The Book of Masks (Vol. 1)

The Search for Support

Previously: "Making a Mask" 

[Text by rugal.]

You could very easily call up Caleb and ask him if he wanted to hang out on Sunday whereupon you would then be able to spring the book and mask on him and ask him for his help. But you quickly dismiss the idea. You've known Caleb a long time; he's like a brother to you and like a brother you know that he can at times be annoyingly combative seemingly for the hell of it. He's a good guy but can be more than bit acerbic and it's not worth the headache that'd ensue.

So you do call up Caleb on Sunday so the two of you can hang out at his place. Any mention of magic books and the masks made from them are shelved. Instead you tell him about having asked your dad about any part-time work at Salopek. Afterwards, though, you ask Caleb if he has heard anything from Lisa regarding their break up.

"Nothing you wouldn't already be able to guess," he says before giving a weary sigh. "It's not like I didn't have any sort of a chance to ask her."

"You were with her at the mall!" you shoot back.

"For a few minutes," he replies, "and even then it's not like she was really paying too much attention to me. She was too busy looking for Eva and Jessica."

"Even still," you say in desperation, "you could've at least asked her! A few minutes is more than enough time!"

"Maybe," he says as he absentmindedly looks down at his phone, "but did you ever think that maybe I didn't want to?"

"Didn't want," you sputter out in shock. "What do you mean didn't want to?! You're my friend, Caleb! You're supposed to help me out!"

"I am helping you out, goofus," he says as he continues to look at his phone. "Think of it like this: she broke up with you, she's dating someone else. Seems simple enough that I'm sure even someone like Call would be able to figure it out. In a way I'm helping both of us really since I don't have to ask her about it either."

"I just want--"

"Another chance?" asks Caleb.

"No, some closure!" you retort in irritation. "A little bit of support would be nice too."

"Well here's your closure then: she wasn't as into you as you were into her," he says matter-of-factly; it's like a punch to the gut. "That's also my support by the way. It was some dumb summer thing, there's no point in getting bent out of shape and obsessing over it. There's other girls out there?"

"Like who?" you ask dismissively.

"Jenny, for one," he answers.

"Jenny?" you ask though you know who he's talking about: Jenny Ashton, the tomboy who usually eats lunch with yourself, Caleb and some other friends. Instantly, however, you're dismissive of that. "She's Lamont's girl so it's not like anything would happen there."

"Lamont's? You know something I don't know?" he asks.

"Well, I mean, there's the way he's always looking at her," you reply.

"So?" Caleb shrugs. "Looking doesn't mean they're doing anything and I'd think we'd know if there was anything serious going on there. Look I'm not saying ask Jenny out or anything. I'm just saying there's options out there if you actually look."

But you can do nothing but grumble a response. He's right you have to begrudgingly admit to yourself but you don't want to have to settle for other options. There's only one option you want right now and she's currently arm candy to a smug, overbearing prick. So with some bitterness you drop the subject of Lisa and spend most of the afternoon playing video games and talking about other stuff and when that's done you head home to spend the evening and night polishing that mask.

Much like yesterday however, a few hours of work yields practically no results. In frustration you toss it onto your desk by the time you turn in for the night.

* * * * *

You make sure to grab the book, the cloth and the unpolished mask and shove them into your backpack. You've got a study hall so you can just duck into a quiet corner of the library, work on the mask there and maybe try to look at the book too just to make sure there's nothing you're missing. Hell, maybe you'll skip lunch too just to get this done. But that also leaves you short an item to put in the capsule and if you miss that then Walberg will have your ass for sure.

Frantically you look around for something, anything, and eventually settle on a bottle of half-used cologne you find in the medicine cabinet. You give it something of a longing look as you head back into your room because it's this bottle that you'd bought at the beginning of the summer after Lisa Yarborough had started hanging out with you near the end of the previous school year. Now, of course, it's utterly pointless except as a reminder of something that wasn't even real in the first place. That longing soon turns to bitterness however and now feeling angry you stuff the bottle into your backpack. That can go in the time capsule and you hope that bury it might bury your thoughts about Lisa with it.

