The Book of Masks (Vol. 3)

The Manager

Previously: "Doppelgangers R Us" 

You watch yourself in the mirror as you dress. Panties and then bra. The body stocking—a leftover from when Kim took a Dance class last year—and then jeans, the white blouse (which you leave unbuttoned) and the socks and the black Converse sneakers. You fluff out your hair and arrange it so that it looks carelessly tousled. After you've got the lines of your clothes straightened out, you flash yourself a cool, mirthless smirk, put out the light, and open the bathroom door.

Chelsea and Will are laying on the bed with their arms wrapped about each other, and they bolt upright when you enter the room. Will's mouth is smudged with lipstick, and Chelsea discreetly touches up her own lips as she and Will turn guilty expressions on you.

"Well, it looks like you two were having fun," you flatly observe.

"You were in there a long time, boss," Will says. He gets to his feet with all the grace of a scarecrow trying to clamber off its pole. "We, uh—"

"I don't care. Just don't do it where Gordon will catch you."

"Are you going to fix him?" Chelsea says. "Because Will told me—" she starts to add as she rubs his back.

"Yes, I'll get him fixed," you assure her. "Him and Steve both. They're on a list."

"Good." Chelsea smirks. "Because once we've replaced them—"

"I'm on it. But you need to be patient, Chelsea." You take out your phone, which has texts piling up on it. "There's a lot of people on the list."

"Oh, I can wait, boss. As long as—"

You glance up from your phone as Chelsea falls silent. She's giving you a curious glance, then she turns the same glance onto Will. "Which of you—?"

"I'm the real boss, Chelsea," you tell her.

"Oh, I know that," she says. "Only this one—" She pulls Will into a hug, and bends her head to kiss him on the chest. "He reminds me of you."

Will jumps, as though touched with a cattle prod, and Chelsea giggles.

"Just don't do it at school," you warn them. "Remember who you're supposed to be, Chelsea. Same goes for you, Will."

They both nod, and you look around for Kim's backpack—it's on the floor where she dropped it. You scoop it up and smile at the clones. "You should think about going home, Will."

"Think about?"

"Go home. You've still got schoolwork."

"Yes, boss."

You don't wait for him to move, but head out the door and down the stairs. "Goodbye, Mrs. Cooper!" you call into the living room. "Mr. Cooper!" Chelsea's dad only glances at you, but her mom leans over to wave a cheery goodbye to you. "Come back soon, Kim!" she yells.

Maybe I should think about replacing a whole family, you reflect as you walk out to your car. That way I have a house where I can do all my work without having to sneak around.

* * * * *

"You back, pumpkin?" Kim's dad looks up from the sofa, where he's slouching in front of the TV. There are bags under his eyes. "You were gone awhile."

"I'm sorry. But Chelsea—" You roll your eyes. "She gets to talking and she doesn't know when to stop. You weren't waiting up for me, were you?"

"No, of course not. Just killing time until—" He points the remote at the TV, and switches it off. "I'm almost too tired to go to bed."

"Here, I'll help you."

You put out your hand, and he takes it. With a hard grunt he pushes himself to his feet, pretending to use you to haul himself upright when plainly he's doing it under his own power. "Don't stay up too late," he says.

"I won't. Don't you get up too early."

"I never do. Always just early enough." He shuffles past you toward the kitchen. You watch him go, then turn down the hallway to the bedroom you've inherited from Kim.

It's just Kim and her father—her mother died when she was little—in this tiny little house on the edge of a bad part of town. But it's neat and tidy, and the desk in the corner is clear. You drop the backpack on the bed and pull out what schoolwork Kim failed to finish before you replaced her. (It was her plan to drive to the city library after getting through with Chelsea.) There's not much, just some Spanish exercises, and that doesn't take long. But the lights in the house are out when you step out to brush your teeth in the hall bathroom and slip in Kim's nighttime retainer. Once in bed, you lay on your back and stare at the ceiling.

It was easy and natural dealing with Kim's father—you only had to relax and let the instincts that you copied from her take over. Still, you had taken a moment on the patio, drawing a deep breath, before entering the house as you reminded yourself who you needed to be. There is an unreality to this life-but-not-life you have picked up, a sharp sense that I am Kim but I am not Kim. Even as you talked so warmly and familiarly to Kim's dad, you felt that you were talking to a stranger who had mistaken you for someone else.

