Welcome To Hickville High (Hickville High Series Book 1) (16 page)

“Well, be careful. I don’t like the way he’s leaning on you—even if he is just a farm hand.”

Kelsey clicked on the picture and enlarged it. Austin had an amazing simile and she loved the way his wet hair fell across his forehead. But mostly, she tried to remember the feel of his shoulder against her.

“Kelsey? You there, babe?”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry.” She yawned. “Drew, I’m beat. Can we talk tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Kelsey—I miss you.”

“I miss you too. Night.”

They hung up and she knew she should close her laptop and snuggle down to sleep, but she didn’t want to close the picture. Not yet.

Peeping Toms are exempt from prosecution if they have one eye, are over 50 years old, or are a member of the Texas legislature.

Kelsey saw Austin’s truck through the window and her heart beat a little faster. “He’s here. Come on guys.”

Ryan and Mackenzie grabbed their backpacks and the three girls headed out the front door to his truck.

Austin smiled as they climbed in the cab. “Ready for day two?”

Kelsey huffed a half-laugh. “Yeah, I think I can find my classes today. What about you? Are you going to make it to lunch?”

He looked her in the eyes before shifting the truck in reverse. “Absolutely. No more almost fights before lunch.”

Warmth spread through her.
What about almost kisses?
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll believe it when I see it.”

He glanced at her again before swinging the truck around. “I promise I’ll be there for you.”

Something in his tone said he wasn’t talking about lunch. Tingles cascaded through her followed by guilt.
Remember Drew?
In an effort to diffuse both sensations, Kelsey teased, “Hmm. Maybe today I’ll leave you waiting by the cafeteria.”

He stopped before turning onto the highway and grinned at her. “However long it takes, I’ll wait.”

Kelsey told herself he was talking about lunch, but warmth spread through her anyway and she couldn’t stop the stupid smile that spread across her face. She studied her hands and tried to calm her emotions. She wasn’t in love with him, he was a friend, nothing more. But the closeness of him in the truck made her want to reach out for his hand, or maybe snuggle up next to him on the seat, or really feel his lips on hers.

She bit her lip and tried to push those thoughts from her brain.
Drew. What do his kisses feel like?
She tried to remember the feel of his arms around her but couldn’t quite get there. And as the silence grew in the truck so did the tension. The air was almost cracking with it. She could almost hear everybody trying to think of something to say to ease the awkwardness.

Ryan tried. “We get to use the saws in shop class today.”

“That’s really cool,” exploded from Austin’s lips causing everybody in the truck to startle.

Mackenzie spoke up. “What about your art teacher, Mr. Smith? Everybody says he’s insane.”

Ryan said, “He’s a blast. He really gets art.” The rest of the way to school, Ryan and Mackenzie talked about their classes. Kelsey and Austin exchanged a few awkward glances but neither contributed to the conversation.

*

When lunch rolled around, Kelsey had barely stepped out of the classroom when she saw Austin. He leaned on a row of lockers across the hall, hands in pockets, eyes on her. Warmth spread through her and a sappy grin snapped onto her face.

He pushed off the lockers and crossed the hall to her. “Hey, I told you I’d walk you to lunch.”

Her face practically hurt she was smiling so big and she was sure she looked like a complete moron, but had no control over her facial muscles at the moment. “No fights?”

“Not today.” His eyes kind of twinkled as he spoke making her heart beat a little faster.

When they turned to walk to the cafeteria, she was able to relax her face. They walked side by side but didn’t really talk, at least not to each other. Pretty much everybody said hello to Austin and not only did he greet them back, he introduced them to Kelsey. Clearly he was the “Drew” of this school. Except, Drew didn’t go out of his way to speak to anybody. He didn’t have to; he was the ruler of that world. Money gave him power.

Austin was just friendly. He seemed to like everybody and they liked him back. He fist-bumped a couple of football-player looking guys, and she wondered how much his status was tied to the sport. If he quit the team or couldn’t play, would he still be king of the school? She thought about her dad. He had been Mr. Football and then quit. Why? And what did that do to him?

As soon as they exited the food line a group of guys and girls called Austin to their table. Kelsey sat next to him, plastered on her best junior-league-in-training smile, and graciously greeted everyone. He immediately got lost in sports talk with Caleb James. She scanned the table and tried to remember the names of the faces around her.

Britney, Sabrina, and Courtney sat at the far end of the table. They didn’t speak to Kelsey and she didn’t waste her breath saying hello to them, but she did catch the expressions they passed between them. It was mean girl code for what is she doing at our table?

