20. Nova
The sun shining directly on my face is what woke me up. I was disoriented for a bit, confused when I couldn’t recognize anything around me. This wasn’t my pink room and it took me a few seconds to realize it. More than that, I could feel a hot and hard chest pressed flush against my back.
My very naked back.
Everything came back to me then.
Fighting with dad, running to see Aiden. Him kissing and licking me and finally, taking my virginity.
I felt so sore between my legs it had me wondering how I would manage to walk around school.
Kisses on my neck pulled me back to the moment and I couldn’t help the small smile tugging at my lips.
“Any regrets, little star?”
Aiden’s voice in the morning was even scratchier than usual and made me press my thighs together. The way he asked sounded calm and relaxed but I could feel how his body tensed against mine, dreading my answer.
Turning around and cupping his face, I smiled, “None. Never.”
He grinned and pushed his lips against mine in a quick kiss before pushing the cover away from us and jumping out of bed, “Come on, let’s take a shower before we’re late for school.”
I groaned, hiding my face in his pillow. His delicious-smelling pillow. He chuckled, then, totally out of the blue, slapped my ass, hard.
I yelped, sitting up and grabbing the covers to hide from his wandering hands. Aiden only laughed harder.
“Don’t lie to yourself, little star. You know you liked it.” Pulling his sweatpants up, he winked and stepped out of the room, leaving me staring with an open mouth.
***
I couldn’t concentrate.
Whatever I did, my mind still seemed to wander to last night in Aiden’s room.
The soreness between my legs also made it hard to forget. He helped me wash away the stickiness of his cum while we showered, but I couldn’t lie and say I didn’t try to convince him to have his way with me one last time before school. He shut the idea down after kissing me senseless, saying I already walked funny so it would only make it worse and that he didn’t want to hurt me.
I was torn between being annoyed at him for not giving me what I wanted, what we both wanted, or thinking it was incredibly cute and thoughtful.
I drove back home to change and get ready for class, and thankfully no one was there. Dad was already gone for work; he had been blowing off my phone last night until I texted him that I was spending the night at Jelena to ease his mind a little. Dad couldn’t stand Jelena’s parents, plus they were never home so there was no way he could verify my alibi.
Rory also texted me last night and I gave her the same story, only adding that I was okay and that I loved her to the text. She said she loved me too and to be careful.
Classes went by slowly and aside from a few stolen glances and secret smiles in the hallway, I didn’t have any contact with Aiden all day until after lunch. I wasn’t really hungry so I left the girls to finish their meal in hope to get to my class early—the class that used to be Mrs. Diaz’s but had been taken over by Mr. Kerill.
Retrieving the book from my locker, I was about to shut it and turn around when a hand on my waist pulled me back against a hard chest.
I gasped, although the delicious scent of citrus and soap made it easy to guess who it was. A shy smile stretched my lips as I let Aiden turn me around, pushing me against the locker next to mine.
“Miss me?” I teased.
“Always.” He took my lips in a bruising kiss and I couldn’t help but moan in delight.
The book fell on the ground forgotten as my arms wrapped around his neck, wanting him closer. The hall was empty, everyone still very much taking their time to eat in the cafeteria. I took it as an opportunity to deepen the kiss, licking his lips so that he would open for my tongue. Aiden’s hands snuck down to my thighs and up my skirt until he was gripping my ass. The movement brought my hips flush against his and the bulge in his jeans was unmistakable.
We had to pull away in order to breathe and I pecked his lips one last time.
“Want to walk with me to class?” I nodded and closed my locker while he bent down to retrieve my book.
“Do you think Kerill will pick up where—” I gulped, “Where Mrs. Diaz left off?”
He looked like he was thinking about it, walking slowly next to me and staring at the ground, before shrugging, “I don’t know. Probably not, he’ll want a clean slate.”
