School, Sex and Secrets II (School, Sex and Secrets #2) Read online

  SCHOOL, SEX AND SECRETS

  II

  CHAPTER 1

  I started to hyperventilate as tears streamed down my eyes. I couldn’t believe that John was calling me, and the scary thing about it was that I didn’t know what he was calling me about . . . and I was scared to ask.

  “Hello? Vanessa?” he said.

  “I . . . I’m here,” I replied in a shaken voice that I couldn’t even hide.

  “What’s wrong? You sound like something has upset you; sounds like you’ve been crying.”

  I shook my head as I continued to breathe heavy as I tried to think of what to say to him. I decided to tell him the truth. “I had a dream about Natalie,” I told him.

  There was a dead silence that loomed over the phone.

  “John?”

  He sighed. “Yeah, I’m here.”

  “What are you doing up so late?” I decided to ask since he obviously didn’t wanna hear about the dream that I had about Natalie . . . just as I suspected.

  “I don’t think it’s late, even though it’s a school night. I’m used to being up this late because I study much longer than most. I just got done that’s why I decided to call you to see how you were doing.”

  “I’m fine, John,” I lied.

  “You don’t sound fine, Vanessa. Listen, I know you’re Brad’s, but if there’s something wrong then I wanna know about it. I mean, you were telling me things that were wrong with you before you started seeing him.”

  Yeah, and it seemed like you didn’t care, I thought. “I told you, John, I had a dream about Natalie. I’m still very upset about her death,” I said. I just didn’t wanna tell him that I knew that he was the reason why she was dead because I didn’t want him coming over here and killing me because after all, I had just about all the proof that I needed that it was him. I didn’t want him to even think that I suspected him of it since Brad, Zac, Ava, Marie, and I agreed that it would stay between all of us for now until we found a way to get his DNA, but I knew that he’d killed her. “John, I’m very tired; I wanna go to sleep now. It’s been a very rough day and I feel that things aren’t gonna get better anytime soon.”

  “Probably not, Vanessa. But if you need to talk to me about anything you know I’ll listen. Just because you and Brad are together it doesn’t mean that we can’t talk like the way we used to, right?”

  I only wanna talk to you about you killing Natalie, I thought. “Right, John,” I very reluctantly replied.

  We sat in a very awkward silence for a few seconds.

  “Can I confess something to you, Vanessa?”

  I tried not to gasp! “Uh, yeah . . . what is it?” I asked, and then tried very patiently to wait for him to confess to me what he wanted to confess to me. I felt that I wasn’t gonna have to ask him about his involvement with Natalie after all since in a second he was gonna tell me that he was the one who killed her.

  “I still have strong feelings for you,” he confessed.

  I let out a deep sigh that I couldn’t suppress. This was not what I was expecting for him to confess to me, and since I knew that he was the one who killed Natalie, him saying this to me now had a whole different feeling than it did when he first told me this several months ago, which led to us secretly seeing each other. It now gave me a sick feeling, as well as a scared one. “John, you know I’m with Brad. You can’t have these feelings for me anymore, it’s just not right.”

  “What’s not right is you being with Brad when you know that you should be with me . . . sorry,” he said.

  I gasped! I knew deep inside that he was not being honest with me or Brad in saying that he was cool about us being together, and what he just said had said it all. “John, please. I can’t possibly be the only girl that you’ve ever wanted to be with or been involved with . . .”

  “You are,” he profoundly stressed.

  This gave me chills. I didn’t wanna elaborate on this because I didn’t feel comfortable asking him about any girl by myself since it was known that he was never involved with anyone at our school, including me, since the only involvement that I had with him was in secret . . . just like Natalie. “Okay, I believe you,” I lied. “Look, I have to get going, okay?”

  “Bye,” he said, and abruptly hung up.

