Hood River Rat (Hood River Hoodlums Book 1)

by K. Webster

  “Ms. Sommers?” Gio waggles his brows. “She’s so damn hot. It’d be my honor, man.”

  So today got off to a bad start.

  No big deal.

  Everything is going to be okay.

  That lie feels extra sour in my stomach today.

  Roan

  “You have to come,” Sidney pleads, twirling a strand of her silky brown hair. “I know we’re broken up or whatever.” She rolls her eyes as though she doesn’t believe it. “But we can still be friends. You know it wouldn’t be Campfire Chaos without the Hoodlums.”

  “I have shit to do,” I lie, ignoring her no matter how much she tries to shove her tits in my face.

  “Ugh,” she hisses, shoving my shoulder. “When did you become such an asshole?”

  I snap my head her way and narrow my stare. Sidney tries too fucking hard. She’s been whoring herself out to the whole student body since at least the eighth grade. I would kill Roux if she even looked at a boy.

  My little sister is never allowed to turn into Sidney.

  Fucking never.

  “I said I have shit to do.” I lift a brow, waiting for her to challenge me.

  The bell for second hour rings, making several people drop into their seats.

  “Maybe I’ll just ask the new guy,” she sneers, turning back in her seat to text someone.

  Her comment boils my blood and not in the way I’m sure she hoped. I’m not jealous. Fuck no. I’m pissed. Who the hell was that guy rolling up in his Mustang like he was fucking royalty?

  Mr. Henley starts to work out a problem on the white board even though no one is paying any attention. Two minutes in, the door creaks open.

  Mustang Motherfucker walks in, making my skin burn. He has a forced smile affixed on his pretty-boy face and he saunters into the room as though it’s no big deal to be dropped into this school. My school. He looks like the kind of guy who’s used to being the big man on campus. I’d enjoy the fuck out of knocking him down a few pegs.

  “Sorry,” the guy says. “I got mixed up on where I was supposed to go.”

  “Not a problem, young man. Find a seat.” Mr. Henley waves him off as he goes back to his equation.

  The new guy—Hollis—glances around the room, looking for a place. Our eyes meet and he freezes, his smile slightly falling. He quickly darts his blue eyes away from mine and rushes to the seat in front of Sidney. She must find him cute—or the prospect of making me jealous—because she leans forward and taps him on the shoulder.

  I’m still glaring at him when Mr. Henley says my name.

  “Mr. Hirsch,” he says again, finally dragging my attention to him.

  “What?”

  The whole class sniggers.

  “Don’t what me? I want you to come solve this problem.”

  I stare at the board in irritation. Fuck no. I don’t know how to do that shit.

  “Pass,” I grumble.

  “Which is exactly what you won’t be doing if you don’t get up here and attempt this problem.”

  Hollis glances over his shoulder at me, a frown on his face.

  “Look somewhere else,” I snap.

  He jerks his head around, but I don’t miss the way his neck blazes crimson.

  “That’s enough,” Mr. Henley grumbles. “Apologize to this young man.”

  I snort. “No.”

  “Son, I will not have you—”

  “I am not your son.” I pin Mr. Henley with a dark glare that has him taking a step back.

  He huffs in exasperation. “Get out.”

  Unbelievable.

  “Hirsch, I said go,” he barks. “To the office. Now.”

  I stand with an exaggerated sigh and storm up the aisle. The preppy new fucker has some fancy bag on his desk. For some reason, I make a stupid decision my dad would be proud of and shove it off the side of the desk.

  “What the fuck?” Hollis howls.

  “Both of you!” Mr. Henley yells. “Out of my class. I will not tolerate these disruptions.”

  I cast an amused look over my shoulder at Hollis. His features go from angry to surprised to horrified. I’m quite pleased with myself by the time I make it into the hallway. It’s stupid to continually get kicked out of class, but it sure beats doing the schoolwork. I start down the hall and then footsteps follow after me.

  “My laptop is in my bag,” Hollis tells me snippily as he approaches.

  I turn on my heel and glower at him, forcing him to stop right in front of me. “So?”

  “So, it’s expensive.”

