Welcome To Hickville High (Hickville High Series Book 1), page 14
Justin said, “Keep telling yourself that, Travis. We all know the truth here.”
Austin took a step toward Justin, but Travis clapped a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. “Shake it off, dude.”
Austin couldn’t shake it off. Fury coursed through him, the only thought on his mind was to take that son of bitch down. He dropped his books ready to launch into Justin when Coach grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back.
Coach stood between Austin, Travis, and Justin. “McCoy, Hayes, in my office. Now.”
*
“Zero tolerance! What do you not understand about zero tolerance?”
Austin stood next to Justin. Back straight. Eyes forward.
“One punch and you’d be handcuffed. One punch and you’d be arrested. One punch and you’d be off my team. Do you want off my team! Do you want off my team?” Coach yelled into their faces like a drill sergeant.
“No, sir!” They shouted back.
Coach stood in front of Austin and Justin with his hands on his hips and worked his jaw like he was too angry to get the next words out. When he spoke it was like he had to squeeze them through tight lips. “You disrespected what it means to be a Hornet. You disrespected the team. You got a problem, you take it out on the field, on the other guys. You’re sidelined Friday.”
Austin felt the blood drain from his face and his feet remained frozen where he stood. Justin spoke up. “You’re benching us, Coach? It’s the first game.”
“I didn’t do squat. You lost your place when you decided to play smack-down in the hallway.”
Justin took a step back. “You can’t do that.”
Coach narrowed his eyes. “I just did.”
Austin sucked in a breath and said, “Coach, I know what we did was wrong. I want to earn my place back.”
Coach crossed his arms. “What are you gonna do to earn your place?”
Austin answered, “Whatever it takes, Coach. I’m there. I want this. I’ll earn it.”
Coach moved in front of Justin. “What about you, Hayes? Do you want this?”
“Yes, sir.”
“How bad, Hayes?”
“I’ll do whatever you want, Coach.”
“You wanna play, you’ll work your ass off for me.” Coach paced in front of the boys and rubbed his chin. He stopped and looked at the players. “Suit up to run. You got five minutes to meet me on the field.”
*
Kelsey waited outside of the cafeteria for Austin and watched groups file pass her. St. Monica’s or Hillside High, the cliques were pretty much the same: jocks, band nerds, geeks, stoners, Barbies. She was one of the beautiful people at her old school and although she had first day jitters, was fairly confident she’d slide right into that group here. But so far, the students walked by her as if she didn’t exist and not one person came close to saying hello.
The word loser formed in her mind.
L-O-S-E-R.
Lonely.
Outsider.
Social misfit.
Expendable.
Replaceable.
Loser. Loser-Loser-Loser Stop it!
Girls like her didn’t worry about being a loser. It was a matter of time before she was back on top. But, everybody in “A” lunch had passed her by and still, no Austin. He told her he’d wait for her. What if he hadn’t? Maybe he was sitting at a table laughing with Britney and Courtney about how stupid she looked standing all alone in the hall. The “L” word loomed large in her mind again. Her eyes burned.
She hated this place, hated this school, and hated these people. She especially hated Austin for standing her up. Drew would have been there for her.
What was she going to do? Everybody in “A” lunch knew she was waiting for someone. If she walked in now, she might as well start wearing pigtails and a pocket protector because she’d never recover from the degradation. Austin said it was a closed campus, so she couldn’t leave, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t hide out during lunch.
She made her way away from the cafeteria toward the Hornet Hall of Honor. No losers there. She turned the word over in her mind. L-o-s-e-r. Place right hand on forehead with index finger pointing up and thumb to the left.
She stopped in front of the football trophy case with the homage to her dad. No big fat “L” on his forehead. He was Mr. Amazing—at least for a couple of years. Why had he quit football? Aunt Susan had mentioned some girl—Cassidy Jones. What could have she done to make him give all this up? His eyes were set with determination and he was smiling, but even then, he looked like he was carrying the weight of the world with him. But he had escaped this nothing town and so would she. She began disassembling the “L” word looming in her mind.
