Unbound

Leana’s POV

“Leana?!”

My eyes shot open as soon as I heard my name, my eyes instantly burning from the bright California sun and my heart pounding in my chest. What the fuck? Where was I? What time was it? I blinked away my blurred vision as I sat up, only to find myself in Zacky’s front porch swing cuddled in his arms. How the did I end up here?

“Leana! Where the hell are you?!”

“Hmm…what?” Zacky groaned as I shook him. My eyes frantically darted around just as my mother screamed my name again. No, she couldn’t find me here!

I didn’t know what my mother’s deal was but she seemed to hate everything about Zacky. She always scowled when he was around and told my bother and I to stay away from all of the Bakers. I guess something happened between my mother and Mr. and Mrs. Baker when I was a kid but no one talked about it. She just told me to stay away from Zack and his family or I’d be sorry. But there was no way in hell I’d listen to her because she was stoned out of her mind most of the time. She didn’t know what she was talking about. Mom was just a tripping and paranoid old bat.

“We fell asleep outside again…god I am so dead!” I whined, running my fingers through my hair. “She’s going to kill me! I’m supposed to watch Josh! Shit. Shit. Shit!”

I still had no idea how I got here or even what happened last night. The last thing I remembered was sneaking off into the back room with Zacky to make out, which in my opinion felt like rainbow sprinkles. Or like a really good chocolate Sunday… Damn he always tasted so good! Not to mention he was one of the only people that made me feel good. I seriously owed him more than I would ever admit.

But what happened between then and now? We were both fully clothed, so nothing had happened, at least not here on the porch. Did that mean we walked back here in the wee hours of the morning and passed out talking? Shit, I wished I remembered because this would really be a story to tell! I couldn’t wait to talk about it with Michelle later and find out about her night. Did she sneak off with Matt or did I just imagine that?

“What?” he asks again, squinting his gorgeous green eyes against the sun. Zack looked so confused and the look on his face was an adorable. He was like a little puppy and was so cute!

“My mom! She’s going to fucking kill me because I’m out here again!” I quickly grabbed my purse and headed down the steps of his porch, only to see my mother glaring at me from our front yard. Fuck, I was so dead!

“I just don’t understand why she doesn’t like me,” Zacky’s voice sounded behind me, as my eyes grew wide. No, no, no, he couldn’t follow me home. If she saw him walk me up the walk she would murder us both. “It’s like we’re doing anything you haven’t done before—“

“Leana Noelle McFadden!” I cringed when she stepped out from behind the extremely overgrown shrubs, looking toward the Baker’s house.

“I see she still refuses to call you by your stage name?” Zack chuckled in my ear but this was no laughing matter right now. Mom had a look on her face that I knew to avoid—the look like she was going to beat the ever-living shit out of me for breaking her rules. Though I don’t know why she cared so much about the Bakers. It wasn’t like she was really ever around or with it enough to know what I was doing. Her drugs and addict friends were more important than Josh and I, or at least that’s what it always seemed. So it wasn’t like I was really concerned with her opinion.

Mom’s dark and sunken eyes instantly locked on me before they moved over my shoulder to Zacky and I knew we were done for. “Get. Your. Ass. Inside. Now!” she hissed through gritted teeth. “We’ll talk in a minute,” she continued, her eyes glaring daggers at Zacky.

“Mom don’t, it was my fault,” I sighed, rolling my eyes when she held out a wrinkled finger at me. “I was talking to Zack last night and we fell asleep on the porch swing,” I lied, stepping into her painful gaze. She didn’t need to know that I had been sneaking out to parties for weeks to distract myself from her bullshit. Hey, but at least she was noticing me today. That was more than I could say for the past six months…

“I said get your ass in the house, now,” she said with a warning look and I sighed. I knew she wanted to rip Zacky a new asshole and warn him off, but I wouldn’t stand for it.

“No,” I stood up to my full height and looked her in the eye. Okay, so maybe 5’2’’ wasn’t intimidating but I wasn’t going to let her ruin the one good thing I had in my life right now.

My mom looked like I had slapped her in the face and before she grabbed my arm, dragging me inside. As she pulled me though the broken storm door, I heard Zacky’s footsteps and his voice calling after us.

