Pack of Lies Read online

  PACK OF LIES

  Book One of the Red Ridge Pack

  by Sara Dailey and Staci Weber

  Copyright 2012 Sara Dailey and Staci Weber

  Smashwords Edition

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  PUBLISHER’S NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, business establishments or persons, living or dead, is coincidental. Boroughs Publishing Group does not have any control over and does not assume responsibility for author or third-party websites, blogs or critiques or their content.

  PACK OF LIES

  Copyright © Sara Dailey and Staci Weber 2012

  All rights reserved. Unless specifically noted, no part of this publication may be reproduced, scanned, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Boroughs Publishing Group. The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or by any other means without the permission of Boroughs Publishing Group is illegal and punishable by law. Participation in the piracy of copyrighted materials violates the author’s rights.

  ISBN: 978-0-9848988-6-2

  Digital edition by GoPublished

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  To our friends and family; you know who you are.

  You are my hunger

  Bellowing from the deepest part of me

  A forsaken howling, cracked and twisted

  Wrapping me in rambling delight

  To be without you, shall remove me completely

  Laying me down in the shadow of yesterday’s dusk

  Blanketing this blooming instant, my craving locked in dusty arms

  Leaving my vessel dripping in tears, my heart the faintest murmur

  Wandering between exile and infinity, this professed crooked love

  By Jordan Mantell

  Table of Contents

  PART I.

  Allison’s Story

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  PART II

  Allison, Kendall, and Cade

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  PART I

  Allison’s Story

  Chapter 1

  ALLISON

  “I said break it up, ladies!”

  Principal Murphy’s voice barely registered before someone grabbed me and pulled me away from the little bobble-head who was still swinging. With my vision still narrowed and my fists clenched, I tried to regain some sense of self-control as I shook off Coach Cole’s grip on my arm. Coach gave me a sympathetic look and warned, “Not again, Alli! When are you going to learn?”

  Glaring back and forth between us both, Principal Murphy ordered, “Miss Hades, my office, now! And Miss Wright… well, just go see the counselor again. I will get to you later.”

  I could still hear the principal griping at Tiffany as he led her toward the front office. This was not my fault this time. The wench had it coming.

  I had barely taken a step inside the counselor’s office before she laid into me. “Sit down, Miss Wright. Listen, I know you don’t want to be here; no one wants to be here, but it’s either me or Officer Daniels and trust me, you’re better off talking to me,” declared Mrs. Parker, the very young, very inexperienced guidance counselor at South Shore High School.

  Definitely preferring to deal with this little pixy-stick rather than the school police officer—affectionately nicknamed Zero by the student body for his zero tolerance policy—I sat, but not because I was scared, only because I hoped she might go easy on me if I played nice. This wasn’t my first visit.

  As I watched Mrs. Parker open my file, adjust her reading glasses, and clear her throat; I found myself wondering when my file became so big that it needed to be held with both hands. I’m really not a bad kid. Seriously. It was just that lately trouble seemed to be following me around.

  Parker sat back in her chair and huffed as she heaved my file onto her desk. As my multitude of office referrals spread across the desk and onto the floor, she said, “Really Allison, three major fights this semester already? It’s barely October. What on earth is going on with you?”

  There it was. The million dollar question. I took a moment, just to make her think that I was thinking about what on earth was going on with me. I think it’s safe to say that there was a lot going on with me, but surely she didn’t think I was going to sit here and spill my guts to a guidance counselor, for Christ’s sake. How pathetic does she think I am?

  I counted slowly to ten in my head before I responded, “Nothing, I’m fine,” and went back to picking at my nails. What exactly did she expect me to say? I could have said a hell of a lot. Like that every girl in this school suddenly seems to have a problem with me. That I can’t go anywhere without them giving me dirty looks or making crude comments. And then there’s my favorite. Apparently, I’m out to steal anyone’s boyfriend that I come across, and therefore, I must be a slut.

  What is with girls and the word “slut” anyway? Knowing I haven’t had much experience with the opposite sex, I should just let it roll off my back, right? But slut is like the worst thing a girl can call another girl. And for some reason, the entire female body at South Shore High seems to be in agreement that I am, in fact, a complete and utter slut.

  I wasn’t going to tell Mrs. Parker what it had really been like for me for the past two months. She could just sit there, take her little notes, and pass my file on to the principal so that he could give me yet another consequence that I didn’t deserve.

