Chapter 2

Travis had played it cool with Austin since meeting him. But after seeing how Austin handled himself, Travis decided it was in his best interest to make him a friend. Luke and the other football players gave Travis a hard time when Maverick wasn’t around. If they saw he was also friends with Austin ... maybe it would stop.

When Travis came downstairs for breakfast, he discovered his dad had already left for the day. That meant his stepmom would drive them to school.

“I think we should let Austin ride with us today,” Maverick said, catching Travis flat-footed.

He’d been about to make the same suggestion and noted that Nora intently listened for Kelly’s answer.

“He can ride the bus. Your dad told me he was in a fight yesterday, so I don’t want any of you spending any time with him. I don’t condone violence for any reason and don’t want your reputations tarnished because you associate with that type of person,” Kelly said.

“Then I’ll ride the bus,” Maverick said.

From his stepmom’s expression, she hadn’t expected Maverick to go against anything she said.

“Me, too,” Travis said.

Kelly looked at Nora, who flinched. Travis could tell his sister wanted to rebel, too, but she wilted under Kelly’s glare.

“I’ll ride with you.”

“At least someone has some common sense. When your father gets home tonight, be prepared to explain yourselves,” Kelly said and left the kitchen.

Travis and Maverick looked at their sister.

“What?” she said defensively. “Kelly’s taking me shopping this week for a new dress for the school dance on Friday. You know she would never take me if I went against her on that. After what you two just did, you might not even get to go.”

“Fine with me,” Travis said, mainly because no girl had ever looked at him.

Maverick looked a bit worried because he’d asked Tina Wilkens to the dance. It would be their first date. He even got his dad to agree to let him take the truck, which was a big deal. Maverick hadn’t been able to drive since it got keyed in the high school parking lot last fall. His dad had taken away his driving privileges and hadn’t restored them since.

At least their dad hadn’t made them ride the bus. He or Kelly would take them back and forth to school.

On more than one occasion, Travis had wondered why his sister hadn’t gotten her driver’s license yet. She’d gone to take the test three times since her birthday but hadn’t passed. She claimed she wasn’t a good test-taker, which was a blatant lie: Nora did just fine, getting A’s on all her report cards. But no one was talking about whatever the problem really might be.

“You don’t think...?” Maverick worried.

“Dad knows what this means to you,” Travis assured his brother. “Plus, he likes Austin and his dad. He’ll straighten this out with Kelly.”

None of the kids could bring themselves to call her ‘mom,’ which she would love. She finally said that ‘Kelly’ was fine until they felt comfortable. Travis predicted that would be ... uhm ... never.

“You two should start for the bus, or you might be walking today,” Nora said, pointing to the clock.

Maverick flipped his sister off, but it was accompanied by a smile, so Travis knew he didn’t mean it.

Austin was waiting for the bus when he spotted Travis and Maverick hustling up the drive. The bus stopped, and as he got on, he said, “Two more are coming.”

The bus driver glared at him, but Austin stood in the doorway until Travis got there. He walked down the aisle and spotted the girl from yesterday; she had an open spot next to her. Today, she patted her seat to get him to join her, but he spotted some empty seats further back, so he kept going. Travis sat next to him, with Maverick sitting behind them.

“Why didn’t you sit with Macey?” Travis asked.

“Who?” Austin asked.

“The girl with the empty seat.”

“I don’t think she likes me.”

“She looked disappointed when you didn’t sit beside her,” Maverick said.

“Why are you guys on the bus?” Austin asked, trying to change the subject.

“If you’re riding the bus, so are we,” Travis said.

Austin knew there must be more to this than Travis said, but let it go.

Travis began telling him about his brother’s big date on Friday night. Austin had seen the posters but hadn’t planned to go.

“Which one is she?” Austin asked, turning back toward Maverick.

“She’s just a girl.”

“If you mean the hottest non-cheerleader,” Travis said and ducked as Maverick took a swipe at his head and missed.

“You mean the cute junior who was checking out my butt?” Austin teased.

Maverick didn’t miss this time. Austin stopped goofing around and got serious.

“You saw what happens when you do stuff like that to me,” he growled.

Maverick rolled his eyes, which caused Austin to laugh. He noted that Travis had bought his attempt at bluffing his brother. Travis nervously laughed, too.

The bus pulled up in front of the school. Just as Austin got off, Kelly pulled up and let Nora out. As Nora walked off, Kelly rolled down the passenger side window, leaned across the console, and called out his name. Austin stepped over to the window to find out what she wanted.

“I’m told you were in a fight yesterday.”

“It wasn’t much of a fight. Luke tried to bully me, so I put a stop to it. He had it coming,” Austin said.

When Kelly heard the word ‘bully,’ she stiffened slightly.

“I don’t want to hear about you getting into any more fights. Is that clear?”

“Yes, ma’am. I figure after yesterday, no one will mess with me, so there’ll be no need,” Austin said.

The first bell rang.

“You better get to class,” Kelly said, then rolled up the window and drove away.

Austin noticed that kids he’d seen being picked on yesterday seemed to find him in the halls and walk with him to their class. But only Travis spoke to him. Austin had brought his lunch so he didn’t have to deal with Luke or his friends.

He walked outside, sat on a bench, and got out his peanut butter sandwich with jalapeno jelly. His dad had spotted the jelly at the store, and they’d decided to try it. Austin decided his dad was a wuss because it wasn’t all that hot. It did make his sandwich a bit iffy, though.

“I’ll trade you half a sandwich,” a girl said.

He looked up, and it was the girl from the bus.

“You sure?” Austin asked, noting that she had pimiento cheese.

“Sure.”

He traded, and they each took a bite of the other’s creation. Macey began to chew but suddenly stopped and looked at Austin, then smiled as she swallowed.

“You could warn a girl.”

“I thought people in Texas like spicy food.”

“They do, but not on a peanut butter sandwich. My mom just canned some strawberry-rhubarb jam. I’ll bring you a proper sandwich tomorrow,” Macey offered.

He noticed a couple of girls were hanging around, looking at them.

“What’s their deal?” Austin asked.

“They’re my friends, and they’re shy. They want to sit with us.”