“Hey Kendall, what’s up?” Ryleigh starts then catches sight of my face, “Holy fucking hell. What happened to your face.” Her hand goes out to touch it then drops away.
“I tripped today and fell into a locker,” I lie.
“It’s never a good idea to start a friendship with a lie. You don’t expect me to believe that shit, right? Teagan won’t,” she warns. Damn. I really need to work on my bluff and kick myself in the ass while I’m at it for not calling and canceling our shop date.
I grab her hand and beg, “Don’t tell them Ryleigh. Please.”
“One condition,” she says. I nod, and she continues, “You tell me what really happened.”
What choice do I have? If the guys find out, they’ll come over here and get into trouble starting shit. I’m not sure about all of them, but Maverick seems the type for sure.
I sigh and nod, “Can we skip shopping today though?”
She gives me a smile, “Sure. We can always do that tomorrow.”
My laugh is cut short when my smile pushes my cheek up and sends a jolt of pain down the side of my face.
“Want to go to Pete’s?” she asks.
“Umm,” I start, “That may not be a very good idea. What are the chances the guys would be there or show up?”
Her finger taps her chin, “True true.”
I don’t think that the guys have told her where I live yet, and I’d rather keep it that way as long as possible, so my house is out. We can’t go to hers because of Teagan. And there’s no way in hell I’m going to ask her to go to a fast food restaurant.
That thought process takes less than five seconds, “Fuck it. Let’s just go to the mall.”
Clapping her hands in glee, she grabs ahold of my hand and pulls us to her Jeep. Seems like everyone is doing that lately.
“You both have brand new Jeeps?” I ask her as we buckle in.
She sighs dramatically, “Yes. I don’t want to sound like a spoiled rich kid, but it wasn’t my first choice in cars. Dad is a bit of an over protective helicopter parent when it comes to me and he seems to think that this was safer than the little Audi that I wanted. Teagan, the traitor, wasn’t any help either. At least I got to pick the color. It’s custom. I did good right?”
“Yeah definitely,” I tell her in truth. The dark purple is pretty and has a weird blackish blue transition color, depending on the light.
We’re already driving down the road, so I’m hoping that she doesn’t notice me watching her out of the corner of my eye. Long blonde hair that matches Teagan’s falls around her shoulders and frames a petite face that wears light makeup. Her brother came off as a spoiled brat the first time that I met him, but there’s no way that I could think that about Ryleigh. Even from first impression and dressed in new clothes, she is sincere and doesn’t seem fake at all.
We make small talk on our way over to the local mall, which is actually only like twenty stores. It’s pathetic compared to most, but if you can’t find what you need to in those twenty stores or in the super store around the corner, then you really didn’t need it in the first place. Ryleigh parks the Jeep and I pull down the visor to have a look at my face.
“Shit,” I say out loud not meaning to. The bruising is getting worse by the hour.
She digs around in her purse and hands me a small compact, “You can say that again. Try a little of this. It won’t cover it up completely, but it’ll help you not look like a battered housewife.”
I nod and thank her as I put it on. It does as she says, taking away some of the darker coloration. Can’t do anything about the little butterfly bandages on the cut though. Eh, fuck it.
Ryleigh is a single-minded shopper and I love it. We don’t have to peruse every single store to find what she’s looking for. She tells me that there is one store that she swears by and it’s the only place she ever buys clothes.
“Most of the girls that go to my school spend so much money on clothes. It’s disgusting,” she says perusing the clearance rack at the back of Forever 21. “Call me a freak if you want, but it’s such a waste when there are so many more important things in the world than clothes. I always take an extra fifty bucks off dad’s credit card every month and donate it to the Feed the Hungry thing that they do in Brinkley. They need it more than I need a pair of designer jeans.”
Her confession knocks me speechless for a long while, until I say, “But don’t your friends and stuff say anything about you not wearing designer shit?”
