The Book of Masks (Vol. 5)

A Play Date with Seth

Previously: "The Girl Where Kelsey Used to Be" 

Kim can wait, you decide. The student council president always has some kind of bug up her ass, but it's never about anything important. And whatever it is, you can find out about it tomorrow. Right now, you've got a new body to show off to Chelsea.

It's four-thirty now, and you do some rapid calculations in your head before texting Chelsea: I'll be at Milagro Beanfield Warehouse at 5:30. It would be great if Seth ran into me there. You close it with a winking emoji while smiling to yourself.

From a dresser drawer you take a jewelry box, and study your choices. Kelsey likes jewelry, but she likes it to be understated while also distinctive and eye-catching. (And like most things in her wardrobe, it will be of a Southwestern design.) After picking up and fiddling with various choices, you settle on some flat, half-inch, tarnished-silver ear studs that blend into your earlobes while giving them a bit of flash; a choker of small, enameled bright-turquoise stones; and three heavy silver bracelets for your left wrist. That done, you tie on some flat-soled, strappy sandals and shove a couple of plausible schoolbooks into a woven-hemp book satchel.

"I'm going into town, study in a coffeeshop," you tell your mother when you find her in a sunny corner of the living room. "I'll probably end up meeting Amanda, maybe Anthony, doing something with them for dinner." Your mom, who is distracted with a Sudoku puzzle, tells you Alright and sends you on your way. With long, confident steps you stride through the atrium and out the front door, heading for the garage. You grip your keys with excitement as you enter through the side door and hit the switch to the bay where your wheels are parked.

It was a present for your sixteenth birthday: a forest-green, two-door, BMW convertible with leather interior. The top is down, so you hurl the satchel directly into the passenger seat even before pulling the door open and dropping into a seat that is only inches off the ground. You buckle yourself in, shut the door, gently turn the motor over, then hit the button that raises the canvas roof back into place. (You don't want the wind to disorder your hair.) After latching the roof down, you pluck your "driving pair" of designer sunglasses off the dashboard and slide them onto your face, then put the car into drive and send her purring into the driveway. You hit the remote button to close the bay door, and gently accelerate around the drive and down the road taking you to the main gate. After that it's just a matter of curving through some gently sloping streets until you hit Farm Road, where you open the throttle and roar toward town at nearly sixty, grinning tightly to yourself all the way.

You're a young, fresh, sexy, rich, teenage girl driving a sporty little luxury car. Could it ever possibly be better than this?

* * * * *

Seth's pickup truck is already parked at the Milagro Beanfield Warehouse—Saratoga Falls's hippest and most expensive coffeeshop—when you arrive, but you affect not to recognize it. Still humming the pop tune you were listening to on the streaming radio, you shut and lock your car door and stride casually into the bistro.

Carlo, the thirty-something owner, is behind the counter, making an espresso. He looks over as you enter, and greets you by name with a warm smile. (Kelsey is a regular.) You return the greeting with a bright smile of your own.

"Just an Americano today," you tell him with a sigh. "And maybe a—"

You do a double-take into the dining room off to the side, where Seth Javits, in a booth, sitting where you could hardly miss him, is looking back at you. Your heart gives a sudden beat.

"Just an Americano," you stammer at Carlo as you stare at Seth, who suddenly looks a lot more handsome than you remember him looking. "I'll be back for it in a minute." With your mouth dimpling into a small smile you enter the dining room.

Seth leans back with a relaxed smile of his own as you draw up to his table.

"Hey, Seth!" you gush at him. "I don't think I've ever seen you out here!"

He shrugs and replies, "Never really been here before, thought I'd give it a try."

"You just hanging out? Meeting someone?"

"Doing a little schoolwork." He indicates the math book. "Just got here though."

"Me too!" You press his book with a fingertip: it's for the Statistics class that you and he both have. "I was gonna go over the homework for Monday! Can I join you?"

"Sure!" Seth indicates the other side of the booth.

"I'll be right back, I have to get my order. What are you having?" You nod at the cup by his hand as you drop your bag into the bench opposite him.

"Some kind of espresso, I think. I don't really know this stuff."

"Well, I'll be right back!" You grin at him, and with the lightest air under your feet you half-dance back out front, where Carlo has already drawn and set out an Americano for him. After a moment's thought, you add a bran muffin to the order, then pay with your credit card.

