Unbearable: Russet Falls Series (2 page)

The boy gasped, his eyes wide, as he stepped back in fear.

Troy took his final, ragged breath, his heart filled with
anger and hate, and then his eyes glazed over.

Gabby quickly straightened her shirt, feeling ruffled after
dealing with such a rude guest. She watched the man hastily depart the lobby
and then rolled her eyes once she was sure he was gone. “Dick,” she muttered
under her breath, as she began rearranging a stack of papers he had knocked
over. Usually people were more than pleasant when they came into the hotel, but
that guy had been a complete jerk. Apparently he thought he was staying at the
Four Seasons and not a quaint little hotel nestled in Russet Falls, Oregon.

“Gabby.” Paul, the manager, was hurrying toward her and he
looked both annoyed and sorry. Gabby wasn’t sure what she did but she braced
herself for whatever he was about to say. “One of the counselors from the high
school just called. They said they need you down there immediately.”

“What?” She felt anger flare within her. What the hell had
Lucy done now?

Paul looked apologetically at her before he spoke again.
“They tried calling your mom but got no answer.”

Of course they got no answer. Gabby’s mom was the town
drunk. “And they said I have to go down now?” she asked, her voice tight.

Paul nodded.

This was the second time this month that Gabby had to go
over to Russet High and deal with Lucy. “I’m going to kill her,’’ she muttered.
“I’m so sorry, Paul,” she quickly apologized. “My mother should be dealing with
this crap.”

Paul nodded understandingly. “It’s alright. Go. It doesn’t
make sense for you to come back today.”

“I’m really sorry.” Gabby realized that she was lucky to
have such an understanding boss. It probably didn’t hurt that Paul had a crush
on her. Gabby hated using that to her advantage, but today she needed it.

She leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, her
ample chest brushing up against him, at which Paul’s fair skin turned bright
pink. “I’ll be in early tomorrow,” she promised. She reached under the check-in
desk to grab her purse and then hurried out of the hotel.

The sky was a brilliant blue, and the air was finally
becoming warm. Well, warm by Oregon standards. Gabby stomped over to her beat
up Dodge Ram and slammed the door as she got in. The truck had belonged to her
father and she wondered how her life would be different if he were still alive.

For starters, Gabby wouldn’t be bailing Lucy’s ass out at
school. And her mother would never have become a drunk. Andrea couldn’t handle
the death of their father, and soon after she began drinking heavily. Gabby had
all but raised Lucy. In fact, Gabby had to force herself to move out of her
mother’s house two years ago, because she knew it was too unhealthy for her to
live there. Lucy had become so rebellious, and yet so dependent on Gabby—it was
a bad combination. She had no idea what Lucy had done this time, but she was
ready to rip her a new one.

Gabby sighed as she turned down the familiar road to the
high school. When Gabby graduated six years ago, she had been more than happy
to leave the place behind her. Yet, here she was. Again.

Slamming the door, Gabby jumped out of the ancient truck and
hurried up the steps to the small school. The secretary, Mrs. Jones, recognized
her immediately and waved her into the office.

“She’s in there with Mrs. Monroe.”

Gabby knocked on the door and a tired Mrs. Monroe answered.

“Hello, Gabrielle. Come on in.”

Gabby walked in and closed the door behind her.

There was Lucy, sitting in the corner chair, her thin arms
crossed and folded on her chest and a snarl on her face.

So not only was Lucy in trouble, but she was also sulking in
the counselor’s office.

Fan-freaking-tastic.

At least Lucy was wise enough not to make eye contact with
Gabby.

“So, can you tell me what it was that called me away from
work today?” Gabby asked, not bothering to hide the annoyance in her voice. She
didn’t care who answered as long as someone told her what the hell was going
on.

She glanced back over at Lucy and noticed that she was
wearing a tight black t-shirt and tight black jeans, along with dark black
boots. Where Lucy was thin and angular, Gabby was soft and curvy. Sometimes it
was hard to believe that the two girls were sisters. And when the hell did Lucy
start wearing all black?