I hummed my agreement, stepping a little closer to him so that our arms brushed. I had no idea what this thing between us was, but I really wanted to be close to him at that moment. We had been dancing around each other, stealing touches, kisses, glances for weeks now. We were there for each other during one of the scariest moments of our lives. I was clearly tired of fighting it and if the way he threw his arm over my shoulder was any indication, so was he.
We walked all the way to Mr. Kerill’s class which, thankfully, was not the same as Mrs. Diaz’s. The halls were still empty except for faculty despite there being only ten minutes left for lunch.
Once we reached the door and noticed it was open, I peeked my head in curiously. Kerill was at his desk, grading papers if the red pen in his hand was any indication.
Aiden knocked and the teacher looked up, startled. When he saw us, he smiled and put the pen down.
“Aiden, Nova. Come on in, you can take your seats while we wait for everybody to come.” He smiled and I answered in kind.
Sitting down, I noticed Aiden took the seat right behind me instead of sitting by the window, like he usually would.
“How are you guys holding on?”
I stopped counting the number of times I’d been asked that. Since we were among those who had come closest to Sebastian, and because we had witnessed the last moments of Mrs. Diaz, it made sense.
“We’re… okay.” Aiden answered, making Kerill nod.
“Have you been to the psychology unit yet?”
“No. We have each other.” The affirmation warmed my heart.
A small, sad smile tugged at the corner of my lips. He was right. We had each other.
I hadn’t been able to talk about that day with anyone except Aiden. Most of the school had hid in the library or in the gym, Zainab fell because of the crowd and broke her arm. Mei had to hide in a janitor closet with some guy from the football team even though she hated small spaces. And Jelena was in the library where Sebastian never entered.
There was no denying their experience was traumatizing, but still, I couldn’t bring myself to tell them about mine. I still felt guilty most days.
“If you feel most comfortable talking to each other, that’s what’s important.” Kerill smiled sadly at us.
Thick round glasses fell on his nose, bushy eyebrows shaped his gaze, almost too big for his eyes. His black hair was speckled with white and the top of his head was almost bald, but his smile seemed genuine and his eyes were kind. He’d been my teacher last year, always there to help and he even gave me a few extensions on assignments before. Just one of those professors who really took their job seriously, I guess. More than that, it was a vocation for him. He always took time after class to speak with us, get to know us. I knew a few confided in him about their home situation and he always did his best to help.
“How is your daughter doing, Mr. Kerill?” The question seemed to make his eyes come alive and I knew I’d chosen the best way to change the subject. The man could talk about his daughter for hours.
“Great, actually,” he grinned, “she’s coming to visit next weekend for the Winter Fair. It’s been hard trying to find an agreement with her… her mom.” He rubbed the back of his neck, looking sheepish.
It was no secret for the whole town that he’d been cuckolded a year ago. His wife cheated on him with a younger guy, took their daughter and left town for the city to be with him. His daughter should be around ten now and never came to visit, at least not that I knew of. He was always the one having to go to her if he wanted to spend time together.
It made me sad for him, but seeing how stoked he looked at the prospect of her visiting, I couldn’t help but smile too. “I’m happy to hear that. Maybe we’ll see each other there, my sisters have been wanting to go, too.”
“I’m sure we will, the whole town will be there.”
People started coming in after that and we stopped talking. Zainab came to sit next to me as usual but she seemed surprised to see Aiden had changed seats. She gave me a look but I simply winked, a silent promise I would tell her everything later.
Kerill began his lecture shortly after everyone was seated, a grim look on his face. “I wish that my taking over this class wasn’t done in such circumstances, but unfortunately, it isn’t the case. To make it easier on you guys, I will change the original group assignments you had to do by the end of the term into an individual essay. The theme will vary a little, you will be able to do it on any classic of your choice, English or American literature. You will still have until the end of the year to have it done, but please note that I will need an outline on my desk by the end of next week…”
***
Aiden
The house looked empty, almost like no one lived there. Ever since Oscar disappeared, Carmen had made it her mission to be home as little as possible, and on the rare occasions she was, she was never sober.
