The Book of Masks (Vol. 3)

Something Like a Boss

Previously: "Some Slick Dance Moves" 

The mood of the squad when it gathers after school in the dance studio is muted but not as sullen as it was in the morning. Number Seven, if he notices the mood, doesn't show it. But Jack Li probably would have tried not to show it either.

Once everyone is assembled, you make the introductions. There's not much reaction to Jack—it's been an open secret for days now that he would be joining the squad—and all the concentration is on you. After you've got everyone's attention, you drop the bombshell.

"Jack's joining the squad is a huge deal for us," you tell everyone. "I want us to change the entire direction we've been taking things, more away from the gymnastic stuff and more to a dance thing. That's why I wanted Jack to join the squad, and that's how come"—you reach out to tickle his tummy with a claw-like hand—"I wouldn't let him say 'no'."

Number Seven smiles with self-deprecation.

"And in fact, we're changing the focus so much that I don't feel like I'm the one to who should be leading us anymore. We still want some of the gymnastics stuff, but it needs to be integrated into the dance routines and moves Jack will be teaching us. So, since the basic planning will be his job, he's the one who's going to be in charge." Per your instructions to him, Number Seven looks startled, as do the girls. "So, as squad captain, I am officially calling a meeting to order, and the first business is my resignation as squad captain." You fake a sniff of sadness. "And the second order of business is to open the floor to nominations for a new captain, and I nominate Jack." You step back and applaud while beaming at Number Seven.

He is doing a good job of looking baffled and wrong-footed, just like you told him to be, and as he stammers uncertainly you surreptitiously nudge Gloria. "I second the nomination," she calls out. You give Kendra and Maria—who, like Gloria, you warned ahead of time of what would be afoot—a sharp glance, and they join you and Kendra in applauding Jack.

"I, uh, this— I didn't expect—"

"You're not gonna turn us down, are you, Jack?" You dimple at him.

"Um—"

"Any other nominations?" You turn to stare hard at Cindy.

She is looking even more wrong-footed than Number Seven, and looks between you and Jack and the other girls with baffled confusion. She swallows a couple of times, and glances uneasily at her friends and allies, of which she now has only three: Eva and Jessica Garner, and Lin Pol. The Garners look as confused as she does; Lin studies you with a hooded gaze.

The moment hangs, then breaks when Cindy's eyes fall to the floor. "No?" you ask. "Then I move that Jack be elected squad captain by unanimous acclimation!" Again, you and your friends applaud him lustily. The others hang back until Cindy listlessly begins clapping, then first the Garners, and finally Lin, join in.

* * * * *

Jack makes a sheepish speech of acceptance, promises to do his best, then spends the rest of class showing everyone the basic dance steps he wants you all to learn, and practices them with you. At the end of class you pull him aside—in the front of the room, so everyone can see—and offer to meet with him to talk about how to make the "transition" from one administration to the next. Of course, he gratefully accepts. But when you do send him a text, it's only to remind him of the instructions you gave him earlier about where and how to appoint you as vice-captain.

You wonder if Cindy and her friends—who will surely be meeting (probably with Yumi, too) to discuss today's plot twist—fully grasp or anticipate your plan. Though it will look like a demotion to them, they won't be able to spin it, even to themselves, as a defeat for you, because you're the one who made the move. Nor will they be able to plot so openly against Jack as they could against you, not with you (and others) being able to play the "homophobia" card against them on social media if they do. Yumi won't be able to make a stink either, because you are out as team captain.

But with you, as vice-captain, running things in the morning when Jack isn't around, it will be just like it was before, and the position of vice-captain will be almost as prestigious as the captaincy. And your own personal prestige may actually be augmented because of the way you so graciously stepped aside to let Jack take over.

* * * * *

Michelle, to your surprise when she arrives at the gym at a little after seven, wants to talk about the day's doings on the squad.

"That doesn't matter," you sniff. "That's just me taking some of the piss out of Chelsea. And it fits with the story I got Kendra and Gloria peddling, right? About how you quit the squad to make room for Jack? So that'll help you out some." You look her up and down. "Though maybe you won't care. Like, if I'm impersonating Chelsea for the rest of the year, maybe you'll wanna impersonate someone else? Well, that's something to talk about later. First of all, I need to explain to you what's going to happen when Christine gets here."

