I immediately tensed up — I knew it was John! He was the only one in my class that would pull some shit like this. “Well, I didn’t invite anyone over to study — tell him to go away.”
She looked at me as if she couldn’t believe what I’d said. “Vanessa, I’m not gonna do that — that’s very rude of you. Maybe you did invite him over to study; you probably just forgot that you did. Come on, honey, he has his books and everything so don’t turn him away.”
I let out a deep sigh. “Okay, I’ll be down in a minute.”
“I’ll let him know,” she said with a smile.
Almost five minutes later, I walked downstairs to John standing at the door.
He smiled at me. “Hey, Vanessa. Ready to study?”
My mom smiled as she walked into the family room.
“Um . . . yeah, sure. Let’s go up to my room, okay?”
He gave me a wicked smile. “That sounds good to me.”
I sighed as I led him up to my room as I felt very weak in the knees. He was in my house for the first time, but I felt that he had so much control over me. I didn’t want him to hurt me or my mom, so I knew that I couldn’t get out of line with him.
Once we got into my room, I left the door wide open because there was no way I was gonna close it. I cleared some stuff off of my desk. “You can put your stuff here.”
“Thanks,” he said, as he smiled at me and put his stuff down, and then sat down in the chair at my desk.
I kept standing because I didn’t wanna sit down just yet, and I didn’t even think about getting another chair. I noticed how he was wearing gloves even though there was no need for them since it wasn’t that cold outside. “So . . . um . . . do you want something to drink?”
He looked up at me as if he was offended by what I’d said. “No,” he replied very firmly and very coldly as he gave me an evil stare.
I knew why he was looking at me like this and responded the way that he had. I knew I couldn’t fool him. He knew that I was asking him if he wanted something to drink just so I could get his DNA. I sat down on my bed; I didn’t wanna be anywhere near him.
“You can sit next to me, Vanessa, I’m not gonna hurt you. I’m in your house, remember?”
I sighed. “John, why did you come over here? You know I didn’t invite you.”
“I thought I’d surprise you.”
“I don’t need any surprises, John. I’ll be surprised if you turn yourself in for killing Natalie.”
He shook his head as he looked down at the floor. He looked up at me. “Are we gonna start on that?”
I looked at him. “No, we’re not.”
“Good, I hope not, because that’s a surprise that you’ll never get, and you know that,” he said as he glared at me. He looked around my room at all of the pictures that I had on my wall of Brad. “You love your Brad Johnston, don’t you?”
“He is my boyfriend, John.”
He nodded with a grin. “You know, Lisa told me something today in English class that I think you might wanna know.”
I looked at him. “What is it?”
He looked at me and smiled. “Yeah, wouldn’t you like to know!” he said as he chuckled.
“Know what, John? What did Lisa tell you?” I asked, as I tried not to show how much I really wanted to know.
“Remember the party at the lake? The one where I was so drunk at that I decided not to have sex with you that night?”
“How can I forget it? It was not even a week ago.”
“Well, you’re not gonna forget this, either. Lisa told me that her and Brad fucked each other’s brains out in the back of his SUV while you were wondering all around the woods trying to find him.”
I looked at him like I couldn’t believe what he was saying! “Stop lying, John! Lisa is just a bitter bitch because I have him now and she’s just trying to say anything to get me to break up with him so she can have him back!”
He shook his head with a huge grin. “I don’t believe that Lisa would lie about this, Vanessa. You’ve been played. And why should you be so upset about it, huh? You were fucking him when he was still with Lisa, and you cheated on him with me when you two were officially together for only a few weeks.”
“That was a mistake, John, and you fuckin’ know it!” I angrily replied, as I tried to keep my voice lowered since my door was open and my mom was downstairs.
“You didn’t seem to think it was a mistake when we were doing it,” he said with a smirk. He looked at my bed. “Nice bed; I bet it’s real warm and cozy.”
I continued to stare at him as he was really making me mad.
