The Book of Masks (Vol. 2)

Time and Punishment

Previously: "Why You Should Never Dig Up Your Mistakes" 

"Wait, Mr. Walberg didn't say anything about it in class?" Jenny Ashton asks at lunch. Her brow furrows. "What, didn't he know about it?"

It figures that, today for the first time in a couple of days, Jenny would be eating with the rest of her friends. There's news and gossip to be chewed over and digested, and the story of the burgled time capsule is pretty big, even for Westside standards. It was the first thing out of Andy Tackett's mouth when you trudged into second period. Hey, he said, I heard your class's time capsule got vandalized. He grinned as told you how the capsule had been torn open and its contents scattered over the grounds, like a wildebeest felled and gutted by leopards. Took 'em thirty minutes to rake all the shit up and bag it, he said.

"Oh, Walberg knew about it," Carson Ioeger says. "He definitely knew. They found it over the weekend."

"Well, he didn't say anything about it in class," Caleb says, "and no one asked him about it, either." He is giving you a beady-eyed stare. "Bet Kelsey and Amanda were in his face about it, though, as soon as they heard. They probably told him they're gonna get their parents to sue him and the school."

"For what?" James demands.

"I dunno. But you know those two. They'd take it as a personal attack."

"Well, it's a dumb thing to do anyway," Jenny huffs. "Burying valuable stuff on school property. There's so many assholes around here that someone is bound to—"

"That's how come they dig them up after a few days and move them to a storage facility," Caleb tells her.

"Dig up what?" Jenny asks.

"The time capsules. Every year Walberg buries one, and every year they dig 'em up and put 'em in a storeroom someplace."

Carson hoots. "Where the fuck did you get that bullshit from?"

Caleb stares at him. "You told me!"

Carson laughs. "And you believed me? Psyche!" He high-fives James.

"Son of a bitch!" Caleb yells.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure that is what they do," Carson says. He swirls his can of cola. "Stands to reason. I just don't know it for a fact. But the fuckery this weekend is exactly why they wouldn't leave that stuff buried."

"Then what's the point of burying a time capsule?" you ask. "And what do they do with the stuff after they dig it up?"

"I 'unno," Carson says. "Maybe they sell it for the dog food they dish out in the cafeteria."

* * * * *

You didn't say much at lunch because you were busy watching Carson and James. But though they were both amused about the time capsule business, neither of them showed any signs of guilt, and when you ask Caleb about it afterward, he agrees that neither of them was the type to maliciously dig up and destroy it. "They'd dig it up as a prank," he says. "They'd dig it up and put it in the principal's office or something, just to fuck with the teachers or the administration, but they wouldn't just destroy it."

That's no relief, though, and you're on edge all morning, waiting for your mysterious tormentor to text you. The next text doesn't come until after lunch, however. Get n truble yet? "Clover" wants to know.

Wat do u want?

Lol dont shit urself. Just messing with u.

Can we meet? you ask after a moment's thought.

Lol what for?

Talk abut this.

Wat u want to talk abt?

You don't want to talk actually. You want to cave this asshole's skull in. Wat u do w that video? you ask.

Dont know not my video. Prbly nothing.

Who took video?

Guys who did thng wi box. Not me.

R they putng it online? That's what really worries you—that it'll get posted, someone will recognize you, and you'll get in trouble.

Lol dont worry.

The bell rings just then, starting class, but you don't resume the conversation at the next break.

* * * * *

It's in this time of need that you realize you don't have many friends to turn to. Caleb is in the same shit stew as you, and Keith is totally useless in these kinds of situations. Normally you would ask Carson and James, who are smart and capable, for their help and advice, but you still can't shake the suspicion that they might be mixed up in it. So there's only one person you can think who might be able to offer you some sympathy and help.

So that's why you're loitering around his minivan when Jack Li saunters out into the parking lot after classes end.

