This choice: Accept Paulina's suggestion • Go Back...Chapter #65What Paulina Had to Say by: Seuzz   "Throw a party," Paulina says. "That's how you can get Alejandra out here." She glances around the refurbished basement with a searching eye. "You probably have a lot of— I mean," she corrects herself, "this girl probably has a lot of parties." She looks you up and down.
You swallow your resentment and tamp back the retort, I am this girl now. "They've been known to happen," you coolly reply. "But this is pretty short notice for one."
"It doesn't have to be a real party. You just have to— Hey! Quit that!" She snaps her fingers at Grant, who flinches away from Kaylee's unconscious body. You're not sure, but you think he might have snatched his hand away from the front of her blouse. He shoots a quick grin at Ethan.
"Help me corral these idiots," Paulina mutters at you. "Can you wait upstairs?" she says to the boys.
"I got a better idea," you say. "Ethan— Justin— Whoever you are. Can you pick her up, carry her in here?" You point to the bathroom door.
Now Ethan grins at Grant, who gasps indignantly back. He bends at the knees, scoops Kaylee into his arms, and straightens up. A slight strain shows in his face, but pride gleams in his eyes as well. He follows you into the bathroom where he carefully lowers Kaylee onto the cold tile between the toilet and the sink.
"I suppose we better undress her," says Paulina, who has followed you in. She pushes the boys out and shuts the door on them. Then she does a double-take at you.
You can see the thought in her eyes: This is really another guy too.
But she says nothing, and only drops next to Kaylee and tugs at her shoes and socks. You go to work on Kaylee's blouse. "You were saying I should throw a party," you prompt Paulina.
"Uh huh. None of us really know Alejandra. Except for Evie, and you probably don't want her around when you do the thing."
"How is Evie?" you quietly ask.
"Okay, I guess." Having gotten Kaylee's skirt off her, Paulina pauses to study her tight, frilly underwear. "She missed a lot of school, has some catching up to do.
You can't find any words for what you really want to know, except for the blunt ones you'd rather avoid: Is she doing okay after that thing I did to her? Does she have, like, PTSD?
Has she forgiven me, or said anything about me at all?
"What about Lindsay?" you ask instead.
"Why are you worried about Lindsay?" Paulina retorts. "I guess she's looking after Evie. I wish she'd leave her alone, actually."
"Why, what's she doing to her?"
"Oh, hovering, being all motherly. Talking crap about you and your friend, naturally." She looks up at you. "Are you worried about her, about what she's going to do to you? Is that why you're asking about her?"
Your chest turns very cold. "Why, is she planning something?"
"I don't know. But she's got that book, and if I were you I'd be—" She makes a face. "Well, I'd be worried if I was in your place."
Your breath quickens.
"But I don't think she'd do anything without telling me or Bhodi," she goes on. "Anyway, it's not like she can do anything to you. She doesn't know that you're—" Again, she glances you up and down. "And where's your friend Caleb? Has he also gone and gotten himself a—" Her lip curls satirically. "A transplant?"
You don't distrust Paulina, exactly, but neither do you want to tell her that you are now Caleb's girlfriend. "He's pretending to be one of, uh, this girl's friends."
Paulina gives you a long and steady stare. "Okay, be mysterious," she says. "If you didn't want me knowing who you were now, you shouldn't have told Grant and them."
"I didn't know that he'd tell you," you retort. "Why are you helping us out with, uh—" You point to Kaylee. She is naked now except for her bra and panties.
"I don't know." Then she adds, "No, I do know. Bhodi told me what was going on, and—" She hesitates. "Lindsay's still mad enough at you and Caleb to do something. Maybe. I don't want her knowing that Grant and Justin and them are doing it too."
You fight down a grimace. It sounds like Paulina wouldn't stop Lindsay from killing you. It's only because Bhodi's friends are mixed up in it that she's not telling Lindsay now. "You could try to stop them," you point out.
She actually laughs at that. "Have you ever tried to stop Grant from doing something?" she snorts. "And they're all egging each other on. You couldn't pry Justin out of that mask he's wearing now, not for anything." She shrugs. "Still, I guess I get the appeal. You get something better, get something you don't have. That's what's in it for Justin." She looks down at Kaylee, and snorts again. "I should go out there and punch Grant in the back of the head, though."
