Chapter 5
~*~*~*~
I looked at the time on the radio, it was already 11:00 a.m., I hadn't realized how late I had slept in. My mind was still drowsy and I had the sense that I was forgetting something.
"Wait, Alex, I forgot my money."
"And? Did you need it for something?"
"Um, yeah. To buy food."
"Oh." He smiled at me before turning his attention back to the road and continuing driving forward. I waited for him to do or say something, but he acted like he didn't notice my gaze on him.
"'Oh'?" I said, mockingly. "That's it?"
He laughed. "You know I got you, Ev. You don't even need to worry."
"What? No, that's not fair. Turn around."
"No can do."
"Yes, you can do." My comebacks were awful.
"My truck, my rules," he winked at me.
I turned away from him and leaned my head back against the seat, crossing my arms. "Fine. I'm just going to have to get you back," I said. But Alex laughed, making me smile. "But, anyways," I put my hand on his forearm that was resting on the center console, "thank you."
He looked down at where my hand touched him before looking at me and smiling as a way of saying, 'You're welcome'. I removed my hand a couple seconds after, laying them on my lap as I proceeded to look out the window. An attempt to hide from him seeing me smile.
Alex parked in front of V.I. and then went around the truck to open the door for me. I found myself thinking that whoever he decides to date was going to be one, immensely, lucky girl. Once inside the restaurant, we were seated in a booth. I ordered a water with lemon- so Alex didn't have to pay so much- and the V.I.B. I asked for the strawberry crepes, the cheese egg omelet, biscuits and gravy, and hash browns.
Alex looked at me and smiled, letting out a small laugh.
"What?"
"I've never met a girl who eats as much food as you do. And still stays model skinny."
"I love food," I replied, but tried to hide my blush at his choice of words.
During the wait we just talked like we normally did. No creepy murderers, just life when it was safe and, albeit monotonous. When all I had to worry about were essays, and school, and sports. Alex had a way of calming me and making me feel nothing but comfort. I could only hope that I had the same effect on him.
When the food arrived I finished every last bite and found myself with room still for more food. I didn't want to say anything though for two reasons. One, Alex would make fun of me and two, Alex would have to pay for me.
"Thank you for breakfast."
"Do you want anything else? Anymore food?"
Yes.
"No."
"Are you okay?"
No.
"Yes. Just not that hungry. That's all," I lied.
The waitress walked up to our table and asked if we would like dessert, then mentioned the specials they had on their pies today.
As she spoke, I couldn't help but notice that her eyes remained on Alex. I was only privileged enough to get a glance. I was used to this attention, or lack thereof I should say, with female staff at any customer service business when I was with Alex. I couldn't blame them, he's incredibly handsome. Though, he never seemed to notice, or visibly, at least. From my experience with Alex, he was amazing at making sure his attention remained on whoever he was with.
"Yes," Alex began, "I'll just have the pumpkin pie and she'll have the banana creme."
I looked back down at him from observing the waitress. It had sort of become a game for me to tally every flirty gesture to tease Alex about later. It was cute how shy he would get about these things. "No, it's okay. I'm not hungry."
"Don't pay her any mind," Alex teased. It's not like he had to tell her in the first place, I thought. But, that was when she took the time to actually look at me. She eyed me up and down and it made me feel uneasy; insecure. That was when I remembered how I looked at this moment and all I wanted to do was slide down my chair and hide under the table.
"I'll be right back with your pies." She smiled at Alex before walking away.
It was silent between the two of us for several seconds. Even though I told him I didn't want pie, I was still grateful he ordered one for me. My only reason for saying no was because I always felt bad when he spent money on me, and he knew that. He always tells me not to worry about it. "Thank you for lunch, Alex. And, the pie."
"You're welcome." He smiled.
After the pies got to our table- and after the waitress gave Alex a flirty smile- we both dug in. I couldn't help but smile at how he knew banana creme was my favorite. He remembered a lot of things. He made me feel important.
I took one last bite before looking up at Alex, but he was already looking at me. The look his face was... interesting. Was it a look of longing? Maybe? Or, could be judgment because of the way I eat. He was always so hard to read.
"What?"
"Nothing," he smiled again, "I like when you leave your hair curly."
"Thanks," I said, with a little hint of sarcasm, little hint of skepticism. I wasn't sure how to take it. Was it a compliment, was he teasing me?
"Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah. I just have to go to the bathroom real quick," I said.
"Alright, I'll go warm up the car."