  It annoys the fuck out of me that he’s barely been at this school half a day and I’ve already encountered him flaunting his money twice now.

  “Get the fuck out of my face,” I sneer.

  He gapes at me. “What is your problem with me, man?”

  “I don’t associate with your kind.”

  My words hit their intended target because he flinches. His blue eyes flash me a wounded look before he averts his gaze. I scrutinize him openly for a moment since he’s standing right in fucking front of me. Shorter than me but built enough that he might take me in a fight. Dark blond hair that makes him appear sort of innocent. And sad eyes. How the hell a rich kid who drives a purple Mustang could be sad is beyond me. If I were rich, I’d be happy as fuck.

  He’s a rich prick and I’m me.

  Our kinds don’t play nicely together.

  I shove past him, clipping his shoulder. He lets out an annoyed groan. Stalking down the hall, I try not to think about how pissed Ms. Frazier will be. Last time I got sent to her office, I thought she was going to skin me alive. As soon as I make it to the front office, I smirk at Miss Fields, the office secretary. She’s young—fresh out of college. My buddy Cal is positive he’s going to fuck her before the year is over.

  “Frazier,” I clip out to her.

  Miss Fields gives me a snooty once-over. “Have a seat. She’s with another student.”

  I plop down in one of my usual chairs as Hollis enters. Her face lights up at seeing him.

  “Hey, honey. How’s your first day going so far?” she chirps, smiling fondly at him. “Ms. Sommers said you got into all the classes you wanted.”

  Of course she’d love the pretty new boy. If I had to guess, he has a much better chance at fucking Miss Fields than Cal does.

  “It’s fine,” he says in a bright voice that doesn’t at all seem defeated like it was moments ago. “Is it supposed to snow today?”

  While they start talking about the fucking weather, I slouch in my seat, stretching my long legs out in front of me. We have basketball practice after school and then I have to haul ass to my after school job. Mondays and Wednesdays are always long ones. And now that winter break is over and I’m no longer on vacation, I’m back to work this week.

  Ms. Frazier’s door opens and Terrence storms out. I lift my chin at him. We fist bump as he walks by, neither of us saying a word. He’s pissed, though. When Ms. Frazier sees me, she lets out a heavy sigh.

  “It wouldn’t be a Monday if I didn’t see all my favorite Hood River boys,” she grumbles. “Were you involved with the vending machine incident?”

  “Nope.” I pop the ‘P’ in an obnoxious way that makes her nostrils flare.

  “What then?” she demands. Her eyes drift over to Hollis, who’s gone quiet, and she gives him a concerned smile. “Everything going okay?”

  He shakes his head, briefly looks over at me, and then forces a smile. “I got kicked out of class.”

  Ms. Frazier blinks several times in confusion. “Why?”

  “I cursed in class.”

  Her face turns red with anger. “And why did you curse in class?”

  His eyes dart my way and then he looks at his feet. “I don’t know.”

  Ms. Frazier sees right through bullshit, though, and doesn’t believe him. “Roan,” she barks out. “What happened?”

  I clench my jaw and shrug.

  “Both of you. In my office now. You both know me
well enough to know I’m not going to let this go until I have answers.”

  How the hell does rich boy know?

  It’s his first damn day.

  With a huff, I rise to my feet and stalk past her into her office. I plop down in a chair. Hollis takes the one beside me. Where I’m all sprawled out and uncaring, he sits rigid and straight like he’s here for a fucking Harvard interview. Unbelievable.

  Ms. Frazier glares our way as she takes her seat. Without missing a beat, she launches into her lecture. “I won’t stand for disrespect at my school. Mr. Henley is fair and only asks that you show up, shut up, and do your work. It’s not that hard. Hollis, you excel at math. The fact you’re getting kicked out of algebra on your first day is uncharacteristic for you.” She hardens her eyes at me. “Roan, what happened?”

  I would get mad and accuse her of blaming me of being the perpetrator, but I know better. Ms. Frazier is one of the few people who cares about me. Mom sure as hell doesn’t. Ms. Frazier wants my account because she trusts me with the truth.

