He looked taken aback.
I kept going before he could open his mouth. “But you won’t let her. You play both sides,” I said, using Principal Darwin’s words. “You pull her back in over and over again because you don’t want Mom to get over you. You want her to drive herself crazy over you. Does Astrid know that you come over at night, when you think I’m asleep and no one knows, and you don’t leave Mom’s room until the morning?” I knew I was being a brat, but I was so sick and tired of pretending.
Pretending that things were good. They weren’t.
They were disastrous. And if that’s how they were going to be from now on, then I wanted to find a way to deal with it. Not continue to hide it.
“Melanie!” he snapped, enraged eyes grilling into me. He flashed them over his shoulder nervously. “That is enough. You can kiss your camera goodbye.”
“Does Astrid know that you give Mom false hope? Does she? You’re marrying her, when you’re not divorced from Mom yet? How is that possible?”
“Go upstairs!” he growled.
I slammed my spoon onto the table. Milk spilled out onto the glass surface top of the table. “You don’t want to divorce Mom. You’re going to drag this out until it ruins her!” I scream. “You won’t let me see Dare. But Dare’s nothing like you. He’s brave, and comforting, and he’s loyal!”
“You’re grounded until you’re eighteen!” he bellowed from the kitchen after I ran out.
I ran into Astrid around the corner. Her face was pale, and she couldn’t even meet my eyes.
I felt bad for her finding out that way, but someone in this family had to remember what the truth was.
I’d been in my room ever since. I was starving, but I refused to go downstairs and eat any of his food. I’d starve before I fed into this lie. Astrid had left an hour after I’d come up, and she hadn’t come back.
I wasn’t surprised when Mom came over fifteen minutes later.
How did good people become so wrong?
***
In the morning, I woke up shivering. My back ached from sleeping on the floor. I got up on creaky limbs and went over to the window to peer outside. Mom’s car was still there.
When I opened the door, I smelled pancakes. “Freaks,” I whispered under my breath. I went to the end of the hall and ducked to peer down. The open doorway over the kitchen showed the edge of Dad’s foot, and Mom’s bare toes.
I should be excited. Maybe they were getting back together. I wasn’t. If they got back together, I’d scream. The hell they’d put me through for nothing.
I went down and into the kitchen to find Mom at the stove, a golden pancake on the end of her spatula. Dad didn’t look up and I didn’t look over. The entire scene looked like a mirage. Only, I didn’t want to risk putting my hand through it and coming up empty that time.
“Eggs?” Mom asked, giving me a cheerful smile.
She looked ten years younger. And she was wearing her wedding ring. “Uh…”
“We’re both taking you to school today. We have a meeting with the principal,” Dad spoke up.
My back straightened at the sound of his voice. “Aren’t we the happy family…?”
Mom pleaded with her eyes. “Eggs?”
“Yeah, sure. I had nothing to eat at home for weeks. May as well live it up.” I settled at the bar. I wasn’t usually a back-talker, but something about keeping quiet no longer suited me. “Head’s up. Principal Darwin’s not your biggest fan. He won’t be on your side.”
Mom studiously turned around.
Dad cleared his throat.
I nodded. Fakers.
I ate breakfast at the bar while Mom and Dad ate at the table, talking and flirting. I finished as fast as I could, and then went upstairs, sick to my stomach. Was it better to be forgotten, or lied to? They weren’t lying to me, they were lying to themselves.
I showered and then sat naked wrapped in my towel on the floor, sifting through the clothes I’d packed for my prison break. I picked a pair of red lacey boy shorts, bit my lip, and then paired it with a red sports bra. I wore my tightest pair of light denim skinny jeans and then a see-through white tank top. I wrapped a red and black flannel around my waist and then put on my Adidas. I straightened my hair and left it down, before spraying strawberry body spray onto my skin that Dare must’ve packed. The idea of him choosing it made me smile sadly.
I sprayed it all over.
Dad had my backpack near the front door for me. He eyed me up and down, his face turning as red as my shirt. “That’s what you’re wearing to school?”
I grabbed my backpack from him. “What’s wrong with it?”