“Mrs. McFadden, please…” Zacky said just as my mother slammed the screen door in his face.

“Get off my property, Zack and stay away from my daughter!” Mom yelled, at him before shutting the front door in his face. The next thing I knew she was standing in front of me screaming obscenities that I couldn’t understand. “I cant believe you fucking disobeyed me and continued to hang out with that Baker,” she hissed, saying his last name like a foul word. “They are nothing but trouble and when it comes down to it, he is going to screw you over and ruin your life! They always do!”

“Enough!” I finally yelled back, throwing my hands in the air. I wasn’t going to stand here and letter her slander my best friend!

“What did you just say to me?” she growled.

“Oh, you noticed that did you?” I almost laughed. “First time for everything!”

“You better apologize now, you little brat! I’m just looking out for your best interest and you wont find that with the Bakers—“

“My best interests?” Now I was really laughing and shaking my head. “Since when? You do everything to benefit you mom! You work at the gas station to make sure you have electric to grow the pot plants in the basement. You sell drugs to whomever you please, not caring if they are only sixteen and could kill themselves, just so you can get your fix. You don’t care if Josh and I go without food for a day. If you did, you wouldn’t get so high you couldn’t go to work!” I just couldn’t control the words flying out of my mouth. I had pent them up so long that I couldn’t keep them in any longer. I was pissed that she treated Zacky so rudely and I couldn’t take it anymore.

“And guess what mom, when you don’t provide, guess who is always there to make sure we have what we need? That’s right, the fucking Bakers. So excuse me if I don’t give two shits what you think about them! You’re nothing but selfish!”

Just as I opened my mouth to say the rest, I felt a hard slap across the face and my little brother’s scream. “How dare you!” Mom hissed as I stumbled backwards, grabbing the banister and fighting the burn of tears in my eyes. “I do everything for you! I’ve sacrificed everything for you!”

I laughed cynically and shook my head, meeting my little brother’s terrified eyes. He had seen the whole thing. “Right,” I said, rubbing out the sore spot on my cheek. It was just then that the realization hit her face and she realized what she had done. Yep, she was definitely high.

“Leana…I-I—“ She took a step toward me shaking her head.

“Save it, Mother,” I scoffed, now heading up the stairs and picking up my seven-year-old brother. “Just go do what you do best…shoot up on meth and go to work…” And with that, I slammed my bedroom door and cuddled my little brother to me to calm him down. I hated her.

The rest of the morning I couldn’t get the argument with my mom out of my head. I just couldn’t understand why she was so selfish and why she couldn’t see how what she was doing was hurting us. Was she that far gone with the drugs and alcohol? And what was her beef with the Baker’s anyway?

“Leana? Hello, earth to, Leana!” Zacky asked, waving his hand in front of my face. I blinked a few times, his dark hair and green eyes coming into view. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, why?” I shook my head and put on a fake smile but he didn’t buy it.

Zack chuckled and took his head, picking up the stack of books on my desk. “Well, the bell rang two minutes ago and you are still sitting her. Unless you want to stay in English for another period.”

“Fuck that,” I chuckled, elbowing him in the side. “Let’s get out of here.”

“So I’m sorry about this morning…” Zack started after the short walk to my locker. Oh, god I didn’t want to talk about it, let alone think about it right now. Speaking of not thinking, I could really use a distraction or a joint right now…that would really clean my head.

“Listen, Zack I—“

“Silver! There you are!” A female voice interrupted and I had never been so thankful to see Valary Dibenedetto in my life. Saved by the bitch! “I’ve been trying to get ahold of you all morning.” Val turned her gaze before shooing him away with her hands. “Don’t you have to go to baseball practice anyway?” she sneered playfully and I couldn’t help but smile and shoot him a wink.

“Yeah, but Leana and I were kind of in the middle of something here,” he said, crossing his arms with a frown. His little pout was so cute.