L-O-S-E-R.
Leader.
Original.
Social trendsetter.
Exclusive.
Rebel.
I can do this. She backed away from the trophy case and turned toward the cafeteria. Her stomach growled urging her on. I can march back in there, grab a tray, and just sit somewhere. Alone. Her stomach may have been begging but her feet weren’t moving. The word she’d ripped apart called to her again. She refused to listen. Deep breath in, back straight, go.
Go the other way, because no way was she going to sit by herself in the cafeteria. She turned around and walked down the hall in search of a place to hide out for the next thirty minutes or so. She made a right at the end of the hall and caught the scent of pizza. She followed it to one of the rooms where a group of students stood in line to get a slice. Above the pizza table, a banner stretched across the wall. Gold letters spelled out Purity Club.
Ms. Bettis, the counselor, waved her in. “Welcome to our eat and greet.”
Kelsey stepped into the room. That’s when she noticed Ryan standing in the front of the line.
*
Austin stood on the goal line with Justin and waited for Coach Peterson. Whatever Coach had in store for them was going to be bad, but not as bad as missing the game Friday. It was so hot Austin could almost see waves of heat radiating from the ground. Sweat trickled down his forehead. If Kelsey were here, she’d probably say something about the stadium being hell’s oven.
Kelsey. He hoped Travis would think to tell her why he didn’t meet her at the cafeteria. She’d probably already met somebody to sit with anyway.
Justin hockked a lugy and spat on the ground. “Maybe he’s just going to leave us out here to sweat to death.”
Austin cut his eyes to Justin. He could be such a prick. A lot of guys talked crap about girls. Justin and his buddy, Eric, were the biggest players in school. He hated the way they used girls. But the girls kept coming. And the rest of the guys were left to put the pieces together when they were finished with them.
Coach appeared from the stadium tunnel and headed toward them carrying a couple of sports bottles. Austin dreaded what was ahead. He shouldn’t have let Justin rile him the way he did.
Coach Peterson looked even more pissed off than in his office. He stepped in front of Austin and Justin. “You don’t fight on my team. You don’t even look like you’re gonna fight. You got that?”
“Yes sir.”
“Rules say if I’m gonna work you in heat, I gotta give you as much water as you want.” He sat the bottles on the white chalked line and said, “Ball busters on my whistle. You got that?”
Before either of them could answer, he blew the whistle. Austin shoved his hands into the turf and with his butt in the air and scrambled down the field. He hated these things. His shoulders burned from the weight and impact on them. And then there was the balancing act between his legs and arms. His legs were stronger and tended to get ahead of his arms, putting more weight on his shoulders.
When he reached the forty-yard line the whistle blew. He straightened and ran backwards. The next whistle blew at the thirty and he turned and headed to the goal line. His shoulders thanked him all the way to the water bottle.
One squirt and he was on all fours again. This time Coach took them all the way to the fifty before blowing the whistle. It was a little harder to stand and his legs were heavier as he shuffled his feet backwards. Sprinting was the easiest part but he couldn’t quite find the energy to explode into a full sprint.
By the sixth set, his shoulders screamed for him to stop. A couple of times his hands slipped and his powerful legs to drilled his face into the ground. As they bear crawled past the fifty-yard line, he noticed Justin fall behind. Prick or no prick, he was still a team member and if Austin left him, there would be hell to pay.
He slowed his pace down and yelled at Justin. “Come on, man. You can do this.”
Justin groaned and almost stopped.
“Don’t stop. We’ll do it together. Come on. Come on. On my count. Right hand. Left.” He didn’t think Justin would join in, but he did. It was slow, but together, in sync, they made it down the field. They practically fell across the goal line before hearing the tweet ending this bit of the torture.
Austin stood on wobbly legs. They lined up next to each other before they backpedaled down the field. Fortunately, Coach only made them run backwards for about ten yards before signaling the sprint. They turned and ran.
