This choice: Go with the Girls basketball team • Go Back...Chapter #23The Things You Learn by: rugal b.   "Joey," you exclaim indignantly as you march over to, and up, the bleachers inside the gym.
Ysleta gives you a look of shock and slouches down in the stands as now stand over him giving him your best pissed off expression. "Babe, what's, uh, what's wrong," he nervously stammers, his eyes starting to shift.
Your expression remains the same as you continue to harangue him, "You know exactly what's wrong! I'd heard you were in the gym and I thought, god, that's just so strange because you're never around here but now..." You look down at the court where the girls' basketball team is just finishing up a small scrimmage. To keep them sharp is the official reason. In reality, the team's captain Almida Jones will call small practices and scrimmages at random seemingly because she can. Her position comes more from sucking up to the right people than any actual talent. You turn back to Joe, "God it's all true, isn't it!"
That was loud enough to turn a few heads from down on the court. Ysleta now starts fidgeting, "I... I don't know--"
"You're right, you don't know," you exclaim even louder and angrier, "You lied to me last night! Lied, Joseph!"
More attention is drawn.
"Uh, can you please calm down and I can--"
"You can what," you ask, venom dripping from your tongue as you say the words, "Leer after every other girl in the school?"
"Victoria, come on, I can explain," he protests but it falls on deaf ears.
"There's nothing for you to explain," you say as tears start welling up in your eyes, "But I'm going to explain something to you: Joseph Ysleta, we are through!"
His eyes go wide at that, "Through," he exclaims in shock, "But Victoria, I swear--"
You cut him off once more, "Swear all you want, Joseph but we're done! We're done," you yell, tears now streaming down your face, "We're done and I never want to see your face again!"
By that time any stragglers have made it into the locker room. Well good, word will spread which is exactly what you wanted. Joe Ysleta and Victoria Rodriguez were going to be breaking up, it's just been sped up. You plop down on the bleachers next to Ysleta, a rather triumphant look on his face. Your partner in crime for this charade, for his part, just looks shocked.
"You can stop, you know. The show's over," you state.
"Yeah, yeah sure but... wow," he mutters, "That was good. Real good. I completely thought you really were her for a second."
"Well, that's the point of these masks right," you ask.
"Well yeah but for a lot of us it takes a while," he replies as he sits up, "But you were shitting yourself yesterday and today you slipped into character immediately."
"It... it wasn't hard at all, to be honest," you state and you now shift a bit uncomfortably at the the thought of how easily you slipped into the role of Victoria Rodriguez. "Anyway, that's done so now the whole school's gonna know about what happened. That gonna make things harder with... whoever it is you're hooking up with? Who is it anyway," you ask, "Uh, if that's alright to ask."
Ysleta for his part just shrugs and then tells you. And it's a name that makes your hair stand on end.
* * * * *
"Christ, this is so hard to get used to," Kristy says as you, her and Jelena sit in the living room of the house Jelena shares with her older sister and some roommates. It's a place you'd think would be dangerous but according to her K.C., that is Jelena's sister, flits in and out and the others use it more as a place to crash than anything so aren't around except morning and night.
As for Kristy, the former Carson Ioegger, getting her hadn't been hard. It was something that Jelena had actually helped you devise: as Joe and Victoria, or rather their replacements, were breaking up stage a fight in the gym on the basis of Joe ogling the girls' basketball team. Sit behind in the gym crying afterwards and one of them would be sure to try comforting you. Take her somewhere private and make the switch.
That someone was Kristy Suffolk, the co-captain of team and Almida's right hand though in truth it's more due to intimidation than anything. At least according to the new Kristy who's had a bit of a hard time getting into character.
"It'll take a bit," Jelena states as she takes a drag of her cigarette, "You should get it by tomorrow or so. Most people do in a day. Most people," she says as she turns an amused gaze towards you.
"Ysleta was really surprised to," you reply fidgeting, "To tell you the truth it makes me a little uncomfortable with how easy it is for me to slip in and out of character."
"I'm surprised you never tried out for the drama club," she says, "You sound like you'd be a natural."
"Thanks, I guess," you say as you relax a little, "I'm still uncomfortable with all of this in general. You're not all like I expected."