She shakes her head, “No. Rich kids aren’t half as bad as the rep that they get. Now, don’t get me wrong, some are straight snots, but most everyone at Prim Wood are pretty decent people.”
I find a cute skirt and legging set on sale for five bucks. I’m still undecided until Ryleigh’s eyes light up and she says, “You’re definitely getting that.”
“I don’t know,” I say still unsure.
A winning grin crosses her face, “Teagan would love it and the others would too, if I’m being honest.”
I sigh, “It’s been a really long time since I tried for anyone.”
She nods, “Then don’t do it for anyone else. Do it for you. I’ve already seen it on you in my head and you look marvelous.” At that, she flips her hair and walks away leaving me with this crazy feeling in my chest.
An hour later, we’re sitting in the food court with some delicious Chinese food in front of us. It’s been awhile since I splurged any kind of money of myself. There’s normally none left after bills, even if I wanted to. Having a little extra money in the bank makes me feel less guilty for buying the skirt. Ryleigh beat me to paying for lunch, but we cut a deal for me to pay next time. So, I’m feeling pretty good as I dig into the food and it almost makes me forget about my face.
She’s not going to let me off that easy, “You ready to talk about what really happened today?”
I take a sip of my drink and try to wash down the lump in my throat, “I wasn’t lying when I said I hit the corner of a locker. I wasn’t really paying attention when I was texting you, got bumped in the back and ran right into this chick’s locker.”
“Bumped?” she asks skeptically.
I shrug, “More like pushed, but I don’t think he meant for me to trip and hit the locker like that. It was my own clumsy feet.”
“What?!” she asks loudly causing people around us to turn and look. Lowering her voice, she says, “I thought we were dealing with some bitch face. It’s a guy?”
“Yeah, this guy named Derrik. He’s been a pain in my ass since the accident two years ago,” I tell her.
Giving me a sympathetic smile, she’s says, “I’m sorry about what happened. The guys were talking about a train accident and I put two and two together.”
“I know I’m supposed to say thank you or it’s ok, but it’s not. It hasn’t been ok for a really long time. Honestly, I feel like I’m waking up out of a coma right now. Everything is still kind of raw.” I’d rather not talk on that subject, so I switch it back to Derrik, “Anyways, I think Derrik has always had a thing for me, because he’d always pick on me and shit in school. Will kicked his ass one day for it and I thought I was in the clear. Then two years ago, after the accident, he started relentlessly torturing me.”
She scrunches up her face in confusion, “Something about the whole situation just doesn’t sound right to me. I mean, I can already tell that you’re an awesome person, and effing gorgeous to boot, but I just don’t understand why he would hold on to that much hatred and resentment just for you rejecting him. Have you tried asking him about it?”
I’m not used to getting compliments, so I don’t really know what to say. I choose to ignore them, “I never saw the point. He’s such a douche hole that I’d rather not even let on that he’s bothering me. If I give him the opening, I know that he’ll be so much worse.”
Ryleigh lowers her voice again, “You’re not scared of him, are you? I heard about the way you stood up to Mav and no one ever does that.”
&nbs
p; Thinking back on that night makes me laugh, “He was being a bossy asshole. To answer your question, no, I’m not afraid of Derrik. I’ve only got a few months left in high school, then I’ll never have to see him again. Those people mean nothing to me and the last thing I want to do is give them any kind of leverage over me.”
She nods, “Makes sense I guess. But you can’t let him get away with shit like this. You better hope that we can find some phenomenal cover up for your face, because shit is going to hit the fan if the guys see this. He’ll get payback whether you want it to happen or not.”
“You promised,” I remind her.
Letting out a short laugh, she says, “Yes I did, and I’ll probably pay for it later, but they have their ways of finding out shit. No one can have secrets around them for long.”
Her familiarity brings a question to mind, “Have you ever wanted to date any of them?”
Coke spews from her mouth and she quickly cleans it up with a napkin, “Please tell me you’re kidding. I’ve known all of them since I was a little kid. I can’t even think about them that way. It would be like dating Teagan.” When she shudders, I laugh again. Her next question pulls me up short, “Do you want to date any of them?”
