Mason by Thomas Pendleton Read Free Book Online

shoulder and vanished in the tide of people.
    â€œCharming,” Cassie called after the guy. She grabbed Rene by the shoulder and stabilized her. “Lame-ass ox.”
    â€œDo you see anyone from school?” Rene asked.
    â€œNah,” Cassie said. “Eric told me everyone’s down by the bridge. A bunch of seniors are hanging by the haunted house until nine, and then they’re doing the carnival until it gets dusty. After that, everyone’s red carpeting Frank’s.”
    â€œMaybe Lara’s there,” Rene said.
    â€œAnd maybe she’s out doing crystal with Hunter Wallace.”
    â€œLara’s not that stupid.”
    â€œOf course she is,” Cassie said with a laugh. “Honey, Lara’s about as stupid as they come these days. And I’m over it.”
    â€œShe’s our friend.”
    â€œCheck your definition. Friends don’t blow you off. They don’t lie to you.”
    â€œLie?”
    â€œWhat time did she tell you she got in the other night? You know, when her parents grounded her?”
    â€œMidnight.”
    â€œThat’s crap,” Cassie said angrily. She looked around the crowd. No one seemed to care what she was saying,so she kept saying it. “Little miss boy crazy didn’t get in until after three.”
    â€œThree?” Rene exclaimed.
    â€œMm-hmm.”
    Rene didn’t know what to say.
    â€œAnd,” Cassie said, “she made a scene with her mama when she came in.”
    â€œHow do you know all of this?”
    â€œHer mama called mine. Now I’m not supposed to hang with Lara anymore. And quite frankly, I see no reason to get myself in trouble if she’s going to be acting all trailer trash. We have enough girls in school like that. They aren’t on my A-list, so I see no reason for Lara to be on it either.”
    â€œGod, I don’t believe this. We have to do something.”
    â€œWell, here’s your chance.”
    Rene followed Cassie’s gaze and found Lara across the lawn, leaning against a light pole, laughing hysterically. Hunter Wallace stood next to her, smirking through his thin beard. His tattooed forearms were crossed over a Shadows Fall concert T-shirt, and a cigarette burned between two fingers. Lump Hawthorne was at Hunter’s side with his arm around Tara Mae Holloway, who was six months pregnant with Lump’s baby. Lump screwed the cap onto a large metal flask and handed it to Tara Mae, who lunged for the container.And Ricky Langham, looking like a yuppie who’d gotten lost and ended up at a redneck party, completed the group. He was almost handsome, except his features were too sharp and his eyes were too cold. The Bluetooth earpiece for his cell phone rested against his head as always, making him look even more mechanical, like an android created to impersonate a teenager. The five stood in the bath of light from the tall lamp, looking like a Department of Education poster warning teens away from just about everything.
    â€œWhat does she think she’s doing?” Rene whispered, watching Lara grasp the lamppost tightly and spin low like a stripper about to kick her show into overdrive.
    â€œShe thinks she’s having fun,” Cassie replied. “And I think we’d best leave her to it.”
    â€œShe’s trashed.”
    â€œFully loaded,” Cassie agreed. “Which is an excellent reason to be very far away from here.”
    â€œCassie. God, she’s our friend. We can’t just leave her.”
    â€œCan and will,” Cassie said. “If you want to answer her cry for help, be my guest, but I highly suggest you leave it alone until she’s de-iced and can think straight.”
    Hunter noticed Rene staring and took a drag from his cigarette. He released the smoke and let it ooze from his lips in a thick cloud that hung over his mouth and nose. A moment later his tongue shot out andflicked up and down to disperse the