“Why don’t you shut and lock the door and I can find out just how cozy it is, especially with your soft and warm body in it on top of me . . .”
“John! That’s enough!”
He chuckled. “Oh, I almost forgot, your mom is here — too bad. It’s also too bad that I didn’t get a chance to fuck you in it when we were seeing each other in secret.”
I sighed as I shook my head; I didn’t even wanna comment on what he’d said. I couldn’t stop thinking about him saying that Brad had cheated on me with Lisa. “John, why are you doing this?”
“Doing what?”
“You’re just trying to break me and Brad up, that’s what! I don’t believe he cheated on me with Lisa — he doesn’t even talk about her anymore! She’s a lying fuckin’ bitch!”
He slightly laughed. “Well, if you don’t believe me ask her yourself, or most importantly, ask Brad.”
I looked at him. “Oh, don’t worry, I will!”
My mom walked past my room and smiled; I knew she was checking up on us.
“Look, I think you better go,” I said.
“Why? I just got here, baby . . . and we haven’t studied.”
“John, you know you didn’t come over here to study! I didn’t invite you so knock it off! You came over here to try and take advantage of me and to tell me about Lisa telling you some bullshit about her fucking Brad at that party. I want you to leave right now!”
“Oh, c’mon, baby! I was thinking that we could study a little since this is the first class that I’ve ever had with you.”
“Bullshit, John! I want you to leave! This is my house so get out!”
He sighed. “Okay, if you say so, then.” He picked up his stuff and walked towards the door. He turned and looked at me. “I’m just curious about something.”
I glared at him. “What?”
“Did you ever find out who was secretly texting you and giving you those roses?” he asked with a slight grin.
I sighed. I didn’t know why, but I thought that he’d found out who it was, but it was obvious that he hadn’t. “Yeah, I found out who it was.”
“Really?!” he said in a surprised tone. “So, who was it that you thought initially was me?”
“It was Natalie; Marie told me. I found out that it was her after you killed her,” I said.
He laughed! “Damn! That bitch really hated you because you were fucking me, too, and Brad as well since he was with Lisa at the time, huh?”
I gasped! “I don’t wanna talk about it.”
“And neither do I.” He turned around and took a few steps towards my door, and then turned around again and gave me a very cold look. “Oh, one more thing. Don’t ever try that shit again about asking me if I want something to drink — you’re gonna have to be a lot more slick than that to try and get my DNA, baby. I’ll let myself out. See you at school tomorrow,” he said, and then walked out of my room.
I sat on my bed and didn’t say anything. I heard the front door shut slowly. I looked out my window and saw John getting in his car. He drove off down the driveway. I went downstairs to make sure all the doors were locked. I turned around to go back upstairs and found my mom standing at the top of them.
“That was a very short study period,” she said.
“Well, I didn’t invite him,” I let her know again. “And there was really nothing to study for — he ju
st wanted to go over a short story that we have to do as a group,” I lied.
“Oh. Well, it seems like he likes you,” she said with a grin.
“Mom, I’m with Brad, remember?”
“I know, honey — I didn’t mean anything by it. I just think he’s very handsome like Brad.”
“No other guy compares to Brad,” I said as I walked past her on my way to my room. “I have some real studying to do.”
“Okay, dear,” she said with a smile.
I shut the door to my room. I sighed deeply as I sat on my bed. I couldn’t get it off of my mind the possibility that John was telling the truth about Brad and Lisa. I picked up my phone and got ready to call him about it. I let it ring once and then hung up because I just didn’t wanna cause any more drama than what was already going on.
I laid down for a few minutes. Suddenly, my phone rang. I looked to see who it was and saw that it was Brad; he obviously saw that I was trying to call him. “Hey, Brad.”
“Hey, baby. You just called me?”
“Um . . . yeah, I did.”
“What’s up?”
I sat in silence for a few seconds.
“Vanessa?”
“I’m still here. Um, Brad, I need to talk to you. Can I come over?”
He paused. “Sure, baby, c’mon over.”
