By the time my parents got home the entire block knew what happened to me. The police were taking both my statement and Drew’s who’d gotten the guys license plate number. I let them know where the gun was and they sent an officer over to my house to get it.
I was still in shock and everyone had already branded Drew a hero before I could even thank him. While my parents were talking to the police and Mrs. Taylor, Drew and I went outside where the entire block was gathered.
“Did you recognize him?” Scott asked.
“No, he was just some white guy in a black truck.”
“I can’t believe he pulled a gun on you and I can’t believe Drew tackled him.” Josh replies stunned.
“I didn’t know he had a gun or I might have thought about it before just jumping on him.” Drew chuckles.
“I’m just glad you were there. I could be dead right now in a ditch somewhere or in some basement somewhere.” I told him.
“How did you know what was happening?” Trisha asks.
“Yeah, how did you know? YYYYYyou were in the house?”
“I was watching you from the window when I saw him pull up.” He sheepishly admits.
“Well I’m glad.” I sigh. “Otherwise my parents would probably be planning my funeral.”
“One of the police officers said something about a serial killer.” Said Em.
“Oh yeah…a white guy who drives a black truck.” Patrice gasps.
“Please tell me you’re kidding? I though white people only kidnap their own kind.” I reply.
“Not this guy. So far three Black girls, five White girls, two Mexicans and one Asian girl has been linked to him.” Says Patrice.
“So an equal opportunity scumbag. GREAT.”
Knowing what I know now, I start to feel sick to my stomach just thinking about what could have happened. Sitting down on the sidewalk and for no apparent reason, I began to cry.
“Sid what’s wrong?” Everyone begins to panic.
“Sidney, come here please.” My dad calls me.
I wipe my tears away and head over to my dad who took me back inside. It apparently the police had more questions for me to answer.
I took a break from all the questioning and went to the bathroom only I got lost and ended up in Drew’s room. He was neat for a guy and he had posters of famous basketball players all over the place. I was about to leave when I noticed some pictures that were taken years ago of us as kids. It brought back a lot of nice memories.
“This isn’t the bathroom.” Says Drew, coming into his room.
“I know I got lost.” I told him.
“Come on, I’ll show you where it is.”
He takes me by the hand and held it until we got to the bathroom. I smiled and went inside closing the door behind me, but now I was afraid to pee just in case he was standing outside the bathroom door and could hear me.
I tried to go quietly but that didn’t work. I really hope he isn’t standing outside the door. Please God don’t let him be standing outside the door.
I washed my hands, embarrassed, and opened the door. I was relieved to see that he wasn’t standing there waiting for me and headed back into the living room with my parents.
We didn’t end up leaving Drew’s until around ten o’clock that night. The one good thing that came out of what happened to me was that my dad finally let Em, Josh and I have a cell phone. He was afraid that something like that would happen again and wanted us to have a way to call for help as he put it.
Surprisingly, my dad started inviting Drew and his parents over for dinner too. We would all eat and then have a game night. Game night was a tradition in our family.
Local news stations caught wind of my attempted abduction, and apparently the guy who tried to abduct me was actually the serial killer they were after. I owed Drew more than I had for coming to my rescue. Realizing how close I came to death gave me a whole new outlook on life. I swore to myself I would never take anything for granted ever again, including my parents.
They caught the guy the next day. His name was Bill O’Riley. He was a father of four, a devoted husband and a closet pedophile. His wife looks like a sweet oriental woman and I wasn’t looking forward to seeing her in court. I was the only living survivor of his attacks, meaning I would be solely responsible for ruining both his and his entire families lives. It made me sick to think that his life as well as his family’s was in my hands. I would much rather stay out of it than to have all that on my conscious. That’s a huge burden for a sixteen year old to bear.
The state hired a prosecutor to represent me and the prosecutor had to ask me a lot of very personal and private questions that I didn’t want to answer-like if I was sexually active. I didn’t see how that would matter, it wasn’t like I invited him onto my property and gave him that expectation.
My parents did their best to protect me from the media backlash and the fact that I went to boarding school for behavioral problems came up a few times, which never should have mattered. So far this school year was starting off all wrong.
When I got to school the next day everyone knew about my brush with death and Drew’s tango with the Devil to save me. It brought us closer together, and whenever I didn’t have a ride home from school Drew would offer to take me.
My parents finally loosened the reigns a bit and finally signed the form for me to join the girl’s basketball team. That coupled with my cell phone made me the happiest teenager on earth.
Drew was also riding me hard, which was very flattering. He took every moment he could to either pour on the charm or ask me out. And right at this moment he’s walking over to me.
“You should give me your cell phone number.” Drew insists. Subtle…very subtle.
“Yeah right, I’m sure Courtney would love that.”
“She knows I drop you off at home.”
“That’s a far cry from talking to me on the phone.” I point out.
“Hey, I saved your life miss hoop star, you owe me. Besides, it will allow me to be able to track you down when I have to give you a ride home.” He smiles, obviously proud of himself for thinking of the perfect excuse.
“You think you’re slick, but the answer is still no.” I chuckle.
“What do I have to do to get your phone number?” He asks.
“Not have a girlfriend.” I reply.
I walk away from Drew and headed to class. When I look back he’s still watching me, smiling and shaking his head.
“Drew’s all over you Sid.” Trisha smiles.
“I know but he has a girlfriend and I’m still undateable.”
“Something tells me he’d find a way to be single if you said yes.”
“Drew and I are friends, that’s it. Besides, if my parents find out I like him I’ll be banned from seeing him for life.”
“So what are you going to do, admire him from afar?” She laughs.
“You just got a cell phone and dad agreed to let Drew drive you home. I would say don’t push your luck.” Em chimes in as the voice of reason.
“ Exactly.” I sigh.
I know Emily is right and I feel the same way, it just sucks that I can’t date. I have to keep my growing interest in Drew to myself and life doesn’t seem fair all of a sudden.
I forced myself to focus on my class work but it was harder to do than I thought. I got my first graded assignment back and it was a B plus. In order to get the perfect grades I wanted I was going to have to find a way to stay focused. In my family a B wasn’t an A and might as well be an F.
I approached my second period teacher Mr. Gillespie after class was over and asked him for an extra curricular assignment I could do to make sure that I got an A. He asked me to write a two-page report on study habits, which was his sarcastic way of telling me to study more.
I decided I would do it anyway and headed to my third period with Mr. Motif. I got an A in my first test for that class, thank God. All I had to worry about was whether I’d done just as well in all my other classes.
“Why the long face?” Drew asks.
“Mr. Gillespie gave me a B and I need at least an A.” I answer in a defeated tone.
“So, do an extra credit assignment and bring that grade up.” He suggests.
“I did and he told me to do a two-page report on study habits.”
Everyone at the table began laughing because they knew just as well as I did what that meant. Mr. Gillespie may as well have given me a middle finger salute.
“Hey boyfriend.” Courtney walks up to Drew.
She kisses him in front of me on purpose and a jealous twinge comes to life inside me. He smiles at her after their kiss and gives her the once over. Did he really find her that interesting? She didn’t strike me as his type.
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