"Here, I'll split this with you," you tell Seth when you're back at the table, setting the plate with the muffin in front of him. "I only ever eat half of one of things anyway, take the rest home, but you can have the other half of this one." Seth thanks you, and cuts it in two as you settle yourself into your seat and open up your satchel.

"So," you resume. "I'm sorry to hear about you and Cindy breaking up."

He shrugs.

"It's for the best," he says. "I was really getting sick of her shit. All she ever did was bitch about the cheerleader squad." He looks up at you from under his brows with gleaming eyes.

You grin back.

"She was a troublemaker," you agree. "I've got my problems with Chelsea, but I don't blame her in the least for getting rid of Cindy. Little Miss 'My sister was the head cheerleader so I should be head cheerleader'," you chant in a mocking singsong. You hold his eye as you lift your mug to sip your Americano. "I would'a got rid of her too."

Seth's lips twist into a half-smile. "Would you get rid of Chelsea, too?"

"In a flash," you instantly reply, and Seth's face falls just a little. "I mean, Chelsea's good, she's probably the best on the squad. And Cindy's tops too. We all were, last year, when we were on the squad. But there's a difference between being good at tumbling and all the rest, and, you know, running things. I mean, look at the mess Chelsea's made. She's lost half the squad and has to do a whole new set of tryouts. Basically, she has to start over! That's not good management!"

Seth grunts, and his expression tightens as he settles back.

"So did she fuck things up?" he asks in tone that sounds rhetorical. "Or is she starting to fix a squad that was already broken?"

"Well, she—"

"'Cos she wasn't going to be able to get rid of Cindy without getting rid of a lot of the rest of the dead weight."

"She didn't have to get rid of Eva and Jessica!" you snap.

"I didn't think they were that good," Seth retorts.

You gasp at him, then catch yourself.

"Well, maybe you're right," you sniff. "Still, it didn't have to be a bloodbath!"

"And she's set to rebuild the squad from—"

"Do you like Chelsea?" you demand.

The question makes him freeze. He gives you a brief, spiteful look, and looks away with a moody glare. But then he slowly relaxes back into his seat, and his face falls into a smirk.

"I fucking hate the bitch," he says. "I'm just giving her her due."

You snort.

"Well, don't feel like you have to give her her due for my sake. I got a lot more reason to hate her than you do." You take another sip of coffee. "But I put all that behind me when I quit the squad."

"Why did you quit?" Seth asks.

"Because I knew Chelsea was going to do to me what she did to Cindy. So I got out first."

"Quitter." He grins. You return him a twisted smile of your own.

"Chelsea was looking forward to giving me the business," you say as you lift your coffee for another sip. "It's one of the things that makes her happy, fucking with people. I just robbed her of the chance." You hold his eye as you take another sip.

Shadow show around Seth's eyes and mouth, and his gaze flickers a little.

"Well, you might be right," he says, and stretches. "Cindy used to say stuff like that too."

"Cindy wasn't smart enough to get out. Or she was too stubborn to. But I got out!"

You smile at him.

"Don't even think about dating another girl on the squad, Seth," you tell him. "It's not worth the drama. But a girl who used to be on the squad, and doesn't care anymore?" You affect a nonchalant shrug. "Maybe, if you like that kind of girl."

Seth's mouth curls up into a half-smile.

"Something to think about," he says.

* * * * *

You haul out your own math homework and compare notes with Seth, going over each other's work and making corrections to your own and to his. You're impressed at how good he is, and you tell him so.

"Listen, do you play tennis?" you ask him later, as you're walking into the darkening parking lot. "I thought so," you add when he says that he does. "How about we set up a double-date? I mean, a doubles date," you correct yourself with a blush.

"I'd go for a double date too," he replies with a jaunty confidence.

"Really." You feel yourself fizzing all over. "Lemme talk to Cody. Cody Schaeffer? See if there's a girl he'd take as a partner, while you and me— And then after we play we could all of us go someplace."

Seth leans in close.

"How about going up to the school now?" he asks in a low murmur.

Next: Coming soon! Check back!

*
"Table of Contents (Vol. 5)" 
"The Book of Masks (Vol. 5)"