The Book of Masks (Vol. 2)

The Perils of Paulina

Previously: "The Girls of Second Period" 

They sit in the front corner of the class, two at the front and two in the seats immediately behind. You take the walk slow so you've got time to look at them as you approach. Oh yeah, those four girls are mighty fine.

Kaitlyn Page is in the front corner, primping into her phone. Her hair -- brunette, but it has a dusty texture, as though she's misted some face powder over it -- hangs loose today, framing a square but handsome face. Her smart glasses give her a professional, even a slightly corporate look, as does her dark blouse and slacks, her heeled boots, and the touches of subdued jewelry on her lapel. She gives you a quick look up and down, as though you were a column of numbers. But her instant return to the phone suggests you do not offer a return on interest anywhere close to investment grade.

Immediately opposite her is Alexandria Hull -- a stacked set of contrasts. Her chocolate-colored hair is cut short and clings tightly to her head, like swirls of icing. But her eyes -- big -- are a startling blue. Her heart-shaped face ends in an elfin chin and balances atop a petite body that she keeps tightly wrapped in a boyish short-sleeve work shirts and distressed jeans. She's got her notebook open, and appears to be sketching the cavities of a complicated mechanical device -- perhaps an internal combustion engine.

Behind Alexandria sits Danielle Decker, who as an ethnic composite matches or even surpasses Bhodi. Her skin suggests an African heritage; her bone structure is plainly European; her bowl-cut hair is stereotypically East Asian. But the hair she streaks with blues and purples, and the cheeks she decorates with streaks of yellow and white, like Indian war paint. The latter aren't so noticeable at a distance, but close up they resolve themselves into streaks of glitter. It's also a cut of color and exoticism against her clothes, which are drab blouses and jeans, and her lack of jewelry.

And across from her sits Jazmin Colon, who is as plump and delicious as three scoops of coffee/caramel ice cream. She leans forward in her seat with both elbows on her desk as she texts on her cell, and she casually pops her retainer in and out of her mouth as she does so. Like Kaitlyn, she looks up at you as you pass, but this is a lingering and appraising glance from under dark eyebrows that arch over lazily amused eyes. She sucks her retainer in with a thlock, and smiles widely at you, and turns her head as you pass.

You slide into your usual seat -- two chairs behind Danielle -- and slip down until your chin is almost even with the desktop, and you're practically sitting on your shoulder blades. As you watch, Jazmin pokes Kaitlyn in the shoulder. Kaitlyn half turns, then turns back around. She swipes the screen of her phone to a text, then swipes back to the screen, inside of which you can see a tiny, blurred reflection of the girl herself. She tilts the phone to the side --

And you realize she's using it to look back at you.

She swipes the screen again and taps in a short text. After a few seconds, Jazmin puts her phone down on the desk and sits back. She tucks a finger into her hair and starts to casually twirl it.

You close your eyes and suck in a groaning breath through your nose.

Then another student -- a guy whose name you don't even know -- sits down between you and her, cutting her off from view. More students cut you off from the other girls. Class starts. But it's enough.

When class is over, you make a point of standing in the aisle as everyone else leaves. Jazmin does a double take at you over her shoulder, and smiles at you again. After she's got her pack on her shoulders and has brushed her hair out, she turns and slowly walks toward you, smiling up boldly at you. When she reaches you, you cluck your tongue like you're popping out a retainer.

She grins a little harder, and pops her retainer out and holds its tip between her teeth. It's a gross but exciting little fantasy -- bending forward to bite its tip between your teeth, and to slowly suck it from her mouth into yours.

Instead, you put your hands gently on her shoulders, turn sideways, and slide past her through the aisle. You're not so careful -- intentionally not so careful -- that you don't brush against her with the rock-hard member engorging the front of your jeans. Her eyes widen just the tiniest bit -- and then her smile sharpens just the tiniest bit as well.

Then you're past her, and you give her a long chance to watch your ass as you walk out the door.

* * * * *

After that, you'd really like to skip third and go outside to lean against the wall and gently faint away. But you've got Computer Programming with Mr. Boykin. Andy Jensen is in there, and so is Joe, and that'll make it worth it, since you can totally brag to them about what happened in second.

