The Book of Masks (Vol. 1)

The Defenestration of Cindy Vredenburg

Previously: "A Yumi Life" 

On Wednesday you witness the start of one of the swiftest and most brutal social decapitations in Westside history.

It begins at cheerleader practice during first period, when Cindy Vredenburg challenges Chelsea Cooper over one of the routines. Chelsea sweetly reminds Cindy who the head cheerleader is; Cindy snaps back about being the sister of a former captain, Lucy Vredenburg.

In the locker room afterward—Oh God, this is your favorite part, getting to ogle Lin Pol and Maria Vasquez and the Garner twins, and Chelsea herself from behind Yumi's innocent face—Chelsea waits until Cindy has left, and then says:

"You know, I think Seth was being a real jerk in the game last Friday. More than that. He was totally hogging the ball. It came real close to costing us the game." When Lin politely demurs, Chelsea wheels on her. "Do you know anything about basketball, Lin? Are you dating the captain of the team? Do you get private post-game analysis from the best player in the state?"

"Did the best player in the state say anything about Seth?" You can't resist jumping in.

"Maria knows more about basketball than you do, Yumi. She high enough off the ground that she can actually see what's going on." Maria is an infamous airhead; and Yumi is the shortest girl on the squad. Your cheeks flame.

"But to answer your question, no, he didn't," she continues. "He was in the thick of it, trying to save our asses. But I think I'll have to mention it to Gordon. If Seth pulls the same crap against Eastman next month it'd be real bad."

Seth Javits—has it been mentioned?— is Cindy Vredenburg's boyfriend.

Sure enough, by evening, rumors are flying that Javits is in the dog house with the team captain. Of course, you don't learn of this until the next morning, when you don the Yumi mask again and head off to school. While standing out front and gossiping with Lin you see Seth, head down, bust out of the gym. The crowd of other players follows at a distance, and from the low jeers you catch as they pass, you can tell that Javits is the brunt of significant displeasure.

Then, during fourth period, just before lunch, you overhear Meghan Farris, who is throwing a party on Saturday night, casually stop Cindy to "remind" her that the party is being postponed by a week. Cindy, who is looking a little haggard, says that this is the first she's heard of it; Meghan frowns and airily wonders aloud if Cindy is "out of the loop." You lean over and ask Lin about the postponement; she makes a face and says that nothing is being postponed, that Meghan just wants Cindy to "accidentally" miss it.

A greasy, charged feeling hangs over the air at the top-tier table at lunch, and it explodes when Cindy, to lusty catcalls, runs off in tears. When Seth goes after her, he is chased by "pussy whip" noises.

In the parking lot after school, you see Javits, his face black with anger—and his cheek blackened perhaps by something more than that. He appears from around the back corner of the school and vanishes into the quad. A moment later Gordon Black and Steve Patterson appear from around the same corner, looking very pleased with themselves; they quietly high five each other.

* * * * *

"I have to go out of town for a few days," Blackwell tells you the next morning, which is a Friday, when you come down for breakfast. "I'll be leaving this afternoon and returning on Monday."

"Cool. I could use the weekend playing around as Yumi." If nothing else you're quite curious to follow the drama surrounding Seth and Cindy.

"Actually, I thought you might housesit."

"I can do that if you want," you say as you pour yourself some coffee. "But don't you have a security system?"

"Yes, and I'll show you how it works. But you seem nicely caught up in your studies, and I suspected you'd begrudge the time away from the books."

You shrug. "That's true, too."

"Good, it's settled. Of course, you might step out as your, uh, girl for a little relaxation. But you might have a hard time convincing her to come over. She doesn't like you, you know."

"Can you order her to come when I call?"

"Ordering a golem to obey another's orders is tricky. Sometimes it works, but the results can be unpredictable."

That's too bad.

Blackwell introduces you to the security system—you're not surprised to learn it involves the vampire cyclops-monkey—and then you head off to school.

* * * * *

"Okay, so what's going on with Seth and Cindy?" Jenny asks at your locker.

The social sites were burning up all night, which made for a giant and exciting update when you put Yumi back over your face this morning. "They're breaking up, I hear," you mutter back.

"Everyone is saying that," she says. "I want the inside dirt."

"The inside dirt is that he's turning into some kind of showboating asshole on the court in order to impress her, and Gordon came down on him like a case of ugly on Mr. Fernandez."

"So what does that have to do with a breakup?"

"Gordon's told him it's her or the team, and that if he picks her then he's a pussy."

"No!"

"That's what I hear," you shrug. "And my sources for this kind of thing are pretty good, you know."

"He wouldn't do that! I mean, forcing a guy to choose between his girlfriend and ..."

"And what? You remember what they did to Chuck Lovell after he quit on them last year. He had to change schools, and he's not a guy to fuck around with. Gordon is, like, a total psycho on the subject."

"But isn't Seth part of their posse?"

"Jenny, you know there's only three guys that matter."

The denouement comes swiftly that afternoon: the text goes out during third period, and when you next see them, Gordon, Steve, Jason, and Seth are all best friends again, laughing and patting each other on the chest. Cindy, on the other hand, is nowhere to be seen, and bets are already being placed on how long she can remain on the cheerleading squad given the terrible humiliation of being dumped by a top basketball player.

* * * * *

That evening you are sitting in Blackwell's living room, polishing a mask and meditating on the subtle power that Chelsea Cooper exercises so ruthlessly, when the affair has a curious sequel. You hear the front door opens and close, and you see Lucy Vredenburg, Cindy's older sister, pass down the hall.

"Hey!" you call and hurry after her. She turns with a stare that is more than a little impatient. "What are you doing here?"

"He called me. He wanted me to check on something."

"Blackwell?" Your eyebrows shoot up. "Why didn't he call me? He knows I'm here, house-sitting."

"It's something for our project, not yours."

Hmmm. "I didn't know you two had projects. I thought you just ran errands for him."

"Well, you don't know everything, do you?"

Your nostrils flare and your cock stirs: you are, as usual, wearing Jared's body, and you're not inclined to take backtalk from a girl. "You know," you say, leaning in close. "I could say I don't believe you. In fact, I'm pretty sure I don't."

"Then you'll piss him off."

"Maybe. Or maybe you're full of shit and he'll be really glad I caught and stopped you."

"Why don't you call him, then?"

"I think I will." You snap open the house cell phone you carry and quickly dial Blackwell's personal cell phone. She tries taking it from you. "What are you doing?"

"Let me talk to him."

"Fuck you. I ask the questions, because I'm the one who's supposed to be here. Yeah, Aubrey? Did you call Lucy Vredenburg tonight?" He says no. "Thanks." You clap the phone shut. "You know what he said, right?"

Her face is an ugly shade of red. "Just let me run upstairs real quick and I'll be out of your hair."

"Uh uh. You can go back out the way you came. And don't try breaking in when the lights are out. It'd be a really bad idea."

She glares and turns to leave.

But you grab her by the elbow. "I'll have to tell him about this, you know. Unless you give me a good—and I mean a very good and exciting—reason not to."

Her lip curls. "You're not serious."

Next: "A Prisoner in the Attic" 

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