“It’s revealing. I can see your cleavage. That’s what. Put your flannel on. Or we’re not leaving.” He crossed his arms over his chest.
Heaving a sigh, I took my red and black flannel off my waist and put it on, leaving it unbuttoned. “Is this good enough, Dad?”
“What happened to my sweet girl?”
I tried not to let that smart. “You killed her.” I walked out of the door, my backpack over my shoulder. No cell phone, no camera, and no dang clue.
The drive to school was silent. We parked in the visitor’s parking lot. My eyes remained peeled for Dare’s truck, but the student parking lot was on the other side of the school. Thankfully, we were early, and there were few students around. But I did see Rudy leaning against the school with his arms around a girl’s waist, the same one he’d sat with at the party. He nodded at me, and I gave him a small smile. “Dare?” I mouthed.
He gave me a nod and pulled out his phone.
Dad looked at me. “Was he saying hello to you?”
“Who?” I asked innocently.
He grabbed my arm and pulled me along. Mom walked beside me. The office was quiet, the smell of coffee thick in the air. I was tired from not being able to sleep well, and that coldness still hadn’t left me.
“We’re the Barton’s,” Dad said.
Mom grinned.
I groaned.
Principal Darwin poked his head out, the caterpillar between his eyes wiggling like crazy when he saw me. “Mr. and Mrs. Barton,” he greeted. “It’s so nice to finally get ahold of you both.”
They all shook hands. I didn’t know why Principal Darwin could make me feel so horrible. I guessed because he didn’t force me to feel that way. I saddled beside him with a please don’t kill me look on my face. He slung his arm over my shoulder. “You are in so much trouble,” he whispered, keeping a smile on his face for my parents.
Crap.
In his office there were three chairs. I sat in the middle. And almost immediately Principal Darwin unloaded. He told them everything. Even the slap. Mom and Dad filled in the blanks telling them who had hurt me. The party. And the running away with Darren Morre.
“So what’s the plan?” Principal Darwin asked when he’d finished ratting me out. “Melanie doesn’t need punishment. She needs support. And counseling.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Dad disregarded. “What she needs is to be away from that boy. I want her out of his classes and I want what can be done to keep them apart, done.”
Principal Darwin leaned back in his chair, caterpillar confused. “Darren Morre?” he asked. Dad nodded. “In all honesty, I’m not sure this has anything to do with Dare. Is he a fantastic student? No, but he has his own life to deal with at home. Dare’s not the issue. You two are.”
Yes! I screamed in my head, giving Principal Darwin a grateful smile he did not return. He was so pissed at me.
“I beg your pardon?” Dad said.
“You heard me right. Your daughter’s in my office in a state of chaos. I call you both and you either don’t answer or are too busy doing whatever you think is more important than your daughter who needs you. If she’s turning to someone else for support, ask yourself why.” He pushed away from his desk. “We’ll chat soon. Melanie and I will be speaking after school. Pick her up an hour later than usual.”
Principal Darwin wou
ldn’t even look at me. I knew what he was doing. They were my parents. They should be doing this. But I wanted to tell him I was sorry. Instead, I followed my parents out to their car.
“What a joke,” Dad grumbled. “What the hell does he know about my kid? This isn’t over.” He whirled on me, pointing a finger at my face. “You’re to be right here one hour after school.”
“Melanie!” someone shouted, and my entire body became hyperaware.
I looked over my shoulder to see Dare running across the parking lot, his backpack jostling on his back. His chocolate hair was wayward, and he had our hat in his fist. A hectic expression painted his beautiful face.
Dad pulled me behind him. “You,” he sneered. “Stay away from my daughter. Do you hear me, you punk?”
Mom took my hand when I tried to pull away. “Let go of me.”
People were starting to gather around us.
“I just want to see her,” Dare argued, his deep familiar voice washing over me. “Just let me look at her.”
“Get away from my daughter.” Dad’s fists were bunched tightly.
I had to do something before something worse happened. “Go away, Dare,” I told him.
