Chapter #25A Great Big Stephony by: rugal b.   "Our treat?" you ask, wondering if you heard wrong. "You're inviting me and Elsie out with you guys and you're going to pay? Are you sure your, uh, girlfriend," it feels like it'd be weird to refer to her as if you actually knew her, "is going to be fine with that?"
"I'd just be something casual, man. We wouldn't be going to Ristorante Locarno," Marc responds. "She'd be cool with it."
"Well, uh, if you're offering then sure I guess," you decide.
You get your phone out and text Elsie to tell her that you got caught up in something so you'll be running a bit late but you'll definitely be there. She tells you that in that case she'll be waiting over at Redway Plaza. So now it's just you and Marc waiting for the mask to copy Stephanie and you can't help but let your curiosity get the better of you as you look at her.
"Why her?" you ask which earns a curious response from Marc. "Stephanie. Why'd she want Stephanie."
"Oh, well she didn't really say. She just texted me some names last night after we'd separated," he tells you. "If I had to guess though it's related to Anita."
"What about Anita?"
"They don't like each other," Marc says. "Stephanie is one of Anita's friends. Actually I think all the names she sent me were."
"So... what, she wants to stick it to them by, uh, sleeping with you while pretending to be them or something?" The whole thing seems a little weird and confusing to you but you don't know Hannah so you suppose it makes sense to her.
"Hell if I know," he answers. "Like I said, it's just kind of exciting to do it like that. That's all I'm thinking about."
It goes back to being quiet for a few minutes and you take the time to pull out the band that you'd finished last night, double checking to make sure there's no name on it so you know that it's the right one. The mask emerges so you snatch it up and then place the band against her head, watching with fascination as it sinks in. There's still some sealant left in the bag so you get to work on sealing the mask when Marc cuts in.
"I was thinking," he says, "about all this. These masks and Hannah and the guys and what we're all doing."
"Yeah?" you respond almost absentmindedly.
"Hannah might ask for more masks, y'know. To spice things up." His face breaks into a wry smile. "Not that we need help but it's always fun to try new shit. But I don't know if I want Laurent and the others knowing what her and I are doing, you get me?"
"Sure, I guess," you answer. "That's your guys' affair." Although you don't say that it's probably weird that he's telling you about it. Maybe he thinks he can trust you more than them? After all, you're just some dweeb. You're not as rowdy as those guys.
"Right, so how about the two of us do this on the side?" he asks. "Like we make up our own shit, separate from them, in case she wants to keep going."
"You like Hannah a lot I'm guessing," you say, surprised that seems to be his main concern. Well of course like this he gets to fuck over girls too, in a way, but Marc seems more concerned with keeping his girlfriend happy.
"I guess you could say that," he says. "We've had that spark from day one, y'know? The moment we got together it was just explosive; instant dynamite. You get that, right?"
Maybe you do and you wonder if maybe that's why Marc's talking to you, of all people, about this. Because if you think about it, you and Elsie are kind of similar. You're two people that seemed to connect with each other the minute you met. Maybe Marc's coming to you because he senses a kindred spirit. Or maybe you're overthinking all of this and putting way too much stock in yourself or the idea that anyone is going to concern themselves with you and your relationship. Perhaps it's nothing more than convenience. You were at the Donna, you got Kim's mask, you knew roughly what Marc and Hannah planned... and maybe you're the geek who'd find himself beguiled by the chance to work with someone so popular.
And maybe you are because you tell him that you don't mind and maybe tomorrow you'll show him a place where you can do it.
* * * * *
The band finishes and you grab it, handing it and the mask to Marc. He tells you that he'll get in touch in a bit and that you should get lost while he deals with Stephanie, a sentiment you wholeheartedly agree with. You beat a hasty retreat and head out to your truck, texting Elsie on the way to tell her you'll be there soon to which she gives a positive affirmation and tells you where she is. So you make your way across town over to the small shopping center across the street from Eastman. You then head into a small bistro called Paris Baguette where you see her sitting at a table.
"Hey," you greet her as you take a seat. "Sorry, someone caught me and needed me to help them with something."
