The Book of Masks (Vol. 1)

A Fashionable Foot Forward

Previously: "Your Makeover" 

You got up early, but you lingered long over the clothes, so you're actually later getting to school than usual. So it's in Walberg's classroom that you get your first glimmer of how the day is going to go. Caleb is already there, slouched in his seat and tapping at a game on his cell phone. Your lips twitch at the sight of his dorky button-down shirt and brown pants and ratty tennis shoes. You slide into your own seat and lean back to stare at him over a lifted nose.

He gives you a quick, sidelong glance, which turns into a slow double-take as he frowns at the stranger who has dropped into your usual seat. It takes him an almost comically long time for him to register that it's you.

When he does recognize you, he half-jumps from his seat. "Jesus! Will?"

"Hey." You chuck your chin at him. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" he squeaks. "What happened to—? Where—?" He flicks a feebly hooked finger at you. "What's that?"

"What's what? My new clothes? Toldja yesterday." You can't help grinning. "Eva and Jessica took me shopping, gave me a makeover. Oh, and Cindy was there too."

"Vredenburg?" he asks in a choked screech.

"Word. You should'a come. Maybe they could'a done something for you too."

He swallows. "Is this, like—?" He frowns as he looks you up and down, but there's no missing the surprised admiration in his eyes. "Is this what you're gonna look like from now on?"

"Oh yeah." You resettle that leather fedora on your head. "New year, new me."

Caleb turns green.

You turn around in your seat and settle back to study the rest of the room. First thing you notice is Kelsey Blankenship, who staring at you from the front row. She doesn't look happy. In fact, she looks distinctly angry. Her eyes narrow as you return her glare with a calm stare of your own, and she leans forward to hiss at her witch-like best friend, Amanda Ferguson. Amanda turns a cold frown on you, then with a curled lip turns back to hiss back at Kelsey. The class's queen bee scowls at you and turns back toward the front.

Maybe Martin Gardinhire is staring at you from behind those cheap sunglasses he never takes off, or maybe he's just grooving to his own private, snobby thoughts. But Anthony Kirk smiles at you and gives you a small thumbs' up. "Lookin' good there, Prescott," he says. You smile and give him a thumbs' up back.

But that's nothing on the compliment you get when Lisa and Geoff come in. They're slow to notice you, and it's not until Martin leans over to mutter at Lisa that she turns to look at you. Her mouth falls open a little, and after a flustered consultation with Martin she comes over to beam down at you. "Hey Will," she says in a voice as soft as crumpled rose petals. "How are you doing?"

"Doing great. How are you?"

"I'm fine. You're looking really good."

"Thanks. So are you." You heartless cow. Eat me, now that you won't have me.

She dimples a soft smile back at you and returns to her seat. You shift your smile onto Mansfield, who is staring at you with a slack jaw. He shuts it and, with a dark look, swings around in his desk.

* * * * *

Second period. "Christ, what happened to you?" Keith exclaims as you settle into the desk in front of you.

"I went out with Eva and Jessica and Cindy yesterday," you tell him. "They gave me a makeover."

His face falls. "So it's even worse than I thought."

"The fuck? What's got your dick in a wringer?"

He grips your shoulder with bony fingers. "They're setting you up, Will! Wake up to the facts!"

You knock his hand away. "Set me up for what, you dumbass? Anyway, if this is them setting me up, they can set me up for whatever they want."

"Pthbt! Fuck you then," Keith growls. "You'll just have to find out the hard way, and then I'll be fucking laughing at your sorry ass."

But you're too pleased with the looks some of the girls are giving you to care about his dorky, jealous paranoia.

* * * * *

Fourth period. Carlos comes over to talk before class starts. "So, you ever gonna come back out to the studio?" he asks. "Record a thing for us?"

You nod, but keep your body language casual. "Yeah, I think I'd like to."

"Cool." He holds out his hands and splays his fingers as though to frame your head in a viewfinder. He frowns. "Yeah, you'd look good. We could use someone with a sense of a style. Oh, that reminds me," he adds. "Work up something good to say, so we're sure to want you. Cindy Vredenburg's joining our YouTube crew. You'll wanna guest host with her on some of our videos, won't you?"

You fight down a quick gulp of excitement. "Yeah, that'd be great!"

