The Book of Masks (Vol. 3)

The Things a Girl Will Do For You

Previously: "The Wingman" 

"I'm gonna get two betas of my own, right?" you ask Jessica. "This guy, whoever I pick, and someone else. Right?"

"Sure. But you should probably get one of them set up good first before you pick the second. That way," she explains, "you know what to look for when you go to pick the second one."

"What are you guys looking for?" you ask.

Her expression turns shifty. "Well, Keith has Seth already. Right? Josiah— Well, just between us, Josiah's doing his own thing."

"What's that?"

"Fingering himself. I mean, as Chelsea he's sort of helping out with this project, but—"

"Yeah, okay, I get it," you say, and try to flush from your head the image of Josiah Shank pleasuring himself with a cheerleader's body. It's hard to let go of, though, for at the same time it's an image of Chelsea Cooper with her fingers up herself. "But you and ... and Mike and Philip," you add in a much lower voice. "The second betas that you're getting, are they going to—?"

"We're not really thinking about your project with them," Jessica confesses. "I mean, we'll help you out as best we can from, you know, wherever we are. But we're not thinking, like, how we're going to be able to help you out. You need to concentrate on yourself, Will, on who will help you."

You nod. "Well, I get what you mean about Marc being perfect, but—"

And with that caveat you segue into a conversation about the pros and cons associated with each of the other candidates, plus a few more that Carlos comes up with off the top of his head.

It's a close decision and could have gone in any direction, but you end by deciding that Justin Roth would be the most useful person to take as a beta.

* * * * *

You get a text from Jessica just before last period, telling you that it will be five o'clock at least before they'll be able to convert Justin into a beta for you: We need to get our minivan to do it in, she explains, so not till after school some time. That's okay, because Caleb wants to hang out with you after school anyway. You follow him to his house, where you sprawl on his bed and talk about the weekend at the Warehouse, the video that you're doing with Carlos and Mike, and ... whatever plans you've got for the week. He seems irritated when you tell you him that you don't have any particular plans, and he frowns deeply when you confess that you might or might not call him up if any plans develop. "Depends on what's going on," you tell him.

"Like how?" he demands.

"Well, like on, uh, who's going to be there and what we're doing."

He turns very frosty at that, asking what kind of people and activities he would not be welcome at. You try explaining that it depends on the sort of thing that he might or might not be interested in, which only leads him to shrilly ask what sorts of things you might be up for that he might not. You seize with relief on the text from Jessica telling you to get your ass out to Potsdam Park ASAP. Caleb's not any happier to hear that you're running off to meet the Garner girls, and a sub-Arctic chill freezes your back as you dash from his bedroom.

Jessica is pacing beside a minivan in the parking lot, and she hurries up even before you shut off your engine. "Jesus," she hisses. "Where the fuck were you? North Dakota?"

"I was at Caleb's," you retort. "And traffic was bad."

She answers by thrusting a pair of scissors at your face. "The fuck?" you yell, and flinch.

"Hold still! We forgot to get any fucking hair off you—" She snips at the side of your head. "And my sister's in there sucking Justin off."

"The fuck?" you cry again.

"Exactly!"

"Dude! Is Mike, uh—?"

She flushes hard. "No! We had to delay things until you got here, and it was the only way to— Shut up." She shudders. "I do not want to think about what's going on in there. Mind if I use your truck?" She grabs the door handle.

"For what?"

"So I can get your thing made." She yanks open the door and hauls you out. "I need to do it out of the wind. Go take a walk or something till I'm done."

She sounds very frazzled—not the kind of mood you want to deal with her in—so you press the keys onto her and backpedal out of the parking lot. You watch her for a minute as she struggles with her backpack inside your truck cab, then turn and wander into the park.

Potsdam Park is a narrow strip of greenery that runs along next to the river. There's a gazebo at one end, and in the center a cluster of moldering cement sculptures that look like gigantic bird droppings. You pace up and down in front of your truck, pausing only when a Jeep pulls up. A young couple in their twenties get out with two Labradors, which run off joyfully once they're off their leashes. The couple follow them more slowly toward the river.

