# chapters

path: 11111231111213
author_id: seuzz
title: Personalities on Parade
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Who do we know that's been out to the Warehouse?"<br/>
<br/>
That's the question you put to Caleb the next morning. You've fifteen minutes or so before first period starts, but as usual you and your best friend are camped out in Mr. Walberg's class early. Except for Dean Stratton, who's slumped in his desk on the other side of the room with his eyes and thumbs glued to his cell phone, you so far have the place to yourself.<br/>
<br/>
Caleb answers you with a beady-eyed glance. "Are you saying you don't know me?" he asks.<br/>
<br/>
"What?" you reply. Then: "Oh, fuck you! You've never been out to—"<br/>
<br/>
"Who says?"<br/>
<br/>
"I say so! Fucking liar."<br/>
<br/>
"I am a man of many secrets and mysteries," he retorts with a note of lofty disdain. "You think you know me, but—"<br/>
<br/>
<i>"Thhbpppt!"</i><br/>
<br/>
He gives you a dirty look. "Why do you want to know?"<br/>
<br/>
"Just wondering. Do you think Cassie's been out there?"<br/>
<br/>
"Cassie? <i>Harper?</i>" He blinks. "No. Cassie Harper—"<br/>
<br/>
"I think she has. I was hanging out with her and some friends on Sunday—"<br/>
<br/>
"When was this?" Caleb asks sharply.<br/>
<br/>
"I just said. Sunday."<br/>
<br/>
"What was the deal?"<br/>
<br/>
"I ran into them." Now it's your turn to give him a look. "I just ran into them, man. It's not like I'm <i>seeing people behind your back.</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, well, I was hanging out with people last Sunday too, and—" He breaks off. "Aren't you going to ask me who?"<br/>
<br/>
"No. Do any of them hang out the Warehouse?"<br/>
<br/>
"What is this fascination with the Warehouse all of a sudden?"<br/>
<br/>
The fascination has to do with all the chatter last night after you started replying from Will Chang's x2z account. Aside from the rush of posts and replies about your selfies, and questions about when you'd be putting up pictures from San Diego (questions that made you gulp), you found yourself badgered from all directions from girls begging you to come out to the Warehouse this weekend.<br/>
<br/>
Which is a great temptation, particularly if you can do it under a face that's not your own.<br/>
<br/>
The Warehouse is probably the most famous party spot in the city, which is a paradox because it is also supposed to be the most secret. How it manages to stay open, no one can say. (Unless the cops and politicians are being paid off under the table.) It's an abandoned warehouse in the city's crumbling, post-apocalyptic industrial downtown: a hulking cavern of concrete and sheet metal, bounded on one side by the railroad track and on the other by other abandoned industrial building that are now the abodes of transients, addicts, and the criminals who prey on them. No one that you personally know dares visit the place in the daytime during the week.<br/>
<br/>
But come the weekend ...<br/>
<br/>
That's when the city's high schoolers take over.<br/>
<br/>
The place, report has it, comes alive with music, dancing, drinking, and assorted other entertainments. It's a giant rave, staffed, policed, and attended exclusively by high school students. There is safety in numbers from the area gangs—particularly as security (so you've heard) is provided by school football players, wrestlers, and other well-muscled types—but it is supposedly no less dangerous on the inside, in which brawls, fistfights, and the occasional shooting are all supposed to be a regular happening. Along with alcohol poisoning, drug overdoses, falls from high places by people too hopped up on chemicals to know better.<br/>
<br/>
It's a place you've been dying to see first hand, but have always been too chicken-shit to visit yourself.<br/>
<br/>
Though if Cassie Harper—tiny, sweet, no-swearing chatterbox Cassie Harper—regularly goes out there, it can't be as bad as rumored, can it?<br/>
<br/>
Anyway, your new friends told you all about it and insisted you had come out. <i>You'll fit right in! It's totally your scene!</i><br/>
<br/>
But though you might have a fake face to hide behind, you'd feel a lot safer if you also had a fake persona to hide behind as well—the persona of someone who knows the Warehouse and is comfortable with that kind of scene.<br/>
<br/>
A persona that you could copy into the magical metal strip that you stayed up making last night until two in the morning.<br/>
<br/>
Of course, you don't tell Caleb any of this, and when you persist in asking who he knows that has been out to the Warehouse, he rolls his eyes and jerks his chin at the other side of the room where—<br/>
<br/>
Well, why didn't you think of it before? Dean Stratton—a lanky hipster with the kind of tousled hairdo that's supposed to look casually unkempt but probably has to be styled for twenty minutes before it looks right—is exactly the kind of person you'd expect to see out at the Warehouse.<br/>
<br/>
But you don't know Dean except by name and face. You'd have better luck with that type in second period—your Film class—which is packed with that kind of boho doofus.<br/>
<br/>
So ... second period ...<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"Hey Karl!" you shout to the guy as he comes shuffling in. "You going to the Warehouse this weekend?"<br/>
<br/>
Karl Hennepin, who is well over six-feet tall, with a massive, poofy 'do of dirty blonde hair atop which bobs a battered cloth fedora, looks over at you. He sports dirty jeans, a paint-spattered pullover, and sandals—an Artist-with-a-Capital-A who dabbles in painting, sculpture and collages.<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah," he drawls without altering course. "Saturday. Lady Steel's playing."<br/>
<br/>
"Cool. What are you doing tonight?"<br/>
<br/>
"I 'unno." He plops into his desk with a thud. "Pro'ly stayin' in with pizza and some casuals."<br/>
<br/>
"Cool," you repeat. But you don't know how to press further without overdoing it. Besides, his eyes look very bloodshot, and you guess he's at least more than a little stoned. At the very least, he's too distracted to be worth talking to.<br/>
<br/>
Out of the corner of your eye you see Keith Tilley—who after Caleb is probably your best friend, and who sits behind you in this class—giving you a fishy-eyed stare. "What?" you ask him.<br/>
<br/>
His expression turns frankly incredulous. "You hitting the Warehouse this weekend?" he asks.<br/>
<br/>
"Thinking about it."<br/>
<br/>
"Oh." He manages to fight the smile off his face. "Cool." He settles back in his desk and twines his hands behind his head. "Me, I'm thinking of flying out to Maui. Hook up with Scarjo." He smiles mirthlessly at you.<br/>
<br/>
You make a face back, and turn around.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Hennepin, you thought, would be just about the perfect choice to graft onto your evolving Chang persona, but at lunch you are surprised with three more plausible candidates. Or, at least, their names.<br/>
<br/>
Usually you take lunch out behind the school with Caleb and Keith, but today Caleb says he wants to eat out front with Carson Ioeger, James Lamont, Jenny Ashton, and Paul Davis, who are a quartet of friendlies that you sometimes do things with. He lobbies hard for this, because (he tells you) he heard a rumor that Yumi Saito and Jessica Garner might join their friend Jenny out there. Yumi and Jessica are cheerleaders—and unlike the other cheerleaders they will sometimes talk to you and even smile at you.<br/>
<br/>
Sure enough, they are already out front, sitting cross-legged with Jenny while Carson and James lounge nearby. (Paul, who has an undisguised crush on Yumi, has edged up close to the girls.) Casual greetings are exchanged all around as you and your friends come up, and you try to settle in without making it look obvious that you're positioning yourself so you can drink in the two cheerleaders.<br/>
<br/>
They're complaining about Chelsea Cooper, the head cheerleader, as they almost always do when they talk to Jenny. "I swear," Yumi is saying, "if I'd had a shotgun on me, I'd'a pushed it up the front of her skirt and pulled the trigger." She's a fiery little Japanese-American girl—compact, with a pertly bobbed hair—who doesn't suffer fools gladly.<br/>
<br/>
Jessica Garner, who also wears her (blonde), curly hair cut short, shakes her head. "Too quick. A good drawing-and-quartering is what Chelsea needs."<br/>
<br/>
You listen silently as you eat and as they prattle on, drinking them in. Particularly Jessica, who is one of a set of triplets—she has a sister, Eva, and a brother, Marc—and it is a comment about her brother that brings your interest back around to the Warehouse. He got a ticket for running a red light, she says after the conversation has wandered off the topic of cheerleading, and consequently has been grounded for the weekend. Which means— "Brownie and Laurent are gonna be chaperoning Hannah at the Warehouse this weekend." She rolls her eyes. "God, I know they're friends of his, but I think he'd be smart enough not to trust his girlfriend with <i>them.</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"Marc won't be at the Warehouse?" you blurt out. You're actually less interested in that than in the implication that Marc—the popular captain of the soccer team—sometimes goes.<br/>
<br/>
"That's what I just said," Jessica retorts.<br/>
<br/>
"Well, good," Yumi snaps. "Mokichi always used to go, and he'd come home smelling like beer, whiskey, clove cigarettes, pot, and five different kinds of perfume. My mom always pretended not to notice."<br/>
<br/>
<i>Ding!</i> Another bell-like alert goes off. Mokichi is Yumi's older brother, and you remember him as a tough-as-nails bad-ass. Probably good mental armor. And it sounds like he knew how to have fun.<br/>
<br/>
You're still mulling over these names, weighing them against Karl's, when Jenny unintentionally drops the name of another candidate: Ian Patton, who she says is "the only decent musician" she's heard playing at the Warehouse. You know Ian vaguely from your math class—maybe Chang should be a musician?<br/>
<br/>
You pay hardly any more attention to lunch as your head buzzes with these possibilities.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
The trouble, though, is getting to any of these guys, for you don't know them to hang out with. So you have to give serious thought to one DM that drops before the end of school.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Hey Will, hear great things about you, thought maybe we could meet up tonight.</i><br/>
<br/>
It's from Jack Li, the gay guy they're trying to set Chang up with. But apparently he's popular, and he does regularly attend the Warehouse. <br/>
<br/>
And he's ripe for the plucking.</span></div></div>


path: 111112311112135
author_id: seuzz
title: Mindjack
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>You twist in your seat as you study the DM from Jack Li. It's like there's a second skin under your own, trying to squirm its way to the surface: anticipation battling reluctance.<br/>
<br/>
He wants to meet up with your alter ego after school, for what sounds like a one-on-one. He seems to be very popular, and he's been out to the Warehouse before, so he sounds exactly like the kind of person you've been investigating all day. And with this DM he's made himself easily gettable, which puts him way ahead of the other four on your list.<br/>
<br/>
But he's gay. He's the guy your new friends are trying to set their new friend Will Chang up with.<br/>
<br/>
What will happen if you copy and wear the brain of a gay guy? Will that instantly turn you gay? You didn't invent "Will Chang" so that you could meet "cute guys"!<br/>
<br/>
<i>I can get a copy of him. That's the thing that matters,</i> you tell yourself as, with watering eyes you study the text. It's the last period of the day, so you don't have a lot of time to decide.<br/>
<br/>
"Hey Will!"<br/>
<br/>
You jump in your seat and turn around. Cassie is dimpling at you from the back of the room. "What are you doing tonight?"<br/>
<br/>
"I dunno," you admit in a sweat.<br/>
<br/>
"Are you interested in going out to the Warehouse? A bunch of us putting together a group, and we'll be meeting at around nine— We'd meet earlier but Mindy and—"<br/>
<br/>
She prattles on this way and you don't interrupt her as she takes almost a full sixty seconds to invite you to meet up with them all at Eastman High School at nine o'clock for a "shuttle ride" in to the Warehouse. You only return her a casual nod and say that you'll have to "check" your schedule.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Okay, Jack, you better be worth it,</i> you growl to yourself as you type in a reply to him. Cassie's invite has galvanized you into a decision.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
It's about five-thirty, and you're loitering in the parking lot of the Milagro Beanfield Warehouse, even though your truck is parked a couple of blocks over at the Koffee Kauldron. You're also wearing your own face, because though you don't want to be linked to the magical mugging you have planned, still less do you want to risk Chang's budding popularity.<br/>
<br/>
You got there early, which is lucky, because Jack gets there early too. You asked him what he'd be driving, so you're prepared when a cherry-red Honda minivan comes purring into the lot. You resettle the cap on your head, then saunter over while the driver is turning off the car and getting himself unbuckled. He sees you approach, and with a smile rolls down the window to talk.<br/>
<br/>
Jack Li is a handsome kid, with regular, Asian features and a wide, white, and relaxed smile that seems to come easily to his face. His skin is very clean and clear, and his dark hair is brushed up and to the side into a neat, lush pompadour. "Hey Will," he calls, and it surprises you that he knows (or remembers) who you are. "You coming or going?"<br/>
<br/>
"Er, going," you improvise. You are conscious of being badly wrong-footed, now that the moment has arrived. "I was, uh, here doing some studying." You point to the coffee shop. "Now I'm, you know, going home. You?" You're unnerved by Jack's bright, confident grin, and the metal band you have palmed in your hand slips a little.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, just coming in, gonna hang out a bit before the night starts. It gets boring at home, you know." He reaches over into the passenger seat to grab a book bag.<br/>
<br/>
Then he starts to push the door open. You feel the moment—the almost infinitesimally tiny window of opportunity he has given you, and which you are on the point of squandering—slipping away.<br/>
<br/>
You leap in before it's too late.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, hey," you gabble as you push the door shut again. Jack looks at you in surprise. "You know you've got some, uh, schmutz on your—"<br/>
<br/>
You reach through the window to point to his forehead. Then you open your palm and press the band against his brow.<br/>
<br/>
An expression of surprise appears on Jack's face. It freezes there as you withdraw your hand, and you almost shit yourself as he stares back at you with a look of shock.<br/>
<br/>
But his eyes, you notice after a few seconds of terror, have gone unfocused and blank, and his face muscles are slackening.<br/>
<br/>
Then, very slowly, he sags to the side, falling into his book bag.<br/>
<br/>
You reach in through the window and mash every button you can find until the passenger-side door unlocks. You hurry around and jump in to join him.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
It went very fast and easy, though there was one hairy moment when another car pulled into the space next to Jack. But the woman who got out didn't even glance in your direction before stalking off toward the coffee shop.<br/>
<br/>
The metal doohickey had vanished from your palm when you touched Jack, and it was nowhere on his face when you withdrew. You have the strong suspicion it must have disappeared into him, so you're not panicked, but you are getting antsy after five or ten minutes, when the strip materializes on his forehead, then slips off into his lap. You gingerly pick it up between forefinger and thumb, and leap out of the minivan. You had already prepped it for your departure by rolling up the windows and propping Jack upright again in his seat. When he comes to, maybe he'll think the whole thing was a hallucination, for you've no intention of being anywhere close by.<br/>
<br/>
You sprint the whole two blocks back down to the Koffee Kauldron, where you're parked. There, inside your truck, you examine your prize.<br/>
<br/>
It worked. The runes have faded, to be replaced by ghostly blue lettering that floats over the surface of the metal strip. In this case, though, the characters are Chinese, which you take as confirming that they copied—<br/>
<br/>
Well, something inside Jack's head. You're still not certain of what exactly the thing will do.<br/>
<br/>
The book said nothing about whether you can wear both a mask and one of these things at the same time. In fact, you're skeptical that you can, for the next spell (which you investigated and executed last night, along with making this second metal band) made a glue that attaches a band to the inside of a mask, so that you can wear both simultaneously. (That, you guessed, is for making a "complete disguise" of someone. But though the book said nothing about being able to mix and match items, there was nothing that said you couldn't.) You stopped home after school, to pick up the little Rubbermaid container of glue that you made last night, and with a paint brush you lifted from the garage you now with trembling hands attach this new metal band to the inside of the mask. Your breath is very labored as you work.<br/>
<br/>
But it takes only a few seconds to get the band attached, and after you've blown on it for a few seconds, you touch it to find it firmly anchored to the inner surface.<br/>
<br/>
Your skin ripples with tension as you glance around the parking lot. You are parked in the very back, next to a garbage dumpster, and there is no one around and no one in sight. Still, you crawl down into the footwell of the passenger side of the truck so as to hide yourself further. There, you cup the mask in your hands while you try calming yourself with a couple of lungfuls of air. It doesn't work, and with a miserable feeling of fear, you close your eyes and step into the abyss by raising the mask and pushing it into your face.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You're cramped and stiff when you raise your face again, and there's an acrid, burning sensation in your head—a feeling as though your brain has been torched o a cinder and is still smoldering. You grimace as you painfully lever yourself out of the footwell and back onto the bench of your truck.<br/>
<br/>
<i>My truck,</i> you think with a feeling of puzzlement. You stroke the bench, trying to place why the thought <i>My truck</i> should feel so weird. Almost as weird as the sight of your hand, which is several shades duskier than it should be ...<br/>
<br/>
The memories come like three fast punches to the back of your head: <i>Will Chang. Jack Li. My date with him!</i> Your heart flops with sudden panic.<br/>
<br/>
But those quick punches are only the prelude to the deep, upwelling wave that rolls upward from the base of your neck and up your spine, to flood your brainpan and seep into every crevice of your mind. You have to cover your face with your hands to keep from fainting as a nauseating wave of deja vu threatens to capsize you.<br/>
<br/>
Then it clears, and you are left alone in the cab of your truck with your thoughts.<br/>
<br/>
With Jack Li's thoughts.<br/>
<br/>
Because although you are not Jack Li—you know perfectly well that you're Will Prescott, and that you stole a copy of Jack's brain—you feel his mind and personality vividly with you, like a second brain tangled up inside your own. You touch your face, and the hard, bright thought comes unbidden: <i>He's so cute! And I'm him!</i> It makes you stiff with a trembling excitement.<br/>
<br/>
You only meant to test out the mask-band combo when you put it on. But now that you've got it on ...<br/>
<br/>
It would be a keen disappointment to Jack if "Will Chang" didn't show up. The hope he feels for this meet-up is almost a sickness, and it would be a great unkindness if you blew him off.</span></div></div>