However, just over Zacky’s shoulder I caught sight of Jimmy coming our direction. As soon as he saw me he narrowed his, his jaw locking in frustration. My mind instantly flashed back to last night when Jimmy slammed me into the wall with that same look on his face. I couldn’t deny the wave of arousal that went over my body, liking his closeness. Whoa, where the hell did that thought come from? Maybe it was just because I liked to be dominated? Had to be because I couldn’t be attracted to Jimmy, he was my biggest rival.

“Well, you’re going to have to finish it later because we have band business to talk about, Baker,” Val said, linking her arm through mine and pulling me away just as Jimmy arrived.

“And you’re leaving without saying goodbye, my blonde princess?” Jimmy screamed after Val who just laughed and blew him a kiss. So he was kind to everyone but me? Why? And why did I care? “You owe me Dibenedetto Number 1!”

“Oh, you wish, Rev,” she said with an eye roll before turning back to me. “So, are you still on for rehearsal today? Chelle and I have some songs ideas floating around and really want to get started.”

I instantly let out an excited squeal, bouncing up and down and nodding my head. “Of course I can rehearse today!” I gushed, loving the idea of another distraction. Music was one of my only outlets for my problems and I couldn’t wait to put a voice to my melodies. This was going to be fucking sick! “Where do we want to meet?”

“We usually practice at the old abandoned house on Birch Ave, you know the one with the red door? You can get in through the back,” and was she smiling? I don’t think I’d ever seen Val smile this much at one time, but I had to admit it looked good on her. She had definitely softened and was less bitchy since middle school. Not to mention that Michelle had become one of my best friends. I was just so excited to work with both of them that I could barely contain my excitement. “And we need to think of a band name…”

“I’ll get right on that,” I said with a nod, my smile still plastered on my face. “And I’ll even skip gym to go set up so it’s already when you and Michelle get there.”

“Speaking of my sister, have you seen her lately?” Val asked nervously, looking around and biting her lip. What was that about? The twins were usually attached at the hip at school. Oh my gosh, were they fighting?

I shook my head. “No, not since US History,” I said. “But she was acting weird. Is everything okay?”

Val just shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest, the pair of us heading down the hall toward math class. “I don’t know. That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out but she’s been avoiding me…not to mention I let something slip in front of the whole school….she is going to fucking kill me…”

“What was that?” I took a step closer to her, feeling excited about this afternoon and new gossip. It was like confetti exploded in my stomach and I couldn’t wait! “Is it about her and Matt?”

Val turned to me with her mouth agape as I clapped my hands over my mouth. Damn it! I wasn’t supposed to say anything! “What do you know, Leana? And you better tell me the truth!”
I grimaced and then sighed. “Nothing much, just that I’ve seen them hanging out together more,” which wasn’t a lie. Damn why did I always have to have a big mouth.

“That’s it? Really, Leana?” Val looked at me disbelievingly. Damn please don’t make me tell all Michelle’s dirty details. I promised I wouldn’t but I also didn’t want to get kicked out of the band before it even started. “You don’t know anymore.”

“Sorry, that’s all I know,” I lied, taking my seat. “But if I find out more, I’ll let you know,” I promised, though I was lying through my teeth. But thank god the teacher came in and class started before Val could ask any more question.

By the end of the period, I was itching to go set up for band practice. I could feel an intense rhythm coursing through my veins with a fast melody and I had to get it out. I couldn’t wait any longer to play! So as soon as the bell rang, I jetted out of the classroom and to my locker to grab my things.

“Hey, where are you off to in such a hurry?” Zack asks, coming up behind me and putting his hands on my hips. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were cooking up some new ideas by the way you’re jumping about,” he laughed. Damn he knew me too well.

“You could say that…and hey, can I borrow your car?” I practically plead, jumping up and down in front of him.

Zacky smirked and cocked his head to the side, watching me with an amused look. “For what?”
“I’ve got band practice with the Dibenedetto twins and I need to get my set up. I promise I will have it back by the time you get out of baseball practice…then I’ll owe you,” I said, giving him my puppy-dog eyes. “PLEASE?!”

“Fine but—“ I didn’t even hear the his conditions because I quickly pushed a kiss to his lips, took his keeps, and bolted down the hallway. I couldn’t fucking wait!

