The Book of Masks (Vol. 3)

Gossip at the DQ

Previously: "Secret Agent Girl" 

Well, he's kind of a light-weight, don't you think?

Your skull rings with Stephanie's words. You only just restrain yourself form swinging around and snarling something at her.

You tense all over and listen harder into the silence that follows.

Then Yumi says, "What do you mean by that? Just because he's not a basketball player or a football player—"

"I don't mean like that," Stephanie says. "Look, never mind, he's your friend, if he—"

Their voices overlap before clarifying with Yumi saying, "—not good enough."

"I didn't say that," Stephanie snaps. "Look, who else has he gone out with?"

Your fingers curl into claws in the silence that follows. "He and Lisa Yarborough hung out together over the summer," Yumi says.

"Hung out?" You can almost hear Stephanie's eyebrows going up.

"What do you want to hear, Stephanie?" Yumi is starting to sound aggravated.

"I don't want to hear anything. Look, Prescott can do whatever he wants, same as Katy. It's a free country, and boo-yah for him if he asks her out. I don't know why you're asking me what I think."

"I just want to know what you think would happen if they did, you know."

"Pfft. Is he on the rebound or something?"

"What do you mean by 'rebound'?"

"You know what I mean. You said him and Lisa were hanging out—"

"I told you, they were just hanging out."

"Is that what Prescott thought?"

You feel the blood rushing up to your face.

"Okay, Will thought they were going out, but Lisa—"

"Oh, Jesus!"

"He's not on the rebound!" Yumi insists.

"So what's he want with Katy?"

"He doesn't want anything with Katy! Look—"

More confused babble of voices. You feel like you're about to throw up.

"—thought Katy might be interested in him," Yumi says. "That's all."

"So does Prescott own a pair of big boy pants?"

"What's that mean?"

"It means— Oh, hell, for a start, it means, isn't he mature enough to set anything up himself?"

Yumi says nothing for a long minute. At last, in a very tight voice, she says, "I just noticed Katy paying attention to him at school, and thought maybe they could stand to be nudged together. That's all, Stephanie. And I was just wondering if you thought that was a good idea."

"Well, what I'm wondering," Stephanie retorts, "if you really want my opinion, is does he know how to act with a girl without being a total gink. He's so goddamned rabbity."

Almost you get up and leave, but Yumi beats you to it. "Well, thanks for talking," she says, and she sounds snippy. "I'll talk to you later."

"Wait, where are you going? I thought you were gonna hang out with—"

"I suddenly got a headache. I get a lot of those after talking to you, Stephanie." Out of the corner of your eye you see Yumi march off toward the door. Stephanie drops a very audible f-bomb under her breath.

You can't resist poking her in the shoulder, and she jumps when she turns around to see you smiling into her face.

"Hey," you say. "So I hope you don't think I was eavesdropping, but that was a pretty intense conversation you were having with your friend."

"Huh? Oh." Stephanie's expression is very tight. "Yeah, I guess our voices carried. Sorry."

"So, you were going to ask me about a guy earlier. Before your friend got here."

"What?" Stephanie looks startled.

"You wanted to ask me some advice. About a guy."

"Oh. I don't remember what." She looks around, distracted. "Maybe I should—"

It looks like she's about to go, but the door opens, and Eva and Jessica Garner come in, and with a couple of squeals and smiles for Stephanie (and some more muted ones for you), they settle at the table with her.

You're not counting on the earlier subject resuming, but it does, almost immediately, for Eva and Jessica spotted Yumi driving off, and they want to know what happened. Stephanie snorts that Yumi got mad, and explains what about. Eva and Jessica, who are two-thirds of a set of triplets, are friends of Lisa, and your breath comes short and quick as Stephanie tells them Yumi is trying to set you up with Katy Conlee because you're on the rebound from Lisa.

Jessica snorts. "Will isn't on the rebound. He can't be. You have to have bounce to be on the rebound, and Will hasn't got any bounce."

