The Book of Masks (Vol. 4)

The Middle School Muddle

Previously: "The Morning Rituals" 

"Hey Riker! Micah!"

You're swinging your backpack onto your shoulders as Knox McCarty comes hurtling up. He's a small kid—he can look you in the nose if he tilts his neck—but he more than makes up for it in energy and mischief. His eyes are glinting hard as he skids up to you and your brother. "Your mom grounded you yet?"

"Peh! No!" Riker shoves him.

Knox reacts like you'd expect, charging in to head-butt Riker in the chest. Your brother grunts, and he and Knox grapple. Eventually Knox pushes himself off Riker. "So can you guys come see a movie tonight?"

"Where?"

"Up at the picture show, dumb ass!" His eyes glint. "Me and Luke set it up with Cameron! We're gonna go with their sister, you know, Stacy? She's gonna take us all up to see that CG movie, um—" He snaps his fingers.

"Rat Race?" Riker makes a face. "Yeah, we saw that already."

"Yeah, but we're not really gonna see it!" Knox looks like he's about to burst. "She's gonna buy us all tickets and stuff, then her and us and her boyfriend are gonna sneak in to see a devil horror movie instead!"

You and Riker exchange a glance. Knox catches the look that passes between you, and his face craters. "Oh, shit!" he cries. "Your mom's not gonna—! She doesn't hafta find out!"

"No, that sounds—" you start to say, but Riker finishes the thought. "We can totally swing that," he assures Knox. "If we can get her to— Wait, did you say tonight?"

Knox nods. "It's cheap night at the show."

"Wednesday," Riker muses. "A weekday."

"Alec'll tell her it's cheap night," you say. "We can get him to explain."

"Crap. What if she makes him go with us? I don't wanna see that dumb cartoon again!"

"We'll text you when we find out," you tell Knox. "'Cos if she makes Alec go with us—"

"So tell him what's going on!" Knox cries.

"We don't wanna owe him," Riker says.

"Yeah, you have no idea how he'll make us pay him back!"

"Well, try and make it," Knox pleads. "I'm gonna ask Hudson too. We wanna do a big thing! 'Cos, like—" He wriggles with excitement. "Devil horror!"

Then something catches his eye, and his lip curls. You turn to look. From one of the buses is dismounting a chubby kid with close-cropped, curly black hair that matches his thick-framed glasses. He's in a button-up shirt and shorts, and he's got fat pink legs and dimpled knees.

It's Steven Pope. The kid that you—

The kid that Micah and Riker made cry the other day in the changing room after P. E.

Knox pokes you in the stomach. "We should get Steven to go with us," he chortles.

"Pthbt!" Riker says. "No!"

"No, we get him go!" Knox insists. His eyes glint with malice. "And we go into the theater that's showing the cartoon. Then we all sneak out and leave him there!"

You and Riker exchange another glance, then bust out laughing. That would be great!

Except it would be totally unbelievable if the invite came from you or Knox. "I'll think of something," Knox assures you after you point that out.

You don't doubt he can. Knox is very "cute", with a button nose and a clever eye, and his mom's a hairdresser so he's constantly coming to school with his light-brown hair styled in a variety of fashionable ways. (This week, for instance, it's buzzed short on the sides and back, but long on top and in the front, giving him a button-mushroom look.) But he has one of the nastiest brains in your class.

* * * * *

You and Riker part for first period, with you going to Language Arts while he heads to History, but you reunite in Technology class. But the teacher there, Mr. Ray, makes you and your brother sit on opposite sides of the room. At least you get to sit next to Hudson Perry, another one of the twins' friends. He tells you that he's in for the movie thing tonight, but asks if he can get a ride from you.

After that comes Math and then lunch, which you take in the cafeteria with a huge group of friends: Knox and Hudson; Tai Belton; Luke Hill and his brother, Cameron, who is one year ahead in the eighth grade; and three girls: Millie Martinez, Robyn Castle, and Jane Holcombe. You tell the girls about your plan for the movie, but they're grossed out by the idea of seeing a movie about people who worship a goat-devil, except for Robyn, who though she acts scandalized and repulsed you are sure is actually piqued by the idea. You and Riker, who is just as smitten with Robyn as you are, take turns goading and teasing her into coming along.

