Of the Trees(32)

Cassie called out a goodbye to her mother. Cathy shouted for her to wait, that she wanted a picture. Cassie argued, that no, they were late already. Her mother frowned, gesturing between Ryan and Cassie.

“But you match!” Cathy Harris pointed out. “Ryan just grab her and let me snap this.”

Cassie winced as Ryan tentatively put his arm around her, pulling her in closer than she would have liked. It would have been so much different, she thought ruefully, if he had kissed her and then talked to her about it. But he was on this determined course to ignore that it happened and so having his arm around her felt like a lie. It bothered Cassie, and she didn’t want to feel that way. There had been a time, a very recent time, when all she felt when his arm came around her, was warm and protected and somewhat tingly. Now the raw embarrassment of something that felt too close to rejection swam through her, and she shrugged out of his embrace as soon as her mother’s flash went off.

“Got to go, Mom, love you,” Cassie said. She buttoned her coat as her mother waved goodbye, reminding Cassie she was working overnight tonight, and she’d see her in the morning. Cassie nodded and followed Ryan out, letting him open the passenger side door for her and slipping into the warmth of his car. Jon greeted her easily, the only one lately who wasn’t acting strangely.

“What are you supposed to be?” Jon asked, looking her up and down. She shot him a look, and he threw his hands up. “I’m mean, obviously besides lovely.”

Cassie laughed. “Yeah, obviously,” she joked, feeling warm all of a sudden as she felt Ryan’s eyes traveling over her again. She cleared her throat. “I’m nothing in particular, really. Just masked. That’s kind of the point of a Masquerade, actually.”

“Oh,” Jon said blankly. “Well, fine, but if anyone asks you, I’m a sexy pirate.” He pulled an eyepatch over his face and growled at her. Cassie burst out laughing.

“I am not telling anyone that you’re a sexy anything,” she sputtered, grinning back at Jon’s devastated expression.

“Don’t you think I’m sexy?”

“No!” Ryan and Cassie both said at once. Cassie felt a wave of irritation roll over her. So what if she wanted to think Jon was sexy? She didn’t. But who was Ryan to say she didn’t? She frowned over at him, but he didn’t notice, he watched the road with an intensity usually found only in driver’s ed.

After they parked, the three of them converged at the front door. Jon adjusted his patch in his reflection in the window while Ryan attempted to tie his mask in place. Cassie watched him struggle for a moment, not asking her for help. She wasn’t about to offer it either. Then his mask was set, Jon ripped the door open, and the warm heat of the darkened school embraced them.

Cassie could hear the bass thumping as soon as she turned down the hallway. Her father sat ahead of them, already positioned behind a table at the entrance to the gymnasium, a benign smile on his face.

“You’d think the music would bother him,” Jon said, striding along with Cassie and Ryan toward the dance. The music shifted, the song changing, but her father’s peaceful expression didn’t falter. He smiled when he saw them, waving. Cassie laughed.

“Wouldn’t Principal Rossi frown on you using those?” Cassie asked, pointing at her father. He tilted his head, staring at her in confusion. She leaned toward him and tapped his ear. His smile widened.

“Don’t tell on me,” he shouted, unnaturally loud. His fingers poked at his ears and adjusted the bright yellow earplugs. They handed over their tickets, shouted goodbye, and walked through the cheap metallic strips of curtain that had been hung over the gym doors.

“Think they have the basketball court open tonight?” Jon asked, his voice raised over the pulsing music. The DJ was set up, as usual, right underneath the basketball hoop. Speakers that were almost the same height as Cassie framed the table he was using, while lights flashed and swirled from the bar extended over the set up. A mini strobe pulsed on the floor, and couples were lit in slow motion, statues that shifted and changed as the lights oscillated, carved into inert brilliance in the flashes.

“Where, in the middle school? You don’t want to stay?” Cassie asked. She wasn’t too surprised. Jon had worn his sneakers. He often did that, ditched early and hung out in the other gym. The middle school was connected by a short passage and a lot of the guys spent the night of the dance in there instead, ties thrown over the bleachers and jackets left in piles on the floor.

“Probably not,” he replied, scanning the gym. It wasn’t packed yet. They arrived half an hour after the official start of the dance, which was technically still early. “It depends.”

“On what?” Ryan asked, shrugging out of his jacket. He gestured for Cassie to do the same and she did, handing her wool peacoat over to him. She pulled her phone from the pocket though, holding it out to Ryan with her lower lip jutting out just slightly. He rolled his eyes and pocketed her phone, and she gave him a quick smile.

Friends. If nothing else, they were still friends.

“On whether or not Samantha shows up,” Jon answered, completely unaware of Cassie’s internal struggle. “I’m gonna take a lap.”

Jon jogged off, skirting the outer circle of dancers and weaving around the wallflowers before Cassie could protest. She frowned after him, avoiding Ryan’s eye. Over the thump of the bass, she heard him clear his throat loudly, and she shifted from foot to foot.