The Book of Masks (Vol. 2)

The Bold and the Beautiful

Previously: "Clouds of Fame and Glory" 

"Oh, fuck," you groan. "I'm gonna have to move out of here if Kelsey and Kim are gonna keep showing up."

"Maybe you should turn yourself into Kelsey," Caleb smirks. "Are you going to turn yourself into someone else? 'Cos it sure seems like you're taking your sweet time about it."

You make a face back at him. Kelsey Blankenship—rich, snooty, stylish, going-to-Harvard-or-Stanford-or-Oxford-or-someplace-that's-not-State-are-you-fucking-kidding? Kelsey Blankenship—would be a fine identity provided you were okay with a sex change. But you've got time to think about it, for you've got a bunch of masks to finish up first. You push the door closed and invite Caleb to join you.

By ten o'clock—after a couple of breaks, including one for supper—you and he have polished up most of the masks and made a large dent in the stack of brain bands. It will be more than enough for tomorrow, which is when the guys are planning on making their first substitution. It was Bhodi who volunteered to make the break-through. He will try to get Andrew Webb—who he knows from the soccer team, even if he despises him—off alone with Andy. Afterward, with Andrew playing for their team, the guys figure they can quickly get the others, for Andrew (despite or maybe because he's a jock-asshole) runs with a popular crowd.

And that, perhaps inevitably, gets you thinking about the popular kids in your own class, and which of them you might substitute yourself for.

* * * * *

You work diligently all the next day (a Friday) as well, so that you have all the masks and most of the brain bands done when Caleb stops by after school. Bhodi and Andy are with him. They are both very quiet, and look jumpy.

"So you're gonna do the thing this afternoon?" you say. "It's all set up?"

"Yeah." Bhodi licks his lips.

"Are you gonna need any help?"

Bhodi and Andy exchange a glance. "Like, from you?" Bhodi asks.

"Sure. I want to help if I can."

"They can handle it on their own, Will," Caleb says. "We don't need to be there."

"Justin'll be there too," Andy says. "After, uh, Andrew, we're going to try to get Ethan for him. Use Andrew to get to—" A tremble runs through him.

You give Caleb a look; he gives you a stony glance back.

"So is this all we need?" Bhodi asks as he picks a mask up off the bed.

"That and one of these." You hand him two brain bands. "Plus another one for Andy. You've got a mask of him already, right?"

"Right."

"You also want this." You hand him a plastic tub with some goop in it. "Cut off some of Andy's hair, mix it in there, then set it on fire. It won't melt the plastic or anything." (You and Caleb had already tried it out with some of your hair yesterday.) "Put it inside Andy's mask. You'll want to get all that done before Andrew shows up. Uh, you want me to write any of this down?"

"No, I know how to do it," Bhodi says. He wipes his palm on the front of his shirt, which doesn't reassure you. "It's just good to be reminded, you know?"

"You want us to stop by after we're done?" Andy says.

"Up to you."

They nod, and after an awkward pause announce that they should be going. They trip over each other on the way out the door.

"Jesus, they're gonna fuck it up," you snap at Caleb when they're gone.

"They'll be fine, Will. We didn't fuck it up, and we're almost as big a bag o' fuck-ups as them."

Sure we didn't fuck it up, you think as you survey the room. That's how come I'm looking for a new identity after losing my old one to Gordon Black. "I wanna tag after them anyway," you say, "watch them, make sure they pull it off."

"Jesus, Will! You'll undermine their confidence."

"Then we won't tell them we're there! We'll sit off somewhere and watch. Do you know where they're gonna do it?"

Caleb rolls his eyes. "Fine, they're doing it down at the municipal soccer fields. We can watch from the parking lot, it'll give me a chance to give you the gossip. But I need to stink up your head first." He saunters past you to the bathroom.

* * * * *

The Morris Clevenger Community Athletic Fields are a large sports complex of soccer/football fields, batting cages, and sun-warped bleachers on the south side of town next to South Creek Park. You're aghast at the very public location that Bhodi and Andy have chosen, for even though the fields are entirely deserted under a cloud-wracked sky, there is no shelter from spying eyes on the wide expanse of fading grass. Least of all from yours and Caleb's as you squat in the front seat of his car to watch.