Michelle’s POV

Shit, shit, shit! I couldn’t believe how late I was for the first band practice! I had been waiting for this for days and Val was surely going to kill me. Though my afternoon with Brian was totally worth my tardiness. I still couldn’t get over his words and how he made me feel when his skin touched mine. There was no denying the spark between us and I couldn’t wait to explore it…but how was I going to explain it all to Matt?

“Hey, sorry I’m late I—“ I said, barging in the back door of our practice space. I was still a little pissed off at Val for last night but maybe it had blown over. Maybe she forgot about our argument last night and wouldn’t push me for answers.

"God, I was so worried about you. Are you ok?" Val said, pulling me into a rib crushing hug before she looked me up and down. What the hell was wrong with her? I wasn’t that late was I?

I slowly nodded my head, trying to read the expression on her face. Everything was okay with me, but it definitely wasn’t okay with her. Shit, what happened?

Suddenly Val grabbed my hands in hers and pulled me over to sit down on top of my amp. "Michelle, I have something I have to tell you…” she started and my heart rate instantly increased. Shit, what was going on? My eyes shifted over to Leana who was nervously chewing her bottom lip and avoiding eye contact. She was quiet for the first time in her life which was weird to me, especially since she was always the first one to tell the news.

“What?” I asked, biting down on my lip. I didn’t like where this was going.

Val took in a slow deep breath and looked away from me. “I-I accidently let it slip that you were a virgin…”

“You w-what?” I gasped, feeling my breath hitch in my chest. No, no, no, no…Val and Leana were the only ones who knew. So who did she tell. “To who?” I hissed, feeling my anger and anxiety start to rise.

“I’m sorry…I was pissed off at Sanders because I saw you sneak out the emergency door when he was coming towards you and so I gave him a piece of my mind.” No…she didn’t fucking tell Matt did she? For the love of god let this be a sick joke.

“You didn’t tell Matt did you?” I rasped, trying to control my temper that was slowly growing. She had no fucking right to talk to Matt about me, let alone tell him that I was a virgin. That was my fucking business, not hers!

“I didn’t mean to! It was an accident…I know there is something going on between you two, hell we all do, and I don’t want you to get hurt. You’re not his usual fuck and go to type and that’s exactly what I told him!” Val continued but I was seeing red now.

“You fucking told Matt Sanders that I’m a virgin? How fucking dare you, Val? How could you?!” I raged, shaking my head. “And besides it’s none of your business what I do or who I see! So stay out of my fucking business!”

“So you are seeing Sanders?” Val gasped, not at all getting the picture.

“No I’m not! I told you were are just friends!” I screamed at her, half lying because right now I didn’t know what to do. I mean I liked Matt but I also had a huge crush on Brian… “Mind your own fucking business and go to hell!” And with that I stormed out of the room.

An hour later I found myself sitting on the beach, throwing pieces of driftwood into the rising tide. Tears were streaming down my face as the sun started to set, displaying a wide range of beautiful colors. If I hadn’t been so hurt and pissed off with myself and Val then I would have enjoyed it. I mean, it was partially my fault! If I had just told Matt to begin with, then none of this would have mattered. But then again, my sister should have never said anything to anyone about my private stuff, even if she did have my best interest at heart.

“Michelle?” A deep voice sounded behind me and I closed my eyes, cursing under my breath. Matt was the last person I wanted to see right now. Not only was I mortified because of last night, but now he also knew that I was a virgin thanks to my sister’s big mouth. What the hell was I even going to say to him?! “What are you doing here?”

I bit down on my bottom lip and pulled my knees to my chest as Matt took a seat next to me. I could only shrug and look out toward the ocean. God I couldn’t even look at him right now…

“Are you alone?” He tried again. I could feel his eyes burning a hole in the side of my face with his gaze. I nodded, only to hear him sigh. This was seriously the most awkward and mortifying moment of my life. “You feeling okay?”

“Yeah…fine…” I whispered, putting my chin on my knees.

“Then where were you in Chemistry?” What was this, twenty fucking questions? Didn’t he know that I was avoiding him?

