The Book of Masks (Abridged)

A Sense of Cindy

"I WAS JUST THINKING of arguing some more with him," you say.

"About his changing an F to an A?" Caleb exclaims.

"No, about-- Eh, forget it." Caleb had no patience with you when you'd complained about the disappearing book.

* * * * *

Well, Carson also had little enough patience with you, but you'd still like to stick close to him, so when Caleb and Keith find you for lunch on Wednesday, you suggest hanging out with Carson's gang again. "They'll like that," Caleb grumbles as he gives Keith a sidelong glare. "Especially if Javits shows up too."

"You know, I'm sick of you guys treating me like a leper," Keith whines.

"Then do something about your skin condition," Caleb retorts. "You've had Javits all over you like a bad rash."

Keith juts his chin out defiantly and continues marching alongside.

But he changes his mind when your destination comes into view, and he veers away with a muttered "Yeah, I think I'll go eat in an empty classroom." He takes five steps back toward A wing, then breaks into a sprint.

Cindy Vredenburg's face is red and haggard, and Yumi and Jenny are leaning in and cooing sympathetically over her. Carson and Paul are sitting stiffly a few feet away, and the former gives you a hard glance as you sit down. You're prepared to take his hint, and do your best to ignore the nearby scene, but Cindy is talking too loudly for that to be possible. "He was like a totally different person," she gasps, and you can't help stiffening at her words. "He was so-- so cold about it."

"He's always been an asshole, Cindy," Jenny says. Out of the corner your eye, you see Yumi sharply nudge Jenny in the knee. But Jenny ignores it: "I'm not going to sugarcoat it for you," she continues in a slightly louder voice. "You're just getting what lots of other people have been getting."

Cindy lets out a slight wail, and you can't help looking over. This is a very different side to her. She's a cheerleader, and though you follow the gossip enough to know that there is very little love lost between her and Chelsea Cooper, the haughty captain of the squad, you've never thought of Cindy as the "nice" alternative. She's never been nice to you, and those few times you've been around when she's been with Yumi (a fellow cheerleader) she has brutally ignored you.

"But no warning," Cindy cries. "Yesterday everything was totally normal between us. We were even talking about going up the mountains together, just the two of us. We bought matching sleeping bags just last week!" You can't help thinking of Cindy, in a sleeping bag, cold and snuggling up for warmth next to--

Ugh. It would be Seth Jav--

You look up sharply at Carson. He's still staring at you, and his eyebrows twitch with a renewed warning. You bite your tongue, and continue to listen.

"What did he say, exactly?" Yumi gently asks.

Cindy makes a croaking noise. "It's over," she says, and you can't tell if she's quoting Javits or making a mournful declaration. She sniffles hard. "He looked right at me and said he didn't want to see me anymore."

"Like I said. Asshole." Jenny hisses hard.

"What did the other guys say," Yumi asks.

"Nothing," Cindy says. "And I wasn't looking at them. But then Kendra--" she suddenly snarls. "She was all smug, and she just said, Oh, Cindy, we'll find you someone new."

"Yeah, her and Chelsea were clearly behind it," Jenny says.

They continue to talk, and you continue to listen, and Carson continues to stare grimly at you. You have no chance to talk with him until the bell has rung, and then only long enough for him to murmur "Stick around after school" before you break for class.

* * * * *

Mischief. You slump in your seat during fifth period and glare at Geoff Mansfield out of the corner of your eye. Using disguises to fuck people up. Using them to break up relationships. Using them to spread confusion.

The desk behind you creaks, and a dirty, sour odor wafts around you. You turn around, and Keith glares back at you. His shirt is wrinkled and stained. "The fuck--" you mutter, and put a hand to your nose.

"Yeah, I'da been safer with you guys," he says. "Javits found me."

"What did--?"

"Let's just say I had to change shirts afterwards." He tugs at the front of his collar.

"When was the last time you washed that thing?"

He flips you off, and slumps. You turn back around.

Well, at least that proves the real Seth Javits is still around, you reflect. Still, there will come a point--if it hasn't come already--when the real Seth has to learn that he has supposedly broken up with Cindy.

