The Book of Masks (Vol. 4)

Basic Instincts

Previously: "Roughly Speaking" 

The phone you gave to Jessica is turned off, so there's no way you can text to see if she would want to go with Luke to that party. And you're also aware enough—or maybe it's Jessica's personality that is aware enough—to know that if you don't say "Yes" right now, it will be hard-to-impossible to get Luke to ask Jessica out again.

So all you can do is follow Jessica's instincts, and those tell you to leap at the invitation.

"Oh, that sounds great, I'd love to go!" you tell him. "Who all is going to be there?"

"Prob'ly everyone," he says. "It's the only big party I've heard about that's happening."

"Meghan Farris is having a party on Friday," puts in Isaac Adler from a few feet away.

Luke glances at him, then turns back to give you a look that says, Right, like I said, Maggie's is the only party that counts. You grin back at him.

* * * * *

The study session goes on until ten, but even after it's over and you're outside, you and Luke linger near your minivan, chatting. You're impressed anew by how tall and lean and good-looking he is. And he can really rock the suede burgundy-with-forest-green-sleeves jacket that he's wearing. You can hardly stop yourself from brushing your fingertips over it, and you can't keep the grinning blush off your face as you exchange stories about the dogs you had when you were kids.

But the time to leave finally comes, and Luke walks off as you climb into the minivan. You've just put the keys in the ignition when your phone chirps with a text. It's from Stephanie: hangon dont go.

Half a minute later Stephanie herself yanks open the passenger-side door and leaps in. Her eyes and teeth sparkle in the dark. "So you hit it off with Luke, huh?"

"Oh, God! You weren't watching us, were you?"

"Hard not to." She pushes playfully at your shoulder. "He is into you!"

You blush furiously.

"So he's picking you up to take to Maggie's party, huh? Just you and him, or is he picking up some other people?"

"I don't know."

"Well, ask him tomorrow if he can pick up me and my date too."

"Who are you going with?"

"Nobody. Or, I don't yet. Point is, you set it up so he's got a full car, that way it's just you and him when I call and back out."

"Back out? Ohhh!"

"Yeah! And get Eva and Marc to go. But, you know, separately."

"Marc'll probably be doing something Hannah."

"Yeah, well, get 'em out there anyway. And get Eva to go, tell her she should go with whoever."

"Alright. Who are you going with?"

"I dunno, I'll find someone. But you and Luke—!" She points a finger at you and grins.

"Oh!" she adds after hopping out of the car, and leans back in to impart a final confidence. "Luke's a virgin, got that on good authority, and he wants to keep it that way. So don't worry he's gonna be all like, you know. Have as much fun as you want." She slams the door, leaving you in a daze.

* * * * *

The lights are all on at the house, but everything is quiet when you go in. The bedroom that Jessica shares with Eva is empty, but the light under the bathroom door is on, and there's the sound of running water in there. The light under Marc's door (which is closed) is also on, and you tentatively knock at it. "Come in," he calls. You push the door open, but keep to the hallway as he turns to squint at you from his desk. His fist tightens around the pencil he's holding.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier," you tell him. "I'm sorry I sent you out to Kerri's, and I'm sorry that— I don't know what you lost, but I'm sorry you lost it. I didn't take it, whatever it is."

His jaw clenches, and his gaze turns very beady. But he says, "S'okay." He puts his back to you, though, before adding, "M'sorry I got so pissed at you."

"Did you ask Eva about it?"

"No, 'cos it couldn' been her."

"Why not?"

"Because it couldn't, Jess!" he snaps. "It got— There wasn't time Eva could'a come in and taken it."

"Well, when was I supposed to have—?"

"Just forget it, okay?" He throws the pencil at the desk, and it bounces off and flies into the corner of the room. "There wasn't time for you either, I guess! I just— What time did you get home this afternoon?" His eyes blaze with suspicion.

"I dunno. Fifteen, twenty minutes before you and Jessica? Mom was here when I got home. Maybe she found the— What did you lose?"

But Marc doesn't answer. All the color has suddenly drained from his face.

"Oh my God, Marc! Was it—?" You glance back into the hallway, to make sure you're alone. "Was it porn?"

"It wasn't porn!"