  I sat with the phone still to my ear. I didn’t know what to think, but it seemed as though that he could know that I know now that he could’ve possibly had some other involvement with some other girl, but I just didn’t wanna ask him if he was involved with Natalie because I didn’t know how he would’ve reacted to it. Now I was wide awake, and feared that John knew that I was already on to him. I called Brad.

  “What’s up, beautiful?” Brad said.

  “Brad, I’m so sorry for calling you this late, but I had to,” I told him.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked in a concerned tone.

  “John called me a few minutes ago,” I informed him.

  “Really?! What did he say or want?”

  “He said that he just wanted to see how I was because of what’s been going on. I didn’t wanna tell him that I know that he killed Natalie.”

  “Good, I’m glad you didn’t because we need to get his DNA first before we confront him.”

  I started crying again.

  “Vanessa! Baby, what’s wrong?”

  “Brad, before John called me, I had a dream about Natalie. A door to a room slowly opened, and there she was, lying on the floor in the room just like the way that you said that she was when you saw her, and then she slowly got up a little while she held an old-looking phone while a red rose laid right next to her. She said that she was sorry to me, and then laid back down and that door closed and disappeared.”

  “Wow, Vanessa. I believe you. It’s obvious that she’s watching over you and wanted you to know that she was sorry for those secret texts and the roses. Now do you forgive her?”

  I continued to cry. “I do, Brad. And yes, I’m officially back on board about getting John’s DNA and seeing that she gets the justice that she deserves.”

  “That’s great, baby. I know that you’re a very kind-hearted and forgiving person, and those are definitely some of the many things that I love about you. Since she couldn’t tell you that she was sorry in person that day, she told you through the dream. I know that she’ll want us to do the right thing and get John’s DNA so he can be put where he rightfully belongs, and we’re not gonna let her down.”

  “Oh, and when John called me, I did tell him that I had a dream about her.”

  “And what did he say?”

  “Nothing. He just sighed, that’s all.”

  “Yeah, that sounds like him.”

  “I mean, I was gonna ask him about her, but I was afraid to because I didn’t know how he would react. But I did ask him had he been involved with any girl besides me, and he told me no — I mean, he really stressed no.”

  “Well, we know he’s full of shit when it comes to that, but I’m glad you didn’t directly mention Natalie.”

  “Yeah, I didn’t want to because I don’t know what he’s capable of; I wanna mention Natalie to him with all of us. This is just so fucked up, Brad, it really is.” I didn’t wanna dare tell him what John said in terms of him believing that it was wrong that I was with Brad and not him, and this confirmed to me that he was not over me and Brad being together . . . and never would be.

  “Yeah, this is fucked up for sure,” he replied with a sigh.

  “Brad, I’m really fuckin’ scared. I don’t know how I’m gonna get through the rest of the school year knowing that someone that I used to secretly see killed one of my
friends that he was also secretly seeing.”

  “Baby, don’t worry. I’m gonna be here for you. John is not gonna hurt you — believe that. If I hear you scream and he’s anywhere near you, I’ll shoot that motherfucker without hesitation. And just to let you know, Marc and I are carrying our guns to school every day until we get John’s DNA so he can be where he belongs. Fuck the cops, fuck everything else because this is a personal quest for justice since Natalie was our friend, and an ex-friend of ours killed her. I say ex-friend because I don’t consider him a friend anymore, Vanessa, and I hope that you and Ava don’t, either . . . but I don’t want him to know that yet because if need be, I’m gonna need to still hang out with him so I can get his DNA that way. Marc has no idea that John is the one who killed Natalie and we’re gonna keep it that way because I don’t want him shooting and killing him for trying to frame him for killing her by planting her phone in his drawer because I believe that he’ll be so mad about it that he’ll actually do it, and we don’t need anyone else in trouble right now.”

  “That’s right, we don’t. I hope this won’t be hard to get John’s DNA because he’s very smart, and now he’s gonna be extra careful about what he does. We have to watch for everything, Brad. Like when he touches his lock on his locker at school to open it and close it, as well as what he eats, drinks, and even when he wipes his damn nose. We need to get something when he’s not around, and watch each time he throws something away that has his DNA on it. We know he doesn’t smoke, but there are so many other ways to get it from him.”

