The Veil by Cory Putman Oakes Read Free Book Online Page B

kind of cool. If we go check it out, there’s a greater-than-average chance we’ll get to see a cheerleader catch on fire.”
    “Ohhh, don’t tease me Nathan Whitting.” I laughed, my thoughts automatically turning to who besides me, Nate, and the potentially flammable cheerleaders would be on hand to help whip the Cougars into a Sonoma-Shark-eating frenzy. A rally didn’t really seem like something Lucas would be interested in. But Emily was probably going, and if she was there, he would probably be there too.
    Oh God, I was back to obsessing about Lucas again. The thought that I was finally over him had been one of the only good things about my awful day yesterday. How disappointing that it hadn’t stuck.
    The bonfire was being held in the vacant lot adjacent to the football field. By the time Nate and I arrived, there was already agiant pile of wood in the center of the field, surrounded by a pack of cheerleaders holding signs. The football team itself was amassed on the southwest corner of the field, and a few students were staking out their positions around the soon-to-be-blaze by laying down towels and coolers full of food and drinks.
    Principal Chatsworth and a horde of faculty volunteers hovered warily on the edge of the field, clutching fire extinguishers.
    “This is crazy,” Nate announced. “What’s Chatsworth thinking? This isn’t the Midwest. The entire town is not going to close down because there’s a game down at the ol’ high school. They’ll be lucky if twenty kids show up to this.”
    But even as Nate was talking, students were trickling down onto the field. By five p.m., there was standing room only around the still-unlit bonfire.
    I spotted Emily’s crowd on the other side of the woodpile from where Nate and I stood. Beside her, as always, was Lucas. He was scanning the crowd, searching for something. Or someone.
    I stepped back so I was halfway behind Nate. “Apparently there’s more school spirit at Marin County High than you thought,” I ribbed him.
    Nate shook his head. “Don’t kid yourself. A hundred dollars says everyone is here for the exact same reason you and I are.”
    “To see a cheerleader catch on fire?” I asked, confused.
    He shook his head again.
    “Morbid curiosity. I can’t wait to see what Chatsworth does when this thing gets out of control.”
    Over Nate’s shoulder, I could see Lucas. He had finally stopped looking around. Emily leaned back against him, and he bent his head down toward her when she looked up to talk to him. My stomach gave an ominous roll, and I was suddenly anxious for this stupid rally to be over with.
    A cheer erupted as Coach Rollins approached the pile of firewood and squirted a can of lighter fluid onto it. The cheerleaderskicked their legs and waved around their pom-poms. The cheers turned into roars as Coach Rollins pulled out a box of long matches, lit one, and tossed it dramatically onto the very top of the woodpile.
    There was a hushed silence as absolutely nothing happened.
    Then, a thin wisp of smoke puffed its way up into the air, and the tiniest of flames sputtered to life, working its way up from the depths of the woodpile.
    Thank God we didn’t have a school band, because if we did, it would have burst into triumphant song at exactly that moment. Instead, there was a roar of applause, after which Coach Rollins dragged over a microphone and a portable amp and introduced us to the starting lineup of the football team. As he spoke, the tiny bonfire managed to work itself up into what could charitably be considered a blaze. Principal Chatsworth and his army of volunteer fire fighters edged ever so slightly closer.
    “I think Terrance Seaver was right,” I yelled over all of the noise, directly into Nate’s ear. Then, remembering Nate hadn’t been in precalc with me to hear what Terrance had said, I added, “This would have been better after dark!”
    As if on cue, the world went dark around me.
    I could still hear Coach