You hug yourself, hating the feeling of being stampeded in one direction or another. Chelsea watches you intently. "It would be a fast thing if Laurent and I hooked up," you say. "And you said something about how I should be the new girl who drives guys wild."
"Uh huh," she says. "Of course, if you do that, you're going to have to be careful. These are real bodies, you know, not masks. If you're not careful and don't use protection, Rosalie--"
The room spins slightly. Oh God, you're going to have to worry about that too!
But Chelsea is still talking. "--won't be a problem if you're not being Rosalie while she's, uh, you know. If you're somewhere else, Rosalie will just be a golem. Or if you hook up with Laurent or some other guy we replace, because then they'll be a golem."
"Are you being careful, Chelsea?" Jordan asks.
Chelsea turns a little red. "The way we handled Gordon, he's not shooting blanks, but yes, I'm being careful. I'm only going to let him get it on with me while I'm being Kim or Kelsey or someone else. But thanks for being such a caring big brother."
"I suppose I've got a week or so," you mutter, "before I have to start worrying about how far to go. And I could have another face by then."
"I was planning on having a party this weekend," Chelsea says. "Look, if you're not certain about Laurent--"
"I'm not. But let's grab him anyway. Don't you think he'd be more useful long term than Seth?"
"No I don't," Chelsea says bluntly. "He's no better than Seth. No worse, either."
You glance desperately over at Jordan, and he takes the hint. "Lemme have Delacroix," he says. "The less I have to deal with your boyfriend, the happier I'll be."
"You have to deal with him anyway." Chelsea bristles, and clearly dislikes the pincer movement you and Frank have put her in. "This loft is our headquarters, and he's supposed to have control of it. He could become friends with Laurent if we want him to. I like Laurent more than I like Seth--"
"Then let's get Laurent," you say. "He's a decent guy, and we don't want to deal with a lot of jerks. Maybe he could be Maria's boyfriend," you add.
"If you want Maria's opinion," Gillian says, and holds up a mask, "get this finished up, and I'll let you know."
Chelsea takes the mask with a sigh, and gives you a slightly dirty glance as she goes to the supply cabinet. Gillian disrobes and lays next to the equally naked Maria. She pulls at her face; there's a brief shimmer, and then it's Mr. Hagerman laying next to her. You have to wipe a slight trace of saliva from your lower lip, for he's as solidly built as you'd guessed he was. Jordan yanks out a bit of his hair and takes it over to Chelsea to use in golemizing Gillian's mask.
You pace the other side of the loft restlessly. You're not sure why you're so reluctant to commit yourself--or to let the others commit themselves. Maybe it's the looming sense of finality that lingers over each choice. But that's silly: Even if the golems you make don't work out a long-term acquisitions, you can just let them go at the end of the year, or even sooner.
Maybe you're just fighting Chelsea for control of the group. You watch as she returns to place Gillian's mask on Maria; she seems to be careful about not looking at you. "Okay, Gillian," she says, and helps the blinking golem to its feet. "You've got a boyfriend you have to go hang out with. Get dressed and--"
"You're not the boss of me, Chelsea," Gillian says.
"Don't make trouble," you find yourself saying. You jerk your chin at the unconscious Hagerman. "Your boss will wake up in a few minutes, and he'll tell you the same thing." Gillian grumbles, but complies. Chelsea gives you a faint but tight smile.
There's a bit of commotion at the door as Gillian exits, and Andrea enters. She's got Will Prescott with her; he looks abashed. "I figured this one should tag along too," Andrea says, looking at you. "All golems are created equal, but someone said something about this one being more equal than the others."
"Don't know why you want me," he mumbles.
"Okay, everyone," you say, and cross over to put your arm in his. "You all know who this guy is, and why we all like him. I think we all remember the good times we had with him over at Blackwell's."
"It's nice to have you here, Will," Chelsea says, but she flinches from him. "It'll be nicer once we have that hex off you--"
"But lemme guess," he says. "You've all got other things to do first."
