Feel My Love: The Damaged Series - Book Two Read online

  FEEL MY LOVE

  Damaged Series – Book Two

  Shayne McClendon

  Feel My Love by Shayne McClendon

  Damaged Series – Book Two

  Copyright © 2010 and Beyond Shayne McClendon

  Dirty Little Secret – Book One

  Feel My Love – Book Two

  Coming Home – Book Three

  Run to You – Book Four

  Published by Always the Good Girl LLC

  www.alwaysthegoodgirl.com

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Darling,

  In the midst of tragedy and personal loss, we sometimes feel as if the pain will never ease…that the wound will never – could never – heal. It does….eventually. It won’t happen overnight – and you’ll always carry the scars – but it does get better.

  All of us are a little bit damaged.

  All of us have our scars.

  It’s part of the human condition.

  Instead of focusing on the pain that caused the scar, recognize that you survived it. To readers who have shared their stories and personal struggles with me over the years:

  You are still here. Keep fighting. You can do this.

  Much love from my little world to yours,

  Shayne

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Epilogue

  Always the Good Girl Publishing

  Links to Other Work

  About Shayne McClendon

  Prologue

  1992-1993 - Freshman Year

  Mrs. Augusta Whitehall stormed into the office of her daughter’s high school and announced loudly, “I demand you assign my daughter a tutor. Failing! How dare you! She can’t possibly be failing. It’s obviously the teachers who are failing my child. I won’t allow it!”

  She was a woman who gaudily flaunted outrageous wealth from head to toe. It attested to a person unaccustomed to money, who’d apparently fallen into it fairly recently, and wanted even strangers to recognize it. She’d created a caricature of herself that overwhelmed once lovely features.

  The moment the overbearing woman entered the office, there was a collective sigh. It was not the first time she had caused such a scene. She had sent letters of complaint to the local school board about half of the administrative staff and several of the teachers at the junior high.

  Now she was the high school’s problem. All of them wondered who would receive her fury this time.

  Her daughter Amelia stood at her side. The girl was the complete opposite of her mother in every way. She was a favorite of her teachers, had a broad friend group, and had scores of admirers from every grade level.

  An uncommon beauty, Amelia was soft spoken and gentle by nature. She was struggling in her freshman classes due to her mother’s penchant to enter her daughter in pageants and modeling contests all over the country - uncaring that school was in session.

  It had been a problem since Amelia was in fifth grade.

  She was an intelligent young woman who simply couldn’t keep up with her workload and be dragged from venue to venue for trophies and crowns.

  It was an issue that had been addressed with Amelia’s parents on multiple occasions. Her browbeaten father always folded to the mother’s tirades during such conversations to the intense frustration of school staff.

  The receptionist opened her mouth to ask a question when Mrs. Whitehall set eyes on a young man just entering from a side door. Part of the student office staff, Leo had been running errands for the principal.

  Mrs. Whitehall’s attention immediately landed on him. Then she said far too loudly, “You there. Usually ethnic kids are pretty smart. Are you smart?”

  Amelia moaned, turned beet red, and said through gritted teeth, “Mom, stop. Leo is the smartest kid in the entire county, probably the state. He works really hard so please don’t disrespect him or embarrass me.”

  “Young man, I need a tutor for my daughter.”

  The staff watched in morbid fascination as Leo straightened his gangly body to his full height and faced the woman proudly.

  “My name is Leonardo Stefan De La Cruz.” He extended his hand and Mrs. Whitehall stared at it for a long moment before shaking it briefly.

  She muttered, “You look like a Mexican Leonardo DiCaprio.”

  “Oh, god. Mom…” The girl somehow managed to turn even redder in her humiliation.

  “It’s a compliment, Amelia!” Turning back to Leo, she said abruptly, “My name is Mrs. Whitehall. I need a tutor.”

  With a gentle voice, perfect inflection, and old school manners, Leo explained, “It is a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Whitehall. First, my family is from Spain and Scotland - not Mexico. Second, I was named for Leonardo Da Vinci - not DiCaprio.” He glanced at Amelia and everyone in the room could see the poor girl was dangerously close to tears. “How can I help, Amelia?”

  She started to respond when her mother interrupted. “I got a letter. She’s supposedly failing!” She let her gaze move over the men and women behind the counter. “The level of incompetence at this school is staggering…”

  “No, Mom. Please…”

  “I need her grades up quickly. Her father had the nerve to suggest I stop taking her to pageants and auditions if there isn’t improvement. How fast can you work?”

  Amelia had the tips of trembling fingers pressed to her temples.

  One of the guidance counselors murmured, “This is getting out of hand. Someone needs to intervene for Amelia.”

  Mrs. Whitehall slammed her hands on the counter. “I will have your job! Do you know how much money I give to the entire school district?”

