Chapter #37Back Where You Started by: rugal b.   You're tempted to go with a guy; very tempted. After all what Jenny had said to you basically meant it would be a pretext, now that both of you are mixed up in this mask business, to continue dating right? Or maybe she was just teasing you again. But you want to try it all the same. Plus it wouldn't just be Jenny but it'd be Jenny under a mask of Yumi Saito. There's something very appealing about the idea of the pretty and feminine Yumi with Jenny's brash tomboy personality.
You presume, however, that it wouldn't be a good idea. You've pushed Fairfax pretty far already what with coming up with your own scheme with Keith to grab someone outside the cheerleader circle, not even going after the person you decided on and then getting cold feet about the second person and cajoling him into allowing her to join the group. How much farther, realistically, could you push him before he kicks you out or worse?
So it's with a bit of reluctance that you decide to hang up those dreams -- for now at least -- and go back to the original idea. Come this time tomorrow you're going to be a girl.
* * * * *
You manage to worm your way into a parking space between two smaller cars as you arrive at school. You take a deep breath, lock up the truck and head into the school and head towards the gym. The same gym where you met Fairfax yesterday and where you're meeting him today. That's not the reason for your apprehension though because, as you approach the gym, standing near him and checking out her phone is Jenny.
It was Fairfax's idea as he'd texted you about it last night because he wanted to know first thing in the morning if you were going to go ahead with being Jenny or do something else; he'd also wanted Jenny there since it was her mask and so she should get a say. You're still worried that he's reached his limit with you but obviously via text message you can't really be sure.
If he has reached his limit then he doesn't betray it, much as you haven't really seen him betray any emotion over the last few days aside from when you asked about bringing in Jenny. "Will," he says giving you a simple greeting.
"What's up," you return it before giving one to Jenny as well. "You ready for all of this," you ask her.
"About as ready as anyone could be I guess," she answers and you note there's a bit of apprehension in her voice."
"That question goes for you as well," Fairfax says to you with his typical seriousness, "so it would probably be prudent to get right down to business."
"Right, yeah," you say as you inhale another deep breath. "Jenny doesn't really mind if I use her mask," you tell him before turning to Jenny, "right?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah," she says. "I told you that yesterday. I don't know why you're asking me again."
"I just figured that Fairfax, um, Philip would probably want to hear it from you," you tell her.
"It's a good assumption," Fairfax replies. "So that's what you're doing then?"
"Actually," you say and pause. You look over at Jenny who simply cocks an eyebrow. "I'm not. She can do a straight swap with Yumi," you say to her surprise.
"You're not... but I figured you would," she says in shock.
"I honestly gave it a lot of thought and didn't even decide until right before I got here," you admit. You give Jenny a serious and sympathetic look. "I kind of decided that it wouldn't feel right after, you know..."
"What you don't want a house to yourself," she replies wryly.
"No not that part, I mean --"
"Oh, right, that," she says. "Gotcha."
If Fairfax picks up any on what that means then he ignores it really well. "If you don't want to use it that's fine," he tells you. "But that means you're going to have to make a choice again. You were going with Mia DeWitt originally, correct?"
"I was but I wasn't married to the idea," you tell him, "otherwise I wouldn't have brought out Jenny."
"Well the advantage was that she could show up and hang out with someone like Cindy or the Garners with no problem," he says before quickly adding, "We were able to get Eva yesterday as well so that's where Mike will be. But anyway, since Jenny is going to be Yumi I'm not quite as concerned with you picking someone with an overt connection to the cheerleaders. But Mia is part of the artsy bohemian crowd so I'd like it if you stayed there."
"So it's Mia then," you ask.
"If you want," he replies. "If not, all I'm saying is that I would like whoever you do pick to have some connection with that group."
"You know, if you don't want here Will there's some other people," Jenny chimes in, "uh if it's cool if I bring up some suggestions."
"I don't really see why that'd be a problem," you shrug.
"Well I'm the new one here so I didn't want to be," she says and then shrugs, "whatever. Okay so you want the bohemians right? Then why not go for the queen bohemian herself?"
You simply give a blank stare. You look at Fairfax but he doesn't seem to have a clue either. "I seriously don't know who that would be," you tell her.
"Oh christ," she grumbles, "Jelena Petrovic. You know who she is right?"
Hearing the name is like a light bulb going off in your head. You don't share any classes with her and to be honest you don't think you've ever talked to her. But you definitely know who she is. She's got a willowy look to her and likes dark clothes and long flowing skirts. You've also heard that she plays in a band that performs around town, even the Warehouse, that mythical (for you) house of what you'd assume is teenage debauchery. More importantly you've seen her plenty of times in the presence of Andrea Varnsworth and that causes your heart to skip a beat.
"That could work," you tell her. "The problem is I don't know her and don't even share a class with her."
"I've got a couple of classes with her and I've talked with her," Jenny tells you. "She's in one of the drama classes and is pretty chill so if I gave her something like the story you gave me yesterday I think she'd agree to come out."
"Well you are good at convincing people," you say with sincerity. "I honestly never thought Jessica would come out there."
"It took a lot of convincing," she says. "Thankfully Jelena would probably be a lot easier."
"So those two are good for you," Fairfax asks.
"Three, actually," Jenny jumps back in. "I actually don't have a lot of girls from that crowd in my classes but there's another one that I've got in choir first period. Paris Morrow doesn't ring any bells I take it?"
"I can't say that it does," you admit.
"I thought not. You'd know her dad though, Stephen Morrow," she asks.
Much like with Jelena's name that causes another light bulb to turn on. "Yeah that's the big deal lawyer who's got advertisements all over the place right," you say. "Oh shit, she's his kid?"
"One of them," she corrects you. "She's got a twin sister, Peyton, but I don't share any classes with her so I don't really know anything about her. But Paris and I are both altos so I'm able to talk to her a lot since we're grouped together. The catch is that she's a junior."
That gives you pause. You remember at Catherine's party when Stephanie had introduced you to that girl, Bailey. You didn't have a problem with Bailey per se but you didn't like what you'd thought Stephanie was implying. Not that you think Jenny's implying that at all as much as throwing out a name.
"But yeah she's in a lot of AP too classes and is part of the jazz band so, I dunno," she shrugs. "But I've seen her hanging around some of the artsy looking juniors and even some of the seniors like Emily Sparks and Mia so I guess she falls into that group."
"That might not actually be that bad of a choice," Fairfax says to your surprise.
"I mean I guess I can see why," you say, "but, you know, she's a junior."
"Well we have the cheerleaders good and covered so maybe I can say the same thing about the seniors," he states as he rubs his chin. "She's got her fingers in a lot of pies so to speak, she's got some money and it might be interesting to get a window into the lower classmen too."
"Well, I mean, Jelena and Mia seem good too," you tell him. "Give me a bit to think about it and --"
"You don't have 'a bit'," he tells you frankly. "Don't think I'm angry or anything, it's just that you come off as a bit indecisive. If I give you a bit then the entire thing could change five times before lunch. So I'm going to ask you to make a decision right here, right now."
He's seriously putting you on the spot right now? But if you thought that was radical the kicker is even more so.
"I'm going to warn you right now though, there's no changing it this time. Whatever you choose is what you're sticking with. There's no going back."  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
| Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author