Unless, of course, it was the real Seth who broke up with her. If that was the real Seth you saw on Saturday with Kendra--

You twist in your seat. It can't be doppelgangers. That's stupid. That's what Carson is going to tell you after class. He knows you're going to freak out, and he's going to give you a really hard talking to. The best thing you can do is calm yourself so you can be cool with him and tell him that he's absolutely right and that you've put your stupid paranoia behind you.

Except yesterday you heard two people who certainly didn't act like who they otherwise seemed to be. And there's a magic book on the loose that purports to be the kind of thing that can create doppelgangers.

* * * * *

Last period. You jog your leg nervously as you wait for a chance to break into the conversation so you can speak to Kim Walsh. She's talking to Ricky Golia at the moment, and though she doesn't seem much interested in the topic--some party that Meghan Ferris is planning--it would be rude to interrupt. And a little weird to interrupt it by asking about--

You're not even sure you want to ask her about it. Carson had warned you that the topic was supposed to be off limits.

But when Ricky turns back around and Kim takes out her phone, you go over and slip into the seat next to her. "Hey," you quietly ask. "Did you hear about Seth Javits and Cindy Vredenburg?"

She turns, and her pale blue eyes are grave but empty. But they're empty for only a moment. "Yes, I did," she says. There's no "warning" in her gaze, but she doesn't look happy, either.

"So, do you know what the story is?"

"It's none of your business, Will," she says.

"I know. But I saw her at lunch--she was with Yumi and Jenny Ashton, and I was there--and she looked really broken up."

"I'm not surprised. But why are you asking?"

You jerk your shoulders. "She just looked really broken up, so I was feeling sorry for her. It really seemed like a shock to her."

"Mm. Well, she wasn't seeing the signs is all," Kim says carefully. "Seth has been--" She hesitates, and her lips whiten as she pressed them together. Then she shrugs. "Well, you saw him on Saturday." She looks back at you, and there is a plain meaning in her eyes: You saw it coming before Cindy herself did, even if you didn't realize it.

You grunt softly. "Yeah, well, I didn't say anything to anyone about Saturday," you reply. "And I don't like talking about Seth, or even thinking about him--" Kim smiles: humorous, but sympathetic. "So, I'm not gonna say anything now, either."

"Well, it's not a big secret. Not now, anyway. But it'll be nicer for Cindy if you don't." She smiles and squeezes your arm.

You go back to your seat. But after you've settled back, you feel a hard, bright shiver go up your spine, and you turn to look at the doorway. It's empty. But you'd half expected to see Kim Walsh standing in it, with a shocked expression on her face, as she looked in to see herself seated in her desk.

You look back over at Kim: her head is bent as she texts on her phone. You'd seen her at the school on Saturday, with those other creeps. But being at the school was something she'd explicitly denied when Carson had asked her. And now here she is admitting to it.

Well, if her denials were part of a cover-up--one that has now been blown by Seth himself--there's no point in continuing to make them. And nothing in her behavior just now struck you as being false to the girl that you vaguely know. In fact, what she has said perfectly explains a lot of things: What those people were doing at the school on Saturday; why they seemed to be acting weird; why there were weird denials afterward; and why Seth just broke up with Cindy.

But it certainly can't explain what you'd heard in the bathroom yesterday.

* * * * *

Carson jerks his head and draws you to the side when you find him at his locker after the final bell. "Look, I know what you're going to say," you tell him, trying to pre-empt what will probably be a fierce and tiresome lecture.

"Really," he gruffly replies. "Who's been talking?"

You blink. "Well, I talked to Kim last period," you stammer. You give a summary of what Kim said. "So, the cat's out of the bag. We saw that at lunch."

"Huh." He continues to peer at you. Then he looks to his left and to his right, and pulls you close. "Look, I'm not doing this for you," he says curtly. "But you can come along."

"What are you talking about?"

Again with the warning finger to your face. "First, promise me you won't tell anyone about what I'm gonna show you. That means you don't tell Johansson, and you sure as fuck don't tell Tilley."

"What's the big secret?"

"That's just it, it is a big secret. Biggest one in the school."