My Heart to Keep: A Maxwell Family Saga - Book Four

by Alexander, S. B.

  “What do you mean, senior prank?” I asked.

  “Why else would they be here?” he asked as Tessa slinked up, seemingly brave all of a sudden.

  It figured she wouldn’t show how scared she was in front of her boyfriend.

  Celia commandeered Godfrey, who had a mind of his own, trotting down the hall in the direction of the cafeteria. “Come on, little guy. We need to get you out of here.”

  High heels clicked on the floor behind me. “What the hell?” Principal Sanders’s voice blared.

  I blanched as I shuddered. With my luck, I would get suspended because the pigs belonged to me.

  The principal loomed over me as I petted Beast. “Whose pigs are these, and why are they in my school?”

  “They belong to Quinn,” Tessa rushed out. “She probably did this.”

  I snarled at the girl I wanted to strangle. “You probably did this,” I fired back, even though Tessa wouldn’t go near a farm animal to save her life.

  Tessa half smiled. “I wouldn’t dirty my hands with these disgusting creatures.”

  Dustin cocked his head at his girl as if to say, “Really?”

  Whatever.

  Principal Sanders arched a dark eyebrow. “Quinn, explain.”

  I rose to my full height. “The pigs are mine, but I have no idea how they got here.”

  “Why do they have numbers painted on them? I see one, two, and four. Does that mean we’re missing a pig?” She pinned her gaze on Celia, Tessa, Dustin, and then me. “Is this your idea of a senior prank?”

  I shrugged. I had no clue what the numbers meant.

  Beast pushed his snout into Principal Sanders’s leg, getting snot on her slacks. She didn’t flinch in the least.

  “I doubt there’s a third one,” Dustin said with Lola at his feet.

  The principal glowered at him. “How do you know this?”

  “The numbers on them are designed to confuse you so that you think there’s a fourth pig. I only know this because I saw this prank on some TV show.”

  Principal Sanders wasn’t buying his theory, as indicated by the crinkles around her gray eyes. “Let’s get them out of the school before I have the health board here, shutting us down. Quinn, call your father.”

  “He’s not home. My parents went up to New Hampshire for the day.” They were looking at a new horse, and Momma wanted to shop for some new items for the farm store. She’d even closed up for the day to go with Daddy.

  “I have my truck,” Dustin said. “If I had a ramp, we could get them in.”

  The principal pulled out her phone from her suit pocket. “I’ll check with the janitor.”

  I peeked into a classroom. “This one is empty right now. Let’s get them in here.”

  Celia wrangled Godfrey. Dustin had Lola, and I got Beast. Tessa bit her nail as she watched.

  Once inside, I sighed. “My dad is going to have a cow, literally.”

  Celia brushed her palms on her shorts. “My money is on Sloane. She’s probably getting back at you for punching her.”

  That made sense, and she had lived on a farm. Therefore, she knew how to wrangle animals. But I didn’t understand how stealing my pigs and dumping them in a hallway at school would be any type of revenge. The whole charade of a senior prank was just that—a senior prank. Unless she thought I would get expelled or suspended.

  At the moment, it didn’t matter who was responsible. I needed to call Daddy, and he wasn’t going to be happy.

  Dustin and I managed to get the pigs back to the farm and return to school just in time for our last two classes. I’d probed him all the way to the farm, but he hadn’t seen anyone dropping pigs off at school or lighting off fireworks. I tried to remember if I’d seen anyone in the hall, but I hadn’t.

  On the way back to school, I called Momma and Daddy to fill them in. Daddy was grunting and growling as Momma informed me they would be cutting their trip short. I told her not to since the pigs were okay, but I knew Daddy wouldn’t listen. The farm and the animals were our livelihood, and Daddy didn’t take kindly to anyone messing with his property.

  I didn’t either. The pigs could’ve gotten hurt or killed. I adored my animals. Momma had always said not to name them. “Once you do, honey, you’re attached, and with pigs, you can’t let that happen, since we use them for food or sell them.”

  She was right, although Godfrey, Beast, and Lola had been with us for a couple of years. Daddy knew I was attached. I think he spared them just for me.