“Okay, I’ll be right there,” I told him.
Several minutes later, I was driving down Brad’s street on the way to his house when I saw a car that looked like Lisa’s turning the corner. That better not have been her, I thought, as I pulled into Brad’s driveway.
Once I was inside of his house, he led me up to his room. There was a strong odor of perfume, and it was not my kind. “Whose perfume is that I smell?”
“It’s my mom’s — she just left a few minutes ago.”
I gave him a look of suspicion. “Your mom wears perfume that a teenager would wear?”
He looked at me and smiled.
“Because it smells like that popular brand that teen girls are crazy over — except me.”
He shrugged. “Well, I don’t know what kind it is.”
I sat down on his bed and noticed how messy it was — it was never like this when I was over here. “Did the maid have the day off? Looks like you didn’t have time to make your bed.”
He grinned. “No, she didn’t. I took a nap — I was a little cold so I got under the covers.”
I kept staring at him.
“Get up so I can make it up,” he said with a smile, “unless we’re gonna use it in a few minutes.”
I got off of it. “No, I don’t want to. Go ahead, make it up.” As I sat on his sofa, I tried to figure out what I wanted to say to him as he made his bed. I even started to believe that someone, not necessarily Lisa, was just over here a few minutes ago.
After he was done making up his bed, he sat on it. “So, what’s up? What did you wanna talk to me about?”
“Brad, I know that things have been pretty crazy — well, not crazy, downright fucked up since Natalie was murdered by John, and us finding out that John is still alive after Marie shot him. But you know that you can tell me anything, you know, whatever is on your mind. I feel like we’re talking a lot, but not enough. We don’t have to be with each other twenty-four-seven, but I do wanna know if you need to talk about stuff, okay? You know you don’t have to talk to anyone else.”
He looked at me. “I know that, Vanessa.”
We sat staring at each other for a few seconds.
“Brad, are you fucking Lisa again?” I blurted out.
He looked shocked! “Vanessa, where the hell did you hear that from? Who have you been talking to?”
“Does it matter, Brad? I just wanna know if it’s true or not!”
He sighed. “Vanessa . . . listen . . .”
I jumped up out of my seat! “Oh, my God, Brad! How the fuck could you do this to me?!”
“How the fuck could you fuck John when we were only together for a few weeks?!” he boldly asked me, and this was the first time that he ever had.
“You said you forgave me for that, Brad! It was a mistake!”
“I haven’t gotten over it, though!” he honestly replied.
“Oh, so you go and fuck your ex because of it? Is that it?!”
“No, Vanessa! It’s not!”
“Then why the fuck did you do it, Brad? She was just over here before I got here, wasn’t she?! Because I saw a fuckin’ car turning the corner when I was coming up to your house that looked just like Lisa’s so TELL ME!”
“Vanessa, calm down!”
“I WILL NOT, BRAD!”
“Just try, baby. Here, sit down.”
I sat down as I tried to calm my nerves. Tears began to swell up in my eyes. “Now I feel like I’m losing you right back to her. I’m telling you, Brad, cheating on you with John was the biggest mistake of my life. And I’m telling you the truth when I say that’s the only time I ever cheated on you with him, and I’ve never cheated on you with anyone else. It hasn’t been easy for me to accept the fact that I cheated on you with a guy who ended up killing a friend of mine later on, as well as the fact that he was secretly seeing both of us at the same time. I’m so sorry, Brad — I know it was me who drove you to cheat on me with Lisa.”
He smiled. “No, Vanessa, it wasn’t. I still have feelings for her, and she still has them for me — it just all came out that night at that party. I didn’t mean to hurt you by cheating on you, just like how I know you didn’t mean to hurt me by cheating on me with John. I’m assuming that you had some repressed feelings for John back then?”
