The Book of Masks (Vol. 3)

Who a Girl Wants

Previously: "A Girl Who Remembers Nothing" 

It takes a moment for Michelle's words to register. When they do sink in, they almost jolt you out of your seat.

"A guy?" you exclaim, then drop your voice when Michelle shoots you a quick, hard frown. "A guy?" you repeat in a near whisper, and lean forward across the table. "Alexis wants to be a guy?"

"Something wrong with being a guy, Will?"

Obviously, the question is rhetorical, and even if it wasn't, any answer would still sound weird.

But not as weird as the answer Michelle has given you. The very petite and feminine Alexis Lachance wants to swap bodies with a football player named—

"So who is this guy?" you ask. "Joshua—?"

"Joshua Swan. Here." She takes out her phone, then pauses to stare at it with a frown. Well might she. For though she looks like Chelsea Cooper, and it is Chelsea's phone, it belongs to a stranger. "I'll see if I can find a picture of him online."

"Why is she picking him?" you ask as Michelle scrolls a fingertip over the cell phone screen.

"I'm not really sure."

"Didn't you ask her when you talked to her about him?"

"I didn't push her. But you're the one who suggested maybe she could be someone who's healthy. Joshua looks like he's healthy."

You roll your eyes. There's a girls' basketball squad, you want to say, a girls' soccer squad, a swim team, a tennis team, and track. So many girls to pick from. Why a guy? But aloud, you only say, "Does she have a crush on him or something?"

Michelle favors you with a quick glance from under her brows, and for a moment she really does look like Chelsea. "Wouldn't you know the answer to that question?"

You grimace. You told her you don't remember much anymore about Alexis's life, so why won't she believe you? But you're pretty sure the name "Joshua Swan" never crossed your mind while it was merged with Alexis's.

"Ungh. Here." Michelle gives you the phone. "That's him."

Well, it's not the kind of meaty, hulking, beetle-browed asshole you naturally pictured when you heard "football player." It's hard to tell how big Joshua Swan is, but the bicep that shows in the photo doesn't look that much brawnier than your own.

And He's cute, you think, then wince a little. But it's true. He's the kind of guy that most girls, you suppose, would call "cute," for he has large eyes and regular, unblemished features under a tangle of brown hair. His gaze is very serious, as though he's been caught in mid-thought, and he's entirely missing the "jock leer" that you're familiar with. You find yourself wondering if this is a recent picture. For though Joshua Swan doesn't look very young—he looks about your age—but he's so small he looks more like a middle- or even an elementary-school kid who's been overloaded with football gear and is soberly trying to live up to the costume.

"He seems kind of little to be a football player," you say.

"He's a running back," Michelle says. When you give her a blank look, she says, "You don't know a lot about football, do you?"

You blush. "Not the technical stuff."

"They don't all have to be big guys. The running backs just have to be able to catch and carry a ball without being caught. It's okay if you're small as long as you're quick and good at dodging. Joshua's pretty good at that. At least, that's what Alec and Julian say."

"Huh." Still, you wonder, why this guy? And why a guy at all? "Is Alexis going to be able to get him alone?" you ask. "Like we got Chelsea alone?"

"I don't know." Michelle settles back in her seat. "Maybe we should get with her to talk about it."

Your pulse quickens as she starts tapping into her phone.

* * * * *

Alexis is surprisingly quick to join you, and when she does your heart aches to see that she's got the same bright but sickly glow as she had yesterday. "Hey," she greets you and Michelle in a faint voice, then steps back and covers her mouth and nose as Chelsea Cooper stands up to greet her. "Oh my God," she murmurs.

Michelle smiles and puts out an arm. "Hey, how are you doing?" she asks, and pulls Alexis (stiff and unyielding) into an awkward embrace. "You want something? Our treat."

Alexis shakes her head as she falls into the booth. She smiles at you, but it's glassy. "So, um, I guess it went off okay with—" Her throat quivers as she swallows. "Chelsea?"

"Mostly," Michelle shares a quick glance with you. "But we wanted to talk to you about you and, uh, Joshua. You know, we had to get Chelsea by herself before we could, uh, do the thing with her," she continues. "It'll have to be the same thing with Joshua. Do you think you can get him to come out by himself somewhere?"

