Landon & Shay - Part One: (The L&S Duet Book 1)

by Brittainy Cherry

  “I’m glad I could help.” I brushed my hand through my hair before stuffing my hands into the pockets of my jeans. “Hey, Maria?”

  “Yes?”

  “How’s your heart today?”

  She gave me a small smile and her eyes watered over, and to my surprise, a small tear danced down her cheek. “Still beating.”

  I hugged her without asking permission, because Maria wasn’t the type of person who needed warning that a hug was coming her way.

  She simply always hugged back.

  On Monday, it was apparent that Monica and Reggie were a new pairing, which was odd because I was pretty sure Tracey and he had just ended their fling like, forty-eight hours ago. A lot can change over a weekend with teenagers. The hormones move so fast and it was hard to keep up with who was loving who each week. Monica made sure to have herself wrapped all around the wannabe Eminem, and every chance she got, she’d flash me a wicked smirk that read, Jealous?

  Not really, Mon.

  Every time I saw her, she was looking worse. I wanted to check in on her, wanted to make sure she was eating and at least trying to sleep, but as time moved on, I realized I wasn’t the person she wanted me to be. Therefore, it was probably best to keep my distance.

  Still, it rubbed me the wrong way seeing her with Reggie. It turned out that asshole wasn’t worthy of any girl’s time. Including Monica. I shot her a message, telling her he had issues and was an abusive dick, but she told me to mind my own business.

  As I looked away from the odd pairing, I turned and walked over to Eric, who was standing at his locker.

  “Did you hear? Monica and Reggie appear to be a thing,” I mentioned, patting him on the back.

  “Yeah, they were all over each other at the party this weekend,” Eric said, his voice low. He hadn’t turned to face me, and he seemed less than his chipper self. If anyone was a morning person, it was Eric. He’d walk in singing songs from The Sound of Music at seven in the morning like that wasn’t the most annoying thing in the world.

  “What’s up with you? You seem less than awake. Party too hard?” I asked.

  He finally turned to face me, revealing a black eye. I raised an eyebrow at him, giving him a ‘what the fuck’ expression. Over the weekend, the guys (+Raine) had been texting me nonstop about a party at Reggie’s house, telling me to come out and kick it, but I’d ignored them all, because if I had to choose between hanging out with Shay and going to Southern Charmer’s party, I was always going to go with Shay.

  Hell, if I had to choose between Shay and anyone lately, I’d probably still go with Shay.

  “What the hell happened to you?” I spat out, looking him up and down.

  He grimaced and shook his head. “It’s nothing. It’s not a big deal,” he muttered.

  “Dude, half your face is black and blue. This doesn’t look like it’s nothing.”

  “Just drop it, will you, Land?!” he snapped.

  Yup, that’s right—Eric, cool as a cucumber Eric, snapped.

  Not only had he snapped, he’d snapped at me.

  Just then, Reggie walked past us with his arm wrapped around Monica, and he looked in Eric’s direction and shook his head with a look of disgust on his face. “Fucking faggot,” he muttered.

  My body tensed up and I puffed out my chest. “What did you just say?” I barked, making Reggie look my way.

  “Not you, Landon. Cool your jets,” he said.

  “Did he do this to you, Eric?” I whispered. Eric’s frown conveyed that it had been Reggie. The blood in my veins began boiling as anger built up in my body. There was only a handful of things I actually cared about, a handful of people I’d give my life for. It just so happened Reggie had chosen to lay a hand on one of those people, and that wasn’t okay.

  I clenched my jaw as I walked toward Reggie. “What did you say?” I demanded again.

  “I said faggot,” he repeated, gesturing toward Eric. “This asshole had the nerve to show up to my house then the next thing I know, he’s drunk, and I find him kissing some random dude in my bedroom. It’s fucking sick. The world doesn’t need fucked-up people like—”

  No more words from the homophobic asshole.

