The Book of Masks (Vol. 5)

Chelsea 2.0

Previously: "Forebodings of the Future" 

"We make a great team, don't we, Kelsey?" Chelsea says with a mad grin as she steps back.

"We would if you were actually helping here, Chelsea," you grunt as you support the unconscious girl in your arms. You huff and strain as you heft and drag her over to Chelsea's bed, and throw her atop it. Only then does Chelsea step in to help by shifting Kaylee Mercier's dangling legs. Her vacant face stares at the ceiling of Chelsea's bedroom.

It's Tuesday evening. You texted Chelsea on Monday night to make your surrender, and Chelsea has moved fast since. You had to spend all of Tuesday flirting with robot-Seth while your girlfriend laid the groundwork for what is happening now.

"So why'd you pick Kaylee?" you ask. Chelsea didn't even tell you who she had picked before texting you an hour ago to ask you to come out to her house. Not that you were surprised when Chelsea told you (at the front door) that Kaylee was the one who was waiting upstairs. And you can easily guess one of the reasons Chelsea chose her. With her thick, golden, shoulder-length hair; her dimples; her wide smile; and her pert yet developing body, Kaylee could be Chelsea's cousin or even her kid sister.

"She's a sophomore, and I wanted someone who'd be in school awhile," Chelsea replies as she grins hungrily down at Kaylee. "So we wouldn't have to do this again any time soon. I also interviewed her last night." Abruptly, she bounces over to give you a quick hug before releasing you. "She sounds perfect!"

"Perfect how? What'd you ask her?"

"About her family, her friends. I told her about how hard cheerleading was, so I wanted to know how much support she'd be getting at home, what was her home life like and all that. Last thing I want is to move in someplace where her dad is beating her or something!"

Would she have told you if her dad was beating her? you wonder, but you say nothing aloud.

"Anyway, they've got money and stuff, apparently. Her dad's an accountant with the city, or something like that, and she hasn't got any siblings, which'll be a relief. She gave me her address and I looked at her house online, it's real nice. They live on the other side of the river."

That would be a nice neighborhood, since that's where all the new development is going in.

"Plus," Chelsea adds in a sly tone, "she hasn't got a boyfriend."

"How is that a plus?" you ask.

"Huh!" Chelsea slaps your arm playfully. "Will! It means you'll have your choice! I mean, from the list I'll give you. Because I am going to give you a list, I'll want a say too! But it means you won't have to turn yourself into— I don't know. Some ugly weirdo she happens to be going out with!"

"I don't think she'd be dating an ugly weirdo," you observe as you glance back over Kaylee. She has large breasts, wide hips, and strong legs, in addition to her looks.

"Well, you'll still get your choice. I'll tell you all about them when I know something."

You give her a sidelong look. "When'll that be?"

Chelsea gasps, then gives you a twinkling look. "Are you in a hurry, Will?"

"No," you say, but you feel yourself blushing. "I'm just wondering. Are you going to switch with her tonight?"

"No, not till this weekend, probably. I want to have her out here for, like, a slumber party or something. Or that's what she'll tell her parents. I don't want to go through what I went through with Gary and Seth, going back to her house without, you know— Oh hey, that reminds me." Her smile turns sly and knowing. "What did you and Seth do today at lunch? You weren't in the cafeteria!"

"The head cheerleader was acting like a total bitch to me yesterday"—Chelsea gurgles and grins at that—"so we went and had lunch outside on the grass. I gotta say—"

"Has Cindy seen you together yet?"

"I don't know. I assume she has. Or she's heard about it."

"If you find a fresh dog turd on your windshield, you'll know for sure she has."

"Ewww! But I was going to say, I like it a lot better when you're with me. It's kind of creepy when it's me and, you know, just him."

Chelsea smiles, and you notice a kind of private shadow around it.

"I know what you mean," she says. "Ever since Gordon— Well—" Her eyes go distant, then fall. "It's not the same between us. Since he's not—"

"I'm sorry, Chelsea," you say. "I wish I knew how to fix him."

She continues staring off into the near distance for a moment. Then those china-blue eyes of hers focus again on you. She smiles, and the light returns to her gaze.

"I know, Will," she says. "And maybe you'll figure it out. But honestly?"

She seems to catch her breath, and her eyes run over your face.