I sighed. “Yeah, I did. And believe me, they were very repressed. I still had feelings for him when I broke off the secret relationship that we had so I could stay in the one I had with you. I went over to his house because he wanted to talk to me about everything that had been going on between us, especially about the day that me and you came to school officially as boyfriend/girlfriend and he cussed me out in the storage room about me leaving him for you. I really hate to say that one thing led to another — but it did. I swear, Brad, that I was about to leave after I was through talking to him. I have regretted it to this day that I just didn’t turn around and walk out when he started kissing me.”
He nodded with his head down. “Yeah, I figured that asshole initiated it.”
“Yeah, he did.”
“Well, Vanessa, the secret that we both cheated on each other is all out in the open. Let’s just try to move on from it, okay? We don’t need all of this drama. We have enough shit to deal with when it comes to John.”
“Yeah, I definitely agree to that. I just wish he would turn his fuckin’ ass in for what he did to Natalie; I’ll feel a thousand-pound weight has been lifted off of me if he does.”
“Well, he’s not gonna do that, Vanessa, that’s why we still have to try and find a way to get his DNA again.”
“Well, I tried earlier, just before I came over here.”
He looked at me. “What do you mean?”
I let out a deep sigh. “John came over to my house almost an hour ago. He told my mom that I invited him over to study.”
“HE FUCKIN’ WHAT?!”
“Brad, calm down, okay? I told my mom that I didn’t invite anyone over because I didn’t, but I let him come up to my room anyway, but I left the door wide open since my mom was there and I would’ve done that regardless. I offered him something to drink but he refused, and it was a look that he had in his eyes that I knew that he knew that I only asked him that because I was trying to get his DNA. And before he left, he told me not to try and do that again. Oh, and when he left, he was wearing gloves which he had on the whole time that he was in my house because he knew that he was more than likely gonna let himself out and didn’t wanna get any fingerprints on anything while he was in my house. He’s the one that told me about you and Lisa having sex at the party when he was over my house, that’s why I called you — he said Lisa told him during English class.
So, I assume Lisa was over here just before I got here?”
He looked at me and then looked away.
“I take that as a yes.”
“Sorry, Vanessa. Baby look, don’t go off on her tomorrow, okay? Like we both agreed, we don’t need all of this drama.”
I looked at him. “Sorry, Brad, I just can’t promise that.”
“Vanessa, please.”
I let out a deep sigh. “Okay, fine, I won’t.”
He smiled at me and then put his arm around me.
Hours later after getting off the phone with Ava about Brad cheating on me with Lisa as well as John coming over my house earlier, I laid in my bed as I stared up at the ceiling. I wanted to kick Lisa’s fuckin’ ass tomorrow — I really did — but I knew that I really couldn’t say anything because I was with Brad when they were still together so I guess in a lot of ways I should’ve seen this coming.
I got up and got my phone off of my nightstand and looked through the address book on it. I wanted to talk to someone that I hadn’t really talked to about everything that had been going on, but I didn’t know who that could be. I laid my phone back down on my nightstand and then cried myself to sleep, wishing that all of this fucked-up shit that’d happened in these past months would just go away.
CHAPTER 18
The next day at school, it took everything out of me not to beat the shit out of Lisa when I saw her in the halls. When we would glance at each other, it was like she knew that I knew that she had sex with Brad again. I felt that if he really wanted her back then he would go back to her, but I honestly didn’t think that he wanted her back, and that his feelings for her would eventually fade over time.
I was sitting in Senior English as the first group of people got ready to present their short story to the class. I was happy that I drew the second to the last number so I didn’t have to go until next week sometime since it was gonna take a while to get through all of the stories and the comments on them that followed. The stories were supposed to be dramatic fiction, and I could tell a great one about everything that had went on this whole fuckin’ year so far — but it had to be fiction, so I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to write about. But John was all too eager to present his story first so therefore he volunteered to go first. I couldn’t wait to hear what kind of bullshit he’d put together. I looked over at him as he gave me an icy stare as he talked to Lisa, who was giving me a smartass grin — I wanted to go over there and knock the shit out of both of them.
School, Sex and Secrets II (School, Sex and Secrets #2) Page 11