His storm cloud eyes opened up and rained down on me. His jaw snapped closed. He hardened himself in seconds. “Anything for you, Mel.” He turned his back to me and walked toward the school.
Everything in me ached to run after him.
Dad nodded approvingly. “That’s what you have to do. Punk. I have to go to work. Mom’s going to start moving into the Paradise Valley house. I’ll come pick you up after school and you can help start packing.” He pressed a kiss to my head and then took off, anger coiling in his body.
“Mom?”
“We’re getting back together,” she squeaked, grappling me into a hug I didn’t return. She grabbed my face between her hands. “This is going to be good for all of us, okay, baby?”
I nodded mutely.
She kissed my cheek and then moved for the Audi.
Before they took off, Dad gave me a hard warning glare.
The moment they were gone, I took off for the school entrance. I ran down the hall for my locker, but it was empty of Dare, and instead full of Maisy and Miranda. I didn’t want to tackle that war this morning, and turned back around, going to Dare’s locker instead. That was empty too.
“Mel!” Sean called when I stood outside looking around.
I didn’t want to do it, but I had to find Dare. I ran away in the other direction, sprinting to the amphitheater. Dare wasn’t there. The first bell rang, and I let out a desperate cry. I had to find him. Having no choice, I went to class. I couldn’t help catching a few gazes of people who hadn’t bothered to see me before. Had they seen the spectacle this morning? Great.
It was pure torture sitting still in three classes. I bounced my leg and barely heard a word. My fingers tapped on the desk and I kept seeing the hurt look in Dare’s eyes. Hurting him hurt me too. At lunch, I ran for the amphitheater, staring up at the stage bravely.
“What do you want you freak?” Maisy sneered, lounging on the stomach of a guy who I thought was a quarterback.
“Is Dare here?”
She snorted. “No, loser. Thanks for ratting us out.” She leaned closer. “You’re going to pay for that.”
I rolled my eyes. “Where would he be if he wasn’t here?”
“Like I know? Up your butt as usual.” She glared down at me so meanly I accepted another round soon. “I wonder how he’d feel if I spilled his secret.”
“What secret?” Miranda asked, on her stomach and reading a magazine. “The dirty little secret he thinks we don’t know?”
“More like embarrassing. That’s probably why he kept it for so long. Who would want to be in love with that.” She looked genuinely sickened by me, giving my shirt a disgusted curl of her top lip.
What were they talking about? Too worried to think, I disregarded it. “You two think you’re so amazing. So beautiful and perfect. But you know what, Maisy? I know a few secrets about you, too. And you’re not perfect. You’re so far from it, I’d much rather be me. Someone who knows that being perfect is bullshit, and being a bully just makes you a bitch.”
The quarterback chuckled, and Maisy elbowed him in the ribs. I took off, eyes scouring campus. Genna and Sean sat at the top, their eyes following me as I flailed at the bottom. Not having the courage to face them, I kept on. When I made it to the bungalow classrooms, I got an idea of where he might be. I ran for the baseball dugout, ignoring the heat of the day radiating off the freshly turned sand. I swung around the dugout and then threw myself down the steps.
The heat of day was thick in the dugout. Sweat dripped down my lower back and each breath felt heavy.
Dare sat on the bleacher, eyes on the field. His feet were stretched out in front of him, digging into the fence, and his arms were crossed over his chest. He was wearing a pair of black Vans and black jeans with a tear down his left leg. His gray shirt said eat sugar, kill politics on the front.
My shoes glided over the gravel and I sat beside him, close. I pressed my side against his, and then mirrored his pose. I crossed my arms over my chest and pressed my feet into the metal fence across from us. The scent of him washed over me and I inhaled him. Laundry soap and cologne filled my nostrils, making me feel high.
I took a deep breath for the first time in days.
“I hate your jeans,” he grumbled.
I smiled through my tears at the field. “Sorry.”
I peeked at him to find him doing the same to me.
“Dare,” I breathed, my bottom lip trembling. “I didn’t mean it. I missed you so much.” I exhaled, the heaviness of my statement hitting me in my heart. “I had to get you away from my dad. He’s going crazy.”
