Chapter #73A Very Different Kelsey Blankenship by: rugal b.   By the time last period lets out you shouldn't, you realize. You'd rather not involve her at all and you don't want to be around that prick Mansfield even if it's to ruin him. Plus you're not even sure how you'd get close to Lisa in the first place although with Chelsea's mind at your disposal at the moment you'd undoubtedly be able to cook something up. Not wanting to be around Mansfield would also eliminate Deanna as Chelsea's mind tells you about her not-so-secret feelings for him. With Amanda, Ricky is just too much of a greasy little weasel and as her you'd have to pay him just enough attention to keep him happy which isn't an enticing prospect.
That leaves Kim and Kelsey. Both of them wield considerable influence both among the AP group and school in general but they're about as opposite as it gets and, much as you like Kim, her niceness might not cause people to take her as seriously. That would leave...
"Kelsey!" you chirp as you glide up to her while she puts some books in her locker.
She turns to look at you with a blindingly bright smile, "Chelsea, I see you're looking as nice as always."
"You too, Kels!" you say cheerily. The passive aggressiveness is evident in both of your voices.
"So what do you want?" Kelsey asks as she closes her locker and the faux-cheeriness, and temperature, drops just a bit.
You, however, keep a bright and friendly expression. "Oh, well there's a small get together I'm headed to," you state, "and I was wondering if you wanted to come along. A few people from Westside, a few from Eastman..."
Any pretense of fake friendliness from Kelsey is now gone as she rolls her eyes. "Chelsea, please. I have more important stuff to do than go with you, of all people, to a stupid little party. Especially with--"
"Jonathan Straussler." you state.
"--Jonathan Straussler." Kelsey finishes, influenced by what you've said which gives her pause, "Wait, Straussler?"
"It's at his place." you smirk, "He wants to try and make peace between the schools so he's throwing a little soirée at his place with some of the more influential people at each place. He told Kim who told me and we've told a few other people."
Kelsey eyes you with a mix of wariness and contempt. "If he told Kim, why did she tell you instead of me?" she asks.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe she just came across me first? Maybe it slipped her mind?" you try to sound as innocent as possible. "But are you really going to pass up a chance to go to Jonathan's mansion?"
Kelsey continues to eye you but eventually her defense begins to show small cracks and before you know it enough damage has been done to allow you to get in. "No, I guess not." she says with a tiny bit of resignation in her voice, "So when are we going over there?"
Your expression becomes a little more foxish now that you know you've won. "Oh, right now actually. Better to get there as soon as possible, you know." you state in a friendly manner. You notice that while her defenses are weakened, they're still up so she still looks at you warily, "Why would I lie about this, Kelsey?" you say projecting a slight hint of annoyance, "Just get in your car and follow me."
* * * * *
You see your imago floating before you... or to be more specific the inner workings of your image. The clasps, as is probably the best way to describe it, that join the physical and mental halves of the image are there; countless in number and more than a little daunting. However you try your best to keep your cool, significantly easier now that you're in Frank's body and have his more determined mind to support your own, and get to the task at hand: unhooking those clasps and disconnecting the physical and mental portions of the imago.
The act itself is the simple part. The difficult one is doing that act again and again, over and over, one after the the other. It's tedious and it takes all your willpower to keep concentrated on the task at hand, especially due to what you hear from outside your mental space as you go about your work.
"Oh my God!"
It's Chelsea's voice that cries out, a mixture of surprise and horror. For a brief moment you want to open your eyes to see what it is that has her so upset but you fight the urge and continue your work. This clasp is undone, then that one, then the next, on and on until finally your mental and physical imago float in front of you. You grasp the mental one and are about to do the same to the physical but stop. You're no longer going to be Will Prescott, physically, are you? The golem is already in place so you have no reason to ever step into that role or life again; and so you allow it to float away and disappear into nothingness.
"The mask and the doll," you say to Joe trying not to lose concentration, "Grab them. Mask on the book, doll on the mask, got it?"
