The Book of Masks (Vol. 2)

The Sophomore Scheme

Previously: "The Homework Party" 

"What kind of plan?" you exclaim. "What do you mean 'take over the popular kids'?"

Just saying it aloud gives you a sudden, shocking vision: those kids back in the basement, crawling all over each other, and every one of them a fake, a magical robot. "Who—? You didn't tell them about all the extra masks that we made, did you?" you squeak.

"No!" Michael gives you a look. "Anyway, it's Justin and Joe and Andy who came up with the plan," he continues. "Grant's just along for the tits and giggles. But the plan is—"

He glances over his shoulder while changing lanes. You grab the shoulder strap as he lunges over.

"So each of those guys they're being, you know," he resumes, "has got their own little group that they hang out with. You know?"

"Sure." Andrew Webb hangs out with Aaron Riggs. Kaylee has her circle of girlfriends. Ethan's got half-a-dozen worshipful guys orbiting him.

"Well, what the guys want is to have someone, each of us, inside his own little group, kind of managing it. Infiltrating it, running it. So they already got Ethan inside of Ethan's group, and Andrew inside Andrew's group—"

"Right. I get that."

"Well, they want to scatter out and put, uh, me and you, if you'll go along with it, inside some of the other little groups, inside other circles of, you know, popular kids. That way— Okay, so you know how they got that big-ass party together, right? Ethan invited his friends and Andrew invited his, and Kaylee and Leslie invited theirs, and then they pulled in some others. Well, if they got different people, like us, planted out in different groups, they could then pull even more of the popular kids, and all the friends of those people, that they're pretending to be, into parties and shit like that. Sort of, gives them influence over, control over, all the popular kids because you've got, um, one agent in each little group. Managing them."

"Okay. And the point of this is?"

Michael shrugs. "To keep their fingers up all these guys' asses? Actually—" He does a double-take at you, and his mouth slides up into a wry half-smile. "Actually, I figure it's just a way of getting themselves and their friends—you know, Evie and Paulina and Bhodi and Lindsay—" He snickers. "Getting them popular. 'Cos they wouldn't just be friends with one of the popular sets. They'd be friends with all of them. Ethan be tellin' his set that Bhodi and Paulina are cool, and Andrew be tellin' his friends they're cool, and Kaylee and Leslie telling their friends. And they'd get to decide who's cool and what's cool about everything, 'cos they'd have control of all the cool, most popular kids."

As you imagine the scene, Michael starts to chuckle. "Man," he says. "Can you picture what you and me, and Tilley and Ioeger and Lamont, maybe— What we could'a done with these masks, putting together a gang of gangs up in the senior class?"

It is food for thought.

* * * * *

You and Michael walk out of Taco Famoso with a dozen packed bags between you. You won't be having any yourself, of course: the food there is notorious for opening geysers at both ends of the digestive track. In fact, you decide to skip the rest of the party, and tell Caleb to drop you off at home on account of a text from your mom, and to bring your backpack by later.

After eating supper, you get a ride up to the city library. There, you text Caleb at Michael's number, and text fake-Dane at his, telling them where to meet you. While waiting, you occupy yourself with a random science-fiction book from off the shelf.

Caleb is the first to arrive (bringing your backpack with him), and he chortles hard over the red-faced embarrassment you caused Andrew by ducking out on him. Not long after, a brightly grinning Dane Matthias shows up.

"Dude!" he groans. "Have I got fucking news for—" He stops short when he notices Caleb in the seat next to yours, but he resumes with a laugh when you tell him who "Michael" really is.

"So, I'm late getting out here," he says after falling into the chair opposite you, "'cos guess who I had over at my place just a little while ago." His eyes twinkle.

"Shit," Caleb mutters. "Will, tell this stoner we don't want to hear how he got laid."

Dane's eyes pop. "Fuck me, but I did get laid! Last weekend!" He sits up. "I was hangin' out with—"

"We don't want to hear about," you tell him, even though you do. (Just not now.) "Who was out at your place tonight?"

He rolls his tongue around in his cheek. "Paulina and Bhodi."

