McKennas POV
*bing*
I flinched to the sound of my phone going off. That's all my phone seemed to do lately. Ever since the photos got released and printed all over the magazines I've received a lot of hate. A lot of criticism.
"Ugh she's so fat why did Leo choose her"
"McKenna is just going to send Leonardo down a big hole"
"This McKenna chick is literally dragging Leo down"
"Why is she posting pics of her self in lingerie??? She's got nothing but rolls"
"Kristen must be laughing at Leo choosing a plastic girl over her"
It just never stops. My brain wasn't wired to receive this kind of backlash. I was just determined to prove everyone that I wasn't fat, that I wasn't partygoer. I just need people to back off. So what I am doing? I'm going to lose some weight first. I've already convinced myself to stay out of the party life. I've barely eaten since I received the hate and been out running every morning. All I needed to do is drop a few pounds then I'm sweet.
This isn't my first rodeo having to go through this though. Back in high school I had people breathing down my neck on my appearance. When I finally joined the cheer squad I was told I'd only look the part if I was a blonde. I refused to lighten my hair for as long as I could until the sneaky snarks forced me to bleach my hair platinum blonde for the remainder of my school years. I had bad acne for most years leaving Leo to point them out and the rest of the year group to tease me about it so what did I do?went ahead and packed my face with makeup and do a trillion step skincare routine every day and night to get rid of them. Then I got glasses, Leo called me four eyes once, then the whole school followed so I went ahead and got contacts. You could say it was the friendship group that made my life hell, which is true I'm not going to lie, but even when I tried steering away from the group I just got rumours made up about me turning everyone away from me. I seriously had the a-graders or "nerds" as some call, say I was to chubby to be in the cheer squad. So I lost the weight. Everyone said I was "popular" but I literally got bullied most my high school life how is that being popular?
So when all these hate comments came about I could only think of all the things I went through in high school. I don't want to go through that again. I dread to go through that again. If I lost the weight what is there for people to hate on am I right?
I sat on my couch rugged up in Leo's sweater and mini pj shorts, as I flicked through my script. Dad said there is going to be one last scene and then we're done. All I wanted to do is go home, I'm just so exhausted. Plus I needed to speak to Ava desperately. Until now she hasn't even uttered a single word to me. She's got to be the one to leak the photo right?
I pondered over the lines with my fingers to try and find the scene my dad was on about
"Tybalt kills Mercutio yada yada Romeo kills tybalt then get banished from Verona" I listed out loud as if I was talking to someone
"Hey....what are you doing" Leo walks in with a cardboard container in hand and chuckles
"Oh just going through the script" I say as I continue to read
"You hungry? I brought you your pasta"
"No I'm ok"
"You sure have you eaten already?" Leo said as he walked into my small kitchen. Opening up some cupboards trying to find a plate
"Nope" I said without thought.
"Let me just heat this up for you then"
"NO" I quickly snapped without meaning to. Leo gave me a frown "I mean I'm not hungry, I'll heat it up later or something" Leo slowly nodded and chucked the meal into the fridge. Then coming over to the couch. Planting himself on the opposite end. Smirking as he glanced at the sweater I was wearing. I looked back at the script. Great I've lost my spot
"How was dinner?" I asked as I scanned through the paper. Obviously half listening. I finally found the scene I was looking for. So Romeo gets banished and heads to friar Lawrence, he then tells Romeo to go to this place and to comfort Juliet, Juliet assesses Romeo's wounds, they kiss, Romeo takes Juliet's top off, they kiss again. Wait Romeo takes Juliet's top off? Does that mean I'm topless. My eyes widened in shock
"-and then harrold started pestering that waitress he has the hots for, should've seen her face....wait are you ok?" I looked at Leo when he questioned me
"No no no" I shrieked
"What?" I read through the lines again just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. Nope I'm definitely being topless in this scene
"Have you read the scene we're doing???" I shrieked. He only tilted his head in confusion
"Leo I have to be topless in this scene"
"Oh I forgot about that scene" I saw him start to go red but he tried to hide it by ruffling his hair
"How are you being so casual about this, I can't be topless" I shook my head
"Why not it's only me?"
"Aaaand the crew and my dad, oh my god. my dad. thats so weird Leo I'm not doing it in front of my dad"
"Well....I'll sort something out so it's not as bad"
"It's going to be bad either way" I mumbled. Leo just nodded
"Let's not stress about it right now....on a different note have you given much thought on the contract?"
