The Book of Masks (Vol. 2)

The Infiltrator

Previously: "Who to Be, or Who Not to Be" 

You run through a couple of scenarios in your head. "I'll play Mitchell's part. But if you're playing Huber, someone will have to cover for you by playing me." You grunt. "We'll have to get Johansson in on this."

"He won't want to," says Will.

"We'll tell him it'll give him an inside look at Salopek. He's been wanting that." You chew your lip. You're worried about the memories in the mask. You had no trouble getting into Gordon's memories, but Gordon and Caleb said they had trouble when they put on masks. What if you can't get into Mitchell's mind? What if Gordon and Caleb can't get into Huber's and yours?

"Look, we're gonna hafta wait to do this tomorrow," you say. "You and Caleb will need a chance to get used to the other guys' masks. So let's do it like this." You outline a plan, and Will agrees.

* * * * *

You check on the new spell on your way home after practice. It's gone out, but it relights. It astonishes you that it's taking so long to finish -- so long that you are seriously wondering if it's gone wrong. The cracks in the earth have only grown wider. One large crack up the center has torn it almost in half, and two smaller ones at each side suggest the thing is falling apart even as it solidifies. The consolation is that the longer it takes -- maybe forever -- the longer you will get to hang out with Chelsea Cooper as her boyfriend.

So when you see Will later that night, you agree to his suggestion that you'll switch back to your old lives when the spell is finished.

At your club meeting, Caleb grumbles at being dragooned into the scheme to humiliate Cameron, but as you anticipated he goes along with it because it will give him a chance to play you at Salopek, which is a company he's been ardent about joining for a couple of months now. To give himself time to gain your memories, he'll have to play you at school too, which means he'll have to start playing you tonight.

So Gordon disrobes and removes the mask he's been wearing of you.

It gives you a funny feeling to see him -- the real Gordon -- sprawling there. You've long since grown used to having his strong legs, brawny arms, slab-like pecs, and all the other pieces and parts. So when you look at him, you have to remind yourself that you're the copy, and he's the original.

You end the awkward scene by covering Gordon with Caleb's mask, and the real Caleb takes your mask and clothes into the bathroom. The plan is for "Caleb" to tell his mom he's going to Will's house for the night; but while "Will" returns to the Prescott household, Gordon will go to the elementary school and change into Cameron's Huber's mask. He'll have to spend tomorrow there too, until school lets out and he can leave to execute your plan.

"Pretty fucking weird," he mutters after he's woken and is gathering stuff to entertain him in the basement.

"What? Being Johansson?"

"Oh, did I say that out loud? I just meant -- " He looks you up and down. "That guy who left. I'm used to seeing him in a mirror."

You feel yourself redden. "I kind of felt the same way when you took the mask off," you admit.

A smile twitches onto his face. "It's been a nice vacation, but it's probably a good idea that we're going back. But I, uh -- " He's been blushing too, and it deepens to a furious scarlet. "Well, we'll talk about it later," he mumbles. "Text me tomorrow when it's safe to go find Anne." You and he bump fists.

When he's gone, you buckle down to finish your homework. When the lights in the main house are out, you lock the bedroom door, pull off Gordon's mask, and put on Sean Mitchell's, so that you can figure out how you're going to pull off your end of the scam.

* * * * *

"I knew that place you moved into was going to be a problem," Patterson says with a scowl.

"Look, deal with it, fucker. My landlady needs some help, and it's worth missing a single practice to keep her happy."

"You wouldn't have that problem if -- "

"Shut up."

You and Patterson hold each others' eye and ignore the noise of the other guys changing into their workout clothes; they're making enough noise that you can tell they're trying to avoid this fight between their official team captain and his unofficial co-captain.

It really does piss you off that Patterson is making such a shit storm about your missing one afternoon of post-class basketball practice. But you should have predicted it, from the fragmentary comments he's dropped recently. And he's got a point. Since moving into the Johansson house and getting a job at Eagle Foods, he's been seeing a lot less of you. In a way, it's touching the way Steve Patterson is sore at not getting to hang out so much with his best friend. But at the moment it's really annoying.

