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SADIE
Looking up to the sky,I winced at the low rumble warning us it would storm soon. I watched as the dark clouds rolled in earlier in the evening than usual for this time of year.
Looking left and then right, I couldn't see Alyssa through the thick crowds of people.
It was Rally Day in the small town of Waterford, Texas. The people here bled red and black, and Rally Day was an annual tradition. A tradition that shut the town down. There was no school. No work. It was a local holiday.
The whole town showed up on the Friday before the first game of the season to idolize the players and coaches and wish them a good season, but it was really an opportunity for the team to round up their Rally Girls for the season.
After the festival, there would be a huge party at the team house for the Rally Girl initiation. Which I assumed had to do with acts of sexual services, but I didn't know for sure because I was the town outcast and didn't go to parties. My best friend, Alyssa, and I loathed football and everything that came with it, including the players.
I'd never attended a pep rally, a game, or the Rally Day festival until today. I didn't want to be here now, but I'd gotten a text from Alyssa telling me she was going. I'd figured her roommate coerced her into it, and I knew how much she'd hate it, so I decided to save her, but I hadn't been able to find her.
As I shoved my way through the crowds of people, I could feel their eyes burning through me. I stood out like a sore thumb. The entire town was dressed in red and black spirit colors, and I was not. I refused to wear anything supporting something so barbaric.
The roar of the crowd grew louder as the players passed on their way out. The football players in this town were untouchable. They didn't have to pass their classes or follow the rules like the rest of us. They could get away with almost anything, but eight players on the team were invincible They were known as The Untouchable 8. After all, the town needed these eight players to win the game. Even during the off-season, they were still untouchable.
The entire team passed as if in slow motion, followed by The Untouchable 8; Jayden De Luca #25, Ethan McIntyre #86, KJ Bryant #23, Taylor Holten #42, Adam Davis #10, Carter Hall #35, Caleb White #4, and Rocky Lane #72.
Jayden De Luca wasn’t just the quarterback—he was the ringleader of the football cult. Jayden was every college girl’s dream, tall, dark, and handsome, if you were into that kind of thing. He was a senior at Brigham University. Nobody made a decision without his approval, and if he told them to jump off a 200-foot-tall bridge, they would do it without hesitation.
Pulling out my phone from my back pocket, I rolled my eyes. It was just football, but this town acted like they were Gods, and the sport was oxygen. I hit Alyssa's name on my phone before pulling it up to my ear. It went straight to voicemail. This wasn't like her.
The fairgrounds would stay packed all night and well into tomorrow morning. The fair was nothing but a distraction to keep the town occupied while The Untouchable 8 did whatever they wanted to whomever they wanted. Not that anyone would care.
Lightning illuminated the dark sky as the rain began to trickle down.
"Sadie?" Drew arched his dark brow. "What are you doing here?" Drew was a friend even though he was just as wrapped up in football as the rest of the town. He was also my neighbor and knew I never went to these events.
"I'm trying to find Alyssa," I said, wiping a raindrop from my cheek with the back of my hand.
"Oh," he said, surprised. "She left with the team a while ago. I believe she went back to the party house."
"Like willingly?" I frowned.
"I gotta go," he said, pointing to his girlfriend across the field.
There was no way Alyssa went willingly.
two
SADIE
Stepping into the house,I scanned the room, hoping to spot Alyssa quickly and get the hell out of there. The music's bass vibrated the walls of the house, and the smell of cheap alcohol and stale weed sifted through the air.
Moving toward the stairwell, I spotted her. Alyssa was hanging over Taylor's broad shoulder, one of the Untouchables. Her clothes were torn, and she appeared out of it, but I couldn't tell from this distance. I bolted up the stairwell, shoving past the masses of partygoers and taking the steps two at a time.
Reaching the top, my gaze flicked down to the partygoers, utterly clueless about what was happening on the second floor. Or maybe they didn't care that The Untouchable 8 were dragging innocent girls up here and doing God knows what to them. I took off in the direction I saw them carrying Alyssa and slammed face-first into the rock-hard bare chest of Adam.
His deep blue eyes raked over the length of me like I was his next meal.Adam was the shortest of all the Untouchables and still towered over me.
"What do we have here?" Adam purred, rubbing the facial stubble on his chin as he studied me. I took a step back and slammed into someone else. "Look who came to play, KJ." They both took a step forward, pressing themselves firmly against me and sandwiching me between them.
"Get off of me." I shoved at Adam’s bare, sculpted chest, but he didn’t budge. Adam was the only Untouchable who didn't have any tattoos or piercings, or at least none that I could see.
Alarms blared in my head, warning me of imminent danger. I was not going to be their next victim. Anger raced through my veins as the adrenaline pumped. I wouldn't go down without a fight.
