Chapter #15Grabbing Gloria by: Seuzz   "What do you think?" You hold red and white stripe top up to your torso.
Kendra steps back and arches her eyebrows in a smile. "Definitely Christmasy," she says.
"But a little too on the button? Makes me look like one of Santa's elfs?" She gives an equivocal shrug and you put it back. "Maybe something in green instead." You paw lazily through the rack.
You and the transformed Gracie are in Nordlinger's, the premiere department store in Saratoga Springs. Cindy's mother, pleased by your promotion to cheerleader captain, has rewarded you with a large sum of money and told you to buy something pretty. You've been inside Cindy long enough that her pleasure and excitement is also yours. "What did Chelsea say when you talked to her today?"
"She was spitting mad," Kendra says as she also looks through the new arrivals. She bites her lower lip as she grins. "She really liked the idea of me getting close to you and spying on you."
"I told you she would," you reply. "She's so predictable. So what horrible things have I done that you can report to her?"
"You should buy that red-and-white number, and we can gossip about you looking like a candy cane? Oh, here's something green for you." She holds up a forest-green blouse.
You eye it critically. "A little dark. It's a nice pattern, but I think I could use something a little more emerald."
Time passes as you keep idly shopping and making little exclamations over what you've found. Finally, one of the girls you've been waiting for appears. "Sorry I'm late, guys," Sophia says, hurrying up breathlessly. "The shift manager was late getting in, so--"
You cluck your tongue distastefully. "What are you doing here, Sophia?" you ask, and crinkle your nose. Sophia blinks and takes a sharp breath. "If Gloria sees you here with us-- It is Gloria you say you want, isn't it?" Sophia nods numbly. "Well, luckily she's late too." You pick a bit of invisible lint off the front of her frumpy blouse. "Kendra, take Sophia back into one of the dressing rooms until we're ready for her." You smile and wink at Sophia, and she lets out a breath of relief.
Kendra goes and returns, and you continue shopping. Ten minutes later, as you're holding up a blue-and-white striped scarf to your throat--"Oh, I love it," Kendra exclaims--Gloria Rea appears.
She greets Kendra warmly, but is a little frosty toward you: apparently Gloria is not very good and pretending to friendly with people she despises. You thank her for showing up and begin to ostentatiously court her, picking out ensembles for her and praising her for her ability to look naturally good in almost anything. Her manner never relaxes, though, and you catch her making muttered asides to Kendra when she thinks your back is turned. When you've had enough, you suggest that the three of you go off to the changing rooms to try on some of the outfits you've picked up.
Kendra steps into the room with Gloria, and you knock softly on the door beside it. "Sophia?" you ask, and open it without waiting for a reply. She looks up at you palely as you close the door behind you. "Here's the mask we made of you," you tell her as you draw it from your bag. "It's all ready to use, but you need to put it on so that it'll hold all your most recent memories. Can't have the fake you going off all confused, can we?"
Sophia swallows as she takes it, and jumps a little when the wall behind her thumps sharply. "What's that?"
"Just Gracie getting Gloria ready," you tell her smoothly. "Come on, we haven't much time."
She takes a deep breath and puts it to her face, falling back onto the leather settee as she swoons. You purse your mouth as you watch her. She really is a sweet girl, and you hope she doesn't change once she's been transformed into Gloria. You've been watching Gracie closely, and you've noticed nothing alarming there--Gracie is able to imitate Kendra perfectly without losing herself. But then Kendra, perhaps because she's one of the few African-American girls in the school--is rather insecure and pliant. Gloria is much more assertive and self-confident.
The mask reappears, and you exit without waking Sophia. You knock at the door to Gloria's room, and Kendra practically wrenches it open. "I've been so scared," she whispers breathlessly. "I was afraid she was going to wake up!"