We both sat up and he reached into his pocket leaving behind a really good tip.
"Why don't you just take her out for dinner?" I teased.
He laughed before saying, "She's not my type."
Oh?
I never thought about it before, but what is Alex's type? I wanted to ask, but I felt it would make it too obvious that I was a teeny bit jealous. And, I wasn't ready to hear, 'Short, blonde, and beautiful with green eyes.' The opposite of me. Tall, brunette, with hazel eyes.
I opened my mouth to say something, but the T.V. hanging on the wall grabbed the attention of us both.
"... from the crime scene last night. DNA has been matched back to that of Andrew Carson. Police are on the lookout for this man as it is believed he is responsible for the murder of four teenagers in the state of Colorado. Police have a few theories on how the murders connect, given the distance." A picture of the man showed up on the screen. "If you recognize this man or see him, please contact the police right away. In other news..."
2 Years Ago...
"What are your plans after school today, Ev?" Haley asked me, as we both walked down the hallway, making our way to the school buses.
"I don't know yet, might catch up on homework. Maybe we can do something afterwards! My place or yours?"
"How about mine? Aaron's been asking about you a lot lately," Haley said in a teasing tone as she nudged me with her elbow, causing me to blush inwardly. Her brother was cute, and he had been very flirtatious with me lately. Plus, there was something rather exciting about being liked by an older guy.
Before I could say anything, we were both stopped in our tracks by the abrupt sound of someone angrily yelling in the school's front office.
"SHE'S LYING! I didn't touch her!" The yelling didn't sound like it was coming from a student, it was coming from an adult, maybe a teacher or parent? There was a crashing sound, as though a table had been flipped over. Then another sound of objects being thrown to the ground.
"Security!"
"I SWEAR SHE'LL PAY FOR THIS! She's trying to get me fired!"
A couple of security guards came running from behind us and ran into the front office. When they opened the door, the screaming and yelling was no longer muffled. It was more intense, more terrifying. I was too scared to move. The man sounded like he was ready to hurt anybody who got in his way.
Haley and I stayed there waiting, unsure of what to do. There were a couple other people standing around as well, obviously feeling the same way. Or, maybe, more than anything, drawn to the scene by their curiosity.
A couple seconds later the security guards came out of the office, pulling along with them the school janitor, Andrew Carson. He was fairly young, maybe 28 at the most. He had that edgy bad boy look about himself that some of the high school girls here found irresistible. Others, like myself, not so much. He was too edgy for my liking.
The second he saw all of us 'nosy' teenagers, he became even more frustrated. He cursed at us all for not minding our own business. Before they were able to get him out the doors and off of school property, he made eye contact with me.
"What are you looking at?!?"
My eyes quickly fell to the ground, I felt ashamed for some reason.
"Jasmine told the school that he sexually harassed her," Haley began speaking in a hushed tone the second he was let out the doors, "I thought she was lying because he rejected her, but dang, with how he acted, it just might be true. He's psychotic!"
"But, if it wasn't true, wouldn't anybody act that way if they're wrongly accused? Not only will that cost him his career, but it will go on record and affect him for the rest of his life." I objected.
"True. But I dunno, I did get creepy vibes from him. I used to always catch him staring at other girls. Including you."
"What? No way. If that were true, why didn't you tell me before?"
"Because guys always look at you."
I playfully rolled my eyes and shook my head. Haley was always trying to make me feel better about myself. She was a really good friend to me, I will always cherish her.
"I would always catch him staring at my chest, too!" she continued. "No joke."
"Was it your chest he was looking at, or that huge diamond necklace?" I said in a jokingly manner, "I swear it can blind people."
"Maybe it was both. I can be sexy, too. My chest can be blinding." She said with a hair flip and we both laughed. We continued on towards the buses. But I couldn't help and look back and think, Were the accusations true?
"I remember him," I mumbled to myself.
Alex turned his gaze away from the TV and looked down at me, indicating her heard what I said. "Ever, you know who that is?"
"Yeah, sort of. He was the janitor at my old school. But he was let go because some girl accused him of sexual harassment."
"Were the accusations true?"
"I don't know," I shrugged, "I always wondered the same thing. I mean, my friends had a bad feeling about him and he gave some of the girls the creeps. Others thought the opposite, that he was charming and good looking. But, he did get caught staring at some of the girls here and there. I just don't know if he actually ever did anything."
"Would he look at you? Did he know you? Did you talk to him? Why does he want the necklace?"