  “And we’re gonna get it with one of those ways. Tell Ava to also watch what he does as well because he also doesn’t know that she knows that he killed Natalie. He may be smart, but he doesn’t know that we’re trying to get it from him, so yeah, watch to see if he leaves something behind throughout the day at school or when he throws something away because as gross as it may be, we’ll have to dig in the garbage to get it because once someone throws something away it’s considered public property and anyone can have access to it for whatever reason.”

  “That’s right. But please, Brad, we need to be very careful.”

  “And we will be,” he promised. He yawned. “Well, as you can hear, I’m tired. I’ll see you tomorrow morning, and before I forget to tell you, there will be security guards at the front entrance because of what happened last week with Natalie. Everyone’s ID will be checked through a scanner and they’ll have to go through a metal detector, so don’t bring any knives or guns to school to kill John with, okay?” he chuckled.

  I laughed. “Brad! You know I’ve never brought anything like that to school, but it’s tempting now, that’s for sure!”

  He laughed. “I know it is, baby. My gun is in a locked drawer in my office at school — I’ll show you where it’s at and since you now have a key to my office, you can go in there and get it anytime you feel that you might be in danger — but don’t get it to wanna kill John,” he said with a slight laugh.

  “Or Lisa,” I said with a chuckle.

  He burst into laughter! “Exactly! Or Lisa! Well, baby, let me get off this phone. I’ll see your beautiful self at school tomorrow.”

  “Likewise, honey,” I said with a smile.

  Since I was still wide awake, I thought about the fact that I was still scared about going to school tomorrow knowing that John killed Natalie, despite the fact that there were gonna be security guards roaming the halls . . . and it was all because of John. I wanted to confront him so bad about what he did to Natalie, but I didn’t wanna end up like her, which was very possible.

  Another hour went by, and I was finally in a deep sleep. The chime on my phone jolted me out of it. I looked at it. There was a text . . . from an unknown sender! You should blame yourself for Natalie’s death. “What the fuck?!” I said. I immediately texted back. Who the fuck is this?! I’m NOT RESPONSIBLE for her death! Fuck you!! My hands shook as I sent it. I waited for a response . . . it never came.

  CHAPTER 2

  “Damn! Brad doesn’t play, does he?” Ava asked, as we stood in the seniors line to get our ID’s checked by a scanner, as well as waiting to go through one of the four metal detectors.

  “Not at all. I’m surprised he was able to get all of this done so fast since this was only thought of after Natalie was murdered, and that was just a week ago. I still don’t know how safe I really feel, especially since we know what we know, you know?” I said.

  She nodded at me with a smile. “You’re right, Vanessa. Let’s try not to think about it, okay?”

  “Okay,” I said with a sigh.

  She looked at me. “Are you okay? You know, since you told me about the dream you had about Natalie, and then John calling you after.”

  “I’m just a little tired — didn’t get really any sleep last night — I’ll be fine,” I replied with a smile.

  “Well, I’m so happy that you decided to forgive her and wanna help again to get John’s DNA so he can be put in prison for what he did to her.”

  I nodded with a smile.

  Almost twenty minutes later, we were finally through the metal detectors and didn’t get stopped for anything.

  Brad smiled at me as he waited for me as Marc stood next to him. “Hey, beautiful. Looks like you made it through the detectors with no problem,” he said with a grin.

  I grinned back at him. “Yeah, I did. I decided not to wear any jewelry that would set off the detectors since I didn’t wanna be embarrassed.”

  Brad, Ava, and Marc laughed as we all walked down the hall to our lockers. Marc went to the bathroom, so I felt that this was a good time for me to talk to Brad about John killing Natalie since Marc didn’t know that he had yet, but I was still trying to figure out whether or not I wanted to tell Brad that I got a new text from another unknown sender since I hadn’t even told Ava yet.