  “Henley wanted me to do a problem, but I didn’t know how to do it,” I admit with a grumble. “Then he got pissy.”

  “And how did Hollis get involved?”

  For just fucking being there.

  Annoying me.

  Looking perfect and rich. Reminding me I’m not.

  “I pushed his bag off his desk.” I challenge her with an evil stare.

  Her brows crash together. Disappointment. Fuck. I’m screwing this all up. I can’t get on Ms. Frazier’s bad side. She’s too important to my family.

  “And you cursed for that reason?” she asks Hollis.

  “My laptop is in there,” he says bitterly. “It’s expensive and it’s probably ruined.”

  Tattletale. His words boil my blood.

  “Fuck off, rat.”

  “Roan!” Ms. Frazier bellows, slapping her palm on the desk. “Enough of this.”

  I curl up my lip and give Hollis a look of disdain before turning to regard Ms. Frazier with a cool expression. “I’m sorry.”

  She rolls her eyes. “No, you’re not. But you’ll be sorry if you have detention.”

  I wince at her words. She’s right. I can’t get detention. Detention is after school. I can miss basketball, because even though I love it, it’s not a requirement. My after school job is.

  “Listen,” she says, leaning forward. “I need you to be someone Hollis can turn to. He’s new and doesn’t have anyone yet.”

  Hollis groans in embarrassment. “Aunt Karen—”

  “What?” I snap, frowning at her.

  Her lips thin out. “Hollis is my nephew. He doesn’t gain favor because he’s family. You of all people know I’m fair, Roan.”

  She’s right, but it’s still annoying as hell.

  “I’m not going to give you detention with your friend Terrence, though he could certainly use the help cleaning off the horrible words he wrote on the vending machine,” she tells me. “You have basketball…and everything else.” She lets out a heavy sigh. “I need you to remember to stay focused, okay?”

  I let out a defeated sigh. “I get it.”

  “You’re not like him.” Her eyes sear into me, but I don’t believe them. I’m more like my father than she’ll ever know.

  “Can I go?” I clip out, ending this line of conversation.

  “You both can. I don’t want to see either of you in my office again. Make nice with each other. You’re both adults, so act like it.”

  Hollis

  Lunch time used to be fun. I had friends. Lots of them. Plenty of guys and girls I could sit with. We laughed and joked and talked. Sometimes we studied. Mostly we planned whatever parties were coming up.

  It wasn’t like this.

  Not even when I came out to everyone that I was gay.

  This is weird.

  Fucking creepy.

  People eye me curiously, but don’t offer a seat. The room almost comes to a hush—the air crackling with electricity as they wait.

  Wait for what?

  I scan the crowd looking for the kid Gio I met this morning. Nothing. I’m seconds from abandoning lunch altogether when someone sidles up beside me.

  “Hey, new guy,” the brunette girl from my algebra class chirps. “Looking for a place to sit?”

  She’s pretty. If I were into girls, I’d find her attractive enough to want to date. I can definitely tell she’s interested in me. It’d be smart to come right out and tell her I’m gay so she doesn’t waste her time.

  But…

  Things are weird around here and I will take what I can get right now. If that means befriending a girl who thinks I’m potential boyfriend material, so be it.

  Turning on my charm, I grin at her. “I would love that. This school is bigger than my old one. It’ll take some getting used to. Call me Hollis. And you are?”

  “Sidney.” Her green eyes brighten as she grabs my elbow and points. “The girls and I sit right over there. Wave to Wendy.” A girl with blond hair and a big smile waves goofily at us. I wave back. “So let’s get food and talk about the next Campfire Chaos.”

  I allow her to lead me to a line. “Campfire Chaos?”

  “Everyone who’s anyone goes. It’s something the Hoodlums started when everyone was in middle school and it’s been going strong ever since.”

  “We camp?”

  She laughs. “Among other things.”

  What other things?

  “I’ll have to ask my mom.”

  Her brows lift as she blinks her long lashes at me. “Aren’t you adorable?” Then her lips part. “Oh, wait. You’re serious? You really have to get permission?”

