Hickville Confessions: A Hickville High Novel by Mary Karlik

hang out with Eric Perez, but the fight at the dance had ended that friendship. That could explain why he was so interested in hanging out with her. But if he wanted friends, he could pick someone whose face didn’t look like it’d been run through a vegetable peeler.
    Her phone dinged a reply. She read it and turned to Kelsey. “She said we could all go home. The store’s been slow all day.”
    Mackenzie squealed from the back seat. “Yay! I’m going for a long run.”
    Ryan turned to her sister. “You know there’s something wrong with you, right? Nobody in their right mind says that.”
    Mackenzie brushed her hair from her eyes. “You should try it. It’s a great way to just think.”
    “So is feeding the animals.” Kelsey pulled from the parking lot.
    “Those chickens are the spawn of the devil.”
    Ryan twisted in her seat to look back at her sister. “Kenzie, we’ve been here for months. How can you still be so afraid of the chickens?”
    “They peck at things—like feet.”
    “All you have to do is shoo them away.”
    “You and Kelsey can have fun with the chickens, the horses, and that pig. Not me. I’d rather clean toilets every day than risk my life with those critters.”
    Kelsey hadn’t liked feeding chickens at first, either, or she said she hadn’t. But Ryan had watched her talking to them when she fed them or cleaned the coop. And Ryan was pretty sure her sister had bonded with Winifred, the pig. Ryan could take or leave the chickens and the pig. She thought the two horses were pretty cool, though. She liked to watch Austin ride. Someday, she’d like to learn, but Austin should probably teach Kelsey first, since he was her boyfriend and all.
    Ryan’s escape was art. Whether it was to express the turmoil churning inside her or to escape it, drawing gave her peace. It centered her.
    Kelsey stopped at the gate that crossed the dirt drive that led to their house. “Who’s the gate bitch?”
    Mackenzie opened her door. “I’ve got it.”
    Wow. A few months ago we didn’t even know what a gate bitch was.
She looked at the peeling paint on the old farmhouse. It was hard to believe they used to ride the “L” home or that they’d hang out at Millennium Park.
    Wasn’t this supposed to be the simple life? She rubbed her arms. She’d been excited to get away from that old life, but had she really traded it for a better one? At least one sister was happier. She wasn’t sure about Mackenzie, who’d had to give up gymnastics. It had to be a huge adjustment to fill all those hours she’d spent in the gym. She never complained, though. She wouldn’t—she was too busy trying to be the perfect kid.
    Was it better for Ryan? She’d exchanged one pain for another. She touched her cheek. This one she couldn’t hide.
    Kelsey parked and the girls didn’t waste time getting out of the truck. Mackenzie ran up the porch steps and into the house, but Kelsey waited for Ryan. “Are you okay? Really? Today had to be rough for you.”
    Ryan nodded. “I got it over with. Not everybody hates me. Justin waits for me after most of my classes.”
    “Yeah, what’s up with that? You know he’s crazy.”
    Ryan gazed at her sister. “He saved me.”
    Kelsey rolled her eyes as she opened the front door. “Okay. I’ll give him that. But you know he jumped Austin in the parking lot. I was there. It was totally unprovoked.”
    Ryan scooted through the doorway and let the screen bang shut behind her. “There had to be a reason. No normal person would just randomly jump someone.”
    “We were walking to Austin’s truck, when out of the blue, Justin tackled him. That is not normal.”
    Ryan had to admit that the whole incident was bizarre. But the Justin who’d rescued her was not the same guy who’d attacked Austin. “There had to be a reason,” she repeated stubbornly.
    “Yeah. He’s insane.” She dropped her backpack at the bottom of the stairs.
    Ryan slung her backpack next to Kelsey’s.