Forest Lake

Chapter 30

Mason POV

“Mase!” Cassie exclaimed happily as soon as Emma and I entered my room.

Jax was sitting on his bed, scrolling through his phone. Hazel and Chris were sitting on the floor, leaning against my bed. They looked up and smiled. Chris’ eyes went straight to Emma, and I frowned.

I was holding Emma’s hand, and I had no intention of letting go, no matter what.

Cassie ran to me and wrapped her arms around my waist. I used my free arm to hug her back.

“Hi, kid.” I smiled. “That’s a pretty big hug considering I was gone for an hour, tops.”

“I missed you.” Cassie looked up at me. “Jackie is annoying.”

“Shut up, Cassandra.” Jax sighed, looking at his phone.

Cassie rolled her eyes at Jax and looked at Emma. She smiled, but I could see a hint of jealousy that Chris mentioned earlier. I really needed to talk to her.

“Hi, Emma.” Cassie said.

“Hi, Cassie.” Emma smiled. “Are we playing Monopoly?”

“I don’t really want to.” Cassie said as she walked back to Jax. “I want to watch a horror movie, but Jax said no.”

“You’re a kid.” Jax said, not looking up from his phone.

“I am 13, Jaxon.” Cassie sighed.

“I want to actually sleep tonight, Cass.” Jax sighed, looking up at her. “I don’t want your screams to wake me up.”

“Mason.” Cassie whined, looking at me. “Tell him it’s okay.”

“I am not getting involved, Cass.” I chuckled, pulling Emma toward my desk. “He is your brother. His word is final.”

I sat down on the chair and pulled Emma onto my lap.

“Please, Jax, please!” Cassie begged, wrapping her arms around Jax. “I won’t wake you up. I promise!”

Jax rolled his eyes and sighed.

“Fine, Cassie.” he said, grabbing his laptop. “We can watch whatever you want.”

Cassie squealed and grabbed Jax’s laptop. She started searching for a movie.

“How did it go with the principal?” Jax asked, looking at Emma and me.

“Fine.” I said. “You were right about the money.”

“Of course.” Jax scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“Did he actually ask you to pay him?” Hazel asked, her eyes wide.

“No.” I shook my head. “I just had to threaten him that I would leave the school. He can’t really afford to lose any more students.”

“It’s ready!” Cassie exclaimed, placing the laptop on the foot of Jax’s bed.

We took our usual places on Jax’s bed. I was leaning on the headboard, and Emma was sitting between my legs, leaning on my chest. Cassie was next to me and Jax was on the other end of the bed. Hazel and Chris pulled up the chairs, placing their feet up on the bed. There were bags of chips and popcorn all around us.

The movie began, but I didn’t pay much attention to it. I kept looking down at Emma, thinking about everything that she told me.

What would I do if I got a call one day and the person on the other end informed me that she had died? How the fuck would I survive that? I probably wouldn’t. The pain would kill me.