An uncomfortable silence falls. You fill it with introductions. "So, these are the guys," you say. "Chelsea and Andrea you already know. That's Frank over there. He looks like Chelsea's brother now, but it isn't a mask. Same with Mr. Hagerman down there. That's Joe. In a minute he's going to be--" Chelsea bends next to him and drops Maria's mask onto him. "And now he is Maria Vasquez."
"Who do you worry about making trouble for you, Will?" Chelsea asks.
He blinks a couple of times, seemingly startled at the fact that he's being consulted. Then he seizes the opportunity. "You," he replies. "Gordon. Seth Javits. The Molester, Jason Lynch, Dalton Douglas, David Kirkham, Carstairs and a bunch of the football players--" He rattles off a depressingly long list of names. "And those are just the people I'm scared of. There's also all the guys who won't talk to me anymore, and that includes most of the school now."
"Who does talk to you?" Chelsea asks. "If we pulled them up in popularity, we could pull you up too."
"Justin Roth," Prescott says. "Dane Matthias and Adrian Semple and Keith Hennepin--"
"Oh, Keith!" Chelsea pulls at her lip. "Him and Kelsey--" Prescott makes a face. "Yeah, she doesn't like you either," Chelsea sighs. "What about Gillian Kiefer and her friends?"
"You mean Braydon and Christian and them? They're just weird." His lack of enthusiasm doesn't surprise you, and doesn't surprise the others.
"No one will like you if you don't like them," Andrea says bluntly. "We can't help you if you don't fix your attitude."
Easier said than done, you reflect. As you glance at your conspirators, you realize that you--the original Will Prescott--haven't made friends with them. You've made allies by hijacking them. You yourself kept only a very small circle--Caleb and Keith, mostly, and a few others--because you weren't keen enough on anyone else in school to try fitting in with them. Even now, you sourly suspect, Justin and his crew are treating your golem more as a charity case than as a real friend.
"I suppose we could get you some bodyguards in the meantime," Jordan says, and doesn't hide his contempt. "You have any problems with the wrestling team?"
"There's an idea," you exclaim. "You could join the team."
"I don't know anything about wrestling!" Prescott exclaims.
"He hasn't the mass, either," Jordan says.
"But if he knew the moves," you say. "We could edit those into him. How about that?" you ask him. "How are they treating you?"
He shrugs. "No problems. They just ignore me."
"They wouldn't after we recruit Laurent. That's a good reason to--"
"Alright," Chelsea says, recognizing a fait accompli when she sees one. "Laurent would look good up here anyway, and he'd be a decent friend for Gordon. You will have to hang out with him," she says sharply to Jordan.
"I can make it look good," Jordan retorts. "Don't ask more than that."
"And as long as we're all here," Chelsea continues, then interrupts herself to kneel next to Maria. "Come on, Maria, wake up." She shakes her transformed friend roughly.
Joe must have been reviving anyway, for she flutters her eyes open with a deep sigh and sits up. "I'm here," she says softly. She hugs herself and cradles her boobs. "I was having a lovely dream, and woke up to find that it's real."
"As I was saying, as long as we're all here," Chelsea resumes. "We want to be sure that we're all in synch. These arguments about who we're going to take--" She shakes her head. "I don't like arguing with you guys."
"So you're going to make all the decisions," Andrea says.
"Will-- I mean, Rosalie is the only one who can see things from her perspective and ours. Because, you know--" She waves her hand in front of her face. "So I think maybe this is what we should do. No decisions get made for anyone unless Will is inside that person when he or she decides. And then he has to be inside me--since I am supposed to be in charge--and decides, based on what I'm thinking, that it's a good idea."
"Then I'm glad I've already got all my guys and girls," Maria says.
"Does that mean we haven't picked Laurent yet," Jordan asks.
"No, I think we've picked him," you say. "This would be going forward."
"Forward where?" Andrea asks. "My choices? Chelsea's? Frank's? Or your own?"
They all look at you.
Ugh. You're hating to make decisions today. "Yeah, I know should concentrate on my own choices," you stammer. "But maybe I should be looking at things from you guys' perspective while thinking about my own?"
"A convenient excuse," Jordan says. "Though if you want my opinion, you can just ask me."
But it's a choice between making his choices or Andrea's.
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