path: 1111123111121351
author_id: seuzz
title: Coffee Nerves
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span><i>I got what I want,</i> you tell yourself. <i>I should take the mask off and go home. I don't need to get mixed up with Jack Li. I'm not gay, I don't want a boyfriend.<br/>
<br/>
And I don't want to lead him on. It would be the kindest thing if I just—</i><br/>
<br/>
Your feel your face tighten into a grimace.<br/>
<br/>
Before you can change your mind, you snatch up your cell phone and answer Jack's last DM with a new one. <i>I'm running late will be there soon as can. Don't go anywhere!</i> You tack on a thumb's-up emoji.<br/>
<br/>
Like Jack would do.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Shit.</i><br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You weren't planning to keep the date with Jack. But now that you've changed your mind, it's like you'd been unconsciously planning to keep it all along. The "wild" clothes you bought for Chang are tucked in a sack that you hid behind the truck bench, where your mom wouldn't find them, so you're already set up to change into one of your alternate's costumes. You're pulling on the distressed overalls when Jack's reply pops onto your screen. <i>Will wait! [Thumb's up] Get you something so itll be here waiting?</i><br/>
<br/>
You have to swallow your heart, which is fighting its way up the back of your throat. <i>So thoughtful! I like him already!</i> <br/>
<br/>
You cuss to yourself as you try to fight down Jack's waxing interest in ... Jack Li. <i>Dammit, this gonna be a real trip,</i> you think, and almost you back out. But by now you've passed the point of <i>understanding</i> Jack's interest in this stranger and into <i>feeling</i> it with a heart-stopping intensity.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Mate Latte if they have it,</i> you text back. (You know they do, and for the same reason you know it's Jack's own favorite.) <i>Cafe au lait then chai latte if they don't.</i> He's going to flip out, you ruefully chide yourself as you jam your feet into the black Converse sneakers, when he sees how close our tastes match.<br/>
<br/>
Jack is sitting where he can't be missed when you saunter five minutes later into the Milagro Beanfield Warehouse. He's in a tight green polo shirt that shows off his pecs, and it's like a punch in the chest when you think, <i>Wow, he looks great!</i> Not only is it an unusual thought for yourself, it's an unusual one for Jack. Obviously he's not used to seeing himself except in a mirror, but this isn't like looking in a mirror, it's like seeing a guy <i>who looks just like himself</i>, and it's pretty exciting. Your heart does a small somersault as <i>He looks great</i> morphs into <i>I look great!</i><br/>
<br/>
He breaks out into a wide grin as you saunter toward him. You can't help breaking into a wide grin of your own. "Hey, you must be Jack!" you exclaim as you put out your hand. He returns you a firm handshake. "I'm Will! Sorry I'm late."<br/>
<br/>
"Jack Li," he replies as you slide into the booth opposite him. "So, here's your mate latte." He indicates the mug.<br/>
<br/>
"Thanks! Don't let me leave without paying you back." You take a sip that you pretend is experimental. "Mm! That's good! Good ones are actually kind of hard to find."<br/>
<br/>
"I hear you're from San Diego." Jack's eyes kindle with interest. "Saratoga Falls has gotta suck after that!"<br/>
<br/>
You wave it off with a laugh. "It's all about the people, you know. Anyplace is great if there's great people." You take a longer sip, and blush a little to realize you're staring hard at Jack over the rim.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
The "date" that follows in nerve-wracking, but in a way that leaves you feeling elated. Jack of course wants to know all about you and San Diego and this fire that burned all your things, and about where you live and what your folks do and all the rest of your biography. At first you sink into the old panic, but once you start to talk you find it becoming easier to give glib and plausible answers. Maybe it's because you know what Jack would like to hear or would expect to hear.<br/>
<br/>
So you dismiss San Diego as "just another city," only one that's got an ocean next to it. "Which is great if you're a fish," you tell him, "but I don't think I'm gonna miss it too much."<br/>
<br/>
That fire? It was in the storeroom back of your house, where your family had packed a bunch of stuff prior to the move, so it wasn't a giant loss. "I needed some new stuff anyway," you add with a dismissive shrug.<br/>
<br/>
Your house is down in Acheson, you tell him, which is a convenient place for you to put it: close to your real house and pretty far from his. "It's bigger than what we could afford back in California," you add, "so I'm really digging it."<br/>
<br/>
And your family? Almost you make them college professors, the same as Jack's own parents, but quickly realize that would make them too easy to track down, thus blowing the story you're weaving for him. So you instead give your pretend dad a job alongside your real dad at Salopek. "It's some secret military stuff he's working on, so don't ask me for details." You wink. "I don't want to have to kill you."<br/>
<br/>
You keep your own answers as short as you can and press Jack to talk about himself. You pretend to be fascinated, even though you know all the answers, and more already. The most interesting thing about his recital, you decide, is how truthful he is. He doesn't pump himself up any.<br/>
<br/>
And of course you have to exchange notes about what you like and what you like to do. Of course, it turns out that you have very similar tastes, from music (anything with a good beat you can dance to) to movies (you both have a weakness for horror; little patience for superhero movies; and only a limited taste for musicals) to food (a distaste for fast food and a preference for organic, home-cooked meals; but you pretend to be more interested in vegetarianism, which Jack has only dabbled in). To make the coincidences less pronounced, you gush about your favorite video games, which Jack has only a limited interest in and experience with. And because you know your disguise's physique can't match Jack's, you confess that you've never really been into the whole "fitness" thing. <br/>
<br/>
But finally, tentatively, talk turns toward ... friends.<br/>
<br/>
"It must have been pretty awesome out in California," Jack says. "It's so tolerant out there." You shrug. "I mean, it's not like it's redneck country around here," he adds. "No one's gonna tie you to a fence and beat you up." He takes a thoughtful sip from his mate latte. "Of course, there's a <i>lot</i> of jerks."<br/>
<br/>
"There's jerks all over. A lot of the ones with boyfriends were jerks too," you add. As with a lot of what you've said, it slips helplessly out. It's a backhanded reference to Charles Hartlein, the very out-and-proud drama queen at Westside. He's pulled all the other out-and-proud crowd at Westside into his orbit—but for unfathomable reasons, he's brutally shut Jack out of it. If anything, Jack feels, Charles is even more cruel toward him than the jocks, many of whom are actually friendly toward Jack.<br/>
<br/>
Not until after you've said it do you realize, with a sinking heart, that you've more or less just "come out" with Jack. <i>As if he ever had any doubts,</i> you ruefully remind yourself.<br/>
<br/>
"It's tough," Jack says. "And when there's not a lot to choose from. And when you're kind of picky anyway."<br/>
<br/>
Your nerves prickle all over, and not until you glance at his face do you realize that for the last minute or so you've been avoiding giving him a direct look. Now you find that he's also looking away, at someplace in the corner behind you.<br/>
<br/>
<i>I could cut it off right now,</i> you think. <i>I could tell him I'm not looking for anything or anyone. Tell him I just want to get through this year, then go off to college and worry about ... it ... then.</i><br/>
<br/>
After, all that's what <i>he's</i> decided.<br/>
<br/>
"So I guess the girls were telling you about the Warehouse," he resumes. "There's a bunch of us going out there tonight. If you wanna come along, get to know the scene—" He shrugs, and gives you only the briefest glance before turning to gaze out the window.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Shit.</i><br/>
<br/>
This is the moment when you can drop the curtain. <i>If I tell him I don't want to go, he'll think I'm rejecting him. It would be a real gut punch, but he won't ask me again, but I'll still be able to hang out with his friends. It would just be a thing that didn't work out between us.</i><br/>
<br/>
But you're held back by a wave of sympathy.<br/>
<br/>
No, it's stronger than sympathy. It's a feeling of <i>identity.</i> Identical yearning, identical hoping, identical dreading.<br/>
<br/>
<i>But I'm not real,</i> you remind yourself. <i>This person I'm pretending to be doesn't exist. In the long-term it won't work. Eventually he'll find out everything I said is a lie. And then what?<br/>
<br/>
Besides, I'm not gay!</i><br/>
<br/>
But maybe there's a middle way. Maybe if you went to the Warehouse, but you also told him that you had a bad break-up, or that you're not ready for anything. Make him understand that nothing is going to happen, but without slamming the door on him.<br/>
<br/>
The moment has already stretched out too long, but you stretch it out a little longer by drinking down the rest of your mate latte.</span></div></div>


path: 11111231111213511
author_id: seuzz
title: A Warm Hand in the Cool Darkness
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Listen, um—"<br/>
<br/>
You swallow hard. You're not sure what you're going to say. You're not even sure what it is you're trying to get across.<br/>
<br/>
And it gets worse when Jack darts you a hooded look. The fear in his glance is impossible to miss.<br/>
<br/>
Then something in you snaps.<br/>
<br/>
It's the resistance that's been holding you back.<br/>
<br/>
You set your mug down, then reach across to pry Jack's mug from his stiff fingers. He gives you a wondering looks as you set his mug down, then close your hands around his.<br/>
<br/>
It's a move he's fantasized about being made on him. Now you're giving it to him in real life.<br/>
<br/>
"This Legends place you were telling me about"—that's a dance club just around the corner from the coffee shop; it's Jack's favorite place in town—"sounds more my speed. But if you're going out to the Warehouse tonight—" You take a deep breath before making the plunge. "I want to go too."<br/>
<br/>
The astonishment on his face would be comical if it wasn't at the same time a little heartbreaking.<br/>
<br/>
Then the side of his mouth goes up in a cockeyed grin. "Great! Though if you want to hit Legends instead—"<br/>
<br/>
"You pick." You squeeze his hand. "I think we settled one thing. I'll probably dig whatever you decide."<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You and Jack have been talking for an hour, at least, and you both decide you need to get home for supper. You walk out of the coffee shop together, not holding hands, but outside you grip and squeeze his shoulder as Jack asks for your number. "Let's just keep using DMs," you tell him. "That way I got only one place to keep track of."<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, how'd you manage to get a Westside account?" he asks.<br/>
<br/>
You shrug. "There's ways. We hacked the site all to pieces back at my old school." You give him one last punch in the shoulder, and tell him to let you know when he's decided what he wants to do tonight.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
It's a rush when you get the mask off again, and you are shaking hard all the way on the drive home. <i>I've got a date for tonight!</i> you exult. <i>I think I've got a boyfriend!</i><br/>
<br/>
And— <i>Holy shit!</i> you add as your grin turns sickly. <i>What the fuck is the matter with me?</i><br/>
<br/>
The matter, of course, is the very strong personality you felt while inside the mask. <br/>
<br/>
Jack Li—now that you're outside of his brain and you can get some perspective on what you were feeling—is very self-assured and sociable. You found talking to him to be the easiest thing in the world, and not just because he was a glib talker but because you had become one as well. Your heart swelled when he talked about his friends Parker and Kristina and Wendy, and Leah and Brianna and Genesis, and ... and ... and ... <i>So this is what it's like having lots of friends,</i> you mused, <i>instead of just the same two or three that I see every ... miserable ... day.</i> When you're Jack Li, all you have to do is text someone, and you can be pretty assured of finding something fun to do and someone cool to hang out with.<br/>
<br/>
But at the same time there was the yearning for something more intimate. More confidential. Something special and secret to be shared with only one other person. There's something sterile inside all those friendships. He knows so many girls, but he has nothing for them and they have nothing for him. It's almost worse with the guys at school, where there is always a wall—thin but impermeable—that cuts them off. Even with Parker, his best friend from elementary school, there is something vital withheld.<br/>
<br/>
And when you were in the mask you felt a wild, runaway hope that <i>here</i> at last, like a falling star lighting in his hand, was the <i>thing</i> he wanted.<br/>
<br/>
How could you not have felt his happiness? How could you not have wanted it too? <i>If he was hungry,</i> it occurs to you now, <i>I'd've felt hungry too. And it would have felt good to eat!</i><br/>
<br/>
Speaking of hunger, you are ravenous, and try to put aside the feeling of panic you can't seem to shake as you race home for your dinner.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You keep your phone close and logged in to Chang's account, but after your father gives you a second dirty look over the dinner table you turn the sound down so that the constant DMs and other alerts won't disturb things any further. It's all chatter about whether to go to the Warehouse or somewhere else. You can't help wondering what DMs Jack is exchanging with his other friends.<br/>
<br/>
By eight o'clock, a decision has been made, and not only Jack but Mindy and Melissa and others are hitting you with DMs telling you to meet up at the Eastman parking lot when you can. <i>We'll all split up and go where we want after that,</i> Jack tells you.<br/>
<br/>
You have a stupidly early curfew—11:30—which will only give you a few hours of fun unless you want to chance pissing off your dad, so you rush out as soon as you can tell your mom you're off to hang out with friends.<br/>
<br/>
You have to change first, of course, so you detour to the Acheson Community Center.<br/>
<br/>
It used to be the village's elementary school (or some such) a couple of decades back, and it looks like it was built a hundred years ago. It's made of greying brick and it sits on a shady lot with many old trees towering up around it. You park in the small lot around back, and as you pull off one set of clothes and pull on another, your eye strays to a distant corner, around which—<br/>
<br/>
It was last year that you found another way into the building. You were wandering around the neighborhood and wound up at the Center, and that's how you found a short staircase the led down to an outside door whose top edge barely peeped out above ground. It had a padlock on it, but you were bored and in a mood for destruction, so you went home to get a crowbar, which you used to pry the lock off.<br/>
<br/>
On the other side was another short, shadowy set of stairs that plunged into a basement. The place was filthy with dust and grime, and packed to the ceiling with old bookcases and discarded cabinetry, stacks of old school desks and conference tables, cast-iron sinks and toilets, moldy old gym equipment, and other castoffs from the days when the place was a functioning school. Why they stored the stuff instead of throwing it away, you don't know.<br/>
<br/>
By the light of narrow windows high under the ceiling, through which dim and dusty sunlight came streaming through grass and weeds, you explored the space. It was much bigger than it looked from the outside, and you were able to wind a path into the depths. You poked around and rearranged things a little to make a kind of "fort." Then you went home, got a new padlock, and put it on the door.<br/>
<br/>
A few days later, when you checked back, your lock was still there.<br/>
<br/>
So you told your friends Caleb and Keith about it, and for a few weeks you made the place a weekend clubhouse. Last Halloween you actually camped out inside it overnight, drinking some whiskey that someone had got ahold of, and try go tell ghost stories.<br/>
<br/>
But it's been months and months since you've been back. You're sure that your padlock is long gone. But it occurs to you now that if you needed a place to hide out to do your experiments, the basement would probably make a good hideout.<br/>
<br/>
You don't check it out now, though. After getting changed back into those stylish overalls and other gear, you push the mask to your face, and pass out.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"Will!" "Will!" "Will!" You're greeted by lots of squealing girls as you come sauntering across the Eastman parking lot to where your new friends are gathered. The lot is a checkerboard of black-and-white under the blazing vapor lamps, and it's packed with vehicles, many of them thumping out music as dozens of high school kids mill about in small packs. You catch a few heads turning your way, but you ignore them.<br/>
<br/>
It's odd to hear your name shouted out by a lot of excited girls. It's also weird to feel so comfortable putting your arms out to catch them as they come running up, and to peck them softly on the sides of their faces. Besides the ones you've already met—Mindy and Melissa and Elle; Cassie and Molly and Faith—there are the ones that you already know through the memories you've copied, but who you pretend now you're meeting for the first time. Leah Simmons. Brianna Kirschke. Emma Witkin. Genesis Lee. Also, some guys: Daniel Lujan and Aaron Flood. Most of these people are in the school marching band.<br/>
<br/>
Jack, you notice, hangs back and lets you fight your way through the crowd before reaching him. When you do, you put out your fist for a causal bump, which he returns.<br/>
<br/>
"So where are we going?" you loudly demand after the last few introductions have been made. "My folks stuck me with a bullshit curfew, so I don't got any time to waste."<br/>
<br/>
"We're all going to the Warehouse," says Leah. She's a tomboyish blonde with the kind of short haircut that would tag her as a lesbian if she wasn't so outspokenly fond of cock. "Genesis's boyfriend's working there tonight."<br/>
<br/>
Genesis, a big girl with mounds of frizzy black hair that falls to her shoulders, squeals. "He is not!"<br/>
<br/>
"Okay, he's just her crush," Leah says. "One of these nights we're gonna push her into asking him to dance, and maybe it'll be tonight!" Genesis squeals again.<br/>
<br/>
"So who's the guy?" you ask, as though you don't know.<br/>
<br/>
For it gives you a pang of jealousy. Blake O'Brien is Jack's secret crush as well.</span></div></div>