He relents, though, as he has to. "How long is it going to take?"

"Long enough that I'll have to miss the whole hour. If you're not busy after supper, though, can I swing by to hang out?"

"Sure, of course." And with that the tension between you evaporates. "Yo, come on, move it," Patterson shouts to the team. "That means you too, Richards."

You occupy yourself with switching out items between your bag and your gym locker, and switching them back, and switching them back and forth a few more times, until the locker room finally empties. You duck into the facilities to relieve yourself. Then, when you're sure you won't be disturbed, you sidle over to Sean Mitchell's locker. You wrote down the combination last night, and quickly twirl the lock open.

The memories inside his mask were many days out of date, so the contents of the locker have changed, but it still has the basics you need to pull off the impersonation: shorts and a muscle shirt and ratty shoes. You shove these into your bag, close his locker, and take off. You glance back into the gym as you leave, but Steve has everyone drilling hard already, so no one catches your eye.

Mitchell's mom works, so there's no car out front when you get to his place. It's not too far from where Caleb lives, and is in the same slightly run-down section of town. It's not a place of happy memories, and you remind yourself that you're not getting into Sean Mitchell's life, you're only pulling off a kind of prank, so you don't have to pick up and dwell on the guy's backstory. You park a couple of blocks away, behind a tiny strip center, and hunker down in your seat to change masks.

* * * * *

Despite what you promised yourself, you feel a weight like a lead cape about you when you resurface inside Mitchell's mask. A dead father and a dead brother -- a twin no less -- in the space of a couple of months. It says something really positive about Sean Mitchell that he's able to deal with really crappy recent circumstances without cracking. You don't know him personally, but nothing Gordon told you about him suggested a kid dealing with such serious issues. From inside his head, you're only aware of a determination not to buckle, and to take and enjoy each day as it comes.

And here's an extra afternoon he can enjoy without experiencing or remembering. Not that it will matter to him. As you strip off Gordon's clothes and pull on Mitchell's, you pause long enough to reflect on the happy fact that this part of the scam shouldn't rebound against Mitchell at all. Only Huber will get hurt.

Except that Mitchell likes and respects Huber. You pause again with one shoe on and one shoe off, then brush the qualm aside. Once dressed, you exit the car, briefly stretch, then jog to your new home.

The door is locked but you know where the spare key is and let yourself in. Luckily, Sean's mom is sufficiently old-fashioned that she keeps a land-line. That's the only way you could have made this thing work out. You dial Huber's number. "Hey man, you busy?" you ask when he picks up. "'Cos I need some help."

"What's up?"

"I need a ride." You slide open a drawer and push around some junk until you find the family's emergency credit card. "Errands for my mom, and my truck's got a problem."

"You're joking, right?"

"Why would I joke? You know I don't joke about my truck. Something's gone wrong with the starter and I gotta have it towed, but I got these errands to run."

"Aren't you at work?"

"I would be, man, but my truck's crapped out on me. So I called in, told them I had to miss the afternoon, but I also got these errands for my mom. Can you help me out? You're not with Anne, are you?"

"No, I'm hanging out with Chris," he says, and you let out a sigh of relief -- that was the one tricky spot you couldn't plan for. There are low murmurs on the other end, then Huber comes back on to tell you he'll pick you up in twenty minutes.

"Thanks, man. I'll make it a little easier on you. You know that dry cleaners on the corner of Orlando and Harvard? Okay, trust me, there is one. I'll be waiting there. I can walk there now and it'll save you making an extra stop. See you in a few, I owe you big, buddy."

You hang up and permit yourself a half-smile of satisfaction before dialing Caleb Johansson's number. The voice that answers is identical to the one of the guy you just finished talking to. "All set," you tell Gordon. "If you can figure out how to get to Anne's, the way's clear for you."

Next: "Wednesday in a Car with Cameron" 

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"Table of Contents (Vol. 2)" 
"The Book of Masks (Vol. 2)"