You and Michael exchange a glance. "The fuck?" Michael says.

"Yeah! And get this!" He beams and quivers like he's about to orgasm. "They know!"

He throws his head back and laughs, then flinches when you slap him on the leg. "They know what?"

"About the masks! About what you guys are doing! You and Bhodi's friends!" he continues as you gape in puzzlement at him. "They know who I am! Or, I mean, who they think I am! They think I'm you! Uh, they think I'm Will!"

At first you want to tell him that of course Bhodi knows who you are and about what his friends are up to. Then, when Caleb says, "Shit, you mean Paulina knows too?" you realize what Dane has just said.

"Yeah! She knows all about what they're doing. What you're doing," he adds, pointing at Caleb. "They even showed me your picture on her cell phone, said that that was you." He cocks his head. "Must'a been a old picture, 'cos you don't look like—"

"So how does Paulina know?" you demand. Then, as a cold hand closes around your heart, you add, "You didn't tell them about me, did you? That I'm pretending to—"

"No way, man. I may look like a stoner, but I ain't dumb!" His gaze sharpens. "I'm at least as smart as you, cocksucker. Right?"

"So did Bhodi tell her?" Caleb asks.

"I dunno. But all the guys know she knows. She's been in on it from the start, it sounds like, even before they started getting themselves new faces. I think she was helping. Anyway, she said something that made it sound like she helped them get one of the girls for one of those guys."

"Shit." You wheel on Caleb. "That explains why she's been pushing me at Andrew. She knows who he really is, and she wants Lindsay to—"

"Yeah, I get it, Will. But why," he asks Dane, "did they come over to tell you?"

"'Cos they wanted to know if I wanted to make a switch, and if I had a mask I could make a switch with. They said you're making a switch," he tells Caleb.

Your friend lets out a low whistle. "Fits in with what we were talking about earlier, right? Fuck." His eyes widen. "You don't suppose they know who you're really being, do you?"

You shake your head, but have to suppress a shiver anyway. "No, 'cos they went to Dane here. That's where they think I am. And they'd'a pulled me over and beat the shit outta me if they knew I was being Lindsay. What did you tell them?" you ask Dane.

"Told 'em I'd have to think about it. They were also asking about how many extra masks I had. They didn't say why."

You look at Michael, but neither of you voices the thought: Because maybe Paulina and Bhodi are looking to make a switch too? It would fit in with the "plan" that Caleb was telling you about earlier—more faces to use to manipulate the sophomore class.

* * * * *

There's not much more to talk about. Dane tells you that they were going to send him a list of names and pictures of possible people; he says that he'll forward it to you.

You get it later that night, after you're back home, and after changing into pajamas you curl up in your bed to study it. There's a score or so of names and photos to scroll through and ponder; none of them would be known to Will Prescott, but Lindsay's memories tell you most everything you would need to know.

Paulina didn't classify them—she just sent names and links to social media pages—and most of the names can only be classified as "cool" people, including two whose presence astonished you at Kaylee's party—Aaron James and Carly Schmidt.
But as you study them you start to sort them out into types.

First (and it's no surprise) are the sports people: football players and softball players mostly.

Then there are the musicians. Paulina and Bhodi have put down all four members of Los Scorchicos, the garage band that's uber-popular in the sophomore class, as possibles, even though two of them (Bastian Jankowski and Scarlett Bard) are juniors. But they've also put down Jody Lepley, who fronts a new band, Tiger Driver.

Speaking of juniors, at first you think it's a mistake when a link takes you to Jason Rowe's Instagram account, but then you notice a couple more juniors who were at Laura's party last Friday, and so the guys must think they can get even more cred by getting some juniors to hang out with them.

But then you remember what Caleb said: What you could get up to with that kind of scheme in the senior class. Maybe you should counter-propose to the guys that they move that operation up into the senior class instead.

* To move to a new sophomore face: "The Last Day of Life as Lindsay?" 
* To suggest everyone move up two grades: "Some Suspect Behavior by Sophomores and Seniors" 

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