Welcome To Hickville High (Hickville High Series Book 1) by Mary Karlik Page A

coughed, blinked a couple of times like he was trying to gain control over his emotions. “They were supposed to meet us at The Grind downtown. Somehow when we heard the sirens we knew it was them.” He shook his head. “Man, we never thought they’d be dead. She ran a stoplight and was T-boned by a cement truck.”
    “I’m sorry.” Crap, what should she say? What
could
she say?
    She followed him to the grave with the red roses. Like Lindsey, there were drum sticks and a cell phone on the ledge of her tombstone along with a small brass cross lying on its side. Austin propped the cross upright and moved toward Chelsea’s grave. A bouquet of fresh white daisies filled the granite urn on the side of the stone.
    A picture of a smiling brown-eyed girl was set in the center of the granite. Kelsey stared at the picture. “She was beautiful.”
    “They all were.”
    “She doesn’t have trinkets on her gravestone.”
    “Her mom comes every day and makes sure it’s clean. I guess it’s all she can do for her now.” Austin walked to his truck. Kelsey followed. He hesitated before opening the door and looked at her. “We all signed a contract that we wouldn’t text and drive. It could have been any of us, Kelsey.”
    She nodded slowly. “I get your point.”
    As Austin climbed onto the seat, Kelsey noticed he held his bandaged hand pressed against his chest. “You hurting?”
    “Nothing I can’t handle. So tell me about Drew.” He said his name like it tasted bad. She hated when her sister did that but it was kind of funny the way Austin said it.
    “He’s amazing. He’s applied to Harvard. I’m sure he’ll get in.”
    “Did you say he’s biking through Italy?”
    “Yeah, which is why I don’t get to talk to him much. There’s like a seven-hour time difference. We Facetime when he can find free wifi.”
    “Must be nice to be able to take the summer off for a bike ride.” He leaned his head against the seat.
    “It beats farm work.” She thought of the way the chickens stood when she reached for their egg. It was like they were saying,
Here you go. I was just keeping it warm for you.
She didn’t mean to smile but a small one found its way to her lips anyway.
    “Hey, this is an exciting life. I bet he hasn’t done any snake wrangling in Italy.” The sincerity mixed with the sarcasm in his voice made her smile grin.
    “Whatever. Come on, tell me how to get to the feed store before I get into trouble.”
    Kelsey followed Austin’s directions but when she pulled into the parking lot she briefly hoped he’d directed her to the wrong place. The parking lot was full of potholes and loose gravel. But that was nothing compared to the store. The place was a dump. It was a dilapidated metal barn-looking building with a beat up aluminum awning hanging above a plate glass window.
    “This is it?” Kelsey asked.
    “Yep.”
    She knew the Infinity parked in front was her dad’s, but she had to ask anyway. “Are you sure?”
    “It’s the only feed store in town.”
    “So––are there a lot of people in need of feed?” Surely if they were the only game in town they could afford to fix the awning or at least the holes in the parking lot.
    “Well, yeah.”
    Kelsey parked next to the SUV. Noting the absence of cars in the parking lot she gave Austin a sideways glance. “It doesn’t look like we’re doing a booming business.”
    He opened the door. “That’s ‘cuz it’s the afternoon. Most of the business is early in the morning.” He stepped from the truck. “Come on, I’ll show you around.”
    She followed him up narrow concrete steps and through a dirty screen door. The smell hit her as soon as she crossed the threshold. It was kind of a chemical barnyard stink. She caught a faint sweet scent mixed up with the other odors but it was gone before she could appreciate it. Probably snuffed out by stronger smells.
    Sacks of feed were stacked on wooden pallets lining the walls. There was a section for