  Now as I sat in class, I tapped my foot on the floor at my desk, waiting impatiently for the bell to ring. The first day of school was a complete success. Not! I’d been wracking my brain on who would have pulled such a prank.

  Celia was certain Sloane had a hand in it. My theory was that anyone could’ve done it. Dustin agreed with me. And Tessa? Well, her money was on me. I’d wanted to stuff a sock in her mouth. The girl wouldn’t shut up about how disgusting the pigs were. She’d almost tagged along with Dustin and me earlier, but she’d had some cheerleading thing at lunch. Thank God.

  The intercom crackled in English class before a sweet lady’s voice came through. “Quinn Thompson, please report to the admin office.”

  I doubted Principal Sanders was going to be that sweet. Sometimes I wondered how she put up with a school full of teenagers.

  Kids peered over their shoulders at me, snickering. They probably thought I was in trouble. I didn’t see how I could be. But stranger things had happened. If anything, Daddy would give me the stink eye and then grumble about how teens had no respect for their elders or other people’s property. Plus, I could hear him say, “If we didn’t have that darn party, we might not have kids stealing pigs for their own enjoyment.”

  Guilt burned like acid in my throat. I should’ve taken the hint that parties were a bad omen for me. After all, every one I’d attended so far had ended in some type of disaster. At Tessa’s holiday bash two years ago, I’d ended up in the pool during the dead of winter. Homecoming last year had resulted in Maiken getting hit by a car.

  I scurried out before the throng of kids packed the halls. I was anxious to find out who I needed to yell at. Oh, I was going to rain down on someone’s parade.

  As mad as I was, the others in school seemed to be enjoying the video that had gone viral of Beast pushing out his snout and holding the blond girl hostage.

  I’d heard one boy in passing say, “This year is going to be wild.”

  Not in my book. I just prayed tomorrow would be better than today. Then again, without Maiken at school or living in town, my life sucked.

  I wound my way down three halls before opening the glass door into the admin office.

  Ms. Hobbs, the principal’s new assistant, lifted her head from her computer. “Have a seat, Ms. Thompson. Principal Sanders is in with someone at the moment.” Then she set her glasses on her long nose and went back to her computer screen.

  I slid my backpack off my shoulder and sat down in one of four wooden chairs. “She’s not in with my parents by any chance?”

  Ms. Hobbs peeked around her computer, her blue gaze landing on me. “No. Students.”

  The clock on the wall read three thirty. Momma and Daddy should be home by now. I took my phone out of the back pocket of my shorts and sent Momma a text.

  Me: Are you and Daddy back yet?

  Momma: We are. The pigs are fine. All the animals are good.

  Me: Great. I’m waiting to talk to the principal to find out who did this.

  Momma: I hope she tells you. Your father is furious. He’s talking about pressing charges.

  I wasn’t surprised. I took in a deep breath just the same. I was all for making sure whoever was responsible paid for his actions, yet I couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity for that person.

  The door opened to Principal Sanders’s office.

  Me: Gotta go. Celia is giving me a ride home.

  Oh crap. I forgot to remind Celia to wait for me. I quickly sent her a text, and j
ust as I hit send, Sloane Price’s voice filtered out before she did.

  I lifted my head as my phone fell to the floor. I had yet to see her in school. I’d thought maybe Celia had her rumor all wrong.

  Sloane’s white-blond hair had grown out and down to her shoulders, and her silver-studded nose ring shined beneath the overhead light. She was glancing over her shoulder. “Yes, ma’am.” Her voice was light, sweet, and anything but snippy and condescending, which was her usual MO. “Trevor, come on. We’re late.” Then she pivoted on her heel and locked eyes with me.

  If she had any bruises from where I’d punched her over a month ago, they were long gone.

  I snagged my phone before I rose, leaving my bag on the floor. “Are you responsible for the senior prank with my pigs?”

  One side of her red lips ticked up as a boy two heads taller than Sloane came up behind her. His emerald eyes and shaggy hair told me he was the boy Celia had described to me that morning. He looked at me as though he’d found a new puppy.