path: 111112311112135112
author_id: seuzz
title: A Date With Himself
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Jack was telling me about this Legends dance club," you tell the girls clustered around you.<br/>
<br/>
"Ooh, Legends!" Faith Becker exclaims. "I haven't been out there since—"<br/>
<br/>
But Leah nudges her hard. "We're going to the Warehouse. 'Cos Genesis wants to see Blake."<br/>
<br/>
Genesis squeaks.<br/>
<br/>
"Well, she can go," Faith protests. "And we can—"<br/>
<br/>
Leah nudges her again. "She needs our support." When Faith frowns at her, Leah leans in close to mutter something at her.<br/>
<br/>
Jack touches your arm. "I can drive us out to Legends. Anyone else coming?" It might be your imagination, but you think a few of the girls hesitate, then cower when Leah rounds on them with a glower. "Okay, looks like it's just you and me," Jack says as he punches you in the shoulder.<br/>
<br/>
"Don't worry, I'll see you guys all around again next weekend," you call out to the girls. "We'll hit the Warehouse for sure then. Or tomorrow. Hell, we got all weekend, right?"<br/>
<br/>
"Bye!" the girls all wail, and almost you wish you'd chosen to go to the Warehouse instead.<br/>
<br/>
"We're gonna run into some other people I know out at Legends," Jack tells you as you buckle yourselves into his minivan. "I know Parker's gonna be out there. He doesn't like going to the Warehouse."<br/>
<br/>
"I hear it's kind of rough."<br/>
<br/>
"It's not as bad as people say. But I'm just letting you know it's not gonna be just you and me out there."<br/>
<br/>
You lightly pound his hand as he lays it on the gearshift. "That's fine. That's something I, uh, wanted to talk about anyway."<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah?"<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah. Uh, don't take this wrong, but I don't exactly want to rush into anything."<br/>
<br/>
"Oh." Maybe you just expect the reaction, but it sounds like a sigh of relief. "That's— That's great. I— I kind of feel the same way. Um—"<br/>
<br/>
"I want us to be friends," you tell him. "Friends first. You know?"<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah! That's how I, uh—"<br/>
<br/>
"And then, you know, maybe, after we're comfortable—" <i>If I ever am comfortable with the idea,</i> you think to yourself. Then you add, <i>What am I saying? As if I ever </i>would<i> be comfortable with it!</i><br/>
<br/>
But Jack is still talking, and it is easiest to just go along with him. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking," he assures you, and you pretend to smile.<br/>
<br/>
A silence settles inside the cabin as the minivan races down the night-shrouded boulevard. You can guess what needs to be said, but you decide that you want him to be the one to say it.<br/>
<br/>
But when he doesn't, you reach over to ruffle the hair over his ear. That seems to set him off.<br/>
<br/>
"Just so you know," he gasps, "Saratoga Falls isn't, you know, the most progressive place around, but it's not bad. But I've never actually, um, <i>gone out</i> with a guy. With anyone. I mean, like, gone steady."<br/>
<br/>
"You mean you've never had a boyfriend?"<br/>
<br/>
"No. I mean, yeah. That's what I mean." There's a tremble in his voice.<br/>
<br/>
"Well, thank God you said it! Same with me!" You tweak his ear, then drop your hand into your lap.<br/>
<br/>
"You've never had a boyfriend?" Jack yelps.<br/>
<br/>
"No! And you neither? You don't know what a relief that is!"<br/>
<br/>
"Whoa! I was sure—"<br/>
<br/>
"I told you, they were all assholes back home. Oh, fuck!" You let out your breath. "So, you know, no pressure—"<br/>
<br/>
"No!" Jack sounds almost giddy.<br/>
<br/>
"So, no pressure, no plans. Just be cool, be friends." You rub his shoulder. "Figure it out between us."<br/>
<br/>
He takes his eyes off the road long enough to give you a couple of quick looks. "Totally!" he exclaims, and his voice is tinged with almost hysterical relief.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
As Jack promised, there are other people at Legends, all of whom you of course recognize but have to pretend like you don't know already. Parker Stott, who was Jack's best friend since elementary school. Kristina Townes, who is a long-time friend who has now become Parker's girlfriend. Wendy Terrill, another long-time friend. Laura MacGregor, a girl you yourself hung out with early in high school, but who has drifted away. (She's gotten kind of chunky in the meantime, to your disappointment.) All of them you greet enthusiastically, and they seem very happy to meet you.<br/>
<br/>
Legends is a retro-techno dance club with a strong disco vibe, and patronized mostly by a young professional crowd. It's the kind of scene that clean-cut kids like Parker and Jack and their friends fit in well with. But the self-consciously retro vibe also attracts a gay clientele, and you can't help picking up on it, especially after you and Jack start dancing together. It turns out that you've inherited his dance moves—some of the best at Westside—and you can tell he's impressed and excited as you match him move for move as you shimmy at each other on the floor. The others are impressed as well. "Oh my God, you are amazing out there!" Wendy gushes when you collapse next to her at a table after a twenty-minute, hands-free make-out session with Jack out on the floor. You can only nod with gratitude, for you are wiped from the exertion. You might have Jack's skills and dexterity, but this fake body you've built can't match his gym-honed stamina.<br/>
<br/>
The hours pass quickly, and you actually lose track of the time, so that it's Jack who reminds you that you have until eleven-thirty to get home or you'll turn into a pumpkin, and he leaves his friends to take you back up to the Eastman parking lot. You're full of breathless compliments for each other on the drive, and you eagerly inform him that he has a great set of friends: "I'm gonna be hanging out with them if I'm hanging out with you, right? Please say yes."<br/>
<br/>
"Parker's got a girlfriend," he reminds you.<br/>
<br/>
"I didn't mean <i>that!</i>" you blushingly insist. "Although—"<br/>
<br/>
"Yes?"<br/>
<br/>
"Nothing."<br/>
<br/>
You kick yourself for almost adding the afterthought, <i>He is hot.</i> It distresses you—not only yourself, who (now that you're off the dance floor and the adrenaline is draining away) is more than a little aghast at how easily you fell into dancing ecstatically with another guy—but the brain you borrowed from Jack. It's a shock to see so plainly how hard Jack is fighting not to acknowledge his strong feelings for Parker. But being "Will Chang" has given that part of Jack the opening to come rushing out, and it makes you (Jack?) feel a little sick and very guilty. You hope that your "Although" didn't set Jack toddling down the same path.<br/>
<br/>
You linger in the cabin of Jack's minivan for a minute or two after he's parked next to your truck, repeating the same expressions: "It was a great night." "Thanks for inviting me out." "Thanks for coming out." "Talk to you this weekend?" "I'll DM you when I know what's happening." "Be sure to include me." "Count on it." A pause. "Thanks again, man." "It was great!" There's a feeling like you're connected to Jack by a rubber band, so that it's hard to part from him.<br/>
<br/>
"Hey!" He stops you with a shout before you can shut the door on him. "If you wanna hang out this weekend," he says, "just the two of us—" He shrugs.<br/>
<br/>
"You make the call," you tell him. "I'm up for anything." You shut the door on him with a grin.<br/>
<br/>
A grin that turns glassy as you turn toward your truck. <i>Anything?</i> you gulp.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
It was closer to midnight but not past it when you get home, so your dad just arches his eyebrows at you when you come running in, like a runner sprinting for home plate. There's no consequences the next morning, though, and you're able to get away without being roped into any chores. You take the grimoire and all your magical supplies with you.<br/>
<br/>
You woke to an early DM from Jack, apologizing for the early hour but inviting you to join him and his friends up at the gym for an early morning workout, if you were up. You wait until ten to send him a reply: <i>Bro I just woke up y r u up?</i> He replied with a long apology. You wince: <i>I promised him we'd hang out.</i> But now that you're out of Chang's mask, you're much less interested in keeping that promise.<br/>
<br/>
But that changes after you've taken a look at the next spell in the book.<br/>
<br/>
You take it with you over the old elementary school, where you camp out in a shady spot with your back to the old brick wall. The basement door is just a little ways off, but you concentrate on the book rather than it. Your expression tightens and tightens even more as you translate the list of ingredients using your phone, and as you check the prices for them online.<br/>
<br/>
It requires a lot of new stuff, a lot of it quite dangerous—explosive liquids and the like—and expensive as well—several hundred dollars at least, you calculate.<br/>
<br/>
It also requires a something that you can get for free, though it would take some nerve: four hundred pounds of earth taken from a graveyard.<br/>
<br/>
You haven't got that kind of money. But you still have the shadow of Jack's brain laying over yours. And though most of the individual memories have vanished, you do remember certain very salient facts. Like that Jack gets quite a lot of spending money from his parents, and even has a credit card of his own. If you could get your hands on it ...<br/>
<br/>
Or Parker. He has a credit card <i>and</i> a bank account with a debit card. If you got his card, and a copy of his face and brain ...<br/>
<br/>
You sigh. But maybe the easiest way is to show this stuff to someone, to find a partner.</span></div></div>


path: 11112
author_id: seuzz
title: My Brother, the Guinea Pig
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>With the mask hidden behind your back, you saunter into Robert's room and lean inside the open doorway; he is instant messaging, and glances irritably over his shoulder. "What do <i>you</i> want?"<br/>
<br/>
"Just being nosy," you reply. "I wanted to see how a loser wastes his Saturday evenings."<br/>
<br/>
"Then go watch yourself in a mirror," he retorts. "At least I've got something to keep myself busy."<br/>
<br/>
"Tsk tsk," you cluck. "If you call that 'keeping busy.' You can't even get a date."<br/>
<br/>
"And where's <i>your</i> date," he says sarcastically. "Oh yeah, she broke up with you."<br/>
<br/>
"At least I <i>had</i> a girlfriend to break up with me," you snigger. "Poor little Bobby—" he hates the diminutive form of his name "—can't even get a girl." He ignores you and just keeps tapping away at the keyboard.<br/>
<br/>
This isn't going the way you intended; you were hoping to provoke a fight that would lead to your sitting on him and pushing the mask onto his face. But maybe this will work just as well.<br/>
<br/>
You stand behind his chair. He continues to ignore you, though he tenses his shoulders. You expect him to whip around at any moment and yell at you, but when he doesn't you just calmly reach around with both hands and press the mask against his face.<br/>
<br/>
His hands fly up and he twists in his chair, but you just keep pressing the mask against him. It suddenly feels very warm against your palms, and even as he pulls at your fingers his strength ebbs away and his arms fall to his side. You keep holding the mask—<br/>
<br/>
—and then you feel it melting away. You look down in astonishment: your hands are pressing against your brother's bare cheeks.<br/>
<br/>
You rush over and close his bedroom door, and as you turn back he slumps out of his chair. Quickly, you pull him up and drag him onto his bed, where you peer down at him. He is breathing shallowly, with his eyes open. There is no sign of the mask.<br/>
<br/>
Nervously, you watch and bite your lips. Where has the mask gone? What has it done to him? You knew it was a terrible risk trying this magical thing out on someone—that's why you didn't want to try it on yourself—but the realization that you might have irreparably harmed your own brother isn't long in sinking in. You sit on the edge of his bed, with a sick feeling in your stomach, as you watch, hoping that things will turn out alright. <br/>
<br/>
Minutes pass, and nothing seems to happen. You've just about given up, and are trying to figure out what (if anything) you should tell your parents, when Robert's face begins to glow—and then the mask reappears.<br/>
<br/>
You snatch it up and peer anxiously at Robert. His eyes are now closed, and he's breathing deeply; it appears to be nothing worse than a heavy sleep. You watch him carefully for a few moments, and then turn your attention to the mask.<br/>
<br/>
There is the glint of an image in its polished surface, and as you look more carefully you see that it now holds the pale, ghostly image of Robert's face, reproduced like a 3-D image in the mask's surface. As you turn the mask this way and that, you note that it gives you glimpses not only of his face but of the sides and top of his head; you can even see part of his shoulders and chest when you turn it about to the right angle. It looks as though the mask has reproduced not just his face but his entire body.<br/>
<br/>
You're about to creep out of his room when you get a sudden thought, and dip into his closet to snag a shirt and a pair of pants. Then you scurry out before he can wake up.<br/>
<br/>
You've got the mask and his clothes hidden, and are perusing the next spell in the book—which the newly imprinted mask has unlocked—when your bedroom door flies open. Robert stands there, with a bewildered and angry look on his face.<br/>
<br/>
"The hell was—" he starts, and then stops. <br/>
<br/>
"Yes?" you say with studied innocence.<br/>
<br/>
"Weren't you just— Didn't you—?" His brow furrows.<br/>
<br/>
"Didn't I what?"<br/>
<br/>
"I just woke up!" He says it like it's an accusation.<br/>
<br/>
You look around carefully. "And ... isn't it about time to go to bed?"<br/>
<br/>
He glowers at you, but apparently can't find anything to say. "Just stay out of my room!" he finally shouts, and stomps off.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
When you turned the newly unlocked page in the book, you discovered some new information about the mask: it will continue to "absorb" new body images each time it is laid upon a face, melding new images with old and thus creating new faces, until it is "sealed." Upon reflection, you decided this means that if you now laid the mask upon your own face—and you've no real qualms about doing that, now that you've seen the mask in action—it will create a new form that looks like someone halfway between you and your brother. This would be a useful feature if you wanted to change your appearance without looking exactly like someone else.<br/>
<br/>
But you were more eager to check that it can actually work as a disguise. This involves "sealing" the mask, which the next spell describes how to do. It was too late Saturday evening to work on it, and you had church the next morning, so Sunday afternoon after lunch was the earliest that you could get around to testing it out. You were nervous, because your parents were still home, and you remembered the mess and the smell when you'd made the mask, but you took a chance anyway. It was well worth it, though. The new spell, which only required some of the materials you already had on hand, was much less noisome and explosive, and resulted in a thin, paint-like liquid that was easy to brush on the inside of the mask. <br/>
<br/>
You are now holding the newly sealed mask and are laying, naked, on your bed. It's a moment of truth: different from, but in its own way just as fraught, as the moment when you hit Robert with it. Even if you survive the experiment, it will be disappointing if it doesn't work as advertised.<br/>
<br/>
Slowly, you lower the mask onto your face. For a brief moment you are very conscious that it fits snugly against you, and that there are no eyeholes or mouth hole for breathing: no wonder Robert seemed on the verge of passing out when you attacked him with it. Then, with a gasp, you feel the mask sinking into your face. All your limbs go rigid. Your heart hammers briefly, then is still. You are very numb all over, and a great weight seems to be oppressing your brain. You feel very drowsy. <br/>
<br/>
And then you feel yourself spring upright. You are stiff all over, and you groan. What has happened? You arch your back to get the kinks out, and stretch an arm. You were trying on the mask and—<br/>
<br/>
You look down. Your legs look funny: not as thick, and slightly darker, with thinner hair on the calves. Your toenails are longer, too, as are your fingers, when you glance at them. You touch your chest and feel only a light, downy patch beneath your fingertips. You touch the top of your head: your hair is now very short. Just like Robert's ...<br/>
<br/>
You hop up and look in the mirror: Robert's face gazes back. Except it's not the same. In fact, it's totally wrong, all back to front or something. It's like looking at his face distorted in a funhouse mirror. Sure, the hair is the right color, but even combed it lays the wrong way on your scalp. The eyes are the right shade of green, but the eyebrows run off malignantly in strange directions. You grimace, and the lips leer. Even the birthmark beside the nose is on the wrong side—<br/>
<br/>
And then it hits you. You're looking at Robert's face in a mirror, when you're used to looking at it straight on. <i>This</i> is what <i>Robert</i> sees when he looks at himself, and now that <i>you've</i> got his face ...<br/>
<br/>
Now that you've got <i>his face</i> ...<br/>
<br/>
Quickly you pull out the clothes you stole from his room last night and slip them on. That helps with the "mirror image" aspect, and when you look in the mirror again you are satisfied with the disguise: the lanky arms and the big hands; the close-cropped, reddish-gold hair; the mischievous eyes—more mischievous now that <i>you</i> are the one looking out of them—with the one eyebrow that arches satirically upward; the thick, somewhat chapped lips; the flat nose splotched with large, pale freckles. You turn around and around, admiring the effect. You are his exact twin. You'd be his <i>evil</i> twin if you weren't so used to thinking of Robert himself as the wicked little brother. Or maybe you could be his <i>even more evil</i> twin.<br/>
<br/>
The thought has barely registered when you hear a shout from outside. Cautiously, you glance out the window, to see Umeko coming up the drive, shouting a greeting to your mother. Robert has gone off for the afternoon to hang out with his dorky friends. This would be the perfect chance to get back at him for stealing Umeko away for that movie. Of course, your parents know that Robert has left the house ...<br/>
<br/>
You drum your fingers and think.<br/>
<br/>
It would be a simple matter to steal into Robert's bedroom and take a pair of his extra sneakers, then climb out your window and hide in the neighborhood for a bit until Umeko started to leave. Then you could "appear" as Robert and say or do stupid things that would piss her off. It would be a lovely prank—assuming you didn't somehow get caught out as an imposter. Of course, if you <i>did</i> get caught out, it could lead to problems so serious it's hardly worth thinking about.<br/>
<br/>
2. Remove the mask (non-canonical): "<a href="https://www.Writing.Com/main/interactive-story/item_id/2236945/action/view/chapter_map/111122" target="_top" title="Interactive Story Chapter in Item # 2236945">Remove the disguise</a>" <a href="https://www.Writing.Com/main/interactive-story/item_id/2236945/action/view/chapter_map/111122" target="_blank" title="Open in new window."><img border="0" height="12" loading="lazy" onmouseout="$(this).css('opacity', '.4');" onmouseover="$(this).css('opacity', '1');" src="https://www.Writing.Com/nw.gif" style="opacity:.4;" width="12"/></a> <span class="O"></span></span></div></div>


