The Book of Masks (Vol. 1)

The Female of the Species

Previously: "Hangover for an Absent Party Crasher" 

{Written by rugal b.)

You decide that maybe some more doppelganger mischief might be fun but you demure on using Caleb for it for a multitude of reasons. On the one hand you've already gotten him in trouble and it took much apologizing on his end to hopefully fix the damage. You can't help but feel just a twinge of guilt at that and decide that any shenanigans will be kept a bit lighter; nothing, you hope, as extreme as calling Stephanie Wyatt a bitch right to her face or creeping on girls who very clearly do not want the attention.

On the other hand becoming Caleb now feels a bit played out. You know him enough that you feel you could probably do a well enough job impersonating him without adding his brain to his mask. The two of you are such social nobodies that even all of the mayhem you caused last night barely seemed to register so what would be the fun in doing anything if nobody's going to really care? To that end you also rule out Keith as a possible target.

James Lamont and Carson Ioeger? Well they're only slightly better off socially than you or Caleb though on the other hand they get up to mischief of their own so anything you do might not be as shocking. Jenny Ashton? She certainly has a much higher social ranking than anyone else you might consider a friend given that she's best friends with Yumi Saito and in tight with people like Cindy Vredenburg and the Garner twins so anything you do as her would be bound to cause a splash. But that might cause too big of a splash because after all her friends are directly opposed to Chelsea Cooper and anything you might do as her could be used by the cheerleading queen as ammo against both Jenny and her friends.

Besides could you even become a girl? It's a two part question. The first is simple: if you had a mask and it had a girl's image on it would it be able to turn you into her? The answer seems obvious but maybe it'll only allow you to become someone of the same gender. Maybe the magic isn't strong enough to make a change that big; changing from Will Prescott to Jenny Ashton would certainly be bigger than Will Prescott to Caleb Johansson.

The second part is more mental. If it worked could you become a girl? As you'd just contemplated a switch from Will to Jenny, for example, would be big not just physically but mentally as well. It would be a far more different, far more alien experience than becoming another guy. Plus if you used one of these bands and had the girl's brain you'd inherit everything she knows and would that also mean you'd inherit her... you shiver at that. You're very assured in your own heterosexuality that you don't want to contemplate the idea of doing things with another guy as a girl.

So you toss that thought aside and after a bit of thought conclude that the interest trumps any potential drawbacks. You want something really different now, something more exciting that opens itself up to even greater fun. You want to see just what these disguises can do and how complete they are. So you'll try and find a girl, copy them both with a mask and a band and see where that leads you.

As for the new spell? Well you're not sure how into the idea you are of having to dig up and haul around a bunch of graveyard dirt, at least not as you are now. So you decide to put it off for the moment but do come to the conclusion that after this whole deal is done you might want to look into copying someone in much better shape if only to make the dirt digging task a lot easier.

* * * * *

You've got the money so you take the trip out to a few stores to grab material needed for not only making a couple more masks but a couple more bands as well. It's as you're coming out of Ace Hardware with some material and putting it into the bed of your truck that you suddenly get the feeling that there's someone behind you... and it's confirmed just a second later.

"Heya!" exclaims a small, high pitched voice which, when accompanied by the tap on your shoulder, causes you to yelp and jump in surprise. That same voice giggles and it's a familiar sound you realize. "Sorry, did I scare you?"

"Ah, no not scared just... just surprised," you say with a nervous laugh. That causes only another giggle from your unseen companion and you're now certain you've heard it before. So you turn and are both surprised and not surprised to see Cassie Harper standing there. "So, what's up Cassie? What are you doing out here?"

"I think I'm the one who should be asking you that," she says with a large smile.

"Um, well I just had to stop by Ace and pick some things up," you tell her. "I'm helping, uh, my little brother. He's got an art project he has to do for school and I'm picking up some stuff for him."

Cassie's eyes light up at that. "Aww, that's really sweet Will!" she exclaims with apparent delight.

"Anyway what about you? I wasn't really expecting to see you out here."

