by Amity Hope
He took a deep breath and asked, “Did you only agree to go out with me because James is with Meredith?” He paused a heartbeat before adding, “What I really want to know is if you still like him.”
I popped up on my elbow so I could look him in the eye.
I shook my head firmly. “No.”
“It didn’t seem that way when he stole all your candy,” he said. “You were all jittery around him.”
“If I was jittery around him, it was because I felt uncomfortable. And I felt that way because I could tell you were uncomfortable. I sort of just wanted him to leave.” That day felt like the beginning of the end of my crush.
He arched an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Cross my heart,” I said, because it was true. I hesitated a moment, choosing my words carefully. Leo was always so honest with me. I knew I owed it to him to do the same. “I’d be lying if I said James wasn’t an issue at first. But he’s not anymore. It doesn’t have anything to do with Meredith. It has everything to do with you. I love spending time with you. We have a lot in common. We have fun together. Francesca was right when she said we should just see where this goes.”
Leo’s tension seemed to fade away. “When we were at the coast, I told you I was asking you out so you could put it on your list,” he said. “But you have to know that’s not the real reason I asked.”
I nodded. “I do know that.”
“So is this a real date then?” he asked. “It’s not just another thing to add to your list? You’re here because you want to be. Because…”
“Because I like you,” I confirmed. “And I am absolutely adding this date to my list,” I said lightly. “Because this is definitely a date. A real date.”
“A real date?” A hint of a smile appeared, tugging at Leo’s lips. “In that case…” He reached up, slid his hand into my hair, and guided my mouth to his.
Kissing under the stars?
That was going on my list, too.
Chapter Twelve
Leo
I gripped my steering wheel and contemplated restarting my truck and hightailing it out of there.
“I didn’t know they were going to be here,” I told Kylie.
There wasn’t much going on in town after school. That’s probably why a chunk of my baseball team had ended up at the city park along with Kylie and me. She had an hour to fill before her shift started, so we’d figured it was safe to come here. Her parents were both still at work. If we bumped into anyone they knew, we could always pretend we weren’t together.
“It’s not a problem, is it?” she asked.
That remained to be seen. Colton, Dillon, and Trevor were on the field, tossing a ball around. Dillon wasn’t so bad. It was Colton and Trevor who wouldn’t think twice about giving me a hard time, even if they thought they were just joking around.
“It’s fine,” I decided. The park had a maze of trails that ran through the woods. We could be here and manage to stay out of their way. “Let’s go.”
We hopped out of my truck and headed toward the nearest walking trail.
“Zimmerman,” Colton called.
“Keep walking,” I ordered.
“Gladly.”
I had limited time with Kylie before she had to go to work. I didn’t want to waste any of it talking to him.
Colton shouted out a few more times. He had to have known we heard him and that we were blatantly ignoring him. But that didn’t stop him from disrupting the peace, anyway.
Kylie squeezed out a sigh of relief as we finally reached the nearest trail. In seconds, we were lost from his sight as we disappeared into the forest.
“What’s his problem, anyway?” Kylie wondered. “I don’t think I’ve seen him be nice to anyone. But he seems especially hard on you.”
“Old habits die hard,” I said. “He’s given me a hard time for as long as I can remember. I don’t even know what started it.”
In elementary school, they tell you if you ignore bullies, they’ll stop. Well, apparently Colton never got that memo because he’s kept on my case all these years, no matter how completely I ignore him.
Kylie’s fingers bumped into mine. Hoping it was a subtle hint, I took her hand. I glanced over my shoulder to make sure we were alone, and when I was confident we were, I said, “I have a question for you. It’s probably not any of my business, so I would understand if you don’t want to answer.”
She cut me a sideways look, scooting so close to me her body brushed up against mine, sending little shock waves all down my right side. She was only avoiding a fir bough, but my heart didn’t seem to care.
