This choice: Grab the guy in the bathroom • Go Back...Chapter #34The Door Prize by: Seuzz   Screw it. You want out of this scene as badly as Keith. If it's a blonde guy in the bathroom, it's probably one of the ballplayers. There's a lot of blond guys on the team. And if it isn't, well, it'll still be an Eastman person, and you can use them to try again to get to a ballplayer. Patterson won't like the wasted mask, but maybe you'll luck out and—
These rationalizations are interrupted by the door opening. True to your design, the guy turns his back on you as he exits, and you grab him from behind, reaching around to slap the mask onto his face. He collapses back into your arms, and you drag him into the bathroom.
Only after you've kick the door closed and laid him on the floor do you get a good look at him. He's blonde, as Keith said he would be, and you recognize him as a loudmouth who was flirting with a bunch of girls out by the pool. Joe Durras, Seth's memories inform you. You smile to yourself. Joe and his brother, Frank, are new to Eastman and to the Eastman squad, and the Westside team is burning with curiosity about how good they are. This should get you in good with Patterson.
You lean against the bathroom vanity, tapping your foot impatiently, waiting for the mask to reappear. When it does, you snatch it up and hastily exit the bathroom.
"It wasn't Straussler," you snap at Keith when you're downstairs, "but he'll do. Come on, let's get out of here."
"Aren't we going to tell anyone we're going?"
You roll your eyes. "Fine. Go tell what's her name it was a great party. I'll be out in the truck."
* * * * *
To your immense chagrin, Gordon Black is the only occupant of the fuck room. Well, it could have been worse, considering you didn't call ahead. If you'd busted in on him with Chelsea— "Where's Patterson?" you ask.
"Not here," he says brusquely, and looks back down at his work. He's got a mask in his lap, and you recognize that he is painting its inside with sealant. "Get out."
"Sure, I don't wanna be here anyway." You don't feel inclined to take any shit from him. "I just came by to drop off the latest mask." You toss it at him, and it clatters by his feet.
He peers down at it with a frown. "Who the fuck is Franz Felix All— Allo—" He struggles to read the name on the inside of the mask, then gives up and glares at you. "Who the fuck?"
"It's one of the new basketball guys. Joe Durras."
"Ain't no 'Joe' here," Gordon rumbles, nudging the mask with his knee. His expression hardens. "You fuck up? You and Javits are both dumb enough."
"I got a look at him," you say, your own voice turning hard. "Had a lot of time to look at him, too, waiting for the mask to, you know. I know who it was," you growl at Gordon. "And if you can't read a fucking name inside a fucking mask—"
Gordon gets slowly to his feet, and straightens until he towers over you. But you're still in Javits's mask, so you put your hands on your hips and return his belligerent stare with one of your own.
Your eyes remain locked until your own begin to water. But he blinks first, though in a way that doesn't acknowledge defeat. "I'm sick of dealing with this shit," he says quietly. "You can finish up. I'm gonna go find Chelsea."
"I'll do a better job than you anyway," you retort. "The fucking book belonged to me first anyway." He brushes hard against you as he passes, but there is no more to it than that. He slams the door, though.
You swear sulfurous oaths, then grab up one of the masks from the floor. It's the one he was sealing up: CASSANDRA SUSAN HARPER, it says on its inner surface. Cassie Harper, huh? Patterson and Gordon must be so drunk on these things they've stopped making distinctions. Oh, Cassie is cute enough in that freckled way, but she's no natural beauty, and is a scatterbrained chatterbox.
As for the other mask: FRANZ FELIX ALOIS LIEBESSPRUCH. You blink at it. So, Gordon wasn't shitting you about the name. "Joe" must be a nickname, and you don't blame your victim for taking one. But "Liebesspruch"? That doesn't sound right. Even if you couldn't remember an eye-splitting name like that, "Joe Liebesspruch" just doesn't seem like a name one could forget the general sound of.
You drop onto the mat with a sigh, to finish up Gordon's work. He's just started on Cassie's mask, but sealing a mask takes little time, and you seal up the other mask too. As you do so, of course, you can't help staring at that goofball name. It's not just an unusual name, but the lettering looks odd, too. You compare it to Cassie's mask. Her name is written in the simple, Roman strokes that you've seen in all the other masks, but the lettering in the other mask is different, with more strokes and curlicues. Maybe it's the "Franz" and "Liebesspruch" that make you think the lettering looks faintly Germanic.
You blow the sealant dry, and continue to regard the mask curiously. Getting this mask was one of your assignments, which means that under the team rules you have a perfect right to try it on. It's a small mystery, what's going on with his name, and probably has a trivial answer, but you can settle it very easily by donning his form long enough to find out. | Members who added to this interactive
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