The Book of Masks (Vol. 4)

A Side Quest Before the Main Quest

Previously: "The Dish Best Served Cold" 

You text Eva and Jessica just before lunch, to tell them that you want Deanna Showalter as your second beta, but neither replies.

So when it's time for lunch you go looking for Jessica in the cafeteria.

She's late arriving, enmeshed in a pack of AP students: Kelsey and Amanda and Amanda's boyfriend, Ricky Golia; Anthony Kirk and Brent Pruitt; and Martin Gardinhire, Lisa Yarborough and Geoff Mansfield himself. Only Lisa and Martin acknowledge you—Lisa with a quick smile and Martin with a "Hey Jenny" and a jerk of his chin.

Jessica doesn't stop, so you snag her by the elbow. "Hey, you get my text?" you ask.

"Yes," she says, sounding testy. "It sounds good, but I don't know what you want us to do about it."

"Get your helping getting Deanna?"

"Don't you have her for a class? It seems like I've heard you bitching about her before."

You roll your eyes. "Yeah, probably. That's how come I'll need help. She knows I don't like her."

"Fine." She casts a quick glance after Kelsey's gang,. "We're going to try to get Kelsey and Amanda after school. Then we can maybe help you with Deanna. Anything else?"

"No, I just wanted to make sure that— Oh, has Philip decided on a new, um—?"

"Yes. Danielle Davis."

A jolt runs through you. "Oh my God!"

"Something wrong?"

"No. Just— Wow."

"Why 'wow'?" Jessica's eyes narrow.

"I dunno. Just seems like a, uh, surprising choice."

Jessica grunts. "Listen, I have to go. I don't want Kelsey getting mad or anything, 'cos that might screw things up with getting out to her house this afternoon."

"Why would Kelsey—?" But Jessica is already hustling off to join the others.

And it was probably a stupid question anyway. Kelsey (and Amanda) seem to go through life looking for reasons to get ticked off at people. Jessica ignoring her and her friends in order to talk to Jenny Ashton might actually be enough to piss her off.

God, what's it going to be like when Carlos and Mike are pretending to be Kelsey and Amanda? They do a pretty good job of being Eva and Jessica sometimes, and you're not sure you want to be around when they're channeling their new betas.

* * * * *

There's not much else to do but wait for someone to call you, and you make a point of not pestering Jessica during seventh or eighth period about the upcoming switches.

Instead, you go looking for your own beta.

It seems like he's been avoiding you. But maybe that's because Will Prescott only ever runs into Jenny Ashton at lunch, and these days he's been taking lunch in the cafeteria.

At least, you assume that's what's going on: That's where you saw him fifth period, as you were waiting for Jessica.

"Hey, Will," you say as you fall in next to him at his locker right after the final bell has rung. He gives you a quick, fearful glance, then goes back to changing out his books. "So I saw you hanging out with some sexy girls at lunch today."

"Yeah?" His cheeks pale. "Who?"

"What are you asking me for? You were the one who was sitting with them."

"Yeah, well." He licks his lips. "They invited me over."

"Yesterday too? People have noticed you're not hanging out with them so much anymore. So—" You grin and pinch the side of his stomach. He flinches. "God! You need to calm down, man, you need to—"

Yes, you suddenly realize. You need to talk him into being cooler, more confident. That scared rabbit act of his—

Oh God. It hits you almost like a punch to the stomach. Jenny Ashton thinks that Will Prescott goes around acting like a scared rabbit.

"Come on." You pluck at his shirt. "Let's go hang out and talk. Give you some confidence."

"I'm supposed to hang out with some girls," he says, sounding irritated. "Isn't that what you want?"

"Isn't that what you want?" you retort. Who with?" Your heart hammers and a tingle runs up your spine.

"Those girls at lunch."

"Lacey and Shelby?" Those were the two flanking your beta at the lunch table.

"You know them?"

"Well enough. What's the story?" You can't help grinning as you pinch the side of his stomach again.

He twists away. "Why don't you come along, if you're so interested?" he pants. Then his eyes pop. "Shit, I didn't mean that."

"No, it's a great idea. Tell them you ran into me and I invited myself along. It's true, you know. Where are you all going to be hanging out?"

"Balducci's."

