Page 37 of My Heart to Keep
I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. I didn’t know why I was laughing when she was accusing me. “Now why would I do that?” I was beyond curious who would actually do that and why.
Celia nudged me as she pointed at a girl pinned against a locker by none other than my sweet pig, Beast.
I wiped tears from my eyes, my fit of giggles dying a quick death. My first thought was that Daddy was going to have someone’s head on a platter, and I sure hoped it wasn’t mine. The way bad luck was glued to my butt, I was sure I would be the one to blame.
I strutted toward my pig as the hall cleared out in an instant.
Beast snorted, sniffing the blonde’s leg. So many questions pummeled me at once. It almost made my brain hurt.
“Beast,” I said sweetly. “Now how did you get here?”
“Who cares?” the blonde cried. “Just get the disgusting animal away from me. I hate pigs.”
I crouched down to Beast as I addressed the girl. “They are one of the sweetest and smartest animals.”
Beast pushed his nose into my hand as the blonde bolted down the hall.
“More pigs are coming!” Tessa shouted at the top of her lungs. “Quinn, you’re evil. They’re going to kill someone.”
I gritted my teeth as Godfrey, my spotted black pig, came up to Beast, followed by Momma’s favorite, our white pig, Lola, the runt of the three. Momma occasionally let her into the kitchen when she was cooking a roast. Lola loved carrots.
“Oh, please,” Celia said. “Pigs don’t kill.”
I didn’t have to look to know that Celia had rolled her eyes at Tessa.
“Why do they have numbers painted on them?” I asked.
The only people in the hall besides me were Celia and Tessa, who was hanging on to Celia for dear life.
“How did they get here?” Celia asked.
That was the million-dollar question.
Footsteps clamored down the hall before Dustin appeared and marched up to us. His eyes were wide, but something about his grin was off. “What in the world? Must be a senior prank.” Dustin bent down and petted Lola. “She’s cute.”
“What do you mean, senior prank?” I asked.
“Why else would they be here?” he asked as Tessa slinked up, seemingly brave all of a sudden.
It figured she wouldn’t show how scared she was in front of her boyfriend.
Celia commandeered Godfrey, who had a mind of his own, trotting down the hall in the direction of the cafeteria. “Come on, little guy. We need to get you out of here.”
High heels clicked on the floor behind me. “What the hell?” Principal Sanders’s voice blared.
I blanched as I shuddered. With my luck, I would get suspended because the pigs belonged to me.
The principal loomed over me as I petted Beast. “Whose pigs are these, and why are they in my school?”
“They belong to Quinn,” Tessa rushed out. “She probably did this.”
I snarled at the girl I wanted to strangle. “You probably did this,” I fired back, even though Tessa wouldn’t go near a farm animal to save her life.
Tessa half smiled. “I wouldn’t dirty my hands with these disgusting creatures.”
Dustin cocked his head at his girl as if to say, “Really?”
Whatever.
