Miss Mayhem (Rebel Belle #2)(26)

On the other side of the food court, the carousel was starting up again, the sound of tinkly calliope music filling the air. A little girl was tugging her mother toward a purple painted horse, and as I glanced over at them, I caught a glimpse of two blond heads making their way through the crowd.

Abi and Amanda. Shoot.

Grabbing Ryan’s elbow, I tugged him into the little hallway where the bathrooms and water fountains were. “I understand that this isn’t easy for you,” I said once we were out of sight. “It isn’t easy for me, either, and if you’d like a list of all the reasons why, I could make that for you. With annotations.”

Ryan flicked a glance at the ceiling that wasn’t quite an eye roll, but it was pretty close. Still, I kept going, tightening my fingers in the crook of his elbow. “You can’t not tell me things, Ry. This whole . . . thing. None of it will work if we’re not honest with each other.”

Ryan looked down at me, his auburn brows raised. “Really? You wanna play that card when we’ve been lying to David about his visions since day one?”

I shook my head. “That’s different. That’s for his own safety.”

Ryan blew out a deep breath. “You can keep saying that, Harper, but we can’t keep lying to him. This Alexander guy is already promising David he can help him, but he doesn’t need help. He couldn’t have strong visions because we kept him from having them.”

He reached out and covered my hand still resting on his arm with his own, his fingers curling around mine and squeezing. “We have to tell David the truth.”

“Tell David the truth about what?”





Chapter 12


MARY BETH stood there, arms folded, mouth pressed into a tight line. As much as I hated myself for it, the words “This is not what it looks like” actually came out of my mouth, and from the way Ryan’s eyes practically turned into hazel lasers, I could tell that he hated me for saying it, too.

I won’t get into the details of all that happened next. Have you ever seen teenagers fight embarrassingly in public? It basically went like that. There was yelling and tears and Ryan trying to hug her while she yelled things like, “Don’t touch me!”

Honestly, I tried to leave, but they were both blocking the entrance to the hallway, so in the end, I just stood there by the water fountains, wanting to die of humiliation. I mean, people were looking at us. Lots of people. And if Mary Beth hadn’t finally ripped off her necklace, thrown it at Ryan’s feet, and stormed off, I think a mall cop would’ve shown up, and then I would have had no choice but to change my name and leave town—heck, leave Alabama—forever.

Ryan didn’t try to follow her this time. I guess once someone has thrown jewelry at your face and hollered about forgetting you exist, you sort of figure that ship has sailed. Instead, he squatted down and picked up the necklace, then stayed there, the chain dangling from his fingers, thumbs pressed against his eyebrows.

Bee came around the corner, arms full of bags, her eyes widening when she saw Ryan crouched on the ground and me standing right behind him, worrying my thumbnail with my teeth. As soon as I realized what I was doing, I made a disgusted sound and dropped my hand, wiping it on my skirt. I must’ve picked that up from David; he was always doing stuff like that.

Raising her eyebrows at me, Bee jerked her head toward Ryan.

“Mary Beth” was all I said, and she nodded.

As if his new ex-girlfriend’s name was some sort of magic word, Ryan stood up abruptly, dropping the necklace into his pocket. “Well, that’s effing great,” he said, scrubbing his hands over his face.

Of course, he didn’t actually say “effing,” but it didn’t bother me.

Tentatively, I laid a hand on his shoulder. “At least you don’t have to worry about lying to her anymore?” I offered. We were still standing in the cramped little hallway, my hip almost right against a water fountain, and beyond us, people were still milling through the food court. Of all the places to go through a breakup, it was definitely low on glamour.

Lifting his head, Ryan looked at me. I’d known him almost my whole life. He was the first boy I’d ever kissed. The first boy I’d done . . . other stuff with, too. But in that moment, his handsome face drawn tight, he could’ve been a stranger.

“Whatever,” he said, the word flat and heavy all at once.

I winced like he’d slapped me. Okay, maybe I hadn’t been all that sympathetic to his issues with Mary Beth, but honestly, how did he think it was going to turn out? David and I were all tangled up with him, and there was no getting out of that. I was sorry he was hurt, but if he hadn’t gotten involved with her in the first place, then none of this would have happened.

I think I might have actually said some of that, and probably ruined any chances I had of Ryan and me ever being friends again, but luckily, Bee stepped forward. Putting the shopping bags down, she laid her hand on Ryan’s arm.

“Hey,” she said, her voice warm and sweet. “Would you mind giving me a ride home? Harper drove us here, and she has to run back up to the school.”

I didn’t, and for a second, I frowned at her, confused. And then she gave me a little nod.

“Sure,” Ryan said, his voice still blank, and as he turned to go, Bee looked over her shoulder at me, mouthing, “I’ll talk to him.”