Of the Trees(34)

“There you are!” Laney shouted. “Finally! I want you to meet Corey.” Laney pushed the stranger forward. His face was young and eager, his skin clear and glowing, even in the throbbing, pulsing light from the DJ booth. His hair was a mess, but artfully so, and he smelled fresh though not with cologne—more natural, like pine trees and sawdust.

“Nice to meet you, Corey,” Cassie said, extending a hand. He grinned and squeezed her fingers.

“Corey’s from Saint Paul’s,” Laney went on to explain, introducing Ryan next. “We met last week, remember I mentioned?”

Cassie nodded, smiling ruefully. Ryan shook hands, and they stood awkwardly, swaying with the pounding music and not meeting each other’s eyes.

“Listen,” Laney started, looking from Corey’s face to Cassie. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“You mean?”

“Yeah, not in here,” Laney said, grabbing at Cassie’s hand and tugging her toward the open door. Cassie glanced back at Ryan who smiled, looking uncertainly at Corey.

“I’ll just be a minute,” Cassie called, letting Laney pull her through the door. Ryan nodded.

The wind kicked up as Cassie passed into the open courtyard. She could hear the hiss of the air passing over the rough brick walls, even over the thump of the bass behind them. Laney turned and pushed the door shut, ignoring the cries of protest from the sweating students inside. The music dulled behind the metal door, a pulse of rhythm that vibrated the ground, but didn’t mask the shift of the leaves in the wind, nor the soft sigh that escaped Laney.

“I’m sorry,” Laney said. Cassie’s eyebrows rose. Laney noticed. Her shoulders lifted, and she let them fall in a shrug. “Really. I’ve been a bitch the past couple of weeks, and I’m sorry.”

Cassie shrugged, waving her hand in dismissal. “So that’s him, huh?”

“Yeah,” Laney said softly, a smile taking over her face. “Are you and Ryan … ”

The implication was obvious. Cassie shook her head, shrugging. “We drove together, with Jon.”

“Ah, okay.” There was a pause, and Laney smirked. “You know you match, don’t you?”

Cassie barked out a laugh and then shoved her. Laney took it grinning. “Look, if you’re not here with him, Corey brought some friends along.”

“Friends? No, I don’t think—”

“Oh, c’mon Cass! You don’t want them to think that I have no friends, do you?” Laney prodded, smiling. “You have to at least be nice to them, maybe dance with one.”

“But I’m here with Ryan!”

“You just said you weren’t!”

“But—”

Laney stopped listening. She dragged Cassie back into the dance, shoving her through the door into the muggy heat of the now-crowded gym. She left the door propped open to raucous cheers, for which she swept low in a neat bow before pushing Cassie back to where Corey and Ryan were waiting.

Corey had brought more than a few friends, in Cassie’s opinion. She wasn’t quite sure how he and Laney had gotten so many of them past her dad. Though, after she considered it, Laney was on the homecoming committee. She did have access to the unsold tickets.

Cassie’s brow knitted at the thought. It wasn’t like Laney to abuse her position like that. She must really have feelings for Corey if she went to those kind of lengths to make him happy at a school dance. The thought left her frowning, and she missed most of the introductions, not that the music helped. It was loud and dark, and everyone had masks. The only person she could really pick out of the crowd was Ryan, and she was starting to wish he’d just grab her up and hold her close again, keep her by his side and away from Corey and his creepy friends.

Because they were kind of creepy. It might have been the masks. Corey’s friends, at least, seemed to understand what a masquerade party was; they were all in suits, all except Corey who was, now that Cassie really looked, matched well with Laney. The other strangers stood apart from the rest of the students by the intricacies of the masks they wore. The disguises were nothing like Cassie had ever seen before.

The tallest boy—he must have been their age at least, since he towered over them—had the most bizarre mask. Cassie got caught up staring at it and probably came off as a bit rude. When he turned to stare her down, she felt a little jolt, stepping back and crushing Ryan’s toe. His muffled curse told her that much.

The mask was bone white, plain, and it covered his entire face. The only openings were two perfectly circular eye holes. They were large, but darkened, and Cassie could barely make out the eyes that hid beyond. The intensity of the dark gaze was overshadowed by the long, beak-like nose that protruded slightly and then pointed straight down. It reminded her of a gas mask. The black eyes above were sharp and nearly hostile. It unnerved her.

The others were less terrifying, though still unique. Unlike the masks she, Ryan, and Laney all wore, these were different, unlike any other she had seen in a party store or on Halloween. One boy’s mask was a flat square, looking as though it were made of metal. The eye holes were small, the nose looking like it had been carved onto the surface. There was no mouth, just a flat expanse of burnished metal. It reminded Cassie of an old Twilight Zone episode she had seen with her dad, where a young boy didn’t have a mouth, just a stretch of tight skin from nose to chin. It freaked her out then, and this mask freaked her out now. The edges were all scrolls and ridges, and it covered his entire face, showing not even a hint at his expression. Another had a long nose, not like the first, completely unnerving one, but rather like Pinocchio from the old Disney movie. A third and fourth boy sported a mask that rode over the bridge of their noses, but dipped low over their cheeks too, just leaving an opening for their mouth. There was a girl as well, though Cassie didn’t know it at first. She wore a full Jester’s mask, complete with an attached hat in a motley pattern. Cassie only realized she was a girl after watching her walk toward the refreshment table and noting the obvious sway in her hips.