  My intuition was telling me to stay as far away from him as possible. He had one of those grins that was downright evil. I swallowed thickly, wishing upon a star that Maiken was at my side. I wasn’t a coward, but the boy gave me the creeps. Sure, he was off-the-charts gorgeous, but that didn’t mean squat.

  He pushed past his sister, practically throwing her to the side, and strutted the short distance over to me. “You must be Quinn Thompson. I barely remember seeing you at your party. Shame. I would have danced the night away with you.”

  I giggled for nothing more than to do something with my nervous energy. I knew if I opened my mouth, I would stutter, and no way was I about to do that. That boy was a bully, or as Granny would say, a piece of work.

  I craned my neck up, my heart ready to push its way out of my chest. I wasn’t attracted to him. In fact, I was a bit frightened. There was something about him I couldn’t put my finger on. Maybe it was his size. He was as wide as he was tall and had huge biceps, just like Celia had described.

  “Do you speak?” he asked.

  Sloane joined her brother and touched his arm. “Leave her alone, Trevor.” She sounded like she was afraid for me.

  I could feel my eyebrows coming together as I regarded her, but she wouldn’t look at me.

  “Ms. Thompson,” Principal Sanders called. “In my office.”

  Saved by the principal.

  I picked up my bag and started to slide around Trevor, but he blocked me.

  I narrowed my eyes at him. I might have been about to pee my pants, but he wasn’t going to see me sweat. “Move.” I couldn’t believe that one word came out steady.

  A slow and wolfish grin emerged. “She does talk.” He moved a stray hair of mine that was stuck to my cheek behind my ear, slowly dragging his finger as though he were getting off on the act alone. “I’ll see you around, wild one.”

  One of my eyebrows went up, like way up. I felt as though I needed to sprint home and take a shower. “You have me mistaken for someone else.”

  He leaned down and whispered, “Not in the least.” Then he gave me a wide berth.

  Shivering, I hurried into the principal’s office like a mouse being chased by a cat.

  I could hear Sloane speaking in a low voice. “Don’t mess with her.”

  I let out a nervous laugh as I sat down in a chair in front of the principal’s desk. Normally, I would wait for permission and practice manners, but to hell with that. My legs were trembling.

  Calm down. He’s only trying to scare you. I just didn’t know why.

  I blew out a breath, puffing out my cheeks. It was official. This might be the worst school year of my life.

  Principal Sanders finished scribbling notes and set her pen down. “The reason I called you in this afternoon is because I have an opportunity for you.”

  “Wait. Have you found out who’s responsible for the senior prank?”

  She clasped her hands on her desk. “We haven’t, and unfortunately, the one camera we have outside the cafeteria door isn’t working.”

  “Someone had to have seen the pigs on campus before they came into the school.”

  “We’re checking with students and faculty.”

  No student would tattle on another student. It would be social suicide.

  “We’ll get to the bottom of it.” She sounded confident.

  I didn’t. “My dad wants to know.” I stabbed my thumb behind me. “So Sloane and Trevor didn’t have anything to do with it?”

  “Sloane’s stepbrother just enrolled.” Principal Sanders always made a point of having a sit-down with new students.

  “I guess she isn’t moving, then,” I mumbled to myself, clenching my fists. Maiken wasn’t going to be happy about that. But at least Marcus was at the academy now, and Sloane was in Ashford, which meant Sloane might not cause trouble without Marcus around. Her stepbrother, on the other hand, might.

  I stood. “I’ll let my dad know.”

  She held up a hand. “We’re not finished.”

  Oh yeah, opportunity.

  I resumed my seat.

  “I understand you’re on track to make valedictorian. Normally, the guidance counselor would be having this conversation with you. But Mrs. Flowers is out for the next month on personal leave. Until I find a temporary replacement, I’m handling some of her workload. I would like you to tutor this year. It will help your college applications.”

  I did need an extracurricular activity other than being on the math team. I wasn’t sure if I had time to tutor, but with Maiken gone, my afternoons were free other than my own studying and chores on the farm.

