{"id":2199,"date":"2026-01-03T22:16:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T22:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/clown-in-a-cornfield-cesare-adam\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T22:16:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T22:16:12","slug":"clown-in-a-cornfield-cesare-adam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/clown-in-a-cornfield-cesare-adam\/","title":{"rendered":"Clown in a Cornfield – Cesare, Adam"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Book Preview<\/h3>\n
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<\/span>Prologue<\/h2>\n

\u201cCan you see me?\u201d Cole yelled over to them. He was standing on the south shore of the reservoir, barefoot and facing the water. He looked like he was thinking, but Janet knew better. The scrunch in Cole\u2019s expression came from trying to keep his belly in a six-pack.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got you,\u201d Victoria yelled back as she framed her brother. She was using his phone and struggling with the device. \u201cHow do you zoom on this thing?\u201d she asked as she shuffled to the edge, not looking at her feet and focusing on Cole. Janet could see a pink stamp of tongue at the corner of Victoria\u2019s mouth as she tried her best to get the shot her brother wanted.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to be in portrait mode when you go live.\u201d<\/p>\n

Janet meant it as a polite pointer, but as the words came <\/span>out of her mouth, they sounded like a jab. She didn\u2019t mean it to be a dig, but she couldn\u2019t help it, either. Her tone was why people thought she was such a bitch. Her tone and that she kind of was. Whatever\u2014it was fun to watch the sheep quiver.<\/p>\n

\u201cI, uh,\u201d Victoria stammered, propping the phone upright, then looking over to Janet for confirmation that she was holding it correctly.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever mind,\u201d Cole yelled, exhaling, letting his six-pack deflate to a four-pack. Cole was effortlessly hot. Really. And Janet thought he looked better when he didn\u2019t try. \u201cMaybe just let Janet do it, okay?\u201d Cole hollered, frustrated. \u201cPlease?\u201d<\/p>\n

Janet crept over to the edge to join Cole\u2019s sister, careful not to slip. As soon as Janet had the phone away from Victoria, she was adjusting focus and framing. It wasn\u2019t Victoria\u2019s fault she was inept. She was young, inexperienced. What was she? Twelve, thirteen? How old were eighth graders? It didn\u2019t matter. Victoria Hill was naive. Janet had mastered the stomach-in-ass-out art of the selfie before Victoria had been old enough to remember her own passcode.<\/p>\n

Janet gave the signal and Cole performed a backflip\u2014well, a half flip\u2014with a splash into the water that was probably bigger than he meant it to be.<\/p>\n

Behind her, there was a cascade of can tabs being pulled, twist-off bottles popped. Matt must have given a signal that the party was safe. It was Matt Trent\u2019s job to figure out <\/span>when his fellow security guards would next patrol the reservoir. He must have seen them head back to their cabin at the mouth of the driveway. That meant they had about an hour until they\u2019d need to think about leaving. Plenty of time for the lightweights to get wasted.<\/p>\n

From over Janet\u2019s shoulder there was a deep rumble and then a familiar voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cOutta my way!\u201d Ginger Wagner shouted. Ginger wasn\u2019t her real name; it was Annabeth. But she\u2019d tried lightening her hair in seventh grade, the process had gone all sorts of wrong, and her hair had ended up this clown-red color. She\u2019d kept it, claiming she liked it that way, and had been \u201cGinger\u201d ever since. Janet turned, forgetting Cole\u2019s phone in her hand, and watched Ginger skateboard past.<\/p>\n

\u201cWatch it, slag!\u201d Janet yelled as Ginger rolled by. She got a playful finger in response.<\/p>\n

Janet smiled, eyes moving with Ginger. The wheels of the girl\u2019s skateboard were loud on the old, pitted concrete.<\/p>\n

Janet tracked her with the camera. \u201cYou\u2019re live, Ginger! Do something,\u201d she shouted, and Ginger complied, popping her board over the knee-high lip of concrete that passed for a safety barrier. Ginger cannonballed into the reservoir, her board following her on the thirty-foot drop. Live content gold. Janet made a note to Boomerang the first few seconds of airtime and tweet it out when she got home.<\/p>\n

Kids pushed to the lip of the reservoir, watched the water.<\/p>\n

<\/span>The party seemed to hit the pause button as they waited for Ginger to surface. Nobody opened drinks, nobody talked or laughed.<\/p>\n

On the shore below, Matt had climbed down to join Cole at the edge of the water. Looking out of place in his security guard shirt and swim trunks, Matt had his phone out. It was a big Samsung Galaxy that used to be his mom\u2019s. Mom hand-me-downs, yuck. Janet shivered. Not that she was rich like Cole, but at least she didn\u2019t have to live in constant fear of her battery overheating and exploding.<\/p>\n

