Just before the bell rings, ending your study hall, you DM Chelsea: What class u have now? You don't want to go to your last class of the day, and if you have a chance to talk to Chelsea again, you'd like it.
Her answer comes a minute later. (Bless her, she must be dutifully checking her DMs at most every class break, to be sure of catching a message from you.) Sudy hall in library, she tells you, with kendra and gloria.
And just as you're reading it, you look up in time to see Kendra come striding in. She gives you the briefest of glances as she passes, as though you're bug.
Kendra and Gloria are cheerleaders, and two of Chelsea's key sycophants. Kendra is a light-skinned black (her ancestors came from Kenya, she is always reminding people) with the physique of a track runner. Her hair is dyed a light crimson and falls in ringlets past her shoulders. Gloria is a lot plusher and more buxom, with thick, dark hair and pouting lips.
Either of them, being close to Chelsea, would be easy to get to, and you'd have no problems then talking and texting with her from behind their faces. But Chelsea mentioned neither of them as a possible replacement, and you can understand why: they are already "servants" of Chelsea, and replacing them with magical clones would be redundant.
Besides, you're leaning in another direction.
You've been threatened by Gordon Black and Steve Patterson, two of the biggest and meanest guys in school. But there are others at the school who, if not as big and definitely not as mean, can stand toe to toe with them.
At the top of the list would be the school's quarterback and the captain of the wrestling squad. The former, Cameron Huber, is a beefy, hairy guy, certainly with enough muscles to deter Black and Patterson, and he's pretty popular around the school. He wasn't on the list that Chelsea sent you, though, but Laurent Delacroix was. Laurent isn't as tall as the basketball players, but he's got a lot of muscles and a cheeky grin, and Chelsea's DMs confirmed rumors you've heard, that he and the other wrestlers have a kind of "Pussy Patrol" that scores with lots of girls.
There are lots of other male jocks you could copy and replace, but Chelsea went out of her way to list some girl athletes. The three she named—Stephanie Wyatt, Reagan Hackett, and Maggie Crenshaw—aren't listed because of their team connections, but because (Chelsea says) they are at the core of some tight-knit groups who, she says, could "stand a little handling."
But as you are pondering these choices, Chelsea herself comes swinging into the library. She gives you a long look out of the corner of her eye as she passes you, then turns away when she reaches the table where Kendra is waiting. "Gloria's going to be late again, isn't she?" she sighs as she drops her backpack onto the table.
"She usually is," Kendra says.
"And it's not like her locker's on the other side of the school!"
"It's disrespect, Chelsea."
Chelsea clucks her tongue again . "Don't try to stir up shit, Kendra," she sneers. "Or if you're gonna try, at least try not to be so flipping obvious about it." She tosses her hair as she settles into her seat, and lifts up her phone to peer down her nose at it.
You've seen enough, and you don't want to tempt Chelsea into acting "in character" with you. So you scoop up your stuff and (against your earlier intuition) scamper off to class.
The delay gives you time to settle your own mind. When the final bell rings, you settle back in your desk to compose the DM to Chelsea: Need your help with—