Welcome To Hickville High (Hickville High Series Book 1) (15 page)

“Maybe you should convince her she should break up with him.”

Austin shook his head at his friend. “Just convince her?”

“Yeah. Convince her.”

“What, do I go up to her and say ‘Hey, Kelsey, I think Drew is a dip-wad and you should break up with him and date me?’”

Travis shrugged. “Sounds good to me.”

“Yeah.” Austin huffed.

“What?”

“It’s not that easy. I just can’t tell her to break up with him. What if she loves the guy? I mean if I tell her to break up with him for me, and she really likes him, then not only will I have no chance with her, I’ll lose her as a friend.”

“So, then you’ll have no reason to talk about her all the time.”

“I don’t talk about her all the time.”

“Dude, you’re obsessed with her.”

“I’m not.”

“Yeah you are. Justin made one comment about the Quinn sisters and you went ballistic and almost got kicked off the team. That, my friend, is obsessed.”

“Justin is a prick.”

“Yes, but we all know that and nobody listens to his crap. But you did.” Travis shook his head. “Man, he tossed that line out there and you took it. You know he gets off on stirring stuff up.”

Travis was right. Pissing people off was a sport to Justin. And for all the sweat they poured out on the field today, he didn’t get the satisfaction of taking him down in the hall.

Austin turned in the drive of Travis’s huge, single-story, red brick house and pulled to a stop. “Hey man, I’ll see ya tomorrow.”

Travis opened the door. “Yeah. Don’t worry about Kelsey. She’ll come ‘round.”

“Yeah, ‘cuz who could resist me?”

“Well, now I’m gonna hurl. See ya.” Travis climbed out of the truck and jogged to the door.

Travis’s mom leaned out of the front door and waved to him. When he was younger, Austin wished he could trade places with Travis for one day. He wanted to know what it was like to have a dad that didn’t knock him across the room when he felt like it. He’d watch Travis’s parents put their arms around each other and longed for parents who loved each other.

As he grew, he realized having an asshole dad made him strong. He wouldn’t trade his mom for anything. She was the toughest woman he knew, and she believed in Austin and was always on his side. Whatever good parts he had, came from his mom. He thought of his dad and his stomach knotted. He hoped the bad parts had somehow bypassed him because there was no way in hell he was gonna be like his dad.

In Texas it is illegal to sell your eyes.

Kelsey leaned against the headboard of her bed with her phone cradled in her hands. Her thumbs raced across the keys.

Drew: How was swimming?

Kelsey: A blast.

Drew: You didn’t finish telling me about your bad day.

Kelsey: It turned out great.

Drew: What happened?

Kelsey smiled to herself. Yeah, what did happen?

Drew: ??????

Kelsey: Swimming and burgers.

Ryan slipped into Kelsey’s room and sat cross-legged on the end of the bed. “Can we talk?”

“Is this about the Purity Club thing?” Kelsey was fully prepared to give her a hard time, but her face looked like sadness had pulled it into one giant frown. As angry as she was at Ryan, she was still her sister.

Ryan nodded and took a deep breath and when she let it out, a tear slid down her cheek. “I understand why you and Kenzie hate me…”

“We don’t hate you.” Kelsey sat her phone on the bed beside her, ignoring a ding signaling Drew’s reply.

“Come on Kel, I’m not stupid.”

Kelsey picked at a loose thread on her duvet. Okay, so she did hate her most of the time. “You make me mad, but….”

“You know us moving here didn’t really have anything to do with me.” Ryan huffed out the words.

“Are you kidding me? Yeah, Dad lost his job, but it wasn’t until you got caught that they started talking to Uncle Jack.” Kelsey raised her voice just short of yelling. She was not going to let Ryan get by without owning up to her part in all of this.

“Jeeze guys. Mom and Dad are going to hear you.” Mackenzie stood on the edge of Kelsey’s doorway like she was afraid to cross the threshold. “Can I come in?”