  Parker looked at me over the top of her too-trendy read
ing glasses and admonished, “Look, Allison, you’re going to have to do better than that. You are well on your way to the alternative high school, and the only reason you aren’t there already is because you don’t seem to be the instigator in all of this nonsense. But there has to be some reason why you were involved in three major fights, and who knows how many other minor altercations that weren’t reported.”

  That did it. There was no way I was going to listen to her put this all on me. Yeah, I had planned to just sit there and listen to her “advice,” but now she was acting like this was all my fault. So instead, like usual as of lately, I stood up, looked down on the pixy, and snapped, “Look, I don’t know why, okay. I don’t know why all of a sudden every girl in this school hates me. I don’t know why guys that I have never even glanced at think that they can grab my ass in the hallway. I don’t understand how people who I have been friends with for years don’t want to talk to me or be seen with me in the cafeteria anymore. I have lost everyone, my best friend, my boyfriend, even the girls I have been friends with since elementary school. And I don’t know why. Why don’t you tell me? You tell me Mrs. Parker, you’re the expert, right? Tell me why I don’t have a single friend anymore except my brother.”

  I had no idea why or when it started, but tears were rolling down my face, and I was yelling at this poor lady who looked as shocked by my outburst as I was. So much for playing it cool. Now, I felt like I needed to apologize for putting that expression on her face. It’s not really her fault that everything was so screwed up.

  I took a deep breath, sat back down, and calmly said, “I’m sorry Mrs. Parker. That was out of line. I didn’t mean to yell at you like that. It’s just so frustrating. Everything is just kind of falling apart and I don’t know what to do.”

  Mrs. Parker handed me a tissue and walked around her desk to sit in the seat next to me. She took off her glasses and said, “Honey… it’s okay. And if you don’t mind me being brutally honest, I will tell you why you have no friends, girlfriends at least.”

  Seriously? Wiping my mascara-smeared eyes, I nodded my head ready for her to enlighten me.

  “Now, listen closely ’cause this is a life lesson,” she said scooting a little closer to me.

  “Are you listening?” She paused to make sure I was paying close attention. “Females can be catty, conniving, evil bitches. And for the most part, we don’t like women who are better looking than we are,” she admitted in hushed tones, as if someone nearby might hear.

  I couldn’t help but smile a little at Mrs. Parker, the sweet little guidance counselor saying “bitches.”

  “You may not have noticed or maybe you have, but you are certainly not the same young woman you were last year. You have changed, and even I have noticed the attention—good and bad—that you are getting because of it.”

  This lady can’t be serious. “I’m sorry Mrs. Parker, but I don’t buy it. My brother and I look just alike, and he has more friends than he can count. Nobody hates him, or spreads rumors about him, or starts fights with him. He’s like Mr. Popularity around here.”

  “The rules are different for guys like your brother. Let me be honest with you,” she said sitting back in her chair. “I promised myself I would never say this to a student, or my own children, for that matter. In fact, it’s one of my pet peeves, but in your case I think it’s actually true. They’re jealous. All of them. Every girl and probably even a few teachers in this school. Jealously can do strange things to people.”

  I just stared at her like she had lost her mind, she continued, “Alli, you are taller, stronger, and more beautiful than any other girl in this school, and let’s face it child, you have a killer body too. And to top it all off, you seem to be a genuinely nice person. Girls really hate people like you. You are their ultimate competition, and they know they don’t stack up, so instead, they’ve evidently chosen to make your life miserable.”

  Wow, this woman was really nuts. How was I supposed to respond to that? Yes, Mrs. Parker, I have noticed how hot I am and how great my tits and ass look lately. Jeez! I always thought it would be great to be that girl, but for the record, it sucks.

  “So what am I supposed to do about it?” I asked, hoping she just might have the answer I’ve been looking for.

  “Well, there’s not much you can do, dear. Hmmmm, let’s see. Why don’t we start with not hitting anybody?” she suggested with sarcasm oozing from her pores.

  Yeah, now there’s some advice I could use.

  So I guess when some hussy is accusing me of trying to hit on her man, I’m just supposed to ignore it. Well, that was unlikely to happen any time soon.

  Parker’s you-know-I’m-right smirk was starting to piss me off. How could she think it would be that simple?

  “But it’s not my fault. They push me and push me until I can’t take it. I seriously think they are trying to get me kicked out or something.”

  “Well, don’t let them win. I know it sounds cliché Allison, but you need to be the bigger person and just walk away.”

