s a will there’s a way, and like Brad said, he got it from him before so he can get it from him again — any of us can. John may be smart, but he’s not perfect, and doesn’t have to be really dead for us to get it from him since he was alive when Brad got it from him the first time,” Ava said.
“Exactly,” Brad said. He looked at his watch. “Well, the bell is about to ring for first period. This is gonna be one of the hardest days for us to get through since we all know that John is still alive, so put on your poker faces and do the best you can. We’re the only ones that know what happened out in those woods and John knows it. I know he’s gonna be very difficult to deal with now more than ever, but we’re gonna get that motherfucker’s DNA again and he’s gonna be where he rightfully belongs soon enough.”
Ava, Marie, and I nodded in agreement.
Minutes later, Ava and I left Brad’s office with Marie, and agreed that we’ll all try not to be alone in the halls anym
ore since John was now officially alive and walking in them. I didn’t wanna tell Brad, Ava, or Marie, but I never felt so scared before in my life, and felt that the security guards here was just false security because John was capable of doing anything here and at anytime, and I believed that now more than ever before.
CHAPTER 8
Marie walked back to her locker during third period to get something out of it. She was especially on guard since she knew that John was alive and well and at school today . . . and the halls were empty.
As she continued to walk to her locker, she went down the stairs, made a right down the hall, and ran right into John! She shrieked!
John looked at her with a wicked grin. “What’s up, Marie?”
She stood completely stunned that he was standing right in front of her. She didn’t say a word.
“I guess judging by your reaction to seeing me that you thought you really did kill me? I know you thought you were seeing things when you saw me by my locker when you first got here — you look like you were about to pass out; I got worried for a second,” he said with an evil grin.
She started to slowly back away from him. She was still too shocked to say anything.
“Well, now that we both have a secret, you know, with me killing Natalie and you shooting me and thinking that you killed me because Natalie was your best friend? So in knowing all of this, it looks like we’re gonna have to make some deals with each other so the other one doesn’t turn the other one in — don’t you think?”
“John, you’re still alive — Natalie isn’t. Yeah, I thought I killed you, but I didn’t. Please, John, I won’t say anything about you killing Natalie as long as you just leave me alone!”
“Now why would I just leave you alone, huh? You tried to kill me, remember?”
“Only because you killed Natalie, John! You know that!”
“Shut the fuck up! Listen to what I have to say now,” he said as quietly as he could.
She stared at him as tears swelled up in her eyes. “John, you’re still alive! I didn’t kill you!”
“And you don’t think you can go to prison for attempted murder? You went into those woods that day just like me with a gun. You followed me, remember? You planned on killing me because I killed Natalie and you obviously thought you did. I heard every fuckin’ thing you said about me, bitch! Everything! So here’s the deal — since you like to hook out at Sparkle every Friday and Saturday night, you’re gonna suck my dick on demand anywhere, anytime, but I’m not paying you a fuckin’ dime! Got it?!”
She stared at him.
“GOT IT?!” he barked.
“Yes! I got it!” she cried.
“Good! And I heard you were fuckin’ good, too,” he said with a smirk. “Don’t worry, I’m having Vanessa and Ava do the same thing, only I haven’t told them yet so don’t say a fuckin’ word to them.”
“John, please. I said I was not gonna tell that you killed Natalie, okay?”
“I don’t know that! Besides, if you don’t do what I want you to do, I will tell the cops that you tried to kill me. I could’ve done that and you could be sitting in jail right now, and due to the fact that you’re eighteen, you will be charged and tried as an adult, just like I will. But no, I wanted to show you, Brad, and Vanessa that I was still alive and to make some deals with the three of you. Secrets are secrets, so let’s all keep them that way.”
She continued to look at him as tears streamed down her face.
“Wipe your fuckin’ face! You look gross! Have a nice day, whore!” he said, and flashed her a wicked grin, then walked away.
She stood in the same spot as she continued to cry. She then walked down the hall and went to the bathroom. She stood at the mirror and looked at herself as her makeup was smeared all over her face. She took some paper towels and wiped the rest of it off as she thought about what he wanted her to do to him.
Meanwhile, Brad sat in his third-period AP Calculus class when he received a text. Meet me by the sports equipment storage room right now.
It was John!
He looked at the text, knowing that at this point he couldn’t ignore any texts that came in from John because he didn’t know what he was capable of. He texted him back and told him that he was on his way. He got up and took the bathroom pass and left class.
Minutes later, he arrived at the sports equipment storage room, but John was nowhere in sight. Suddenly, the door to the storage room opened.
