i'm back! and i hate authors notes
at the beginning of chapters BUT
i DID just return from a 2 week offline vacay
and the first thing im doing is publishing this chapter
which means i have yet to see volume 2 yet!!!!!!
please please PLEASE no spoilers </3
chapter xii .
we interrupt this program
MASON ANDERSON HATED HIS LIFE. At least, for the time being, he did.
Somehow, in the span of thirty minutes, he had gone from driving over to Lover's Lake, blasting AC/DC on the way—to stumbling across his foster sister being possessed, or something—to almost getting hit by his own baseball bat by the same foster sister—to being forced to find a bunch of freshmen that could 'explain everything' to him—to being chased by the cops through the woods—and now, finally, found himself squished between some ginger girl and a boy with a stupid hat that said 'Thinking Cap' on it, being questioned by the goddamn police.
Oh, and his parents were there, too. Goddamn cherry on top.
"What exactly were you all doing at the lake?" Chief Powell began, eyeing the four teenagers curiously.
They all shared some thoughtful glances, stuttering out excuses, but Mason kept his mouth shut. The girl next to him was the first to speak up.
"We were... we were going for a walk."
"A walk?" Officer Callahan repeated. "At 9:00 p.m.?"
"To the lake!" the curly-headed kid replied in a high-pitched voice. "We were gonna... take a little swim. Little.... night swim."
"Dusty!" one of the mothers in the room exclaimed—Mason used his detective skills to deduct that it was Dustin's mother. "Someone was just murdered there."
Mason swallowed thickly and lowered his head. They were talking about Patrick. Mason had been there when his teammate died, and now he was hanging around with the people who were accomplices with his killer. He felt his own parents' eyes on him but couldn't bring himself to look up.
"Yeah, we didn't realize that," Dustin replied. "You know, until we got there."
"That's why we didn't swim!" Lucas added.
"And Nancy," Mrs. Wheeler said, "was she with you at this night swim?"
"No," Max and Lucas said, at the same time Dustin said, "Yes!"
Dustin exchanged a tense glance with Max. "We're not sure. She was there... and then she left. It's all a little confusing."
"And why on earth was Mason there?" Mason's dad demanded. "You don't usually hang out with these people, son!"
Mason looked up, figuring he couldn't get out of answering this one by waiting for someone else to jump in. He cleared his throat and looked around. "Um.. I don't know."
"You don't know," Callahan said, disbelieving. "You don't know why you were with them? What, did they kidnap you?"
"Yes," Mason replied.
Max shot him a glare. "No, we didn't."
"Have you had any contact with Eddie?" the chief asked. "Eddie Munson?"
"Psh," Dustin scoffed, "that psycho... freak killer? God no."
Max and Lucas also voiced their dismissals, but Max must have noticed the look on Mason's face, because she pinched his thigh before he could open his mouth and tell the truth. He turned to look at her, his mouth hanging open in offense.
