The Book of Masks (Vol. 2)

The Frenemy of My Friend

Previously: "Spencer for Hire" 

Your head is spinning as you turn Spencer over and start pulling his jacket off. Was he serious about that "three way" business? Was he actually expecting Dane to propose some kind of sex play? That reference to a sheep: He said it with a smile so it was probably a joke, and that would make the rest of it a joke too, wouldn't it? Or was Spencer actually—

I can change my mind later, you mutter to yourself.

* * * * *

After the mind-band and the mask have gone in and come out of him, you cover Spencer's face with Dane's mask. (The mask is a copy of Dane's body, but it uses a metal band that copies your own mind. You have painted it with a layer that, as with the fake Lindsay, makes a golem that will obey you.) You left Spencer in his underwear—tidy whities—so that he wouldn't be too naked, but that somehow makes it even more alarming when Dane materializes in his place. Dane Matthias is one of the hairiest individuals you have ever seen; it's almost like a orangutan in briefs.

"The fuck?" he says as he sits up with wide eyes. He blinks and looks around. His expression falls. "Oh. Right."

"Right," you agree, for he should have all your memories up to thirty minutes ago. "Dane's things are—"

"So we got Spencer?" he asks as he looks around. "That worked out?"

"Yes. Why are you interrupting me?"

"Um. 'Cos I'm nervous?" He does a double-take at his own hairy semi-nakedness.

"What are you nervous about?"

He swallows. "I dunno. Aren't you nervous?"

Yes, you probably are. But you brush the question aside. "You need to get into Dane's things," you tell him. "I'll be in the bathroom finishing up." You scoop up the pile of clothes—mask balanced on top—that will transform you into Spencer Osbourne.

"Don't you need these?" The golem hooks a finger into the front of his briefs and tugs them down. "I don't think they belong to either of us."

You take the underwear with a shudder.

It's chilly in the bathroom, and you spread some towels in the bottom of the tub before clambering into it. You pick up Spencer's mind band and finger it while studying his name: SPENCER MICHAEL OSBOURNE. Since opening the door to Spencer, you've grown a lot more nervous about this transformation; and now you're going to be opening an even more intimate door to him. Two intimate doors: a door into him that you will be going through, and a door into yourself that you'll be pulling him in through.

You gulp down your doubts, and put the band to your forehead.

* * * * *

You sit up with a wince and a groan, then freeze at the sight of your feet, which in fact are not yours. Shit, you think. What's coming next?

You wait and listen to yourself.

Oh, Jesus, you think when it comes, and pinch the bridge of your nose. Is that all? You settle back in the tub with a sniff, and pull your nose and grin.

It's not much of a grin. It's only a grin of relief.

You were expecting some kind of explosion inside your head, as when you put Dwayne's mask on, and were prepared to be overwhelmed, by the memories and personality of Spencer Osbourne.

Well, you've got his memories. At least, when you probe for something that only he would know, you find it, like his address and his parents' names and what it looked like from the back row of Mr. Ingram's classroom in the third grade.

As for his personality: Well, you suppose you've got it too, draped limply around your own like a set of pajamas. But where "Dwayne" was freaked out, "Spencer" seems to be only mildly amused to find himself sharing Will Prescott's body with Will Prescott himself. You peer down at your dick and without any shame whatsoever you pull it up by its tip. Not bad, you think. But not something I'm super-stoked to be playing with.

Oh, and all that flirty talk back in the room? Just Spencer being a dick, not asking for one. Although Spencer has—

You grunt and grind the heels of your hands into your eyeballs. Hand jobs, that's all they were. And mouth-to-mouth kisses. Because when you're going through a dry spell—a dry spell that technically began seventeen years ago and has yet to end—sometimes you will be desperate enough to accept a friendly spritz.

Yes, you must have Spencer's personality embedded in your own, because the memory of getting naked into bed with Terry Colson and rubbing each other until the itch went away does not freak you out as much as it might have.

The sound of someone in the outer room reminds you that you've got a transformation to complete. You lean over the edge of the tub and snatch up the mask.