  I shut him up with my fist. Ninety-nine percent of my reasoning for slamming my knuckles into Reggie’s jawline was for Eric, but that one percent was selfishly for myself. I’d been wanting to slug that guy from day one.

  Reggie stumbled backward like a giant awkward gorilla. He ran his hand against his lip, wiping blood away. “You shit.” He growled before charging toward me, but I had my fist already prepared to slam into his face again. He body shoved me against the lockers, then we both went tumbling around like apes on the ground. He got a few hits in, but then I flipped him over and started hammering my fist into his face. Black and blue, the same way he’d done to my friend—I was going to hit him until he was black and blue.

  A crowd formed around us, and it took a few teachers to pull us off of each other.

  “Reggie! Landon! Principal’s office. Now!” Mr. Thymes hollered.

  We were both dragged away by teachers, and Mr. Thymes looked at me as if he was so disappointed in me for using my fists. But hell, I was sure Romeo had thrown a few punches in his time.

  I wiped the corner of my eye, which was stinging. Reggie had clipped me good with his fist, and blood was dripping down my cheek. I looked up and saw my favorite pair of brown eyes staring my way. She looked terrified as she hugged her textbooks to her chest. I wasn’t sure if she was scared by the fight as a whole or by me. I knew how I could get. I knew how I lost myself in my rage. I didn’t want her to see that side of me. I didn’t want her to judge me for my shadows.

  But then, I watched her lips. They parted slightly and mouthed, “Are you okay?”

  She was concerned about me. Even though I was broken and bruised, even though I looked like an untamed beast, Beauty still saw me and wondered about my wellbeing.

  I nodded once.

  Yes, Chick.

  I’m okay.

  Principal Keefe was an older man with a Santa Claus beard and a Santa Claus gut. It had been a while since I’d spent time in his office due to fights. After Lance passed, I didn’t feel the need to get my aggression out in that way. Still, Principal Keefe didn’t seem surprised in the slightest by my arrival to his office. It was almost as if he’d expected it to happen at some point.

  “For a minute, I thought we were past this stage, Mr. Harrison,” he muttered, his voice low and tame.

  Yeah, yeah, me too, Principal Keefe.

  Reggie sat next to me, his face already changing colors, and at least I had the benefit of watching that happen. He looked uncomfortable.

  Good.

  He didn’t deserve any kind of comfort whatsoever.

  Even though he was obviously the loser of our fight, he still had a slick tongue on him. As Principal Keefe stood up to go get some paperwork, he left us in his office.

  Reggie brushed his hand beneath his nose and mumbled under his breath. “You’re acting like a real dick just because I’m fucking your bitch.”

  My hands clenched, but I didn’t react. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of getting under my skin again. Plus, Shay would want me to do better, be better. I wanted to do better, too. I wanted to be better. Therefore, I wasn’t going to feed into his taunting—at least I didn’t plan to until he kept talking.

  “That’s right, I’m fucking your old bitch, and I can’t wait to fuck your new one, too. That mouth of Shay’s? That sweet hole on her face looks like a great one to fill with my cock. I bet the good girl will even say please and thank you after accepting my load,” he mocked, and well, that was a wrap on his life.

  We were wrestling again in the principal’s office, and by wrestling, I meant I had him pinned down and my fists were slamming repeatedly into his face.

  “Landon! What in the world?!” Principal Keefe hollered, coming back into his office with widened eyes. He hurried to pull me off Re
ggie, and Reggie scrambled to stand up straight.

  “See, Principal Keefe? He attacked me again,” Reggie lied, crying like a little bitch. “I didn’t have anything to do with him. It’s clear he has anger issues and is just mad that I’m dating his ex-girlfriend. I’m not one to fight, ever. This isn’t me. I have too much respect for you and your student body to do such a thing.”

  I swore, if Reggie could have stuck his head up Keefe’s ass any more, he have been eating his shit.

  Principal Keefe was buying it, too. Maybe because he was so used to me being the one to stir up shit. Maybe because he didn’t have a history with the likes of Reggie, but he had a long one with the likes of me. He knew I was trouble, that was a fact. What he didn’t know was Kentucky was even worse than me.

