Hey guys!
Here's chapter 7, if you've been an og and have been reading this book since I first posted (only started a couple of days ago lol) I've actually made 2 changes 🫣🫣
I changed McKennas dad to Baz lurhmann the original director of Romeo and Juliet! I had it as Martin Scorsese but I have changed my mind for the upcoming plot hehe so I need Baz to be her father and I also changed Laylas name to Marissa sorry not sorry
Noooooow carry on...
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Leo's POV
Kenna has just gone to bed and after talking to Baz for some time I think it was time for me to think about heading to bed also
I switched off the lights on my way up to my room. Once I reached the top, I rubbed the back of my neck aching from the bad posture I sat in all day. I glanced over at the door adjacent to mine. Furrowing my eyebrows as my mind wandered.
A couple of years ago, Baz wandered into my life again. He was still good friends with my mom you see. I never had my dad around so I guess he was the next closest thing. My mom decided to move back to Germany a couple months ago to look after my grandmother, I couldn't stop her. Baz gave me the opportunity to live with him and given the circumstances of co directing and producing his film I couldn't turn down the offer but only in one condition. I didn't want to interfere with Kenna's life given our hatred record. Not that I never hated her mind you. He did tell me she was barely home but really it was quite the opposite.
I pulled myself out of thought and looked at my watch. It was now 11:15. I mentally groaned. Kristen, my girlfriend, was set to land around 4. Looks like I'm not getting any sleep. Perhaps I should give McKenna a heads up but then again why would she care. She didn't seem to care for me at all. Although maybe she'd appreciate the thought of telling her. I stood there for a hot minute battling with my mind. I'll just make it quick.
As I brought up my hand to lightly knock the door swung open
"Leo?" I jumped, She said while putting her hair up in a messy bun. She was in an oversized hoodie, so oversized that it was almost reaching her knees. Her face now bare from makeup. I think this is the first time I've seen her in her natural skin in a long time
She opened the door wider walking over to her vanity, opening assortment of tubs and bottles then settling to some sort of oil? To run into her face. I took in the surroundings. It screamed rich girl. Her walls is pristine white and her bed was a huge king posted bed. She had gold subtle features around the room. it was a lot to take in
"Sorry" she broke me out of my trance. I walked over to her bed to sit, bouncing a couple of times. Mmmm comfy, I should really look into buying one of these
Her throat cleared sending my eyes into contact with hers through her mirror. "Do you ever get that feeling whe-"
"You feel someone's presence" I found myself finishing her sentence
"Yeh" she smiled softly "I just felt like someone was in front of my door, I just had to check it out...I didn't mean to scare you like that"
I remember when her mum passed she'd always talk about this feeling of feeling a presence around her. Even if it wasn't related to her mum, she just had this power of knowing if someone was in her vicinity which made it always impossible for me to sneakily prank her in the past
"It's like your sixth sense" I smirked at her "what are you doing anyway there's nothing on your face why are you putting all that stuff on it" I said gesturing to my face
"Beauty is pain I'm afraid Mr DiCaprio" I nodded
"Too much effort" I scoffed "just don't burry yourself in makeup 24/7 that can't be too good for your skin" I say. All I did was wash my face with soap, if felt like being fancy some nights I'd use a face cleanser not all of that other skincare shit
"Well, firstly there is a lot more to taking care of your skin and secondly if you remember a certain someone used to remind me how bad my skin was everyday and when I started getting acne, I practically heard it all over again from not only you but our whole school, so I guess you could say makeup became my safety barrier. It became my routine and I guess it's now my normal" she said quietly. I licked my lips and searched her room to avoid eye contact. My eyes then pondered to the mirror once again.
"Well you don't need it" I softly said causing her to gaze at me. I never realised my words caused such an effect back then. She rolled her eyes continuing on with her skin care
"What do you want" she sighed clearly in a bad mood after reminiscing the past.
Right I should tell her. I didn't realise working up a courage would be difficult. I was just telling her she'd be meeting my girlfriend tomorrow. But thinking back to last week when I told her about Kristen she just didn't seem that interested, it was if it was bothering her
She cleared her throat
" Right, I just wanted to see if you were around tomorrow?"
"Yeh why wouldn't I be" she shrugged
"Oh yeah well I just want to see if you.." my mind went blank. Come on Leo it shouldn't be that hard. She raised an eyebrow
"You know practise some lines again?" Mental face palm, I guess she'll just have to wait till tomorrow
She nodded "I guess it wouldn't hurt"
"Cool" I said getting up, walking around her bed then towards the door
"Cool cool cool"
"Is everything ok?" She turned in her seat
"Yeh of course, just don't worry your pretty head about it" I unconvincingly said walking out into the hallway. Did I just call her pretty?
