The Book of Masks (Vol. 4)

Half-Truths and Fake Friends

Previously: "A Chance to Change Partners" 

Even before he'd started you had decided to reject any proposal he made. And yet, before the end, Caleb had almost won you over.

Until he made the mistake of implying that your partnership with Chelsea is "unnatural."

Well, maybe it is. She's the alpha queen of the school, and you're one of the invisible drones. But here the two of you are, bound together by an occult secret. You can't shake the memory of her squeezing your arm yesterday. Or the way you and she--albeit in disguise--came this close to doing it.

And on the other side is Caleb, who has lied and taken advantage of you. If anyone had looked at the last few weeks, they'd easily conclude that Chelsea was your friend, and that Caleb wasn't.

So you can't betray Chelsea. Even if your relationship with her has been "unnatural" over the arc of your high school careers, maybe this is the start of a new and "natural" relationship with her.

Well, as "natural" as it can be when freaky magic stuff is involved.

But what to do about Caleb and Keith?

You toss restlessly on your bed that evening. You have to talk to someone, and for the first time in years it can't be your two best friends. It can't be anyone, in fact, except--

It's seems like a breach of protocol, but you call Chelsea. "Are you free?" you ask without preamble. "Because I really need to talk."

Your heart skips at her silence, but when she speaks she doesn't sound angry. "It's not really a good time for me. What's it about?"

"I just need to talk about ... What we're doing. What we're going to do," you mumble. Really, what can you tell her? That you've got friends who want to do to her what Gordon did to himself? "It seems like a good idea to have a plan."

"Well, okay," she says, sounding slightly surprised. "That makes sense. But not tonight. Tomorrow night, around seven?"

"Up over the gym?" She agrees. "I'll see you there."

* * * * *

You do a lot of thinking overnight--sleep is short--so that when Caleb brushes up next to you Monday morning, you're prepared.

"I'm not saying yes or no yet," you tell him. "But what have you got left from when you had the book?"

"A mask of myself," he says cautiously.

"Can you make another mask? For Tilley?"

"Not without the book."

"Okay, as long as you've got one of yourself, that should make it quicker. I need to see what I can make without Chelsea getting suspicious." That seems to satisfy him. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, when I know more."

He nods, and says he'll keep Keith up to date. That makes you happy. Keeping two people half in the dark would be easier than keeping three of them semi-misled.

* * * * *

Chelsea and Gordon are both upstairs when you arrive that evening. She's cuddled inside his arm, and dimples at you. He gives you a dark look, but says nothing as you close the door behind you.

"So, um, plans," you say after taking a ragged breath. Chelsea's eyebrows go up expectantly. "Do you have any ideas about what to do with these ... things we've made?"

Her eyes wander from your yours.

"Not really," she admits. "Little ideas, for this and that. Like what we did the other night. That was fun." Now she looks at you. "I think you had fun."

"Yeah, I did. In fact--" You take a deep breath. "I had so much fun I decided I wanna change my situation. I don't wanna be Will Prescott anymore. I wanna use those masks to get another life."

Absolute silence falls. Then Gordon sniggers loudly. Chelsea, without taking her eyes from yours, pops him in the face with her fist. "Shut up. Not you, Will," she adds. "You tell me exactly what you mean."

"I mean what I said," you reply. She is very intense all of a sudden, in a way that leaves you feeling defensive. "I'm sick of what I've got. Other people have it better than me, and I want some of it."

"You can't have it that bad," she says.

Easy for you to say. But the calculated appeal to her sense of greed doesn't seem to be going over well, so you change tack slightly.

"Maybe if I put it like this. Life is short, and it would be nice to sample different kinds of lives. Not just a stolen evening here and there, worried about getting caught. I mean, a few weeks, a few months at a time. Totally inside someone else's life. Being them, having everything they've got. For a little while. I don't want to screw up anything for anyone," you add. "I'd let them out afterward. I guess they'd be confused, because they'd have missed a lot of time, but ... They'd get over it." You shrug.

Her brow furrows. "What do you mean about 'letting them out'?"

"That's the way it would work." You squat on the mat in front of her and Gordon.