Isn’t that kind of what I’ve already by accident been doing? They’re all best friends and I’ve kissed one and almost kissed another. I wonder if they kept that a secret. If it ever came down to choosing one over the other, well let’s just say that I have never been great at choosing.
I shake my head at myself, but Ryleigh takes it as an answer to her question. Surprise shows on her face, “You’re not interested in any of them like that?”
Putting my face into my palms, I groan.
She giggles, “I knew it.” When I look up to her she says, “You don’t have to tell me which one or ones, but you have to promise me something.”
I nod in reply and she says, “Just don’t destroy them. They’ve got a lot riding on this year and I just don’t want to see any of them, or you, for that matter, getting hurt.”
Teagan’s kiss flashes through my mind. Shit. I may have already fucked this promise before it was even made.
Assuming
Friday comes and the school day rushes by. Fortunately, Derrik hasn’t bothered me since giving me a face full of locker the other day. Unfortunately, the Prim Wood game is tonight, and my face looks like hammered hell. The bruising looks horror movie bad and no amount of that cover up Ryleigh has is working on it.
She tosses the tiny sponge thing on her bathroom sink, “I give up, Kendall. There’s nothing I can do that’s going to hide it. Fingers crossed that they’ll leave that kid alive when they find out who did it.”
Fuck me sideways with a wooden spoon. This is so bad. “Thanks for trying,” I tell her.
She laughs, “It’ll be a dead giveaway if your face says you’re headed to a funeral.”
Sucking in her breath, she looks to the floor. It takes me a minute to figure out why she would be acting like that and when it hits, it’s not as hard I think that it would be. I reach out and one arm hug her, “It’s ok.”
“I’m such a bird brain sometimes,” she says with tears pooling in her eyes, “I didn’t think before I said it. I’m so sorry.”
I squeeze her, “It’s getting a little easier. It took me a minute to figure out why you were reacting like that. Besides, I never went to their funerals.”
Of course, that opens a whole new can of worms, and for the first time I tell someone about right after. The only other person that has ever known is my therapist, but I doubt she remembers any of it.
Not really, anyways. I’m sure it’s written down on a notebook somewhere, but she only pretended to care because she was being paid to.
Ryleigh sits on the end of her bed staring at me with a sad frown. Maybe that was too much info for the start of a friendship, “Sorry.”
She shakes her head, “No Kendall, I’m sorry. That’s more than any grown person should ever have to go through, let alone someone our age.” Standing up, she comes over and wraps me up in a hug.
It takes a minute for me to fight the tears in my eyes from spilling over. When she lets go, I reach for my bag angling myself away from her, “Ok, enough mushy stuff. Should we go ahead get dressed and head over?” We’ve been chatting so much that it’s already after six, and the game starts a little after seven.
“Yeah, probably. You don’t want to be the last ones there or you’ll end up with a shit seat,” she says pulling on a scarf and cute denim jacket.
I’ve seen girls wearing them, but I’ve never owned one. Never had any reason to, but it looks so good on her that I’m rethinking that decision.
She notices me looking, “What? Do I look ok?”
I nod and laugh, “Sorry. I was just admiring the scarf. It’s really cute.”
“Thanks,” she says walking over to a wardrobe and pulling the door open. There are pegs on the back and something close to about thirty scarves hang from them. “Pick one to wear tonight if you want.”
After I bring the time to her attention, Ryleigh rushes us out of the house and gets us to the game by six thirty. “Plenty enough time to find good seats,” she says as we are buying our tickets at the gate.
There are a ton of people here and I find myself fidgeting with the soft material of the scarf around my neck. I chose a light grey one with tiny black stars. Since I’m wearing the jean skirt with black leggings and a black shirt under my leather jacket, it matches perfectly. My nerves have nothing to do with the crowd, though. It’s due to the butterflies in my stomach at the thought of seeing the guys and watching them play. They’ve been busy all week, so I haven’t seen them, or even talked to them much. Only a few texts and phone calls. That’s it.
