The Book of Masks (Vol. 3)

Ambition from a Surprising Place

Previously: "Beds and Foreign Bodies" 

"Are you still planning on, um, going out with Stacey Stahl?" you ask.

"Yeah," Chris says. "Why are you asking?"

"Well, you were suddenly talking about Andrea and Catherine," you answer. "I thought maybe you might ... you know—"

You feel Chris glancing over at you, but keep your own eyes forward.

Besides, you've got other distractions as you and Chris make your way slowly back to the school. The jog has left you with a stitch in your side, and there's two more cars pulling into the lot. They park next to Andrea's: more swimmers heading into the natatorium, probably.

"I was just thinking out loud," Chris says in a careless tone. "There's a lot of people we could replace. That's just two of them."

There's a lot of good candidates, you silently agree. But why are you suddenly okay with making more duplicates?

Your surprise almost doubles when Chris asks, "How soon can we do another one?"

"This afternoon at the earliest. I have to make another dingus."

"For who?"

"I'll have to think about it a little more." You hate the feeling of being pushed. "Does Chris know Stacey?"

"Huh?" He sounds confused. "Oh. No, not really."

"So you'd need to set up a 'meeting' between them so they could supposedly get to know each other."

"I guess."

"I know how we can do that. I'll text you later. Keep your schedule clear."

You're at the school by now, and there's an awkward moment as you and Chris Love turn to look at each other. He looks down his nose at you with a soft grin, and for a tremulous moment you are half-certain he's going to lean in and try to kiss you. And maybe he's thinking of doing it, too, because you hold each other's eyes for just a little too long.

But he breaks it off with a lazy, one-fingered salute.

"Well, I'll keep my phone turned on," he says. "Let me know when you're ready to do something." By the gleam in his eye, you know that there's a double-meaning in the phrase "ready to do something," but you just tell him you'll be in contact soon.

The fuck is going on with Michelle? you wonder as you get in your car. She was totally acting like Chris Love!

* * * * *

Back home, you lock yourself in your bedroom to make the last metal strip for Michelle. As you work, you puzzle over Michelle's change of attitude. At least she's okay with making another doppelganger, you end up concluding. Let's just get it done while she's still drunk or high or whatever is going on with her, and I'll worry later about if she's okay. It certainly is weird that she's gone from not being able to get Chris's memories and personality to almost having lost touch with her own. Maybe she'll find an even keel by tomorrow.

Instead, you concentrate on the question of who to duplicate and replace next.

It's by process of elimination that you reach your conclusion. Catherine and Andrea (and other girls like them) are, as Michelle observed, good candidates. But for that reason you want to save them back. You are still planning to recruit additional junior partners once you have fully set Michelle up with a circle of six doppelgangers, and you'd like to save candidates like Catherine and Andrea to tempt them. Sydney McGlynn, when you remember that she too is someone you've considered, is another one you want to hold back on. As for Emily Sparks or a girl like her, they are already doing the work you'd want from them: putting social pressure onto all the man-whores out there.

It's intuition rather than reason, finally, that leads you to look to the gay subculture at Westside for Michelle's final recruit. Possibly in the back of your mind you are thinking of Kian Benefield and his kooky boyfriend—another gay doppelganger could open a back-channel there. You are probably also thinking of Number Seven, and the backbiting he gets from Charles Hartlein and his friends. But when you get right down to it, Christian Padilla recommends himself because he is a gossip, a confidante of Kendra (so is someone already connected to Michelle's circle of doppelgangers), and someone who can be a spy within Charles's gang. He can also be another voice that you can turn to put pressure on Roth and Hennepin.

He should also be pretty easy to get to.

But that's for later. Lets meet at Nirdlingers at one, you text Chris. Tell Stacey to expect a text from me. He replies with a thumbs-up emoji, and then a short text confirming he's texted Stacey.

* * * * *

"You know," you confide to Chris in a low voice. "You two would look really cute together."

He grins at you, then sinks down in his chair and stretches his legs out in front of him. "Are you trying to set us up?" he asks.

"I'm just telling you what I think," you airily reply. Then: "Stacey!" you call to the girl. "Go try the green one on again!" She hops alertly back for the changing rooms.

