The Book of Masks (Vol. 2)

The Last Day of Life as Lindsay?

Previously: "The Sophomore Scheme" 

You study the list with an eye toward finding aliases that would help out your sophomore friends with their plan. But almost every name Paulina provided would bring in new "friends" outside of the cliques that they already dominate.

So you concentrate on eliminating names. The masks of Ethan and Andrew, for instance, probably give your friends an in with the football and softball players, so you cut them from consideration. The masks of Kaylee and Leslie give them an in with many of the others. Joe has already turned himself into a junior—Gabriela Costa, though you haven't seen much of her—so you cross out the juniors.

By this process of elimination, then, you find yourself studying the musicians.

None of them, you realize when you think back, were at Kaylee's party, so they really would be a new addition. And Los Scorchicos—though its music isn't much to Lindsay's taste or to yours—is incredibly popular in the sophomore and freshman classes, so there would be a lot of popularity there to rub off on your friends. And two of that bands' members—Bastian and Scarlett—are juniors, so that would be a bonus.

It's not yet eleven o'clock, so you call Michael. "Yeah?" he says when he answers, and he sounds worried. "What's going on?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to talk."

There's a pause. Then: "I'm supposed to turn my phone off after ten o'clock, Lindsay. If I get in trouble 'cos of—"

"What, are your parents Mormon or something?"

Another pause. "I think you mean, are they Quakers. No, wait. Amish? Are those the people that—?"

"Look, can you talk or can't you?"

"I'm under the covers, so yeah. What's going on?"

"I just wanted to talk to you about who we're going change into. I was looking at the Los Scorchicos guys."

"Huh. Yeah, I was thinking about them too. You know, if we were in that band together, that'd be cool."

It would be. But then you think: "Wait, aren't we supposed to spread out? Isn't that what the guys want?"

"Pft, Will, why can't we do what we want?"

That's true. "So who do you like?"

"In the band? Any of 'em I guess."

"Scarlett Bard?"

A pause. "Except her. She's kind of ruining it for them, don't you think?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, like, they were these awesome up-and-coming guys, and then they added her on keyboards, and since then—"

"Oh, fuck. You're talking like you're an expert on them. Since when do you know anything about Los Scorchicos?"

"Since I got shoved back two years at school. But they were definitely better before they hooked up with her. That's what Michael thinks, anyway."

You grunt. "So you'd want one of the guys.? Bastian? That'd bump you back up a grade."

"Sure, but he's dating Scarlett, isn't he? Well, that might not be so bad," he adds, "providing we can get her and her keyboards off the stage."

Like that would happen, you think. You don't know much about Los Scorchicos, but you'd bet serious money that a guy isn't going to be able to talk his girlfriend into quitting the band they both play in, and to talk her into quitting it because some of the kids at school think she's uncool.

But Caleb takes Bastian, that would leave Matthew Ghenz or Liam Schoonover for you. Both are good-looking kids, and Lindsay is plugged in enough to know that each of them has a "team" of fans. Lindsay herself would be "Team Matthew," you suppose. At least, he seems quieter than Liam, who is a hyperactive loudmouth. And when Caleb says that Liam also looks like a good choice to him, it seems to you that Matthew would be a natural complement.

But then Caleb also says that he was also looking at Matthew Adams and few of the other guys as choices, and that he's really undecided and would want a day or two to think about it. So you hang up without making a final choice.

You run through the list one more time before closing down for the night, and that's how you remember that Jody Lepley is also a nominee for hijacking. She is small and has kind of a moth-eaten look to her—maybe because she dresses in boys' clothes—but her presence on the list reminds you that the two most popular bands in the senior class, Slow Fast Hazel and Lady Steel, are fronted by girls (and Lady Steel is a girl-only band).

That makes her worth a second look, at least.

* * * * *

Paulina and Bhodi are waiting out front when you arrive at school the next morning, and for a moment you think they are there to ask if you've decided on a new identity.