In a few seconds your partner as given you the affirmative so you get to work doing the same for Kelsey's physical and mental imago. It comes along much easier and much faster, feeling more natural and less laborious. Once the separation is done you then take hold of her mental imago and push it toward your own. With only slight prodding both sets of mental imago begin to connect and entwine and as the process plays out there's a feeling--an indescribable one--that you want to say is at the back of your skull but you're not sure that'd be correct.
Cold yet warm, hard yet soft and it brings with it a sense of arrogance yet accompanied with genuine pride and confidence.
The process finishes and all that's left is adding Kelsey's physical imago. Much like that implies, it's a reverse of the process with your own imago as you skillfully seek out and find each clasp and connect them, fastening them into place. You're not quite sure how long the process takes--not just the task of reconnecting the two imago halves but the entire operation--but eventually the last of them comes into view, the last connection is made and you finally allow your eyes to open.
You take a brief look to your side and see Joe, still done up as Jon, and a confused and possibly somewhat frightened Chelsea clinging to him. You look forward to see something that looks exactly like the AP queen in front of you. You then wave a hand and leave Frank's body.
"How do you feel?" comes the voice of the nise Jon as you feel yourself come back to awareness.
"You know how a southern summer is? When you step out and the humidity just saps you of all your strength?" you hear Frank respond groggily.
You flutter your eyes open, sit up, yawn and stretch. "So everything went well?" you asl before you let a smirk form, "What am I saying, of course it went well."
"Will? That you?" asks Jon.
"Yes and no." you reply leaving all three of your companions bewildered. "The thoughts, the personality, the very being of Will Prescott are in here but they're combined with those same features, and in the body, of Kelsey Blankenship."
"So you're... what, not you?" asks Frank still trying to shake off the effects of your use of him.
"Like I said, yes and no." you reiterate, a bit of annoyance creeping into your voice. It's replaced, however, with a mild condescension as you explain further. "This isn't like when I placed the anima band on you or your brother. It's not inserting one mind into another body and overriding the controlling one. It's a full-on merging. I'm Will but I'm also, and I expect you to refer to me as, Kelsey. There's no separation between the two; we're one and the same now."
"Great, wonderful." Chelsea pouts. "I thought that by putting you in there it'd mean I wouldn't have to deal with Kelsey being a cunt to me."
You snicker a bit, "Chelsea, didn't you hear me? Kelsey's mannerisms and feelings are there but so are Will's. I'm not..."
You trail off at that. You're not what? The bitch that everyone thinks you are? Well, you are... aren't you? Well around your family you're find and you're a bit of a daddy's girl. But that's not the same. No there's... Karl? Karl Hennepin? That was a fling with the guy who's cute in an offbeat kind of way. You secretly like the guys who are from a world removed from your own after all. But Karl just has a way about him. He's funny and sweet and makes you feel comfortable and at ease. You're a different Kelsey Blankenship around him than you are others.
"Will, um, Kelsey?" asks Chelsea.
You shake your head, "No, nothing." you say before turning to look back at her, "If you want me to treat you better I will. But you have to make me a promise."
Chelsea eyes you suspiciously, "And what's that?"
The smirk returns, you know she can't refuse an order. "I know you're planning on cutting Yumi from the squad, but don't. Don't cut her."
She gives it a moment's thought. "I... guess. But why? Because you were friends with her?"
"Well... yes." you state bluntly, "But I also want you to consider this: what would be better? Yumi off the squad and against you or Yumi on the squad and with you?"
"With me? But how?"
"Simple: we put either Joe or Frank here in for her." you answer, "With one of them running her she'll be on your side and that should take care of any potential mutinies. And it might be a good idea to put the other with me now that I think about it. Kim, Ricky, Amanda... bringing one of them to my side more firmly would mean better control over the AP group."
"That's true... but I was expecting everyone to go somewhere else and control different groups." Chelsea says.
That gives you pause. That could work too and is an equally good idea. You've got an easy in to the underground as well but now you're left with something of a replay of your earlier dilemma. Kelsey does, you do, genuinely care for Karl... would you want to replace him and risk changing what he is just to go with Chelsea's idea?  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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