Page 124 of Valley Girls
Rilla shrugged. “I miss it. Sometimes.
Jonah was quiet for a moment. He sniffed and looked away. “It’s shitty to hear the things we are afraid everyone is saying. And shitty that they didn’t think you were being honest. But I mean, have you talked to them about it?”
Rilla clenched her jaw. “I just thought. I thought this would be different.”
“People are shitty. Friends can be shitty. I don’t think it means they aren’t your friends. That’s certainly a better option than running home to West Virginia, don’t you think?”
Rilla was about to say something snotty in reply when the sound of a rock tumbling caught her attention.
They both froze and looked at each other.
What was that?Rilla furrowed her brow.
Jonah grimaced, looking worried.
It wasn’t that people didn’t know about the couch—most everyone in HUFF used it. It was that people announced themselves. One rock tumbling could be a squirrel. A coyote. A deer? A bear ...
She crept over to the edge and peeked over the rock to look down the trail.
A tan Stetson stood at the bottom, waiting.
Or a Ranger Miller.
Shit. Shit. Shit. If he caught her up here smoking weed, he’d definitely be able to drag her back to Thea’s like AHA.
“COPS,” she mouthed to Jonah.
He looked confused and didn’t move.
She grabbed the stuff and chucked it as far into the trees as she could.
“Hey—” Jonah started to protest but she slapped a hand over his mouth and shushed him. Was that it? She patted his pockets just to be sure, pulling out an empty bag. Quickly, she put a rock inside and threw that too.
He made a squeak as it sailed to the ground.
“So, yeah,” she said, letting go and trying to sound casual as she sat back down beside him. Her hands trembled. “People are the worst,” she said.
He glared at her. “Yeah. They really are.”
“Good afternoon,” Ranger Miller interrupted, suddenly appearing over the top of the trail.
Thank god he’d bumbled the sneak up. Rilla tried not to look guilty as she turned over her shoulder and looked up at him. “Afternoon.”
“I smell some paraphernalia. Have you been smoking weed?”
“Nope.”
“It rises out of the Valley,” Jonah said.
She wanted to elbow him, but it’d be too obvious.
“Rilla, I think you should come with me anyway. I don’t feel comfortable leaving you up here alone with an older boy. Your sister would be upset.”
“What?” Rilla asked. “You can’t do that.”
“I’m doing it. Let’s go.”
Normally, she would have fought him. Dug her heels in. What did she care about getting in trouble? But with Thea’s future on the line, she didn’t want to risk it. “Fine,” she snapped.