  “Do you have someone in mind?”

  “Trevor Thames.”

  No way on this planet. I cocked my head. “The boy who just left your office?”

  She nodded. “He’s behind in some subjects since he missed the last two months of school in his sophomore year. If he can catch up on his math and English, then he can finish as a junior this year.”

  “Does he know you want me to tutor him?”

  “Not yet. I wanted to be sure you would agree to it first.”

  I hated to disappoint Principal Sanders. She’d always been nice to me, and I also wanted my college applications to look good.

  “Can I check with my parents?” I didn’t have to, but considering I was the only one at home to do chores and help Daddy, it was a good idea to run it by them.

  “Sure. Let’s revisit this topic tomorrow, then.”

  “Again, if you hear anything on the prank, can you at least call my dad?”

  She pressed her red lips together with a hint of a smile. “In this town, nothing stays hidden for long.”

  I couldn’t agree more. Daddy had a way of finding out things before me sometimes. Besides, with the way kids gossiped around school, it was just a matter of time before the truth came out.

  But the prank was the least of my worries. I had to find an excuse not to tutor a boy who scared the pants off me.

  My legs were like Jell-O as I walked up the stairs to my dorm room, feeling spent from a hardcore practice. Every morning and afternoon, Coach Green had us training and working out—suicides, jumping jacks, push-ups, running laps around the track, basketball lessons, plays, and tapes of other teams. I was living and breathing basketball and school. I barely had time to sleep. I wasn’t complaining, though. I was in the best shape of my life. My back wasn’t giving me problems, and I didn’t have time to wallow in how I was missing Quinn, although I did think about her every chance I had.

  I missed catching a glimpse of her pretty face and sweet smile in between classes. I missed the quiet moments we’d had in one of the supply closets at Kensington last year.

  When I dragged my butt into our dorm room, I saw Ethan with his back plastered to the wall and his knees raised as he lounged on his bed.

  “No football practice?” I tossed my gym bag on the floor and flopped down on my bed.

  Our room wasn’t anything to writ
e home about. It was just a simple setup with two beds, two dressers, two desks, and a window that overlooked the sports complex. A communal bathroom was located at the end of the hall, as well as a common room where we could watch TV or hang out.

  Ethan lobbed his phone into my lap. “You have to see the video Jessica sent to me.”

  I sat up. “Of?” I hit play, and my eyes widened. “What the? Pigs in school?” I immediately recognized Beast. “Are those from Quinn’s farm?”

  Ethan dove into a fit of laughter. “I wish I’d been there. It’s some senior prank.”

  “When did this happen?”

  Ethan reached for his phone. “This morning. Didn’t Quinn text you?”

  I returned his phone and dug mine out of my gym bag, curious why Quinn hadn’t called or sent me a text to let me know what had happened. Then I saw that I did have a text from her. “It looks like she did a few minutes ago.”

  Quinn: I had a day from hell. How was yours?

  “What did she say?” Ethan probed, eager to hear more about the pigs.

  “Not much. Let me call her.”

  “Before you do, I need to tell you something.” His excitement died a quick death.

  My pulse took a nosedive at his grim tone. Jasper, Marcus, and Emma were at school with us. Either Marcus had gotten into trouble, which wouldn’t surprise me, or something had happened at home with Mom that I didn’t know about.

  Ethan scooted to the edge of his bed. “Sloane didn’t move. Rumor is that her and her brother are responsible for the pigs.”

  I didn’t like Sloane, although I got the attraction Marcus had for her. She was pretty, but man, she was trouble.

  “Say what?” My brain was still processing the pigs in school.

  “We can’t tell Marcus.”

  I stared at Quinn’s text message and the heart emoji at the end of her sentence. My own heart beat a little faster. Man, I was dying to see her. I would give anything to have her at school with me. If she were in the dorms, I could sneak out of my room and into hers.

  Absently, I flipped my phone in my hands, my mind conjuring up images of Quinn and the sweet taste of her soft lips. An entire school year without her would be painful. Hell, the last week without her had been. What was I thinking?