"That's mean!" Eva chides her sister.

"Maybe, but it's true. Katy?" she asks Stephanie. "What do you think?"

"Don't start with me," Stephanie snarls. "That's what Yumi asked. What did I think of Prescott and Katy, going together."

"I could see that," Eva says, sounding cautious. "Katy's sweet."

"So's Lisa," Jessica retorts. "Look how that worked out."

"He's such a noodle," Stephanie says. "Frickin' lightweight."

"I wouldn't call Katy a heavyweight," Jessica retorts.

"Well, if she likes him, she likes him," Stephanie says. "Doesn't matter to me."

"He's not out of her league," Eva says.

"Oh, fuck," Stephanie spits. "I hate that word! 'League'! You play hard, or you play like shit. That's the only thing that matters."

"Do you play hard?" Jessica asks. There's lazy mischief in her voice, and you don't have to look over to know that Stephanie has flipped her the bird. "Who plays as hard as you?"

"I'm not—"

"Nobody, Jess," Eva interrupts. "'Cos she runs the boys off the court before they can even change into their shorts!" She laughs.

"Listen, if you two—"

You're briefly distracted by a text on your phone. It's from Yumi, telling you not to bother showing up to the DQ, as the party's been cancelled. You guess that means that Katy won't be coming. But you stay where you are, listening to the girls.

"What is this, a slumber party all of a sudden?" Stephanie says. "Fine. Austin Dougherty."

The Garners squeal. "Who else?" Eva demands.

"Jeremiah James. Tyler Rawls." Stephanie sounds very impatient.

"Oo, all guys on the soccer team," Jessica says. "Does our dear little brother make your list?"

"I'm gonna—!"

"What about Marcos?" Eva asks, breathless.

"Rivera? Ych. But yes, I guess."

"Cole Parker?"

"Lightweight."

"Really? Everyone I know thinks he's cute."

"Oh, he is cute. He just doesn't know what to do with it."

* * * * *

For all her protests, Stephanie gradually warms to the topic of boys, particularly after Eva and Jessica start offering their own appraisals. Soon they are compiling a "who's hot, who's not" list. You're relieved—somewhat—that Stephanie emphatically rejects the swaggering bully-boys of the school: Gordon Black, Steve Patterson, Jason Lynch, Seth Javits, Erik Carstairs, Brian Kelly, etc., etc. And you're thunderstruck when it includes two names you'd never have guessed would win Stephanie's approval: Carson Ioeger and James Lamont.

"Oh sure, they're going places," she says when the other girls evince surprise. "They got balls."

From there the conversation wanders, from mutual guy friends to mutual girl friends, to gossip about the cheerleader squad. After about an hour, though, Stephanie says she has to go. That leaves the Garners to murmur at each other in low voices while you pretend to be absorbed in your cell phone.

"She's so competitive," Jessica observes.

"It's why she scares all the guys away," Eva replies.

"Do you think she's scared? Of going out with a guy?"

"No!" Eva laughs. "Stephanie?"

"I think she is. She puts up such a tough front."

The girls fall silent. You can hear the gears whirling in their heads.

"So who do you think?" Jessica finally asks.

"Austin," says Eva. "He was the first name she said. Like free association."

"You noticed that too." Jessica titters. "What about Carson?"

"Oh, God!" Eva bursts into laughter. "Wouldn't you just love to see him ask her out? See the look on her face?"

"She'd kill us. She'd know we put him up to it."

Eva laughs again. Then she says, "The only thing that would be better? Seeing her face if Will asked her out."

They cackle and snort asthmatically.

* * * * *

It's almost ten o'clock before you get home, unencumbered of Coach Schell's mask and clothes, which you've left in the school basement, where the fire continues to burn. You've brought a new brain band back home with you, because you're done with your homework and have nothing better to do than to carve runes into it while trying not to think about what you learned at the Dairy Queen.

Next: "Surprise Invites" 

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