Welcome To Hickville High (Hickville High Series Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

parents helped Austin out of the SUV. The Cowgirl-up waitress from the trailer trash restaurant ran toward him. “Austin, baby. What happened?”
    “Hey, Mom. I’m okay… rat snake got me. How’d you know?”
    “Travis called.” She looked at the bloodstained wrap. “A rat snake did all that?”
    Austin nodded. “Grabbed hold and wouldn’t let go.”
    “Let’s get you inside.” She led him through the double doors followed by Kelsey’s parents.
    Kelsey pulled through the drive to park the car. Travis and Ryan stepped out of a pickup truck as Kelsey pulled into a parking lot. And for once, her sister wasn’t flirting.
    Ryan and Travis waited for Kelsey and the three of them walked to the emergency waiting room together.
    By the time they joined their parents, Austin and his mom had been escorted to triage. Kelsey shuddered. “I hate snakes. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to gather eggs.”
    Ryan folded her arms across her stomach. “That was so scary.”
    “You were amazing with that shovel,” Kelsey said. “And a little freaky.”
    “I just wanted that snake dead.”
    Kelsey sat back. “Yeah. I gathered that when you yelled, ‘die bastard’ as you were making paste out of it.”
    Mom snapped. “Ryan Katherine. Language.”
    Ryan shrugged. “Sorry.”
    Travis leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees. “The thing is, rat snakes aren’t poisonous. They want to run from us as bad as we want to run from them. If you accidentally grab one, just let it go.”
    Dad rubbed the back of his neck. “Looks like we need a more extensive farm life orientation.”
    But we shouldn’t have to learn about farm life at all. Kelsey glared at her dad. “No wonder you left Hillside. I hate this place.”
    “There is a lot of beauty here, too. You just have to open your eyes.”
    “The only thing I’ll consider beautiful is the view of this place through my rearview mirror. Come May, I’m so out of here.” Kelsey stood and crossed the room to stare out of the window.
    Ryan followed and stood next to her. “God, Kelsey, what’s your problem?”
    “You are my problem. Dad is my problem. The fact that my whole freaking life has been turned upside down because of you and Dad is my problem.” Kelsey took a deep breath and tried to let go of some of the anger that lived within her. “Go ahead, embrace this redneck life. Be happy with substandard everything. Me? I’m just hanging on until college.”
    Ryan gave an exasperated groan. “College? Really? For someone so smart, you just don’t get it. How long do you think it’ll be before they tap into our college funds?”
    “They wouldn’t do that.”
    Ryan leaned her shoulder against the window. “Get a grip. They sold your car. We are living in a broken down farmhouse in the middle of Fumbuck, Texas. Do you seriously think there is any money left? You blame me for the move, but think about it. Would Dad really move us here if he had any choice? We’re here because there’s nowhere else to go.”
    Ryan pushed away from the glass and walked back to her family.
    No money for college? But she’d planned to apply to Notre Dame—her parent’s alma mater and Boston College. Mom had said as soon as they settled in the new house they’d fill out the applications together. Ryan was right. If there had been any other way, they wouldn’t have moved. But did that mean there was no college money? The months of Dad being unemployed had taken a toll on the family. She’d have never thought they’d be a one-car family eating sandwiches for dinner, either. But they had. Tears spilled down her face as the reality of her situation settled in her chest. She took a deep breath and brushed her cheeks dry.
    She heard Dad telling a story about the time Uncle Jack put a snake in her dad’s bed when they were kids. The group was huddled around him, laughing, and Kelsey felt like a complete stranger to her family. She would never, could never, embrace this