The Book of Masks (Vol. 4)

The First Day of the Rest of Her Life?

Previously: "Alone with Her Thoughts" 

You sit up in bed, and do your best to ignore the silk nightie that is sliding off your bosoms.

"Now, hang on there a minute," you chirp at Will. "What makes you think it was Keith that did this thing? He wasn't anywhere near when—"

"He set it up with you, Will," the guy on the other end of the line says. "Don't you remember?"

It takes a moment for his words to register.

"Wait, how do you know that?" you ask. "I thought you couldn't remember anything I—"

"Well, I can remember it now!" His voice boils with impatience. "God! And it's how come I know that—"

"Look, just hang on a minute." You slide out of bed. "You're awake, I'm awake, let's meet someplace and talk about this." You rapidly think through possible places and times for a rendezvous. "Salvation Donuts," you suggest. "In an hour?"

"Okay." But he sounds doubtful. "But why an hour? Why can't we meet—?"

"Because I gotta get cleaned up if we're gonna go straight from there to school." You hang up and hurl the phone back onto the bed before Kelsey can freak out in your ear about you touching her body in the shower.

* * * * *

In fact, it's all you can do to not enjoy yourself as you clean up and put yourself together to face the school day. There is something incredibly ... sensitive ... about Kelsey's body, more so than you ever felt inside your own. Probably because you've got boobs and a bush and a great ass to soak and sponge under the hot water. It's gotta be nicer for me doing this, you guiltily think, than for her. Except when you're worked up, you don't like touching your own junk

After the shower you towel off and dress in sloppy shorts and a t-shirt while blow-drying and fluffing out your hair. Then you put on makeup—keeping it a little lighter than usual—then dress conservatively in skinny blue jeans, a white blouse, and high-heeled sandals. You also keep the jewelry to a minimum: a silver pendant on a leather string that curves tightly at the base of your neck, and matching, star-like earrings. You tie a couple of braids into your hair, but let most of it hang freely in the back.

Okay, this shouldn't freak her out too bad, you think as you turn around and around, scoping yourself out in the full-length mirror. She'll want me to look good, but not so good that it looks like I'm trying to have fun. And not so good that—

You clench your teeth and thrust from your mind The One Big Thing that Kelsey would not like you knowing about her and her life.

* * * * *

Your white truck is already parked in front of Salvation Donuts—a dinky donut shop in a strip center on the west side of town—when you arrive, and the gangly Will Prescott is vibrating just inside the door as you sweep inside. You give him a smile, but put him off for a solid minute as you buy a cup of swill-like coffee at the register and take it back to the tiny table behind the front window where your doppelganger is waiting for you.

He's dressed up nice too, you notice. Oh, his hair is still a haystack, barely controlled by that sloppy, dirty cap. But he's scraped all the weird whiskers off his face, and he's dressed in a clean, long-sleeve shirt and jeans. You give him a bright, penetrating smile as you settle into a chair. His own glance is feverish as he drops into the seat opposite you.

"Okay, so what's all this you remember about Keith?" you ask, and swirl your coffee lightly in its cup. It smells awful and you're not going to drink it. It's just a prop, as far as you're concerned.

"You know what I'm talking about! He set it up," Will growls. "I— You were out at the portables only because he asked you to meet him by the Ag Annex. And then he didn't show up. But Seth and Darren did!"

"Keith said he was hiding from them."

"He was setting us up!"

"You don't have any proof of that. Besides, it was Seth and Darren, and Jeremiah, who— And did Keith set it up so you'd be sitting in your car when Jeremiah came out?"

Will glowers but doesn't reply.

"Besides, I don't think we should make any waves." Almost you take a sip of your coffee, but you're warded off at the last moment by the stink of it. "If we start running around, accusing people of—" You glance around, but the only other person in the place is the fat woman who owns it. Still, you keep your voice very low. "Of body swapping us, what are people going to think?"

The fire freezes in Will's eyes.

"So you just want to go along like nothing's happened?" he hisses.

