Hickville Confessions: A Hickville High Novel Read Online Free Page B

around the waist. “Come on. Let’s get you dressed. Dad’s giving Justin the third degree.” When they reached her room, Ryan fell on the bed. It would feel so good to just crawl under the covers and sleep away the pain of the night, but she couldn’t leave Justin alone to deal with her dad. She pulled on pajama bottoms and a T-shirt and made her way to the den.
    Justin sat in an armchair cradling a mug of coffee, her mom on the end of the sofa next to him. Mackenzie and Austin stood on the other side of the room. When Mackenzie saw her, she covered her mouth and ran to the kitchen.
    I look too horrible for my own sister.
    “Justin didn’t do anything wrong.” She blurted it out as though he was about to be punished or something.
    Her mom rushed to her and pulled her into a tight hug. “We know. He told us about the fountain.”
    Ryan relaxed into her mom’s embrace and blew out a slow breath, hoping to stave off the skin-searing tears that threatened. It didn’t work. A few slid down her cheeks, leaving pain in their wake.
    Her mom released her and studied her. “What did they do to your face?”
    “They used scouring pads to scrub the sin out of me.” She pulled up the sleeves of her T-shirt and held out her arms. “They got my legs too, but not so bad.”
    Her dad came into the den from the kitchen and handed Ryan a cup of coffee. “We’re going to file assault charges.”
    She wanted those girls to pay for what they’d done, but not at the expense of revealing her past to the world. “No. Dad, please.”
    “Somebody needs to pay for this.” His neck muscles bulged with every word he squeezed through taut lips.
    Ryan cradled the mug between her hands. “I can’t.”
    “Tom, let’s take care of Ryan first. We need to get her to the ER.”
    “Those girls are sick.” He paced in a circle. “They should pay for what they did.”
    Her mom stood in front of her dad and placed her hands on his biceps. “But we don’t need to ruin their lives. Let’s start with calling their parents.”
    “Dad, listen to Mom. Please.”
    He gave a single nod. “I want the names and numbers of the girls involved—starting with that bitch, Macey Brown.”
    “They have my phone. They have all of my stuff.”
    Kelsey piped up. “You’re secretary. Don’t you have the PC roster on your computer?” Ryan nodded and started to get up, but Kelsey put up her hand. “I’ll get it.”
    Ryan settled back on the couch. Her face burned. The right side of her upper lip throbbed with pain. Her arms and legs were sore, but nothing like her face. She didn’t get it. No matter how horrible her past was, it didn’t affect them. How had they found out? Why not just kick her out of the club? That was the part that hurt the most. It was bad enough to be outed for her past and rejected, but they’d gone for full-on violence. The image she’d seen in the mirror appeared in her mind.
    What if they’d destroyed her face?
     
    *
     
    Justin stepped onto the front porch to give Ryan some time with her parents. Austin McCoy followed him out and leaned on the rail with his arms folded across his chest. “What really happened to Ryan?”
    “They went batshit crazy on her.” He rubbed his hand across his face. “God, I thought they were going to kill her. They looked like piranhas going after prey.”
    “You didn’t have anything to do with it?”
    “Hell, no. Why would you even say that?”
    Austin pushed off the rail. “I heard Eric talking smack to Caleb. He said he had evidence that she was—easy.”
    “Eric’s a dick.”
    “He’s your best friend.”
    “Not anymore.” But why would Eric spread a rumor? Granted, he was a first-class bastard, but what would he gain by ruining Ryan?
    The screen door squeaked open. Ryan and her two sisters, Kelsey and Mackenzie, stepped out onto the porch. Justin didn’t know the Quinn girls, but he imagined they were about as different as they looked. Kelsey, the oldest, had big eyes