Unspeakable (Freedom Series Book 1)

by Michelle Pickett

  Rushing home from school, I took an extra-long shower, painted my toe and finger nails, and got dressed for my night out with Jaden. Curling my wavy, dark brown hair, I put it up with curls framing my face. I picked a jean skirt and green, paisley pheasant blouse with flowing sleeves that Jenna said brought out the green in my hazel eyes.

  Not too bad, I guess.

  I curled up on the black-and-white cushioned window seat in my bedroom with a crime novel I’d gotten at the library that afternoon. The story quickly drew me in, and I lost track of time. It wasn’t until my phone chimed that I had a text message that I glanced at the clock. It was past seven. Jaden was over an hour late. Nice. I grabbed my phone, expecting the text was from him with some lame excuse. I frowned when I saw Tim’s name on the screen.

  Tim: Just saw Jaden.

  Me: Where?

  Tim: At The Dive.

  The Dive was a local burger joint where everyone hung out after school and on weekends. They had the best burgers in Middleton, the small Michigan town where I lived, and their milkshakes were to die for. I gained weight just thinking about them.

  Me: Nice. We were supposed to go to dinner.

  Tim: Sorry.

  Me: Who’s he with?

  Tim: Football team.

  Me: Sarah?

  Tim: No.

  Me: I gotta go. See you tomorrow.

  Tim: Bye.

  Jaden didn’t text me until nine that night. I didn’t answer. He texted every few minutes after that. They went from apologetic to irate that I was ignoring him. I turned my phone off and got ready for bed.

  I lay in bed most of the night, thinking about Jaden and his crap. This wasn’t the first time he’d missed a date because something better came up. But I was expected to sit at home—alone—and wait on him. God forbid I go out without him. And it wasn’t the first time something had happened like the thing with Sarah.

  Independent. That was me. Did my own thing and made my own decisions. Keeping up with trends wasn’t on my to-do list. I didn’t care if people thought I was cool or not. Expensive, designer clothes didn’t overflow my closet—dressing for comfort was my thing. That meant sweats, my funky-print Converse sneakers, and T-shirts with sarcastic sayings. Even though I dated the star football player, I wasn’t a cheerleader. The chess club was my peeps.

  But when it came to Jaden, I was trapped. It felt like a boulder sat on my shoulder, pushing me down a little more each day, drowning me in the secret I was forced to keep. The secret only two other people knew besides my mom and me—Jaden and Ralph.

  Get it together. This is the life I was given. Time I put my big-girl panties on and deal.

  “I hear you have a new friend,” Jaden said, leaning against the locker next to mine the following morning.

  I made a face. “What are you talking about?”

  “The new guy you’re cozying up to in biology.” His voice was low and hard. Anyone else would think we were having a normal conversation. I knew better.

  “We sit at the same table. That’s hardly cozying up. What happened to you last night?” I slammed my locker door shut and turned to look at him.

  “I met some of the guys at The Dive and lost track of time, which you’d know if you’d read my texts. Don’t ever do that again. When I text you, I expect you to text back.” He flicked my shoulder. It stung, but I didn’t acknowledge it.

  “Well, when you tell me you’re going to pick me up for dinner, I expect you to show up. So I guess neither of us got what we expected last night.”

  Jaden grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me behind him. I had to take two steps to every one of his long strides. I was practically jogging to keep up with him.

  “What are you doing?” I tried to jerk my hand free. He tightened his grip.

  “Walking you to your class.”

  My heart rate increased, and I tried to pull him to a stop. “Jaden, just leave it alone.”

  I knew what was coming. Brody was new to the school, and he made the mistake of daring to sit next to me in class. Jaden was on his way to set Brody straight. He pulled me into biology. Strolling into the classroom like he owned it, he dragged me to my seat and shoved me into my chair. Brody was already sitting at the table, watching with a raised eyebrow. He reached out to steady me. My eyes met his, and I shook my head once. He withdrew his hand.

  “So you’re Brody, huh?” Jaden asked.

  Brody tipped his head in acknowledgement.

  “I just wanted to set some rules in place.”

  “Rules? This should be interesting,” Brody said with a half grin. He leaned back in his chair, his fingers laced behind his head.