Normally, it took just a few seconds to run from one goal line to the other, but Austin’s legs felt like two lead weights. Instead of eating up the earth, he felt like he was trying to sprint through waist deep water. His lungs had that deep burn like he was turning over stagnant air from deep in the bases and his stomach roiled with nausea.
This was do or die time for him. He had to keep going to show Coach how bad he wanted to remain QB. Justin was faster than Austin and could have probably been drinking water by now, but he wasn’t. He had moved to run closer to Austin and kept his pace even.
The nausea Austin felt grew and he got that pre-spew funny feeling in his throat. He stumbled.
Justin grabbed Austin’s elbow. “Don’t go down on me, man.” Together they made it to the water bottles.
Austin bent over and heaved. He heard Coach Peterson bark “showers” but couldn’t move yet. When he finished puking his guts up, Justin handed him a water bottle and they headed for the field house.
He gave Justin a quick nod, a silent thank you for helping him survive the workout. But what happened out there was a truce between football players who needed to work together for the sake of the team. Justin was still a prick.
15
Pigs who have sex at the Kingsville Airport are breaking the law.
Kelsey didn’t waste time making it to the front of the room and the pizza. Ryan stood with her back to Kelsey loading up on the pepperoni.
“Hi, Ryan.”
At the sound of Kelsey’s voice, Ryan nearly dropped her pizza. She fumbled with the paper plate as she turned to face her sister. “Oh, hi.”
Kelsey moved to the back of the line. “Save me a place?” Wow, Ryan in the Purity Club. Zoe would get a kick out of this.
“Sure.” Ryan gave a weak smile and headed toward a seat in front of the teacher’s desk.
Kelsey pulled a couple of slices onto a paper plate, grabbed a bottle of water, and took a seat next to Ryan. The food wasn’t great but her stomach was happy and she didn’t have to suffer the shame of being stood up. Everything was going to be all right.
A dark haired, brown eyed, hottie sat next to Ryan and introduced himself as Eric Perez. Kelsey didn’t miss the grin that spread all over Ryan’s face when she spoke to him and it took a full nano-second for Ryan to go into full on flirt mode. Kelsey shook her head. This whole purity club thing was just a means to meet guys. Chicago or Hillside, Ryan hadn’t changed. But as disgusting as she found her sister’s actions, the irony of Ryan joining the club made Kelsey want to giggle.
Ms. Bettis waited for everyone to fill their plates and then took her place at the front of the room. She pointed to the banner and said, “Welcome to the Purity Club eat n’ greet.” That’s when Kelsey noticed the motto written across the banner in gold lettering. It read: True Love Waits. The virginity pledge.
Kelsey avoided looking at her sister to keep from laughing.
Mrs. Bettis said. “Everybody, bow your heads. Father God, we just want to thank you for bringing all of these good kids together to share in their love for you and their desire to keep their bodies pure. And send a special welcome to our new members from up north, Ryan and Kelsey. And Father God, I just pray the third little Quinn…I can’t seem to remember her name, but you know who she is. But Father, I just pray she follows in her sisters’ footsteps and sees fit to join us in our purity journey.”
Little giggles raced around inside Kelsey bursting to get out. Ryan had her eyes squeezed shut as if she were praying with all her might. Ryan was such a faker. A snort almost escaped Kelsey. If she let one loose, she was afraid she’d go into a full laughing meltdown. She faced forward and tried not to think about it.
Ms. Bettis continued with her prayer. “And Father God, thank you for bringing all these pure little bodies together to eat this wonderful pizza you provided for us today. And bless the hands that made the pizza for us and the driver who delivered it. And most of all Father, bless those who have lost this precious gift and help them to see they can be born again in purity. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”
Amens filtered through the room as everyone dug in to the now blessed cold pizza.
When everybody finished their holy pizza, Mrs. Bettis made the group introduce themselves and asked for a volunteer to pass out white elastic bracelets stamped with the club motto. Ryan practically bolted out of her seat at the chance.