path: 111122
author_id: gimlet
title: Remove the disguise.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>Oh it's tempting, and getting back at Robert would be well worth... well, most of the possible problems. But... This is a priceless opportunity and you don't want to waste it. You can now BE other people. According to the book you could be completely new people too, merging two images into an unrecognizable face. Is it worth getting discovered just to play a prank on Robert? Hmmm.... You're thinking about it.<br/>
<br/>
With a sigh you sit back on your bed and reconcile yourself that you have much more important things you could do to with such power. Earth shattering things like... see what it was like to be a girl. Or...<br/>
<br/>
"Oh my god." you mutter "The Molester. I could... what? Imitate him? Or maybe frame him. Or... get the body of someone stronger than him and see how HE likes it!"<br/>
<br/>
A grin spreads slowly over your face as you lean back on the bed, but it's short lived. The materials you've gathered will probably make one more mask with a little left over (plus the week and more of effort needed to buff it!) but after that you'll have expended your money supply. How on earth can you get enough to make more masks? You'll certainly want a few of them, just what you've thought of so far would need two or three more masks, and you've barely begun to scrape the surface of the possibilities. You're definitely going to need more cash to make use of this.<br/>
<br/>
You reach up and press your hand to your face in the way the book described, say the nonsense phrase three times and tear the mask from your face. Fainting dead away you come to a few moments later. Oh you have got to get more used to this! Falling asleep every time you put on or take off a Mask is going to be annoying. As far as getting money for more Masks?<br/>
<br/>
Options... You could, of course, take a part time job?... Naaaah! Not your style. But what about the masks themselves? Could you make a mask, put a merged image of two people in (so it couldn't be traced to a specific person) and sell it? Could be dangerous. What if someone knows about the masks, about the book, and is looking for signs of them? Heck maybe the government is after this thing if it knows about it. You're sure the CIA would kill for a tool like this!<br/>
<br/>
Well, maybe you have been watching too much spy thrillers recently, but still it might be risky. But, what if you made a merged mask, used it, then sold another merged mask. They wouldn't be able to trace you as they wouldn't know your face, fingerprints etc. Nothing should lead back to you!<br/>
<br/>
Of course there is a problem with that. It'll need two more masks, one to use and one to sell. You'll need probably another $200 to do that, maybe a bit less depending on how much materials you've got left after making one more mask. You can't use your current mask of Robert. It might serve your horrible brother right, but he IS your brother. Either using his face to sell a mask and thus leading them back to him, or selling his mask and not knowing what the guy who is buying it would effectively be framing Robert for are things you just aren't willing to do. Besides, either could lead people back to you.<br/>
<br/>
You turn the glossy mask over in your hands, peering at the odd 3D image of Robert shining in the surface. It is intoxicating knowing you can BE someone else, feel just like him, his energy his...<br/>
<br/>
Suddenly you sit bolt upright as a thought occurs to you. You had his energy, his body, you were perfectly him. You'd been feeling a little off lately what with spending so much time on polishing, but with that mask on you had your brothers boundless energy. What if it could do more? What if it could GIVE more?<br/>
<br/>
Slowly you get off the bed and go back to the window, this time looking over to your neighbor's house. Andrew would pay through the nose for something like this! He could WALK again! </span></div></div>


path: 1111221
author_id: gimlet
title: Sell a Mask to Andrew.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>OK, thinking it through does pose some problems. Andrew would have to basically give up his life. A Mask of him wouldn't work, those legs would be paralyzed too (if you can even use a mask of yourself!). But a merged mask, though untraceable, would not be him. If he wore it all the time he'd have to get a new identity to go with it. But, that would be his problem. Knowing him he'd probably find a way, 'adopt' the merged mask persona, then fake his death and give everything to the new him? Hmm, maybe he can come up with something better, but it could work. You are pretty sure you can trust him, thus him knowing it's you that have this shouldn't be a problem, though you don't like the idea of him knowing about the book. Maybe tell him you found the 'recipe' for it online? Then of course the website is gone, no trace anywhere, no history etc. You could show him what happened even! When you try to write the instructions down, or type them into a computer they'd vanish! It'd prove it! That way he'd only know you could make masks and not wonder what else you could do.<br/>
<br/>
Or you could say you bought the mask that you make and are just reselling it to him?<br/>
<br/>
First though you need a new mask to sell, and that'll take time. Another week most likely. Another week of back breaking labor! Okay, not backbreaking but still not fun.<br/>
<br/>
You hear the sounds of laughter downstairs and remember that Umeko just arrived. For the moment you hide the mask (NOT under the bed with your porn! You do not want your brother to find this.) and straighten your hair and clothes before striding nonchalantly downstairs. Yes, Umeko and your mother are talking in the living room, Umeko looking fantastic as ever in a powder blue dress, her hair pulled back in a ponytail.<br/>
<br/>
"Hey Umeko." you say, trying to sound as cool as possible. "How've you been doing?"<br/>
<br/>
"Very well, thanks Will" She says "I was just telling Mrs. Prescott about the movie."<br/>
<br/>
With difficulty you managed to not let your face drop with the reminder that Robert got a 'date' with Umeko. He would pay for that, you'd find a way. Maybe there are a few things you could try with the mask that wouldn't be too risky?<br/>
<br/>
"Will?" Umeko says, waving a hand in front of your face. Oops! You drifted there.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, I'm sorry Umeko, I just thought of something," you say, and before she can ask what you were thinking of, add "So are you ready for your starring role today?"<br/>
<br/>
She raised an eyebrow, probably amazed you remembered about the flute accompaniment she's doing at church. "I know I am! Why don't you come and listen, Will. I'd like you to hear how well I've practiced."<br/>
<br/>
Going to church is not exactly your idea of fun, but for this?<br/>
<br/>
"Of course, I'd love to Umeko."<br/>
<br/>
"Good, tell Robert, I'm sure he'd love to hear too."<br/>
You grin through gritted teeth and just nod. Damn, that's probably going to spoil it for you! Maybe you can avoid sitting right next to him? He's bound to be a pain through the whole thing!<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
The show is fantastic, and of course you are completely unbiased! Afterwards you can't really remember much apart from Umeko's playing (she was accompanying someone, right?) and how she looked, so focused and really having fun up there. That's another thing you've always admired about Umeko. She has no embarrassment on stage or in front of a crowd. You just tend to clam up. Watching her have fun on the flute, knowing that everyone is listening to her playing obviously is a big thing for her.<br/>
<br/>
When the show is over Robert and you almost get in a fight leaving the church trying to get close to Umeko to escort her home, but a cough from a woman behind you stops you both from making a fool of yourselves. Instead you both look daggers at each other the whole way home and both miss out on chatting with Umeko. Infuriating, and of course it's all Roberts fault!<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
The next day is back to school and although there is a temptation to take Robert's Mask into school and play some sort of prank on him you do manage to resist. You don't want to be found with a Mask, let alone for someone to find out what they do! This week does seem less intensive on homework, at least from English, and Physics at least you're good at and can deal with it pretty handily (mostly). That leaves you with quite a few nights of full time burnishing your new mask that you fabricated Sunday night. You have to find a better place to do this, blowing the smoke out the window will only work so long, and your Dad complained about the smell again.<br/>
<br/>
Effort on the Mask goes well, and it is mostly done by Wednesday night. On Thursday, though you can't wait to get home to finish the Mask off, things side track you. Well, one particular 'Thing'.<br/>
<br/>
"Hello Prescott, I was just thinking my fist needed a bit of practice and what do I find? A perfect punching bag? I guess I'm just lucky."<br/>
<br/>
Lester The Molester! Oh shit!<br/>
<br/>
You know by now that it doesn't really help to try to talk back to him, it just speeds up the pummeling you'll get... or not. Sometimes he just gets off on the fear in your eyes, the not knowing if Lester will flatten you or not. Unfortunately this isn't one of those times and you stagger to your next class trying to catch your breath after having the wind knocked out of you. At least he didn't give you a black eye. Explaining that to Dad might be a problem.<br/>
<br/>
You spend the rest of the day thinking up ways to deal with Lester once you have the money to make as many Masks as you want. A particular favorite is Using a Lester Mask and a merged mask to frame Lester for murder of guy who doesn't even exist! Tricky to pull off but no way to counter it! Even if it never goes to trial the arrest will be on his record forever!<br/>
As you leave Math class at the end of the day you bump into Caleb. "Hey Prescott. What's up?"<br/>
<br/>
You've seen Caleb a couple of times through the week so far, mostly at your locker, but had been a little preoccupied to say much. From his face he might be worried about you. What have you done wrong?<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, nothing much. Got molested, got picked for a verbal presentation in English for next week. That's gonna suck!"<br/>
<br/>
"Hear you man, so... any word from your Dad?"<br/>
<br/>
You clench your eyes tight at the familiar question.<br/>
<br/>
"Look Caleb, he doesn't trust you, OK? I'll keep trying, and maybe he will put your name forwards, but don't count on it."<br/>
<br/>
"Doesn't trust me? Why?" he says looking genuinely confused.<br/>
<br/>
"Perhaps that whole 'shoplifting' thing last year..."<br/>
<br/>
"HEY! You know I was framed for that! I just wish I knew who slipped those magazines in my coat!"<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, right." you say, chuckling. Magazines was a little too high brow a name for what Caleb had been caught with.<br/>
<br/>
For a moment Caleb looks like he is going to retort back, but then he stops and stares.<br/>
<br/>
"OK, what did you do with Will?"<br/>
<br/>
"Huh?" you manage intelligently.<br/>
<br/>
"You haven't asked once if I talked to Eva about Lisa!"<br/>
<br/>
That hits you. In all your focusing on the Masks you'd completely forgotten about Lisa. Well, not forgotten, just thinking about different things.<br/>
<br/>
"I've been busy." you say lamely.<br/>
<br/>
"With what? What could possibly tear the great Will Prescott away from the plan to re-unite with Lisa?"</span></div></div>


path: 11112211
author_id: gimlet
title: Don't tell Caleb about the Masks.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"I've just had homework." you manage weakly and Caleb leans in closer.<br/>
<br/>
"Right, pull the other one."<br/>
<br/>
"OK, alright, I've been thinking about Umeko, OK?"<br/>
<br/>
"Your cousin? Oh come on, surely you're over her by now?"<br/>
<br/>
"Oh right, like you haven't drooled over her when you bumped into her?"<br/>
<br/>
"We aren't related."<br/>
<br/>
The rest of the conversation is predictabl, getting nowhere whatsoever, but doing it loudly. After parting outside school you head home thankful that you can get back to finishing the second Mask.<br/>
<br/>
Once you get home the conversation from today comes back to you. What about Lisa? Is there any way a Mask could help get her back? You could make a merged Mask and use that to try and date her as someone else? But that strikes you as a lose-lose situation. If she rejects the new you she still won't be with Will Prescott, and if she doesn't reject him it'll just prove it was the real you that was the problem the whole time!<br/>
<br/>
No, you can't face that, and the only other way you can think you daren't do. Making a Mask of Lisa. Not only wouldn't it feel right you'd probably never get the courage up to wear the damn Mask after you fixed it!<br/>
<br/>
You put the whole idea on the back burner for now until you can find a way that a Mask could help with Lisa. Instead you finish burnishing the Mask while watching evening TV. After an hour and a half it's finally an even glossy blue, deep like crystal just like the first Mask.<br/>
<br/>
Now comes the decision you've been putting off all week. Who to put in the mask for Andrew? You aren't even sure what blending two people in a Mask would actually do. Is it a straight blend between them? Looking as if you were their kid? Hmm, there is the other issue of how to get the images to put in the Mask. Oh, well you and Andrew could just put both your faces on the Mask? That would keep it private at least.<br/>
<br/>
Yeah, that should work, and use the Robert Mask to prove the masks work. Oh this should be interesting. Besides you always liked Andrew. He works at home on his programs (you are still not sure if he is freelance or works at home for a corporation) so he should be in now.<br/>
<br/>
You get some clothes that will fit both you and Robert then head to Andrew's before you can talk yourself out of it.<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah? Who is it?" comes the familiar response to your knock.<br/>
<br/>
"Avon calling. They want their money back!"<br/>
<br/>
With a chuckle he opens the door, pulling his wheelchair out of the way to let you in.<br/>
<br/>
"So, what do I owe the pleasure your company Will?" He says, leading you into the living room.<br/>
<br/>
"This is gonna sound weird Andy, but I ain't shitting you." You get out the Mask. "This thing can make you walk again."<br/>
<br/>
Silence falls and Andrew turns to you with a fierce expression.<br/>
<br/>
"Don't joke about that man! This shit is serious. I ain't some kind of freak for your..."<br/>
<br/>
"OK, I'll prove it!" you interrupt and (remembering to sit down on the couch this time) you put on the Robert Mask.<br/>
<br/>
The familiar sensations wash over you as the Mask sticks, you focus as much as you can as you weave, and for a moment you think you can stay conscious ...<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
You wake up to see Andrew's shocked face peering down at you.<br/>
<br/>
"JEEEZUS! What the hell was that!" he gasps, touching the side of your face.<br/>
<br/>
"This is worth a grand, Andy. A heck of a lot cheaper than any of the medical asshole's treatments they pushed on you. This one is my brother, I don't want you wandering around as him, but we can..."<br/>
<br/>
"Who whoah a minute!" He says, getting up close to your face. "Backtrack. This one what? What the hell have you got here?"<br/>
<br/>
You grin up at him with Robert's face.<br/>
<br/>
"What I have is something I stumbled across online, Andy. A recipe for making Masks that can record what someone looks like, then project that onto whoever wears the Mask! Is that cool or what?"<br/>
<br/>
"You found this online?" he asks suspiciously.<br/>
<br/>
"It's kind of weird, but it's there, and it's not. Look I'll show you. You got a pen?"<br/>
<br/>
Andrew rummages around and finds one and hands it to you with a notepad.<br/>
<br/>
"OK, the recipe is like this..." and you start writing, or attempting to.<br/>
<br/>
"Wait," Andrew says as he sees nothing being written, "I'll find a working pen."<br/>
<br/>
You grin up at him<br/>
<br/>
"It is working. Look." and you write your name.<br/>
<br/>
"Huh?" Andrew takes the pen and checks it out, finding it works just fine "This is some sort of joke right?"<br/>
<br/>
"No. Got me at first though. The original thing is in Latin. Bitch to translate, especially when you can't type or write any of it down. Even on a computer it just vanishes."<br/>
<br/>
"Wait, if it can't be written down how did they write it for the website?"<br/>
<br/>
You shrug your shoulders.<br/>
<br/>
"Got me, and now I can't even find the website, my browser doesn't even have a history on it, web-address, nothing. It's as if it never existed. The only way to 'store' the instructions is in here." You tap your head. "Maybe it's some sort of safety feature of... whatever this thing is?"<br/>
<br/>
Andrew slumps back in his chair, exhausted despite barely doing anything physical since you arrived.<br/>
<br/>
"And I have to look like your brother?"<br/>
<br/>
You chuckle.<br/>
<br/>
"As I tried to tell you earlier this Mask is off limits. I don't like my brother, but having two of him around would be too much to bear. Seriously, you don't want to look like someone who already exists. However, this" and you hold up the Mask you finished today "is a blank one. Put it on a face and it records the image of that person. Put it on another face after that and it merges the two into a new, composite, body. Presto! We 'fix' the Mask and you have a new body with legs that work. I'm afraid you'd have to try to figure out some way to change your life over to the new you, but I'll help with that if I can, even if I have to wear the Mask I'm selling you or something."<br/>
<br/>
Andrew peers down at you.<br/>
<br/>
"And this is something from a friend that I have to pay a Grand for? Some friend!"<br/>
<br/>
You get up, still a little off balance, not used to Robert's body.<br/>
<br/>
"Hey! You don't know the materials and effort to make one of these. It's not easy, I need the money to make more masks!"<br/>
<br/>
Andrew squints, a faint smile forming.<br/>
<br/>
"You ain't telling me everything, Will."<br/>
<br/>
You ponder, you could just bluff it out, but this is Andrew. He's a pretty smart cookie and if you start using stuff from later in the book and he notices...<br/>
<br/>
"OK, there was more than instructions on making a Mask on that site. Some of it I... I don't know what it was. I just know it takes a lot of cash in materials and a lot of my time. It's emptied my bank account on just two Masks, and this one of Robert I'll probably never get to use! He's a dweeb but he IS my Brother. I'm not gonna get him arrested or anything. This Mask I'm offering is going to make you able to walk which no-one else has been able to give you. Frankly I think that it's pretty good of me to offer it to my friend rather than sell this on the black market!"<br/>
<br/>
Andrew just laughs.<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, I'm sure you have tons of contacts in the criminal underworld, Will." He drums his fingers on the arm of his wheelchair for a few moments and ponders. "OK, I might consider your deal but I get to test out this Mask now. I can't be sure I really will be able to walk with this thing."<br/>
<br/>
"OK, hang on a sec. To take one of these things off put your fingers like this," you press fingers and thumb to temple and nose, grip your face and pull, "Ungh, pull while saying this." and you recite the phrase you learned three times.<br/>
<br/>
The ripping sensation is very weird, though not actually painful. This time you actually manage to stay conscious, though it's close, and waver, shaking your head as Andrew stares at you.<br/>
"Are you OK?" he asks<br/>
<br/>
"It's a bit weird, but after a few times you get used to it. You'll probably pass out the first time. Here, give it a go." and you hand over the Mask to Andrew.<br/>
<br/>
Tentatively he presses it to his face and convulses, collapsing in the chair before the Mask melts into him. Seeing the changes in someone else is incredible, like a scifi show! You can see muscles shifting, bones moving around into new configurations. You wait nervously and a after a minute 'Robert' wakes up.<br/>
<br/>
"What the... My voice!" he gasps, and looks up at you. He's shrunk and his clothes are now rather loose on him. Going the other way could be tricky. Have to strip to sure you wouldn't do yourself an injury with your own clothes!<br/>
<br/>
"Is this enough proof Andrew?" you say, stepping over and taking 'Robert's' hand.<br/>
<br/>
Slowly you pull, easing him up off the wheelchair till he is standing, amazed, under his own power.<br/>
"Oh my god! It's true! Sheeit!" he starts to dance, and nearly falls over.<br/>
<br/>
"Hey, wait a bit, gotta get used to your new legs there MJ."<br/>
<br/>
"OK, you have definitely got a deal, Will. God, you're right, this is way worth a thousand bucks!"<br/>
<br/>
"Ya think I should raise the price then?" He freezes and grimaces at you "Joking! God can't take a joke man! So should we do the Mask thing now? I was figuring mix me and you together should make someone no-body would recognize, plus the body should be half way between our ages. Gives you a little fountain of youth thing, hmm?"</span></div></div>