“C’mon in, man,” John said.
Brad looked at him since he was hesitant to walk in here all by himself because of John, but he wanted to find out what it was that he wanted, so he slowly walked in as he stared coldly at him.
John shut the door and locked it, and then looked at him with a grin. “Don’t look so scared, man. I’m not gonna hurt you.”
Brad continued to look at him with his guard completely up. “What is it that you want, man?”
John chuckled. “Well, I don’t think I have to tell you what I want from you.”
“What are you talking about, man? Just what is it that you want from me?”
John gave him a serious look. “I wanna fuck your girl whenever I want,” he bluntly told him.
Brad instantly looked livid. “You’re not fucking my girl, man, I mean it!”
“We’ll see about that, man! You know I was in a secret relationship with her first! We had something good going until you suddenly wanted to show her just how much you were into her, and since you’re Brad Johnston — as every idiot says — she ended what we had so she could be in a secret relationship with you!”
“Hey! I gave her that choice on whether or not she wanted to end it with you, man! I had nothing to do with it!”
“Like hell you didn’t! I wanna have her anywhere at any time, like the way things were between us before you ruined it! And if you don’t let me have her, then I’m just gonna have to go to the cops about Marie, as well as about the two of you just standing idly by and letting that whore shoot me like the way she did.”
“Don’t blackmail me, motherfucker! And aren’t you forgetting something? You killed Natalie, and I don’t think anyone would say that what you did wasn’t worse than Marie attempting to kill you!”
“No one still knows that I killed Natalie, remember? No one has my DNA, all thanks to the fact that you dropped the can right next to my supposedly dead body, remember? You should’ve kept it, dumbass, then you would have all the proof you would need that I killed her! Now you’re right back to square one when it comes to getting my DNA, and guess what? If you think you’re gonna get it again, think again.”
“Yeah, I may not have your DNA anymore, John, but you can’t make Vanessa, Marie, Ava, or me forget that you killed Natalie, and we can all still go to the cops with what we know.”
“Yeah, and like I said before, I can still go to the cops with the fact that you and your girl stood there and let that bitch shoot me and did nothing about it. As far as I know, you all could’ve set me up!”
“We didn’t set you up, John! You heard what Marie said! Yeah, she followed you, but you followed Vanessa and me because I told you that I was going there and I didn’t tell you to come along, either. Now you would have some reason to believe that we could’ve set you up if I was so insistent on you coming with us, but I wasn’t and you know it!”
John just stared at him. He didn’t know what to say because he knew that Brad was right.
“And in terms of Marie? She had a gun, just like you — Vanessa and I were totally defenseless and you fuckin’ know it because you stole my gun out of my car! We didn’t know Marie was gonna shoot you — but why wouldn’t she? You killed her best friend over some stupid shit about not wanting to be a father to her unborn child. That was her best friend and you knew that. Yeah, you survived, but Natalie is dead. Marie will go to prison for what she did to you if you tell the cops that it was her, but you know damn well that you deserve to go to prison for what you did to Natalie!”
&n
bsp; John looked at him with a grin. “You see, right over there is where your girl and I always got it on. She’s lucky I didn’t do to her what I did to Natalie that day when I met her in here to talk to her that first day here when the two of you were officially boyfriend/girlfriend. If I did, then you would’ve only had your dream girlfriend for two-and-a-half days!”
“You’re not fucking my girl, man! I got just as much on you as you claim that you got on me, Vanessa, and Marie, and you fuckin’ know it!”
“Well, secrets are secrets, aren’t they? See, the crime lab has the bullets that Marie fired into my chest—”
“And I disposed of her gun and yours, remember that.”
“Oh, that’s right! Shit! You did do that, didn’t you? Now I remember hearing you say that when I was pretending to be dead. So, where did you dispose of them at?”
“It doesn’t matter! Damn! What the fuck has gotten into you, man?”
John gave him a wicked grin. “Whores! What can I say? They ruin everything! Well, just to let you know that just because you disposed of my gun doesn’t mean that I don’t have other guns, so just keep that in mind just in case you decide that you don’t wanna comply with our deal, and if you, Vanessa, Marie, and Ava wanna go to the cops about me killing Natalie.”
“We don’t have a deal, John! You’re not fucking Vanessa!”
“Then it looks like Marie is going to jail.”
“And so are you, then!”
“How am I gonna go to jail if everyone who knows that I killed Natalie are no longer alive themselves? Who’s gonna tell on me then?” John asked with a wicked grin.
School, Sex and Secrets II (School, Sex and Secrets #2) Page 5
