The Book of Masks (Vol. 3)

Possibilities That Surprise You

Previously: "Chelsea Wins the War" 

This isn't the first time Chelsea has suggested Cindy Vredenburg to you as a second face, but you're confused by her mention of Seth. "I'm only supposed to get a second face," you remind her. "Not a second and a third."

"I need another one," Chen says. "I need someone to help me out with these debts. If you're not going to help me out—"

"I didn't say I wasn't."

He touches a finger to your lips. "Shh, don't argue. I can tell you don't, not really. But let me have one more, to get my work done, and you can have two more. To have fun with."

Oh God, he's trying to bribe you again. But the idea does give you pause.

You're still absorbed in thinking things through—without coming up to grips with any intuitions, let alone conclusions—when Chen leans over to bite your ear. "Loft?" he asks. "For a little while? Until I have to go in to work?"

It's tempting, but when you ask if that's kind of dangerous to do in the daytime—because neither Yumi Saito nor Gary Chen are supposed to have access to it—he acquiesces, but with the promise that he'll get you up there tomorrow night.

You spend the evening doing homework and streaming through the pictures, posts and memes on Westside's x2z stream. )You're gratified to find that, with no more compromising photos of you and Chen to post, you've dropped off the stream. You scroll through lots of possibilities.) And after sifting and weighing the various choices, you come to a surprising conclusion.

* * * * *

You have never been much interested in music, except for the usual pop songs, and even then you don't pay close attention to anything except the beat.

Even Yumi isn't much for music. Yes, she plays the viola in the Westside orchestra, and though that means she is pretty good, she understands that she is only mechanically competent. Playing the viola is just one of those things that her parents made her do because it was supposed to be good for her, not because they or anyone else thought she had any love or talent for it.

Just like Calculus

But as you scroll through x2z, following a couple of hash tags, there creeps over you a certain curiosity about what it must be like to be musical. As in, really musical. Do people who have real musical talent feel any different from those who don't?

You started down that thread by following a sub-stream about the upcoming cheerleader tryouts. Lots of girls, especially juniors, are saying they are going to try out. Among those that catch your eye is Paris Morrow, one of the Morrow twins that Chelsea pointed out to you as being likely candidates -- for the squad and also for a "second face."

Well, now you can have both a second and a third face; and with one set twins -- the Garners -- off the squad it piques your sense of irony that another pair might step in, if you took both Morrow girls as faces.

You know Peyton, the other one, from orchestra. She plays the viola too, and is better than you, which is what got you thinking vaguely about musical talent. Paris also has some musical talent, apparently: she plays the bass guitar in the school's Jazz Band.

And one thought will lead to another. In this case it inevitably splits into two related thoughts.

One: Jazz Bands are just snooty, official versions of garage bands, like the ones that play at the Warehouse. There's some grungy but attractive people that play in such local bands, and you wonder what it would be like to be in that kind of band and get that kind of attention.

Two: The really serious musicians are in the orchestra, and there are some really good ones. Preston Spinks, who shows up every once in a while to play keyboards when the orchestra is doing a piano concerto, has actually competed in and won at least one national piano championship. Nathan Cruz, the first chair violinist is also very talented, though kind of an insufferable snot. Even David Kirkham, who plays first cello in the school's more exclusive Chamber Orchestra, is taking lessons at the college level. There's some cute and talented girls coming up from the sophomore and freshman levels as well.

* * * * *

If you're looking for instrumental talent -- to take over and experience -- there are really only three places to find it.

One is down at the freshman level. There are a lot of up-and-coming string players in the ninth grade class, the two most promising (by acclimation) being Helen Kim and Taylor Smith. You have to wonder what Chelsea would say about that, though. It would be hard for her, in either her own face or Chen's, to hang out with a freshman girl.

Nathan Cruz, the first-chair violinist, is the most dominant personality in the orchestra. In Yumi's opinion, he's a supercilious snot, but maybe he's earned the right to be. Besides leading the ensemble, he leads the smaller Westside Chamber Orchestra, which plays an even more demanding repertoire, and he also took the lead in creating the Wendigo String Quartet, which is the classical music equivalent of the garage bands. Besides the classical repertoire that it plays at snooty social wingdings (for very good money, you've heard) it plays avante-garde pieces when possible, which gives it a radical cachet in certain circles.

And besides that, Nathan is on the school swim team and used to date Kendra Saunders. Maybe with Chelsea's help -- or with another mask -- you could rekindle that relationship.

But if you want to experience true musical excellence, you doubt you could do any better than to get behind a mask of Preston Spinks. He's not the kind of prodigy that gets press attention, but he is the kind of prodigy who wins national competitions against dozens of other prodigies drawn from all over North America. He has even collaborated with a professional orchestra, at their invitation, to record and release a short album. He is also academically gifted, having semi-transcended the AP program to take classes at the local university for high school credit.

He's not a dick, either, in Yumi's experience. He has a very serious demeanor but is friendly in a slightly distant way. He has no girlfriend, despite being quite good-looking though, and that has sparked rumors about his sexuality. Not that there's anything wrong with that, as they say, particularly in the arts world.

Next: "The Piano Prodigy" 

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