Thankfully, Ryleigh doesn’t notice my nervousness as she hooks her arm in mine and we walk towards the bleachers. People call out to her as we pass, and she always throws her hand up and smiles. She leans in to me, “One of the things about being the sister to four of the star players on the team, everyone wants to say hi.” If her words the other day at the mall hadn’t worked, those seal it in concrete. She really did have brotherly feelings toward them.
Leading us to the middle of the bleachers, she sits in what she says are the best seats in the house. It’s funny to watch people give us a wide berth, but then scoot closer after we sit. All of them act like they hope Ryleigh will talk to them.
She talks to them, and tries to invite me into some of the conversations, but my eyes are glued to the small area where the guys are due to walk onto the field shortly, so I just nod and smile. I catch her rolling her eyes dramatically and grinning.
We don’t have to wait long before the crowd lets out a roar and the first few helmet-covered heads peek through the little walkway. I had Ryleigh tell me their numbers earlier, but I don’t need them. My body tingles as I catch sight of the four of them and it’s so hard to look away. None of them are looking to the stands. They are facing forward, and have a look of pure determination of their faces.
“Are there scouts here tonight?” I ask Ryleigh.
Eddie, who arrived at some point, leans around her and says, “They weren’t supposed to be here for another two weeks, but they came early.”
“How do you know?” I ask.
He puffs out his chest, “Because I know everything.”
Ryleigh snorts softly, “Yeah right.” She turns to me, “His older brother is number ninety-seven.”
“Damn it, Ryleigh. You’re no fun,” he says after deflating a bit.
She winks at me and I can’t help but to laugh.
The game turns out to be one of the best I’ve ever been to. Prim Woods wins, of course, but at one point both Maverick and Goose took hard hits, and my heart leapt into my throat. It took them a minute to get up, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe until they did. I will say that I don’t know how the scouts do it. After watching the team play, I would want them all to play for my school.
<
br /> People are starting to file out of the stands, which makes it hard to see the guys as they head off the field towards the locker rooms. The only one I see before they all disappear is Goose. He catches my eye and waves as he smiles, which is replaced with a look of confusion as he gets a full view of my face. He says something, but I don’t think it’s meant for me and then the team is whisked away.
“The team has special parking in the top lot,” Ryleigh says. “Cut around the side of concessions and it’s up on the hill. Just look for Maverick’s Range Rover. Unless you’d rather ride with me, and save the drama for later?”
I shrug, “Might as well get it over now, right?”
She side arms hugs me, “Just in case.”
Jeez. Now I feel like I’m going to war or something. I follow her and Eddie down the stairs. When we get to concessions, they keep walking and I go up the hill. It feels a little weird to be the only one heading this way, but I trust Ryleigh’s instructions. As I crest the top, there sits the Rover. I lean against the grill and get lost in my head for a second. I never want to forget this feeling. The excitement of the game and being able to get lost in the moment of just being a fucking teenager.
Without the crush of people from the stands, the cool wind sends goosebumps up my arms. After about twenty minutes, I’m cursing myself for not just riding with Ryleigh. The wind is somehow slipping through the bundle of my jacket, and I’m shivering.
I’m so distracted with trying to keep myself warm that I don’t see the shadow that rushes towards me. Before I even have a chance to scream, I’m picked up and spun around in a circle. Teagan sticks his face right into my neck and breathes, “I’ve missed you.”
His words are sweet, but he’s hit one of my few tickle spots. I gasp in air while trying not to laugh and push him away at the same time. He smiles and finally pulls away. They must shower before coming out. I can smell the soap on him, and his hair is up in a wet messy bun.
The smile drops into a worried frown, “What happened to your face?”
Reviving Kendall (White Trash Trilogy Book 1) Page 7