  “Willow’s mine. Keep your hands to yourself.” Jaden leaned over the table.

  Brody just stared at him with a somewhat amused look on his face.

  “Mr. Smith,” my biology teacher called, “I don’t believe you’re in this class. Make your way to your own class.”

  “Yes, sir,” Jaden said. With one last glare at Brody, he turned and left.

  “Big head, little brain. I could almost hear it rolling around inside that oversized skull of his,” Brody said with a chuckle.

  “Keep talking, Ace,” I muttered.

  “What, are you going to run and tell your big, bad boyfriend?” Brody dropped his arms and leaned forward to look at me.

  “No, but someone will. There’s a whole classroom of people listening to you right now.”

  He shrugged a shoulder. “Let them. I’ve seen his kind before. Jaden doesn’t scare me.”

  He should.

  The rest of the hour was uneventful. The teacher droned on about the dissection of an earthworm we’d be completing later in the week. I pretended to be riveted by his lecture—a hard feat—and tried not to look at Brody. Maddeningly enough, my eyes had a mind of their own and my gaze kept wandering to him. I dipped my head toward my notebook, pretending to take notes, letting my hair fall in front of my face to hide my eyes so I could stare at him.

  Brody reclined in his seat, his long legs stretched out in front of him, his ankles crossed. He drummed his thumb against his thigh and looked completely relaxed. I eyed him up and down. His perfectly mussed dark hair fell over his forehead and curled slightly around his collar—he had the whole messy bedroom hair thing going on—his lips held a small grin. He was tall and lean, and his black T-shirt—snug in all the right places—hinted at a firm, muscular body underneath.

  Jeez, get a grip. I’m acting like some kind of ho-bag… like Sarah. Crap.

  But my eyes wouldn’t stay away. There was no denying he was good looking… beyond good looking, in fact. But there was something else about him that drew me in. He had a kind of quiet confidence about him. I saw it in the way he stared at Jaden. It set me on edge, made me feel off-balance, and I felt a little stirring of butterflies in my stomach as I watched him from behind the curtain of my hair.

  Then he opened his mouth, and the butterflies scattered.

  “Like what you see?” he murmured, not looking at me.

  Feeling my face flame with a red-hot blush, I hoped he couldn’t see, I opened my mouth to shoot a witty comeback just as the bell rang.

  He flipped his book closed, looked at me, and smiled. “See you tomorrow, Willow. You can stare some more then.”

  “Don’t flatter yourself.”

  Ugh, that’s my comeback? Weak, very weak.

  He winked and walked to the door. “Later.”

  That was when I knew I had a problem. Brody Victor. He was gonna cause trouble. I could feel it.

  “So tell me about him,” Jenna said after school. We were at my house, supposed to be doing homework.

  I lay on my back across my bed, my feet propped against the electric pink-and-black striped wall. “Who?” I dodged.

  “Play dumb all you want, Willow, but Tim told me all about you checking Brody out this morning in biology.”

  “I was not checking him out.” I huffed. “Okay, maybe a little.” Looking at
her, I smiled. “How can any woman with a pulse not check him out?”

  “So?”

  “He’s easy to look at.”

  “Yeah, that much I can see for myself. He’s almost illegally hot. Tell me something I don’t know.” She leaned forward, pushing her math book out of the way.

  “He has an ego the size of Montana.”

  “Yeah, the pretty ones usually do.” She sighed. “Has he talked much?”

  “Nope. We just sit next to each other. That’s it. Nothing exciting.”

  “You should ask him out.” She nudged my shoulder with the eraser on her pencil.

  “What? I’m with Jaden. I can’t ask some random guy out.”

  “Jaden, yeah, yeah.” She waved her hand in the air. “Dump him and go for the biology hottie.”

  Oh, you have no idea how fast I’d dump Jaden if I could. He’d be like shit on a shoe.

  “No,” I said, laughing.

  “We could do a group thing and invite him along. We can tell him it’s a way for him to get to know people.”

  I sat up, folded my legs under me, and tucked the loose strands of my hair back into my messy bun. “That sounds good… have fun.” I flopped back on the bed.