You have a mask and the rest of the supplies you'll need, drawn from the stash at the community center. You briefly explain what's going to happen and how it's going to happen. But before you get to the most important part, you stop to ask Michelle if she's feeling alright, because she's looking pale, and she keeps rubbing her arm.

"I dunno," she confesses. "I mean— Yeah, I'm fine." She straightens herself up. "I was just thinking how I didn't believe you or any of this—" She casts an uneasy glance at Number Three, who has been standing rigid and mute behind you. She makes a face. "But if this is a prank you're taking it pretty far." Her glance turns suspicious. "But I still don't believe it."

"That's okay, Michelle, I get it. Chelsea didn't believe it either, until she saw it. But don't worry about her, here's the most important part. I wrote it down for you." You hand her the paper you composed before she arrived.

It's a longish paragraph, a version of the speech you give each doppelganger when it wakes up. Statements, orders, questions to test whether it understands. "You'll have to read this to the doppelganger after we make it," you explain. "And you need to mean it, Michelle, when you say it. You can't just mumble this stuff at them. You have to make them believe you mean business. So try it out on me. Read it to me."

Michelle takes the paper while giving you a wary glance. "Listen to me you believe everything I tell you to believe," she reads off tonelessly.

"Mean it, Michelle."

"Listen to me, you believe—"

You snatch the paper back and give her a hard look. "Listen! To me!" you snap at her. "You believe everything I tell you to believe." Michelle blinks. "Your name is A-Two. You are not Michelle Estrich. You were never Michelle Estrich. You are nobody and nothing."

You hold the paper out to her. "Now you try. Read it at me. With my name, not this Christine's name. Like you're trying to make me do it."

Michelle flushes. "Listen to me," she says.

"More!"

"Listen to me! You believe everything I tell you to believe. Your name is—" She can't stop herself from swallowing. "A-Two. You are not ... Chelsea Cooper."

"Start over!"

"Listen to me! You believe everything I tell you to believe! Your name is A-Two. You are not Chelsea Cooper. You were never Chelsea Cooper. You are nobody and nothing!"

"Passable. Now keep going, keep the momentum up."

* * * * *

"... you will be Christine Miles. You will act like Christine Miles. Her friends, her family, everyone will believe you are Christine Miles because you will act just like her in front of them. Her life is yours. From now on you, you will be her."

The new doppelganger—A-Two—wears a bright but slightly glazed smile as she listens intently to her new mistress, and when Michelle says, "Are you ready to go out and be her?" she replies, "Absolutely, boss!"

Christine Miles, when she arrived, proved to be a skinny girl with long, kinky brown hair and a pronounced overbite, giving her a squirrel- or beaver-like demeanor. But she's pretty, and there's a lot of personality in her face. The doppelganger, after passing through a brief period of dull docility, has come to life again with all the quick, alert life of the original.

The real acted curious and enthusiastic when she arrived. "So, hey, I'm Christine," she said after joining you in the middle of the gym. "And you're Chelsea, I recognized you," she added with a silly giggle. "Hey Michelle." Her eyes darted between you and the other girl, and you could see her trying to figure out how come Michelle, after leaving the squad, should be hanging out with the squad captain.

She didn't have a chance to say anything else, though, before you ordered Number Three to grab her, and then ordered Michelle to shove the mask into the girl's face. You'd had to say it twice, the second time in a sharp yell, before she moved. She seemed horror-struck as Number Three laid the unconscious girl onto the gym floor.

That was when she finally started to believe you. Her hands trembled as she picked the mask up again on its reappearance, and applied the layers to the inner surface. You had to trim the hair from her head, and fire it for her.

But the twenty minutes of practice you forced on her weren't wasted. As soon as A-Two opened her eyes, Michelle was on her like a boss.

Like the boss she now is.

"So that's the first one," you tell her as the two doppelgangers stand at attention nearby. "I'm going to let you have five more. And of those five, I'm going to let you pick out—"

Next: "A Junior Partner" 

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