It's coming up on two-thirty, and you're starving, but you've having too much fun with this shopping trip. You texted Stacey to suggest meeting her at Nirdlingers to look for some "cute clothes"; and you're pretty sure that the real girl would have leapt at the invitation. But of course the doppelganger (forewarned by Michelle) was sure to go anyway. You then texted Chris to tell him where you and Stacey would be, and that he should come out there to "accidentally" meet you and Stacey both. That, then, would set up their new acquaintance.

But that's not the only arrangement you've made.

So after Stacey has tried the green sweater back on, and then the black one with the white piping, and has come back out in a grayish-green hoodie, you are interrupted by the sound of someone calling your and Chris's names. Jack Li, a relaxed grin across his face, come sauntering up. He's not alone either, and after you've squealed and jumped up to give him a quick, tight hug, you greet Brianna Kirschke and Genesis Lee and Laura MacGregor and ... Will Prescott. The latter is a surprise, for though you'd told Number Seven to not come alone, you hadn't instructed him to bring any other doppelgangers with him. He must have come with Laura, you think with another stab of jealousy. God damn it, it must be getting serious between them!

There's further quick greetings all around: Chris and Jack slap palms, and then Chris has to get up to give Brianna and Genesis each a quick, nuzzling hug. "Chris is helping me and Stacey pick out some clothes for her," you tell the others, and shoot Chris a steely glance so he'll remember who he is ultimately supposed to be interested in. "We all ran into each other— Well, me and Stacey were already up here—"

"We're just here 'cos I needed to stop and look at some shoes," Jack says. "But we're all on our way over to The Hamboree."

"Ewww!" you exclaim. "No, wait, I don't think I've ever eaten there."

"Oh, they got awesome cheeseburgers," Chris says. "And patty melts."

"Oh my God!" You cover your stomach—your taut, flat stomach—with both palms.

"They got all kinds of stuff there," Jack says. "Come with." He nudges you with a wink.

"Well, I haven't eaten anything today. Do they have salads?"

"Oh, come on," Jack urges. "You can afford to—"

"All right! Jeez! Twist my arm!" You giggle and clutch at Stacey. "Do you think we're done here?"

"I guess so," she says, looking a little dazed. "Um—"

"You go look for your shoes or whatever," you tell Jack. "Me and Chris'll get Stacey checked out, we'll meet you up front." With waves and smiles, your group dissolves again into two.

"That was lucky the way it worked out," Chris observes when it's just you and him and Stacey again. He puts his arm around her as he leans back and cranes his head to stare off in the direction of the shoe department. "Now we've got witnesses."

"Luck had nothing to do with it," you retort.

"You set it up?" He looks at you in surprise. "Oh, right. Jack."

"Uh huh. Also, I've decided that Christian Padilla is going to be your number six," you tell him. "Or seven, I forget what numbering we're up to. Is that okay with you?"

"That's fine," he says, still distracted by the bobbing heads of the others. "Is that all we're going to make?"

"Six is enough to manage," you remind him.

"Then how about we bring someone else in?" Chris says. "Give him six to manage, and then we'll manage him." He turns to look at you directly.

You have to steel yourself to keep from staggering back a step. "What?" you say.

"You brought me into this scheme," he says with a calm and plain bluntness. "How about we bring someone else in? What about one of those girls? Or that guy?" He glances back over at Jack and his friends. "Though we probably shouldn't tell them that Jack is, you know. They might not like it, him being a friend of theirs and all."

"I'll think about it," you tell him dazedly.

* * * * *

And you do think about it, alone, in your car, after telling everyone else you've changed your mind about going to The Hamboree, and have sent Chris and Stacey off with the others. You are driving out to the school to meet Kendra, who you have instructed to bring Christian out to the gym for an "important meeting." But all the way up there you are thinking of Michelle's suggestion.

You were planning on switching faces, with Kelsey or Patterson or Kirkham. But you've three other masks you could put yourself under.

But maybe you should agree to Michelle's idea, if for no other reason than to keep a close eye on her. This change in her attitude is beginning to frighten you a little.

That's all for now.

Next: Coming soon! Check back!

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