path: 111122111
author_id: gimlet
title: Go with a Will/Andrew Mask.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Yeah, that'd... that... Will, you have absolutely no idea, do you? This thing is not worth a thousand bucks!"<br/>
<br/>
You sigh.<br/>
<br/>
"I know, millions right? But if I go to some research lab they're gonna lock me in a cell so I can't tell anyone about it and the CIA will suddenly have a new toy. Come on, I'm not that dumb! Besides I want to help out my friends."<br/>
<br/>
Andrew smiles and nods, then goes to remove the Mask as you showed him.<br/>
<br/>
"WAIT!" you cry, "Sit down for gods sake first. Your legs won't work after, plus taking it off'll knock you out again anyways. Best to sit or lay down while you take it on or off."<br/>
<br/>
"Gotcha." he says, sits back down, utters the phrase three times, and rips the Mask off. "oooooAaaaahhhhhhssshit!" he groans, and you blink. He stayed awake! The first time he used the Mask and he's getting used to it quicker than you! Damn! Shaking off the jealousy you wave the blank mask in front of him.<br/>
<br/>
"This takes the image by melting into your face... it's OK! It just kind of merges, you saw it with me right? Anyway, it melts in and... I guess takes an image of your body. Takes a while. Ten, fifteen minutes tops. Then the Mask emerges again and a few moments later the guy being 'scanned' wakes up. Bingo recorded body. The Mask won't work then so you can keep recording images. When you 'fix' it you can't record images any more. Then anyone who wears the Mask becomes that image. Take a look in the surface of my brother's Mask."<br/>
<br/>
Andrew shakes some of the fog from his brain and peers into the Mask.<br/>
<br/>
"Damn! Looks like a hologram or something, but that's him alright."<br/>
<br/>
"Yep, that way we can get an idea of what the finished body will look like before we fix it. If the combination of you and me isn't to your liking we can keep adding people to the Mask, slightly changing it's features till it's right. Once fixed though you can't change it at all. Make sure it's what you want before we finish. You'll have to live with it."<br/>
<br/>
Andrew looks askance at you. "You? Giving me Life Lessons? Now this is a role reversal!" You both laugh at that, but soon Andrew is staring down at the blank Mask.<br/>
<br/>
"Ready?" you say. "Well me first I guess."<br/>
<br/>
You lay back and press the blank Mask to your face. You make a real effort to stay awake, despite the discomfort, but knowing what's happening doesn't help. A short time later you wake groggily to see Andrew turning the Mask over in his hands.<br/>
<br/>
"Yep, your image alright. I was waiting for you to wake up before I did me."<br/>
<br/>
Without waiting for you to respond he presses the Mask to his face as well. Just like with your brother you watch as it melts in and you are relieved to find that Andrew faints dead away this time. Maybe 'scanning' always knocks you unconscious? Just using the Mask is different you guess, and you can resist the fainting if you try hard enough. When the Mask emerges you study the face within. It's definitely not you or Andrew but it is a tiny bit like both of you. You're not sure it's half way between you, but it's definitely someone new.<br/>
<br/>
"Oooh, that's gonna be a bitch!" Andrew mutters waking up slowly.<br/>
<br/>
"If it's any consolation, I think it's designed to knock out whoever it scans. Using a finished Mask is a different story," you say it like it's obvious, despite you only having worked it out yourself a moment ago. "If you use the finished Mask regularly I'm sure you can eventually do it without a twinge."<br/>
<br/>
"Let me see." he says, motioning to the Mask.<br/>
<br/>
You toss it to him and he peers into it.<br/>
<br/>
"I definitely like it!" he says. "Looks a bit like Uncle Louis, without the beard... and a lot younger."</span></div></div>


path: 1111221111
author_id: gimlet
title: Fix the Mask and try it out.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Look I don't have a grand on me, can I get cash out tomorrow for you?"<br/>
<br/>
"Um, I do need materials for another mask and it takes so long to make them I'd rather get started tonight."<br/>
<br/>
Andrew tossed the merged Mask up and down in his hands idly.<br/>
<br/>
"Well, how about if I give you $300 tonight, as long as you 'fix' this mask now. I want to use it!"<br/>
<br/>
"Ya know, by some strange coincidence I brought the materials to fix it with me."<br/>
<br/>
Andrew raised an eyebrow. "OK, you planning ahead? What did you do with Will?"<br/>
<br/>
"HA ha, very funny. So you don't want me to fix it?"<br/>
<br/>
Andrew holds his hands up.<br/>
<br/>
"I give! Uncle!"<br/>
<br/>
Chuckling, you get the mixture you already made and the brush for it out and hold your hand out for the Mask. Andrew hands it to you and you carefully paint the inside of the Mask, making sure not to miss anything. When you're done you hand it back to Andy.<br/>
<br/>
"That's it?"<br/>
<br/>
"Yep. Trust me, making the mixture takes a while, but nothing compared to making the Masks. Those take about a week to do for me with School etc."<br/>
<br/>
Idly he reaches in his wallet and virtually empties it, handing three hundred bucks over to you. You grin as he peers at the Mask intently. Eventually he licks his lips and presses it to his face. The familiar shuddering passes over him and the Mask melts into him while his body shifts and changes. Damn! You meant to tell him about your thought about clothes! You watch and see his legs tear his pants at the thighs, but the rest seems OK, slack if anything.<br/>
<br/>
"Ow!" he manages, still conscious! Damn he's getting good at this! "Next time I'm wearing something more comfortable."<br/>
<br/>
Carefully, and with a silly grin on his face, Andrew stands up. He's a little wobbly but OK.<br/>
The new Andy looks slightly shorter, maybe Nineteen or Twenty by looks, short cropped dark hair, brown eyes and fairly ordinary looking features. He probably looks a little better than you to be honest... which you rarely are.<br/>
<br/>
"Odd, this feels stiffer than the other Mask." He says wriggling his legs a little.<br/>
<br/>
"Heck, Robert is hyperactive, what can you expect! I felt weird in his body too."<br/>
<br/>
You both glance at each other after you realize what you just said.<br/>
<br/>
"Fag!" Andy says laughing at you, but is too focused on his working legs to make much fun of you. "Hmm, I think it might be more than that actually, maybe merging me and you was a bad idea? I think it got part of my paralysis into the image, just not fully."<br/>
<br/>
You slap you hand against your head. Why didn't you think of that?<br/>
<br/>
"Damn I'm sorry, but the legs work?"<br/>
<br/>
He flexes his toes and smiles.<br/>
<br/>
"Yep, good enough for government work. Hmm, maybe if I get the cash together we can make a mask up without me as a donor?"<br/>
<br/>
He's offering to buy another Mask? Oh perfect! Got to make sure he stays interested then.<br/>
<br/>
"OK, boy or girl?" you say nonchalantly.<br/>
<br/>
Andrew's eyes go wide.<br/>
<br/>
"What did you say?" he says, and you can't help but let a grin split your face.<br/>
<br/>
"Do you want a Mask of a boy or a girl? What, you telling me you never thought about that this whole time I was explaining it? Anyone this scans is stored, then you wear the Mask and you ARE that person. Doesn't have to be the same sex!"<br/>
<br/>
"Oooh shit! That's kind of freaky." He looks as if he's not as into the idea as you are. Hmm, maybe not a good way to keep him interested.<br/>
<br/>
"Look, you can decide that later, for now this should do fine. I ought to head out and start buying supplies. Some of the stores I need close at ten on Sunday."<br/>
<br/>
As you stand Andrew grabs you and hugs tight.<br/>
<br/>
"I am NOT going to forget this Will. Thanks for thinking of me first."<br/>
<br/>
You smile and hug back. "No problem Andy."<br/>
<br/>
Waving, you leave him with his new Mask, taking the Robert Mask with you. It's getting late so you dash out to try and get the supplies you need. It's a pinch but you manage to get enough to make two more masks and head home. Crashing down on your bed you look at the table where you made the last two Masks. Not good enough. You need somewhere private to do this. <br/>
<br/>
Then the obvious strikes you. The clubhouse! OK, you haven't been there in months but the locks should still be good. You stumbled across the Clubhouse a few years ago now, a basement in an abandoned Elementary school, but even though some of the upper building has been renovated and turned into a community center no-one thought to do anything with the basement. You put a lock on to be sure no-one could spoil your fun... or at least you'd know when they bolt cut the padlock, and have used it to hang out at with a few friends for years. It'd make the perfect place to make foul stenches and burn stuff and no-one would find out!<br/>
<br/>
Unwilling to wait till tomorrow night you keep an eye out for your parents and brother and once they've all gone to bed you head out to the Clubhouse with bags full of supplies. You've got the instructions down pretty good now and manage to do the operation without referring to the book and the horrible job of translating. When you return to your house at 1AM you have two new gray Masks.<br/>
<br/>
You get an idea and use a couple of old belts to strap the Masks, one to each knee. Then you use the proscribed cloth and buff them, one with each hand. You'll have to shift the belts to burnish those parts of it, but this'll cut your time in half... though after a few minutes of this you find it's more tiring than before as well. For tonight you give in, put the masks away and head to bed, but soon you'll have another two blank Masks to play with. Well, next week you will anyway. Maybe you can get some polishing done over the weekend?</span></div></div>


path: 11112211111
author_id: gimlet
title: Andy gives you remaining cash he owes.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>The next day you even wonder if you can get away with being sick and stay home to polish masks, but decide against it. Your mom is rather over protective and would be coming in and out with chicken soup and pills all day. The possibility that she'll interrupt you while you're polishing would be high, and you want to keep the whole thing as secret as possible.<br/>
<br/>
At school you manage to avoid the Molester, a small miracle in itself, and remember to ask Caleb about Lisa. Again he hasn't talked to Eva but you seem less angry at him now. Are you letting her go or just getting way to involved with the Masks to think about much else? Or are you burying your emotions on the subject? You don't think so, but how would you know? You're not used to thinking about your emotions like this.<br/>
<br/>
That evening as you reach your house you see Andrew's door open and he waves you in. Smiling you head over. He's still in his old body, in the wheelchair.<br/>
<br/>
"So given up on the new body already? Come on, you can't have worn it out that quick?"<br/>
<br/>
"Har har!" he says, and pulls the mask from under the wheelchair as he pushes the front door shut. "Right now I'm keeping Freddy to myself. I still haven't got all the details of how to 'inherit' Andrew Gary's fortune down pat and don't want to do something to mess things up."<br/>
<br/>
"Fortune?" you snort. "Since when are you loaded! You make a hell of a lot more than me, but still, you ain't loaded."<br/>
<br/>
You and Andrew head into the living room as he peers into his Mask.<br/>
<br/>
"Maybe not now, but if I can figure out a way to get the life insurance money... Who boy!"<br/>
<br/>
You raise an eyebrow at him.<br/>
<br/>
"Dang, you think big. How can you pull that off without a body?"<br/>
<br/>
"Like I said, a few details aren't there yet." You shake your head laughing "Hey I'll get it, don't you worry! Hey want a beer?" You nod and he wheels into the kitchen, but comes back running in his new body. "Catch!"<br/>
<br/>
"You're doing that change damn fast!" you comment, a little acidly but take a sip from your beer and try to relax. "I'm just glad that it's working for you."<br/>
<br/>
"Oh it's better than just 'working'. It's incredible. Still feels a little stiff but I've managed to work out enough to run and jump a bit. Feels a bit like arthritis or something, but minimal. I'll definitely need another mask later."<br/>
<br/>
As you take another sip of beer something lands in your lap with a slap.<br/>
<br/>
"Seven hundred, as promised, in twenties. I figured if your buying chemicals and stuff from stores you don't want it to be in too large a bills."<br/>
<br/>
You pick up the thick wedge of cash and grin wolfishly.<br/>
<br/>
"Thanks Andrew, this will really help. Damn!" you say, as you realize you didn't check the materials for the new item. Will what you bought work for that? You glanced at the instructions for the new metal strips earlier in the week, but with all the polishing you didn't want to distract from what you were doing. Well, that and the damn text didn't describe what the thing was supposed to do! You'd rather make Masks that you're sure of than leaping into the unknown, well for the moment.<br/>
<br/>
"What is it?" Andrew asks.<br/>
<br/>
"I was just realizing I'd forgotten about something I wanted to try," you say lamely, trying to sound casually interested only.<br/>
<br/>
"Ooooh, what? The next item after the Mask? What is it?" he asks eagerly. Damn, you should have kept your mouth shut!</span></div></div>


path: 111122111111
author_id: gimlet
title: Try to keep to your lie with Andy.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"I don't know really!" you say, trying not to give any details. Frankly it's not far from the truth. Who knows what the strip does? "Look, you're really getting into your new body, I need to sort some things out, so do you mind if I head out?"<br/>
<br/>
Andrew looks a little disappointed but waves goodbye good naturedly from the living-room, unwilling to change back to let you out. You lock the door and close it and head home. Well at least Andrew is getting some immediate use out of these things! You have a useless mask (well, nearly useless), two blank ones that still need a lot of polishing... and a wad of cash? OK, so not a total loss!<br/>
<br/>
Grinning you bound upstairs, giving only a cursory "I'm home!" to your mom before dashing upstairs.<br/>
<br/>
That evening you get next to no polishing done. If it isn't Robert annoying you it's your mom wanting to get you to be involved with the church more, or your dad demanding you do your chores. Luckily no-one sees what you're doing, but it's still frustrating. In the end you go to bed early and set your alarm for 1AM. Dashing out in the dead of night you unlock the Clubhouse and start polishing in private.<br/>
<br/>
You almost stay too long, but manage to get home before everyone gets up in the morning. Tired and irritated you spend Saturday morning doing more chores (did this household really make this much trash in a day?) but by mid-day you manage to head out and again go to the Clubhouse to polish. Watching TV while polishing the two Masks on your knees is very tiring. You can't alternate between arms and they ache like mad. Plus, nice as it is in here it is a little claustrophobic. Though it's tiring you get both masks mostly done by the afternoon, but are way too tired to continue. You rest a little before heading home, making sure to lock up.<br/>
<br/>
On Sunday (after church) you head back and pick up where you left off, but it's way too stuffy for you in here right now. The masks look mostly done. Only two days of work, but very intensive two days. Maybe you can take them in public? It'd be nice to get some fresh air, but would it be safe? Well, who knows about them anyway? It's not as if they'll work until their polished fully.<br/>
<br/>
With a smile you head to the park, leaving the belts behind and deciding to focus on one at a time for the last little bit. It's a sunny day at least, a little too hot for the clothes your wearing actually, but you don't want to go back and change now. Sitting at a bench you set one Mask on the table and start burnishing the other Before mid-day you have one finished and swap over, watching wispy clouds drift across the sky as you polish.<br/>
<br/>
"ARROOOOooo-up!" comes the plaintiff bark, cut short and you turn in time to see the mask you just finished melt into the forehead of a large Doberman!<br/>
<br/>
"Nooo!" you leap over to the dog as it lays unconscious on the ground. "That's not possible, is it?"<br/>
<br/>
It must have leaped up at the shiny mask and knocked it off the table and onto its face.<br/>
Glancing around you don't see anyone searching for their dog so wait in silence for the time to be up. What if it's longer for a dog? What if the thing can't scan a dog and stays like this forever! What if...<br/>
<br/>
Slowly you see the Mask return, is that slower than before? You think so. There was absolutely NO mention of animals in the book. If this isn't what the mask was designed for, who knows what the results will be?<br/>
<br/>
After a minute of slowly emerging it is free and you grab the mask and run, not wanting to be around the dog when it wakes.<br/>
<br/>
Your heart is pounding when you get home, collapsing on your bed. You put the nearly polished mask away and stare at the dog mask. Yep, in the crystal finish you can see the image of that Doberman. It's recorded the body of a dog! Wait, could that actually work? Could you BECOME a dog? Oh this is getting weirder and weirder.</span></div></div>