Alexis sucks in a quick, sharp breath. "I wouldn't know what to do!" she squeaks. "I don't know how to do the thing with the—! You know!"

"We'd be there with you," you assure her. "What Chels— What Michelle means is, could you get this guy to meet you by himself? No one comes with him?"

"I don't know." Alexis's voice is breathless. "I don't— Maybe Michelle could manage it?" She swallows again. "I mean, if the head cheerleader asked him out to her house, I bet he'd go!"

Michelle gives you an inquiring glance.

But you've seen an opening, and you seize it.

"Well, is there someone else, someone who's really good friends with this guy?" You lean across the table. "Someone who— Well, if I was that person— I mean, if I was disguised as Joshua's friend, then I could help you get to this guy."

"Will wants to do the same thing we're doing," Michelle explains.

Alexis suddenly looks very frightened.

"Not one of your friends!" you hastily assure Alexis. "Just someone who knows this Joshua guy, and who could ..." Your voice fails.

"Will," Michelle says as a very awkward silence ensues. "Maybe you should go move your truck? Drive around the block a couple of times until you find a new parking place?"

It's just about the most pointed cue you've ever gotten, but you're shamefully eager to escape the frozen expression of horror that Alexis has turned on you. As you hurry out the door, you glance back to see Michelle, her arm around Alexis, in a quiet and intense conference.

And as you drive around town, you wonder if it would be safer and wiser to remain yourself. Or, at least, to remain yourself as far as Alexis is concerned.

* * * * *

You've not been circling the city's business district for nearly half an hour when Michelle (from Chelsea's number) signals that you should return. You're not surprised to find both girls standing at the diner's entrance; nor are you surprised when, as you approach, Alexis gives Michelle a quick, hard hug and scampers away while only giving you a breathy "Bye!" as she passes. "Everything okay?" you ask Michelle.

"Yes. I told her what you wanted to do—the 'find a girlfriend' thing—and how it could also help her out. She said she'd think about it and talk to you with some suggestions." She sniffs—an almost Chelsea-like sound. "You're welcome."

"Thanks. But she didn't say anything about why she wanted to be this Joshua guy, did she?"

"No, and I didn't ask." Michelle looks past you; you look over your shoulder, and see that Alexis's car hasn't moved. "I'm getting a whole flood of texts from Kendra Saunders and Gloria Rea suddenly. I think I can handle them. At least, I want to try, see how much I can fake my way through this, so I'm going to go. But will you be available later, if I decide I want to—?" She clutches her face with both hands, and kneads it. "Thanks," she says when you nod, and moves off toward her car. But she walks very slowly, and casts a couple of glances back at Alexis's car.

You shuffle slowly back to your own truck, so that Michelle has left before you've even got the keys in the ignition. You're about to turn the motor over when you're distracted by a tentative honk, then by a stronger one. You look over to see Alexis gesturing frantically at you to come over. Her window is down by the time you trot over to her.

"So Michelle told me what it was all about," she says, and her smile, though still brittle, has a flashing hardness to it. "You wanting to be some other, um, girl."

You actually weren't thinking girl specifically. But you nod.

"Uh huh. And how it would help me out too." Alexis lifts her chin. "So you were asking me yesterday if we were going to be okay, you and me. Is this part of you trying to make things okay with me?" Her chin tilts further.

This is not the time to give a fuck-around answer, you tell yourself. And as soberly and sincerely as you can manage, you nod.

"Okay." Alexis starts ticking off her fingers. "So you're going to do this to help me get to Joshua, and to help you get yourself a girlfriend. Do something else for me, and I think we can be okay with each other."

"Yeah?" you say, and your heart sinks a little.

"You mean, Yeah, you understand, or Yeah, you'll do the thing for me?"

Your mouth is dry as you say, "I'll do the thing."

"Good!" Alexis laughs. "Now I just have to figure out what that thing will be!" She rolls up her window, turns the motor over, and pulls out of the parking space.

Next: Coming soon! Check back!

*
"Table of Contents (Vol. 3)" 
"The Book of Masks (Vol. 3)"