This choice: Use Cara to break up Lisa and Geoff • Go Back...Chapter #11The Queen of the Junior Class by: Seuzz   The world reels, and you stagger blindly down the hallway, bumping into students. You're shocked, both by what you're thinking and the speed with which you're thinking it. A morning of putting on nice clothes and doing makeup and having breakfast with parents has done nothing to prepare you for the blazing, corkscrew intuitions that Cara is capable of when she's aroused.
And the fire in your veins tells you that the girl you're pretending to be is definitely aroused. You push away the schemes and the reasons behind the schemes, but they claw and snatch at you like tentacles. Without watching where you're going you make it to your new locker, and you quail as you open it. There are all those cut out pictures of dark, brooding movie and television stars, every single one of them looking like Geoff Mansfield, and gazing back at you with the smoky appreciation you'd so much like to see on his face when he's looking at you. You gulp so hard you almost swallow your tongue.
"Cara, are you okay?" The voice snatches you back out of yourself, and you numbly look over into Peyton Morrow's concerned face. You blink, and she peers closely at you.
"What?" you stammer. "Oh. Nothing. Just ... thinking."
Peyton continues to gaze at you, and behind her you see Leah Powers and Kelli Taft exchange a glance. Leah puts a hand on your arm. "Is it something to do with Chelsea Cooper?" she asks guardedly.
"Oh. No, that's all-- Oh my God, I didn't call you back last night!" you gasp, and clutch at her in turn.
"Yeah, you kind of dropped off the planet," a voice says behind you, and you turn to find Paris looming behind. Although she and Peyton are twins, and both wear their long, strawberry-blonde hair in nearly identical ponytails, they don't look a lot alike, and Paris has an inch or two on her sister.
"I'm sorry," you say, and let yourself turn a little pink. "Some stuff came up at home." (Actually, you just used the night to relax and get comfortable with your new body.) "But yeah, I went over to her house yesterday afternoon and we had a long talk." You dart your head around, looking to see who is nearby, then draw the four girls close. "She says she's going to clear some of the 'deadwood' off the squad," you tell them with a sly smile. "There's going to be at least three spots, and she wants to fill them with some junior girls."
"Three slots," Peyton says thoughtfully, and her eyes turn a little shifty.
"I bet you're in," Paris adds.
The calculations rapidly fill your head, same as it fills the others'. Four friends, and only two extra slots to go around. "Competition's going to be fierce," you observe. "We'll have to take care of each other." That's the closest you feel comfortable to voicing the obvious: that with your just-established connection to Chelsea your vote will have some weight. "And you know her reputation. She's tough, and she's going to make everyone go through tryouts. They're going to be open to everyone."
Four pairs of lips compress until they whiten. "When will these tryouts be?" Leah asks.
"I don't know yet," you admit. "Chelsea was just testing the waters, I think, to make sure she really wants to reorganize the squad. I'm supposed to eat in the cafeteria with her today," you can't resist adding with a bit of pride. "So maybe I'll learn more then."
"I wonder who she's going to drop," Kelli says. You turn back into your locker--trying to ignore the decorations--as the others start to speculate.
"Michelle for sure," Leah says. "I don't know how she managed to get on in the first place."
"Most of the others are pretty good," Paris says. "Is she going to hold the tryouts before or after she cuts people from the squad?"
"After, I think," you say. "She mentioned a few names as possible people to cut."
"Who?" Peyton demands.
"I'm not sure I should say," you smugly reply as you close your locker. "I don't want to start any rumors." You head off to first period, forcing the others to trail after.
* * * * *
You'd thought you'd shaken off Mr. Shrapner and his Algebra 2 class for good last year, but here you are in it again, though occupying a sexier perch. Neither you nor the girl you are imitating are much interested in his kind of math, and you busy yourself with a different kind.
Cara's friends will be easy enough to handle. They'll be competing for your favor now, which will be very gratifying. Will some of them be disappointed? That'll be no problem: If Chelsea lets you pick two of your friends--which it sounds like she will--you will only have to go back to them and report that Chelsea actually wanted to pick two people outside your group, and that you talked her into a compromise by taking the two that you (privately) told her to pick. And if some of your friends piss you off in the meantime? You can drop veiled hints that, really, they weren't even good enough to attempt the tryouts, and that there was no way Chelsea would have picked them anyway.
