Chapter #44Picking the Right Candidate by: rugal b.   You're unsure of what to do so you decide for now that the safe play is to just stick it out as Vee and keep your ear to the ground and your eyes open for anything out of the ordinary with the other Thalians, that small group of five that Vee herself is a part of. This attempt is immediately complicated by a knock on your room's door. You open it to find Abi standing there wearing her usual smirk of bemused condescension. There's no greeting from either of you and she instead walks in and past you while you look at the golem Kristen.
"Give us some privacy," you sharply tell her. She seems slow to move so your eyes narrow and your glare hardens and she seems to get the message because she bolts.
"Will isn't giving you any trouble?" asks Abi.
For a moment a chill comes over you. Then you remember the story that Vee had given the rest of her cohort as to why Kristen Wright-Wallace was back. As she told it she'd been interrogating him and he confessed to making a mask of Kristen similar to the one he'd used to turn Abi into himself. He confessed where it was and you instead used it on him putting him to sleep and making him think that he was Kristen. It's all a load of shit of course but the group isn't deep enough in the book to know that -- Vee only knows thanks to the copy of your mind that she has -- so even when they find out it's wrong it's not as if Vee would get in trouble since she was only going by what she was told.
"No issues at all. It's like I'm dealing with the real you," you report.
"Hmm, well, maybe we should make a mask of you now that 'I'm' back," she states. "I could handle being you for a day while you take your turn with Abi."
"Do you want to study the Japanese bubble economy?" you ask to her confusion. "Because I'm doing a paper on it for Haynes that's due just before Thanksgiving and unless the term 'window guidance' excites you then you might have a rough go of it."
"Well whatever, you ready to switch?" she asks.
"Did I not just tell you I have a paper due?"
"That's almost a month away," she counters.
"And I have other classes too that I have to balance with this paper," you retort. "so I need to make and give myself time. Or is there some kind of problem with being Abi?"
Abi stares at you good and hard, seemingly trying to see if you're playing some kind of game with her. Or maybe Kristen is suspicions of Vee plotting against her. "I'm being very generous, you know," you tell her with more than a hint of arrogance. "I'd just like to do things at my own pace is all. Using the mask is fun, I guess, but I still have my future to look out for as well."
"You're not looking to change identities, like, permanently?"
"Are you?" The question seems to surprise Abi. "And if so will it be Abi? Mathilde? What if you become Dustal and a year later decide it's not what you thought? So no, Kristen, I'm not looking to make a permanent change. Temporary, sure, but not permanently." She still doesn't have much to say so you throw in an addendum. "And at the moment I'm not even looking for a temporary arrangement. I had my fun but I have stuff that needs my attention," you tell her. "We have the book and Will's dealt with. We can afford to relax."
"You're sure," she says warily.
"If something comes up we'll handle it," you say with a sort of cold sincerity. Even when being nice Vee is not typically warm. "For now I'll focus on what I need to focus on, you focus on doing what you want as Abi."
Abi eyes you and holds your gaze for a moment but no matter her mask she's still Kristen at heart and eventually she wilts and tells you that she'll talk to you later before she leaves. You let out a sigh of relief once she does. You'd considered sticking it out as Vee, however you can't help but to feel paranoid about every possible interaction and that paranoid antsiness will likely make you more prone to screwing up.
You're made even antsier when you go to collect the stuff that Vee had hidden. The materials, masks and such are retrieved with little issue. However the library is a much different matter as when you go to check where the book had been stored -- among the books on economics that nobody else would care for -- you find to your horror that it's gone.
* * * * *
Ophelia Wilmot charges at you, an intimidating sight to be sure but you hold your ground. As she approaches you get ready to tackle but as you do she rips off a pass that flies right by you and towards Gail Lattimore -- the real Gail Lattimore -- who successfully gets around a defender and gets the ball to a fifth former whose name you can't remember who easily puts it past the goalkeeper.
"Alright," you call out as you huff over to the sidelines and grab the bottle with your sports drink, "that's good. We'll break for the day."
"I can go another round," Ophelia grins and you can do nothing but glare at her.
"Good practice everyone but seriously, it's over," you say while continuing to glare. "Go have lunch."
These practices on late Sunday morning are informal and infrequent but you called one to get a better look at the team Vee captains to see if anything was off with anyone. Unfortunately, or fortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case. But then Vee barely remembers more than a few players. She may be "captain" but only by virtue of pushing Emily Dustal, the former captain and a girl she didn't get along with, off the team.
In actuality Ophelia is who truly runs the team as she's the most serious and most athletic. Good enough that she'd likely make the teams at either of the schools in town, where she lives as a non-boarder, were she not enrolled here.
With nothing to do you decide to head to the dining hall to grab some food, largely wanting to eat alone. However you're joined by Kate Gross, the most well-liked of the prefects, and her frequent chatting buddy Alexis Garnet-Jacobs, a girl whose wealth can rival the likes of Mathilde or Sherri. Eventually you're joined by Frances Washington, a member of the soccer team who rooms with Alexis. You don't do much talking yourself but you do a lot of listening and a lot of observing with Vee's instincts guiding you.
Nothing about Kate or Alexis strikes you as odd. Frances's talking does because she's been reserved since transferring to the school but her opening up has been going on all week and so pre-dates anyone getting her with a book.
You do curse your sloppiness when you overhear Hallie Lamb, the school's most notorious gossip, at the next table over talk about how Samantha Tait got it pretty sternly from Marius Hall this morning because someone had seen her slipping into the dorm after lights out, which is very unlike her.
The part of your mind given to Vee doubly curses. Samantha was merely a crime of opportunity as she'd been aiming for Mary Occam, her roommate because for Mary coming and going late wouldn't even be given a second thought.
Unease settling in for you once more you decide to end things early, excuse yourself, and head back to your room.
* * * * *
When you're back you ignore Kristen and instead grab a towel, a robe and some slippers, then head out to the girl's bathroom where you enter one of the shower cubicles to get clean. Vee's body, unlike Izzy's or Samantha's, is thin and wiry with small breasts and little curvature on the lower half. Still the hot water feels good as it rinses off the sweat and grime and it takes a lot to not explore any further.
No, the day's events so far have left you jittery and distracted. Too distracted to get what enjoyment you can from Vee's body. Instead all you can think about is the missing book, the possibility of being targeted or found out, and what you can do to solve this conundrum. The first thing is to use some of the material Vee's gathered to find a new hiding spot for yourself. Put some distance inbetween yourself and "Vee" while you investigate things.
And who would make a good hiding spot? A useful one? As you towel off, put on the robe and slippers and head back to your room you mull over possibilities. Vee's original target, Mary Occam, tops the list as she's wily and charismatic. Ophelia Wilmot's athletic prowess make her well-liked and respected and she lives in town giving you an easy way to link up with Vee. Hallie Lamb is a gossip and a snoop so few would question you investigating things. Frances Washington is in good with Alexis and Kate and has an air of mystery to her. Of course there's Kate Gross herself as well.
As you enter the room you order Kristen to get out because you want to take a nap in peace and quiet. Lucky for you that Kristen is a cowardly enough to find you intimidating and listen, even without her mask being golemized. You do try to soften the blow by telling her to come back in an hour as you flop on the bed.
Once she's out you bolt up and lock the door behind you. You'll have to make some paste and golemize Vee's mask but you hope she'll be understanding of it. Once you're out of her mask you go back to running over the candidates in your head as you determine which one will be the right fit.   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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