Kelsey looked at Ryan. This was her sister talk, she should decide.

Ryan nodded. “You need to hear this, too.”

Mackenzie flipped the dressing table chair to face the bed and sat.

“Okay. Maybe we moved here because of me…” Ryan studied her hands. “Look, I made a lot of bad decisions in Chicago. I just kind of got swept up in a situation and I didn’t know how to get out.”

“Which situation was that? Screwing guys or smoking weed?” Kelsey spit the words out.

Ryan winced as if they had slapped her. “Just listen.”

“Okay. I’m listening.” Kelsey’s phone dinged again and she clicked it to vibrate.

“Did you know Alex Butler? He’s older than you, Kelsey.”

“Tall, dark curly hair. Drove an A4.” Big player. “Yeah, I know him.”

“Just after I started at The Art Academy, his sister, Lauren, had a party.”

Mackenzie propped her feet on the mattress. “I remember. You begged Mom to let you go until you wore her down.”

“That was my first major mistake,” Ryan said. “I felt so cool. I was a special kid, in a special school, and I was going to my first real party. It was a sleepover. Mom made sure her parents were home, but they might as well have been on the moon. They had a keg.”

Mackenzie curled her toes popping them. “Their parents let them have beer?”

Kelsey looked at Mackenzie. “The Butlers were famous around school for their parties.” She shook her head at Ryan. “You had to know it was going to be out of control.”

Ryan nodded. “I couldn’t wait to be a part of it either. Mom would have freaked if she knew. Lauren’s mom insisted everybody spend the night and she took keys, but that was the end of her chaperoning. Once the party got started, Lauren’s parents went upstairs and we never saw them again. Everybody got so smashed. I wandered down to the basement. Alex was down there with a couple of guys. They had a bong.”

Kelsey said, “You were only fifteen. He must have been at least…”

“Nineteen. Hot. And he flirted with me. They taught me how to use the bong. You know how they say you don’t get high the first time you try pot? Big lie. I was whacked.” Ryan pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “The next thing I knew we were alone in the basement and he was kissing me. Alex Butler was kissing me, Ryan Quinn. I barely remember him taking me to his bedroom. I didn’t want to do it, but I didn’t know how to make him stop. I mean they tell you to say no, but he wouldn’t listen. He just kept going. Besides, I wanted him to like me.”

“But if he liked you, he’d stop. It wouldn’t matter,” said Kelsey.

“Maybe in your world.” Ryan closed her eyes briefly. “Think about it. I was drunk, high and this gorgeous guy wanted to hook up. Reason flew out the window as soon as I arrived at that party. The worst part was the next morning. He woke me up at about four and told me I had to get out of his room. He just lay there and watched me dress. I was so humiliated. I found my way to the den where everybody else slept. There were so many kids that I couldn’t find a place to sleep.”

Mackenzie tilted her chair back on two legs. “What’d you do?”

“I cleaned up in the bathroom as best as I could and then sat in the dining room until everybody woke up. When Alex came downstairs, he acted like he’d never seen me.”

Kelsey huffed. “What a jerk.” He’d treated her sister like a whore. Got her high, used her, and kicked her out. The anger that Kelsey had kept burning toward Ryan turned to grief. “You never said anything. Why didn’t you talk to me?”

“I was humiliated. I felt so stupid and I was scared. Forever I thought I was pregnant, and then I was sure I had HIV or something. I hung out at Lauren’s house a couple of times after that, mostly because I wanted to see Alex. I saw him once and he introduced himself to me.”

Mackenzie let the chair drop on all legs. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. After that, some of the guys started paying attention to me. I thought I was suddenly popular because I’d been to a party at Lauren’s. It didn’t occur to me that it had anything to do with sleeping with Alex. Then Ben Gibbs asked me out. We went out a few times before he tried anything. At first, I said no. He kept trying—but not like he was physically forceful. I really liked him and he made me feel like he really liked me. To say yes to him kind of made me feel better about what happened with Alex. I mean, this time I was doing it with somebody I liked.”