He's got a couple of new girls with him, and you have to tamp down a stab of envy (The fuck is he planning on doing with them? you spitefully wonder) even as you smile and wave to him. His eyes narrow with curiosity as he smiles back. "Hey Will, what's up?"

"I was wondering if we could hang out and stuff, talk."

"Yeah, sure. We were heading over to Panera for scones and coffee." Jack lightly touches the shoulders of the two girls, directing them toward his minivan. They are both short brunettes with puffy hair, and you notice that at the mention of your name they both perk up a little, and their eyes brighten as they study you.

"Um, actually it's kind of a, uh, sensitive thing," you tell Jack. "Could it just be us? Only for like, ten minutes?" You feel yourself breaking out in a sweat as you nervously eye the girls.

A chipmunk-like smile pops onto the face of one of the girls. "Me and Philippa can hang out at another table, give you guys some privacy," she smirks.

"Sure, you can text some more guys, get 'em to come out and meet us," Jack tells her. His eyes narrows a little as he studies you. "And you could all go off and do something afterwards if I wind up doing something with Will."

Jesus! You pop out in flop sweat. I hope he doesn't think I'm coming on to him!

So you don't waste time after settling in at Panera with your coffees—Philippa and Brianna settle in a few tables over—and ask Jack if he's ever heard of someone named "Clover Mystery." He shakes his head. "Is that like a cartoon character?" he asks.

"It's someone who's been texting me. Here." You scroll your messages back to the first text, and give him your phone. "What do you think?"

Jack's frown deepens as he slowly scrolls up and down through the texts, and he blinks at them. "What's going on in the video?" he asks.

"Well, what do you think is going on?"

He gives you a sharp look. "I don't know. That's why I'm asking. Why are you so worried about it?" He glances between you and your phone. "Wait, is that you in the video?"

"It looks like me."

"Stop jerking me around, man," he sighs. "What is all this?"

So you tell him how you and Caleb dug up the class time capsule to swap out one thumb drive for another, and how the next day you got these texts and this video. "And I guess you heard today how the capsule got dug up and broke open. But we put the thing back," you insist. "It wasn't us who— But someone was out there and they took this video, and it sounds like they're the ones who dug it up and, you know, busted it open. But if they put this video online, then it's me and Caleb who are screwed!"

"Huh," Jack says. He doesn't sound very sympathetic. "Well, I don't know who this 'Clover Mystery' is, but it doesn't sound like they're trying to blackmail you."

"Maybe not yet, but—!"

"It also sounds like they're not the one who shot the video."

"Then how did they get ahold of it? You saying that someone else shot it, and shared it with this Clover Mystery person?"

"Maybe Of course, then that means that it's out and being shared and it's bound to wind up YouTube or x2z or someplace."

"Oh, fuck. Because, you know, even if me and Caleb didn't do the other thing, we could still get in huge trouble just for what we did!"

"Well, don't make a big deal about it until it is a big deal," Jack says. "Most of the time, when you ignore something, it goes away." He frowns, and scrolls through the texts some more. "You know, it doesn't sound like this person is trying scare you or anything. It's more like they think it's a big joke."

"I don't think it's funny!"

"I can tell. Here." He settles his elbows on the table, and his thumbs fly over the screen of your cell phone. He doesn't reply when you ask what he's doing. "What do you think of this?" he asks as he turns your phone back over to you. "I haven't sent it yet."

He's tapped in a longish text: Lol I cant believe Caleb and I are getting away with it. We got the thing out but everyone is going to blame you if they notice its gone. "Sometimes the best defense is a good offense," he explains as your eyes pop.

"What are we supposed to have gotten out of the time capsule?" you ask.

"I don't know. It's a bluff. Clover's got you sweating. Try making him or whoever sweat, see if they like it."

You have the feeling that you might just provoke "Clover" into doing something really nasty, but at the same time you do feel like hitting them back. But are you even capable of carrying out the bluff that Jack is proposing you start? Maybe Jack would be willing to take it over for you?

Next: "Meetings in the Dark" 

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