\u201cUhhhh, dudes.\u201d<\/p>\n

They were still waiting for Ginger. She had been holding her breath for a long time\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.<\/p>\n

Matt yelled up, \u201cIf she drowns, I get to keep the body.\u201d Janet wasn\u2019t even sure what he meant, but assumed he was being disgusting. Even though he was the guy who let them into the reservoir to party, Matt was a fucking dick\u2014and Janet knew she wasn\u2019t the only person who thought that.<\/p>\n

They waited. Janet could feel her own lungs begin to strain\u2014she didn\u2019t even realize she\u2019d been holding her breath\u2014but then Ginger\u2019s head broke the surface of the water. She was waving her bikini top. \u201cImpact knocked it right off! Come on in!\u201d she said. \u201cWater\u2019s warm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kids didn\u2019t need any more of an invitation. The dam of propriety broke and everyone rushed for the water. Some climbed down to the shore, while some took the more direct <\/span>route of a high-dive. Fuck, who are all these people?<\/i> Janet recognized most of the kids from their year, knew all the juniors. A few more of the faces she knew, but not the names. Some she recognized as seniors of little note. A handful were older kids who\u2019d graduated but hadn\u2019t gone off to college for one reason or another. The older kids made Janet a little uneasy, but then they were probably where most of the beer came from.<\/p>\n

No, the older creeps weren\u2019t what was really troubling her. There are underclassmen here<\/i>. Janet felt the back of her neck prickle with indignation. She looked at the young faces. Singling them out by the way they sipped their beers. They\u2019d be taught a lesson later. Maybe she\u2019d encourage Tucker to get them drunk and then abandon them out by Tillerson\u2019s field. Every year some drunk frosh wound up knocking on the Tillersons\u2019 front door to use their phone because no one could get a cell signal out there and the little punks needed to call Mom for a ride home. So why not a whole bunch of them, dropped directly from the reservoir?<\/p>\n

No, it wasn\u2019t just the trespassing freshmen pissing her off, either. It wasn\u2019t like she\u2019d remember tomorrow to launch a full investigation, but Janet was annoyed that someone in their group had open-invited everyone. Tonight should have been their<\/i> night, just the six of them\u2014seven if you counted Victoria (Janet didn\u2019t).<\/p>\n

This trip to the reservoir was meant to be for just<\/i> them.<\/p>\n

<\/span>\u201cGive me that,\u201d Janet said, swiping a beer from a terrified-looking first-year. \u201cWe can\u2019t be drinking on camera, dickhead.\u201d She drained the half beer and tossed the empty can over her shoulder. The boy watched, something like admiration\u2014infatuation?\u2014creeping onto his face. Janet shoved him and told him to \u201cFuck off.\u201d It made her feel better.<\/p>\n

\u201cYo, Janet,\u201d Cole called up. He was halfway up the stairs. \u201cReady to try the backflip again?\u201d He made a \u201cstart rolling\u201d motion with one finger.<\/p>\n

Oh yeah, she still had his phone.<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t even remember ending the feed. That wasn\u2019t good. She hit the button to reconnect. There was a hazy moment of the phone fighting for a connection, then the five-second countdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook out below!\u201d Tucker Lee yelled as he ran into frame with a lit M-80 in hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the fuck\u2014\u201d Janet heard herself starting, but then Cole lifted a hand. She cut the stream before it could go live again.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d Cole yelled up, taking the stairs two at a time to join them on the overlook above the reservoir.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t going to actually<\/i> throw it,\u201d Tucker said. The fuse was still burning, but he didn\u2019t seem worried. It was a long and slow fizz. Those things were hard to put out. She\u2019d once seen Tucker toss one into a bucket of water, and it still <\/span>exploded. An M-80 wasn\u2019t a firecracker; they were quarter sticks of fucking dynamite.<\/p>\n

\u201cPut it out,\u201d Cole told him.<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, seriously, man,\u201d Tucker whined, the fuse still a slow phfffffffzzzz<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow,\u201d Cole said, stepping up right in his face. Or as close as Cole could get, being a full foot shorter than Tucker.<\/p>\n

Tucker groaned, wrapped the fuse between two fingers, and pulled off the cherry without flinching, even though it had to have burned him.<\/p>\n