path: 1111221111111
author_id: gimlet
title: You have to try it out. No matter how weird it is.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>OK, it's dangerous, but you have to try it out. It's just too tempting!<br/>
<br/>
You strip this time, not wanting to risk damage to your clothes or you in the process. Laying on on your side on the bed you bring the mask up to your face and slowly take a deep breath and press it home before you can second guess yourself.<br/>
<br/>
*PAIN!*<br/>
<br/>
You writhe around on the bed in panic, searing bolts of white hot lead pouring through your face and into your body. Luckily the mask covers your mouth so muffles your screams of terror, otherwise your mom or dad might have burst in while you were changing! You aren't thinking about that though, the mind numbing agony is high on your list of things to be concentrating on, but it doesn't last. Your body seems to take much longer, as much as a minute or more before the mask fully melts into you and your body succumbs to unconsciousness but eventually you do. While you sleep your body distorts and shifts till a Doberman is laying on your bed.<br/>
<br/>
Consciousness returns in a painful haze, but thankfully it's receding. Will you have to go through that again when you take the mask off? Suddenly panic fills you. TAKE THE MASK OFF! How can you say the words that remove the mask? You're a DOG!<br/>
<br/>
With a thump you roll off the bed and land on the floor. Oh this is weird. You feel like you're in a monster suit, twisted like a pretzel. Rear legs are... tricky. Like standing on your toes the whole time, but also the front legs; balanced on your fingers... er paws. Twice you fall over to your side but eventually to stay upright, if a bit wobbly.<br/>
<br/>
Now that you can stand pretty well... you collapse to the floor! Struggling you fumble your paws up to your face and press, trying to grip your face.<br/>
<br/>
"Rrrroo Ruff!" you bark, trying to say the words, desperately. You repeat it twice more and...<br/>
<br/>
*Pain!*<br/>
<br/>
This time it's not so bad. Perhaps, like Andrew, you're getting used to this. It's just worse when it's not a human body! You still writhe around on the floor in pain, but surprisingly don't faint.<br/>
"Will?" comes your mother's voice as you shakily pull the mask from your, now human, face. "Are you OK?"<br/>
<br/>
"Y.. Yes mom," you manage, and struggle under the covers to hide your nakedness, but she doesn't come in. Relaxing you try to let the memory of that swell of agony subside. Would you do that again? It was easier taking it off, hopefully next time to put it on it wouldn't hurt so much.<br/>
<br/>
A while later you wake, realizing you fell asleep without noticing! The clock says 4PM, you've slept three hours. Still a little of the day left. You hide the dog mask next to Robert's and take the nearly polished mask out. You head out with the intention of going to the Clubhouse, but instead head into town. You aren't sure where you're going at first, then realize what it is. The Zoo is nearby.<br/>
<br/>
Smiling you idly polish the mask while you head in. Do you really want to waste another mask on an animal? There are all sorts of things you could be doing. At very least get a girl body to fondle at night. Still you find yourself wandering around the Zoo trying to see if any animal sparks your imagination.</span></div></div>


path: 11112211111111
author_id: gimlet
title: Anaconda.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>Dark slitted eyes stare back at you, forked tongue slipping out. The head of this huge snake is not as big as you'd have thought given it's bulky body. Would the mask work if it can't fit on the creature's face? Hmm, well this one is the biggest snake here and it's face is maybe the size of a toddler's.<br/>
<br/>
You were only passing by the Reptile house but suddenly had a thought. Snakes are incredibly strong. Thinking back to Lester you wondered if you could deal with him. Walking in you thought better of it, after all after you do attack him, having him talk about being squeezed by a snake might get people into checking for weird things at the school, if anyone believed him that is. You don't want that much attention. As you looked around at all the various snakes in here you imagined squeezing the hell out of him, then realized it would do you little good. After all he wouldn't know it was you doing it, and if he DID know... you'd be in even worse trouble.<br/>
<br/>
If he lived.<br/>
<br/>
The thought brings you to an abrupt halt. Could you really kill Lester? OK he has given so much pain to you and seems to revel in it, you know he is going to go on to being evil outside of school... but kill him?<br/>
<br/>
You look in at a large puff adder, this species venom could kill. Could you really do that? But how would you dispose of the body?<br/>
<br/>
That's when you saw the Anaconda.<br/>
<br/>
Maybe you could get a mask on it. If it works it would be child's play to... deal with Lester, and then... eat him? Would that work? It would sure do away with the evidence.<br/>
<br/>
The more you peer in at the snake the more you like the idea. You've never liked snakes much, but not really disliked them either, and now with your new perspective you can imagine being inside a snake's body and the thought of sinuously moving around like that is definitely interesting. It's face is dark, greens and yellow-green mottled patterns, and honestly you kind of like it. It looks... serene somehow. Unfortunately it's in a large tank with a sealed hatch. You can see a lock from here. Caleb is better at this than you, but... You get out your tool kit, originally for electrical repairs but you've added some finer tools and picks, and peer around. The room is dark and you are fairly sure no-one is looking. Wait, what about cameras? Again you peer around and can't see any. The Zoo is seriously under funded but would they really have no cameras?<br/>
<br/>
One final check and you step up onto the ledge, reaching up to the high hatch. Why is it so high up? Hmm, maybe so the snake doesn't get out as easily when it's opened? The lock is simple and snicks open seconds later. Easier than the tumblers to the girl's locker rooms! You get out the mask that you finished polishing as you were wandering around the Zoo and hold it over the snake's head. If you drop it and miss, or the snake dodges away you won't get it back! Quickly you pull out a power cord you were going to use at the Clubhouse and loop it loosely over. Easily you lower it down, planning on swinging it over the...<br/>
<br/>
*Snap!* the snake's head shoots up, snaps at the lip of the Mask and pulls it free of the cord!<br/>
<br/>
"Shit!" you whisper, as the snake nibbles it, then drops it. Wasted! How are you going to get it now! You're not climbing in there with...<br/>
<br/>
You stare unbelieving as the snake's head pokes around the mask, then wriggles under it. It must have covered something it wanted. With a jerk the Mask sticks, it works! The snake starts thrashing around, then slows, finally stopping at the mask melts in.<br/>
<br/>
You let the door pull-to, but not lock, and step down from the ledge. You've got ten minutes or so, maybe longer. You think the dog took a bit more than normal.<br/>
<br/>
It's incredible, and you really can't believe that it worked, well you haven't got the mask to try out yet, but so far it's working.<br/>
<br/>
A couple wander through, peering in at the snakes and you nervously look at your watch, then at the Anaconda. The time's up and the Mask hasn't reappeared! They leave and you dash to the tank. Nope, still no Mask. Fretfully you cast about, hoping something hasn't gone wrong. Another ten minutes go by and you are about to bail out of here when a slight blue glow comes from the snake's head. Quickly you get on the ledge and open the hatch and lean in. You reach down and grab the Mask just as it's finished emerging, the snake still asleep. Pulling back you hear the hatch click as the lock engages and you look at your prize. Yep, the image of a snake head is there, body trailing below out of sight. God damn it worked!<br/>
<br/>
So far, you keep reminding yourself. Can't get your hopes up yet!<br/>
<br/>
It's with great trepidation that you head out, almost heading for the clubhouse, but you are tired after all the tension back there and there aren't any beds in that basement. It'd be private but really uncomfortable. When you get home your Dad is out late at 'The Company' but your mom greets you pleasantly. She's still watching her soaps on the living room TV and doesn't really seem interested in chatting. Thankfully. You just want to sleep, but are intoxicated with the idea of the snake Mask.</span></div></div>


path: 111122111111111
author_id: gimlet
title: Fix the Snake Mask and try it out now!
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>Collapsing on your bed you stare at the mask. This is so freaky! A snake. What's next, a Shark? An Eagle? Now there's a thought! Wait, are there any bird's heads that would fit the mask? Even closely? Hmmm probably not. Bummer, it'd cool to fly like a bird, or rather BE a bird.<br/>
<br/>
Idly you pick up the fixing solution and nervously paint the inside.<br/>
<br/>
It's done. Now to test it. You strip and hop on the bed, holding the Mask.<br/>
<br/>
Um, yeah. Test it right now.<br/>
<br/>
A few minutes later you're still staring at the thing, wondering if you'll ever have the courage to put it on. Have you wasted yet another Mask? Laying the Mask carefully on your bed you go back to the book and leaf through what you can open. No matter how well you search, how carefully you translate, there is no mention of animals at all. Just 'people', or 'corpus' which does mean person or body, or several other things but not human. It could have said 'hominis' or something close which WOULD mean human or body or person, but it uses 'corpus' Is that on purpose? Being generalized to make the magic work? Who knows how this stuff works.<br/>
<br/>
With a sigh you close the book and turn back to the Mask. You can't put this off... OK, you can, but you aren't going to. This is just too fun an idea. OK, you don't want to, but you want to. It's gonna hurt, but it will be fun, and at least you know you can get back to human again. For the next few minutes your mind whirls, thinking contrary thoughts on the whole thing. Finally you shake your head and try to concentrate.<br/>
<br/>
Again you pause, staring at the Mask's surface, the image stored within. Can you really...? Yes you can do this!<br/>
<br/>
With a gritting of teeth you lay on the floor (the bed isn't nearly big enough for the Anaconda!) and bring the Mask to your face... and you pause. Last time it was so painful you thrashed around. If you were still thrashing as an Anaconda the piles of stuff around you room would go flying.<br/>
<br/>
You know it's an excuse, but use it to delay things as you tidy up (first time in months!), pushing things under the bed, up on the top of cabinets etc. Eventually you have a nine foot space around you, probably enough.<br/>
<br/>
Once more you lay on the ground and nervously bring the Mask up. This is it! With your heart racing and your hands shaking you bring it up to your face and press it on.<br/>
<br/>
For seconds nothing happens and you begin to wonder if it worked after all.<br/>
<br/>
"P***A***I***N!!!"<br/>
<br/>
This is worse! MUCH worse! Agony sears your veins, your head threatening to explode, and thankfully you pass out quickly this time.<br/>
<br/>
Eyes plop open blearily. Damn what were you dreaming again? Something funky but you can't quite place it. It was a snake you think but... You try to shift and feel hardness beneath you, but when you try with more effort to move, something feels... wrong. Your arms are numb, and your legs! Twisting in shock you look down and... YOU'RE A SNAKE!<br/>
<br/>
It comes back to you, the dog, the Zoo and your final test, along with the blinding agony. Blinking you stare at yourself. It worked! Shit!<br/>
<br/>
For minutes you just stare at yourself in amazement, not sure whether to be happy or not. It does feel cool, but not what you expected. Hmm, maybe try to move? Snakes have that whole rippling movement thing, their belly's shifting in ripples, dragging them along. Can you do that?<br/>
<br/>
You try to slither, undulating your belly, but it's hard just to move. After a while you can slowly and carefully move your body, but that slithering thing seems beyond you. Instead you move in a kind of press, lift maneuver. Is that how sidewinders move? You don't think so. Maybe you don't have snake instincts? This is more the way an engineer might think of for a snake should move.<br/>
<br/>
It feels crude, but you manage and shift and crawl your way about your room. Your vision is in black and white and your sense of smell seems mostly based on your tongue. Very weird! OK, maybe it's not your tongue but something in your mouth that the tongue brushes against. After checking your body is much longer than your room is wide, maybe twice as much. That makes you a little over seventeen foot long, maybe twenty tops. Big certainly, but big enough to eat Lester? Well shows you've seen on TV picture Anaconda's eating animals bigger than humans, but you'd have to test this. How?<br/>
<br/>
Wait, Mom has a 20lb turkey in the kitchen on the counter. It's bigger than your snake head, not as big as person but it would be a start.<br/>
<br/>
You nudge the door open with your muzzle and try to hear if your mom is still in the living room. It's tricky, you can't really hear very well. Do snakes have ears? It seems easier to hear, at least deeper notes, when your head is on the ground. Maybe it's the vibrations through the paneling?<br/>
<br/>
When you're sure she's still watching TV you wriggle out, awkwardly without slithering, and try to get down the stairs. This is a challenge! You could change back, walk down, then change again, but the pain when you change would be hard to hide in the kitchen, even though there is more space there. No, just head down and deal with this now.<br/>
<br/>
Several times you feel coils slipping and almost tumble down the stairs. This is hard! Why couldn't the Mask record the snake's instincts? You should be able to do this effortlessly! You've seen snakes navigate far more awkward conditions than this.<br/>
<br/>
Peering up the hall at the bottom of the stairs you see the light of the TV going, she's still there, and you turn to the Kitchen. Up on the counter is the turkey. Your head is smaller so it looks totally huge from your perspective. It's out of the wrapping thankfully, sitting in a pan. You position coils beneath it around a table leg to catch the pan and use your tail to nudge it off the table, positioning your head, wide open, beneath it.<br/>
<br/>
There is a little clunk as the pan hits the table leg but it seems quiet. The Turkey slams into your jaws and you desperately try to swallow. Halfway in you feel a deep cold seep into you and realize it wasn't long ago she took it out of the freezer! It's still partially frozen! Damn it! You're too far gone now though and swallow heavily, feeling lots of little teeth fold out to grip it. Some times they don't fold out and it's awkward. You haven't quite got the hang of this yet. The turkey doesn't seem a stretch for your new body, and soon is working it's way easily down your throat. That feels kind of cool, though Lester? You imagine someone struggling while you do this and wince. You'd have to deal with him first. Are you really a killer though?<br/>
<br/>
As the melting meat oozes nicely down into your bulkier body you ponder that... but are interrupted by a slam. DAD'S HOME! OH SHIT!<br/>
<br/>
You glance around in panic and try to figure a way out of this. The front door is too close to the stairs, he'd notice if your dashed that way. You could try the Kitchen window, but that might make a lot of noise. You don't want him coming in and seeing a giant snake wriggling out the window!<br/>
<br/>
Or you could take the Mask off! You don't have much to lose now!</span></div></div>


path: 1111221111111111
author_id: gimlet
title: Desperate change back.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>You hear a deep rumble. Is that your dad calling to your mom? It's now or never, he'll probably be in here soon!<br/>
<br/>
You wrap your tail around your face and pull, hissing the words, but nothing happens. You try again, levering against your lower jaws and nose. It doesn't work! Twisting and wriggling you try for something closer to the 'brow and nose' grip that the book proscribes and heave, yet again hissing the words. Finally you feel it give and you tense waiting for the pain explosion.<br/>
<br/>
You aren't disappointed.<br/>
<br/>
Again you faint dead away, and when you wake up Dad is leaning in over you.<br/>
<br/>
"Son Son! Will are you OK?"<br/>
<br/>
Groaning you sit up. Yes, you're human, but where is the Mask?<br/>
<br/>
"I... I think so Dad. What happened?"<br/>
<br/>
"You tell me, I found you naked in the Kitchen. I don't think your mother would appreciate it so I hauled you into my office. What were you doing in there naked?"<br/>
<br/>
You use the echoes of the pain to try and fake expressions of anguish to cover your nervousness. You don't want him to know about the Masks.<br/>
<br/>
"I don't know. I went to bed and... Oooh, I don't feel so good." This is true. You have a heavy cold lump in your stomach. The turkey! Glancing down you expect a huge bulge in your belly, but it's flat. What the heck?<br/>
<br/>
"You've never sleep walked before son. Is this on the up and up?"<br/>
<br/>
"You think I'd *gnnn* make this up? Oooh god!"<br/>
<br/>
Dad carries your groaning body upstairs quietly, and as he goes through the downstairs hall you glance towards the kitchen. There is the Mask! Under kitchen table! Oh god, you can't tell your dad about it, but to leave it there... You'll have to risk it.<br/>
<br/>
He lays you in bed and tucks you in.<br/>
<br/>
"Lets not mention the sleep walking to your mom hmm? I'll tell her you don't feel good. I think we've got some Nyquil somewhere."<br/>
<br/>
Laying in bed you ponder if this could have gone much worse! You've got a lump of ice in your stomach, your dad thinks you are sleep walking, you've lost the snake Mask downstairs and are coming down with a cold or something from the turkey (you guess) and don't have the energy to go grab it. What if someone puts it on! Oh god!<br/>
There is nothing you can do about it though, and you just shiver and cough through the next few days, fading in and out of consciousness, your mom being as overprotective as ever. You get pretty sick of chicken soup until by Thursday morning you start to feel a little better. The lump of the turkey is still there but it's long since melted. Will you need to eat again soon? Who knows? That's one hell of a meal!<br/>
<br/>
By night time you feel a little better but fake still being ill. Your mom insists you are starting to come out of it so you guess you aren't as good at faking it as you thought, but she says you might be OK by Saturday.<br/>
<br/>
One AM comes and the alarm you set goes off. Everyone is asleep and you creep out of bed, stiff and sniffling, but OK. Dressing in slacks and a t-shirt you tip toe downstairs and go into the kitchen with trepidation. Peering under the table you curse voluminously, but quietly. The Mask is gone. Honestly you didn't have much hope it would still be there, but you just wanted it to be. Couldn't life be straight forwards once?<br/>
<br/>
OK, who has it? Mom? Naww, she'd have asked you about it. She'd have asked everyone in the house about it. Dad? Doubtful. Why would he root around under the kitchen table. Robert? Oh god Robert!<br/>
<br/>
He's a pain, but he doesn't deserve to be turned into a snake! At least not without knowing how to change back! You creep upstairs again to see if you can figure out if Robert did find it.</span></div></div>


