Chapter #41Of Plans Well Made and Otherwise by: Seuzz   Even with the resentment you feel toward Caleb and Keith, you realize it's something you'll get over on your own, and probably pretty soon. The stuff with the masks is too big of a fucking deal to let any petty personal shit get in the way.
Besides, pulling Teresa into it would only make things awkward.
You frown to yourself as a strange realization breaks over you: the realization that your anger at Caleb has mostly driven the embarrassment you feel about Teresa from your mind.
Oh sure, you remember the puzzlement and trepidation you felt only last night, when you thought back to that weird date the two of you had, and your worries over what attitude she might have developed toward you. Intellectually, you still have those worries. But the sick feeling that went with them is gone.
It's like you only have room to be fretful about one person at a time.
Still, it would be awkward talking to her about your quarrel with Caleb, so you put the thought firmly aside.
But you still owe her a text, and you're about to send one explaining that the thing you guys made is done, but you decide it would be best to coordinate with Caleb first, in case he's already spoken to her. You call him direct.
"Hey," you say when he picks up, and you find it surprisingly easy to talk to him, despite your anger. "I'm out at the school with Keith, he's down in the basement with—"
You pause to let Caleb get a word in. He says nothing, though, so you continue.
"Anyway, I got a text from Teresa, asking what's going on. You talk to her yet?"
"No, only to Keith. I figured one of us should talk to him, and you didn't seem in a mood to talk to anyone."
"Yeah, well, I'll talk to her then. I'm just gonna tell her we went to check on the thing, and it's done and we're moving it back to the basement. Um, I'm not gonna tell her anything else like what we did with it."
"Good idea," he says. "I mean, she's gonna figure out on her own what you can do with it, but there's no reason to tell her we already did."
"Right."
"She's gonna wanna come out, be with us while we look at the spell. We better be ready, just explain it to her as though we're just figuring it out ourselves."
"Sure."
"And maybe you better get rid of Tilley, send him away. He's just gonna sit there smirking if he's there, and she's gonna know something's up."
You see his point, but argue the other way: "Keith's mad at us 'cos we went out to check the thing without him. He's gonna be really mad if we try getting rid of him again."
"Then we'll have to explain to him to shut up. Can you come pick me up after you text Teresa?"
"Sure. And I'll send Keith to pick Teresa up. You and me should talk."
* * * * *
Things work out well, timing-wise. You text Teresa to say that you're at the elementary school with the newly made thing; she replies that she'll be stuck at home until two. After Keith is done with Mickey, you tell him he'll have to pick Teresa up because you're going to pick up Caleb. He tries arguing that you should pick her up, but you tell him (a little sharply) that you need to talk to Caleb anyway so it'll be easier that way. To his credit, he seems to understand.
"So what do we need to talk about?" Caleb asks after he's clambered into the truck cab with you.
"First of all, I'm sorry I got kind of mad at you," you tell him. "It was dumb, but— I'm sorry."
"Well, what were you mad at me for?" he asks.
You bite your lip.
"You fucked Mickey," you tell him.
You sense him looking over at you, but he says nothing. So you add, "And I didn't. I didn't know that's what we were, you know, going to do. So I just kept it to, you know. Fondling."
"Jesus," Caleb says. "So why'd that make you mad? You got a chance now to—"
"Well, I didn't think we were gonna do that! On account of— I guess I think of that mask as being mine."
"What, you think of her as your girlfriend? You think I fucked your girlfriend?"
"No! It's just that the mask is mine! I like—" You feel yourself blushing hard. "I liked putting it on. Now what's it gonna be like if I put it on? I'm gonna remember what it's like to have your, you know, up inside my—"
"Oh God," Caleb groans, and he looks away.
"Okay," he resumes after a thoughtful silence. "I think I get it now. That's not what I thought you were mad about, but I get it."
"What did you think I was mad at?"
He gives you a sidelong glance, then says, "I thought you were mad because something went wrong with your equipment."
