Free The Pantheon by Amy Leigh Strickland Page A

O.H.S.H. Athletics Department. This year the carnival took place the Saturday before the actual holiday, giving kids a second chance to wear costumes they might otherwise only get to wear once a year. The carnival was held just outside of town in a parking lot by the beach. The lot was unrecognizable during the days of the carnival between the ferris wheel, booths, and fences set up on the pavement. The lifeguard on duty at the beach was a formality. Nobody was expected to be down at the beach today. Most of the public stuck to the carnival because that only happened once a year.
    The wealthiest family in town, the Wexler family, was a big sponsor of the carnival. Mr. Wexler was a retired state senator. His son, Theodore Jr., was supposed to be at the carnival at noon to set up but he’d been out late Friday night and overslept. He’d really overslept. Teddy arrived at the carnival by five, just late enough to miss all of the preparations.
    Theodore Wexler Jr. was adopted. His mother had been the housekeeper at the Wexler home when Tommy and Lindsay Wexler were still in high school. It was a big to-do when she’d had a terrible accident and then died in labor. All the papers covered the puff piece on the compassionate adoption of her son by the Wexler family.
    In truth, Miss Castellanos had been the housekeeper at the Wexler residence but she had not born the son of a deadbeat mechanic like they claimed. Mr. and Mrs. Wexler’s marriage had been strained for some time and Mr. Wexler had started up an affair with the beautiful young housekeeper. When Mrs. Wexler found out that the housekeeper’s baby was her husband’s son, she’d pushed her down the basement stairs. The housekeeper gave birth to Theodore and then died. An “accident.”
    Teddy had his mother’s coffee-colored skin, dark hair, and full lips. He had her large, thickly-lashed eyes too, but they were a silvery blue like his father’s. Not too many people seemed to notice. Ignorance was a wonderful thing in a small town.
    Teddy parked his purple Jaguar (a sixteenth birthday present) under a lamp in the lot to guard against vandalism after sunset. He was dressed in seersucker cargo shorts and a lilac polo shirt. Most teenagers couldn’t get away with dressing like such a WASP, but Teddy carried it with confidence. Besides, everyone wanted Teddy on their side. He always came through with the liquor.
    Three spots away Jason Livingstone was trying to orchestrate getting his twins out of their car seats while his daughter ran circles around the old Buick. “Haley!” he shouted. “Haley this is a parking lot! Stay here. You’re going to get hit by a car.”
    One of the twins started making crashing noises and banging his hands together like he was playing with invisible cars while the other laughed. Teddy was pretty sure he never wanted to have kids.
    When Teddy entered the front gate nearly three hours late for setup, his adoptive mother started her raving. She had always taken out her anger on him, so he just zoned out while she yelled about punctuality and reliability.
    “ Your father thinks that if we give you responsibility you’ll rise to the occasion. You can’t even get yourself out of bed before noon when left to your own devices!”
    Teddy didn’t hear a word of it. She couldn’t tell that he had a pair of ear-buds hidden under his shaggy black hair, blasting French rap into his ears.
    When she was done shrieking he went to his father and got a hundred dollars in spending money. Teddy made for the concession stand. He bought a burger and large slushy drink. He found a spot at an empty picnic table. Once he’d finished the last bite of his overcooked burger he lazily dipped his finger into his punch to stir it. Sloppy slushy bubbles rolled to the surface for a moment and then stopped. Teddy took a sip. It had kick now. It was probably about 20 proof alcohol by volume.
    Theodore had been able to turn water into alcohol for six months now. It