It had taken every bit of guts I had the other night to ask her how she really felt about me. I almost didn’t do it. Part of me figured I should just be happy that she’d kissed me, happy that she’d agreed to go on a date. I’d pushed ahead anyway. Now I was glad I had because her answer had changed everything.
“What do you want to know?” she asked.
“Why are your parents so strict?” I hurried to add, “I know it has something to do with your sister, so if it’s too personal, say so.”
“It’s kind of a long story. I’m not sure where to start.” She pinched the bridge of her nose with her free hand. “Okay, first I’ll tell you about Maddie. She was kind of a loner; shy, but really smart. Her chemistry teacher talked her into tutoring this jock.” She paused before saying, “I don’t know all the details. Maddie was a senior when I was in eighth grade, so I was still at the middle school. It seems like such a long time ago, I don’t remember much of what happened.”
I nodded, encouraging her to go on.
“She tutored him for a few months. Somewhere along the way, she developed a huge crush on this guy. He pretended he liked her, too.”
Pretended? That sounded like trouble waiting to happen.
“She tutored him in one of the private rooms off the library. I suppose because she was Maddie, the librarian never checked on them. One day a friend of his walked in and caught them… Well, I don’t know exactly what they were doing.” She cringed. “But I have a pretty good idea. This guy’s friend started blabbing. He was apparently so embarrassed to be caught with my sister,” Kylie said, her voice more bitter than I’ve ever heard it, “that he started making up lies about her. He said she came on to him. That she instigated it all.” She shook her head, as if she needed a second to pull herself together.
“Sounds like a real winner.”
“Here’s the thing about my sister,” Kylie continued, “she’s really cute, in her own way. She has beautiful eyes, an amazing smile. When she’s not nervous, she has a great personality. School was a different story. She has a bit of a problem with her weight. She’s quite a bit heavier than me. She always had low self-esteem, had a hard time making friends, and basically kept to herself. He started with accusing her of coming on to him, I’m sure because he didn’t want to tarnish his reputation. It quickly escalated into bullying her. He was relentless. I think he was angry about being caught, about his friends giving him a hard time, so he took it out on her.”
“To take the attention off himself.”
“Exactly. Maddie didn’t deserve to be bullied. No one does. But she took it extra hard; she was already so shy. The last thing she ever wanted was to draw attention to herself. To have this guy draw attention to her in the worst possible way? It was devastating. I remember weeks went by and it seemed like she cried all the time. She refused to go to school.”
“How do you know all of this? I thought you said you don’t really remember.”
“I don’t remember,” she said. “But Lexie does. When Maddie was a senior, Lexie was a freshman. Even though Lexie was a lot younger, she saw some of what happened. Also, they shared a room. I think Maddie confided in her.”
She stopped talking as a jogger pounded up behind us. We scooched together to allow her to pass, then she waited until the woman was firmly out of earshot before continuing.
“What happened?” I aske
d. “He bullied her all year and got away with it?”
“My parents filed a complaint with the principal but they didn’t have solid proof. Apparently, Maddie’s word didn’t count because this guy denied ever saying anything. His word against hers. None of his friends would admit to the bullying, either. The school said they’d keep an eye on the situation.”
I shook my head in frustration.
“Eventually my parents confronted his parents. They showed up at his house and had it out. From what Lexie said, it was a nasty argument. His parents more or less chalked it up to boys will be boys. Not only did they insist Maddie was being overly sensitive, but his mother suggested maybe it was Maddie who was at fault. If she would lose some weight, she wouldn’t draw so much attention.”
“Wow,” I muttered. Maddie’s story was getting to me. I didn’t think it was because Kylie was so upset, though that did bother me. It was something else. Parts of it almost sounded familiar, even though I knew that was impossible. “Did he finally stop?”
She shook her head. “Lexie caught him putting a nasty note under Maddie’s windshield wiper. She took a picture of him doing it, then marched it straight to the principal’s office. The boy was suspended. Unfortunately, when he got back to school, he was ten times worse.”
He was suspended for harassing a girl.
