Chapter #8Some Talk About Messing Around by: Seuzz   You're not a masochist, and cast your vote with Caleb. The movie, as it happens, totally sucks.
* * * * *
And so life resumes. Monday comes, and you give Walberg an old hairdryer to put in the time capsule. On Friday the capsule goes into the ground, and the Friday after that you turn in a paper describing why you chose to send a hairdryer into the future. Then Monday comes again, and with it a new assignment from Walberg: Research the history of the item you put in, and describe its equivalent from a hundred years ago.
"What the fuck do I know about hairdryers?" you complain to Caleb as you're leaving class.
"Nothing, obviously," he snickers. "You just stick your head out the car window and let the wind do it on your way to school, right?"
You flip him off. "But what am I going to--"
"Christ, are you so allergic to research? That's what the internet is for. Research and porn. When they're not the same thing," he grins smugly.
Fucker's got it so made. He gave Walberg a thumb drive full of porn, and to your surprise (and Caleb's as well), not only did the teacher accept it, he even gave Caleb an A on the paper. You, on the other hand, got a D, along with extensive commentary on the obvious lack of thought that went into your choice, your inability to cogently explain your choice after the fact, and the overall incoherence of your prose.
So you're not in the mood when someone jostles you hard behind, and you turn to find Geoff Mansfield behind you. "Watch where you're going, you--" But you stop yourself, for Lisa is with him.
"Aw, whatsamatter, Prescott?" he asks in a lazy jeer. "Walberg piss all over your paper?" You just glare.
"How'd you do, Will?" Lisa asks, and her eyes show something like genuine interest.
"About as well as you'd expect," you reply, and carefully watch her reaction. Will she look pleased, implying she thinks highly of your academic efforts? Or disappointed on your behalf. But just nods vacantly.
"Better luck on the sequel," Geoff says with fake sympathy, and pats your shoulder. You seethe at the smug condescension in his dark eyes, and the way he tilts his head back to peer down his nose at you, accenting the inch of height he has on you. He puts his arm around Lisa's shoulder and draws her off.
"Better luck to you too," you shout after him. "Asshole," you add sotto voce. You look around for Caleb, but he's already seized on your distraction as an excuse to ditch you.
* * * * *
"Why a hair dryer?" Jenny Ashton asks you at lunch. You and she and a bunch of other friends are sitting out on the grass near A wing.
"Why not?" Carson Ioeger answers on your behalf. "Why anything?"
"I dunno," you grumble, and take another bite from your sandwich.
"Well, what did you say on your paper?" Jenny presses you.
"I said it was a cultural artifact reflecting contemporary standards of beauty," Caleb says with a grin, "and the obsolescence of storage technology."
"You put in a hair dyer too?" James Lamont asks.
"No, I put in some porn on a thumb drive," Caleb replies. "Got an A, too."
"Walberg let you--?"
"What would you put into a time capsule," Paul Davis asks Yumi Saito. He hunches forward with a puppyish interest in the pert little cheerleader.
"Chelsea Cooper," Yumi says, and continues to stare at the nearby blank wall. She takes a hard bite from her apple and chews carefully. "A representative of the contemporary standards of cunthood. I'd cut her into little pieces if she didn't fit in the box. Hell, I'd cut her into little pieces if--"
"Now, there's your standard for contemporary beauty," Carson says, and leans back from Yumi's murderous glare. "If you could get a picture of Chelsea naked, Johansson, you could put it onto your thumb drive. After saving a copy to pass around to the rest of us."
"Would there be room for Geoff Mansfield in that box with Chelsea?" you ask Yumi.
"Oh, Mansfield," Carson chortles. "Put him in a box with a naked Chelsea Cooper, snap a picture, and send it to Gordon. Wouldn't that be awesome?"
"You got a problem with Mansfield too?" you ask him.
"Nah. But it'd be fun." He grins slyly at you. "Would you get in a box with a naked Chelsea Cooper, Prescott?"
You're not sure what's the diplomatic thing to say in front of Yumi, so you hold your tongue. Caleb, though, raises his hand. "I would. Definitely."
"Me too!" Keith Tilley chirps.
"Even if I was going to take a picture and send it to Gordon?" Carson grins.
Caleb sucks on his cheek. "How long do I get to be with Chelsea, and how affectionate is she being with me?"
