Disguised as a Nerd

Chapter 39

Asher's POV

"How's your mom?" Ethan asks me as soon as he walks into the hospital room.

"Better."

Noah sighs at my dry response. I roll my eyes, what did they expect? Did they want me to applaud them for being fake friends?

"What's wrong with you dude? Last time I checked I haven't done anything," Noah sarcastically responds.

"You call going to see Vanessa nothing?" I ask.

"How did you-"

"Word travels fast."

"Asher stop, due to the respect I have for your mother, I won't give you the punch you deserve right now. You honestly have to stop being so stubborn and listen. Vanessa lied to me too, I'm not here telling her to leave me alone," Ethan argues.

"You don't get it! She isn't who I thought she was, the person who I learned to like doesn't exist. After all that, she didn't tell me about the affair, she was my girlfriend, we were supposed to trust each other with anything," I express my feelings.

"I know Asher. You have a point, Vanessa should have told you about who she really was but maybe if you listen to her, you might understand. I won't tell you because that's a problem you two have to talk about. Regarding the affair, she also should have told you but I also believe it wasn't easy for her to come up with an idea on how to tell you. Honestly, if I was in her position, I wouldn't know how to say it either," Ethan adds.

"Asher, you haven't been honest with her either, you didn't tell her about your mom. Both of y'all have been keeping secrets away from each other. You can't blame her more than you. Right now, talk with her, before it's too late," Noah chimes in.

"I don't know, I'm deeply hurt by her lie and dishonesty. I need to think, I broke things off with her anyways. Maybe things were meant to be like this. Either way, I still need time, I need to think things over," I respond truthfully.

"It's up to you, just don't hurt her anymore," Ethan pleads. I nod at him. Even if I'm mad at Vanessa, I still like her. I know I shouldn't but I can't help it.

We all look at my mother, who was sleeping soundly. I wanted to hurt my 'father' for what he did to my mom. She didn't take it well, just as I predicted. I was so horrified after seeing how close she was to dying. After all, I just learned about her heart problems, she hid them from me.

"Sorry I got to take this!" Noah's phone rings. Ethan and I nod agreeing for him to answer it. He puts it on loudspeaker, telling Ethan to listen closely.

"Hey!"

"Good evening Mr. Anderson, I have collected all the information available for Maya. As you said, she is four and lives in the same household you've described. Her father is 26 and her mother was 25. She passed away a couple of months ago though. There have been multiple alerts about her absence from school as well, after her mom died, she hasn't been attending school that much. Lastly, I sent private investigators to take pictures of the household since we noticed Maya's father left the house. It appears to be a scene where domestic abuse has been happening," an investigator says behind the phone.

Who is Maya?

"You found that much about Maya! I thought this stuff takes so many hours. Thank you, although I worry that this doesn't help me to confirm Maya's abuse. A judge or whoever takes this case will need more evidence to prove she is getting abused," Noah adds.

"Is there any medical records?" Ethan chimes in. I realize why he asked that. This 'Maya' could have been to the hospital if she was being abused badly.

"Yes, there are three cases. Her mom was emitted to the hospital once for a broken arm and before she died, they found a lot of bruises on her body. It also informs me that they proceeded to ask Maya's father for questions but he kept repeating she did heavy work which caused the bruising. No one could confirm this was true so they let him free," the investigator informs us.

"What's the third case?" Noah asks.

"Maya was admitted to the hospital two weeks after her mom died for malnutrition and a fractured leg, the reason listed here was she fell off a bike. The malnutrition was overlooked because the father told them she didn't want to eat after her mom's death. Once again, nothing was investigated," the investigator adds.

"So to prove this is domestic abuse, we need more evidence?" Ethan asks the investigator.

"Correct. Since the hospital considered it as nothing to worry about, you can't use this anywhere. A video, pictures or Maya herself will have to be used as evidence. I'll remind you as well, we are going against Maya's father, he has a lot more advantages due to being the only biological parent left. Mr. Anderson, I advise you to collect a lot of evidence as well for Maya to speak up and to not alert the father about this, it could be used against you if he knows too soon," the investigator advice Noah.

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind. Have a good night!" Noah ends the call.

"Who is Maya?" I ask as soon as he hangs up. I'm so eager to know. The name captured my attention.

"Oh, I forgot you didn't know! Angel is this little girl Vanessa found and is obsessed with her. I mean who wouldn't? The kid is so cute and clever. Anyways, we went to leave her at her house and I think she is a victim of domestic abuse," Noah explains.

Once again, this adds to why I like Vanessa, she's too kind.

"Oh! So about what I heard, we need a lot more to be able to help her, right?" I ask.

"Unfortunately, yes. I think Maya won't help us with this unless she trusts us. We need her to confess herself, whether she's being abused or not," Ethan says.

"I agree, but there must be something else we can do," Noah says desperately.

"Honestly, we can try to get as close as we can to Maya first, it will help us a lot rather than going up to her father and asking 'Are you hurting your daughter?' He won't comply," I advise.

"Yeah, we should try to ask Vanessa to help us, Maya is already attached to her so it will be easier with her around," Noah adds.

Ethan and Noah both look at me.

"Fine! Vanessa can help us but I'm only doing this for this girl, she sounds like she really needs help," I agree.

In reality, I felt that this 'Maya' was supposed to mean a lot to me later on.

Almost as if she is meant to fill my heart full of love.

The next day I go to school once again. It was finally Friday after a hectic week. My mom was doing so much better, she even told me to not skip school anymore, to only come when she called me. Although, I planned to visit her right after I'm done with school.

However, since I'm being forced to be in school today it means I can't escape my problems either. Before, I was so happy that I had Vanessa in my first class of the day, today not so much. I'm not ready for anything to happen whether it's talking or listening to her.

I knew everyone would be in class already since I arrived with five minutes to get to class. I walked towards my math class to see some students piling in. I take a deep breath before going in.

Unfortunately, I was correct, almost everyone was there, including Vanessa. She was seated next to the guys, right next to where I usually sit. I make sure I'm expressionless and take my seat next to her. She was busy writing down the agenda of the day to even notice me walking in. I look at her figure, as always she was so concerned about getting everything written down.

The wig she uses every day was still on, as well for the glasses. Which now I knew were fake.

She finally lifts her face and adverts her attention to me. She looked surprised, probably because I rarely came to class, but changes her expression to a saddened one.

We finally locked eyes.

It was almost like the first time I saw her, we locked eyes, and I fell head over heels for her.