  I cringe at her words. It’s on the tip of my tongue that our family has been going through some shit and I’m just trying to give my mom the respect of asking. Sure, I’m eighteen and can technically do what I want, but I don’t know if she needs me to babysit or has family stuff planned.

  “I’ll see, okay?” I say, winking at her.

  Her cheeks turn pink and she nods. “Okay. I really want you to come. You can share a tent with me.”

  Oh crap.

  Back up, Hollis.

  Slow your fucking roll here.

  “I, uh,” I start, but then I’m shoved out of line. I stumble a few steps and knock into some kid who barks out something in annoyance. When I swivel around, I come face to face with the guy from this morning who was with Roan. The stomach pains I’d been managing just fine come back in full force. I almost double over and have the urge to puke.

  “Jordy!” Sidney screeches. “Don’t be an asshole!”

  Jordy cracks his neck, his dark, nearly black eyes searing into mine. The guy is a bit bigger than Roan. Meaner too, it would seem. Violence ripples from him and I don’t want any part of it. I’ve never been in a fight in my entire life.

  “Back of the line, fuckface,” he sneers, gesturing with a nod of his head in that direction.

  “You can’t do this,” Sidney whines, but loses her fire when he peels his stare away from me to glower at her.

  He takes a threatening step toward her. My stomach pains and the fear of a fight dissipate as I worry about the girl. I stalk over to him and step in front of her.

  “Don’t.” I say the word quietly but laced with warning.

  The crowd hushes.

  “Or what?” Jordy bites out, bumping his chest to mine.

  I want to swipe the spittle off my face, but I’m staring at a venomous snake. One false move and I’ll regret it.

  “She’s just a girl,” I grumble.

  “And so are you.” His grin is wolfish and evil.

  “Let’s go, Hollis,” Sidney utters, grabbing my elbow.

  I tug my arm free and don’t take my stare off Jordy. “We were here first. He can’t take our spot in line.” It’s not right.

  Jordy laughs. “You have no idea whose goddamn school you walked into, do you?”

  “This is my school now too.” I may not say
them as vehemently as he does, but there is fire in my words. I believe them. I’m here for just a few months, but I’ll be damned if I let a couple of bullies make my life hell for no reason.

  Before Jordy can go off, I feel his presence. Roan. Like a tidal wave of hatred growing so high it blots out the sun before obliterating everything below it. He’s about to crash into me and drown me.

  “You heard him. Back of the line, rat. I won’t say it twice.” Roan’s stare is seemingly bored, though I notice the tick of his jaw and the way he has his hand fisted in Jordy’s hoodie.

  I could maybe take one. But two? Hell no.

  “Whatever. I’m not even hungry.” I shove past them, clipping Roan with my shoulder like he did me and away from the crowd of weak bystanders. Everyone just stood around and watched. No one intervened. That dude was about to kick my ass and no one cared. What’s wrong with these people?

  “Hollis, wait,” Sidney calls out.

  I ignore her until I get into the hallway outside of the cafeteria. She regards me with a pained expression.

  “Are you okay?” she asks, reaching for my hand.

  I cross my arms over my chest to avoid contact. “Yeah. Just another shitty thing to add to my already shitty day.” I let out a heavy sigh. This is not me. I don’t feel sorry for myself. Normally, when faced with a craptastic situation, I’d find the good in it. Forever an optimist. But now that we’ve been displaced and I’m in some level of hell, I can’t find it in me to try. “I’m sorry, Sidney.”

  “It’s just Jordy being Jordy. He doesn’t hurt girls. That was all show for you.”

  I let out a sigh of relief. “I don’t know what their problem is with me.”

  “They’re Hoodlums,” she says as if this explains everything. “They’re used to telling people what to do and them listening. Once you get used to them, they grow on you. They’re not bad all the time.”

  Another sharp pain seizes my stomach as my skin flushes with a cold sweat.

  “I’m going to head to the nurse. I don’t feel so hot.” Not a total lie. I feel like shit, but I’m not going to go to the nurse.

  “You know where to find me and Wendy. They’ll leave you alone now,” she promises, but I can tell by the flicker of her green eyes she doesn’t believe it.