"Wow, I hope someone else is paying for your part. When are we supposed to meet them?"

* * * * *

ASAP is the answer, so you let him drive you downtown. You question him closely during the ride about these girls he's been hanging around with.

It's the volleyball team, more or less. He's not quite sure how it happened. Some of the girls he was texting with after the night at the Warehouse knew some of the girls on the volleyball team, and apparently one thing led to another, and now for two days in a row he's eaten with them in the cafeteria and now he's going with them to the city's premier pizza shop for an after-school party.

"So which one of them is interested in you?" you ask.

"The fuck?"

"Eventually, if we're lucky," you snicker. "But which one of the girls is into you? One of 'em's gotta be hot for you, man, and the rest are along to see if you're good enough for their friend."

"Jesus!" Your beta flinches and blushes.

"Okay, that's the first thing we gotta do with you. You gotta do what I say, right? So I want you to stop acting like such a—" You catch yourself before you can say frightened rabbit. "Like being with or talking about girls embarrasses you."

Will mutters under his breath, but you ignore him. "Smile, keep calm, and talk to them like they're your friends," you order him. "Don't try to come on to them, but be interested in what they're saying."

"Easy for you to say."

"So practice on me. Ask me about my day."

He does, and you pass the rest of the drive prattling about the day at school, and giving him pointers on how to act and listen and talk in a way that makes you feel like he's really and genuinely interested in you. The drive isn't nearly long enough for the seminar that he really needs, but as you pull into the small, crowded parking lot in back of Balducci's, you at least feel like you've given him a start.

* * * * *

You get a couple more chances to talk about your day—with the people you're meeting—once you're settled at the largest table in Balducci's main dining room. The place is mostly empty, but your group makes enough noise for dozens.

It looks like most if not all of the volleyball team has shown up, along with a few extra girls (like yourself) and a couple of boys. Some of these look like serious hookups, or like they have the potential to be hookups, which pricks your—or Jenny's—interest. Cam Shore has his arm draped around Kerri Mullen, for instance, which isn't a surprise, since they are going out. But Cam's friend Luke Richardson—another baseball player, like Cam—has also come along, and seems to be paying a lot of attention to Reagan Hackett, which is something new. You also recognize Blake O'Brien, the football player who drove you back to your truck from the Warehouse Saturday morning, though of course he doesn't recognize you in your new guise. But he's not paying much attention to anything, except the blonde girl—who looks like a cheerleader, not a volleyball player—he's sitting next to.

As for who is interested in your beta—assuming that your hunch is correct, and that one of them is—it is hard to tell. He's sitting between Shelby Ho and Lacey Salter, and they seem to be pressing and plying him with questions, but there's nothing in their body language to suggest they're interested in anything other than learning his bio. Philippa Hosford is sitting across the table from him, listening, but she doesn't stare at him the way you'd expect a girl with a crush would stare.

Your eye travels around the table: Ellie Kemp ... Aria Giordano ... Kayla Shea ... Regina Yost ... Whitney Rosenthal ... None of them are paying any real attention to him.

As you're thus occupied, James Brewer, nudges you and leans in. "Hey, you're one of Will's friends, right?"

"I think so. Yeah." You can't help tensing. James is a drama student, and though he isn't gay, his nudge gives you an awful, vivid premonition that your beta might be getting some attention from that quarter.

But he just nods and says, "I thought that's why you probably were here," then turns back to Reagan.

Asshole, you think.

* * * * *

So when Kerri and Cam bug out early, you hitch a ride with them back to the school so you can pick up your car. Kerri's a girl with a punk rocker's no-bullshit attitude, so you ask her point-blank how come the volleyball girls are interested in Will. "We are?" she says, sounding surprised.

"It seems like it. Wasn't it one of you that asked him along?"

"I dunno." An awkward silence envelops the car for the rest of the drive.

But maybe your question shook something loose, because later that night, while you're doing homework, you get a series of texts from Luke Richardson, of all people. He starts by confirming what James had asked—are you a friend of Will's?—then circles in an infuriating way before coming to the point: tell will to be careful, he warns you. i hear kelsey blanknsh has it out for him.

Next: "Frenemies in High Places" 

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"Table of Contents (Vol. 4)" 
"The Book of Masks (Vol. 4)"