"I don't know" which is true. I haven't even thought about the contract. I have at least until the end of next week to sign it if that's what I choose to do
"Kenna you should really do it, well it's completely up to you but it's something your really passionate about"
"I don't want any more attention Leo"
"There is always going to be eyes on you Kenna...bad or good, you just got to do you" he said as he now kneeled in front of me
"I can't deal with this attention as well as you Leo, I'm just not cut out for this life"
"You know I do get a lot of shit from time to time"
"I doubt it"
"Not so much hate, I do get sexualised a lot, people think I'm only going out to hook up with different girls each night that's how the "Pussy posse" came about. It used to bother me, but you just have to remember these are people out there with nothing better to do but twist the truth to get attention and a bit of money out of it" I looked up at Leo who smiled goofily just to get a laugh out of me. I didn't budge but his words really did hit me a little bit.
"What if they don't like my music"
"Don't say that your voice is incredible, you're so in touch with your emotions when it comes to singing" I gave him a small smile
"Just don't forget me when you become pop star yeah?"
"I'll never forget you Leo... we've been through too much for me to forget you" I playfully rolled my eyes. He raised his brows and smirk
"But that doesn't mean I'll sign the contract. I'll definitely consider it more" he smiled so big when I said that. He genuinely wanted me to follow my dreams which I couldn't appreciate more than anything in the world. It's all I needed just one person to not tell me otherwise. My mum would've wanted me to go through with it aswell
"Should we watch a movie?" I say changing the subject before we got too deep into the discussion. I wanted to kiss Leo so bad but I'm still wary of my decision of going slow with this whole us situation
"Yeah you can choose this time since we watched taxi driver last time"
"Hmmm" I pondered on my choices. There is one movie I'm curious about.
"Total eclipse?" I giggled
"Do you really want to watch it? I don't know if I could"
"What's so bad about it? I want to watch another movie you're in"
"What about critters 3?"
"I was in that one silly" I playfully whacked him over the head
"Oh yeh I forgot....hmm I guess we could watch total eclipse" he said as he scratched the back of his neck nervously
"What is there to be nervous about? It can't be that bad?"
"It's uuuuuh... about a poet, two poets that get into somewhat of a interesting relationship"
"Oh so it's boring? Like the whole poet stuff" I questioned as he softly chuckles
"The poets are 2 men..." I widened my eyes. Not in shock or surprise that this movie is based on homosexuality but because Leo was so open minded to play that type of role assuming he's one of the poets
"I want to watch it I'm intrigued"
"You really do?" He said perking up to the idea
"Yeah why not?" I shrugged I wasn't sure why he was making it a big deal
" I just weren't sure if you were open on the idea, I got heaps of backlash on it as some people are just not a fan of the idea. It's a big controversial subject you're either there for the gays or you're not. The movie has so much more to it though people just can't seem to get past the relationship between the two main characters." I nodded thoughtfully. I guess Leo does receive some hate
"So are you still ok with me staying the night?" He said snapping me out of thoughts
"Yeh...only if you want to" I smiled
"In that case" he got up so quickly pulling me up in the process and threw me over his shoulder.
"Leo what are you doing" I say laughing
"We're watching this in bed, just so if I fall asleep I'm already in bed" I kept laughing
"Kenna I haven't heard you laugh so hard in a while" he threw me on to the bed and then chucked the television on.
"I don't know what it is Leo but you just got me feeling better about a couple of things" I smiled warmly
"Yeah?" He said as he inched closer.
"Yeah" I smiled. He placed a peck on my lips. Nothing that lingered. Just short and sweet. I wanted more but I just wanted to savour this moment. I didn't feel as distant to him as I was the last couple of weeks
"Good" he said softly and then laid back onto his side of the bed
"Gotta warn you there's a sex scene in this film"
"With a guy?" I smiled
"Yes" he nodded and scrunched up his face as if he was waiting for me to say something smart
"Are you embarrassed? I don't care I think it's really good of you to play in a movie, just showing your support in that community"
"I'm not embarrassed I don't have anything against it at all hence why I accepted the role. I just get worried what people I'm close to will think... it's harder for me to stand up for myself you know" I nodded, feeling such a comfort at him thinking I'm someone close to him now.