by Leigh, T. K.
“Really?” I raised my eyebrows.
Her gaze met mine and she slowly nodded her head. “Yes. I just…”
“We’ll take it slow, Bri. I’m not going to force you to sleep with me if you’re not ready. And I’m not going to leave you just because you’re not ready. I love you for you and not for your body.”
“Really?” She pursed her lips at me.
“Yeah. But, since we’re being honest, I love your body, too.”
She ran her hands through my hair and brought my head to hers. “I love your body, too,” she murmured against my mouth. “And the heart that’s inside of it. It’s so pure and light. I love you, Cameron Michael.”
“I love you, Brianna Marie.” My breathing increased as we remained unmoving on the bench, reveling in the warmth of each other’s embrace. “We should probably go inside before our parents throw a tantrum,” I said finally.
She sighed. “Okay. On one condition.”
“Anything for you.”
“I get to kiss you at midnight and we can watch the sunrise together on the beach in the morning.”
“I’d love nothing more.” I planted one more kiss on her lips and helped her up, leading her from the bench and into the elaborate country club that was decked to the nines in celebration of the Jessamine New Year’s Eve Gala. Men wore tuxedos and all the women were dressed in extravagant gowns. A big band played jazz standards as people danced and enjoyed the last night of the year.
I grabbed Brianna’s hand and led her to the dance floor, a Frank Sinatra tune filling the air. “Hope you don’t mind dancing.”
“With you? Never.”
The hours passed with ease as I savored the feeling of Brianna’s body against mine. As the night was coming to an end, I felt a tapping on my shoulder. I turned my head to see Mr. Grayson standing over us.
“May I cut in and enjoy one dance with my beautiful step-daughter?”
“Bryant,” Brianna said, her face turning red in embarrassment.
“Of course, sir. I don’t mind.”
“No. I came here with you, Cam. And I’m going to dance with you.”
“It’s one dance. I need to use the restroom anyway. I’ll be back soon.” I kissed her neck and permitted Mr. Grayson to lead her across the dance floor.
After using the restroom, I made my way to the bar to grab a water. “Hey, Cam!” I heard Marley shout.
I spun around to see my sister walking toward me in a glimmering silver gown. “Hey, Mar. Having a good time?”
“Surprisingly, yes. For a stupid Jessamine function, this one is rather fun.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “How much have you had to drink?”
She opened her clutch and showed me four small empty vodka bottles. “Nothing, Cameron. The drinking age in this fine state is twenty-one. A Jessamine candidate does not drink before she’s twenty-one. Such things are unheard of.” She laughed and I couldn’t help but join in.
“As long as you’re not driving.”
Her playful expression turned serious. “You know that I would never…”
“I know.”
“And Doug drove me here. He didn’t sneak any alcohol in. Well, he did, but it was for me.” She winked. “Okay. I’m off to find Doug. See ya later.”
I nodded and headed back toward where Brianna was dancing with Mr. Grayson. He sensed my approach and faced me, placing her hand in mine. “Treat my best girl well, Mr. Bowen.”
“I always do, sir,” I said politely as he walked away.
She let out a long breath, visibly relaxing.
“Miss me?” I settled my hand on her lower back, dancing with her once more.
“Always,” she responded.
“Do you think the reason we all had to take ballroom dance in gym class was for these stupid functions?” I asked, trying to bring Brianna back from where she had gone to in her head.
“Probably,” she rolled her eyes. “It certainly wouldn’t surprise me.”
“Me, either.” I glanced to the far end of the room to see Mason and Grady eyeing someone as if they were planning their next conquest. Following their line of vision, I noticed that they were looking at Marley with an expression of intense heat, unbeknownst to her.
I saw her kiss Doug on the neck and excuse herself to head down the hallway toward the restrooms. My heart started racing when I saw Mason and Grady slink down the hallway behind her.
“Cam?” Brianna said, noticing that I was distracted. “Everything okay?”