"She's dead, Ioeger," says Yumi. "Because that's the only way--"
"No, she's very much alive, and she's very affectionate," says Carson. "And I'm taking lots of pictures of you."
"I'd still do it," says Keith with a shit-eating grin.
"What if was you and Cindy Vredenburg?" Carson asks him. "And I was gonna send the pictures to-- Oh, hey, Seth!" He raises his head and nods a cheerful greeting.
Keith whips his head around, and you bite on your grin at the great fart he blasts out as his sphincter loosens. "Not funny!" Keith yells as he turns back to Carson. "I'm overdue for a beating as it is."
"You sure are," Jenny says. "All of you, Carson especially. This is the most disgusting--"
"So let's turn it around," the unfazed Carson says. "Yumi, you in a box with a naked Gordon Black, and I send the picture to Chel--"
"Bleagh!" Yumi says. "I'm not taking any more of this." She gathers up her stuff and stalks away. After a moment's pause, Paul hurries after her.
Carson watches them thoughtfully. "Me in a box with a naked Yumi Saito, and someone sends the picture to Paul." Jenny slaps him hard on the side of the head. "No fun there," Carson continues, as though nothing has happened. "There has to be an element of danger, and Paul--" He shrugs.
"What's it with you liking to fuck around with people?" you ask him. He shrugs. "No, explain it to me. Because I ran into Gillian Kiefer a week or so back--" Caleb nudges you, but you ignore him. "I ran into her at King Kong, and she was all flirting with me hard, right up until the moment I said I wasn't seeing anyone, and then she just dropped me."
"She had to ask whether you were seeing anyone?" James asks dryly.
"Fuck you! So I'm not the fucking captain of the fucking basketball team--"
"I meant, isn't it pretty common knowledge by now that you and Lisa are, you know, pfft?"
You lean forward to smack him, but he easily brushes your blow away.
"I wouldn't take anything Gillian says too seriously," Jenny says. "She just likes getting in people's heads." She shoots Ioeger a dark look. "She and Carson would make a good fit."
"Really?" Carson says brightly. "Me and Gillian naked in a box? 'Cos Gillian's a hottie."
"James has better taste in--" Jenny starts, then stops herself, and shifts uncomfortably. There's a moment of suspense as everyone looks at Lamont. White and pink fight for mastery of his cheeks, and then he just looks away, as though he's suddenly found the traffic on the nearby street very interesting. At least Carson has the tact to use the silence to change the subject.
* * * * *
It's been almost ten days since your encounter with Gillian, and the bruise is still a little tender. But you're damned if you're going to let it eat you up. So when Keith asks you Tuesday after class if you want to go with him to hit the comic shops, you agree, and steer him toward King Kong. Dumbass that he is, he clearly makes absolutely no connection between the lunchtime conversation and your choice of destination.
Your heart thumps a little as you walk in. Eric Kim smiles at you from behind the counter, then goes back to his own reading. Your heart beats a little as you crane your neck to look into the caf', but those guys aren't there.
And then your eye is definitely caught by who else is in the shop, over by the new releases shelf.
It's Geoff Mansfield, along with Martin Gardinhire and Brent Pruitt. They are thumbing through a couple of comics, and by their expressions are making dismissive comments. Well, Mansfield and Gardinhire are; Pruitt seems utterly absorbed in his reading.
You wonder that you didn't spot them immediately on entering, for they're not far from the door, and are facing you directly. Then you realize it's their dress. You don't think you've ever seen Geoff out of slacks and button down shirts, but here he is in ratty jeans and a too-small t-shirt. You blink, and then feel a shudder of loathing. He's slumming, and has intentionally dressed down for it.
Keith has already moved up to the shelf where they are, and they look up vaguely at his approach. Geoff's eye falls on you, and he smiles thinly. "Hey, look who it is," he says. "Catching up on some advanced reading, Prescott?"
"No, are you?" you retort. "Your lips were moving. Words too big?"
"Funny. Almost as funny as-- How'd you do on Walberg's paper?"
"Don't you remember?"
He freezes fractionally. Then: "I wasn't paying attention." He puts his reading back and nudges Gardinhire. "Come on, let's go."
"Yeah, I'm done here," Gardinhire says. "Put it back, Pruitt. That laser blast isn't going to vaporize her clothes." Brent reluctantly accedes.
They jostle you as they pass, but Gardinhire turns in the doorway. "Wanna go with, Prescott? We could use a good laugh."  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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