Mansfield Ranch Read Free Page B

side of the house. Not that I minded—I was usually in the stables most of my day anyway, so it was actually nice to be able to park so close to them.
    Just as I had begun to think the ride would be comment free, Alexis surprised me when she hissed, “And I don’t care what Sean says, Lilly. Harrison is hands-off—you got that?”
    You’ve gotta be kidding me. Sean is so dead . I managed to swallow the rest of my toast without choking. “What? What are you talking about?”
    Lauren laughed like I had just told the funniest joke ever. “Yeah, don’t even get us started, okay? We know all about it.”
    “All about what?”
    Alexis joined in, laughing just as loud. “Your stupid attempt to get Harrison to notice you. It’s so not going to work, okay? So you might as well bail out now.”
    What in the—? “What are you—?”
    “When Sean told us this morning that you were going to get Harrison to fall for you, we couldn’t stop laughing. I mean, it was that funny.”
    “I can’t wait to tell,” Lauren cackled with glee. Like, serious—old witch cackle.
    Crap . My heart grew cold. “Tell who?” I couldn’t help asking, even though I was pretty sure of the answer.
    “Duh.” Alexis’s sharp gaze connected with mine in the rearview mirror. “Everyone.”
     
     

 
     
     
     
    Chapter 3: I Hate Sean Benally
    I hate Sean Benally. Urgh! Why does he insist on not listening to me? He’s seriously in so much denial that it’s not even funny . Only a stupid guy would think it’d be helpful to mention to the flippin’ popularity contest winners that I was going to take their next prize. Could he have thrown down a bigger gauntlet? Honestly. I’m already a freak to begin with—let’s just make sure the whole school knows now.
    Oh, my gosh. I should’ve ditched. I know it. I totally should’ve opened that stupid BMW’s door and flung myself out while I had the chance. I’d actually thought about it. I’d looked at the door handle and contemplated jumping while we were stopped at a red light. But I didn’t. Princess Buttercup kept me glued to the seat. I mean, I got grounded often enough as it was. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the trouble I’d be in if I actually ditched school. But it was tempting—very tempting.
    “Hey, Mrs. Crawford! Where’s your hubby, Harrison?”
    I ignored the taunt and the name everyone had been calling me since homeroom. Keeping my head down as I hustled toward my locker between my health and science classes turned out to be a massive mistake. Of course, I realized that after I’d slammed my forehead on the tuba case one of the band members carried on his shoulder.
    Oww! That thing was huge! All I could see was black before I flew backwards a couple of steps and collided with two guys from the soccer team. In their defense, they leaned down and tried to save me—they did. But when my heavy backpack knocked one of the guys in the jaw, he grabbed his chin and allowed me the courtesy of landing on the cold tile with a thunk. I felt my books leave bruise marks as they pressed into my spine.
    Everyone laughed.
    Until that moment, I had never thought about how hard it was to get up once you’re teetering on your own backpack. It was hard. After about five tries to flip myself over to my side, a guy offered to give me a hand up. I wouldn’t normally have taken it, but I was desperate.
    I clung to that grip as he pulled me to my feet and tried to drown out the jeers and catcalls all around us.
    “Are you all right?”
    I could barely hear the question. The blood pounded in my ears so loud, I only had one thought. Escape . “Yeah. Uh—thanks,” I mumbled a bit too late and too distractedly to be considered truly grateful. I still hadn’t looked the guy in the face. I didn’t want to. Instead, I spent a few moments adjusting my backpack and coat and searching the ground for anything that might’ve flown out.
    “Are you sure? You took quite a fall. Does anything