“I’ll be right back,” I answered quickly, leaving her alone on the dance floor. As I was about to turn down the corridor to the restroom, I heard several grunts. “Shit. Marley!” I turned the corner, not expecting to be met with the sight that greeted me.
“Marley?” I couldn’t stop laughing when I looked at my sister’s slim frame standing over Mason and Grady, her heel digging into Mason’s crotch while Grady was curled up in a ball, holding on to himself.
“Your friends are pigs. Kristen and Carla just left crying because of these two assholes. Not to mention they’ve been hitting on me forever, regardless of the fact that they know I’m with Doug.”
“They’re more just teammates than friends these days,” I explained.
“Whatever. Now, boys…” She returned her attention to them. “If I hear that you try to hit on any of my friends again, you’ll remember what will happen, right?”
They nodded quickly.
“I didn’t hear you!” She kicked Grady hard in the balls and he let out a loud grunt.
“Yes!” he shouted.
“That’s better. You’re going to remember the pain you feel right now, correct? Because, so help me, if you come near me or any of my friends, or any of the other female population of our school with the sole intention of, and I quote, ‘bang and hang’, I will revisit this situation and you’ll wish that I had ripped your balls off tonight instead of allowing you to walk out of here. Okay?”
They both nodded.
“What was that?” She dug her heel harder into Mason’s crotch and kicked Grady again.
“Yes!” they both shouted.
“Goody!” She spun around and walked into the ladies room.
“Your sister’s fucking crazy,” Mason moaned.
“We’re all a little crazy,” I responded. “You touch her again, I’ll let the entire school know that you got beaten up by a girl.”
“I plan on telling them anyway,” I heard from the ladies’ room. The door opened and Marley emerged, grabbing on to my arm and pulling me away from Mason and Grady.
“Can I just say that I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in my entire life?”
“That felt good,” she replied just as the band leader came on to announce that it was one minute until midnight.
“Come on, Mar. Let’s bring in the new year.” I pulled her onto the dance floor where we found Brianna and Doug speaking with Mr. and Mrs. Grayson. As we all counted down to midnight, I couldn’t help but notice such a change in Marley since the previous year. She typically stayed locked up on New Year’s Eve, the memories of that New Year’s Eve when she was eight still tormenting her. But this year, as I looked at her, I realized that she had shed her past. She was no longer dwelling on it. She was looking forward to her future.
“Happy New Year!” voices yelled all around me as the familiar strains of Auld Lang Syne played. Two arms pulled me in and I gazed into Brianna’s gorgeous eyes.
“Happy New Year, Cam,” she murmured against my lips.
“Happy New Year, Bri.” I pressed my mouth to hers and couldn’t think of anything I’d rather be doing to celebrate the New Year. We all began to make the rounds, wishing everyone a happy New Year. Finally finding Marley, I wrapped my arms around her and planted a kiss on her forehead. “Happy New Year, Marley Jane.”
“Happy New Year, Cameron Michael. I have a feeling this is going to be a year to remember.”
“Me, too.”
~~~~~~~~~~~
AS BRIANNA AND I emerged from the country club several hours later, I turned to her. “Still want to watch the sunrise together?”
“I’ve been looking forward to this all night.” She clutched my arm and I led her to my Wrangler, helping her in. I drove through the empty streets of Myrtle Beach and pulled into the public lot by the shore. Taking my shoes and socks off, I tossed them in the car before grabbing a few blankets that I kept in the Jeep.
Brianna grabbed my hand and we walked across the beach, the chilly sand refreshing on our feet. We approached the tree alcove and I laid down the blankets. She lowered herself on the ground and pulled me on top of her, our lips almost touching.
“Hey,” she murmured.
“Hey,” I replied as I nuzzled her neck, inhaling her hair.
“Smell something you like?”
I chuckled. “Yup. Apricots. And passion fruit. And Brianna. Best smell in the world.”
