“Yep,” I say without shame. “And I’m trying to protect you when I say stay away from the neighbors.”
After what she told me about the Porterson brothers, I’m even more desperate to keep my sisters away from them. Parentless. Troublemakers. Twins. Their family is practically the male version of ours, except I’d like to believe we’re not quite as bad. I don’t know how accurate that is. Over the years, my sisters and I have done our fair share of bad stuff, though I don’t think people have ever referred to us as dangerous. Just trouble.
Still, put the eight of us together and it’ll be the makings of a disaster.
“Wait, don’t they have a sister?” I ask, recalling the girl who warned me about her brothers.
Payton nods, flipping her hair off her shoulder. “And she gets into just as much trouble as her brothers.” Payton pops a piece of gum into her mouth. “You know what? Maybe I should see if I can dig up more dirt on them today, just so we know what to watch out for.”
I shake my head. “Stay away from them. I mean it.”
“Okay.” But the mischievous glint in her eyes lets me know she’s full of shit.
Sighing, I get out of the car, and my sisters follow. We start across the parking lot toward the entrance doors of the single-story, brick school. We’re early, only a handful of students are around, but we somehow manage to draw attention.
“Why are they staring?” Londyn whispers. “Do I have toilet paper stuck to my shoe or something?”
I glance at her feet. “Nope. You’re good.”
“Maybe it’s because we’re new,” Bailey suggests, glancing around the campus yard uneasily. “This is a small town. They probably know we’re new.”
“Maybe.” But I have an unsettling feeling the dirty looks we’re getting have nothing to do with our newbie status.
My doubt only escalates when we enter the school and the few people standing by their lockers start whispering and snickering in our direction.
Something is definitely going on, and I have a feeling it has to do with dipshit one, two, three, and four—yes, for now, I’m putting Rhyland in that category, too.
A second later, my suspicions are confirmed when I note the flyers taped to the lockers.
“What are those?” Bailey whispers, eyeballing them.
I pluck one off and start to read, anger rippling through me.
Everyone, I’d like to introduce you to the Harlyton sisters. They just moved here and will be joining our little student body population. The first thing you should know about them is they are quite the little kleptomaniacs. They can also be very manipulative. And according to some of their police records, they like to solve their problems with violence.
Below the note is a list of every crime my sisters and I have ever committed, along with a mugshot of Payton and Bailey, and yes, of me. Londyn is the only one of us who hasn’t been arrested yet, but one of her yearbook photos is included. Even crimes never reported to the police are on there.
How did they learn all this?
Londyn leans over my shoulder to read it. “Wait. Is that a list of all the times we’ve gotten in trouble?”
Nodding, I crumple up the paper and begin ripping down the rest of them. We’re early enough that maybe I can stop everyone from seeing them. Then again, the few people who already have seen them are more than likely going to gossip about it.
“Do you think the Porterson brothers did this?” Londyn hisses as she rushes after me while Payton takes off toward the bathroom.
“I’ll go check on her,” Bailey says, jogging after her.
I rip off more flyers and toss them into the trash can. “I don’tthinkthey did it. Iknowthey did.”
Londyn tears a flyer off a locker, her fingers slightly trembling. “How did they find all this dirt on us?”
I shrug, tearing a flyer in half. “I’m not sure.” But I do know why they probably started searching for the info.
Back when I spoke to Rhyland, I accidentally let it slip that my sisters got in trouble and sometimes even with the police.
This is all my fault.
I need to find a way to fix it, whatever it takes.