The Cutting Room Floor Read Online Free

the townspeople gather around salivating for blood. A preacher condemns them for their sins and the crowd breaks out in Bible hymns. Then the lawmen turn a lever and the next thing you see are the men’s dangling feet.
    I squeeze my eyes shut and shake away the image.
    “Oh, it’s that bad,” Riley says. “Didn’t you know? Now that I’ve scared Emma off, Libby’s become my new lezzy lover. Everyone’s talking about it.”
    “Don’t worry, it’s just the drama of the moment. It’ll all blow over.” I hope.
    “I don’t know. Things are so effed up.”
    It’s true, things are fucked up around here—just like the Wild West. It all started when Tori’s dad, Mayor Devlin, kicked off his campaign for re-election last spring. During his first term, he was investigated for hiring his friends to city jobs and cashing in on political favors. It was a huge story—the Minneapolis media even covered it. He was never charged with anything, though, and he’s been on a mission to clear his good name ever since.
    This year, his campaign has focused on ethics, morals, and family values. He’s been all over town talking about saving this and protecting that . Before all this Devlin business, I don’t remember things being such a big deal. I don’t know, it seemed like people just kept their opinions to themselves. But now everything is up for debate. You can feel the tension in the air.
    And that’s not the worst of it. Last month, Ms. Dunn—our humanities teacher and one of the people who started the Devlin investigation—was stabbed to death at school. She was Riley’s favorite teacher, so Rye’s had a double dose of shit to deal with.
    Nobody really knows how the murder went down, and I … well, I have more details than I should. Details I’ve tried to erase from my memory. Images that creep into my dreams.
    The official word is that Ms. Dunn was killed in the supply room at the end of the day. The janitor found her on his evening rounds. School had been in session less than a week. The newly sharpened pencils hadn’t even had a chance to dull yet. It was a stranger who did it, they say. A random criminal looking for money or shelter or something to steal. They say it was quick and Ms. Dunn probably didn’t even know what hit her.
    They lie.
    Technically, the investigation is still going on but without a murder weapon or a suspect, it’s slow going. Of course, I got a peek at my stepfather’s report and a look at the crime scene, so I have a bit more information than the average resident in the Heights.
    A bunch of the morons at school are convinced it was Carl the Janitor. Poor old guy. There’s no way he had the strength to kill Ms. Dunn in that way, but that didn’t stop the assholes from tormenting him until he quit last week.
    Yeah, between the Ms. Dunn murder mystery and the Devlin campaign, the local mob has been out with their torches. It’s basically a free-for-all at school, and with Tori and her family at the helm, the teachers are too afraid to do anything about it. Nobody wants to risk their job or their funding … or their life for that matter. Everyone is scared.
    That’s why I’m glad Riley and Emma broke up. There, I said it. Things will be much better for Rye now, even if she doesn’t see it yet.
    I squeeze her a little closer. “I’m sorry, babe. Are you okay?”
    “C’est la vie.” Riley flips her wrist.
    “Yeah, but it still sucks.”
    “I don’t know. I just don’t get it.” She sighs. “Only a few people knew about me and Emma—really only you, Jonah, and Libby. Not like you guys would say anything. Why did she make that scene? If she didn’t want to be with me, why couldn’t she dump me in private?”
    “I don’t know, Rye.” My stomach clenches. “Maybe she got scared.”
    She goes still, holding everything inside. We sit there like that for a while, Riley under the shield of my arm but still so far away.
    “Hey, what about you? How was the double date?”