“Would you like to tell your sister what happened?” Mrs.
Monroe asked Lucy. Lucy stared at the wall, pretending she didn’t hear. Mrs.
Monroe sighed. “Fine,” she took a seat across from Gabby. “Your sister thought
it would be funny to hijack the school intercom system today to announce that
this school was a piece of s-h-i-t hellhole and that there were only fourteen
school days left until everyone could get the f-u-c-k out of here.”

Gabby didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The sad thing was
that she understood where Lucy was coming from. Nothing in this town felt more
stifling than the smaller-than-small high school.

Gabby decided she needed to act like the adult here. “Luce,
is that true?”

Lucy nodded, still not meeting her eyes.

“Normally she would be suspended for three days for
something like this,” Mrs. Monroe continued, narrowing her eyes, “but luckily
for your sister, Principal Evans is out today.”

Gabby bit her lip. Lucy was smart as hell. Gabby would bet
her life on the fact that Lucy
knew
Principal Evans was out today and
took full advantage of the fact.

“So since he’s not here, and graduation is only fourteen
days away, as your sister so
kindly
reminded us today, I’m going to cut
her some slack and just send her home for the day.”

She got up and walked around to Lucy, bending over so her
face was inches from Lucy’s face. “You pull another stunt like that before the
end of the school year and I won’t hesitate to suspend you and keep you from
graduating.”

Lucy rolled her eyes.

“Lucy!” Gabby exclaimed. What the hell was she thinking? The
counselor just cut her a break and Lucy was disrespecting her.

“Sorry,” Lucy muttered.

Gabby quickly stood up. She wanted to get the hell out of
here before Mrs. Monroe could reconsider her decision.

“Thank you
so
much, Mrs. Monroe. I promise you that
there will be no more stunts from my sister,” she practically growled.

“I hope not.” Mrs. Monroe, who was actually only a few years
older than Gabby, making her feel ridiculous for having to address her as
Missus,
gave Gabby a patronizing smile. “We did, of course, try to reach your
mother first, but had no luck. I’m sorry that you had to leave work to come get
Lucy.”

Gabby didn’t miss the jab at her mother, but she took the
high road and ignored it. “Well, I’m very sorry you couldn’t reach her, but I
don’t think any of us are surprised.” She turned and looked at Lucy. “Get your
stuff,” she ordered, and Lucy stood up and grabbed her book bag.  “Thanks
again,” Gabby added, even though she wasn’t feeling very thankful.

She walked out of the office and Lucy skulked behind her.

Gabby didn’t say anything until they were almost to the car.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” she exploded, turning
towards Lucy.

Lucy shrank back, her blue eyes wide. “I’m sorry.”

“Bull shit!” Gabby knew that her own blue eyes, the ones
that were identical to Lucy’s, were flashing with anger.

They got in the car and Gabby began driving toward her
mother’s house.

“Three weeks, Lucy. Three fucking weeks! Can you not keep
your shit together for three weeks?”

“I’m sorry,” she repeated.

“Do you know what would have happened if that counselor
didn’t feel like being so generous this afternoon? Do you not want to graduate?
You’re so excited to get the hell out of that school, yet you’re jeopardizing
graduation!”

“Alright, alright. I get it.”

“Do you?” Gabby demanded. “For the love of God, please keep
your shit together for the last three weeks. They are going to be watching you
like a hawk. Evans would just
love
a reason to kick your ass out of
school.”

There was no denying that Principal Evans had it out for
Lucy.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry.” Lucy bit her lip and looked
over at her sister. “But it was pretty funny, wasn’t it?” she asked slyly.

Gabby just shook her head and stared straight ahead. But she
couldn’t stop a small smile from escaping. “Okay, yes, it was funny. But that’s
not the point. You’re going to get into serious trouble, Lucy. Please. I just
need you to keep it together a little while longer.”