* * * * *

The clothes, of course, complete the disguise. Spencer is overdressed above the waist—t-shirt; and old button-up shirt with the buttons ripped off, and a puffy vinyl jacket that's almost as big as a small tent—and undressed below the waist: black jogging shorts and ratty sneakers and no socks. He is white all over, as though he went all summer without exposing himself to direct sunlight, and mostly hairless, too, at least below the neck. (Above the neck, he has a three-day growth of beard.) His hair is shock of pale blonde that sticks out stiffly in a couple of directions.

Once dressed, you lean against the sink and let a leer light up your pale blue eyes as you stare into the mirror. "Dammit, man, when are you going to get laid?" you chide yourself. "That hairy anus out there—"

A muted rap from the outer room interrupts you, and with a frown you exit the bathroom. Dane is standing at front door, but he casts an alarmed look at you before grasping the handle. You nod, and he opens it. "Hey," he stammers. "Uh. Caleb." He steps back and give you an uncertain look.

It is Caleb on the other side of the door, and he peers warily into the room; he freezes when he sees you.

You can't resist. A hard grin spreads across your face. "Ay, Jojo!" you jeer. "Come on in, man, let's make it a three-way!"

His eyes bulge, and he swallows. Then he flushes.

"If you're lookin' for Prescott," you continue—temptation has gulped you down whole—"he just stepped out for a minute." You glance around the room. "Yeah, he said something about showing me a dingus or other but—"

"Don't bullshit me, man," Caleb says. He charges in and slams the door behind him.

"The fuck's your problem, Jojo? I just came out here for a little—"

"He already spilled it." Caleb jabs a finger at Dane. "I texted him on my way out, he said you were in the bathroom changing."

"Aw, fuck you, Dane," you reprimand the golem. "Snitches get stitches, you know."

"Hey, I didn't know! You didn't tell me—"

"I'm just fuckin' with you." You jerk your chin at Caleb. "So you came out here in a hurry, it sounds like. 'S'amatter, Jojo? Your tender anal tissues throbbing with a hunger for my—?"

"Shut it down, Will," Caleb says between gritted teeth.

"What, this?" You gesture at yourself and laugh. "Fuck, man, you're too much fun to wind up." You drop onto the bed and grin. "No wonder Spencer couldn't leave you alone."

Caleb sighs so deeply that it cracks even your humor.

"Alright," you sigh in turn, and settle back on the bed. "So what's up? You didn't rush over here to try to stop me, did you?"

"No, I'm just catching you up on things. Bhodi's gonna try to set something up so they can do the first substitution. Andrew Webb, you remember him?"

"Soccer player? The guy Bhodi got in a fight with?"

"Did he?"

"Well, he did the day that I was being him. That's the guy that Andy's aiming for, eye-eye-are-see."

"Well, they're gonna try pulling it off this afternoon." He grits his teeth. "I thought you might want to be there for it."

"I could do that, I guess. I gotta get that girl for Dane's mom, though." You scratch the back of your head and glance at the golem. "You'd like to sleep at home, wouldn't you?" you ask it. "Can't do that 'til you're mom's gone, though." The golem starts to reply, but you ignore it to turn back to Caleb. "We could do that job this afternoon too if we can get two more masks."

"Then maybe you should come out with me. Oh, and try not to shit yourself when you see else is gonna be there."

"It's not Lindsay, is it?"

"No, but it's almost as good. Paulina might be there."

For a moment you're sure you've misheard him. "Wait, what? They're gonna pull off a thing in front of Paulina."

"She knows all about it, Will. Can you beat that?"

"The fuck?"

"Bhodi told her what's going on, because he's a dumb fuck who can't keep any secrets from her."

You come real close to losing your shit. "He told her about his friends— And us— And the masks— And what we're doing?"

Caleb nods. "And apparently she's cool with it. Can you beat that? I haven't told her what we did to Lindsay, though. Something tells me she wouldn't be cool with that."

Next: "Tales of a Body Swap" 

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