path: 11112211111111111
author_id: gimlet
title: You bump into him on the landing.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Robert!" you gasp, at least quietly. <br/>
<br/>
"Dick!" he says pleasantly in reply "Dude I knew you were faking it!"<br/>
<br/>
"Robert!" you say, seriously "I wasn't, but that isn't important. Did you find a mask downstairs?"<br/>
<br/>
He grins evilly.<br/>
<br/>
"Aww, did Willsy loose his itsy bitsy masky?"<br/>
<br/>
You guess he still thought you were pretty out of it as he doesn't react quick enough when you pin him hard against the wall by his shoulders.<br/>
<br/>
"Fuck off Robert! This is serious. You could be in danger! You didn't try the mask did you?"<br/>
<br/>
He looks like he thinks your nuts, but with a twinge of nervousness. It's obvious you're serious.<br/>
<br/>
"No you dick, but you won't get it back now. I sold it to Umeko today." he says with a smirk.<br/>
<br/>
Your heart skips a beat and you step back. The shocked look on your face gets to the little punk somehow and his expression falters.<br/>
<br/>
"Y... you sold it... to Umeko?" you manage weakly. "Oh shit. Oh shit shit shit!"<br/>
<br/>
"Hey, it's a fucking mask! What the hell's up with you?" He manages weakly, but your terror at the situation is obviously infectious, he just doesn't know why the thing is dangerous, and you'd like to keep it that way!<br/>
<br/>
"Robert, go back to bed, if mom asks I went out for some fresh air cos I started feeling better, OK? And for you own good you shouldn't mention the mask."<br/>
<br/>
For a moment he looks belligerent, but your expression of seriousness at the last bit seems to get to him.<br/>
<br/>
"Maybe..." he says weakly.<br/>
<br/>
"Trust me Robert, you don't want anything to do with the damn things!" and you grab a coat and shoes and run out into the night. Umeko's family lives quite a ways off so it takes a while, but you run the whole way. Gasping for breath you lean against a streetlight and peer up the driveway to Umeko's house with terror. Police cars are there, lights flashing in the night and the family is up and seems panicked. And there is no sign of Umeko in the group there in front of the house!<br/>
<br/>
"Fuck!" you gasp, trying to get your breath back "Umeko? Why did you have give it to Umeko you little shit!" you whisper to yourself vehemently. Robert would pay for this! From a distance you glance at Umeko's window and find it open with an officer peering in cautiously with a flashlight. He doesn't seem to be trying to open it so it probably was already open. She got out the window? Where would she go? Where would... oh!<br/>
<br/>
You dash down the street and out of the estate. It's a short dash to a little copse of trees around a creek and you slide down the bank awkwardly. This was where Umeko taught you to kiss, one of her 'special places' she said, where she came to get away from the bustle of family life, though her family is much saner than yours.<br/>
<br/>
"Umeko!" you whisper "Umeko! Where are you?"<br/>
<br/>
You dash around, splashing up and down the creek bed looking for hollows that a huge snake could fit in. Suddenly you notice that a log you've passed twice here twitch. You stop and get a little closer. Leaning over you peer at the... yep it's a snake. It's the snake in the Mask.<br/>
<br/>
"Umeko?"<br/>
<br/>
It jumps, the head coming out of the water with a splash and peering at you.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh thank god I found you Umeko!" you say and kneel before her "I'm gonna kill Robert! Just stay still, keep calm and we can get this sorted out."<br/>
<br/>
Gently you reach out, but she pulls back.<br/>
<br/>
"Easy, I'm trying to turn you back. Oh damn, you can't understand me can you? Sounds are all weird for a snake."<br/>
<br/>
Instead you just ease in slowly and press you fingers gently to her head.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm really sorry Umeko, this is gonna hurt."</span></div></div>


path: 111122111111111111
author_id: gimlet
title: Umeko has a thing for snakes.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>You pull, utter the phrase three times and... you didn't know a snake could scream!<br/>
<br/>
This is more painful to watch than to experience, seeing her writhe in agony, the pain lancing through her body as she twists and shifts. Thankfully she faints pretty early on, but she still moves and twitches through the change. You put the mask away and drape your coat over her as she becomes more human, though you can't resist taking a glance before dropping it over her. Don't think like that now! She's shivering in pain and tension even in her sleep as she finally becomes the Umeko you know and... care about.<br/>
<br/>
It takes a few minutes but she does slowly wake.<br/>
<br/>
"Umeko? Are you OK?"<br/>
<br/>
Blearily she sits up, then grasps for the coat desperately as she blushes, covering herself.<br/>
<br/>
"Sorry, I should have thought to bring extra clothes for you. When I catch Robert I'll kill him!"<br/>
<br/>
"I... it's OK Will." she says, gasping for breath.<br/>
<br/>
You frown and look into her eyes. OK, Umeko always was adventurous and probably the most sane friend you've had but can she really cope with the weirdness of this that easily?<br/>
<br/>
"You're OK with this?" you say, and are surprised when she giggles.<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, but I could have done without the pain. Oh that hurt!"<br/>
<br/>
"I know, like fire in the veins isn't it?"<br/>
<br/>
She suddenly stares deep into your eyes, a probing questioning look.<br/>
<br/>
"You... you've been a snake?" You nod, and she grins weakly "Wow, This was your mask right? Robert told me he'd bought it at a second hand store."<br/>
<br/>
"I think he must have guessed it was mine or maybe saw me polishing it, and decided to sell it to you to piss me off. It worked! That prick is in so much trouble!"<br/>
<br/>
"I think, wait a minute." she says, then turns around, shifting the coat behind her and putting it on and zipping it up. "Sorry, that's better." she smirks at your expression. Obviously you think it was better before. "Anyway, don't blame Robert. How could he know it was dangerous?"<br/>
<br/>
"I know, but he stole it, sold it to someone else. It seems sometimes like all he does is look for ways to piss me off!" You lean back into the grass and groan. "At least you're OK. I thought the police might have found the snake and... I don't know, carted you off to the Zoo or something!"<br/>
<br/>
"I'm fine, tore up my clothes though, but after I realized what had happened... OK, quite a while after that, I had to get used to the idea, I ate the remains and fled."<br/>
<br/>
"What?"<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, you think it would have been better for my mom to walk in and find my shredded clothes there and me missing? She'd have had a heart attack! Best she wonder about the whole thing."<br/>
<br/>
"You managed to think that through while still getting used to being a snake?"<br/>
<br/>
"Well, that was maybe a couple of hours after the... transformation."<br/>
<br/>
"Umeko, how are you taking this so calmly? You were a SNAKE!"<br/>
<br/>
Again she giggles.<br/>
<br/>
"Yep. Look Will, I've always kind of liked snakes. My dad took me to a Zoo when I was little and I kind of took to them. You see the other kinds made fun of me because I was different. There weren't any Asian kids where I was. At the Zoo people treated the snakes the same way they treated me, scared and interested at the same time. It just kind of connected."<br/>
<br/>
You sit up and lean over to her.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm just glad I got to you before anything bad happened. We've got to figure out a way to get you home without your parents knowing what ha... what? What is it Umeko?"<br/>
<br/>
Umeko was blushing and looking rather nervous. What had he said?<br/>
<br/>
"Um, you didn't actually get to me before anything happened, though I can't say it was exactly bad."</span></div></div>


path: 1111221111111111111
author_id: gimlet
title: She ate a neighbors annoying dog!
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"You remember last year with Albert, Jackson's Pitbull?"<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, they declawed him or something didn't they?"<br/>
<br/>
"Not declawed, forced Jackson to clip them way down after that kid got gouged. If he hadn't got connections to the mayor they'd have ordered him to be put down. Well, lets say he's not going to be annoying us any more." and she pats her stomach smiling.<br/>
<br/>
You blink, peer at her face, then down at her belly, then to her face again.<br/>
<br/>
"The dog?" She nods. "The big Pitbull?" She nods again. "The big vicious Pitbull?" She chuckles and nods then burps slightly.<br/>
<br/>
"scuse me." she says.<br/>
<br/>
"You... you ate him?" you manage weakly.<br/>
<br/>
"Yep. He was quite a fighter, but tasted OK, Could have used some BBQ sauce."<br/>
<br/>
For some strange reason you have an enormous erection from this, thankfully your baggy t-shirt is covering your trousers so it isn't obvious... you hope.<br/>
<br/>
"And he's..." you peter out, waving idly at your stomach.<br/>
<br/>
"Yep, actually I think he's still kicking. Must be a pocket of air in there or something."<br/>
<br/>
For several seconds you stare at her jacket covered tummy.<br/>
<br/>
"I ate a 20lb turkey." Why did you say that?<br/>
<br/>
"What was it like?" she said, her eyes suddenly intense and her hand pressed against your belly. OK, this is embarrassing!<br/>
<br/>
"Um, cold. It'd come out of the freezer that morning. I came down with a cold or something after."<br/>
<br/>
Her fingers were cool, pressing into your t-shirt.<br/>
<br/>
"But how did it feel, going down? And after, when you were, you again?"<br/>
<br/>
You really like Umeko, You REALLY like her, but this is getting freaky. Sexy but freaky!</span></div></div>


path: 11112211111111111111
author_id: gimlet
title: Umeko has some interesting reactions.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>Her hand is now palm against your belly and her eyes are staring into yours, an eager smile on her face. You've never seen her quite like this before. She's always been a close friend (barring intrusions from Robert) but she always seemed... just friendly. This is intense. You can feel her hand warming against you.<br/>
<br/>
"It... was easy." you say cautiously "It just slid in, I could feel the teeth gripping it, but they didn't work all the time. You know the little flopping ones up top?" she nods grinning "I think you have to focus to get them to dig in. But even without I managed. You know, to swallow it." at this she gulps and licks her lips nervously. "Um, aaa... and then felt it... slide down my throat. It felt, slack, but the cold seeped out about then and.... it... *gulp* Went in."<br/>
<br/>
"And now?" she says, pressing her hand more firmly.<br/>
<br/>
"That was three days ago, it's melted now, but it's still there, I can feel it. A solid, lump as big as my... head."<br/>
<br/>
Her hand had been rubbing gently on your belly as she stared intently, when it bumped the tip of the bulge in your trousers. Suddenly her eyes go wide and she jumps back.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, I... Of course. Look we'd better get back." And she jumps up, pushing to make sure the jacket was low enough to cover her hips. "Come on, we'd better hurry if the cops are there!"<br/>
<br/>
OK, that was sudden. How come she hadn't realized he was aroused by all that? Until she touched it... and it freaked her out? As you dash on behind her bare foot run you wonder if you're missing something. Did you do something wrong? Suddenly Umeko comes to a halt and you skid to a stop beside her.<br/>
<br/>
"OK, there they are. Looks like the police are nearly finished. Maybe we should wait for them to leave then you can get me some clothes."<br/>
<br/>
You ponder. Obviously you kind of like the way she looks now and. Wait, you can see her odd expression, fixed and set teeth. Is she looking at you out of the corner of her eye? Waiting for your reaction?<br/>
<br/>
"Umeko? What am I missing here?"<br/>
<br/>
"What?" she seems genuinely perplexed. "It's pretty simple. You dash in, grab some clothes, I dress claim I was... I dunno, out star gazing or something, it's all one big mistake and I can relax. What's to miss?"<br/>
<br/>
You squint at her carefully.<br/>
<br/>
"No... I mean your reaction back there? What did I do?"<br/>
<br/>
"You? No I... Will, this isn't the time for this. Please."<br/>
<br/>
You ponder.<br/>
<br/>
"OK, but you will explain it?"<br/>
<br/>
She looks very nervous now and there is a long pause before she answers.<br/>
<br/>
"O... OK, I guess. Look not now, please?"<br/>
<br/>
You nod and keep watch with her. It's tempting to 'accidentally' snuggle closer to her, but this is Umeko. She's obviously freaked out here and you are part of it somehow. Normally you'd make every effort to be close to her but not against her will! You want to find out what is up here and getting her pissed at you for... whatever, wouldn't help.<br/>
<br/>
Despite the fact that the cops look nearly done they take another half hour to finish talking to the family and leave.  Apparently they didn't want to take anyone in for questioning or anything, well you guess it's like they say on cop shows. You can't do a missing persons report until they were, what was it? 48 hours missing or more? Something like that. Either than or they got everything they needed already.<br/>
<br/>
Umeko makes you wait a little longer just to be sure then nods and points to her window. You DO know which is hers by now but just smile and creep off. She gave you a list of clothes that were similar to what she was wearing when she... changed. Thus those clothes are missing and what she'll be expected to be wearing. She seems to be thinking of a lot of things you haven't, nuances that escaped you. Well she knows about the masks now, or at least one mask, so maybe she can help you figure out how to use these things? Maybe even with a plan for Lester! Um, maybe not. You seriously doubt she'd go for killing him, or that you would frankly. You aren't sure you could go through with it if you tried.<br/>
<br/>
Reaching the dark area beneath Umeko's window you reach up and thankfully find no-one has bothered to close it yet. Carefully you hinge it wide enough to climb in and reach up.</span></div></div>


path: 111122111111111111111
author_id: gimlet
title: You gather the clothes and leave successfully.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>You've been in her room before and make a mad dash around, trying to be as fast as possible and also as quiet as possible. You understand why Umeko couldn't just come in here to get her clothes. If she was caught they'd wonder why she wasn't dressed. Let alone if she was caught outside coming in wearing only your jacket! But it still feels wrong that you should be here to take the fall if someone does burst in.<br/>
<br/>
However no-one does. You get everything, including her panties (definitely worth the trip!) and slip back out the window. A short dash away and you slide down by Umeko again.<br/>
<br/>
"OK, here's everything." you say, handing her the knotting ball of clothes.<br/>
<br/>
"Rrrright." she says picking at it.<br/>
<br/>
"Hey, I was in a rush OK?"<br/>
<br/>
She grins, somewhat back to her old self again and then stares seriously at you.<br/>
<br/>
"What?" you say.<br/>
<br/>
"It is customary for the guy to turn round about now?"<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, right, sorry." you manage, and turn away, somewhat reluctantly.<br/>
<br/>
The sounds of clothing sliding over her body alone get you aroused again, then they stop.<br/>
<br/>
"Um, Will? Back there when I was changing from snake to person again did you sneak a peek?"<br/>
<br/>
You try to come up with a convincing way around...<br/>
<br/>
"Ahhh," she says after your significant pause. Dumb dumb dumb! "Look, maybe this had better be now after all. This is going to be difficult for me to say, OK? Oh, you can turn round now Will."<br/>
<br/>
You turn to see her dressed in a green blouse and black pants.<br/>
<br/>
"What's going to be difficult to say?"<br/>
<br/>
She shifts, getting comfy as she crosses her legs. You recognize the signs of delaying the inevitable. You do it all the time.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm gay." she says abruptly, her expression rigid, her eyes not meeting yours.<br/>
<br/>
Suddenly it fits<br/>
<br/>
"Shit." you say sourly, then see her angry expression. "Sorry, not.. I mean. Oh shit."<br/>
<br/>
She presses her fingers to her eyes sighing.<br/>
<br/>
"Did you really think I'd missed your various overture with me over the years Will? Trust I'm well aware you like me, more than like me! I can't return it. I do like you, but... oh this is going to sound corny."<br/>
<br/>
"Just a friend?" you manage weakly.<br/>
<br/>
"Not 'just' a friend Will. You're the closest friend I have."<br/>
<br/>
You blink.<br/>
<br/>
"You mean you don't have a girlfriend? I mean a real girlfriend. You know what I mean."<br/>
<br/>
"No," she says quietly "Never had that luxury. How many lesbians do you know?"<br/>
<br/>
"Um..."<br/>
<br/>
"Precisely. That's how many chances I've had to meet girls of a like mind. *sigh* Look, I'm flattered, kind of but..."<br/>
<br/>
"Wait wait, but what was all that back there then? I mean I thought you were coming on to me!"<br/>
<br/>
Again she looks nervous.<br/>
<br/>
"That was just... the snake stuff. Like I said I REALLY like snakes." and she pointedly stares at you.<br/>
<br/>
"Ooooooh!" you say simply, then smile. "So I should put the mask on then?"<br/>
<br/>
Umeko's face freezes, and she gulps.<br/>
<br/>
"Aaah, *ulp* ma.. maybe later." She stares down to the mask in your hand "That change... the change into a snake... it hurts, really hurts. You'd?..." at this she stops whatever she was going to say. "Look I've got to straighten this out with my parents. Were can we meet privately later?"<br/>
<br/>
You give her directions to your clubhouse and tell her you'll bring the mask when you get there. Her face looks strained at that but she smiles and says she'll meet you there tomorrow morning before school.<br/>
<br/>
"Wait, my mom still thinks I'm sick. Well I'm not 100% but I'm good enough now, anyway, I'll be off school tomorrow, can you get off too and meet me there in the morning?"<br/>
<br/>
She ponders.<br/>
<br/>
"My dad won't like that, and he WILL find out. But I might be able to get out of just English class at eleven, that way I've got an hour of class, then lunch time to spend in the 'clubhouse'. Should be enough."<br/>
<br/>
You nod enthusiastically as she waves and heads off</span></div></div>