"No!" she exclaims. "I'm not going to—! My God!" She covers her face with her hands. She's got stubby little hands with stubby little fingers, but they glisten with clear nail polish, and her thumbnails are decorated with stars. "I don't wanna have nightmares!"

"You can come have a sleepover at my place," Knox promises. "I'll keep you from having nightmares!"

Robyn squeals again, and Luke shoves Knox. "That'll give her nightmares!"

Knox throws himself at Luke, knocking his milk across the table. Screams erupt as they tussle, and a couple of trays are knocked to the floor. But all at once the fight is over, and Knox is back in his seat, looking angelic and innocent, as Mrs. Bell, the cafeteria monitor, comes hurrying over to check on the commotion. Everyone pretends that nothing happened, despite the spilled meatloaf under several of the seats, and the gravy dripping off the edge of the table.

* * * * *

After lunch you and Riker part again, he for his own math class while you have History. Steven Pope is in there, and when class ends you trod on his heels all down the hallway toward the gym, where you share P. E. class. The little chickenshit never once turns around to confront you, which is just as well, because you'd just shove him into a locker if he did.

My God, you find yourself thinking. So this is where bullies and assholes come from. They really are born and not made. You find you really do hate what a fat and sad little shit-sack Steven Pope is. He just begs to be hassled.

It's a rainy day, so instead of taking you outside to play football, the coach puts your class in the gym to play dodgeball. On the football field, Coach Yellin makes sure to put you and Riker on opposite teams, but in a dodgeball scenario there are no teams, and you and Riker always surreptitiously cooperate to take out all the other players. You circle around, watching each other's back while hunting down the weaker prey, and taking out anyone who threatens to bean the other; and you take turns driving the stronger opponents into corners where the other can pop around with a hard-rubber ball and nail them. The goal is drive everyone off the floor first before turning it into a brother-on-brother duel to the death.

You usually do pretty well at it, but today Riker gets caught in the ass with a ball flung by Ronan Williams, a psychotic little sixth-grader who shares the class with you. You retaliate by bopping Ronan in the groin with a ball. He takes it badly, charging you with swinging fists and crashing to the floor with you on top. Coach Yellin has to haul him off you while you cuss and puff and yell at him for being a "crazy-ass little bitch." That gets both of you sent to the locker room early to change. Ronan leaves you alone, same as you do him, but there's no missing the fiery glower he keeps shooting you. The kid's going to be Trouble when he's older.

At least you don't get sent to the office again. But it means you have to miss the fun and have to watch from the sidelines when the second round starts. Riker, Knox, and Luke dominate, letting each other be as they eliminate all the other players, until it's just them ... and Steven Pope. He gets ahold of one ball, which he limp-wristedly hurls at Knox, but Knox easily ducks it. The other three, armed, then just circle Steven, grinning at him and bouncing their rubber balls off the floor like basketballs. Steven turns a mix of green and white.

Coach Yellin cuts the game off at that point and sends everyone else in to change, including Steven, but he keeps Knox, Luke, and your brother behind. You can't tell what he says, but he gives them some kind of stern talking-to.

Then he gets called into the locker room by loud yelling. You find out later that some of the other kids tried a repeat of "keep away" with Steven's clothes.

* * * * *

You and Riker share the bus ride with Knox from school, for you only live a few blocks from each other. Knox is in a hyper mood, not only on account of the movie tonight but because the coach's lecture after P. E. has given him the perfect way to "get" Steven. "I'll text him and invite him out to the movie," he tells you. "Tell him I felt awful after P. E. today and I wanna make it up to him. Then—!" He slams his palms together and falls sideways in the bus seat, laughing.

Back home, Riker crooks his finger and leads you up into Eric's room over the garage, where he astonishes you with the sight of four masks, polished and with memory strips attached.

"Remember the memo I sent you when I was being Eric?" he says. "Which plan did you like? Because," he adds as you pull at your lip. "We could totally get started with Knox or Luke tonight, if that's what you want."

Next: "Boys Will Be Boys" 

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"Table of Contents (Vol. 4)" 
"The Book of Masks (Vol. 4)"