As for Chelsea and Lisa and Geoff Mansfield ... You slide down a little in your seat and let Cara's thoughts break to the surface.
Yes, you'd be willing to go out with Geoff fucking Mansfield, if it would break him and Lisa up, leaving the field free for you to hook up with her again once you're back to being yourself. You'd even be doing a favor for Cara herself. The girl is going to have a sweet life once you and Chelsea get done rearranging it for her: a spot on the cheerleader squad; total domination of her little group; and the guy she's got the hots for. Imagine her delight when she gets her life back and finds all of that waiting for her!
And Chelsea can help you by using her influence to put a wedge between Lisa and Geoff while you work on him from your end. It won't be a big favor to ask of her. In fact, what with the help you're giving her with Gordon, she would still be owing you even after helping you with Geoff.
It's a great pleasure to face down such complicated equations while giving them beautiful solutions!
* * * * *
So you're feeling very pleased with yourself as you stride into the cafeteria at lunch. You ostentatiously pass the table you usually sit at in favor of the one that holds the senior alpha crowd. You make sure to approach it from an angle so that Chelsea can see you coming, and she cheerily waves you over. The seat by her side is already vacant, and you slide onto it as though it's the most casual and normal thing in the world.
Cara has scoped out the table before, so you're familiar with the faces. Mostly it's basketball players: Gordon on Chelsea's left, with his arm around her; Steve Patterson; Seth Javits with Cindy Vredenburg. Jonas--Caleb--is on the other side of Gordon, so you don't really get a good look at him. On the other side of the table Kendra Saunders and Gloria Rea watch you openly with expressions that, if not very friendly, are neither guarded nor hostile. The Garner twins and Lin Pol are down at the far end of the table, and you notice that Yumi is not in attendance. Does that mean Chelsea has already struck?
Mostly you keep to yourself during the lunch talk, listening politely and offering comments that you calculate won't be very forward or blatant. The ballplayers bully and tease each other; the girls giggle and gossip. You are soon very relaxed.
You're so relaxed you feel no trepidation as you lean over to whisper in Chelsea's ear: "Can we get together and talk later today?"
She turns a friendly but piercing glance at you, but doesn't answer right away. Instead, she just sits there, seeming to weigh her thoughts. There's something inscrutable about her expression, and it quickly dawns on you that she's not really paying much attention to you; something else is preying on her mind.
And then she smiles and leans in close. "If it's about ... that other business ... come to the gym after school. We can talk while the guys are practicing."
You nod, feeling satisfied.
* * * * *
That feeling of satisfaction receives a small but jarring blow immediately after lunch. You've just exited the cafeteria when you hear your name called. You turn to find Kendra and Gloria drawing up. Subtly, they press in on you until your back is against the school wall.
"Congratulations," Kendra says with a blinding smile. "Chelsea told us the good news last night."
"No more Yumi. That's very good news," Gloria says.
"And you look like you'll fit right in," Kendra says. "You're going to do your best to fit in, aren't you, Cara?"
Gloria speaks for you. "Of course you are. But you have to know what 'fitting in' means."
"It means that Chelsea is in charge," Kendra says. "You do everything Chelsea says, and you do it exactly as she says."
"Because you owe her. You owe her everything," Gloria adds. "So keep her happy."
"Keep your new friends happy too," Kendra says, and her wide smile turns sharp. "Keep me and Gloria happy. Because we're really close to Chelsea."
"Closer than you'll ever be," Gloria says.
"Of course!" you gasp, as though shocked that you'd do anything else. They freeze as you grasp their elbows. "I can't wait!"
They grunt, and stride away.
* * * * *
Chelsea offered to meet with you after school, but only if it concerned "that business." It doesn't, not really. As you sit in Constitutional Theory class, your eyes locked onto Mansfield's profile, you reflect that maybe you don't want to get her involved.  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
| Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author