The Book of Masks (Vol. 2)

Who to Be, or Who Not to Be

Previously: "The Surging Seas of Indecision" 

"Why didn't you?" Will demands.

You and Caleb and the real Gordon Black are sprawling in Caleb's bedroom. As usual, Caleb is sitting in the chair by his desk and leaning back in a way that blocks his closet door. Will is perched on the dresser by the window. You are stretched on the bed, which groans under the weight of Gordon's body every time you shift.

"Because I didn't see any point in it," you tell him. "So we'd have a mask of McElroy, so what? We can use Huber and Mitchell's masks to get to people if we have to. And I didn't want McElroy to see it, even if he didn't know what it was."

Will grumbles and shrugs, but accedes. "How'd the rest of it go?"

"Like shit. So me and Lynch go to the gym during third, but we hang out on the weight deck instead of going to the loft. We do some lifts, you know." You ignore the way Caleb rolls his eyes. "So McElroy comes in, and he's wearing the tutu, nothing else. There's a bunch of sophomores or juniors or something playing down on the court, and they all stop and whistle at him, but the fucker just plays along, does a couple of these ballet-like jumps, gets everyone laughing. Me and Lynch give him a lot of shit when he comes up to the deck, but he just grins and we have to give him his clothes back 'cos Coach Brooks is gonna come out any time. Fucker."

Will has reddened. "So it was a fucking waste of time?"

"Seems like it. I kept an ear cocked in the cafeteria. Huber and his guys were all laughing extra hard."

"You're gonna have to ramp it up, Prescott," Will says.

"We're going to."

"What did you do to Russo? I heard you hit him sixth period."

"Yeah, we gave him the same treatment we gave McElroy."

"That's all? Why didn't you -- ?"

"Hey, you wanna take over, cocksucker? Then you can fucking take over so you can do it your way!" You jump to your feet. "Except I am doing it your way! I know what you want to do, and Patterson's with me, okay? We're letting 'em think with the first few guys that there's nothing else coming, that they can fucking laugh it off, but we're gonna ramp it up."

"How?"

"We're gonna break out the duct tape tomorrow. Make some mummies."

Will snorts. "They'll just laugh that off too."

"So what do you want? We can't break bones or destroy property."

"They did at Chelsea's."

You fall onto the bed with a sigh. "I know. But that was just at her place. We can't break furniture at all their places."

"You didn't even hurt Russo or McElroy."

"Then what do you suggest, fucker? You think you can come up with ideas that I can't?"

Will hops off the dresser and stalks from the bedroom. Caleb regards you soberly for a moment before speaking.

"I really hope you're not trying your best, Will," he says.

"Fuck you, man. Why shouldn't I, it was fucking humiliating what those fucks did at Chelsea's!"

"That's not what I meant. I meant, if this is the best you can come up with without breaking any laws, what's Gordon going to do? Is he going to come back with ideas about really hurting people?"

You let out a long groan. "So what do you want me to do? Try less hard so Gordon will try less hard too?"

"How about you switch back with him? What exactly is the point of you guys pretending to be each other still? You got Gordon away from his dad and his girlfriend's sucking him off again. You fixed his shit for him. Or is that it that you want to keep doing it with Chelsea?"

You groan again, but more pleasurably now, and think of Chelsea in a way that makes you hard. "Maybe. There's also that I don't want to fucking work at Salopek, and he's got me hooked up with Cassie Harper. Did they do anything together today?"

"Cassie ate lunch with us. We all hung out with Ioeger and them."

You cover your face with his pillow and punch yourself a couple of times. "That is wrong in so many ways. What's Gordon hanging out with them for? He hates Ioeger and Lamont."

"Maybe he's changing his mind. Or maybe -- Do you want him having lunch with Cassie alone?"

"Oh God."

"Yeah. So that's another reason you should really think about changing back. Because the longer you hang out this way, the harder it's going to be to go back because it's not going to be your life any more."

You toss the pillow aside to look at him. "So, how about you and me switching? We'll let Gordon go back to being himself, you can be me, and I can be you."

"What? Why?"