  ***

  When I wandered out of Parker’s office, the school secretary gave me an unsympathetic look as she informed me that my mom was here and had just gone in to see Principal Murphy. I could only imagine how that was going. I just hoped that I was still a student at South Shore come morning and not a new member of the Creek Alternative Education School.

  Not wanting to sit in the office with the school secretary’s opinionated glare, I politely requested that she let my mom know that I would be waiting in my car. The dismissal bell rang, and as I walked out to the parking lot, I carefully avoided all eye contact, trying to “be the bigger person” and all. With my eyes on the ground, I didn’t see anyone coming until I ran right into the last person I wanted to see. I looked up startled, only to find, Julie, my ex-best friend. Her eyes shot up from her iPhone, and she said, “Oh… hey.”

  “Hey Julie. How ya been?” I asked, hoping she might stop to talk, but instead she just kept walking and finishing her text. I turned to watch her pass, feeling the familiar sting that still gets me even after all this time. How could she just forget how close we once were? It was by no means the first time I had tried to rekindle our friendship, and the outcome has always been the same.

  I got in my car and turned the A/C on full blast. Leaning my head against the window, I closed my eyes and tried to focus on cooling down. It has been hotter than hell lately, everywhere I went, which is not entirely unusual in Texas, but it was weird. I didn’t sweat. It was like I was hot on the inside. A fever maybe?

  The more I thought about it, the more I was convinced that I was definitely coming down with something. It was not just being hot; my vision had been a little funny too. Not blurry or hazy or anything, just different. And on top of that, I kept getting these waves of nausea from all these funky smells in the air. I swear some people don’t wear enough deodorant, and if I smell one more girl with vanilla body spray, I might just have to hurl.

  Really… could life get any suckier? Not only was I a social pariah, but a sick one at that. There should be a rule or something that everything is not allowed to go wrong all at once. Right?

  I was half-way to dreamland when my brother, Aiden, started pounding on the windshield.

  “Yo, Balboa! I heard you kicked Tiffany Hades’s ass. When are those dumb broads gonna learn not to mess with my little sis, huh?”

  I opened the car door and got out, glad to see a friendly face, the only friendly face I knew lately.

  “Tiffany is a dumb-ass, and she had it coming,” I replied.

  “Well, I can’t exactly argue with that,” he said as he threw his arm over my shoulder, leading me toward the gym.

  “Come on, Al. Walk me to practice.”

  We walked in silence for a minute or so, and then with a heavy sigh, Aiden asked, “So, what are we gonna do about you? You can’t keep beating up all the pretty girls. Who will I take to prom?”

  “That’s not funny, and it’s not
my fault. Her loser boyfriend grabbed my ass in the hall, and she just happened to be standing right there. Apparently, Tiffany saw that as my fault.”

  “Thomas? Thomas did what? What an asshat! He should know better than to mess with my little sis. I may just have to kill him now,” Aiden said with a tough-guy smile.

  I couldn’t deny that Aiden had taken pretty good care of me since I went from something to nothing in no time flat. He was well aware that people talked mess about me constantly and have written me off the who’s who list, but he didn’t care what they thought. And he certainly didn’t let anyone bad-mouth me when he was around. Honestly, I didn’t know what I would do without him. He was the closest friend that I have ever had, and currently my only friend, though that hadn’t always been the case.

  But as close as we are, Aiden and I are polar opposites. He’s funny and outgoing, and of course, the most popular guy at every high school in the greater Houston area. There was even a rumor that he was nominated for homecoming king at our rival school, Bay Creek, which I had no doubt was true. He plays every sport, makes straight As, has more girls after him than he can handle, and is a good four inches taller than me, and I’m five foot ten. He has green eyes and dark brown hair instead of my hazel eyes and blonde hair, but we both have an olive complexion, yet somehow, I’m hated and he is adored.

  Again, Aiden took a deep breath and said, “I don’t know what to tell you, Al. Just don’t let them get to you. Tiffany’s an idiot, and everyone knows it.”

  “I know, but…”

  “Just do me a favor? Don’t get kicked out of school. Okay?”

  He smiled at me, and took off into the locker room before I could tell him that it might be too late.

  I turned around and headed back to my car, just in time to see one very angry mom heading straight toward me.

  Chapter 2

  ALLISON

  Since arriving home, I had only one goal in mind—completely avoid my parents at all costs. Mom didn’t say a word to me. Instead, she just stomped along with down-cast eyes until we arrived at my car, and then without a word, she stomped away toward her own. Not too sure what to think of that. She looked as though she had plenty to say, but for some unknown reason, evidently decided to hold off for a bit.