Her eyes met mine and the innocence that was usually present in her gaze was absent. In its place was a look of unyielding desire. “Kiss me, Cam. Like you kissed me in the car before.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to rush you…”
Cutting me off, she grabbed my neck and forced my lips to hers. Before I knew what was happening, she was deepening the kiss, parting my lips with her tongue. I moaned into her mouth, my heart racing as she ran her hands up and down my back. I pulled out of the kiss, panting from the intensity.
“Cam, touch me,” she pleaded.
“Where?” I whispered.
“Here.” She grabbed my hand and pressed it against her chest.
My eyes grew wide.
“You won’t break me, Cam. I promise.”
I nodded slightly, staring into her eyes as I ran my fingers across the fabric of her dress.
“Cam, unzip me. I want to feel your skin on mine.”
“Are you sure? What if someone sees?” I glanced around, my concerns unfounded. Our secret spot was completely hidden from view. No one else knew about this private little slice of the beach.
“No one’s going to see. And if they do, I know that you’ll protect me,” she whispered in my ear, circling her tongue on my neck. “You always do.”
Groaning, I returned my lips to hers, clumsily fumbling with the zipper on the back of her dress, lowering it.
She pulled the dress over her head and lay back down as I gawked at her slender body in nothing but a bra and panties.
“Bri, we don’t have to do…”
“Cam, did you ever think that maybe I want to? If you do, that is. I mean…”
I lowered my mouth to hers. “I love you, Brianna. I’ll give you anything you want. I just don’t want to have a repeat of what happened earlier.”
She smiled. “Cam, I trust you. You’re one of the good guys. You always have been. You do have a condom, right?”
I reached into the pocket of my tuxedo pants and grabbed my wallet, pulling out the foil packet. “Yeah.” I shrugged. “Sex talk with Uncle Graham. He told me to always carry one on me, no matter what.”
“Good.”
She pulled my head toward hers and I trailed kisses across her collarbone, nervous and excited about being with her. This was the moment that every teenage boy dreams about. I was anxious about whether I even knew what I was doing, but when I saw the look of peace and pleasure on her face as I moved inside her, I knew I must have been doing something right.
As we lay there in the aftermath wrapped in a blanket, watching the sunrise, her delicate body intertwined with mine, my heart overflowed with a strange feeling of absolute adoration for the girl next to me.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
MAKE A STAND
SENIOR FEVER IS RUNNING through the halls of our high school something fierce these days. Nine weeks left of high school. Seven weeks until I finally turn eighteen, which just so happens to be the same day as the stupid Jessamine Pageant, but all the duties and obligations that go along with that don’t seem so bad anymore, not with Doug at my side. Or under me. Or on top of me. One of these days, we’ll try behind me. I’m not quite there yet, but I know I will be soon.
Today started out like a typical Monday morning as I sat in homeroom next to Cam.
Just as everyone was filling out graduation information, the intercom buzzed and Mrs. Pritchard, our homeroom teacher, scurried to answer the phone.
“Miss Bowen?” she called out after hanging up.
I looked up from my desk. “Yes, ma’am?”
“Mr. Grayson has requested that you go see him immediately.”
I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion. “Why?”
“I’m not sure, dear. His secretary just called and asked to see you. My guess is it has something to do with either the Jessamine Pageant or your choice of college. Here’s a hall pass.”
I grabbed my stuff, glancing at Cam. Neither one of us had chosen a college just yet. The only school that we had both been accepted to was U.S.C., which wasn’t a bad school, but there were better places for him to go for his major, not to mention the full baseball scholarship he had been awarded. We had been arguing about this once the letters started to arrive a few months ago.
As I was walking toward the administration corridor, I couldn’t help but think how far I had come since Grams died last August. Back then, I was horrified at the thought of going to a different college than Cam. While I would still miss him, I no longer needed him to constantly pick me up when I was down. I had Doug to do that. Ever since Thanksgiving, I hadn’t experienced any more lows. It almost seemed like, with Doug, there were no lows. Maybe I finally had a new normal.
