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A high school student finds a grimoire that shows how to make magical disguises. |
Previously: "Your Two-Faced Friend"  Still you hesitate. Then, with your voice cracking with the effort, you say, "Get Keith out here, let him take a crack at it." Caleb blinks, and his face falls with surprise. "You're shitting me, Will," he says. "You don't want to—" "Sure I do," you rush to assure him. "But go ahead and let Keith have it. I'll, um, I'll catch the next bus."  He looks at you closely. "You're not scared, are you?" "No. I just—" Your mind races as you struggle to find an excuse. "But Keith'll be pissed off if he's the last to find out about this stuff. He'll be pissed if you and me go off and have fun without him. Get him out here," you say, "and we'll talk about it, and if he says 'no' too, then sure, I'll, um—" You glance over at Cody Larson, who has been listening to all this with a dispassionate interest. "I'll do it." Caleb looks very skeptical, but he pulls a phone out of his pocket. Then he catches himself and says, "Maybe you oughta go pick him up, explain things to him, so he won't freak out like you did." Fuck you, you mutter to yourself, but take out your own phone to text Keith that you're on your way over to his place. * * * * * "Dude, so how come you wanna do this?" Keith asks at the end of a very long and tedious explanation. "Sounds to me like you could'a got laid!" You're less than a mile from the barn, and you would have been there already except you took a very long and winding drive, so that you'd have enough time to explain things to Keith. He asked you twice to explain it all, and because you yourself aren't sure you totally understand it, it was a struggle for you as well. But he finally got it, and he finally understood what was being offered him: A chance to become Cody Larson for the night and maybe for the weekend or longer, with the kind of life and chances he's got. Including, or so Caleb stressed to you before you left, a pretty good chance of scoring at the Warehouse tonight. "I do want to!" you protest. "I just thought I'd be nice about it and give you first shot." Keith snorts. "Fuck you, man," he says, "I don't want you being 'nice' to me!" He hooks some very big air quotes with his fingers as he says it. "You're always bitching that me and Caleb are doing stuff without you. I didn't want you bitching about it this time too!" Out of the corner of your eye, you see him making a face at you. "Well, cool," he says. "Thanks. I guess." If you felt more enthusiastic about Caleb's offer, you'd use that an excuse to lunge in and grab Cody's place for yourself. But you don't feel so enthusiastic. And that puzzles you as much as it seems to puzzle the others. It's a great offer, and it excites you just to think about it. You've never been to the Warehouse, and here's a chance to go out there without worrying about making a fool of yourself, because you'd be going as someone who has been out there and is comfortable there. Someone who's had some success there. And even if you did make an ass of yourself, no one would see it was you who was an ass, because you'd be looking like someone else. Plus, obviously, there's the promise of getting some pussy. It's like Christmas, you try telling yourself. Sometimes waiting to unwrap the present is more fun that opening it. I want to let others go first so I have more time to be excited for it. But that doesn't convince you. You imagine being Cody later instead of sooner, but that's no more exciting than being Cody sooner. So: I really do want to give Keith first shot, you tell yourself. But you've never made a point of doing that before. And Keith's attitude now—grudging gratitude tinged with resentment—explains why you never have, and probably never will again. I got a moral problem with it. That thought makes you cringe. First, because having a moral problem means you'll never have the kind of fun that's being offered. Second, because your friends will be mad at you for having a moral problem. How come Teresa gets to set Cody Larson on fire and be okay with it, and I'm the one who has a problem with just pretending to be him? * * * * * You're still wrestling with the question when you arrive back at the barn. The two cars—the Larsens', and Caleb's—are still parked out front. And Jared Larson has returned. He is squatting on the hood of his car, his feet up on the bumper, staring out across the fields, when you pull up. And not until you've gotten out does he fall onto his feet to join you. It gives you a creepy feeling to look at him, and to think that not only is he your friend, but he is your friend Caleb. But why should it be so creepy? He's not like Steve Patterson, or some of the assholes back at the school, that you would never hang out with. He looks more or less like the kind of guy you might hang out with. He might be a little bigger than you and your friends—a little wider at the shoulders, with a chest that at least starts to fill out his shirt. His hair might be a little longer in the back on the sides than yours, curling out over his ears and the top of his neck. He might have a bolder nose, a stronger chin, a more direct stare, and a way of standing that makes him fill a space instead of shrinking up inside it. But he's not the kind of cute or handsome or athletic that would make anyone look twice. And he is dressed in your kind of clothes. And Cody, who comes trudging out of the barn with the fake Caleb in answer to Jared's call, is the same way. The only difference is that his face is a little smaller than his twin's face, and has more delicate features. "Hey man," Jared greets Keith in his resonant baritone, and he puts out a hand, which Keith takes after a long moment's hesitation. "So'd Will tell you what's going on?" Keith takes a long look over at "Caleb," whose lips twitch into a smirk under his stare. "He told me a story," Keith says, and gives you a dark glance. Though he swallowed what you told him, now he is looking skeptical. "So," Jared says, and he claps Cody on the shoulder. "You can be this guy tonight. This weekend. If you want." Keith looks between Cody, Jared, you, and "Caleb." Then he shrugs. "Guess I'm willing to try anything once," he says. "Great. Let's get you set up, then. Oh, you bring a mask?" Keith digs back inside your truck, to get the blank mask you told him to bring along. Then, with Jared's hand on his shoulder, he trudges into the barn with the Larson twins. That leaves you alone with "Caleb." You squint at him, then look away. "You're all freaked out, aren't you?" the golem says. He has Caleb's exact intonation nailed: honking and a little waspish. "Wouldn't you be?" you retort. "You know, at lunch, when we were talking about Yumi's nipples—" "What about them?" you growl. The golem snorts. "So I guess we're not gonna be hanging out this weekend," it says. You shrug. "Well, I don't wanna hang out with you either, if you're gonna be like this," it says. "Fine! So hang out with—" You swallow. It's going to be a fake Keith Tilley who comes out of the barn. You're going to be surrounded by fakes. You shiver. The golem snorts again, and turns to look at the barn. "Teresa knows you're a fake, right?" you ask it. "Huh?" It turns back toward you. "Oh. Yeah." "Did she freak out, or have a problem with you?" "No, she was cool. Except I could tell by the way she was looking at me—" It breaks off. "Well, it's like when a cat's looking at you," it concludes lamely. "You can tell it hasn't decided if it likes you or not, and is waiting to see what happens." "What's the deal between her and Caleb?" "What?" It has turned around to look at the barn again, and wheels back on you with a startled look. "What deal?" "Between her and Caleb," you explain. "Are they—? Starting to like each other?" It stares, then sneers. "If the boss wouldn't answer that question, I'm not going to. And if the boss would tell you to shut the fuck up, I will too. So shut the fuck up, Prescott." "Sounds like there is." You grin at it. The golem just gives you a look. "So can you tell me how come she's not out here?" you resume. "Why it's just us three?" "I don't know what the boss is thinking," the golem says. "Maybe he's talked to her, maybe he hasn't. I didn't hear from him until this afternoon, not since last night." "What did he talk to you last night for?" "Just to see how things were going." It grins. "He wanted to know if you or Keith'd caught on yet. You know," it adds, and its grin turns nasty. "It's gonna be fun hanging out with 'Keith' after the guy's in Cody's mask. But you know what's gonna be really fun? Hanging out with your you-know-what after you're off being someone else. Yep," he says smugly. "Me and 'Will Prescott', hanging out in your bedroom, playing your games, with him bitching about your brother and family. Can't wait!" You can almost picture it. It gives you a hard chill. Next: Coming soon! Check back! |
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