Secrets of a Southern Belle

Chapter 2

The way Rhett and Parker looked at me was engraved in my brain.  I couldn't stop thinking about what Parker gave Rhett, and how the rumors must be true; it had to be a drug deal.  From the look of their faces, they weren't expecting anyone to be watching them.  Usually, people avoided them like the plague.

Luckily, Rhett and the guys he hangs around don't go to the games, so I won't have to see them.  While thoughts raced in my head, I walked quietly next to my brother, not wanting to say anything about what I saw in the parking lot.

"I heard about you and Blake," Sawyer broke the silence that followed our leave from school.

"Okay."

"Rae, you can't be stirring up trouble with her. You know how her and her family are.  She could easily get you dropped from the debutante." He sighed and grabbed the straps from his backpack as he walked next to me.

"So let her.  I'm only doing this for Mama and Gigi.  I didn't do anything wrong.  She always starts it with me."

Sawyer shook his head and his lips formed straight line. "You are so difficult, you know that?"

I shrugged and changed the subject. "Why are you on your way home anyways?  You have a game in a few hours."

Sawyer combed his hand through his sandy blonde hair, making him look like our dad for a split second. "I forgot my uniform.  Mama washed it for me last night, and I didn't grab them when I left this morning."

"Coach Bedford is gonna be as mad as a box of frogs if you don't get back to that field," I teased, knowing it would rule him up.

"I know," he said with a hint of worry.  "Race ya home?"

A mischievous smile played on my lips as I shoved my brother and took off, causing a cloud of dirt in my wake.

"No fair, Rae!" I heard Sawyer complain before I heard the sound of footsteps catching up to me.

Hot air hit my body as I put all my energy into running.  Because of my little stunt, I was still ahead of my brother until we reached our house.  As I slowed down, Sawyer caught up with me and shoved me lightly, causing me to laugh.

"You are such a cheat, you know that?" Sawyer accused as we walked up the white steps onto the porch.

"Work smarter, not harder." I stuck out my tongue.

"Your sister is right.  It's that kind of thinking that gets you ahead," my grandma butted in.

She was sitting on the porch swing smoking a cigarette and knitting what looked like a blanket.  Her dyed, reddish brown hair was up in a messy bun, and her honey-brown eyes showed humor as she looked at us.  She's always been a witty, fun, wild lady.  Before my grandpa died, he used to tell us all kinds of stories about how she would get them in trouble by sneaking out to go to the creek or parties.  She's never acted her age according to my mom. She made me and Sawyer call her Gigi because she said that "grandma", "grams", and any other nickname made her sound old.

"Gigi, you always take her side!  She shoved me so she could get a head start," Sawyer argued, clearly annoyed.

"Oh, no I don't," she scoffed.  "How do I know you didn't deserve it?"

"I didn't do anything!"

Our attention moved to my mom when we heard the screen door slam.  She had a scolding look on her face, and by the way her head was tilting at me and my grandma, I knew that we were in trouble.

"Why do y'all have to pick on him all the time?"

Gigi and I shared an amused look, trying not to look my mom in the eye.  When we are together, we tend to get in all sorts of trouble.