Chapter #22The Tomboy by: Seuzz   Umeko is your cousin. Yes, she's not related to you by blood, being a Japanese orphan adopted by your Uncle Scott and Aunt Mary; and yes, she's a college student attending Keyserling.
But there is no freaking way you're going to use her face in some kind of impersonation.
Particularly, as you explain to Caleb, if it could get the real girl in trouble with a university professor who could likely track her down on campus.
* * * * *
The discussion is suspended once you're inside Ben's BBQ, and it doesn't resume until evening, when you and Caleb lock yourselves in the study for another "homework session." Caleb is still enthusiastic about using the Garners, or maybe Yumi Saito, but you bring him up short with a different suggestion: "Jenny Ashton."
"Jenny?" He blinks. "Well, sure, she's pretty cute, I guess. But—"
"She's not just cute. She's friends with Eva and Jessica, and Yumi. More than we are, anyway."
That's an important distinction, because you're not as confident as Caleb is about getting to the latter directly. "If we use Jenny's face," you explain, "we can use her to get some of these other girls." A thought occurs to you. "Maybe even someone like Cindy? She'd never talk to us, but she talks to Jenny all the time."
Caleb practically starts to drool. It's a matter of keen debate among a lot of guys, as to who is the hotter cheerleader: Cindy Vredenburg or Chelsea Cooper.
"Okay, I'm in," he croaks. "But how do I, uh—?" He squirms in his chair.
"Bring her out to Salopek tomorrow. Tell her—" You drum your fingers. "Tell her you were talking to me about Carson and James, that they might be a good fit out there, and I asked you to bring her out so I could get a recommendation from her."
Caleb blanches. "What, you're going to pop a mask onto her in your office?"
You suck in a deep breath, and exhale. "Yes. Because I think I'm going to have to take her place. Or you are."
* * * * *
Monday comes, and once again you are so consumed with your dad's workload that you have no thought for the caper to come when you get a text from Will at 3:30: forgot i got detention have to sty here til 5 jennys on way up to see u.
You cuss real hard, then tamp your frustration back long enough to call Andy Keyes and tell him that Will won't be in today on account of a school function. You're at a stopping point anyway, so you call the school and talk to one of the assistant principals about shifting Will's detention to the weekend so that he can make it in to his workplace.
You're still on the phone when there's a knock at your door. Though you're expecting her, it's still a surprise when Jenny Ashton enters in answer to your summons.
Jenny is a tomboy, but not one of the "butch" types. Like Carson and James—who she hangs out with mostly—she's lanky, but she's not notably tall for her sex, and her small boobs tend to disappear inside her voluminous t-shirts. Her best feature is her hair, which is long and thick and brown and which she usually wears free but holds back with a baseball or trucker cap. She also has a very direct stare, which she uses to daunt everyone from the basketball squad on down.
She's got it directed at you now. "Mr. Prescott?" she says.
You almost swallow your tongue, for you half-expect her to recognize that it is you, Will, not your dad who is staring at her. But you affect not to recognize her. "You're Jenny, right?" you say. "Come in, just a minute, please." You motion her to shut the door, and return to talking to Mr. Dow at Westside.
"Sorry about that," you tell her when you hang up. "That was the high school, actually." As you stand up, she puts out her hand to shake yours; it's a very firm handshake, too. "So Will told you what this is about?"
"Sort of," she says. She sits in a chair before your desk as you walk around to the credenza against the wall behind on her. "Something about my friends Carson and James?"
"Yeah, Will was telling me about them. They're both pretty keen on science and engineering, right?" Behind her back, you take a mask from your briefcase. "Will and I were talking about how we might have jobs here for other kids, and he was giving me some recommendations."
"Huh. But what does—?" She twists in her seat as you pass behind her, but that's all that comes out before you reach around to press the mask into her face. You catch her head as she slumps, and settle her into the chair so she doesn't slip out of it.
Then, because it would never do to be caught in your office with an unconscious teenage girl, you leave her there, locking your office door behind you and telling the floor receptionist that you'll be taking a quick walk and will be back in ten minutes or so.
But it's a nasty day to be outside—foggy and wet, with patches of rain and the occasional thunderstorm sweeping through—so instead you hide out in a restroom stall with your cell phone and the internet while willing the minutes to pass more quickly. You're trembling slightly as you return to the office about ten minutes later—what if there's someone outside your door, waiting to talk to you?—but the coast is clear.
Jenny is still passed out under the influence of the mask, but it's only another minute before it reappears on her face; you catch it before it can slide off into her lap. You have that golem paste out already, and you apply it to the inside of the mask with a trembling hand, for you are convinced that at any moment the phone will ring or there will be a knock at the door. It's with an unseemly clumsiness that you pop the mask back onto the girl.
She sits up with a gasp, and gives you a look of frozen puzzlement. "Jenny," you tell her softly, "you have to do what I say. Do you understand?"
Her forehead creases. "Er, yes, Mr. Prescott." She blinks rapidly.
"Good. Where do you have to be after you leave here?"
"I don't have to be anywhere," she croaks. "I was going to go home."
"No, you will go out to the Acheson Elementary School. Do you know where that is?" You give her directions when she shakes her head. "Wait there for me. It'll be an hour before I can meet you there, but don't tell anyone where you are. Do you understand?"
"Yes. Except I don't understand why I'm—"
"You'll understand later," you assure her. "Just go."
With a sigh, she stands up and leaves.
* * * * *
You get a text from Caleb not long after, telling you that he's leaving the school and asking what's going on with you. You tell him to hang loose until he hears from you via Jenny's cell phone. Tell your mother you've got plans to meet friends for supper. He replies: cool.
Quitting time comes, and you're out on the dot. Your palms sweat on the drive back into Acheson, and you have to take a deep breath when you see Jenny's car parked in the community center parking lot. You park nearby, and when she gets out to meet you, you tell her to wait a minute and then follow you in the direction you go.
You have no trouble getting inside the basement. Jenny appears at the top of the steps a minute or so later, and she flinches as you pass her to close the door behind her. Downstairs, you tell her to sit on one of the tables, and to take her clothes off.
You have to face the fact now: It's not just you who are excited to be alone with Jenny. Your straight-laced dad is too. Somehow, this is even worse than the way he gets randy when your mom is around.
But after telling Jenny to keep quiet and still, you lay yourself out on the desk beside her and pull at your own face.
* * * * *
You had also prepared for this moment by putting a layer of that goop inside your dad's mask. So there's not much time lost after you wake with a soft groan. For a moment you're discombobulated, not knowing where you are or how you got there, but it takes only the sight of Jenny Ashton, cringing in a corner, to remind you of what's going on, and why. You summon her over with a word and lay her out on the desk. You pull at her face.
A mask comes away, and she falls unconscious. You quickly roll your father's prepared mask onto her.
You were ogling her small breasts when your dad's hairy chest appears. He sits up with a hard frown.
Your voice quavers as you tell him to be quiet and give him instructions on what comes next: He is to go home, and he's to let the "Will Prescott" who is waiting there go out to eat with friends without making a fuss. He grunts sourly as he takes the clothes you are discarding. Only once does he speak, and that's only in answer to a direct question: "Do you understand what's going on?"
"I suppose so," he says in a tight voice. "And I know I've got to do my best to help out."
You're grateful for that much, and don't ask for any more.
As he exits, you sink back in relief. You don't understand how Caleb is handling it; you could never have worked with your golem-dad.
Well, no time to worry about that now. You swing up on the table, lay back, and settle Jenny's mask onto your face.  You have the following choice: 1. Continue |
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