“An appointment…” yeah, this conversation was awful and who knew the awkward silence that followed was even worse. After a few minutes, I slowly snuck a glance at him to see him watching me with a small frown. Great, he’s trying to figure out how to tell me that he didn’t want to see me anymore. What kind of guy that looks and has a talent like Matt wants to have a virgin? Well, he never would’ve known if my sister hadn’t opened her mouth. And now I was going to lose him and how he made me feel…Awesome, thanks Val!

“Listen, Michelle I—“ and here it comes.

“Don’t worry, Matt…I understand,” I interrupted only for him move into my line of vision with a confused look on his face. It wasn’t the first time someone tried to break up with me, not that we were really dating, but then again I had never seen that look before.

“What?” he asked, playing with his lip piercing. Damn why was that always so sexy?

“You don’t have to say it, I already know that you don’t want to see me anymore…” I sighed and I was surprised when Matt’s fingers were suddenly guiding my face to look at him.

“Who said that?” He asked with a small frown. “Fuck Michelle, it’s actually the opposite…” The opposite? The opposite of what? I didn’t get it. “Listen, I know that things have been slow between us and I wanted you to know that I’m alright with that.” He was? Who was this person? This wasn’t the Matt Sander’s I had heard rumors about. “I know you’re a virgin…and-and I’m willing to wait.”

“Y-you are?” I gasped, not believing my ears.

“Why is that so hard to believe? Damn it, Michelle, I like you okay?” Matt said, pulling me over onto his lap. “I’ve liked you for a while now and I know you wanted to take things slow but what happens if we become a real couple?”

I gapped at him, meeting his eyes and seeing his gorgeous dimples. Matt wanted to be in a real relationship with me? I blinked a few times, trying to get over the shock of it all. I honestly thought that we were just having fun and I never expected to hear those words from his mouth.

I mean, I did like him but was I ready to be public? What about Brian? And what about Val? Hell, I hadn’t even admitted that we had been messing around yet. I couldn’t exactly come home and say, ‘oh and by the way, Val, you were right about Matt and I. We are together.’ No, that wasn’t going to happen. I would slowly have to build her up to the idea of me dating the rumored playboy.

“I-I don’t know…” I finally said after a few seconds of gaping at him. But Matt didn’t take that for an answer because he crashed his lips into mine, making me forget about all my indiscretions. Damn he tasted so good, like spearmint toothpaste and something else that I couldn’t put my finger on.

“So what do you say, babe?” Matt breathed against my lips, making my head spin. “Will you be my girl?”

Shit I didn’t know what I wanted. I knew I liked both him and Brian but I didn’t know who to choose…and what about Val? Damn it, why was all of this so confusing? “Mmm….I need to talk to Val first,” I admitted, seeing him roll his eyes in the darkness. “Let me talk to her and make her see that we’re good together and then we will go public…how does that sound?”

“Why do you even care what she thinks?” Matt grumbled, putting his head on my shoulder and his arms around my waist. “She doesn’t run you life you know.”

“But she’s all I have left…” I admitted, biting down on my bottom lip. “I just have to give her a heads up before everyone knows or else she will never forgive me…plus I don’t know if I want everyone to know yet,” and of course I was talking about Brian but I wasn’t going to tell Matt that.

“She’s not all you have, Chelle,” Matt’s hazel eyes looked up at me and I melted a little bit. He really was a great guy. “You have me too and if you want to take it slow and talk with your sister, I can deal with that. It’s just so damn hard to keep my distance from you all day…you’re all that I’ve been thinking about lately.”

“You’re just saying that,” I teased, standing up and pulling Matt with me. The tide was getting a little too close now.

“Nope,” he said, wrapping his arm around my waist. “Can't stop thinking about how good your lips taste, how soft your skin is, and fantasizing where you got that tattoo…it’s been driving me crazy.”

“Well, maybe one day I’ll show you,” I teased. “But for now, I’m starving. Do you want to go get something to eat?”

“Are you asking me out on a date, Miss Dibenedetto?” Matt teased, pulling me into his rock hard chest.

“I guess you’ll have to come with me to find out, won't you?” I laughed before pulling away and sprinting toward the parking lot with Matt hot on my heels. It felt good to have someone looking out for me. But what should I do? Did I want to date Matt or Brian? That was the question?

Notes