The Book of Masks (Vol. 3)

The Hands, Eyes, and Ears of Fate

Previously: "As Seen from the Top of the Pyramid" 

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 to take 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 n 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 a 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.

Still, given the warning that Steve and Gordon gave you, they have both just made your list.

But Steve himself was someone that Chelsea mentioned. With him under your control, she pointed out, you'd have more or less monopoly access to the loft, where you could plot and plan without fear. Besides, she added, "the dickface has it coming."

Cindy Vredenburg, Deanna Showalter, and Lin Pol were other girls that Chelsea mentioned. You strike Deanna from consideration, because you're not sure how to get to her quickly, and you bump Lin to the bottom of the list because Chelsea admitted that she and Lin are hardly on speaking terms, that she listed Lin mostly because "we have cheerleading together" and because "Lin's a slut with the Eastman basketball squad and maybe we want to make some changes over there?" But Cindy, though a rival to Chelsea on the cheerleading squad, is more socially prominent than Lin. And Chelsea could probably get Cindy alone pretty easily, on the pretext of hashing out their differences.

That leaves Kim Walsh as the last of Chelsea's suggested "close connections" that you think you can get too easily and quickly.

Chelsea herself comes swinging into the library as you're chewing over the list, and she gives you a long look out of the corner of her eye as she passes you. She drops her backpack onto the table in front of Kendra and clucks her tongue. "Gloria's going to be late again, isn't she?"

"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. You make it inside just before the bell rings, and it's not until the final bell has rung that you are able to DM your instructions to Chelsea.

I need ur help get—

Next: "If You Were Only Someone Else" 

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