Hannah and another girl set their trays across from Kelsey. Hannah introduced the girl as Shelby Cox. Shelby was a contrast to Hannah’s long limbs and dark silky hair. She was a redhead. Not auburn, but orange-red, and it framed her round face in soft curls. She wasn’t skinny like the girls Kelsey was friends with in Chicago, but she wasn’t huge either—just sort of curvy.

Kelsey said hello and hoped the conversation wouldn’t die after the introductions. She pushed the wilted lettuce around on her salad plate and tried to think of something to say.

Shelby took up the slack in the conversation. “So everybody says you’re from Chicago, right?”

“Yeah.”

Shelby said, “Wow, you must feel like you’re on another planet.”

Kelsey smiled. “It is different here.”

“Are you bored out of your mind?” Shelby stabbed her salad with her fork.

“I wish. Instead, I’ve been busy learning about chickens and pigs and stuff.”

“Seriously?” Hannah smiled. “Nothing stereotypical about that.”

Kelsey gave up on finding a crisp piece of lettuce and set down her fork. “What do you mean?”

Hannah said. “Just that not everybody in Hillside plays Farmville. Do you like it? The pigs, chickens, and such?”

“Honestly, at first I thought I’d been sent straight to hell. But, other than the heat, I’m getting used to it. It’s not that bad. What about you guys? What do you do for fun?”

Shelby’s eyes lit up. “Get out of Hillside. Spring Creek is pretty cool. They just got an Applebee’s and I’ve heard they’re getting a Chick-fil-a.”

Hannah elbowed Shelby. “You started the Chick-fil-a rumor.”

“I did?”

“Yes. Remember? We were at The Grind and you said if Spring Creek got a Chick-fil-a and a Target there would never be a reason to drive to Dallas.”

“Oh yeah, we decided if we told everybody it was coming, maybe it’d come true.” Shelby raised her eyebrows at Kelsey. “I guess I’m pretty convincing.”

The girls laughed and Kelsey wondered if she’d found her Texas friends. Hannah looked at Kelsey and said, “Hey, do you want to go to Spring Creek after school? There’s a really cool coffee shop. It’s only twenty minutes from here. Your sisters can come too.”

“Sounds fun, but we probably have to work at the feed store. I can text my mom and ask.”

Hannah pulled her cell out of her purse. “Text me when you find out. I can drive.”

Kelsey grabbed her phone too. “Cool. Call me so I can put your number in my phone.” The three girls exchanged numbers and Kelsey felt giddy. She’d made friends. And if things went well, maybe she could invite them to swim on Saturday after she got off work. She thought about asking them right then and there but didn’t want to seem pushy.

Kelsey texted her sisters and her mom.

The rest of lunch went by with Shelby and Hannah telling stories about growing up in Hillside. Pretty much the whole table listened to their tales, adding details the girls left out. Kelsey decided Shelby and Hannah were two of the funniest people she’d ever met and couldn’t wait to get to know them better.

Kelsey kept her phone in her hand waiting to feel the familiar buzz. It was probably too much to hope for getting out of work two days in a row. When the text came, defeat was swift. Kelsey read the message and looked at Hannah. “My mom said a truck is coming in and she needs us until close.”

“Maybe we can go after. What time do you close?” Hannah stood to take her tray.

“Six.” Kelsey and Shelby stood too, followed by the rest of the table.

Hannah said, “We’ll pick you up at six.”

Austin leaned toward the girls. “Where are y’all going?”

Sarah answered. “Spring Creek. We’re going to Latte’da. Do you and Travis want to go?”

“Maybe. It depends on when we get out of practice.”

Kelsey walked with the girls to the tray return. “Do you know where our store is?”

Shelby wrinkled her brow at Kelsey. “You do realize this is Hillside, right? We know everything.”

“Duh.” Kelsey set her tray on the belt just as the bell signaled that “A” lunch was over. She grabbed her backpack and headed out of the cafeteria. Ryan walked up with a girl Kelsey recognized from the Purity Club named Macey Brown. “Hey Ryan, did you get my text?”

“Yeah, I haven’t had a chance to answer. I have tons of homework. Macey asked me over to study. I’ll probably do that after the store closes.”

“Okay. I’ll see ya after school.”

“Cool.”

Kelsey hurried back to the group. They stood in a circle waiting for her. Austin laughed at something the girls said and looked over them to her. Her insides went to tingle mode again. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that they were just friends.

When she reached them, they headed down the hall together. And just like that, Kelsey found her group at Hillside High.