You almost drive off the road.
And you're a further two blocks down the road before Caleb breaks the subsequent, frosty silence.
"Look, don't be mad at me, man! How was I to know you weren't gonna, you know—"
"How was I to know that you were?" you shoot back.
"Dude." He gives you a pitying look. "Listen to yourself."
"D'ju really think I was gonna— I was gonna fuck that girl and then turn around and put her mask back on?"
"I figured you knew what that mask was for! What a mask and that thing we made was for! I mean, isn't it obvious? Dude who wrote that book was one all-time pervy motherfucker, I can tell you that. And I figured you knew it was for fucking," he continues, "so if you put the mask back on after, it was because you wouldn't have a problem with, you know. And if you did have a problem with people fucking the girl, you'd still rather fuck the girl than keep the mask."
An acrid gray fog seems to fill your eyeballs and eye sockets, so that the road turns hazy. It is, of course, only your brain seizing up with anger at what Caleb is saying.
Except he's got a point, and you realize you've been maneuvered into that tight spot that you thought Keith had got you into: a confession that you'd rather pretend to be Mickey than to fuck her.
"Alright," you grumble, "I see your point. Maybe we should've—I dunno—talked about it first, instead of just making assumptions."
"Well, I'm sorry I fucked things up for you, Will," he says. "I didn't mean to. You're right, I shouldn't have assumed."
You definitely shouldn't have assumed anything about my equipment, you fume silently to yourself.
"But let's not assume anything else," he continues. "Like, what are we gonna tell Teresa about this? And what do we do with the masks we made, and with the thing?"
"We don't tell her anything. Except what it is and how it works. We collected it, we brought it back to the basement, we read the spell and figured it out while waiting for her to get back with Keith."
"And what did we decide to do with the thing?"
"We decided to wait and see what she says about it all."
Which would have been a great plan, only your dumb-as-fuck friend Keith tells Teresa all about the dingus and what you all have done with it after he's picked her up.
* * * * *
"Well, I guess I know what you guys will be doing every day after school until you graduate, and maybe after," she says shortly after arriving in the basement. She is very calm about it, but also more than a little prim. You glare hot daggers at Tilley, who frowns obliviously back at you.
"You guys are going to have to set up a schedule of course," she continues.
"I don't know what we're going to do," you insist, and look to Caleb to support. He returns you a baffled look.
"You know exactly what you're going to do with it," she replies. "You're already doing it."
"Do you want to add your name to the schedule?" Caleb retorts.
She looks a little taken aback, then replies, "I'm not interested in doing that with any of the people you've got in the masks."
"We could make you one you would be interested in."
Before Teresa can reply, you blurt out, "What about the mask you used on those guys last week?"
Now she looks more than taken aback. She looks badgered. Even cornered.
"Shut up, man," Caleb says. "Point is, we—" He glances back at the thing in the corner. "We're all set up so we can do stuff with whatever kind of people we want. So we're all of us" he concludes with a hard look at Teresa, "gonna have to put our names on a schedule, or we're gonna have to say we don't want our names on a schedule."
You feel embarrassed by this speech, and Teresa look embarrassed as well. But Keith breaks into a huge grin.
* * * * *
It's Caleb, though, who points out the big problem you all are going to have to face.
"The thing only obeys Will," he says. "Which means he's probably gonna have to come out and order the thing to do what we want it to do, when it's our turn."
"You mean he's going to have to watch and babysit?" Teresa asks. She doesn't sound shocked, only satirical.
"I think just a general order to 'do what we tell it to do' will work," Caleb says. "It worked out that way with me earlier."
"Same with me," Keith chimes in.
"Still, it might be inconvenient, in case the thing, um, resets every time it gets used," Caleb says, casting a look backward at the statue. "There is a way around it, though."
"What's that?" Teresa asks.
Caleb shrugs.
"We could make three more of the things. One for each of us."   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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