He nods. "Thought you'd be interested. She was asking specially for you." He lopes back to his seat.

Caleb leans forward to stare into your face once you've turned back around. "What?" you ask him.

"I'm just trying to figure out if it's really you back in there," he says. "Or if it's some new asshole who's stolen your face and identity."

* * * * *

You want to be seen in public, so you insist on eating out front with Jenny and Carson and James. Caleb accompanies you, but Keith begs off, which is fine with you, because he seems to be sinking into deeper and deeper mires of resentment and paranoia.

"Whew!" Carson whistles as you approach. "It's Indiana Prescott! You trying out your Halloween costume early?"

"No, this is my new look," you reply as you settle onto the grass. "Some girls took me shopping yesterday."

"No fucking way," he chortles. "Here, lemme see that." He grabs for your hat, but you dodge away. "Oh come on, man. I wanna see if I should get me one!"

"You already got that dumb bandana," you retort. "And if I catch you pinching my style, I'll kick your ass."

"Who were the girls?" Jenny asks. She nods thoughtfully when you tell her it was the Garners and Cindy Vredenburg. "They said something about taking you shopping. Stand up for me, will you?" You oblige, and her eyes light up. "They did a really good job. You look great, Will." You flatter yourself that her admiring tone is tinged with just a drop of lust. "Doesn't he look great, guys?"

"Yeah, he could almost pass for human," James replies, but his face crinkles into a warm smile. And when he combs long fingers through his thick hair, you can tell he's wondering if maybe he should look for a hat like Jessica found for you.

* * * * *

That's the last of the excitement for the day until Astronomy. The novelty of the experience has worn off sufficiently that you go straight to your seat with your customary "last period of the day" sigh, and don't look around until you hear someone calling your name. You look back, and find that it's Stephanie. She's half out of her seat and looking you up and down with open astonishment. "Looking sharp there, Prescott," she calls over to you.

"Thanks!"

"You going over to Anita's tonight?"

"Got plans to meet people at the Warehouse!"

"Cool!" she calls back. "Have fun!"

You nod at her, and try not to notice the snigger that Jamie Rennerhoff has loosed in your direction.

* * * * *

The "before and after" photo session that Eva and the girls scheduled for after school turns into something more like a fashion shoot. The girls start by standing you against the wall of the school, but they quickly escalate into staged poses: you slouching at the foot of a wall looking cool and bored; you leaning against a car while gazing thoughtfully into the distance; you braced in a doorway with your best approximation of a come-hither smirk; a close-up of you and Eva grinning into the lens like you're taking a selfie. You move into the library to take pictures of you and Jessica sitting cheek-by-cheek at a table; a posed shot of you in the stacks frowning into a book. "They all look like they're taken the same day," Jessica complains, and she bullies you into returning home to return with all the clothes they bought you, and until the building closes at five-thirty they harass you into changing tops and bottoms and ties and jackets while staging poses designed to look like dozens of selfies taken over several days, or scores of "candid" shot stolen of you between or during class. They even summon friends and acquaintances—Yumi Saito and Lin Pol; and Hollister and Montoya and their friends Josiah Shank and Philip Fairfax—to work as extras or to pose in the intimate selfies. The presence of the guys embarrasses you somewhat, but they seem unimpressed—slightly bored, even—by the fuss that's being made over you, and just docilely play along with what the girls ask of them.

It must be the price they're willing to pay to get cheerleaders to help out with their videos. They even follow when the company moves en masse to stage some shoots at the nearby Mellon Village Shopping Center and its adjoining fast food and sandwich shops.

Lin and Yumi are more bemused by the attention you're getting, and as things are winding down Yumi sidles up to ask you, in a low voice, "What's the story behind all this, Will?"

"Story behind what?"

"This." She gestures with a sweep of her arm. "All the attention they're giving you."

The question instantly reminds you of Keith's dark, paranoid whisperings.

You're about to ask Yumi if she'll have dinner with you, so you can discreetly ask what she thinks of all this, when Cindy waves at you. "You coming, Will? Eva and I want to take you to dinner!"

* To continue: "The Same Question, Over and Over" 

*
"Table of Contents (Vol. 1)" 
"The Book of Masks (Vol. 1)"