"That's the way all this shit started, wasn't it? Us pretending to be each other? You can hang out at Salopek long enough to get yourself fired and to break up with Cassie, then I can -- "

The door opens again, but just enough for Will to put his head into room. "I'm taking off," he says. "I'll catch you tomorrow."

"Hey, check the fire on your way back home, will you?" Caleb says.

"It's not on the way, but I will." Your replacement vanishes.

"What fire?" you ask. Caleb gives you a withering look, which you blankly return until it comes to you. "Oh. Right. I keep forgetting to check on it."

"Well, you've had other things on your mind," he retorts. "It went out last night, and I had to restart it this morning on the way to school."

"Jesus, how long is it supposed to burn?"

He shrugs. "The book says until it doesn't relight."

* * * * *

You check it yourself the next morning, on your way to school. The berm of earth has begun to pull it self into a more solid-looking mass, but it has cracked in a couple of places, which worries you. What if you screwed up the spell?

You and your friends take care of two more people: Liam Walker and Thomas Schmitz. In the first case, you and Patterson and Lynch carry him out to the portables, strip him, and duct tape him to one of the desks, leaving him to holler for a rescue. Schmitz you carry into the boys' locker room, strip, and duct tape to the walls of the shower just before a sophomore class is slated to come in. The plan is to let Huber's friends know that the punishments are getting worse and that you're building up slowly.

"What if Cameron apologized?" Chelsea asks you at lunch. You and she are stretched out in the loft. You're leaning on your elbow and she's sheltering in the crook of your arm as you feed her in between taking bites of the food yourself.

"I give up, what if Cameron apologized?"

"No, seriously. What if he said he was sorry for what he did at the party Saturday?"

"He still has to take his punishment."

"Like what?"

"Why are you asking this, Chels? He's not going to -- "

"I got a text from Anne last period." That would be Anne Starkey, Cameron's girlfriend. "She wanted to know what you'd do if Cameron apologized."

"Fucking pussy," you grumble. "Sending his girlfriend to beg."

"I know."

"You should blast her text all over the school so the whole place will know what a pussy he is."

Chelsea is silent a moment. "Could that be his punishment?" She sits up. "Like, he has to print out a bunch of copies of his apology and tape them up around school?"

You only grunt. "I don't see him going for it, and I don't think an apology's enough."

"But I don't want you getting into any real trouble, pookie," she says. "And it would be pretty humiliating, right, really show what a -- " She demurely sidesteps the word "pussy." "What a chicken he is."

"It's just an apology, there's nothing -- "

"But he's begging to be let off. Like you said, he's using his girlfriend to beg for mercy."

"Psht. Except he's not. Huber's not that big of a pussy. This is just Anne trying to figure out a way to save his ass from me and Steve."

"So what do you want me to tell her?"

"Tell her to talk to her boyfriend, find out if he's a real pussy or not."

But she's given you another idea.

* * * * *

"What are you doing, you jerk? Leave him alone!" So yells Cassie Harper, but you ignore her cries as you carry Will Prescott out the back of the school toward the portables. You're not even halfway there when you see the cluster of students in front of it start to disperse, like they know you're coming. Damn it, you're spending too much time out there lately.

"If you're trying to get me laid, you're doing a good job," Will chortles when you set him on his feet again. "Cassie's gonna be all over me when I see her again, making sure I'm alright."

That wasn't what you wanted to talk to him about, but since he's raised it: "When do you want your life back?"

"I dunno, when do you want yours back?"

"Don't you want to get back with Chelsea?"

"Fuck, yeah. But you done such a good job with my life, I thought I'd let you collect the reward." He cocks his head. "But how about a deadline? Like, when that new spell's ready, we'll switch back?"

You waver. "I'll check it tonight after practice, then we'll talk. But right now, I've got another idea, about how to handle Huber." You outline the idea to him.

He likes it, and says so. "Thing is, you're gonna need two people to pull it off. You wanna play Huber?"

"I thought you'd want to do that."

He shrugs. "That's the important part. But I don't mind playing Mitchell and keeping Huber distracted while you do the real business."

Next: "The Infiltrator" 

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"Table of Contents (Vol. 2)" 
"The Book of Masks (Vol. 2)"