The Book of Masks (Vol. 4)

Everyone Wants You to Be Jessica

Previously: "Hangover Sunday" 

You still haven't decided what to do when you go in to school the next morning. You're trudging toward Mr. Walberg's class, head down, when you're yanked from the churning crowd. Instinctively, you flinch.

But it's a friendly face that thrusts itself into yours. Well, it's a smiling face, at least.

"Ay," the guy says. His teeth shine very whitely in a narrow, fox-like face set with glittering black eyes. "You're Will Prescott, right? I seen you around. Say, listen, Garner says you're the guy who's settin' 'em up with those things. You know." He traces an oval around his face. "Things 'at give you a set of mommy bags to play with." His smile curves so sharply you could shave meat with it.

You're long past being surprised when a new friend of Laurent's shows up to talk about masks. But you do make a mental note to tell Laurent to stop sending out invitations.

"Yeah, that's me," you sigh. "And you are?"

He blinks, as though surprised by the question.

"Marcos Rivera. I'm buddies wi' Garner and them, they tol' me about those things." He splays his fingers. "I wanna buy five of 'em off you."

Again, you sigh.

"Okay. That'll be three hundred dollars. Payable in advance." The other guys still haven't got you the balance of what they owe you.

"Give the bill to Garner. Fucker owes me for Saturday night." He grabs you by the side of the neck and puts his lips to your ear. "Tell me you banged Hannah hard, man," he whispers.

"That's between Marc and me," you tell him stiffly.

"And Hannah." Rivera grins.

"Did Marc tell Hannah about that? Or about these things?"

"I 'unno. Pro'ly."

"For fuck's sake. I gotta go talk to someone."

"Five of 'em, man!" Marcos calls after you. "Give you an extra thirty if you have 'em for me tomorrow!"

* * * * *

You text Laurent while waiting outside Walberg's room, but he shows up before you finish typing. You grab him and try hauling him outside, but it's like yanking a tree out by its roots. He follows you only at his own pace.

"First," you tell him when you're away from the crowds streaming in and out of the school doors, "you need to get everyone to stop the fuck telling all their buddies about these things!"

"Yeah, I know," Laurent shrugs. "But the guys—"

"You want the cops hearing about them? Or, I dunno, the fucking CIA? The Russians?"

Laurent rolls his eyes. "Okay, I'll talk to them."

"You better! Second, Marcos Rivera just talked to me. He said he wants, like, five masks. And he told me that Marc is going to pay for 'em, on account of Marc 'owes' him. So—"

"Whoa whoa! Wait!" Laurent holds up a hand. "Rivera asked for masks?"

"Yeah. Five of 'em."

"So Rivera knows about this shit too? Fuck!" Laurent grimaces at the sky. "Garner, you fucking bird brain!"

"Is there a problem with Rivera knowing?" you ask. "I mean, I'm not thrilled about it, but—"

"No, it's fine. I just need to kick Garner's ass. Kick all their asses. You're right, Will," Laurent says, and he sounds a lot more sober. "We need to tighten our shit. No one else gets to hear about this. I'll tell the guys."

"Well, you better tell Marc first, because Rivera says he thinks that Marc's gonna tell Hannah about these things, if he hasn't told her already."

Laurent's eyes pop. "So Rivera knows that you and Hannah—? Jesus!" he explodes when you nod. "He told you that he knew? And he was okay with it?"

"About me and Hannah? I guess he's okay with it. He was all, like, 'Tell me you banged her hard.' So I think he's setting up for getting back at Marc for whatever happened Saturday night."

"Shit. Not much point in doing the thing with Jessica's mask now," he muses. "Not if Rivera's gonna handle it himself."

"So you don't want me doing that thing with Jessica's mask?"

Laurent pulls at his nose and thinks.

"I guess not," he says. "Can you get her stuff back to me? And Marc's? Like, today?"

"Tomorrow. I'm grounded, remember? Also, I want my own stuff back. You know, the book and the shit we use to make the masks. 'Cos if I'm gonna make some more of those things for Rivera—"

"Okay, we'll swap things back tomorrow." Laurent glares off over your shoulder, then with another muttered cuss word he turns back toward the school. You follow him inside.