Lucy ran a hand through her long, straight, dark hair.

“And when the hell did you start wearing all black?” Gabby
demanded. “It’s so damn depressing.”

Lucy shrugged, staring out the window.

Within a few minutes, Gabby pulled into the driveway of the
rundown house Lucy shared with her mother. Gabby shook her head in dismay at
the overflowing garbage cans sitting out on the curb.

“When was trash day?” Gabby asked tightly.

“Two days ago.”

“Damn her,” Gabby muttered.

They got out of the truck, and Lucy hurried up the crumbling
front steps, pulling out her keys. She opened the door and Gabby followed. Sure
enough, Andrea was sprawled across the living room couch, fast asleep, still
wearing her pajamas. There was an empty vodka bottle on the end table.

“Wake up,” Gabby barked.

“Huh?” Andrea stirred, rubbing at her eyes.

“Get up,” Gabby said, kicking the couch.

“Hey,” she protested.

“Are you not paying the bills again? The trash is festering
out on the street.”

“They forgot to come.”

“Really? Then how come you’re the only house with garbage
cans left out front?”

Andrea shrugged, and closed her eyes. Then she opened them
and looked at Lucy. “Why are you home?”

“Oh, finally noticed?” Gabby scoffed, unable to hide her
disgust. It had been hard to move out of her mother’s house two years ago, but
she was so glad that she did it.

Lucy rolled her eyes. “I got in trouble again.” She stalked
into the kitchen.

Andrea pushed herself up to a sitting position. “What
happened?” she slurred.

“Get yourself together. Go take a shower or something. Then
you can find out about Lucy.” Gabby didn’t look back at her mom and went into
the kitchen with Lucy.

Lucy was rummaging through the cabinets and looking into the
empty refrigerator. “There’s never any food here,” she complained. Gabby
sighed. More often than not, she had to go to the grocery store and stock the
house with groceries.

“Why can’t I come live with you?” Lucy whined, finding an
unopened box of granola bars and helping herself.

Gabby had wrestled with that a lot, but her mother’s house
was much closer to the school, and Gabby’s apartment was only one bedroom and
not technically in the same school district.

“You only have three weeks left of school. Make the best of
it. And you know I don’t have the room for you.”

“I can sleep on the couch.”

“Forever? Then what, Luce? Have you thought any more about
what you want to do after school?”

Lucy let out a bitter laugh, sounding much older than her
seventeen years. “I’m just going to do what everyone else does. Stay in Russet
Falls until I die.”

“Stop. You know that you can do more than that.” Gabby hated
when her sister acted defeated; she was capable of so much more.

“Please. Don’t try to give me advice, Gabby. Look at you!
You stayed here! You graduated six years ago! Why aren’t you out doing anything
important?”

Lucy struck a nerve, and Gabby knew that Lucy had done it on
purpose. Gabby took a deep breath, trying to control herself instead of
exploding at her sister, which is what she wanted to do.

“No answer?” Lucy sniped.

That was it.

“I did it for you!” Gabby spat. “What was I going to do? Run
off to California or Arizona and leave you here with mom? You were twelve,
Lucy! A freaking kid! So, excuse me for sticking around so I could help you.”

Lucy looked contrite. Obviously, she hadn’t thought too much
about it.

“And look how you’ve paid me back!” Gabby remarked. “You’re
about to blow your chances at graduating!”

And before she could say something that she would regret,
she stormed into the bathroom.

Gabby locked the door behind her and braced herself against
the sink, taking deep breaths. She looked up at her reflection and studied
herself. She was pretty, no question, but sometimes she wasn’t sure if she
really saw herself clearly. She had big blue eyes, and her long honey-streaked
chestnut hair hung down her back in natural waves.  She was a curvy girl, and
even though she tried to cover her up her breasts for work, it was hard to do
so. She was wearing a plain, button-down black shirt, and her breasts were
straining against the material.