\u201cPack of six costs me ten bucks,\u201d Tucker said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere,\u201d Cole said, pulling a beer out of a cooler that\u2019d appeared at their feet while they\u2019d been talking. \u201cEven?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCream ale? Seriously?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFuck you.\u201d Cole laughed. \u201cJust drink it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Order restored, Cole gave Janet a nod and she started the process to go live again.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, guys and gals,\u201d Cole said. He had his YouTube voice on and Janet couldn\u2019t help but smile. Such a doofus. Cole wasn\u2019t tall and broad-shouldered. He was compact and angular. Perfectly proportioned. He could throw a ball, but that was as blue-collar as he got. He\u2019d never be working the fields or the production line at Baypen, but it didn\u2019t matter. The rich boy was not destined for real<\/i> work. \u201cWe\u2019re coming to you live from an undisclosed location,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Janet couldn\u2019t figure out the need for secrecy. Everyone would know they were at the Kettle Springs Reservoir.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorldstar!\u201d someone on the far end of the reservoir yelled, then did a sloppy somersault from one of the two concrete stacks across from them. The stacks flanked either side of the pool\u2019s overflow waterfall, and it usually took a few more drinks before boys were scrambling up their algae-slick sides. But tonight people were eager to party, apparently.<\/p>\n

Janet caught the kid\u2019s flip in the background of the stream but didn\u2019t zoom in or pull focus away from her main subject. This was Cole\u2019s moment and she knew not to cut away.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you can see,\u201d Cole said, pivoting and indicating for Janet to do the same so she could catch more of the walkway behind him, \u201csummer weather has overstayed its welcome, and the crew and I are celebrating the only way we know how.\u201d He came to a stop beside Ronnie. The girl leaned in and put her hand on his bare stomach, just above his bathing suit line. Ronnie Queen was shameless. And where did she get that bikini? Whether it was online or at the mall on Route 70, Janet and Ronnie usually did their shopping together. Janet kinda couldn\u2019t believe Ronnie would wear something so stringy without, at least, sending a snap to Janet for comment. Janet\u2019s approval. Whatever, that was probably why Ronnie had done it. The bathing suit and wearing it was a deliberate snub.<\/p>\n

Janet could see in Ronnie\u2019s eyes that she\u2019d gotten what <\/span>she wanted: Cole was noticing. Not in a pervy way\u2014he was too cool for that\u2014but a slight blush in his cheeks, a glint in his eyes that he knew what would keep people in their stream engaged.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re looking good, Ronnie,\u201d Cole said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, uh, thank you, Cole,\u201d Ronnie said, her delivery not nearly as smooth as his, a hand on his forearm, not to steady her but to flirt.<\/p>\n

Dream on, Ronnie. He\u2019s out of your league.<\/i> I can\u2019t even get with him.<\/i><\/p>\n

Ronnie looked nervous, and she should have been. They were only a minute and thirty seconds into the feed, but Janet knew without having to check that the bikini wasn\u2019t enough\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0. their audience was already starting to click away.<\/p>\n

This shit was getting boring.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are<\/i> looking good, Ronnie. But I will also say\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u201d Cole smiled into the camera. He was a pro, seemed to have a natural sense that something needed to happen in their video and quick. \u201cYou\u2019re looking a little dry.\u201d He whistled through his teeth. Tucker appeared, scooped Ronnie onto one big shoulder, and flung her over the edge. There was very little theatricality to it, no buildup, but the toss played well because, even on the small screen, you could tell from her expression that Ronnie wasn\u2019t in on the joke. If she\u2019d conspired with the boys beforehand, she definitely wouldn\u2019t have worn that<\/i> bathing suit.<\/p>\n

<\/span>\u201cThanks, Tuck,\u201d Cole said, patting his friend on the shoulder as Tucker walked back to his circle of drinking buddies.<\/p>\n

Cole looked beyond the camera: \u201cSo, Janet, out of a possible ten, what do we give Ronnie\u2019s dive?\u201d<\/p>\n

There. She was given permission to be catty, to do what she did best, and after that desperate bid on Ronnie\u2019s part to try to grab Cole\u2019s attention, the girl knowing that Janet herself had been chipping away at that mountain for years, Janet let loose.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer legs were all over the place. Never mind the thigh jiggle. I\u2019m going with a four-point-oh-no,\u201d Janet said, happy, finally vibing with the party atmosphere.<\/p>\n

\u201cNah, my girl\u2019s a ten. Even when she\u2019s a rag doll,\u201d Matt said, interrupting, his own phone out in selfie mode. He had his uniform top off now, not that it would take much of a detective to figure out who let them in. Was he serious? Splitting their audience like that? And who would be watching his stream when they had the choice of Cole\u2019s? Janet scowled at him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re getting live comments,\u201d Janet said, bringing things back, reading the screen. \u201cDee says that you\u2019re starting to look mighty dry yourself, Cole.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cole smiled, gave a bashful laugh, and started to make flirtatious conversation with the camera. But Janet couldn\u2019t focus on what he was saying.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Victoria Hill hadn\u2019t worn a bathing suit to the reservoir. And why would she? Cole\u2019s sister never went in. But now Janet could see that Victoria had stripped off her clothes. In just her underwear she was balance-beaming her way around the lip of the reservoir\u2019s pitched east side, headed for the stacks. Nobody walked the sides of the reservoir. If you wanted to get to the other side, you took the long way around on the dirt, not on the narrow concrete lip. Victoria had a half-empty bottle of strawberry vodka in hand and was wobbling like she\u2019d drunk it all herself. Janet watched, her breath held for the second time tonight. But Cole\u2019s sister made it across safely. She was on the other side without slipping, without skinning her knees and elbows, before splashing into the water.<\/p>\n