"I work here," she says as if it should be obvious to you. "Well, not here but right over there," she says and points to a store near the end of the next building with a sign that reads Thrifty Nifties. "Actually I just went on lunch break, or I guess dinner break because it's later in the afternoon," she giggles, "and that's when I saw you."

She looks at you in a way that's... expectant? Like a puppy who's waiting for a treat. Maybe puppy is a good descriptor for Cassie because she's certainly small and certainly cute. Her hair is long, wavy and fiery red and held back a bit by a hairband. Her eyes are large and if not gray then certainly a very grayish blue. Her smile is large and bright and when she looks at you it gives the impression of anxiously biting her lip. Her face is also covered in freckles that only serve to enhance her youthful qualities and thus make her appear even more puppyish.

"Oh, well if you're on lunch and I'm already here do you want to maybe, I don't know, hang out?" you ask and immediately you facepalm. There's a reason "puppy dog eyes" are a thing and you doubt she was doing it intentionally but you just felt compelled, overwhelmed by her cuteness as you were, to ask her.

"Oh, you want to...?" she asks in surprise then her eyes light up even more and her face is practically beaming. "Okay, yeah! There's a place here in the plaza that's really, really good. I'll treat you but just this once!"

You spend the half hour of Cassie's lunch break at The Coldest Cut, a tiny delicatessen that makes (you have to admit) some very good sandwiches. You don't say too much yourself as you'd forgotten how much of a chatterbox Cassie can be and she practically dominates the conversation. Not that you have a bad time, you're fine sitting there and letting her talk.

As the time limit of her break comes up you get ready to say your goodbyes and leave but not before she stops you. She pulls a small notepad and a pen out of her purse, jots something down, rips the page off and hands it to you. The two of you say your goodbyes and she says she'll see you on Monday. Only when you're back in your truck do you take a look at the paper and nearly do a double take.

It's her phone number.

* * * * *

Back at the elementary school basement you get to work on making the masks and bands. It's not a long process now that you know how to do it and being in the unused basement means you're at no risk of attracting attention from the popping and smoking the of the masks as they're being made. But once they're done your anticipation falls. It took you days to polish just one mask and now with more than one and with school it might take you all week to get everything completed.

You wonder if there's a better way but after a few minutes of thinking you can't come up with anything. You've got Caleb's mask here though and loathe as you are to admit it he's smarter than you so maybe he might be able to come up with a better way.

You pop the mask on and after ten minutes of solid thinking you hit upon an idea: maybe a car buffer would work. It's something you'll have to try tomorrow though because afternoon is turning to evening and light in the basement, even provided by one measly lightbulb, isn't that great now. So you take off Caleb's mask, lock up and resolve to maybe get a lamp when you can afford it.

Sunday means church and while you're always anxious enough as is during service the excitement of getting back and trying that buffer idea makes you even antsier. It's the middle of the afternoon by the time you're able to get back and takes some cajoling of your dad to convince him to let you borrow the buffer (this time it's a friend's art project). Rushing back to the school basement, you get to work on an unpolished mask. It takes a moment but you get the hang of working the buffer and after about 45 minutes you hold a shiny blue mask in your hands.

The wonders of modern technology you suppose.

The question is who do you use it on? You don't really know any girls besides Jenny and you don't have any way of reaching her to get her alone and the get the mask on her. The only other female you could try it on is... your mom. Something about that seems wrong and you're not sure you'd want to risk getting her in trouble, although being an adult would certainly give you more freedom and if nothing else it gives you a face to hide behind to get someone else.

If only you knew... wait, you do!

Cassie! She gave you her number yesterday. Maybe you should contact her and see what she's doing. If you can hang out with her you could certainly slip a mask on her and a face as disarmingly cute and innocent as hers would be the perfect one to use when engaging in mischief.

But would you be getting her in trouble too if you did anything? Maybe you should spend the afternoon around town trying to find someone else. Someone you either don't know or who might be a little more "deserving".

That's all for now.

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