"And how's that," Jelena smiles.
"Pod people, pretty much," replies Kristy for you still looking awkward. A small part of you finds it funny: Kristy's a pretty girl, slim and toned with wavy blonde hair so seeing her look so uncomfortable in her own skin is kind of amusing.
"But you're really not," you say as you then shift in Jelena's direction, "Like you. You're... pretty nice I guess. Relaxed. It makes me feel a little more at ease."
"Well some of that is... well, Jelena's I guess personality," she says turning to meet your gaze, "Once you get the hang of it letting the person's character shine through becomes natural."
"So is this all her or all you," you ask, "How do you feel right now?"
"I'm a dyke with two pretty girls sitting on my loveseat. How do you think I feel," she replies wryly with a bit of a smirk.
"Is that YOU you or Jelena you," comes another question from you.
"Yes," is the incredibly simple reply.
"Alright so are you a lesbian under that mask," you ask rolling your eyes a bit, a little bit of a Victoria touch.
"Fuck, are you even a woman under there," this time it's Kristy jumping in, "You an adult or a teenager? Teacher or a student?"
Jelena just shakes her head, "As far as you're concerned I am who I am," she states never once straying from the calm, reassuring tone of voice. "Who I am under here doesn't matter because that's not who I am now. Just like you two. You girls aren't Will Prescott and Carson Ioegger as far you or anyone else is concerned."
Well this is getting nowhere so you decide to change course. "Alright, so then how many of you are there," you ask, "Because Ysleta told me who he's fucking and it's definitely not someone that I saw this mornings." It still knocks the wind out of your sales but at the same time you can't say you're surprised that someone would want to be Lisa.
"There's some more. I guess you know about that one," Jelena states, "A few more cheerleaders. Other random assorted ones. If they want to tell you that's their prerogative, not mine."
"Jenny Ashton," comes the voice of Kristy, "What about her? And don't bullshit me either."
Jelena looks surprised at that. "No, she's not," she finally says after a silence and you notice a bit of a sorrowful tone in her voice. You wonder if she's being honest about that one.
You spend another hour or so over at Jelena's house before her sister, a skinny and lavender-haired young woman, comes home from class. At that point you break for the day as you need to get to house of Dane and Javits, or rather Joe and Frank which Joe had texted you about half an hour earlier.
* * * * *
"Can you believe it Frank? It's like some kind of magic phone," Joe says as he opens the door and invites the pair of you into the house. "Like I just say 'Hey, I want Victoria Rodriguez' over and here she is!"
Frank, for his part, grumbles as you and Kristy take a seat on the couch.
"And look Frank, she brings friends too," he says excitedly as he eyes Kristy up and down, "But man I just can't remember her."
"Kristy Suffolk," you say, "Co-captain of the girls' basketball team."
"Right, right. Thought I said to grab one of your friends though, Victoria," Joe states.
"Kim said to grab whoever," you shrug, "They were looking to put the screws to Almida so I figured, I dunno, I'd try making myself useful."
"Initiative! I like it," he says with a grin, "But man, Kristy Suffolk... something else about that name sounds familiar but I can't quite put my finger on it."
"Fort Suffolk," Kristy finally chirps up.
"What's the base got to do with anything," Frank asks.
"I've been trying to get into character and looking through her head," Kristy states now sounding a little less awkward, "There was a guy who used to work for the military. You know all those conspiracy theories about, like, the Philadelphia Experiment or Project Stargate? The military looking into supernatural phenomena or concepts? There was a guy involved in that stuff back in the fifties named Calvin Suffolk. He did a lot of work in the area here because of the stories and everything. Once he retired they named the place after him."
"Wait... so Kristy Suffolk and Fort Suffolk," Frank pauses as it dawns on him, "No way."
"Kristy's grandfather," she replies, "She's always had kind of a small interest in weird stories, crypto garbage, magic and the like because of it. Her and her ol' Calvin were pretty close."
Joe and Frank look at each other and then talk in a language you don't understand. Then they look at you and Joe's face breaks into a wide grin, "So, how would you two like to learn a little bit of real magic?"  You have the following choice: 1. Continue |
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