Free Love Heals All by Addie McKenna Page A

“What? It makes your skin soft! I swear I don’t wear makeup!” she explained. We all laughed as she handed me one of those little pad things.
    I lifted it up to my face and removed the concealer, wincing as the pad slid over my skin. When the girls saw the bruise, they all gasped.
    â€œI’m killing a bish!” Ella yelled, popping up out of her beanbag.
    â€œLet’s get a shovel!” Bailey screamed, standing up next to her.
    â€œShe’s dead!” the other girls yelled.
    â€œThanks, guys, but no. She said if I told anyone, she would do it more, and worse,” I said.
    That’s when the guys came in.
    Hayes
    â€œGuys, let’s go see what they’re talking about,” Jonah said with a smirk on his face.
    â€œYeah!” all the other guys said, except for me. They all looked at me for approval.
    â€œAre you sure? I mean, I don’t want to intrude on their personal conversations or anything,” I told them uneasily.
    â€œOh, come on, Hayes—stop being a wussy!” Nash said, and he pulled me up out of my seat.
    â€œFine, I’ll go. God!”
    â€œYay!” Cameron yelled.
    â€œShut up, or they’ll hear us!” Jonah whisper-yelled.
    We silently walked up the set of stairs to the game room.
    We got to the door and put our ears to it so we could hear everything. I think they’d just started talking, so we’d be able to hear the entire conversation.
    â€œWell, um, you know when I went to the bathroom at IHOP, and so did Ashley?” I think Autumn said. “So I guess she followed me in there, and she was saying how I was just using Hayes and the guys for fame and stuff like that. But she said she knew ”—yep, that’s Autumn talking—“I was using him because she was doing the same thing with Carter.” We heard them all gasp and looked at Carter. He was pale as a ghost. Bart started to rub his back in a soothing way.
    â€œAfter she said that to me, I kinda went off on her, telling her that I hadn’t known who Hayes and Nash were before I met them, and that I’ve known Cameron all my life, and that I fell in love with the real Hayes, not the famous one.” They all awwed, and I smirked. “I also said that she didn’t know anything about me, like I didn’t know anything about her, except that she was a coldhearted tramp that was looking for fame from one of the nicest people I know.” We all smiled at Carter, and he blushed.
    â€œYou go, girl!” Abbie yelled. She’s exactly like Jonah.
    â€œBut then the next thing was unexpected: she slapped me, hard !” Autumn said. My face went red in anger. I was about to barge in there, but all the guys held me back.
    â€œBut you can’t see anything, so that’s good,” Alyssa said. She’s just like Aaron, sees the good in everything.
    â€œDoes anybody have makeup remover?” Autumn asked tentatively. We guys looked at one another, confused.
    â€œI do!” Aly said.
    â€œ What? She’s only eleven!” Bart whispered.
    â€œWhat? It makes your skin soft! I swear I don’t wear makeup!” We all snickered.
    It was silent for a second until we heard the girls gasp. My face hardened.
    â€œI’m killing a bish!” Ella yelled.
    â€œLet’s get a shovel!” Bailey screamed.
    â€œShe’s dead!” the other girls yelled.
    â€œThanks, guys, but no. She said if I told anyone, she would do it more, and worse,” Autumn said.
    That’s when the guys and I stepped into the game room.

Autumn
    â€œWHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE HIT YOU?” Hayes screamed.
    â€œNo, Hayes, calm down. It—”
    â€œCALM DOWN? I CAN’T CALM DOWN WHEN MY GIRLFRIEND GETS HURT! AND YOU’RE ALREADY HURT ON TOP OF THAT! OH, SHE’S GONNA GET IT, I SWEAR!” he ranted. His hands were flying around in the air, and he was pacing back and forth. It was crazy.
    â€œHayes, calm