  “What do you mean?” She shoved my shoulder. “You’re coming, too.”

  “Jenna, you know I can’t. If Jaden ever found out, he’d flip, and I can’t take him with me. He’d do something to ruin the whole thing. You should ask Brody out. You’re single.”

  “Maybe, but I think the group thing is the best idea. We can plan it on a night Jaden has football practice. He never pays attention to what you do when football’s involved.”

  “Willow! Dinner!” my stepdad hollered from downstairs.

  “It’s dinner already? I should go.” Jenna gathered her things, blowing her hair out of her face.

  We walked down the stairs together, Jenna still trying to talk me into going bowling with her and checking out Brody.

  “You need to unburden yourself of the wart named Jaden.” She gave me a big grin. “Think about it. You know you want to.”

  I laughed. “Okay, okay. I’ll think about it.”

  “Hey, Jenna, I didn’t know you were here,” my stepfather, Ralph, said with a smile. He wrapped one arm around her and pulled her in for a hug. “Why don’t you stay for dinner?”

  “Hi, Mr. McKenna! I wish I could stay. I could smell your meatballs all the way upstairs. They smell delicious. But my mom already gave me strict orders to be home by five.”

  Ralph looked at his watch and tsked. “You’ve got two minutes.”

  “Gotta motor,” Jenna called as she slipped out of the door. “Bye!”

  Ralph and I called goodbye, and he shut the door. I turned toward the kitchen when I was yanked back by my hair. I let out a small scream before I bit my lip to hold it back. He liked it when I screamed. He liked it more if I cried. I tried like hell not to do either.

  Ralph pulled me backward by my hair, arching my back, and put his face in mine. His breath was hot when it hit my face, and I wondered how much he’d had to drink already. The more he drank, the harder it was for me.

  “Who do you think you are making plans to go out with your friends to meet another boy?”

  I cringed when he pulled my hair tighter. “I’m not. I just told Jenna I’d think about it so she’d stop asking.”

  He paused, eyes narrowed at me. My back muscles quivered and burned. If he didn’t let go soon, my feet were going to give out. It felt as though he was pulling my scalp from my head where his fist was wrapped around my hair. “I don’t believe you.” His voice was quiet. That scared me more than his yelling. He let go of my hair, and I collapsed on the floor. “You’re nothing but white trash like your mother.” He kicked me hard in the back. Pain radiated through my body, like a thousand needles on fire.

  Crawling to the archway leading into the formal living room, I used the wall to pull myself up. I tried to dodge him by cutting through the living room, but he grabbed my arm and yanked me backward. I slipped on the polished wood floor and fell on my hip. Sliding across the floor, I slammed into the front door, the handle burying itself into my shoulder.

  Ralph grabbed me under the arm and hauled me off the floor. He stood in front of me, his finger poking me in the chest. “I’m the only reason a nice boy from a decent family will even look at a piece of trash like you.” Grabbing my cheeks and squeezing hard, he pulled my face to his. My skin stretched over my cheekbones where his fingers pinched it together. I could smell whiskey and the sweet stench of cigars on his breath. “My stepdaughter is not going to date some piece of crap kid from a nothing family. I have a reputation to uphold. Jaden is doing you a favor. You’d do good to remember that.” With one last shove, he turned and sauntered into the kitchen.

  “Willow?” My mom’s soft voice came from the stairs. I turned toward her. She stood with a hand at her throat, her eyes wide. “Are you alright?”

  “Yeah, Mom. I’m great,” I whispered.

  Thanks for your help, by the way. I love how you stepped in for me. So loving.

  I gave her a fake smile and made my way to the kitchen, where the three of us would sit at the dinner table and eat Ralph’s homemade spaghetti and meatballs and pretend like nothing had happened. Just another happy family living in suburbia.

  After dinner, I texted Jenna and told her I was game for a group of friends going out and inviting Brody along. Screw Ralph. And Jaden.

  Jenna: Yay! You slut.

  Me: It’s just a bunch of friends.

  Jenna: You so want the biology hottie!

  Me: Shut up.