Then she steps up and embraces you tightly—one arm around your shoulders, the other around your waist—and puts her mouth to your ear as she squeezes you.

"I hate what happened to Gordon, and I wish I could have him back. But I'd stay with you, Will, even if you fixed him. You and me— I like what we've got better."

You embrace her and hold her tightly, wonderingly. How amazing is it, you ask yourself, that a girl who never looked at me twice, and screamed horrible things at me the first time she talked to me, could be with me now?

In fact, it's feels more amazing than the fact that you are now Kelsey Blankenship, and it is Kelsey that she is hugging.

* * * * *

Chelsea changed back into Seth's mask after you left her Tuesday night, and she remains in it for the rest of the week. Starting on Wednesday you begin alternating where you and he eat lunch—every other day at the alpha table, where "Chelsea" coldly ignores you, then with Kelsey's friends, where you and Seth gush and coo over each other while everyone else carries on more quietly amongst themselves. On Wednesday night you have that "study group" at the Milagro Beanfield Warehouse, not only with Seth but with Amanda, Brooke, Anthony, Geoff, Lisa, and three satellites from the swim team: Christine, Jamie and Olivia Byrne. Martin also shows up, but respects the differences between you, and sits at another table with Geoff, Lisa, and Olivia while you lord it over the main table with the others.

Afterward, in the dark parking lot, Anthony calls you over to his car, where he is standing in the open door.

"So, are you and Seth going out now?" he bluntly asks you.

You suck in a deep breath.

"It looks like it, doesn't it?" you reply. "It feels like it. We just haven't— We haven't told each other that we are."

He nods, thoughtfully.

"Well, maybe you better ask him," he says. "You don't want to let him get away."

"Do you like him?" you ask, and instantly regret the question, for it implies that what Anthony (and the others) would think is something you'd pay attention to. (But you had to ask it, because Kelsey would hate to fight their disapproval.)

"Sure. He's the only guy on the basketball team I'd want hanging around. You gonna have him out to the country club soon?"

"Maybe. You think I should?" Again, you regret the question.

Anthony shrugs. "Might be a good idea to see if he likes that kind of thing. I assume you'd want him out there every chance you can get," he adds dryly.

"Maybe I can ask him out this weekend."

"You can play tennis if nothing else," Anthony says. "But ask him if he plays golf. I'd like to do a round with him."

You smile. "I will. Thanks, Anthony."

He smiles back, and climbs into his car.

You return slowly to yours. Inside, behind the wheel, you pause to brush your fingers up the front of your zipper, behind which your pussy is tingling.

I'm going to take my boyfriend to the country club this weekend, where I'm a member, you marvel to yourself, for you are still capable of being surprised at where and who you are. And I'm going to drive him there in my BMW!

You hope it doesn't rain, so you drive with the top down.

* * * * *

Chelsea agrees to go with you on a brunch date to the country club on Sunday. But when Saturday dawns, it's from Kaylee Mercier's phone that you start getting texts. She spent the night at Chelsea's, and the experience made a new girl of her.

"Okay, the new squad's all set up," Kaylee tells you late Saturday morning when you pick her up for a healthy, organic lunch at Canopies. "It'll be me, Madison, Dana, Avery, Caitlyn Smart, and Stacey Stahl joining. Chelsea's going to call Michelle today to tell her she's off the squad."

"Dream lineup," you say as you accelerate up the street.

"I know! Only thing I'm worried about is Madison. She needs to be on the squad because she's so good. But I'm worried she's going to turn out to be another Cindy."

You glance over at your passenger. Except for a slight difference in the profile, the golden-haired girl next to you could almost be Chelsea Cooper.

"You can handle that, can't you?" you say. "I mean, there's no way a sophomore who's just joined the squad can make trouble for you."

"No, not for me. I mean, not for Chelsea," Kaylee corrects herself. "But for me. I'm going to be squad captain next year. Think of it, Will!" she exclaims. "Me, Kaylee Mercier, am going to be the first girl in Westside history who is squad captain for two years in a row!"

So what is she worried about? Only that Madison Crawford will be a thorn in her side for those two years.

"It'd be so much easier," she casually observes, "if me and Madison were best friends. Or even closer?" She gives you a sidelong look.

"I thought you wanted me to be your boyfriend," you carefully reply.

"You could be that too."

That's all for now.

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