It hurt seeing her self-destroy, but I also understood where she came from. The fact that life went on around us despite Oscar being gone hurt beyond belief. I still roamed the town every night, in my car, sometimes with Nova, sometimes alone, thinking maybe he would have managed to escape from wherever he was being held and came back. Thinking maybe I’ll see him come running out of the woods, telling me he got stuck in one of the old hunting cabins there.
Deep down, I knew it wouldn’t be the case because we had spent entire days exploring them with the guys to make sure he wasn’t there.
Deep down, I knew the chances of finding him alive were close to none, still I couldn’t stop searching. It had come to a point where even finding his body would have made a difference.
Sitting in my car in front of his house, my phone in hand, watching old videos of us playing video games, I couldn’t stop the tears from rising. They wouldn’t fall, I refused to let them, because it would’ve felt like a failure. Like I was admitting defeat, when I was still far from it.
Deciding it was enough for today, I threw my phone on the seat next to me and started the car.
Ten minutes later I was parking in front of the diner where Detective Brooks had agreed to meet with me. He sat at the back, a small file and a coffee on the table in front of him, his phone against his ear. A smile stretched his lips as he spoke softly into it.
As I got closer, he noticed me.
“Okay, Pretty Girl, tell Ray it’s okay if he drew on the couch, we’ll clean it up when I’m back. I have to go, I’ll see you tonight.” His smile widened a little, and I took a seat in front of him, “Love you too.”
Hanging up, he put the phone down and gave me a small nod. “Hey, how are you holding up?”
I shrugged, “As good as one can, I guess.”
Maddox nodded absentmindedly before his gaze fell on my chest and he chuckled, “Nice shirt.”
Frowning, I glanced down, only to realize I’d put on my “F*ck the police” shirt after showering from the gym earlier, “Sorry. It was laundry day at home.” I smirked.
He simply shrugged, amused, “I’m not one of them anymore, so I couldn’t care less.”
“Wait, what? You resigned?” I couldn’t keep the surprise from my voice.
“Three weeks ago. Best decision ever.” It was his turn to smirk.
“Can’t say I disagree. Although you guys did seem more competent than the pigs we got here.”
“You can say that again,” he sighed, then grabbed the file that was lying on the table and pushed it towards me, “I did some research, looked at all the teachers and faculty’s backgrounds, none of them seemed sketchy. I even ran a check on the coach assistants. One of them seemed a bit off, got in trouble in college after a girl accused him of spiking her drink. I had him followed all week and my—um… associate got eyes on the inside of his apartment but still, no suspicious behavior.”
“Your associate? Eyes on the inside of his apartment? My, my, detective Brooks, is that breaking and entering you’re referring to?”
He rolled his eyes, “No, asshole, he hacked into his security, phone and laptop cameras.”
“Damn.” That sounded like something right up J’s alley.
“We’ve made a list of the teachers that all the kids had in common, here it is,” he pushed a paper with five names on it towards me, I recognized none of them. “I’m having them all followed this week and will be keeping an eye on their home too. I’ve also put on a search for all old black cars, according to what that kid told you. We’ve found a few but again, no suspicious behavior from the owners.” Maddox sighed and rubbed the back of his head, “I’m sorry that this is all we got. Finding things about these kids was hard it’s like they just—”
“Vanished.” I cut him off and he acquiesced.
“Usually, in these types of cases, it’s always someone close to them. Someone they think they can trust, someone they’ve known for a while. That’s why I made a list of all the teachers they had in common. I’m looking into your neighbors too. I know you said you didn’t think any of them could be capable of that, but I’m not taking risks.”
“I agree.” It hurt just thinking about it, that one of the people I grew up with would be cruel enough to just take kids out of their homes for whatever reason. But we were too far gone now and had to consider every option.
It’s been over a month since Oscar disappeared.
And I knew that with each day passing, the hopes to find him alive were getting slimmer.