As Kelsey watched her sister hand out the bracelets, she figured out a couple of reasons why Ryan was in the club. It was either tall lanky, blonde, blue-eyed Colton Dodd, or buffed-out Eric Perez. They were both just her type—hot and male.
Ryan volunteered to be the secretary and gather all of the phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Kelsey shook her head. By the time Ryan finished with the guys, the group might as well be called the Impurity Club.
The bell sounded ten minutes to the end of lunch and the Purity Club was dismissed until next month. Kelsey tossed her plate and water bottle into the trash and found Ryan waiting for her at the door.
Ryan looked with pleading eyes. “Kelsey, can I talk to you?”
Kelsey smirked. “What about? This little sham of yours?”
Ryan shook her head. “No, but…”
“Yes, but. I know what this is all about.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Come on. You don’t think I saw those future notches in your bed post.”
Ryan grabbed Kelsey’s arm and squeezed. “Kelsey, please. I’m your sister.”
Kelsey looked at the fingers wrapped around her bicep. “Okay. Talk.”
“Not here. We need to talk alone.”
“I’m not missing class.”
Ryan closed her eyes for a second and released Kelsey. “Okay, after school. Promise me.”
“I promise. Jeeze.” She stepped into the hallway but not before catching Ryan slamming her water bottle in the trashcan. What was up with her, anyway? When did she need Kelsey for anything? Never. She was always the fun, pretty one. Kelsey might tell herself she ruled St. Monica’s but the truth was, if Ryan hadn’t left for the fine arts magnet school, she would have been Queen Bee.
So what was going on with her now? Something about the desperation in her sister’s tone made Kelsey think it wasn’t about adding notches to her bedpost.
The bell sounded again and Kelsey pulled her schedule out of her pocket. No way was she going to find her next class in time. Damn it, Austin. Where are you?
*
Coach Peterson met Austin and Justin in the locker room and handed them each a bottle of Gatorade. “Drink this and then drink water every chance you get. I can’t have you fallen’ out in practice this afternoon.”
Austin wanted to smile, but he was too tired. Instead he mumbled, “Thanks, Coach.”
“Just because you can run a few sorry-ass yards don’t mean you’re starting Friday. You’re just warmin’ up.”
Austin showered but he still felt like he could barely drag air into his lungs. He flopped against the metal locker across from where Justin sat on the bench. Justin shouldn’t have mouthed off, but nobody deserved the brutal practice they’d survived. It had to have been a hundred-and-five heat index. He took a swig and decided it was time to end the feud. Like Coach said, they were a team. It was about time they acted like it. “I’m sorry, man.”
Justin gave a smartass smirk. “Not as sorry as you’re gonna be if I get that Quinn ass before you.”
Some guys just weren’t worth the effort. He grabbed his drink and headed out of the locker room. If he hurried he might catch Kelsey before class.
He found her a few feet from her classroom door. “Kelsey.”
She said, “Hey,” but wasn’t smiling.
“I’m sorry I missed you. I had a thing I had to do for Coach.”
She gave a shrug. “No biggy, I found my way to the Purity Club eat and greet.”
That took him back a step. “Really? You don’t seem the Purity Club type.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean—it’s just—most PC girls don’t look like you.” She raised her brows and he was fairly sure that was a meaningful expression and although he didn’t know what it meant, figured it couldn’t be good. “Not that you couldn’t be a PC girl, you’re just—you know.”
She stepped closer—until she was just a few inches from him. Her lips formed a half smile. “I’m what?”
Her voice had a playful tone, and he wanted to tease back. But this close, with her sapphire eyes looking into his, his brain was empty. He felt his face blush and knew he’d turned bright red. He’d backed himself into a corner, but mostly he was red-faced because of the way her gaze made him want to grab her and kiss the PC out of her. He wanted more than anything to drop his mouth to hers. He wondered if she felt the same and leaned in—just out of kissing range. “You’re too real for them.” His brain was seriously short-circuiting. She had a boyfriend. She was off limits—and perfect for the Purity Club.
