Chapter #65The Dreaded Meeting by: rugal b.   Despite your misgivings however you know that she's right. Maybe it's her own personality influencing you as well.
Melanie likes openness and honesty and isn't one for being sneaky and cagey. Though this does cause a fair amount of problems with her. In a general sense she's developed a reputation as someone who can't keep a secret and if you tell her something in confidence everyone else will know by the end of the day. Which isn't totally true, she's got enough common sense to keep secret what needs to stay secret. But her idea of what needs to stay secret isn't always the same as everyone else's.
It also has a habit of leading her and Paulina, who's as cagey as they come, into frequent disagreements. Usually minor ones but on a few occasions they've gotten big and were Evie not there to smooth things over cracks in the relationship would've likely formed a long time ago. Not that Melanie hates or dislikes Paulina. She likes her plenty and Paulina's largely a nice girl. But there's a cynical, mysterious edge to the girl that unsettles Melanie at times too. Like she's got skeletons she doesn't want getting out.
The type of thing where Melanie wishes she would be more open. But that bit of mystery makes Melanie wonder if there's a trust issue and she has to think of other things lest she start getting too frustrated.
That's why Melanie likes Lindsay who's about as open a book as a person gets. Sure she can be surly and abrasive but at the same time there's no ambiguity with her and one always knows what's going on and where they stand.
"Yeah, okay," you tell her. "You're right but I'm not looking forward to it."
"Better to rip the band-aid off," she says as she grabs her purse and keys.
* * * * *
You walk into Don's Donuts with a bit of trepidation. Not because of the location, chosen because of proximity to Lindsay's house, which is one you've always liked. That's something you and your borrowed brain agree on. But because you spot her. Lindsay sitting in a booth, idly looking at her phone. You could've just picked her up but that was a no-go from Melanie because if there were blow ups she didn't want her car to be ground zero.
She also wanted this to be between you and Lindsay as she has nothing to work out with the latter. She's not just leaving you high and dry, she's just taken a seat as far away as possible while still presumably being able to keep watch.
Cautiously then you approach the booth until you're right on top of it. "Lindsay?" you say in an unsure voice as, with hesitance, you take your seat across from her. Lindsay looks up from her phone to eye you queerly. She's taking you in, examining you and likely confused as to why this random girl is addressing her.
"Yeah?" she asks as if to confirm your suspicions.
"Melanie said it'd be a good idea if we talked."
"Melanie said..." But she stops. She eyes you again, this time with more curiosity. And you can tell realization is setting in because you see her expression harden. "Who'd you replace?" she asks with undisguised scorn.
"Nice to see you too," you respond, "and I didn't replace anyone."
"Bullshit," Lindsay replies. "I know how the masks work."
"Melanie didn't tell you?" you ask.
Of course she didn't, you realize. This is probably one of those situations where she felt being a little cagey and letting Lindsay find out on her own would be far more effective than just telling her all the details. That and, at times, Melanie can have a mischievous streak and watching you squirm while you try to tell Lindsay why you picked a sophomore girl as your new identity is the type of thing she'd find funny.
"All she told me was that you used the godforsaken book to get a new face," she answers without attempting to hide her distaste at the idea.
"I couldn't stay holed up in a motel room all day every day," you protest.
But Lindsay's quick to counter. "You could've just put everything back," she states. "Instead you have to shove some other person under another mask and steal their life because you're too much of a fucking coward to own up to your mistakes."
"I took responsibility when I got Evie back," you tell her.
"After we threatened you."
"Those dumb threats didn't mean anything," you say and hope she doesn't call you on your bluff. "I could've left her there. I could've put a mask on you and stolen your life or grabbed the book and skipped town entirely. But I didn't because I realized that fixing my screw up was the right thing to do. I risked my ass dealing with paranoid drug dealers to get her back. I gave up my life getting her back."
"You look pretty alive to me," she snorts.
"I am now but Will Prescott's life belongs to someone else. Shit's changed so much that going back's impossible."
Lindsay just shakes her head in frustration. "Alright, then who am I talking to?" she asks.
"Katie Sharpe."
"Never heard of her," she replies dismissively.
"Of course you haven't. She didn't exist until an hour ago."
Lindsay's eyes narrow. For a solid minute she's quiet, regarding you harshly. "What the hell are you even talking about?" she finally asks.
"I'll give you the short version," you tell her. "I was staying up at the Donna and ran into, you know Kim Walsh right?"
"Everyone knows her. Even the freshmen."
You nod and then go into the version of the story Melanie helped you cook up on the drive out here. In this telling, Kim's reputation was well earned and she broke you down into confessing what had happened and to your surprise she agreed to help. She knew that you needed to get out as well but with your life gone and with the masks explained to her she helped you hit on the idea of copying a few people into one mask, into a new composite identity.
"Using..."
"Evie," you tell her and immediately go on the defense. "She was the first one to volunteer actually. Then Paulina and Melanie. And I've got one of of those mind bands in here with Melanie's brain to help me, you know..."
"This is ridiculous," Lindsay throws her hands up but the hostility has largely faded from her voice and demeanor. "So you're still using the book?"
"Just this one last time," you tell her. "Paulina insisted she take the book from Bhodi afterwards because she didn't trust the boys with it. You know how they are."
"Thankfully she's actually sensible," Lindsay states as she studies you. "And I guess I can sort of see the others in you if I look really, really hard. So what are you going to do?"
"Kim and Caleb are working on a way to get me enrolled at Westside. After that I guess it's whatever. This is my life now so I'll have to figure it out."
"Consider it punishment for messing with shit you shouldn't have been messing with," she tells you. "But you got a second chance too so I'd highly advise not messing this one up because I doubt you're going to get a third. I won't let you get one." She regards you once more. "Katie, huh?"
"You can still call me Will if you want."
But Lindsay just shakes her head. "Like you said, Will's someone else," she states. Again she regards you. Her head shakes once more and you see her shoulders slump.
"Thanks for getting Evie back," she says, "and... sorry for being a bitch."
* * * * *
"That went a lot better than I thought," you say as you exit the parking lot.
"I thought you guys were going to rip each other's throats out for a second," Melanie laughs. "But Lindsay's actually nice. She just is who she is and she was under a lot of stress."
"That I put her under."
"What's done is done," she says. "I guess seeing the position you were in softened her up though."
"You want to talk about stressed," you lean back in the passenger seat. "I kind of want to just get back to the Donna and take a very hot bath. It's been a long day."
"There's still plenty of it left, too." Melanie glances at you out of the corner of her eye and you see her smile. "Mall's still open and you need way more to wear than my hand-me-downs."
"Clothes shopping?" you bolt up in surprise.
"Sure, and just hanging out there in general. Just focus all your mental energy on finding some good outfits."
It's solid enough reasoning though from peeking into her mind you know that it's something that Melanie enjoys as well. Being fashionable, finding nice outfits. It always picks her up and, again, maybe it's the influence of her personality but you're feeling very, very open to the idea too and she's right, you do need a wardrobe. You're not really short on cash right now either.
But at the same time a hot bath and a nap until Kim comes buy is also sounding awfully tempting.   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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