  “Just keep your hands to yourselves, boys,” Principal Keefe instructed sternly, but his stare fell solely on me. “I am going to get another ice pack for you, Reggie. Landon?”

  “Yes?”

  “Don’t move.”

  Roger that.

  Reggie’s parents arrived with concerned Southern voices, worried that their “honey bear” had been in a fight.

  “It’s not like him at all!” his mother announced, clearly completely unaware of who her child was. “Never in his life would my Reggie throw a punch. He’s a good boy. He must have been provoked,” she said, eyeing me up and down.

  I didn’t say a word to her or give her any dirty looks. Soon enough she’d find out about the boy she was raising. No one could keep their shadows hidden forever, not even the Southern Charmer.

  “He had a party at your house this weekend,” I muttered to his parents as they were walking out of the office. “Check your liquor cabinets.”

  Reggie’s eyes widened with shock that I’d ratted him out. Yeah, it was a low blow and completely uncalled for, but what could I say? I was feeling extra petty that day because he’d had the nerve to put his hands on my friend.

  They kept me in the principal’s office until my dad could get there. Mom was still over in Europe living her best life. She’d been leaving me daily voice messages, but I ever didn’t call her back. I figured she knew she deserved the silent treatment.

  I did, however, text her letting her know I was alive. I didn’t want her to worry too much, even though she pissed me off.

  Dad was going to be so mad at me. I knew he’d already be annoyed that he had to drive back into town from Chicago during a workday to deal with my dramatics, and when he walked in, I saw the irritation all over his face. My father never said much with his words but he said everything with his jagged facial expressions.

  Principal Keefe explained that it was unclear how the fight had begun, saying all he knew was that it had ended with teachers getting involved. “Now, normally, we’d have to look at a short suspension, but since Landon is the lead in the school play that’s premiering soon…” Principal Keefe’s words trailed off, and he shifted some papers around. Our school was known for two things: basketball and the arts. The idea of the theater department losing their dear Romeo for a few days was a bit too much for Principal Keefe’s heart. “Also, we think him having the afterschool activity has been good for him. Even though he had this slipup, we are hoping it is a one-time offense. He and Reggie have also been advised to keep their distance from each other.”

  No problem there on my end.

  Dad looked surprised to hear about me being in the show. I’d never shown any interest in the performing arts, and well, we didn’t ever talk about it. His brow knitted, and he apologized on my behalf for me being completely reckless.

  We walked out of the office, and Dad grumbled to himself.

  I slung my backpack onto my shoulder and shrugged slightly. “I’m sorry they had to call you out here. It wasn’t even that serious.”

  “You bashed a person’s face in, Landon. That’s serious.”

  “Yeah, but—”

  He pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. “I can’t do this right now. I can’t handle your antics. And what is this about a school play?”

  “I just…” I took a deep breath and gripped my backpack strap. “I really like it, Dad, this theater thing. I’ve been thinking about going to school for acting in the fall.”

  He huffed and shook his head. “Yeah, all right, Landon.”

  “I’m serious, Dad. It’s something I’m really interested in, and UOC has a pretty good theater department and—”

  He cut me off. “I forbid you.”

  “What?”

  “I said I forbid you. I am not going to pay for an idiotic major just for you to waste your time and my money. I forbid it. You’re going into law, like we’ve already determined.”

  “We didn’t determine it. You did. Dad, I—”

  He wasn’t listening. He never listened. My words were pointless.

  At least Mom would’ve listened. She always listened.

  He glanced at his watch. “I don’t have time for this. I need to get back to Chicago and try to play catchup for today, which means I’ll probably have to go in this Saturday too. And just a heads-up, I’ll probably be busy the following weekend, too.”

  “The following weekend?” I stood up, alert. “But that’s my birthday weekend. I figured you’d be home, seeing how Mom won’t.”