It's only a minute or so before a movement catches your attention: Jessica hopping from your truck with a bluish something in one hand, and a small plastic container in the other. She strides over to the minivan and slides the door open. She leans in briefly, then withdraws and slams the door shut. Her expression is much calmer as she joins you on the grass.

"Okay, that's all set up," she says. "The mask is copying him, and Eva will finish up with him after that."

Your eyes dart about. "Finish up how?"

"With the mask, asshole! What did you think I meant?" Her eyes blaze again. "She has to put the other stuff in it, the stuff we needed your hair for, when it's done copying him. Then she can turn him into a beta for you."

An awkward silence enfolds you. You turn your back to the minivan. Jessica, with crossed arms, stands beside you.

"You owe Mike big time, by the way," she says a minute or so later. Her tone has calmed, but there's still a smoldering fire inside it. "I mean, these masks come with the girls' instincts, so it's not the worst thing in the world if we have to—"

She catches herself. Then— Pow! She almost knocks you over with the punch to your shoulder.

"Ow! The fuck was that for?" you shriek.

"Anything!" she snarls. "Everything!"

She is so exactly like Jessica Garner that you find yourself having to ask. "That is you in there, Carlos, isn't it?"

"Yes!"

"Just making sure."

"Who else would it be?"

Who else indeed. For the first time it occurs to you that someone else might slip under one of these masks, and you'd never know it wasn't Carlos or Mike or Philip or Josiah.

Or Keith.

You hurriedly thrust that paranoid thought away. "Well," you drawl as calmly as you can, "you were talking about going off to make another beta, I thought maybe, you know, it wasn't you. That you'd, I guess, left a fake behind to cover for you, or something."

"I'm being Jessica. Am I doing a good impression?"

"Perfect. I wish you weren't this perfect, in fact."

Her nostrils flare. But then she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

"Alright, I'll try to be calmer," she tells you, "as long as you stop trying to be such a dumbass. Like I say, you owe Mike big time—"

"I'll make it up to him!"

"—and I guess I'm still just scared because it could'a been me in there if I'd picked scissors instead of paper."

* * * * *

While waiting, you get a text from your mom, reminding you that you have an early supper. You're replying that you'll be home in time when the van door slides open and Eva Garner clambers out. She blows out a deep breath, and straightens her hair with one hand, and her skirt with the other.

A male figure climbs out after her.

Justin Roth isn't a big kid, but he's got broad shoulders and a chest that imposes itself from under the tie-dyed t-shirt. His jeans are faded and ripped, and his eyes droop in a stoner's scowl under sloppy, cocoa-colored locks. His face and arms are a deep brown.

He does a double-take when he sees you, and his eyes narrow.

Jessica nudges you. "Go on," she says. "Go over and talk to him."

"And say what?" you hiss back.

"Assert your dominance."

"Assert my what?" But Jessica just pushes you forward.

Justin looks up at you from under lowered brows as you approach. "Hey," you squeak at him. He starts to look a lot burlier the closer you get to him.

"Hey," he rumbles back in a resonant baritone. "'Sup?"

"Not much. Um ..."

"Tell him to do something," Jessica tells you.

"Like what?"

"Anything! Jesus!"

"Er ... Gimme your wallet."

There's just a fractional hesitation, and then Justin is digging into a hip pocket. He scowls as he pulls out his wallet and hands it over. "And your keys," you add. He digs into a front pocket. "And, um ..."

"Christ," Jessica mutters. "Tell him to suck you off."

"What?"

"The fuck is going on here?" Justin demands. He is starting to flush hard.

"Guys, you're pissing him off," Eva says. "If you want him to be your friend, Will—" She cocks her head and frowns. The moment hangs in suspense before she continues.

"Maybe you should switch into his mask," she tells you. "If you're going to train him to be your beta, maybe you should do it from the inside."

Next: "A Switch in Time" 

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"Table of Contents (Vol. 3)" 
"The Book of Masks (Vol. 3)"