“Miss Bowen,” a voice broke through my thoughts. I glanced up to see Mr. Monroe standing in front of me. “What brings you down here? Shouldn’t you be in homeroom?” He raised his eyebrows at me, waiting for my response.
“I called her down here,” Mr. Grayson said, walking up to me and smiling in the affectionate manner I had grown accustomed to. “It’s rather important.”
The two men glared at each other and I could have sworn I saw both of them stick their chests out in an attempt to appear more muscular and fearsome than the other.
“Well,” Mr. Monroe finally said, “I also need to speak with her about her senior project. I’m sure it’s more important than anything to do with your little pageant that isn’t for two more months.” He grabbed my arm and quickly ushered me into his office, locking the door behind him.
“Honestly, what’s the deal with you two? Is it a competition all the time?”
“It’s not a competition, Miss Bowen,” he replied, sitting behind his desk. “I disagree with his methods of doing things, that’s all. He shouldn’t be calling you out of homeroom to discuss anything that isn’t school related.”
“Maybe he wanted to speak to me about college or recommendation letters or something like that.”
He eyed me. “That’s highly doubtful, Miss Bowen, but I appreciate your innocence. Now, I’ve been meaning to discuss this with you. What kind of work have you done on your project?”
I slumped into the chair. “It’s harder than I thought it would be. I know the history of the pageant, how it started as a way to empower women. But now they have all these other parts of the competition that weren’t there when the pageant was founded. They now put an emphasis on beauty instead of a woman’s intelligence and strength. That should be the focus.”
“Make that be the focus, Marley.” His gaze bore into me. “Use your past.”
My eyes grew wide, my heart thumping in my chest as disbelief covered my face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mr. Monroe.” My voice was cautious.
“I know, Marley. I know all about what you went through. If you want them to re-evaluate things, make a point.”
I fidgeted with my fingers in my lap, looking down. “I can’t,” I said softly. “No one is supposed to know.”
“Is that your decision or has that decision been made for you?”
<
br /> My head shot up at his ability to see something I thought no one could.
“Do you really want to stay silent? Don’t you want to be a voice of survival? The whole point of this project is for all of you to realize how difficult change can be. But what you also need to realize is that if you disagree with something, change happens at the grassroots level. The local level. Start small. Making people see that their ways are wrong or harmful, even to one person, is never an easy thing, Marley. It’s the hardest thing in the world. But if you can get one person to re-evaluate their position, and that person convinces another, that is how change happens. That is how this country earned its independence. Could you imagine if our forefathers said ‘It’s too hard to fight against tyranny’? We’d still be subjects of the crown. Stand up for what you believe in.”
I was completely speechless at his passionate plea. This side of him was completely at odds with the stern professor that lectured our class every day during second period, although he did come out on occasion.
“How do I do that?”
“Bring attention to imperfection and flaws, Marley. You are in an ideal position to do something. You’re a finalist. Not one person chosen as a finalist has ever stood up for change, except for last year. The seed was planted back when Gabriella Knox tried to get the swimsuit portion discontinued.”
“Another one of your students?”
A sly grin crossed his face. “My lips are sealed.”
“Okay, so I have a platform to make a change. How do I do it? No one is just going to listen to me bitch and moan about the swimsuit portion or any of that. They’ve heard it all before.”
“Here’s how.” He opened a file and threw a photo at me. “How will they react if they see this, knowing that you’ve been forced to cover it up for years?”
Shocked, I looked down at a recent photo of my uncovered back, the scars of my past visible for all to see.
“How did you…?” My mind raced as I tried to determine when and where that photo could have been taken.
“Does it really matter? I have it. Your aunt covers it all up. You’re about to turn eighteen. Make them see their beauty pageant for what it has, unfortunately, become. Make them really think about what all of this has done to you, Marley. What it could be doing to other girls in this town who are forced to remain quiet about their past and then are paraded around as if everything’s okay. Force them to celebrate the achievements of women, not just their bodies.”
