The Book of Masks (Vol. 1)

Mom's the Word

Previously: "Of Curses and Even Worse Things" 

You don't sufficiently trust your ability to craft a guardian to take a gamble on that approach; the next best way is to get close to Lucy. Your guise as Yumi at least puts you close to her sister, Cindy.

You stay up very late Wednesday working to finish the new mask, and the next morning after cheerleader practice you ask Cindy if she can stay late with you to work on a routine. You lay the flattery on so thick she can't help but agree.

Later in the day you're walking between classes in the company of Chelsea and Maria Vasquez when you pass by your old locker, where your replacement is changing books. You contrive to bump into him and slip a note into his pocket. "Don't touch me, you pervert!" you scream, wheeling away from him after you make the drop. You ostentatiously shudder, and Chelsea puts her arm around your shoulders. "The guy is so creepy," you exclaim, tugging on your skirt and running your fingertips over your thighs. "It feels like he's touching me even when he's not around." You shudder again.

Chelsea coos sympathetically and glares over your shoulder at the bemused Prescott. "I keep telling Gordon that he needs to do something about the sewage running through the halls," she says in a loud voice. "He says he's getting a work crew together."

"Never mind Gordon," you retort. "We could take him."

"Take him where?" Maria asks in her distracted voice.

"For a good beating," you reply. Maria sometimes takes her "airhead" act beyond the realms of believability.

* * * * *

Chelsea is actually kind to you most of the day, and insists on your sitting next to her at lunch. Prescott is the subject of abuse on her part, and she recounts your challenge that the girls could "take" Prescott. You catch Patterson giving you a dead-eyed look of hostility. The meal ends with Chelsea calling her mom and telling her that she (Chelsea) and the rest of the cheerleading squad will be meeting after school; she tells everyone at the table that they'll be settling on a course of action to deal with the "Prescott problem" once and for all.

This doesn't bother you so much as it puzzles you, and when you run into Chelsea in the hallways before last period you ask her if she really intends to deal with Prescott herself. She rolls her eyes and leans in close. "Don't be such a ditz. Even Maria didn't ask me that. All that talk's just to get Gordon and those guys off their goddamned asses. I mean, honestly, you'd think they were actually scared of the prick."

"Oh," you say in relief. "In that case do I have to go to this, uh, 'meeting'? Cindy and me were going to stay after school and practice some routines."

"That's terrific!" Chelsea exclaims, and her eyes shine. "It's so great that you're putting in extra work! You'll have so many pointers you can show each other." She then hears someone calling her name, and she turns and runs off.

* * * * *

Cindy is waiting inside the girls' room when you go in after last period, but you have to wait for the last class of girls to clear out before you can do anything. So you share some random gossip until you have the place to yourselves. "Thanks for meeting me like this," you tell her when it's finally safe for you to unzip your kit. You rummage around until you get the new blank mask free. "I guess Chelsea told you that 'meeting' this afternoon is a fake."

Cindy clucks her tongue. "She's so transparent. I guess Gordon must be, like, really lazy or something if he hasn't taken all the hints yet."

You snicker. "That's Chelsea. She thinks she's so clever. She just insulted you and me and thought I wouldn't notice." You tell her what Chelsea said about getting pointers from each other.

"You'd think a girl that smart wouldn't go off without her cell phone," Cindy smirks, and nods with her chin. You look over: sure enough, Chelsea's cell phone is sitting on the bench. "You know," Cindy says brightly, "I think I'll go tell her she forgot it!" With a sly wink she runs from the room—without taking the phone with her.

But you feel a little cold, and you creep up on the phone. The line is engaged, and you recognized Kendra Saunders number on the screen. You lift the phone and hear breathing.

The little bitch is spying! You close the line and continue getting ready.

It's only a few minutes later that you hear approaching footsteps. You sidle up to the corner, and without looking slap the mask against the face of—

Your first clue that it's not Cindy is that the clothes are all wrong. You try to hold the girl up but then collapse under her weight. You squeeze out from underneath and stand up again. You look down and recognize Chelsea's mom, passed out cold on the floor.

Yikes! You run out into the gym, and spot Prescott in the far bleachers, looking down. He cocks his head in puzzlement when you gesture him to get lost, and holds up the note you slipped him. You draw your finger across your throat. He twirls his finger by his temple, indicating that you are crazy. You flip him the bird. He grins and trots down the bleachers and into the boys' locker room, probably to find a jock to freak out.

A few seconds later Cindy comes back in. "Did Cheslea's mom come in to pick up her phone?" she asks.

You gasp: "Is that what she's doing here? Because she fainted!"

Cindy blinks and hurries after you into the changing room. "Omigod!" she cries over the limp woman. Both of you lean down to chafe Mrs. Cooper's wrists.

But you need to get rid of Cindy before the mask reappears. "Go get the school nurse! I'll stay here with her."

"Maybe I should get some water?"

"No, just go get the nurse!"

Cindy runs from the room while you continue to watch Mrs. Cooper carefully. Not long after, the mask reappears, and you tuck it back into your kit. You gently bring Mrs. Cooper round.

* * * * *

"It's the funniest thing," she says afterward, as she is surrounded by you, Cindy, Chelsea, Maria, and the school nurse. "I came in because Chelsea said she'd left her phone in here, and then ..." She puts her hand to her face uncertainly, then shakes her head. "I don't know. It was like I just came over all faint."

"You better let Chelsea drive," the nurse says. "Are you subject to fainting spells?" Mrs. Cooper shakes her head. "Well, you just take it easy tonight. You'll probably be alright."

Nothing gets said about the phone after that, and you and Cindy cancel your practice plans.

You're quite thoughtful on the way back to Blackwell's to make the switch for the night. Yumi's own mother isn't involved in her school activities, and the other parents haven't been on your radar either. But Mrs. Cooper is a major presence in Chelsea's life. You've been concentrating on bullying the kids who control the school. Maybe it would be neater and more gratifying to bully them inside their own homes—using their own parents? It would be a shame to let the week's mask, now imprinted with Chelsea's mom, go to waste.

Next: "The Mother of My Enemy Is Me!" 

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