In first period Walberg does not seem impressed when you hand him the cologne bottle though when he's ever impressed you yourself are not sure of. But he doesn't actually say anything, his disapproving gaze says it all, and he accepts the item without issue. The biggest problem is that you're left to wonder just how you'll write an essay about a stupid bottle of cologne.

Second period goes off without a hitch either. You thrill a bit when Mia DeWitt, that little pixie firecracker of a girl, sits next to you and gives you a bright smile. She's a flirty sort, even with someone like you, and you wonder if maybe she's someone you should go after as your hopes for Lisa feel like they might start fading but you dismiss the idea. She's flirty with lots of people, not just you, so you decide that it's not worth getting worked up over. Instead you content yourself to merely stealing a few glances at her until the bell rings.

As you make your way to Peters' room for your career planning class you suddenly see a horrifying sight once you arrive: loitering outside the room are Nicholas Horner and Jeff Spencer, two skeevy looking fucks how take any given opportunity they can find, along with their friends, to harass you and make your life a living hell. Worse yet you see them then enter the class room. Usually they skip but if both are in there that means you'll probably catch a beating once they catch sight of you and the ending bell rings. Instead you weigh your options: get harassed and beat up by Horner and Spencer or skip out on what amounts to a bullshit class. There's no real choice you figure so instead you beat feet past them hoping you're not spotted in the crowd.

Instead you duck into the library.

* * * * *

The library this period is far more full than you'd have thought. Undoubtedly there's students here using the period as a study hall though you'd suspect a good amount of those are using that "study" time to simply goof off and get out of having to go to any classes. That's to say nothing of the ones who, like yourself, are genuinely skipping class. Most of the desks and tables are already taken up but you do manage to find one smaller round one on the far side of the library so you take your seat.

You take out the book, the mask and the cloth and begin the laborious task of polishing it while doing a bit of people watching. You see Joe Ysleta from the baseball team as well as his wonderfully curvy girlfriend Victoria Rodriguez. There's Brianna Kirschke and Susie Loo... Lay... Susie Leeloodallas (those Hawaiian names can be tough), two girls from the marching band who you recognize from your sixth period class; you figure whoever they're sitting with is also from the band.

Then there's Jenny Ashton sitting by herself and not doing much more than staring at her phone. Well, Caleb had brought her up as a name you could pursue so maybe... but no, you shake the thought off. No matter what Caleb says she's probably Lamont's girl and you're not going to try to move in on your friend's girl. But probably isn't definitely and maybe if you showed her the book; maybe...

"Will Prescott!" comes a voice as boisterous as a quiet library voice will allow.

This immediately snaps you out of your thoughts as you see a small group approaching your table to take seats. One's a guy and it takes you a second to place him but you realize that it's Michael Hollister who you've got in English next period. There's also two girls; one is Josie Holden, a girl from the soccer team who you sit near in sixth. The other, though, makes you almost catch your breath because it's Kim Walsh, the friendly (if a bit nosy) student council president.

"Sorry," says the Josie apologizes as she sits down, "we don't want to just drop in on you but there's nowhere else to sit."

"Oh, um, no it's fine," you state as you grab your backpack. "I'm just hanging out here anyway so I'll leave you guys alone"

"You're fine," Kim says with a friendly tone and matching smile, "we're not going over anything serious right now so we could use the company."

"Looks like you've got some serious stuff going on though," says Hollister as he plops down next to you and points at the book and mask. "Cool looking book. Is that for some D&D stuff?"

"Hey, this mask is really nice," says Josie as she spots it. "It looks like one those theater masks." She then looks up at you with curiosity. "Did you make it?" she asks to which you give a positive response and her face lights up. "Wow, you're good then. It looks really well made."

So it seems that they find your stuff interesting... and Kim's smart; she could help you with this. You'd wanted to show all of this to Jenny but if opportunity is presenting itself maybe you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

But then you also think about Hollister: you've seen him in the presence of Philip Fairfax before, a mechanically minded brainiac. If anyone could help you with this it would be him. Maybe you should ask Hollister about him?

* To show the book to Jenny: "Four Girls and One Red-Faced Guy" 
* To show the book to Kim Walsh and the others: "The Westside Book Club" 
* To keep searching: "Prospective Partnerships" 

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"Table of Contents (Vol. 1)" 
"The Book of Masks (Vol. 1)"