"Ooh, protective are we?" I smiled and stuck out my tongue as I put my hand on the necklace dangling above my chest. "Haley, the one who gave me this necklace, she had been telling me how she would catch him staring at her chest, and I joked saying maybe he was staring at the necklace." I put my hand on my head, "How did I not see it before?"
Wow, the cops were good. That was a lot faster than I thought it was going to be.
"Even though he's still out there, at least now we know who to look out for."
"You're right, he wouldn't be able to show his face out in public now." I felt a small sense of security that I hadn't felt before. Being out in the open, I was safe. Ironically, the only place I wouldn't be was my own home. "Well, I'll meet you in the car. I'll only be 5 minutes at the most."
"Alright. Be safe," he joked.
I put my hand over my heart, "Thank you, that means a lot to me. You know how strong my fear of public restrooms is."
"Get out of here. Glad to see you still have your awful sense of humor," he joked as he started walking away from me. I looked back at him and could see him shaking his head and laughing.
"Pray for me!" I yelled out after him.
"You're a dork!" he yelled back at me.
I laughed to myself before turning around and walking towards the restrooms. Upon entering, I was able to see that one other person was in the restroom with me. They were in the very last stall. Dang, they took the big one. I went into the first stall and after I was done, I walked to the sink and washed my hands.
I looked at myself in the mirror. I still looked like I got attacked by Freddy Krueger, but at least the bruises were covered pretty well. I looked at my hair to see what Alex was talking about. It didn't look bad, it just looked like spirals. Was Alex saying he liked it to be funny or because he was serious?
I started towards the door but was startled as I felt someone's arm wrap around my waist along with a hand clasping on my mouth.
I tried to scream but my scream was muffled. I felt myself get pulled back and hit against someone's chest.
I felt their breath on my neck as they whispered in my ear "Shhh... I need to talk to you." He had a deep voice, it reminded me of the voice I heard in my dream.
He pushed my back against the wall, his hand still pressed against my mouth. I looked up to see who he was.
Andrew Carson.
My eyes must have given away the fear I felt because he put his hand on the top of my head as though he were trying to relax me.
"Shh, shhh, shhh," he soothed as he brushed my hair back, "calm down."
Calm down? Calm down? How are you going to ask me to calm down after sneaking up behind me with your hand around my mouth?
"Listen, we don't have much time. I need you to hear me out, okay? I was fr-..." The door opened to a lady around her forties. She looked at us and her eyes went wide. I knew she saw the fear in my eyes and I sent her a look to leave and go get help.
He cursed under his breath.
"Get out of here!" he yelled.
The lady didn't waste any time. Andrew pulled a gun out of his pocket and put it to my head. I closed my eyes for a few seconds as I tried to fight the sudden reaction to scream.
"You're going to have to come with me."
He turned me around and pressed me against his body.
"Come on!"
He kicked the door open and dragged me out.
He pointed the gun in the air, momentarily and shot at the ceiling to grab the attention of everyone inside the restaurant. "Everybody get down!" There were screams all over the place as people ducked under tables.
He returned the gun to my head, this time the muzzle felt hot against my temple. He slowly walked around everybody, threatening to shoot me and anyone who moved. He made it to the front, nobody stopped him, nobody budged.
He opened the door and Alex was standing there. He punched Andrew in the face knocking him to the ground, dragging me down with him.
"Let her go!"
His grip let loose and Alex helped me up and pulled me behind him. Andrew got up from the ground and took off behind the building. Alex started towards where he took off and got ready to chase after him.
I grabbed a hold of his arm before he could go after him. "No, Alex! He has a loaded gun!"
He looked at me, seeing how upset I was and listened to me.
A waitress walked outside of Village Inn just then. "Are you guys alright?"
"Yes, call the police!" Alex yelled back. He looked at me and asked, "Are you okay?"
I didn't know what to say. I was in too much shock to know how I was really feeling. Am I okay?
I nodded my head. Almost robotically.
He wrapped his arms around me and held me. Suddenly I felt better.
"I heard a gunshot from my truck. What happened? Did he hurt you? Are you alright?" Before I had a chance to answer, Alex's face fell and his eyes showed defeat, "I'm so sorry, Ever. I let this happen."
"Alex, this wasn't your fault." He shook his head looking ready to say something, but no words came out. "It's okay," I rubbed my hands up and down his arm, "At least now we know the murderer is Andrew."
Andrew Carson.