*

Kelsey and her sisters loaded fifty-pound sacks of feed onto flat carts and rolled them from the back storage area to the shelves in the front of the store. The first few times they stocked the feed, Kelsey and Ryan could barely toss a bag together. Now, they lobbed the bags solo. Not as easily as Mackenzie, but they managed to get the bags where they needed to be.

Kelsey wore a wheat-colored Hillside Feed apron to protect her clothes from the dust on the bags, but it didn’t matter because sweat trickled between her shoulder blades, down her back, and around her bra. It glued her bangs against her forehead like a stringy fringe. Gross didn’t come close to describing how she felt, and in any minute her new friends were going to come through the door.

At five after six, Kelsey heaved the last of her load onto a pile and tried to fluff her bangs away from her face. “I’d give anything for a blow dryer and flat iron right now.”

“And a shower.” Mackenzie tossed the last bag from her cart onto a stack of horse feed. “I’m going to hit the pool as soon as we get home.”

“You don’t want to come with us? Hannah and Shelby invited you too.”

Mackenzie shook her head. “No. I just want to go home.”

“Okay.” The bell on the door jingled as Hannah and Shelby entered the store. “Great, they’re here and I look like crap.” Kelsey untied her apron and brushed her clothes.

“Hey, Kelsey.” Shelby called and waved.

Kelsey walked toward the front of the store. “Hi.” Shelby wore a paper-thin lavender tee, a grey gauzy tiered skirt printed with little peace signs all over it and black flops. Hannah was just as cute in cuffed denim shorts that hugged her thighs and an orange and navy polka-dot tee. And their hair and make-up had been refreshed since school.

Kelsey looked at her dusty jeans and sweat soaked tee. “You guys look cute. What I wouldn’t give to have a pair of shorts and flip-flops tucked away somewhere.”

Hannah shrugged. “We can run by your house on our way.”

“Seriously? You know I live out of town.”

Hannah said, “It’s no biggy. Besides, nobody gets to Latte’da until around seven.”

“Okay, let me tell my parents I’m leaving. I’ll be right back.” Kelsey jogged to the back room of the store. As she crossed the threshold into the warehouse area, it hit her that this family was not the same family she’d known in Chicago.

Ryan stowed the carts near the loading dock as Mackenzie hung her apron on a hook in the kitchen. Her parents sat together at the table. Her dad plinked stuff on a laptop as her mom called out numbers from a packing sheet. Wow. Back home, Dad would have still been at work, Mackenzie would have been at the gym, she and Ryan would have been out with friends and who knew what her mom did. But they were seldom together.

Her mom looked up from her paper. “I thought you were going out with your friends.”

“I am. I just wanted to tell you I was leaving.”

Her mom stood. “Did they come in? I’d like to meet them.”

“Yeah, I’ll get them.”

Kelsey found the girls loitering in the horse area playing with the whips. “Hey, my parents want to meet you.”

Shelby smacked the whip against her palm. “I could have fun with this thing.”

Hannah took the whip and hung it back onto the peg. “Come on, we’re here to make a good impression.”

The girls followed Kelsey to the back and greeted her parents. Her mom started to go into twenty-question mode with the girls. Where do you live? What do your parents do? Kelsey interrupted her. “If you really want me home by eleven then we need to get going. I’m going by the house to change.”

Mackenzie twisted her hands and took a deep breath. “Since you’re going by the house, do you think I could have a ride—if there’s room? If not, it’s okay.”

Hannah nodded, “Sure, come on.”

Dad stood and took a ten out of his billfold. “Here. Don’t spend it in one place.”

“Thanks, Dad.” Kelsey held onto the bill like she’d won the lottery. Ten dollars was nothing in her old life. It wouldn’t have lasted through the first ten minutes of a night out with her friends. But now, it was precious and she was determined to squeeze every penny out of it.

Macey arrived to pick up Ryan as they were leaving. This girl was the complete opposite from the girls Ryan hung out with in Chicago. Fashion was definitely not her middle name. Not that her clothes were that bad—jeans and a T-shirt—but somehow they didn’t fit quite right. Or maybe it was the way she tied her stringy brown hair in a low ponytail. She probably didn’t really need the support of the PC to remain chaste. Not that she didn’t have potential to be cute, but a guy would have to have super powers to find the girl beneath those baggy clothes.

Kelsey’s stomach knotted as she gave Hannah directions to the house. Her family’s financial status was about to be revealed. In Chicago she wouldn’t have wanted to hang out with somebody who couldn’t afford to keep up with her lifestyle. It would be embarrassing to go shopping with someone who could only stand by and watch as she dropped cash on a cute outfit. Would they feel the same? She wouldn’t blame them. Who would have ever thought she’d be that girl on the outside looking in?