Janet continued watching Cole\u2019s sister because this\u2014whatever this<\/i> was\u2014wasn\u2019t over. After taking a swig and tossing the bottle down, Victoria tiptoed to the ladder that led up to the first concrete stack.<\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t a public swimming pool and the stack wasn\u2019t meant to be a diving board, but as Victoria climbed, Janet found new respect for Cole\u2019s chronically basic little sister. Whatever she was doing, it wasn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n

Victoria Hill was quietly making a scene without making a scene.<\/p>\n

Ignoring Cole\u2019s continuing monologue to the camera, Janet zoomed in on his sister\u2019s ascent.<\/p>\n

<\/span>\u201cYou with me?\u201d Cole said, finally realizing the focus wasn\u2019t on him.<\/p>\n

\u201cCheck it out.\u201d Janet pointed. Victoria had made it to the top of the concrete stack and had both her arms out.<\/p>\n

Victoria\u2019s waving arms were either for balance or to hype up the crowd, it was hard to tell.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo it! We\u2019re bored of your brother,\u201d Tucker yelled, his arm around a freshman boy he\u2019d been forcing to fetch his drinks. Tucker Lee clenched the boy tight to him, big hands and big arms like a vise.<\/p>\n

\u201cJump!\u201d Ronnie yelled from somewhere below them, down in the water.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, jump!\u201d Matt echoed, seemingly forgetting that he was being paid to guard everyone\u2019s security.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo it! Do it!\u201d The rest of the party picked up the chant.<\/p>\n

Janet had Victoria perfectly framed. The shot was grainy enough, far enough, to seem real, candid and improvised\u2014and it seemed<\/i> that way because it was<\/i> all of those things.<\/p>\n

What was Victoria waiting for? This was her moment. Victoria could make a statement here. Make the years ahead of her bearable. Be popular. Janet was in awe, impressed. Janet had pulled herself up the social ladder gradually, but Victoria was fixing to do it all in one night, in one stunt.<\/p>\n

And then, finally, after two gymnast\u2019s pumps on the balls of her feet, Victoria jumped.<\/p>\n

Later, Janet would swear she had no idea anything was <\/span>wrong, that the bump against the back of Victoria\u2019s head barely looked like anything. But she did notice. She saw it when it happened. The little jitter, the bounce of Victoria\u2019s face moving suddenly a half inch to the left as the back of her hair moved past the edge of the concrete stack.<\/p>\n

Janet might have been the only person out at the reservoir to pinpoint the exact moment the descent changed from a dive to a fall.<\/p>\n

Louder than the smack-splash of Victoria\u2019s back connecting with the water was the echoing \u201coooooo\u201d from everyone gathered, watching. They all must\u2019ve sensed something bad, but no one moved. No one thought to do anything. Why should they? A hundred million billion kids had made that dive before Victoria Hill. There\u2019d been a couple of bent-back toenails and bloody noses, but outside of that, nothing bad<\/i> had ever happened. So why now?<\/p>\n

They waited, just as they\u2019d waited for Ginger\u2019s dye job to reappear, but it didn\u2019t take nearly as long for Victoria to surface.<\/p>\n

With her face down. Arms out.<\/p>\n

Janet dropped Cole\u2019s phone. It would film the sky until the battery died two hours later. On the live feed, you could hear voices. Screaming. But you couldn\u2019t see Cole dive in. You couldn\u2019t see him pull his sister to shore. You couldn\u2019t see that she looked<\/i> fine. Like she was sleeping, until you lifted her up and saw the gentle gush of blood at the back of her <\/span>scalp, parting her wet hair. You couldn\u2019t see what the coroner would report, that the back of her skull had been caved inward on the edge of the stack.<\/p>\n

Being there, you couldn\u2019t know what the kids watching the livestream had picked up immediately, down in the comments:<\/p>\n

OH SHIT, that girl is dead.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Read the full book by downloading it below.<\/p>\n

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Book Preview Prologue \u201cCan you see me?\u201d Cole yelled over to them. He was standing on the south shore of the reservoir, barefoot and facing the water. He looked like he was thinking, but Janet knew better. The scrunch in Cole\u2019s expression came from trying to keep his belly in a six-pack. \u201cI\u2019ve got you,\u201d … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2198,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[135],"class_list":["post-2199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-adam-cesare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}