"Or a rubber suit or—?"

"Just get out! I'm sorry I friggin' said anything to you!"

You back out and close the door behind you.

Whew! you sigh to yourself as you return down the hall. Marc suspects, but you feel better about bluffing him. Now if only you can be certain that Marcos won't tell anyone that Jessica knows about all this!

The bathroom is open and dark, and now the bedroom door is closed, so you duck in to brush your teeth and get ready for bed. So distracted are you by thinking about what you need to tell Jessica tomorrow that you don't realize what you're doing until you're getting up off the toilet and reaching for the toilet paper. You freeze momentarily, then resume. This is totally natural, you tell yourself as you pat yourself dry in front. Jessica does this all the time, and I'm Jessica! Still, it's a funny feeling to touch a bushy spot that is empty, and to recognize that behind it is something that you've sometimes fantasized about. I could totally touch it, you think to yourself with a mix of glee and horror.

And then, before you can stop yourself, you do.

And nothing happens. Your finger doesn't fall off, but neither do any fireworks go off. It's just ... a patch of skin. Warm and a little wet. But really no different than putting your finger in your mouth.

Although, now that you mention it ...

After pulling your pants back on, you lean against the vanity and put your face close to the mirror. You smirk faintly at yourself, run a wet tongue over your lower lip, then put your finger in your mouth and suck on it while pretending to pout.

Okay, that's sexy, and it gets you a little excited. No wonder Luke Richardson was into you!

But you shut yourself down. You have to go to bed, and you won't have the room to yourself.

The lamp on the end table is still on, but Eva, in the other bed, is turned away from you.

"I went over to Josie Holden's," you tell her as you disrobe. "People were over there studying. Stephanie was there, and she told me about a party at Maggie Crenshaw's this Friday." You don't want to mention Luke to her, at least not yet. "I said I'd go. You wanna go too?"

"I'll think about it," she says.

"I'm going to be riding out with Stephanie and whoever she's going with. Maybe you can get a ride with ... whoever you go out there with?"

"I said I'll think about it, Jess," Eva says. "Now I'm trying to go to sleep."

So you shut up. You finish changing into a night gown, slip into Jessica's bed, and put out the light. It's a long time, though, before you fall asleep.

And you can tell it that it's a long time before Eva does as well.

* * * * *

The ride out to school the next morning is quiet. Marc drives, and he concentrates on the road, while Eva, in the back, bends over her phone. You bend over yours as well, texting the person who's got your old phone, telling you need to talk to her ASAP. Meet front of gym, he replies when you're still half a mile from the school.

Since you don't want to talk to him in front of Eva, you pretend to be absorbed in your phone after arriving, and tell her to go into the gym ahead of you. Only after she and Marc have disappeared into the breezeway do you trot along after.

Will Prescott—gangly and ill-kempt as ever—is loitering in front of the main doors. His eyes dart about nervously as various muscle-packed jocks pass in and out, but a light sneer distends his lip when he sees you. "Hey," he grunts at you. "So what's got you all so fired up to—?"

"When do we switch back?" you hiss at him.

"Aren't you having fun?" He glances down at your breasts. "You got a whole fucking playground to—"

"Let's just switch back! You get what you needed last night? You read that book?"

"Yeah. What'd you do?" Again he glances at your boobs. "As if I couldn't—"

"I wound up over at Josie Holden's place. By the way, you owe me. I set you up on a date."

The blood drains from his face. "You what?" he croaks.

"I set you up with Luke Richardson. You know, he's on the baseball team? He asked me— Well, you— Out to a party at Maggie Crenshaw's this Friday. I said 'yes' because, well, it felt like something you'd want to do. And I couldn't text you to ask."

He doesn't answer right away, which makes you nervous. Instead, he sucks in his cheeks.

"Next Monday," he says. "We'll switch back next Monday."

"What?"

"Yeah." He smirks. "I'll sit out the rest of your punishment for you. And you—" He jabs at you with a bony forefinger. "Can go have fun at Maggie's."

You feel your eyes pop. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about that date you set up with Luke. He asked you out, and you said yes. So you go out with him."

Next: "Some Bare Facts" 

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"Table of Contents (Vol. 4)" 
"The Book of Masks (Vol. 4)"