"Not until the mask comes out of her," you say. "And here it comes." A mask drops onto Gloria's lap, and you put Sophia's face onto the cheerleader before scooping Gloria's mask back up. "All done," you smile, and Kendra breathes a sigh of relief. "Get her out of her clothes and bring them over when you're done." You tap on the partition that separates her room from the one next door.
Sophia raises her head groggily as you re-enter. "Kind of like getting punched, right?" you laugh lightly. "Well, shake the cobwebs out, then put this on." You hold out Gloria's mask.
Sophia takes a deep breath, and for an instant you think she's going to back out. "Should I change out of my clothes first?" she asks.
You shake your head. "You can, but it doesn't matter. Just put it on." Her hands tremble as she takes the mask from you, and with a gulp sets it to her face. Her form seems to alter and bend and go in and out of focus, and you step back from her. Then the mist that envelops her evaporates, and Gloria Rea appears--albeit, a Gloria Rea dressed like Sophia Wilson.
You touch her shoulder gently. "Sophia?" you ask. You shake her a little harder. "Come on, sweetheart, tell me you're there."
She opens her eyes and stares through you, then raises her head. "Cindy?" she says thickly.
"What's your name?" you ask cautiously.
"What do you mean, what's my name?" she asks with a trace of irritation. Then her eyes go wide and she claps her hands to her face. "Oh my God!" she exclaims.
You bend down to peer closely at her. "Come on, sweetheart. Tell me your name. Tell me who you are."
A mischievous smile appears in her eyes. "Gloria Rea, of course," she says smugly. She leaps to her feet and tosses her head back haughtily. "Who else would I be?"
Something catches in your throat, but you relax a little when she looks down at her outfit and groans. "Did I really used to dress like an old tia?" Impatiently, she starts to pull her blouse open. "Where are my things?"
You snap your fingers in her face. "I need you to concentrate, Gloria. What's your real name?"
She sighs. "I know what you're asking. Yeah, it's really me in here." She shakes her head, tossing her hair behind her shoulders. "It's just a rush, is all." She arches her back and stretches. "I'm going to go for a run when we get out of here."
"Business before pleasure," you say, but you're mostly relieved. The transformation seems to have intoxicated Sophia, but you acted much the same way when you first put on Cindy's form, so it's probably okay. There's a knock at the door, and Kendra presses a bundle of clothes through the crack when you open it. "I'll be over a in a few minutes with Sophia's things," you tell her. "How's our old friend doing?"
"She's not freaking out," Kendra says quietly, "but she doesn't seem very happy."
"I wasn't when I was her," Gloria says. Kendra glances over at her, then shares a private smile with you before withdrawing.
The new Gloria is so wrapped up in her physicality that she doesn't pay much attention as you drink her in as she changes. She's half Cuban, so her skin is tawny rather than brown, and there's some Celtic in there someplace, for her hair--which is long and mane-like--is a dark red color. She's a runner and a cycler, so her legs and hips and strong and shapely, and she does a little weight training too, so her arms have definition without bulk. But it's her breasts--great, firm globes--that hold your attention while she is out of her bra: they sit over the strongly convex curve of her tummy like twin guardians. But she turns her back on you as she slips out of dowdy bloomers and into a thong so that you don't get to see her nest. You imagine it's tight and red and fiery.
"You really are sexy, you know that?" you tell her as she pulls on the athletic bra, and she looks up at you from under her long eyelashes. "You, not Chelsea, ought to be the most popular girl in school.
"That's nice of you to say," she replies, and sits to pull on the creamy-white canvas sneakers. "I've had my share of admirers. Now, what's this 'business' we're supposed to discuss?"
Wow, she is a lot more self-confident, even pushy, than Kendra; you wonder now if it really is safe to bring her in on the plan that you've begun to formulate. She might prove argumentative, even after you point out how it will rebound to her benefit. On the other hand, she might be even more recalcitrant if you just try maneuvering her into fulfilling your intentions for the school and the destruction of the ruling clique she's a part of.
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