Damn. It was definitely sounding familiar.
“What was this guy’s name?” I asked.
“I’ve either forgotten after all this time, or I never knew it in the first place. My parents tried to shield my other sisters and me from it,” she explained.
Kylie might not know what this loser’s name was…but I was pretty sure I did. I was also sure the guy had a disgusting habit of belching the alphabet, could give a wickedly painful wedgie, and was known for being an all-around ass.
I had a needling suspicion the loser’s name was Mike Zimmerman.
And he happened to be my oldest brother.
Pieces of Kylie’s story clicked together in my mind, connecting with vague memories that had been forgotten. Mike’s age matched up with Maddie’s. His personality matched up with Kylie’s story. Fragments of overheard conversations started flitting around in my brain. I could recall someone—Kylie and Maddie’s parents?—coming over one night. I could recall bits of that very loud fight.
I also clearly remembered Mike’s suspension. My parents were furious, but not with Mike. They felt the school was treating him unfairly. They completely bought into his pity party, and allowed Mike to treat his suspension like it was nothing more than a week-long vacation.
“H-How’s Maddie doing now?” I asked, rattled.
“I think she’s put it behind her. But at one point, things got so bad at home my parents were worried she’d do something to harm herself. Mom took a lot of time off work because they were afraid to leave her alone. Maddie had been begging to move in with our aunt just to get away from here. She was almost eighteen at that time and insisted she’d leave as soon as she could, anyway. My parents finally let her go, once she agreed to get counseling at her new school.” Kylie sighed. “She got counseling, and she finished off her senior year in Spokane. She enrolled at WSU and got her degree in Elementary Education. Now she’s got a job as a kindergarten teacher.”
I nodded, feeling like a bobblehead. I was following along, but I did not like where this story was going.
“You know what the worst part is?” Kylie asked. “He pretended he liked her. He manipulated her, he used her, then he tormented her for it. That’s the part my parents have a hard time dealing with. She’d talked about that guy at home. My parents knew she liked him. Because Maddie thought he liked her, too, she believed the relationship might actually go somewhere. Now my parents feel if they’d gotten involved, insisted on meeting this guy, things would never have spiraled the way they did.”
We walked in silence for a while. I wondered if I should say something. If my brother really was this guy, shouldn’t I let Kylie know?
I wasn’t sure.
If he was the guy who treated Maddie so badly, he was the reason Kylie’s parents were so overprotective. But even worse, how could I own up to being related to someone like that? What would Kylie’s parents think of me?
Worse, what would Kylie think of me?
Maybe it wasn’t Mike. Unfortunately our school did not have a shortage of people who acted like jerks. I thought it might be best to get my suspicion out there so she could tell me I was wrong.
“Kylie,” I started, “I think—”
“Heads up,” Colton bellowed.
In the split second I heard his voice, my eyes reflexively shot to the sky. I’d been so wrapped up in our conversation I hadn’t noticed we’d come to the end of the trail.
Kylie yelped when she saw a fly ball was barreling our way.
I reached out and nabbed it as she ducked, squatting to the ground.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
She nodded at me with wide eyes. I reached out my free hand and tugged her to her feet.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, of course.” Glancing at Colton, seeing he was staring probably surprised by what had just gone down, I whipped the ball back to him. Why the idiot was batting on an open field, instead of inside the fence, was beyond me. I clenched my fingers together, trying to ease the sting of my barehanded catch. No way was I going to admit I could still feel the painful vibration in my bones.
“My bad,” Colton shouted across the field.
“That was coming straight at my face,” she accused. There was a quiver to her voice as she realized just how close she’d come to taking that ball to the head.
The throbbing in my hand was worth it, knowing it had saved Kylie from getting nailed.
“Yeah, sorry about that. I have no idea what he was thinking.”
“Don’t be sorry,” she said. “It clearly wasn’t your fault. Thanks for saving me. Now what were you saying?”