"You could stop him from putting on the mask, turning himself into her."
"I told you, you can't stop Grant from doing whatever he wants. In fact, I'll bet you any amount of money you want," she archly declares, "that Justin's sitting on him now, got him pinned to that black leather couch thing, to keep him from busting in through the door. Or at least listening at it."
"Sure you could stop him," you reply. "It's easy. You could put on Kaylee's mask, tell Grant he has to be someone else. Tell him— Well—" You crimson at the hypocrisy of what you're about to say. "Tell him he has to be a guy."
"I don't want to be Kaylee Mercier!" Paulina exclaims. "She's an airhead! I mean, she's a sweet girl and all, I got nothing against her. But let Grant be her. He wants—" She makes a face. "If it wasn't Kaylee it'd have to be some other girl. He wants things to play with, and he'd pitch a fit if we made him be a guy."
So you drop the suggestion, which maybe you weren't even serious about anyway. Besides, you're still struck by a novel implication of what Paulina said: that someone could look just like Chelsea Cooper while still being "a sweet girl."
As you're mulling this, a bluish glow envelops Kaylee's face; the mask appears there, and Paulina catches it with a seeming expertise that surprises and impresses you. "I guess now we should put Grant's mask on her?" she asks. "Before she wakes up?"
"Someone's told you how this works."
"It just seems like the obvious thing to do. We should probably get her out the rest of her things, though. God, I can just picture Grant waking up inside panties and a bra."
You smile tightly to yourself, and lean forward to find the hooks behind Kaylee's shoulders. But Paulina stops you. "Maybe I should handle the rest of this bit by myself, Will," she says.
You blush but take the hint.
* * * * *
Paulina joins you and Ethan out in the rumpus room a few minutes later while Grant ducks into the bathroom to get himself into his new disguise. His doppelganger joins you a few minutes later, looking abashed and frustrated. When opens his mouth to speak, though, Ethan shuts him up with a rumbly, "Quiet."
As you wait, Paulina finally explains her idea for a "party": You will pretend to be throwing a large party to which Andrew Webb, Ethan Clayborne, and Kaylee Mercier (three of the more popular sophomores) have been invited, and they in turn will invite Alejandra along. Of course, there will be no such party, but once Alejandra is inside the house you will be able to ambush her just as you ambushed Kaylee.
What if Alejandra wound up inviting some of her own friends along? you object. Paulina thinks that unlikely, but you don't want to take a chance.
But you come up with a variation on Paulina's idea after checking a new text from Caleb. He has wound up at the house of Catherine Muskov, where a mild, spontaneous weekend party has been going on for hours and looks to be going on for many more. He says that Catherine is asking where you are, and he's feeling very awkward—fucking weird—about not having his girlfriend there with him.
Of course you knew about the party, for Catherine has sent you a couple of texts of her own in the meantime, which you've ignored along with other texts from girls in Cindy's social circle. But now you propose to Paulina that "Ethan and Kaylee" invite Alejandra out to Catherine's. "People are always crashing her house," you tell Paulina. "And not just seniors. No one will think it funny if sophomores show up. Especially—" You glance at the buff and athletic Ethan Clayborne. Catherine is co-captain of the track team, and she likes to have plenty of beefcake around, even if she does have a boyfriend of her own.
Paulina is skeptical—It'll be a big party, right? How will we get Alejandra by herself?—but you assure her that you and the rest of the conspirators will be able to scheme her into a dark corner for the replacement.
* * * * *
In the end, Paulina agrees to the plan, and you text Catherine to say you'll be over soon. You're given pause, though, when in her reply Catherine cautions you that Chelsea will be there too.
But will that be a problem? You give the Grant-golem a thoughtful look-over.
Shove Chelsea under Grant's mask? And give Kaylee a mask of Chelsea, at least long enough for her to quit the cheerleader squad and endorse you as squad captain? Or maybe it could be a permanent replacement. Kaylee wants to be a cheerleader; and Paulina assures you she's "a sweet girl."  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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