Officer Jones and I now have a texting relationship, he's been so normal with me considering and it's nice to have someone to talk to who doesn't see me as damaged goods. We talk a lot about me and then we talk about him and his experiences and it's made me feel less anxious now that I can talk to someone who doesn't want to talk about my mother or my brothers or the case, just someone to talk to about anything and everything I want even if it is just talking about different shows that are going around town or the new movies that are coming out on Netflix.
The next day I woke up and got ready. It's my first day at University today, We have just finished orientation and signed up for our lectures for the next six weeks. I've got one today and then three tomorrow, it's going to get busy especially over the next few weeks. I just arrived at my lecture and have taken my seat and in walks Officer Jones. The lecture begins and professor Langston begins talking.
"welcome to your first lecture in astrophysics, now I know you expected me to be talking your ears off for the next two and a half hours but we have a special guest, this is officer Jones and he is going to talk your ears of for the next two and a half hours, good luck!" professor Langston walks out and Officer Jones starts talking,
"Okay I know what you're all thinking, what the hell is a police officer doing at a lecture hall during a astrophysics lecture, am I right?" Everyone starts laughing, clapping and cheering but me I sit there smirking at him amused. "Well my name is Daniel Jones, son of Amanda Jones one of the greatest astrophysicists of all time!" Everyone is in awe including me, why would he not tell me this even after I told him that I'm studying astrophysics? I'll have to text him later. After a few hours of astrophysics talk and questions from nearly every person in that lecture which mostly were 'if he was single' which irritated me, I don't know why, i'm not jealous or anything! I waited outside the hall to talk to him and five minutes after the lecture ended he walked out and I caught him.
"Hey, you didn't tell me your mother was Amanda Jones" I asked quizzically.
"yeah sorry I was going to bring it up but I got really into the other stuff I didn't want to bore you with astrophysics talk." he said surprising me. I started to wonder if I even told him that I was hoping to become a astrophysicist, we talked so much that I'm surprised it never came up. It has been the only thing I've been focusing on in my spare time, all I've been doing and still I haven't mentioned it, the thought of that actually makes me wonder how many other things we actually talk about.
"Oh please! talk astrophysics with me whenever you want, I do want to be an astrophysicist!" I reply enthusiastically. I thought that I should tell him that after everything else I've told him but I'm sure he knows that already since I just spent two and a half hours of my time listening to talk on the subject.
"I'll keep that in mind" he laughs at me and I scowl at him. We stand there for a while and I start heading off.
"hey Melinda, do you wanna grab a coffee, answering all those questions at the end has me parched!" he asks as I stop and turn around once again.
"yeah, leave it to a bunch of 18 year old girls to do that to you" I say and he laughs,
"sure let's grab coffee, I don't have any more lectures until tomorrow so I've got some spare time!" we smiled at each other for awhile and I realised something, I realised that I may have a crush on the officer on my father's case, is that a conflict of interest? It doesn't matter to me but will it matter to him? I don't even know if he likes me back, so let's not get ahead of ourselves.
We went to my apartment first so I could change, I wanted to look cute but not in a dramatic way so I chose my light blue ripped jeans and my black turtleneck half top, I left my black hair to flow over my shoulders and dabbled in a bit of makeup, light and natural, lip gloss and mascara nothing fancy and then I walked out to see him sitting at my table waiting patiently.
"Hey, ready to go?" I asked,
"yeah sure!" He said unsure of himself.
We walk out of my apartment and down the stairs, we got in his car since he insisted on driving. He had a nice car, not that I knew much but I could tell it was porsche only because Jade has one. I got in and he put on the radio, 'hush' by 'Afroman' came on and I knew all the words so you can imagine his surprise when I started rapping to the parts not even he knew,i could tell he was impressed. "Well, Now I know you have good taste in music, what else don't I know about you?" he asks me. He looks at me expectantly so I answer him
"well, you see I've only known you for approximately two weeks and you're going to have to try a lot harder to get me to talk Officer Jones" I say innocently. He laughs and plays along
"I take that as a challenge miss Whitmore... and how many times have I told you to call me Daniel."
"oh yes, right Daniel. So Mr. Jones where are you taking me?" I asked nonchalantly.
"I'm not going to take you to the local cafe if that's what you're wondering" he says observantly I smile at him and go back to staring out the window. About 10 minutes later we were pulling into a cafe who knows where, it looked really nice with a rustic sort of look but lovely all the same.
"Oh my god!" I said while staring at the beauty in front of me. We stand outside for a minute and just appreciate the allure of this spectacular attraction.
"So how 'bout we go in and order than we can take a walk on the beach?" he asks me,
"sure, it really is beautiful out here!" I respond with gratitude.
We order and take our coffee's with us while we go for a walk. After a few minutes of just walking we sit down on the sand and spend the time enjoying each others company.
"I have something to tell you and it's sensitive" he says.
"okay, what is it?" I ask a little worried.
"It's about your father's case actually so I'm not supposed to be telling you about this but I thought you would want to know." he says and I look at him expectantly.
"well, okay just tell me" I say interested now, what could he possibly tell me that I don't already know? I don't know whether I should feel nervous that he's going to tell me something about what else he's done, annoyed because I don't really want to talk to him, or oblivious to the subject, I am nervous, I know I shouldn't be but it's really hard to tell your body what to feel!i
"Your dad has been granted bail and I've been assigned to protect you which includes round the clock supervision just in case your dad comes back." He says and all I could feel Is all the blood being drawn from my face and I start to shake, how did he get bail? The police has evidence, witnesses but he still gets out, how is that even possible? We didn't talk on the way home, I think he knows that i'm just trying to process. We get to my apartment and he tells me he'll be back later in his police car. He tells me I shouldn't be scared but how could I not be, the man that just over a week ago sent my entire family to hospital, and completely turned my life upside down is allowed to walk the streets of the town that I live in, the hospital that my mother is recovering from his attack is in and access to all of my personal information including my phone number and home address,I immediately become more aware of my surroundings as I lock my door, and the windows and sit ever so quietly on the couch as if I'm trapped in a bubble.
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The Day After
Teen FictionThe last decision, the first choice, your greatest accomplishment, the biggest mistake. The things we do matter and it affects everything and everyone around us. This story focuses on a young adult just starting to get her life together being put do...