"Dicaprio, door please" she sounded annoyed
"Gotcha... night Kenna..again" I closed the door and stood there
"Night Leonardo" I heard her faintly call. I took a long deep breath out as if I was holding my breath the entire time
You see I wasn't worried about Mckenna's impression of Kristen it was more what Kristen thought and how she handled Kenna. McKenna always had this huge guard up and she was so unpredictable with her attitude. She was a ticking time bomb. And what worried me was that she wasn't going to play nice. Maybe my actions made her this way, who knows
It was now 4 and I was leaning on my car finishing off my last bit of the cigarette. A flood of people scattered through the exit so I put my head down and tilted my hat to cover my face to avoid being spotted
"Leo?!" I looked up and there she was. I gave her a toothy grin estatic that my girl was finally home. She dropped everything and ran up into my open arms jumping up so her legs wrapped around my torso. I supported her weight while she planted kisses all over my face then placing her lips on mine sweetly locking them into place. As much as I missed her, I was a bit disappointed when I didn't get the immediate sensations of butterflies and fireworks, maybe it was the nerves?
She broke the kiss leaning back to assess my face. "I've waited so long baby" she pouted. I smiled "you have no idea", I smiled as she dug her head into the crook of my neck
"Um keep it pg please" my eyes widened, I could recognise that English accent anywhere. I looked into Kristen's eyes that seemed to glisten from the light. She winked and took it upon herself to hop back onto the ground
"Kate? But I thought?"
"Yeah yeah, I'll explain everything later, I'm knackered" she pouted
"I thought I'd surprise you" Kristen chuckled. This is what I liked about her she was just so genuine and sweet. She didn't care if I had friends that were girls, she didn't care how close Kate and I were because at the end of the day all she wanted was for me to be happy. She would even put in the effort to become close with my friends.
"Well come on mr movie star come give me a hug" I smiled as she came in for a hug.
We got the luggage into the back and all piled into the car.
"Where am I supposed to sit" I looked at the seat next to me seeing a pile of documents in its place
"Oh I'm sorry babe, I totally forgot to bring them inside earlier. Just chuck them in the back with Kate" She passed the pile to Kate, me swiftly taking the file on top to ensure I didn't lose it. I handed it over to Kristen to hold as she settled into the passenger side.
"Ooooo is this for the film? Mind if I have a look?" I smiled and nodded over at Kristen whilst I got lost in a chat with Kate
She flicked through the pages, landing on the one page with all of the cast members and their pictures.
"McKenna Rae Roberts" I froze at the sound of her name
"Wow she's gorgeous, definitely a perfect Juliet. You know my agency would love to have her signed, her face is just so beautifully structured, I'm scared" she laughed. I frowned. That should be the least of your worries I thought
Now that I think of it McKenna has really grown to look different. She lost a lot of her baby fat due to hardcore training for the cheer squad in school, her hair was now silky brown and long which is much different to when she constantly bleached it platinum blonde and kept it at shoulders length. McKenna's skin was like glass and her cheeks and jaw were more defined due to losing a lot of weight. Not like the weight mattered but she turned out to be extremely beautiful. I licked my lips and focused back onto the road.
"You should see her in person though kris" Kate said leaning over the seat to look at the picture
"Yeah she is a lot different in person just you wait" Kate said leaning back into her back rest
"Hold on.... There we go, I thought her name rung a bell. Leo isn't that your stepsister" I shook my head in response
"No, I mean she used to be... not anymore, we're more like acquaintances"
"You guys getting along now?" Kate questioned, I slowly nodded unsure myself
"They used to be best friends back in Elementary Kris! We all were, Tobey, Leo, McKenna and I" she factly added
"Hmm is that right, that sounds fun i can't wait to meet her" she smiles with the glimpse of excitement washing over her face. She's cute
"She's a bit of a loose cannon, you've been warned" I looked at Kate through the rearveiw mirror giving each other a tell-me-about-it expression
"Huh, Paul Rudd that's surprising actually" Kristen said changing the subject on to someone else.
"Leo I don't think he looks like a Romeo. Don't get me wrong he's a brilliant actor but this isn't what I envisioned Romeo to look like. He looks a little to old for the role"
"Ok miss director" I replied chuckling at her thoughts
"No seriously! Paris maybe but not Romeo" I smirked but then started intensely thinking. Should we have casted Paul as Romeo? This is coming from a viewer's perspective. There bound to be other people who may agree. I shook my head to eliminate any thoughts of work. Now isn't the time
"And who do you think would make a perfect Romeo then" I asked flirtatiously
"You" she said as she leaned over to kiss me on the cheek. Again no fuzzy feeling towards it. I frowned
"Maybe I'm just trying to find an excuse to seeing you casted again hehe its a bit of a change flicking through this and not seeing you casted to a main role Mr director" I smiled as i continue to drive.
We dropped Kate off at her house and was now heading to Kristen's.
"Are we not going to yours" she yawned. I shook my head
"We'll go to mine for lunch or something" I responded. I didn't want to take Kristen home just yet solely because of the fact that everyone will be waking up soon.
We were now in bed, Kristen snuggling up to my side already zonked out. I felt strange. Something was off and I couldn't shake the feeling. I chewed on my lip with racing thoughts in my head. I hope McKenna isn't too forward with Kristen that it scares her off. This is the one thing I didn't get. McKenna was just so... so selfish if you ask me. Although she didn't used to be she was so bubbly and down to earth. She was the life of the party and that's why we became best friends. She changed after her mother passed away but it was no excuse for her behaviour. I've now learnt after living with her again the past week that I really need to watch what I say or how I act towards her. I was literally walking on eggshells 24/7 just to avoid the storm she'd bring in retaliation. I shook me head and closed my eyes. I guess I need some sleep, it was going to be a long day.