"You remember what happened when I put on your mask? You told me I totally forgot who I was, and I don't remember anything that happened while I was wearing it." She grunts. "Well, I'd make a mask of myself, and put the same stuff inside it. I'd put it on a person, after I've made a mask of them. They'd turn into me, and take over my life while I was being them, without their ever realizing it. And I'd take over theirs, for a little while, then take the mask off them--let them out--when I was finished being them. So, like, we put my mask on Kelsey, and I become Kelsey, and when--

"You want to become Kelsey?"

"Well, not Kelsey. In fact, no one at Westside." You lick your lips. "I'm tired of Westside. I was thinking that maybe I could ... replace someone over at Eastman."

"Why?"

Because I want to run away--far away--so Caleb can't use me to get to you, and so I don't have to try stopping him from doing anything to you. "Because I'm sick of Westside."

"Do you know who you'd, um ..."

"No. I don't even really know anyone at Eastman." You fidget. "I was hoping you could help." And if I don't know who I'll be replacing, Caleb can't squeeze it from my own replacement. "And the sooner the better," you quietly add.

Her eyebrows arch in alarm. "Are you in trouble?"

"No. I'm suddenly just very tired of being myself."

"I told you, there's nothing wrong with who you are."

You can't stop from rolling your eyes and clenching your fists. If she knew what it was like being an insect at this school, having people like her lording it over people like you--

And just like that, the idea of taking over someone's life is appealing all on its own.

Chelsea puts her hand on your knee. "Will, you're smart and you're sweet and you're going to have a good life." You snort softly. "And Lisa Yarborough is a blind bitch if she doesn't see that."

You flinch, startled that she knows about you and Lisa. She smiles.

"Yeah, well, maybe if I saw my life through someone else's eyes for a while," you say, "I'd have an easier time believing it."

"Pff. Alright. And you're leaving it up to me, to figure out where we go, who we be? It'll take a couple of days."

"That's fine. I need a few to make up new masks." Then you catch yourself. "Did you say, who 'we' would be?"

Her smiles. "I like your idea. And maybe I'd like to stick close to you."

A lop-sided smile creeps up the side of your own face.

* * * * *

You make four masks: one each for you and Chelsea, and one each for your two victims. Chelsea and Gordon each take one to polish. You take the other two, not because you can get them done faster yourself, but because you know you can get Caleb to polish up one for you. He's highly gratified when you press it upon him Tuesday afternoon, and even makes a quick trip home to fetch the mask of himself so you can put some of that special stuff inside it.

"As soon as it's done," you tell him. "I'll pop your mask on her, and that will take her out." He grins in a way that makes you shiver.

You take his mask home. That will keep him disarmed, and give you some insurance.

Everyone works diligently, and by Friday morning all the pieces are in place. And yet, at this very nearly last moment, you decide to give Caleb and Keith an exit ramp. "Are we really sure we want to do this?" you ask them at lunch.

They exchange glances. Caleb folds his arms. "What's up?"

"Nothing. Everything's ready to go. It's just-- It's a big thing, stealing someone's life. Stealing Chelsea's life."

"She's not doing anything worthwhile with it," Caleb sniffs. "Pushing people around, making life miserable."

"I heard from Jenny that Yumi was in the bathroom crying yesterday because of Chelsea," Keith says.

"What about?" You frown.

"Cheerleader stuff," Keith shrugs.

You suck on the inside of your cheek. Chelsea's well-earned reputation floods back to you. Have you gotten so bewitched that you've forgotten what she can be like? Or have you gotten close to the real girl?

"It's still a huge thing to do to her," you protest, even though you can tell you're not budging them. The topic quickly peters out, and you leave them muttering in your wake when you part for sixth-period classes.

Maybe you've not thought all this through--you made that decision about running off pretty quickly, under pressure from Caleb. Maybe you could just tell everyone to stop and chill. As for the new masks--

Caleb is right. Chelsea can be a real bitch. Maybe if those masks were used to copy some of her victims, and you talked her into donning them briefly--for one-night-only excursions--she'd get a good look at herself through someone else's eyes, and change her act.

Next: "A Hairpin Change in Plans" 

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"Table of Contents (Vol. 4)" 
"The Book of Masks (Vol. 4)"