Am I going to fall asleep? you wonder after a quarter-hour or so has ticked by. Do magical doppelgangers sleep? Or do they just pretend, like they pretend everything else? You close your eyes and slow your breathing, mimicking the appearance of having fallen into a slumber, but your mind still races as you review your plans.

I have to fix Gordon and Steve, for Will's sake if for no other. And once I've replaced them, I'll own the gym loft. That's what Chelsea was going to say, I'm sure. We'll have our own secret headquarters right there at school. Gordon and Steve will be able to grab anyone I order them to, and haul them up to the loft, where we can replace them with a duplicate.

We'll start with Kelsey, you mumble to yourself, and snuggle a little further down inside the soft, warm bed. Kelsey and Anthony Kirk. That'll be enough to start. And we won't have to replace everyone at the school. Just the most important ones. Maybe we should replace all the members of a school club, so we have another place, not just the fuck room, to meet and lay out plans. Maybe the Spirit Club. Kim and Chelsea are already members. So are Catherine Muskov, and Cindy Vredenburg. We could add some other members. Jack Li, for instance. I tried talking him into joining last year, but he ...

Your thoughts become very fuzzy and indistinct. When next you are aware of them, it's morning, and your phone is going off.

* * * * *

Have you talked to Prianna about the Just Desserts fundraiser? That's what Kelsey wants to know. And, Kelsey being Kelsey, she's made sure it's the first order of business of your day by texting you at five-thirty in the morning.

You ignore it to shower and dress first. For your first day as "Kim Walsh" you choose a short skirt, black leggings, a dark t-shirt, and the jeans jacket that her older brother passed down to her when he outgrew it. Mr. Walsh nurses a coffee and reads a tablet while you make eggs and toast for the both of you. "Do you always get texts this early?" he asks as you text and eat at the same time.

"Sometimes. Kelsey—" You sigh. "She gets ideas in the middle of the night."

"Is she afraid she'll forget them?"

"No. But it's like she's afraid you'll forget them if she doesn't remind you every hour or so."

You get another text on your way to school, so you have to pop your head into the cafeteria, where the meal-plan students are taking their breakfasts. Molly Shaw is on the lookout for you, and she hurries up when she sees you. "I have to take Friday off," she moans at you.

"That's what you told me."

"But Mr. Pauls—"

"You can't just take off from work, Molly."

"But my mom's getting her pupils dilated, and I have to drive her! Can't you talk to him?"

"I don't work there anymore, Molly."

"But he respects you! He hired me because you—"

"Can you get someone else to cover for you?"

"All the other girls are being putzes!"

You should have sighed first, to make it seem more "human," but you plunge straight to the next obvious question. "What time's your mom's appointment?"

"Four?"

"Okay, I'll find someone else to drive her, and if I can't, I'll do it."

Molly gasps, and grabs you in a hug. "Oh my God, Kim! That's so—!"

Ten minutes later, as you're on your way to your locker: "Yo, Kimster! Kimmy-Kim-Kim!" You turn at the shout, and Zion Barber, the slinky president of the junior class, comes sliding up. "You gotta do something about your friend Amanda."

"What's she done now?"

"I don't know what she said to her, but she said something to Christine, and now my girlfriend's in the bathroom bawling her head off."

"I'll go talk to her."

"Amanda?"

"Christine. Nothing I say will fix Amanda."

End of class, first period: Mrs. Hart stops you as you leave. "You're in the mentoring club, aren't you, Kim?"

"Yes ma'am."

She sighs. "Well, I don't want to put too much on your shoulders, but do you think you could find Joshua Call, and tell him that he needs to start coming to class, or I'm going to have to flunk him."

"Sure, Mrs. Hart."

* * * * *

You had no idea Kim's life was so busy, and you only get through it by going onto autopilot. There's too much to manage. What will it be like when I try managing a lot of doppelgangers as well?

Then, at lunch, you have a brainwave. What if, instead of managing all the fakes, as you've been planning, you shared the magic with some other people, and each of you was responsible only for managing a handful of fakes?

Next: "Corporate Strategies" 

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