"So I had lunch with Carson and James today," Caleb says after you're settled in. Bhodi and Andy and Justin are already standing out in the middle of the field; Justin bounces a soccer ball on his knee; and as you watch now, Andrew Webb saunters out to meet them. His close-shorn blonde hair bristles under the late-afternoon sun; his thighs and arms (he's dressed in shorts and a sleeveless tee) glow pinkly with health; he struts along like a rooster on his way to a fight. "Are you listening?" Caleb asks.

"Sure. Carson and James. Lunch."

"You're gonna wanna pay attention, 'cos it's about you. Well, the other you."

"Uh huh?"

"Yeah, Ioeger and Lamont were dying to know what was up with you, and I had to tell them I didn't know. So they told me what they knew. Did you know you're trying out for the basketball team?"

"I'm what?" You spare Caleb a glance, then twist back around to watch the boys. They're in a small huddle now, hands on their hips, glaring at each other. Well, Bhodi is glaring at Andrew, who is grinning impudently back.

"Yeah. You know that Gordon—uh, the guy who looks like Gordon—got tossed off the squad for being baked all the time. That left an opening."

"So Gordon's trying to get back on?" you say. "Even though he's looking like me?" Andrew has laid a finger on Bhodi's chest, and raised his chin at him.

"It's more complicated than that. Turns out, there's some guys from Eastman who are moving over to Westside, and they also want to try out for the squad, 'cos they played for Eastman, and now they want to play for us."

"The fuck? We poach them or something?"

"Dunno. Anyway, there's gonna be some tryouts on Monday, and you're one of the ones who's trying out. That's what the guys told me, anyway."

"How do they know this?"

Caleb's reply includes the word "Javits," but that's all you hear as you gasp and bolt upright. Justin has grabbed Andrew by the shoulders from behind; Andy, stepping up from behind Bhodi, smacks the soccer player in the forehead. You grip the dashboard as Andrew's legs buckle. He sinks to the grass, taking Justin with him.

"Smooth," Caleb says.

You glance anxiously around the parking lot, but it doesn't look like anyone else is on hand to have witnessed the magical mugging, and the three sophomores drop to grass to screen the unconscious Webb with their bodies. You sink back into your seat and chew on your thumbnail.

"So Gordon's trying to get back on the team," you remark after a moment's silence. "Is he gonna try getting back together with Chelsea? Didn't I hear that they broke up?"

"Yeah, from me, and good luck to him if he tries that while looking like you." You ignore his snigger. "Oh, and she's got troubles of her own."

"Yeah?" You chew your lip and stare at the guys in the field, even though nothing is happening.

"Yeah. That was the other part of the talk at lunch. James says he heard that Chelsea tried putting the moves on Patterson, and that he told her to go stick her head up her cunny—but only after she gave him a blow job."

"Fuck! No!"

"Well, maybe not. It might just be a rumor him and Ioeger are trying to start. But Cindy is apparently this close to staging a coup to knock her out as cheerleader captain." He nudges you, and you look over to see him pinching his fingertips together."

"Cindy's been trying that since school started, hasn't she?"

"This time it sounds like she's got a chance. Still, I wouldn't bet against Chelsea. Mmph. I'd rub up against her hard, but I wouldn't bet against her."

You flash Caleb a grin. Damn right Chelsea would be fine to get close to, even if she is the biggest bitch in school. You suck in your cheeks. Yes, she deserves the grief. She's the one who knocked you into this current mess by sending her thug-boyfriend to beat the crap out of you after you lipped off to her. Steve Patterson—Gordon's former best friend—is probably the only guy in school with the balls to blow her off after getting blown by her.

Nothing is happening out on the field, so you bemuse yourself by thinking on these very powerful people. Steve Patterson, basketball squad captain and terrifying jock-bully; Chelsea Cooper, current cheerleader captain; Cindy Vredenburg, the sexy cheerleader who might be on the verge of toppling Chelsea; Seth Javits, Cindy's brutal boyfriend who is now probably the number two guy on the basketball squad. No one dares to argue with or cross them. Kelsey's another one like that.

There's some movement on the field that catches your eye: Andy is taking off his shirt and laying out on the grass, and Bhodi and Justin are bending over him and Webb. Then they are still again, with Justin blocking your view.

They've got the right idea, you decide. If you're going to steal someone's life, go big or go home.

A quarter hour passes, during which Andy Jensen gets up and walks off to sit in a car. At the end of it, Andrew Webb gets to his feet, stretches, and strokes his bicep. Then he and Bhodi exchange a high-five.

That's all for now.

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