Snark and Circumstance Read Online Free Page B

departs, saying, “Sooooo . . . Cassie? That’s the sister who’s joined the cheerleading squad, right?”
    “Right.”
    “Well, she certainly seems, um . . . perky.”
    “That’s what you want in a cheerleader, right?” I answer. I can imagine what Willow thinks of my boy-crazy, future-car-show-model sister. Same thing everyone else thinks of her, but no one outside the family has any business thinking it. And I don’t even want to imagine what they think of Leigh. But they’re my sisters, and no one else is allowed to say stuff like this about them.
    Michael asks me suddenly, “What school activities are you involved in, Georgia? Sports? Music? What did you do back in Colorado?”
    I wonder why he’s decided to be Mr. Conversationalist all of a sudden. I take a sip of my drink and say through the chip of ice that wedges between my teeth, “I was a rodeo clown.”
    “Really.” Willow crosses her arms and assesses my party attire. “You look like you should write for that alternative paper the administration is always trying to shut down.”
    “Sick!” Trey enthuses as he plunks some ice cubes in a glass and pours himself something brown.
    “It’s not shutting down. Mr. Mullin is going to be the faculty advisor,” I say. I don’t mention that I am working on an article for the first edition of the semester. There is no reason to let Willow know that she has pegged me so easily.
    “Maybe you should start a local branch of PETA, Georgiana,” Michael says as he rattles the ice in his glass. “I’m sure you could find lots of people who want to make the world a better place for earthworms.”
    “Earthworms?” Darien gasps, nose wrinkling, and Trey cocks his sandy head to the side like a puppy and asks, “You like earthworms? Wow.”
    “Yes. Georgiana likes earthworms. Even dead ones. She—”
    Michael is cut off by a piercing cry and I am so irritated by him that it takes me a second to register that the cry comes from the terrace behind us. Trey, on the other hand, is out of his seat and bolting toward Tori’s crumpled body in an instant, taking the wide stone steps two at a time. Soon I am there, too, beside Trey, leaning over her and looking down at her foot, which is already starting to swell around her sandals.
    “I fell,” she says with a weak laugh. “I’m such a spaz.”
    “Does it hurt?” I ask, but I’m cut off by Michael, who is climbing along the orange-and-rust colored mums over to Tori’s other side as agilely as one of those donkeys that climb along the sides of the Grand Canyon.
    “Don’t move,” he barks. “Don’t try to get up on your own.”
    Tori smiles grimly and nods. I can tell she is holding back tears.
    “Does it hurt bad?” Trey asks.
    “I’ll be okay.”
    “You should definitely have that looked at,” Michael tells her, then turns to Trey and says, “It’s probably a sprain but it could be a fracture. You should get her to the urgent care place in East Longbourne.”
    “Shouldn’t she go to the ER, just to be sure?” I ask.
    “No,” Michael tells me. “You don’t want to go into Netherfield tonight.”
    “Look,” I spit out, “I know everyone in Longbourne acts like going into Netherfield, the big bad city, is like a trip into downtown Kabul, but shouldn’t she see a doctor as soon possible?”
    Michael gives me a look that could curdle milk. “I am not passing judgment on Netherfield. You just don’t want to sit in the ER for hours while they take care of all the gunshot wounds and car accidents first. Or do you, just to prove how much more worldly and enlightened you are than the rest of Longbourne?”
    “Owwww!” Tori wails, which at least turns Michael’s attention from me. He says in a voice that is surprisingly gentle, “Tori, can you wiggle your toes?”
    She gives toe wiggling a brave attempt but winces so hard Trey and Michael nod to each other. Supporting her under her upper arms, the three of us get Tori to the driveway and