  “Mrs. Whitehall, if you need a tutor, then I need you to speak to me, not the office staff. I tutor. They do not.” Leo kept his voice steady, even. “They’re merely concerned for a student who is well-liked and obviously struggling.” Moving his gaze to Amelia, he gave her a smile. “Amelia, meet me in the library after lunch and we can put together a plan to get your grades back up.”

  She looked up in surprise. Giving a small nod, she smiled. “Thank you, Leo.”

  “Of course. Mrs. Whitehall, it was a...pleasure to meet you.”

  He turned to walk to the principal’s office and the horrible woman called after him, “Young man, I’m happy to pay. I know you probably have a bunch of brothers and sisters at home. I’m sure your family could use the money.”

  Amelia gasped and turned away, both hands over her mouth in horror.

  The entire office went silent.

  Pivoting to face her, Leo clasped his hands behind his back. His words were laced with steel. “I am an only child and I do not need your money. My family’s wealth has been passed down through generations of Spanish and Sc
ottish nobility. I offer to help because my help is needed.”

  “Well, I don’t…”

  “Goodbye.” Walking past Amelia, he said her name softly. She glanced up with tears on her cheeks. “It will be alright. You have my word.”

  Mrs. Whitehall stared at the door he’d disappeared through and muttered, “I don’t like his arrogance.” Looking around at the other people in the room, she asked loudly, “Is there anyone else…?”

  “No, Mom. Leo is going to tutor me. I need to get to class. I’ve missed another one now.” To the staff, she added, “I’m sorry for all this. Truly.”

  She half ran for the corridor as the principal emerged from his office. “Mrs. Whitehall. I was on a call. I believe the school superintendent gave you specific instructions about meeting with our personnel in future?”

  “I’m the parent of a student here…”

  “And you do your daughter a great disservice with your behavior each time you make an appearance.” He walked around the reception counter and approached Mrs. Whitehall. “Amelia is a lovely student. You make her life harder with your demands. Don’t return to the school again. As specified in the last hearing, you’re to have a mediator act on your behalf.”

  “If you weren’t trying to fail my…”

  “Your daughter is failing because she’s absent more than any other student in any grade. Students who have severe disabilities attend class more than Amelia. There are strict rules we must follow - like any school, public or private - and we can only grade her based on what is turned in. Most of her work is missing or incomplete.” Sighing, he said, “Several professionals have now recommended that you stop taking her places during school hours but you refuse to heed their advice.”

  She laughed in his face. “Figures you’d say that. I can always homeschool her. She’s not going to need all this shit anyway when she’s a famous model and actress. I let her stay here because she has friends but I can make alternate arrangements like that!” She snapped her fingers.

  “You live vicariously through your child. It’s almost parasitic. Amelia is smart and kind. She has repeatedly stressed that she wishes to remain in a normal school environment. If you remove her from classes with her peers to focus on nothing but her looks, she will shrivel up inside.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Only ugly people say beauty doesn’t matter!”

  “Only ignorant people think beauty is the only thing that matters.” Nodding once, he looked at the school security guard entering the office. “Mrs. Whitehall was just leaving. Per the superintendent’s instructions, she’s not allowed on school grounds outside of student events her daughter is participating in.”

  “Ma’am.” The security guard held the door wide and gestured through it. “It’s time for you to leave.”

  “You’re going to regret this. That Mexican kid better get results and all of you better stop discriminating against our family.”

  Putting her nose up in the air, she left and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

  The principal shook his head. “If that woman was physically abusive, we might have a chance to stop what she’s doing but...our hands are tied. I hate it.”

  Leo reappeared from the hall. “She’s horrible but I’ll help Amelia. She’ll be back on track and I’ll do what I can to keep her there.”

  “That’s good of you, Leo. Don’t fall behind yourself.”

  “Not a chance. The bell’s about to ring. I need to know where to focus with her tutoring.” Glancing at the guidance counselor, he asked, “Where is she behind?”

  One of the receptionists typed rapidly and the counselor frowned. “Looks like all her core classes. Math worse than the others but also science and history. It won’t take much to bring up her English grade.”

  “Thank you. I’ll do what I can.”

  When he left, the staff talked amongst themselves. They agreed it was going to take a miracle to catch the girl up on all the work she was missing. They wondered if Leo would have the commitment for such an undertaking.

  The principal smiled and said, “With Leo in her corner, she’ll be back on track in no time.”

  Chapter One

  Sitting across a small library table from Amelia Whitehall, Leo realized that he might have bitten off more than he could handle.

  The experience might just kill him.

  Fourteen-year-old males were not built to withstand this kind of torment. Amelia smelled fantastic. Her blonde hair was shiny and long, and her perky breasts pressed against her cheer uniform.