  Wednesday. Jaden had football practice after school. Afterward, he and the team always went out together, usually to Jamieson’s house to play pool and raid his dad’s liquor cabinet. Jenna and I decided it was the perfect night to get a bunch of people together to go bowling and out to dinner.

  Jenna pulled her books out of her locker. “Ask him in biology,” she said.

  “No! You have to ask him. I can’t risk someone overhearing me and telling Jaden.”

  “I don’t know him,” she complained.

  I shut the locker and looked at her. “So follow me to biology. I’ll introduce you and then you can ask him when you mention it to Tim. It’ll look like a last-minute thing.” Jenna stared at me with a smirk. “What?”

  “You’re sneaky.”

  I picked an invisible piece of lint off my shoulder and flicked it away. “I prefer to call it problem solving.”

  “Okay, let’s go do some problem solving.” She pushed me in the direction of my classroom.

  I threw the strap of my messenger bag over my shoulder. “So where are we going?”

  “Let’s go to Super Bowl and then we can grab something at The Dive afterward.”

  We walked into my class, and I tossed my bag on the table. “Brody and Tim aren’t here yet. Perfect. When Tim comes in, we can call him over and I can introduce you both. Then you can start talking about tonight to Tim and casually invite Brody.”

  “How come I never knew how devious you are?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

  I smiled and winked. “I have many wicked skills that you are unaware of. One day I will pass on my knowledge to you.” Looking over Jenna’s shoulder, I saw him stroll into the classroom. “Here he comes,” I whispered. “Tim’s right behind him.”

  Jenna turned and gave a bright smile. “Hey, Tim, come here.”

  “What’s up?” He leaned his hip against the table next to me. “Hi,” he said to Brody.

  Perfect opening. Thank you, Tim.

  “Brody, this is Tim and Jenna. Guys, this is Brody,” I said, trying not to stare at Brody when I made the introductions. Jenna, however, was openly staring. I think I saw a drip of drool run down her chin. Yep, she was officially a member of the Brody fan club. If she kept drooling, I was going to have to get her a cup.

  “Hi,” Brody said, one side of his mouth lifted in a small grin. I
almost groaned. It was the sexiest smile I think I’d ever seen.

  Jaden, I’m with Jaden. I can’t think Brody’s sexy… but oh crap is he ever hot and smells so freakin’ good, like sun and the ocean and something totally male.

  Jenna just smiled at him. Maybe his grin had rendered her speechless.

  “Hey, man,” Tim said.

  Jenna kept staring at Brody. I cleared my throat and glared at her. She didn’t notice, so I plunged forward.

  “Jenna was just saying we should go to Super Bowl tonight and bowl a few games before grabbing a burger at The Dive. You game?” I asked Tim.

  “Sure. What time?”

  “Let’s meet there around five. Sound good?”

  “I’ll be there sporting some horrendous and awfully odorous shoes, that only God knows what’s growing in them and whose foot last occupied them.” Tim shuddered.

  “Thanks, Tim. I think I’ll wear two pairs of socks,” I said, wrinkling my nose. “Gross.”

  “Hey, you should come, Brody,” Jenna finally said. “A group of us are going. It’d be a good way for you to meet people. Plus, there are always people hanging at The Dive.”

  “I don’t think so. Thanks for asking, though.”

  Jenna’s face fell. It was almost comical. She wasn’t even trying to hide her interest in him. “Come on, I won’t take no for an answer.”

  Brody glanced at me. “Are you going, Willow?” When I nodded, he sighed and said, “Okay, give me the address and I’ll see what I can do.” He flipped his notepad toward me.

  “Where do you live?” I asked. He raised an eyebrow at me and his grin was back. I rolled my eyes. “I need to know where you’ll be coming from to give you directions.”

  “Rosewood Estates.”

  “We’re practically neighbors,” I murmured as I wrote down the directions to the bowling alley. I turned his notepad back to him. “I live in Rose Creek.”

  He looked at the directions and the small map I drew, furrowing his eyebrows. “I think I know where this is. Give me your cell.” He held his hand out. When I just looked at him, he let out a sigh like he was dealing with a toddler. “This is when you give me your cell phone so we can exchange numbers. That way, I can text you if I have trouble finding the bowling alley.”