Kelsey said. “But you broke up with him.”

Ryan nodded. “He told me when he saw me go into Alex’s room, he knew I’d be a good piece of ass. That’s when I figured out why I was so popular.”

“But you kept doing it.” Kelsey didn’t know if she should hug Ryan or shake her for being so stupid.

Ryan pulled on the ends of her pixie-cut hair. “I dated Bobby O’Malley after that. He was a trip. When he was in a good mood he was funny and kind, but man, if his dad was on his case he could be mean. All he wanted to do was have sex.”

Mackenzie had kind of a sick look on her face. Kelsey could totally relate. Knowing Ryan had slept around was one thing, but putting faces with the guys she’d slept with, made Kelsey’s stomach knot. “Ryan, why are you telling us all of this?”

“Because I want you to understand why I’m not sad that we left Chicago.” She looked at Mackenzie. “I was your age and I’d had sex with three guys. My reputation was sealed. After that, I had a lot of dates and I just figured sex was going to happen. I didn’t know how to make it not happen.”

Mackenzie looked like she wanted to say something but couldn’t. Finally, she took a breath and blurted. “I don’t get it. Why date if you know it was going to happen?”

Wow, Mackenzie expressing a strong opinion?

Ryan’s wide-eyed expression said she was just as surprised. But she recovered quickly, shrugged, and said, “I don’t know how to explain it. I’m not sure I understand myself. I kept thinking eventually one of them would like me for me. But they never did and I felt like I was getting what I deserved.” Ryan sniffed but tears flowed freely down her face anyway.

Mackenzie handed her a box of tissue from Kelsey’s dresser. “You didn’t deserve anything.”

“I wanted to get drunk. I wanted to get high. I let the rest happen.”

Kelsey moved next to Ryan. “Okay, so you screwed up at a party, but you didn’t deserve date rape.”

“I wasn’t date raped, I let him.”

Kelsey shook her head. “No. You were drunk and high. You really didn’t have a choice. Didn’t your shrink tell you this?”

“I never told her. I didn’t tell her most things. All she knew about was the last time, when I got caught.” Ryan dabbed her eyes and took a shaky breath. “This is my last chance. I don’t want to be every guys fuck-buddy.” Sobs erupted from her.

The crudeness of Ryan’s words felt like a gut punch. Kelsey had no idea of the pain her sister was experiencing. She wrapped her arms around Ryan and swallowed the dry lump in her throat. “Why didn’t you talk to me?”

Ryan shrugged. “I don’t know. You were always with Drew or Zoe. Besides, we haven’t exactly been close.”

“But we’re sisters.” And she’d been a crappy one to Ryan. The ugly truth was that she had seen the change in her sister after that party. She knew Ryan was hurting about something, but was too busy with her friends to reach out. Guilty tears dripped down Kelsey’s face. “I’m sorry wasn’t there for you.”

“I thought I was handling it.” Ryan sniffed. “I know it’s stupid to try to go back, but the Purity Club is important to me. It’s my chance to pretend I wasn’t that girl.”

“Nobody has to know.” Kelsey hugged and rocked Ryan. As they cried, Kelsey could feel the hurt and mean words that had passed between them begin to disappear. She was going to be a better sister. She may hate it in Texas, but she didn’t have to make it miserable for Ryan. She gave her a tight hug and released her.

Mackenzie shifted uneasy in her seat. “Well you know I’m sure not going to say anything.”

Kelsey and Ryan looked at each other and giggled. Ryan shook her head at Mackenzie. “Believe me, you’re the last person I’d worry about spreading rumors.”

Mackenzie shrugged and nodded. “Words are not my friends. So what’s the Purity Club?”

Ryan flopped back on the mattress. “I’m not really sure. We took a true love waits pledge.”

“All I know is that we prayed until our food got cold and then ate,” Kelsey said.