But then: Oh, right. They think I really am Lindsay.

"Hey," you greet them. "What's wrong with you?" you ask Paulina, who is frowning at you hard.

Her frown deepens, and Bhodi glances around with an embarrassed look on his face. "You ran out on Andrew yesterday," Paulina says.

"I didn't run out on him," you protest.

"He was going to get food with you! And you ran out on him and then you didn't come back!"

"I had to go home, Paulina, I—"

"He's really upset with you!"

You feel yourself crumpling under her glare. Paulina is at least half-a-head taller than you, and though she hasn't Lindsay's Mack-truck-like power to run people over, she has something even more overwhelming. (At least, it overwhelms Lindsay.)

She has a sense of her own superiority.

"Well, jeez," you mutter, and hang your head. "I didn't mean to. Now, wait, screw that," you interrupt yourself. "I totally did. He was creeping on me."

Paulina puts her hand on her hip. "He was not."

"He was too. Look, I know you guys are all, like, trying to push him on me—"

"We're not trying to push anybody, Lindsay! But he likes you! And if you're not, you know, interested in him—"

"What did you say, Bhodi?" you interrupt, for he has muttered something under his breath.

"Nothing."

"No, you said something. If you've got an opinion here—"

But he just twists on his feet and turns a shoulder to you.

"If you're not interested in Andrew," Paulina resumes, "you should be just very nice to him and tell him that, you know, you're not interested in going out with him."

You hunch your shoulders up around your ears. "I'm not used to guys hitting on me," you mutter.

"So is that the problem? Could you at least be friends with him?"

You make a face. "I don't want to be more than that, I can tell you that much."

Paulina sighs.

"Well, at least be friendly with him, then. Can't you? The rest of us— Him and Bhodi, I mean—"

"Yeah, fine, I can be friendly with him! But if you think that's going to turn into, you know—"

"Then we'll tell him that's all it's going to be. Okay? Just don't be mean to him anymore."

You bunch up your fists. But in a small, tight voice, you promise that you won't be "mean" to Andrew Webb. "Now, can I go to my locker?" you add. "I think my backpack is compressing my spine."

"Sure." Having extracted that promise from you, Paulina is all smiles again. "See you in the library?"

"Yeah, whatever."

But you don't go to the library after you leave your locker, you go out behind the school building to slump to the ground with your cell phone, and only after the first bell has rung do you slink off to your first class.

At least Paulina, when she sees you again, is smart enough not to say anything about how you skipped out on her and all her new friends.

* * * * *

While you were hiding out before classes, you texted fake-Dane; and at lunch you tell Michael that you want a ride home with him. But that's just a cover story, and after school the two of you drive out to Dane's trailer. He lets you in and gives you his phone when you demand it, so you can text Paulina to tell her that you and Caleb have settled on new identities. He has decided against becoming a member of Los Scorchicos and chosen Matthew Adams, a member of the swim team, instead. As for you—

But when you check Dane's phone, you see there's a text on it from a name you don't recognize: Joe Durras. Hey man, tried catching up to you after school but sorry I missed you. Trying to score a little recreational fun, okay if I stop by your place?

"What's this?" you ask fake-Dane.

"Huh? Oh, guess that must'a come in while I was driving back." He squints at the message. "Beats me. What's he looking for, some weed?"

"What else would he be looking for?" you retort. "Well, let's get rid of him."

But after tapping back a message telling him that you're busy and can't meet up, you get another reply: lol sorry on way now just gimme one minute pls.

"Fuck, let's get out of here," you tell Michael, who is playing a game on his own phone, and grab your back pack.

"What's wrong?"

"That guy's on his way over. I can't get caught here, not like this."

He jerks his arm out of your hand and bends back over his phone. "So switch faces with the Danester," he says. "You need to get under that mask anyway, for when Paulina and them bring your new body out."

Next: "Blasts from the Past" 

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