I glanced around, realizing the trio of ballplayers was heading in our direction. She sighed when she noticed them, too. Even when he wasn’t trying to, I swear, Colton could find a way to ruin my day.
“Never mind,” I said as the group closed in on us. “It wasn’t important.”
…
“Why do you sound so upset?” Jenna asked. “Did you walk in on Mom and Dad canoodling in the kitchen again?”
“When aren’t they canoodling somewhere?” I grumbled. I wasn’t in the mood for my sister’s teasing. “I actually want to know if you remember Mike getting into trouble because of how he treated a girl.”
My sister scoffed. “Mike was always getting in trouble for how he treated girls.”
“Maddie Jenkins?”
She hesitated before saying, “I haven’t heard that name in a while. But yeah, he had some pretty serious issues with Maddie. That was a long time ago. Why are you asking?”
I told her about Kylie, how long I’d liked her, how I finally felt like I had her, and about what I’d just found out tonight on the park trail.
“Talk about bad luck,” Jenna said when I was finished. “Mike fooled around with a lot of girls, but the way he treated Maddie, I think it really messed her up.”
Jenna and Scott were only a year younger than Mike. I knew if anyone could tell me about that time, it would be her.
“Kylie said Maddie tutored Mike. She said a friend of his caught them messing around. Mike twisted the situation to make it seem as if Maddie—”
“As if Maddie went after him and he was disgusted by the whole thing,” Jenna filled in. “Yeah. That’s pretty much how it went down. Mike had everyone believing Maddie made a move on him. According to him, when his buddy Bryce opened the door, he was pushing Maddie away.” She scoffed. “I don’t know how anyone bought into that story. Maddie was so shy it was almost painful to watch. Walking down the hallway, she barely lifted her gaze off the floor. No way would a girl like that come on to an arrogant ass like Mike.”
>
I hated the way I felt when Colton gave me a hard time. I knew that was nothing compared to the way Mike had harassed Maddie. I could only imagine what he put her through.
“What do you think the real story was?” I asked. It had crossed my mind that Mike had kissed Maddie against her will, even though Kylie said Maddie had a crush on him.
“I think,” Jenna began, “that it started with innocent tutoring. I know Mike needed it, but I doubt he took it seriously. Maddie was cute, but quiet as a mouse. I’m guessing Mike saw her as a challenge. He could be charming with girls when he wanted to be. He probably won her over just to prove to himself he could.”
I ground out a sigh. I could just imagine my big brother turning on the charm, making Maddie feel like he actually cared. Until he got what he wanted. Scratch that. Until they got caught.
“You know Mike and I have never gotten along,” she continued. “But after that whole fiasco, I lost what little respect I had for him. To this day, I don’t think he’s changed.”
I didn’t think so, either.
“Mike was dating Gretchen Atkins at the time. Maybe that’s why everyone believed Mike. Gretchen was gorgeous. So why would Mike go after someone quiet like Maddie?”
I knew it was a rhetorical question. He went after her because she was an easy target. Winning over someone so shy like that? No doubt it gave his ego a boost.
“You know the worst part?” she asked.
Now that I’d opened the floodgates, Jenna seemed intent on spilling it all.
“I’m not sure I want to know,” I said, though that didn’t stop her.
“Mike was nasty to Maddie, but Gretchen tormented that poor girl. Mike egged her on, had her convinced Maddie went after her boyfriend. She was determined to make her pay for it. I remember chants going around school, name calling, jokes, pictures. It was disgusting.”
I wondered if Kylie knew about Gretchen.
“I’m almost sorry I asked about this,” I said. “What Kylie told me was bad, but all this is a whole lot worse.”
“Bullying is a terrible thing,” Jenna said. “It can destroy a person. I felt bad. I tried to talk to Maddie a few times, but she didn’t trust me. I think she thought I was like Mike, trying to win her over so I could turn against her. It was obvious the harassment was taking a toll on her. She started missing school. A lot of school. Then she disappeared completely.”