* * * * *

Naturally, it startles you to see Jessica sitting out on the front quad with some of your friends when lunch rolls around, and for a panicked moment you are certain it must be one of Laurent's friends in disguise as her. Not until you remember that you left her disguise at your house does your heart stop pounding.

She and Jenny Ashton, who she's talking intently at, get up and leave, though, after you and Caleb and Keith plop down on the grass with them. "What, do we stink?" Caleb demands.

"Yes," Carson Ioeger says. He's stretched out on his side. "But that's not how come they're taking off," he remarks of Jenny and Jessica's retreating backs. "Just be glad they are."

"What's it about, then?"

"Boyfriend trouble."

"Jessica's got a boyfriend?" you exclaim.

"Jessica's got a boyfriend?" Carson mimics. "Don't get too excited, Prescott, or you'll burst your hymen."

You clap your mouth shut, and the topic instantly dies.

* * * * *

You're coming out of sixth-period Calculus when you nearly collide with Marc Garner coming out of another classroom. His expression brightens. "Hey Will," he chirps. "What are you doing after school?"

"Going home. I'm grounded. On account of Saturday night."

He nods, as though this doesn't surprise him, and asks when you will next have some free time at school, and jumps at the chance to talk to you in the library this period, when you have a study hall. He's got English, but he doesn't mind skipping. "I didn't get my homework done this weekend anyway," he says. You look away so he won't see you rolling your eyes.

"Okay, I got a huge-ass favor to ask of you," he says in a low voice after you're seated in the library. He leans across the table and puts his head close to yours. "About these masks."

"And I got a huge-ass favor to ask you." you retort. "Stop telling every-fucking-body in the school about them!"

"Yeah yeah, it's done," he says, and waves a dismissive hand. "Laurent already yelled at me. Oh, and I'm totally good for the three hundred I owe you for Marcos's shit. Just don't give 'em to him early, I'm not paying for no bonuses. But Laurent also tells me that you, uh, made a mask of one of my sisters?"

You go cold all over. "Yeah," you say, "and I can give it to you tomorrow if you want it out of circulation."

"Well, hang onto it for now," he says. "That's the huge-ass favor."

He looks around, then pulls up close.

"Look," he says in a near whisper, "I'm in real shit with Eva and Jessica. I don't blame you for it, for anything you might'a, you know, done while— I mean, fuck knows I get in all kinds of shit with 'em without meaning to, or knowing what I did wrong. You have any sisters?"

"Just a little brother."

Marc nods.

"Well, I hear you made a deal with Laurent," he says, "for him to cover for you a couple of nights at home. I'll make the same deal with you, cover for you a couple of nights so you can get out, have some fun. But one of those nights, you gotta do something for me."

"What's that?" You skin is prickling hard.

"Be Jessica. Find out how come her and Eva are so mad at me, and fix it with Eva."

You feel like you've just been doused in a firehouse of icy water.

"Are you serious?" you hiss. "You want me to—? Why can't you just find out from Jessica what it's all about?"

Marc rears back. "I'm not gonna—!" He catches himself. "I'm not gonna, like, use one of those things of my sisters!"

"I mean, why not talk to her?"

"Because by the time she's not too mad to talk to me, it'll all be over with."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Sometimes her and Eva are mad at me for weeks! It becomes just fucking unlivable at home! Please!" He grabs your arm, and agony shows in his face. "You can use these things to fix things!"

"Why ask me? Why not Laurent or Brownie or—?"

"You fucking kidding? Put one of those horny toads in—? That's one of my sisters you're talking about!"

Thanks for the vote of confidence, you think. Thanks for telling me I'm some kind of dickless wonder you'd trust with a copy of your sister's body.

"Well, how would this work, and what would you give me?" you ask.

* * * * *

You don't agree to his terms, not yet, but they are tempting. Four days to cover for you, including a Friday, a Saturday, and a Sunday, plus a weekday. The day that you play Jessica will be a fifth day that he'll cover for you. He will also collect all the money that his friends owe you and pass it along to you. And if you provide him with two masks, he will fill them with the faces and forms of two people, subject to your approval.

Next: "A Switch in Time" 

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