Mackenzie smiled. “So far, you know that you take a pledge, pray, and eat cold food. And it’s important to you?”

“Very.” Ryan said and they all started laughing.

Ryan sat up and faced Mackenzie. “We prayed for you, too.”

“Me? What did I do?”

“Nothing,” said Kelsey. “You just didn’t come to the eat and greet. Mrs. Bettis prayed you’d see fit to dedicate your body to purity or something like that.”

“It sounds like they want to sacrifice me.”

Kelsey shot back, “I think that’s scheduled for next month.” They all broke up again.

When they quieted, Ryan sat up and blew her nose. “Thanks, guys.”

Kelsey picked up her phone. “Hey, if we’re going to survive living in Hickville, we need to stick together.” She looked at the text message she’d ignored earlier.

Austin: I had fun swimming.

Austin: Are we good?

Austin: ???

“Crap.” Kelsey typed back:

We’re good. I had fun too.

Ryan looked at Kelsey. “Is Drew mad at you again?”

“No. Austin thinks I’m mad at him.”

“Because of the kiss?”

Kelsey eyed Mackenzie. “You saw that?”

Mackenzie chewed her lower lip. “You were standing in front of the window.”

Kelsey felt her face turn red. “But it wasn’t really a kiss.”

Ryan volleyed her gaze between her sisters. “How did I miss all of this?”

“You were the reason we barely kissed.” Kelsey scooted back to her headboard. “You came in carrying a bunch of junk from the table.”

Ryan nodded. “That’s why you were all awkward and stuff. I vote for him over Drew any day.”

“There’s no vote. But I have to admit, Drew got on my nerves when he called earlier.”

“It took long enough. I can’t stand the way he orders you around. He’s always telling you what to wear, or how to wear your hair, or worse, makeup. I remember that time you spent like forever in the bathroom making sure your hair was perfect and he came over and told you to go brush your hair. He screws with your mind, Kelsey.” Mackenzie stood and stretched.

Kelsey and Ryan stared at her.

“What? It’s true.”

Ryan said, “Words just became your friend.”

Mackenzie ducked her head. “I’m sorry. I just got caught up in the moment.”

“Don’t stop now.” Ryan said. “I’ve been telling Kelsey the same thing about Drew.”

The last thing Kelsey wanted was to turn the day sour by getting into a Drew-versus-Austin discussion. So, she stood and said, “Guys, it’s been fun, but I’m beat.” She left her sisters and retreated to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

Teeth brushed and face washed, she climbed in her bed and thought about the day. It was a rough start, but a pretty fantastic finish. Her mind went to the almost kiss. This thing with Austin had her insides jumbled up. Drew-Austin. Austin-Drew. There was only one way to figure it out. She needed to see Drew. She punched his number.

“Hey, babe?”

“Hey, Drew. I’m sorry I couldn’t talk earlier.”

“No, problem. What are you up to now?”

“Talking to you.” She put a little flirt into her voice. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too.”

“I wish I could see you.”

“I’m sorry, Kelsey. It’s been a crazy summer.”

“Yeah, I know.” Silence hung between them. Here it is—he’s going to break up. “Drew? Are you still there?”

“Yeah. Kelsey, it’s going to be okay. Life is changing for both of us, but we’re going to be okay.” He sounded sad and defeated.

“Are you okay, Drew?”

“I’m great. It’s our senior year.” He sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as her. “So Kelsey, who’s this guy you’re tagged with on Facebook?”

“What?”

“You’re in a bikini, sitting on the side of the pool. He’s plastered next to you.”

Kelsey grabbed her laptop and clicked to her Facebook page. Crap. Ryan had posted a series of pictures. In this one, Austin was leaning back on his hands and his shoulder was touching hers.

“Oh that.” She tried to sound casual but the truth was, looking at the picture gave her butterflies. “He’s the guy working for Dad. We were watching Mackenzie do tricks off the board. I didn’t realize he was sitting so close.”