"Oh it's fine, don't worry," Elsie smiles. "This is a nice little place after all. Plus we're just getting together right? This is the perfect kind of place to get together."
"Yeah, I guess so," you tell her while sending a text to Marc telling him where you are. "So hey," you say as you turn your attention back to her, "the guy I helped out kinda suggested we, uh, double up with him and his girl and that he'd treat. As thanks for helping him out. Is that fine with you? I'll tell him another time if it's not."
"No, that's fine," Elsie answers. "This is just casual right? We're not doing anything more formal or... or intimate today, right?"
"I suppose not," you admit. "Um yeah, intimate. You were quick to kiss me on Saturday," you say nervously. "Not that I didn't like it but, uh, I guess I was wondering if you've had other boyfriends."
"Hmm, a couple. I had one last year for a little bit," she answers. "Oh but we didn't kiss immediately. I knew him from church, he was the son of one of my dad's friends too so if I did it my dad would have known and he would have flipped," she says with a giggle. "He's kind of... traditional."
"But you did it immediately with me?"
"Sure, I just kind of wanted to do it so I did it," she states. "I was kind of thinking that my parents were in the house so maybe it was kind of exciting and dangerous doing it right there?"
She giggles a bit and you decide to leave it there for now and engage in small talk as she tells you about her friends, what things are like at Eastman and such and you do much the same for you and Westside. She's easy to get along with but you're still very much in a phase of feeling one another out it seems like. But you at least know that you like her smile and you like the way she laughs and you like that both of them seem to be directed at you and the things that you say.
You're not sure how much time passes as the two of you chat before you hear a ping from your phone. It's Marc telling you that they'll be there soon. And it's not more than a few minutes later when two people come walking in. One of them is Marc, of course, but with him is... your jaw drops. Her clothes are different—a simple shirt and some jeans—but it's unmistakably her.
"What do you look so shocked for, Prescott?" asks Stephanie Wyatt, a knowing look plastered on her face.
* * * * *
It's not Stephanie that sits with the three of you. Underneath her face it's Marc's girlfriend, you're sure of it. Yes, you know it's not Stephanie. Except that it is Stephanie. The way she moves, the way she talks, the way she tilts her chin at you or stares a hole through you; it's all so on point. Except for when it's not. She laughs in a way that you don't think you've ever seen her laugh before. She addresses you without the stoniness that can make you shit bricks. There's a femininity that seems almost incongruous with her appearance.
She sits there, talking and eating and joking. She asks you about you, she asks you about Elsie, she asks Elsie about herself and about you. She claims she's not Marc's girlfriend, merely a friend, that's betrayed by the affectionate manner she talks to him, pokes him and grabs him. It's all weird and disorienting and you find you need to get up and go outside for some air to keep your head from spinning. So imagine your surprise when a moment later, Stephanie joins you.
"You okay, Prescott? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"You're, uh, Hannah right? Marc's girlfriend?" you ask.
"Yeah," she snickers. "And you're the guy who introduced this stuff to Marc?"
"I didn't— it's a whole thing I got caught up in," you admit. "But why are you doing this?"
"I dunno, it seems fun. That's why you're doing it, right?" she replies. But a devious smirk spreads on her face. "I've got everything in my head right now that Stephanie's got; I know everything about her right now. Did you know that she's in love with Marc? Like madly in love; achingly in love."
"I... no. I don't really know much about her."
"She despises me because I'm dating him and she isn't," she lets out a small laugh. "Kind of funny right? That she's going to get to fuck him only it's still going to be me. This whole thing is a trip but doing it like that, under Kim's mask with her feelings, her thoughts... it was mindblowing."
"I, uh, sure. I wouldn't know," you say.
"You and Elsie look nice together but I can see that you're both nervous, tense and unsure. I know how you are, Prescott," she says as she turns to walk back inside, "but I also don't know you since I only just met you. So I'm going to be nicer than the real Stephanie and give you some advice."
"What's that?" you ask.
She looks back at you and gives you a mischievous smile. "Introduce this stuff to her. Let it be your guys' thing," she tells you. "You can cut loose in a way you normally wouldn't if you're not yourself."   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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