"Oh man," you say as you drop into the chair next to Andy. "I almost scored with Jazmin last period."

Andy has big eyes -- with his close-cropped blonde hair, they give him a pre-pubescent look -- and they widen even more at this news. His mouth hangs open, and his lip curves up in something halfway between a smile and a sneer. But "No way" is all he can find to say.

"She almost gave me her retainer."

"What?" He bounces back, and a sharp crease slashes down his forehead and between his eyes. "That's disgusting."

"Not the way she tried to give it to me." You grit your teeth against the erection you're giving yourself. "She wasn't using her hands. She just, like, popped it out between her teeth -- " You try miming what she did. "And then, like, I was supposed to take it the same way from her. Like, pulling it out of her mouth by putting my mouth over hers and sucking at it -- "

Andy flies back, flapping his hands in front of his face, and laughing. "That's gross! Like you were going to -- She was going to -- Is that, like, French kissing or something? But with a retainer?" He gasps with laughter.

"What's French kissing with a retainer?" asks Joe, who has sat down on the other side of Andy.

"Bhodi! He says, like, him and Jazmin last period -- She had her retainer? And -- "

You busy yourself with powering up the computer and logging in while Andy tries to explain it to Joe. You notice some of the other students trying to listen in, but ignore them. When you look back, both Andy and Joe are staring at you with incredulous grins on their faces. "I swear, totally true," you say, holding up a slim, brown hand. "She was going to slip me her retainer, mouth to mouth -- "

Andy turns cherry-tomato red and bounces up and down in his chair, laughing. Joe pulls him close and whispers in his ear. Andy's eyes and mouth both pop open, and he turns to stare at you. "No way!"

"What?"

He kicks you. "So who are you going to -- ?" Little spasms run through him. "Jazmin or Paulina?"

"What do you mean 'or'?" you grin back.

Andy slaps his hands over his face and almost screams. Mr. Boykin has to tell him to be quiet, and class hasn't even started yet.

* * * * *

You almost skip lunch, despite your hunger, because Bhodi shares lunch with Evie, and you are dreading your first encounter with the real Bhodi Weaver. But you will have to get it over with eventually anyway, and you'd rather do it when surrounded by friends so that there is less likely to be a scene. Besides, you have to get your food in the cafeteria line.

But you don't see Evie when you take a quick glance through the cafeteria, and when you stop by the table where your group usually sits to cautiously ask if she's around, Samantha Fletcher says she's absent. Delighted and relieved, you celebrate with a tray of beef enchiladas and fiesta potatoes.

As sophomores -- and not top-of-the-line sophomores, either -- your group clusters at one end of a table against a back wall. Andy sits with you, and so do Joe and Grant and Justin Orr, who you've not yet seen today. He's not going to be doing his acne any favors, you can tell, because he's also piled up the greasy enchiladas and oil-drenched potatoes.

Samantha has disappeared, though, by the time you're sitting down, and her best friend Zoe has gone too. You ask where they went. Justin answers by leaning way back off his stool and gazing at another table. You half stand and take a look: Ah, there they are, in a cluster of girls and a few boys. Must be a gymnastics thing, since Samantha and Zoe and some of the others are on the JV Cheerleader squad -- the "unofficial" squad, that is, as there is no official JV Cheerleader squad, just a lot of juniors and sophomores who wish there was.

No, wait, you recognize that curly head in the middle of those girls. You snort. Kieran Matthews. The pretentions stoner who hasn't got the guts to be a real stoner, who just walks around wearing the clothes and gear and talking earnestly about the virtues of hemp. Your meditations on his shortcomings -- and he's short, too -- are interrupted by snorting giggles. The guys are all looking at you. "What?"

"Oh, just looks like you've got some competition down there," Grant says with a manic grin.

"What competition?" you demand.

"For the girls." He guffaws as Andy pokes him in the side. "Maybe they're trying to give Kieran their retainers."

"Oh, screw you!"

Joe leans across the table. "So, are you going to ask Paulina out or not? Start of fifth lunch is the perfect time to catch her."

* To continue: "Respect from Unexpected Places" 

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