His eyes closed, and his head hit the dugout wall. “Mel, don’t.”
“He moved me into his house in Paradise Valley. Astrid, his girlfriend moved out, and he and Mom are getting back together. Like nothing. Like they didn’t completely ruin my life for the past two years. He hates you. He says I’m not allowed to see you, and I’m grounded until I’m eighteen.”
His eyes pinched shut further. “Mel, stop.”
I got up onto my knees, putting myself closer to him, and facing him. “They’re both crazy, Dare. You’re a scapegoat. You’re not the problem. How could you be, when you’re the only person in my life who makes me feel like I belong?”
“Mel, I said to stop.” His eyes flew open and the storm in them was so beautiful, I drove right into his downpour. He clutched my face between his hands and brought my lips down on his.
I moaned deep and long onto his lips. The sigh came from so deep inside of me, I wasn’t sure it didn’t contain actual pieces of my soul. I moved my hands up his chest to hold his face between my hands, too. His hot skin on my warm palms had me moaning all over again.
He groaned, and his mouth opened. I urged my tongue into his mouth and the moment his connected with mine, I knew I was done for. Parts of me became displaced and then they settled into a new position than before. I liked them better there than I did before. There, they made more sense.
“I missed you so much,” he whispered, kissing me so deep my toes curled in my Adidas. His hands moved to hold my waist. He pulled me until I was straddling his lap, and then one of his hands slid down to palm my ass, and the other gripped my lower back, urging me against him at the same time he held on.
I lost myself in his kiss. It was everything I wasn’t right now. Strong, amazing, and sweet. I plunged my fingers in his hair and glided my tongue over his. The silky heat of him created a fog in my brain that was so beautiful, I never wanted to be without it. In that fog, there was only us, and so far, we made this crazy kind of sense.
The heat in the dugout clung to our skin. My shirt stuck to my back and his to his abs. I trailed my fingers over the hard plain of his abdomen, my body taking over. His hand slipped under my shirt, and his fingertips dug int
o my flesh.
I pushed his shirt up. The heat of his abs was searing against my fingertips. His body squeezed and contracted and under my touch. The past couple days had been so hard, and right now felt so good. I let it go and lost myself to the fog. He tasted so good, like mint gum and something sweeter, like lust.
His body grew hard between us. I slid closer, wanting to feel what I did to him. I wanted him to feel what he did to me. Parts of me ached that never had before.
“Shit, Mel,” he moaned against my lips. He moved them down, to my jaw, and then to my throat. He sucked there, where my pulse pounded for him.
I squirmed on his lap. As he kissed me, I worked my flannel off, leaving me in my tank top. His eyes fell across my cleavage and I saw them darken, swirling metal. He kissed across them, making me arch in his hold.
“We’re in a baseball dugout right now,” he reminded me. Still, he kissed my body, and back up to my throat, sucking and biting my flesh.
I whimpered, leaning back and baring my throat to him. “Shut up.”
He smiled against my neck. “I just thought I’d point out that we’re not alone. More for myself than for you.” He pulled back, his eyes lowered and heavy-lidded. He looked so sexy like that. So… bad. “Because I really want to be alone with you right now, Tom.”
I held his gaze, wanting to do something drastic, like say “me too.” I rested my forehead against his, our breaths mingling. “What are we going to do?” I whispered, sad in seconds.
His chocolate lashes tangled with mine. “The same thing they’re doing. What we want. What do you want, Mel? Right now, this moment, what makes you happy?”
I kissed the tip of his nose. “You.”
A tenderness entered his eyes I wasn’t used to. It was soft and warm, covering me in the feeling. The tenderness in his eyes was impossible not to fall for. How could Dare be wrong for me? All the wrong wanted to take this from me. Take my tender rebel and make him hard and cold like them.
“Who?” he asked, a crooked smile lifting his lips.
“You, Dare. I want you.” I dropped my lips to his.
By the time we heard the faint sound of the final lunch bell ring, sweat stuck to our skin and my lips felt bruised and tender.
The Tomboy & the Rebel Page 14