  I noticed how John was standing at his locker as he talked to a bunch of guys that I didn’t recognize. I immediately tensed up as he was staring right at me; I looked away fast. “Seeing John here is really unnerving me. I hope we can get his DNA this week so he’ll be where he rightfully belongs.”

  “I agree,” Brad said.

  “And so do I,” Ava said.

  Brad and I held hands as we continued to walk to his locker as Ava walked alongside us. When we got to Brad’s locker, he put his back up against it as he held me. As Ava and I talked, I noticed that John opened up his locker and took out a bottle of orange juice. “Look, you guys!” I said to Brad and Ava as I tried to be as quiet as I could about it. I never thought that I’d be trying to get someone’s DNA that I used to be intimately involved with in secret for a murder, but I was ninety-nine point nine percent sure that he was the one that did it so I was on a mission to get it unbeknownst to him, of course.

  “I see. Try not to look at him that much, baby, because we don’t want him to get suspicious that we think it’s him if we’re all staring at him every time he eats or drinks something — remember how smart he is; he’ll catch on quick,” Brad said.

  “And that’s what I’m afraid of,” I said.

  “Me too,” Ava agreed.

  Brad and Ava talked to each other while I kept my eyes glued to John; I couldn’t help it. He looked at me off and on as he continued to talk to his friends while taking sips of his orange juice. When he was done with it, he put it back in his locker . . . the bottle was completely empty. “You guys! He just put the bottle of orange juice back in his locker and it’s completely empty!” I said very quietly since I was very shocked that he did this.

  “No way!” Ava said as her eyes were big as she stared at John.

  “And why would he put an empty bottle back in his locker when there’s a garbage can not even more than a few feet away from him? He could’ve easily walked over to it and threw the bottle away like he always does . . . until last week,” Brad said.

  “Exactly!” Ava and I said.

  We all continued to watch John as he talked to his friends as he got his
books out for class. He got them out and then put them in his bag, as well as the empty bottle of orange juice. He then closed his locker, locked his lock, and wiped the lock clean with a cloth. He shot me a daunting glare as he put the cloth into his pocket, and then walked off to class.

  “He did it! He did it! He killed Natalie!” Ava said as she was almost gasping for air. “Did you see that?! Did you guys see that?! He wiped his lock clean! He wiped it fuckin’ clean!”

  “Calm down, honey,” I said, as I was trying to stay calm myself. “We saw it. He’s the one who killed Natalie because he wouldn’t be doing all of this if he had nothing to hide. He knows we’re on to him and he’s not taking any chances with anyone. You see how he took that empty bottle of orange juice with him when he could’ve easily thrown it away in the garbage can over there. He knows that there’s a good chance that we were gonna take it out of the garbage and take it to the cops for DNA testing,” I said.

  “And we would’ve,” Brad said. “He knows we’re on to him, ladies, so please don’t try to get his DNA when he’s anywhere around. He’s already killed one person so I feel that there’s no limit to who he’ll try to hurt or even possibly kill next.”

  “Okay,” Ava and I replied.

  I let out a long sigh.

  Ava and Brad looked at me.

  “Vanessa? What’s wrong, baby?” Brad asked.

  I sighed again as I looked at the floor. “There’s something I need to tell you guys,” I said.

  “What?! What is it?” Ava asked.

  “Yeah, baby, what’s the matter?” Brad asked, and then held on to my hands.

  “I thought it was over,” I said.

  They looked at me confused.

  “Thought what was over, baby?” Brad asked.

  “Yeah, Vanessa, what?” Ava said.

  “The texts — I thought the texts were over,” I informed them.

  “WHAT?!” they both replied in shock.

  “I didn’t wanna worry either one of you, but I received another text last night from an unknown sender, and I did text back right away — but the person never responded. I don’t know who this is, you guys. It’s obviously not Natalie since she’s dead.”