  Then her eyes lifted and he was lost in the depths of the clearest brown eyes he’d ever encountered and stumbled over what he planned to say.

  She smiled when he faltered but didn’t laugh. Amelia never laughed at him or anyone else he knew of. There was a high likelihood that she was accustomed to the reaction.

  Amelia was the reigning queen of the popular kids. She had her pick of friends, parties, and dates but wasn’t stuck up. She didn’t act entitled.

  While most girls her age were going through awkward growth spurts and body changes, Amelia seemed to breeze through puberty with a beautiful figure honed from hours of gymnastics, dance, and ballet.

  Her clothes and accessories were always perfect: they were assembled by a personal shopper hired by her mother so she always looked exactly right.

  Subjected to countless lessons meant to make her more marketable, she played the piano and acoustic guitar.

  The first time Leo saw her was the first day of fourth grade. His family had recently moved to the United States after spending most of his life traveling between Madrid and Edinburgh. His new classmates laughed at his strange accent that was a blend of the places he’d lived.

  Children in Spain mocked his Scottish tones while those in Scotland made fun of how he pronounced words with a Spanish lilt, and now children in America found it just as funny.

  Amelia didn’t laugh. She’d smiled and told him, “I think it’s good to be different, don’t you?”

  Her words changed everything for him about settling into a new home far from everything and everyone that was familiar.

  From the start, Leo thought Amelia had an aura that was just beyond his ability to see it. She was his first crush, his first ever Valentine’s Day card, and the first girl he ever dreamed about.

  “Leo? You okay?”

  Back in the present, the smooth sound of her voice flowed over him and he knew he was in danger of embarrassing himself.

  Taking a deep breath and squaring his narrow shoulders, he replied in the strongest voice he could, “Yes, of course. Just trying to decide which subject we should focus on first.”

  From a long line of proud Spaniards on his father’s side and a long line of Scottish highlanders on his mother’s, he willed his body to obey him, not disgrace him.

  “I believe you have the most missing work from algebra…”

  She nodded and told him in frustration, “It’s the last class of the day. My-my mom always pulls me out for auditions and, you know, crap.”

  Amelia had been modeling, acting, and winning beauty pageants for years but few people would even know if they hadn’t been to her house.

  It was something he liked about her.

  He’d heard that Mrs. Whitehall apparently blew up and displayed huge images of magazine covers and catwalk shots.

  Leo had never been to Amelia’s home but stories of lavish parties given for her birthdays and every other occasion were the talk of the school every year.

  “I miss at least one, sometimes two, math classes every week so I’m always behind. I-I keep trying to catch up but never manage to get there, you know? Right now, I’m still working on the assignments from last week and have several more days that have piled up since.”

  “You’re smart, Amelia. We’ll get you caught up in no time.”

  “It’s nice of you to say that, Leo.” She shrugged. “I’m not like you. To do well, I have to try really hard a
nd if I miss the lesson, I’m lost.”

  “You have cheer practice on the same days I have student government so we can meet here after. Is that okay?” She nodded happily.

  Her smile sent a knife of pain into his groin. Battling his physical reaction to her, Leo breathed carefully through his nose and focused on the papers in front of him.

  She scooted closer and he begged whatever gods existed to give him strength as her perfume slipped over his senses.

  “Leo, I’m so, so sorry about my mother. She didn’t used to be like this. It was my folks winning the lottery that changed her almost overnight. Dad tries to rein her in but…she makes it hard to have a normal conversation.”

  “Amelia…”

  “I know you don’t have time to tutor me with all the clubs and extracurricular activities you’re involved in. You never tutor, Leo. I won’t take advantage or-or take it for granted. I’ll try to catch up as fast as I can.”

  He set the books to the side and crossed his arms on the table. “Thank you, Amelia. Don’t worry.” Inhaling deeply, he added, “I’ve tried to tutor some of the guys on teams but...they want me to do the work for them. That, I don’t have time to do.”

  “I swear I won’t ask. I don’t want to cheat. I just need help with some of the science and math basics to do the work.” She pressed her temples and he realized it was a tic she had when she was stressed. “I haven’t even started my history project and it’s due in a couple of weeks. It’s half my grade. I’m scared and that makes me more confused.”

  Opening her math book, Leo turned it to her. “Let’s start with one thing. I can help. Let me help, Amelia.”

  Meeting his eyes, he realized hers were filled with tears. Then she nodded and they got to work.

  * * *

  Leo and Amelia worked together three days a week over the next four months. Her test scores were good when she had a chance to study. It was turning in the mounds of class and homework that put her so far behind.

  A week before school let out for the summer, he helped her review for all her finals. She passed with a high B average for the year to the thrill of her teachers, her parents, and most importantly…herself.