  “Yeah, I thought the same—until you went around swinging your fists like a wild man. You say you’re serious about this theater crap, but you can’t even act mature enough to stop using your fist to solve your problems. The only kind of acting you need to do is acting your age. You’re not a kid anymore. Stop acting like one. We’ll talk about this later.”

  We wouldn’t, though. It would be brushed under the rug like every argument we’d ever had. Dad would fall back into his work world, and I’d fall back into my mind, and we’d deal with our issues on our own.

  I missed Mom.

  He walked off, leaving me standing there like a dumbass, fully in my feelings about him not being there for me on my birthday. I needed him. I needed him more than ever that day, and he wasn’t going to be there for me.

  Perfect.

  I started walking toward the exit after Dad left. My mind was already too messed up about my birthday, and there was no way I was going to sit through American History and talk about dead dudes when I had my own mind haunting me on the daily.

  “Where are you going?” a voice said as I pushed the door open. I turned to see Shay standing there with the same concerned look she’d had when Mr. Thymes was dragging me away.

  “I don’t know. Just anywhere but here,” I pushed out. I didn’t feel like talking. I didn’t feel like being around people, especially Shay. I didn’t want her to see me at one of my lows. Lord knew she’d already seen that enough.

  “Okay,” she replied, walking over and pushing the door open.

  I cocked an eyebrow. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m leaving with you.”

  She said it so matter-of-factly, as if it was common sense. If I was leaving, of course she was going, too. Obviously.

  “No, you’re not. You aren’t the type of person to ditch school.”

  “Well, that’s changing today. Come on, we can go to my place. No one’s home right now, and I can help clean up your face.”

  “Look, Shay, I don’t want to be dramatic—”

  “Then don’t.”

  “What?”

  “Don’t be dramatic. Just let me do this today, Landon. I’m sure you were going to go home to your empty house and sit around on your own and be sad, and sure, you can do that later, but right now you shouldn’t be alone. So, come on.”

  She began walking toward my car, and she gave me no choice.

  Besides, a part of me knew that wherever she led, I wanted to follow.

  We went to my car, and I even handed her the keys to drive. My mind wasn’t able to focus enough on the road, and I knew the keys would be safest in her grip.

  That was until she got behind the whe
el and started jerking it back and forth like a psychopath.

  “Geez, Chick, I can do without the heart attack.”

  “Well, you should drive an automatic car like a regular person, not a stick.”

  I sat up in my seat as my eyes widened in horror. “You don’t know how to drive stick?!” I blurted out.

  “No.” She shrugged. “I figured it couldn’t be that different.”

  Jerk. Stop. Jerk. Ohmygoshwearegoingtodie.

  “Pull the car over!”

  “But—”

  “Shannon Sofia! Pull the car over now!” I hollered, making her eyes shoot out of her face, and she quickly pulled over.

  “Okay, okay, sheesh. You’re sounding so much like my grandmother right now. I’m getting out!”

  “Good.”

  We switched seats, and I tried my best to clear my thoughts to focus on getting us to Shay’s safely.

  “How did you know my middle name?” she asked softly, looking my way.

  I rubbed my thumb against my nose and tried to think of a way to not sound like a complete nerd. “When you used to come over to my place with your grandmother as a kid, she yelled it at you once. It’s just something that stuck in my head.”

  Along with every detail about her since the first day I saw her.

  I could feel her eyes on me, and I wished I could read her mind. I wished I knew how her thoughts worked. I wished I could read her the way she was so effortlessly good at reading me.

  When we got to her house, she led me straight to her bedroom, not even giving me time to look around, and sat me down on the bed. “Let me get a warm rag for your eye. I’ll be right back,” she said.

  I looked around her room, and her walls were covered in movie script pages and posters of actors and actresses. She had a bookshelf filled with notebooks, and I’d have bet she’d fill every single one out to the very last page.

  Words came easy to her. I didn’t have enough thoughts to fill up one notebook, let alone dozens.

  Shay came back with the warm towel and placed it against my face. I cringed a little but welcomed the warmth.