"No. I want to fix it. But I don't want to ... to fuck things up for us, for either of us, while this is going on. Besides—" Again you glance around. "Don't you figure that whoever did this will be watching us, to see what we do?"

His eyes narrow. "You mean Seth? And Jeremiah?"

"And Darren. Maybe some other people."

Then a sudden thought occurs to you. "You know," you say, "maybe it wasn't even supposed to be you and me who got ... swapped. Keith was hiding from Seth. Maybe it was supposed to be you and him who ... had the thing done to them. Maybe I was just their second choice when they couldn't get to Keith."

Will's eyes bulge, and he shudders all over.

"Yeah, it's no fun for you over there," you drawl. "But think how much worse it could be."

"So what do we do?"

You turn to stare out the window. The sky is gray and it's starting to rain again. What a miserable looking day, you think.

"We show 'em we can take a joke," you suggest when you turn back to your tablemate. "We make it really boring for them, so that they swap us back when they realize we're not going to be any fun."

Will looks staggered for a moment. Then his expression turns thoughtful.

"That's interesting," he says. "So we just go on like nothing's changed!"

"Exactly." The more you think about what started as a random idea, the more you like it. "Someone's trying to have some fun with us. I say, 'Fuck 'em'. Let 'em just try to have fun by screwing with us. See how much satisfaction they get." Your lip curls into a happy sneer.

Will stares at the wall behind you. "So who do you think it could be?"

"Well, it's gotta be Seth and Darren and—"

"Unless maybe they've been—" Will starts to say. "I mean, if we could be— Maybe they're not ... themselves ... anymore?"

Down that path, you sense, lies paranoia.

"Let's try not to worry about it," you suggest. "It's a thousand to one against us being able to spot who did it. But you said you got my memories now?"

He nods. "I think I've got them all. When I woke up this morning— Well—" He flushes. "At first I thought I was you."

"That must have been a nightmare."

He makes a face at you. "But after I got myself sorted out, I realized I was just confused because I was, well, 'remembering' stuff that only you would know."

You can guess what kind of stuff she was "remembering" at that hour of the morning, in your bed, and smile tightly to yourself.

"So you remember my class schedule?" you ask. "You think you can handle my shit?"

"Sure." He makes another face at you. "Like you said yesterday, Will, you don't have the most interesting life."

* * * * *

You're not sure what Kelsey meant by that last remark, and whether she meant it as mockery or whether she was actually trying to imitate your personality. You let it slide, and as it is getting on toward eight o'clock now, you suggest leaving for school. Of course, you drive out separately.

At school, in the parking lot, you fuss around with your bag and your phone—and your makeup—until Will has trudged inside. Only then do you clamber out of the BMW, unfurl the tiny umbrella that Kelsey keeps in her car, and stride off toward the gym. It's a wet day, but you can't keep the confidence out of your walk as, with chin up and shoulders back you stride in to class. However harrowing this "body swap" bullshit has been, at least you are swapped with someone who hasn't got a thing to be scared of inside the school.

You're just passing the front doors of the gym when you hear your name—Kelsey's name—called, and turn to find the Garner twins scampering up toward you. Their eyes are bright, and in their t-shirts and shorts they look like they're bursting with health. "Good morning!" they greet you breathlessly as they join you.

"Good morning," you reply. "What's up?"

"Nothing." Jessica giggles. "Just looking forward to the day!"

"Oh? Got something planned?"

The Garners tire you out. Well, they tire Kelsey out, and you're on the point of striding off, to let them tag along behind if they do insist on your company, but something in their manner catches your attention. They are both very bright-eyed and eager about something, and you remember your talk with Will at the donut shop: Whoever did this to you is going to be watching to see what kind of fun they've started, and it will probably be some of Kelsey's friends. Well, these two are Kelsey's friends, and they've been acting very weird lately.

Also, it now comes back to you, it was Eva who asked you to "curse" someone in that silly thread. And it was Kelsey that you told her you wanted to curse.

Next: "What a Girl Like You Likes" 

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