path: 1111221111111111111111
author_id: gimlet
title: You make it to the clubhouse and meet Umeko.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>Sneaking back home and going to bed goes surprisingly well. In the morning Robert stares at you oddly throughout breakfast. He's never not sparred with you, it's kind of freaky.<br/>
<br/>
"So Will, all better then?" you mom asks as she passes cereal bowls around.<br/>
<br/>
"I still feel off, but much better. Thanks."<br/>
<br/>
She smiles and pats your cheek.<br/>
<br/>
"OK, but you aren't going to school today." Robert grimaces at this and you try to restrain your grin. "You need to get your strength back. That was a bad case of flu."<br/>
<br/>
"Short for flu huh." Robert mutters quietly, but your mom pretends not to notice.<br/>
<br/>
The meal passes in quiet and your dad looks between you and Robert with questioning glances. He at least notices Roberts behavior. You guess you aren't sparking off a row either so you're out of character too. He doesn't say anything though and heads off to work with a few well worn goodbyes, but does give you a pointed look as he leaves. Obviously he wants to talk to you about this later.<br/>
<br/>
You catch Robert in the hall after breakfast before he goes to school.<br/>
<br/>
"Just to let you know, Umeko is alright... now." you say quietly. "But it was close."<br/>
<br/>
"What the hell are those things?" he whispers fiercely.<br/>
<br/>
Things? Plural?<br/>
<br/>
"You don't want to get involved Robert, trust me. But they..." damn! You've admitted there's more than one mask! Well, you guess Robert must have seen you polishing the other two or something before. "...they're really dangerous. Don't mess with them Robert. I don't want to lose you."<br/>
His eyes go wide at this and for once he has nothing to say.<br/>
<br/>
You go up to your room leaving him at the bottom of the stairs staring after you. Somehow you don't think this peace with him will last.<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
By nine thirty in the morning you have the various things you need together to take to the clubhouse. You're planning on moving all the Mask construction stuff there now, including the book. It certainly seems safer. Sneaking out of the house you glance briefly at Andy's place and wonder what he's doing right now? Has he got the details of his 'death' worked out? Damn your life is going crazy the last few weeks!<br/>
<br/>
Sighing, you head out and do some quick shopping before heading to the clubhouse. You arrive early, unlock and dump the pile of stuff in a corner. You have snacks, a few solar rechargeable lamps, an inflatable bed (OK, you knew that was too much. She isn't going to go that far, but you couldn't help yourself!) and some sheets. Quite a load and was awkward to carry the five bags down the basement steps, but you spend the last half hour straightening things up a little in here, clearing out some more space around the battered table that you and your friends played cards around before.<br/>
<br/>
A little later there's a quiet knock at the door and you bound up the steps and open it.<br/>
<br/>
"Hey Ume..ko?" you say as she brushes past you quickly, pushing the door shut after her. She's blushing fiercely as she dashes down the steps and collapses into a chair.<br/>
<br/>
"Um, you OK?" you manage.<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, fine. I'm fine. So... you got the mask right?"<br/>
<br/>
Well, no beating about the bush apparently.<br/>
<br/>
"Yep, I got it." and you pull it out of your jacket pocket. Her eyes snap to it instantly and go wide as she licks her suddenly dry lips.<br/>
</span></div></div>


path: 11112211111111111111111
author_id: gimlet
title: She strips and asks you to eat her!
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Will, this is difficult. I know we're friends, close friends, but."<br/>
<br/>
"I know, you don't think of me that way." you say tiredly.<br/>
<br/>
She blushes even more.<br/>
<br/>
"No, that's not what I'm getting at. I... I don't want you to think I'm a freak!" she's shivering now.<br/>
<br/>
"What? Why would I ever think that? You aren't a freak Umeko!"<br/>
<br/>
"You say that now," she says, then turns to stare at you again, her eyes once more piercing "But what if I asked you to eat me? Now."<br/>
<br/>
You blink and her eyes flick down to the mask, then back to you pointedly. She hasn't even asked how or why the thing works! Isn't she curious at all about that? You lick your lips, now probably as dry as hers.<br/>
<br/>
"Right. The, snake thing. OK, that's cool. I'm... er... really eat you? But that'd hurt wouldn't it?" You were thinking of what you were planning to do to Lester. You WANT it to hurt! "I'm not gonna hurt you!"<br/>
<br/>
"No, no I'm sure... Hold the teeth up, and, be gentle? Look we can try and I'll just tell you to stop if it hurts, OK?"<br/>
<br/>
"Won't work, as a snake the ears are wrong or something, it's really hard to make out words."<br/>
<br/>
"Well," she says, getting a fierce look on her face, "Then I'll tap your nose... muzzle, er whatever, three times, OK?"<br/>
<br/>
You chuckle and sit down opposite her at the table.<br/>
<br/>
"Sure, OK, but what about after that? You can't want to be... eaten eaten? I won't do it!"<br/>
<br/>
"No! For gods sake, I don't want to die!" then she lowers her voice. "Snakes can throw up stuff easily. Even if you can't, just relax and I'll crawl out, OK?"<br/>
<br/>
She really wants this, and she's still shaking slightly, hands fiddling anxiously in her lap (it's a low table).<br/>
<br/>
"Umeko? You really want to do this? Now?"<br/>
<br/>
"Yes, definitely. And you'll really... go through that change for me?" she means the pain of turning into a snake. Well, it was easier, slightly, changing back. Maybe you're getting used to it. As long as it isn't any worse than that you think you can put up with it... probably. Heck this is for Umeko.<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, sure. I'm cool." you say, putting on a real mature voice.<br/>
<br/>
Umeko giggles.<br/>
<br/>
"Do you have any idea how silly you sound when you do that?" she says<br/>
<br/>
"Huh?" you manage intelligently. "I was just trying... to..." and you grind to a halt as she stands up and unbuttons her blouse. "Uh, Umeko? What are you doing?"<br/>
<br/>
"What, you really thought I'd let you eat me, tear up my clothes then I'd have to wear spit covered, torn clothes to school? no thank you! Just... don't get any ideas, OK?" and she turns away as she pulls her blouse off, shimmies her skirt down, and after a distinct pause (and blush spreading over her body) slips her underwear off then unhooks her bra expertly. She's still shaking, and you can't help stare at her naked rump.<br/>
<br/>
"Now you." she says, still facing away from you.<br/>
<br/>
"What? Oh the mask."<br/>
<br/>
"And... your clothes, right? You don't want to tear them up like I did." She says, resolutely keeping facing away from you.<br/>
<br/>
You sigh. This is odd. This is almost one of your fantasies about Umeko... but in that she most definitely was facing the other way with a much more open eager look on her face. She doesn't 'like' you like you, but at least you know she's going to like this. She really wants to be eaten!<br/>
<br/>
You quickly pull your clothes off, with the obvious pole in your pants hindering things a little, but soon are stripped down. You pick up the mask and lay down on the floor, making sure there is as much space around you as possible.<br/>
<br/>
"OK, I'm ready. Now Umeko? The mask sinks into the face, kind of melts, then takes a little while to fully change me. I'll be unconscious mostly likely, but I guess you know that from your own experience." she shivers at the reminder. "Just wake me when it's done, OK?"<br/>
<br/>
"I... I really appreciate this Will. You don't know what this means to me. I won't forget it!"<br/>
<br/>
You hope not.<br/>
<br/>
It's scary, but Umeko's naked body enticing you on you slip the mask up and press it to your face.<br/>
<br/>
*PAIN!*<br/>
<br/>
Oh god! The sheer agony tears through you and you can't believe you did this willingly! You think, that it is slightly better than the first time. But not by much. You scream, muffled into the mask and writhe around on the floor, and feel Umeko's hands on your arms as you struggle. A few moments later you faint away.<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
Slowly you swim back to consciousness and look up at Umeko... naked Umeko. Naked Umeko leaning over you! OK, she's in black and white but she looks absolutely fantastic!<br/>
<br/>
"Ooo awww aye?" comes the muffled call from her. Oh right, the ears thing. You think she's asking if you are all right, so you lift your head and nod briefly. Her smile fills the room, and then she hugs you. Suddenly you find you have two erections, surprised at the sensations, as Umeko presses your snake head between her breasts tightly. You had no idea snakes had two?!? That is so weird! They feel awkward, short and squat, but probably larger than your own given the snake's bulk compared to a human. Flat ended? Well fuzz ended would be more accurate maybe. But they feel weird.<br/>
<br/>
Umeko continues to hug you, saying something that reverberates about but it unintelligible. You gently lift your tail up and wrap a little around her to squeeze her gently, she looses your head for a moment, and you peer up out of her cleavage at her face, eyes closed in bliss. She really gets into this!<br/>
<br/>
Suddenly she's all serious and pushes at you. Obligingly you pull free of her (a sigh as your head plops from her chest) and she says something, then lays down on the floor, toes towards you. She's really serious about this!</span></div></div>


path: 111122111111111111111111
author_id: gimlet
title: She wants it. Swallow her gently.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>For a moment you pause. Really eat her? Well, she said she'd be OK, and You trust her. If she's spent her life hooked on snake stuff she'd have read up all about them, right? She'll know what she's talking about.<br/>
<br/>
Unhinging your jaw a little in practice (and seeing Umeko gasp a little at this as she lifts herself up on her elbows to look at you) you shift those tiny needle teeth in and out, getting the feel for them. You're pretty sure it'll be easy to hold them back. It takes a bit of conscious effort to pull them down. anything that is different from the human body doesn't seem to come easily, but at least you can do stuff with this.<br/>
<br/>
OK, you're ready, you think. Staring up at Umeko's feet you wriggle forwards awkwardly and lay your head in front of her. She obligingly pushes her feet down, toes to your nose. You try to smile, but the muscles aren't there, and you sigh. With a wriggle of your head you unhinge again and edge forwards. Umeko is breathing hard now, flushed and excited obviously, as your mouth slides around her feet, not even touching them. Her toes hit the back of your throat and you gently close your jaws on her. You look up into her needing eyes... and swallow.<br/>
<br/>
Umeko catches her breath and gasps as her feet pulse into your throat, toes wriggling slightly. She shifts on her elbows, shimmying her butt forwards, lifting her knees. Then slowly she straightens her knees out, pushing her feet down your throat. You relax and swallow as gently as you can, and are surprised at how good this whole experience is. You were mainly doing this for Umeko, she obviously loves it, but she does taste very nice, kind of sweet and musky at once, and the feet of wriggling feet in your throat is weird... but nice. You could get used to this.<br/>
<br/>
Working your jaws from side to side you work up her calves as she pushes on, straightening out fully as you reach her knees. Suddenly you realize you're staring up her body... and her hands are buried in her crotch, busily stroking away. Fuck that looks hot!<br/>
<br/>
Inadvertently you gulp heavily, a tight squeeze dragging her towards you on her butt. Rather than looking pained though, she seems even more turned on, and grunts in response to your muscles working on her. OK, so swallowing isn't sexual for you, though it is nice, this whole scene before you is an incredible turn on! You fumble with your tail, flicking around to one of those twitching pulsing dicks sprouting low down your body and wrap it around. It's clumsy like this, but as she strokes herself you do likewise, watching her hips get sucked closer to your lips.<br/>
<br/>
As your nose closes over her rapidly twitching hands she screams and jerks, you gulp again, heavily as she seems to like it, and the ripple of throat muscles ooze her in. You're pretty sure that snakes don't normally eat prey this quickly, but with her helping like this it's going pretty fast.<br/>
<br/>
She shudders hard, quivering inside you. The movement deep with your body is kind of cool, especially when you know it's her! Imagining her sexy body... INSIDE you, is pretty intoxicating. Kind of an ultimate dom thing. You pull a loop of your middle body (quite a way from your rapidly pumping cock) up around her shoulders and push, easing her in as she can't help much now.<br/>
<br/>
This goes a little slower, but as she slips deeper she comes again, screaming once more as her hands twitch hard inside you. You're close yourself, though these snake things are weird. They feel like they're inside out or something, and something makes you think that they normally don't come this quick. Maybe your human side getting the better of your body?<br/>
<br/>
Your jaws press between her breasts. For a moment you stare up at her bliss covered face through the valley in her bosom, then you yawn again and suck them in. It takes a few gulps, but feeling her breasts INSIDE your mouth is enough. You've wanted to fondle them for years and now! You grunt and jerk, spasming your self as you swallow hard. There is a slight yelp from Umeko as her head plops into your mouth and is sucked in. Then you are collapsing on the floor.<br/>
<br/>
A few moments later you realize she is in you... and probably suffocating! You yawn and crack, and find curiously that you can open your throat while still breathing. Muffled gasps come from inside you, you think pleasant sounding ones. She's OK.<br/>
<br/>
Oh what a relief! For a moment there you worried for her.</span></div></div>


path: 1111221111111111111111111
author_id: gimlet
title: Cough her up.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>OK, time to get her out. You start a kind of rippling motion... but she suddenly jerks in you, not pleasantly. Muffled words come that you think are 'not yet' or something close. She wants to stay in there? Well you aren't going to let her stay in long. Who knows how long it'll take before your stomach starts to... deal with her? Well that turkey is still mostly in there you think, though you can't feel it right now. Has she bumped into it? Oooh, that could have been messy! Anyway, the turkey lasted a while in your human stomach, not the snake one. You don't want to risk leaving her in there too long.<br/>
<br/>
You squirm around a little, hearing giggles from inside you as she bends with you. You're careful not to flex too much around her. This could be fun, and her laughter is infectious. She squirms some more and can feel the soft lumps moving inside you. You have Umeko in you. God that's weird. Just imagining her sexy naked body... in there. You suddenly find your snake lips next to your weird looking penises. Okkaay! You can blow yourself like this? Tentatively you try, but it's not much fun. Snake lips are not agile. Typical! Finally you can bend like this but it still won't work. Curling your tail around one of them you sigh, imagining the look of Umeko wriggling inside you, her breasts jiggling, squeezed, her bum pressed by your insides. She is really cute and seeing her naked like that... You start to pump once more, then are surprised to hear a shuddering gasp inside you. She beat you to the punch!<br/>
<br/>
While she recovers from her third you finish your second and then collapse to the floor, feeling Umeko pant inside you. She mutters something unintelligible and you hope it means she wants out. You aren't waiting any longer, you don't want to hurt her in there!<br/>
<br/>
With a wriggle you start to try and throw up. Despite what Umeko said it seems hard to get started. You hear pleasant sounding moans from within you as your body squeezes and ripples around her, then little gasps as it pinches a little too much. You can't stop now though, got to get her out!<br/>
<br/>
Heaving, something clicks and with a gasp she starts to shoot outwards, way faster than she went in. You can feel a twisting sensation and try to go with it, bending your neck and upper body back and forth to push her out.<br/>
"sseeeee!" she gasps as her head plops free, then makes a squeak as her boobs plop out wetly. Her hips pinch a little, coming up so fast, but she oozes out in less than a minute, her bending her legs to help you draw her feet out. She mutters thanks (you think) and strokes your head softly. Then she pauses, bites her lip for a sec, then leans in and kisses you.<br/>
<br/>
You blink, but try to go with it. It's... weird. You can't flex your lips, shift or anything, but she obviously likes it. Smiling in your head you slip your snake tongue into her mouth instead and hear her giggle, then suck and play with it. Her mouth tastes really nice! Finally she breaks the kiss, blushing fiercely. Then she leans in and taps your head.<br/>
<br/>
Right, time to change back. She turns away, looking wistfully over her shoulder at your snake body before rubbing off all the spit off her with a bed sheet and brushing her hair. You smile, then it falters as she starts to dress. You get one VERY cute view of her gorgeous butt before panties, then skirt covers her once more. With a sigh, and without really thinking about it, your tail curls up, grabs your forehead and nose and pull.<br/>
<br/>
"Hiss hiss hiss!"<br/>
<br/>
*Pain!*<br/>
<br/>
It's not as bad, but still it catches you completely unawares. You were too busy watching Umeko dress herself. The writhing agony lasts long enough to see Umeko dash over to you, her bra covered chest bouncing delightfully before you faint away.<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
When you come to you are in her arms,  she looking down at you anxiously.<br/>
<br/>
"Will, are you OK?" she asks softly.<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, damn that's a kicker, but it's getting easier... slowly. Was that... OK? Was it good enough for you?" You ask, peering into her eyes.<br/>
<br/>
She goes bright red at the change in topic but doesn't drop you. You peer out of the corner of your eyes at her bra clad chest but try desperately to remain in eye contact with her face.<br/>
<br/>
"I... yes... Oh yes. Thank you Will. You have absolutely no idea how long I've... well lets say the dreams didn't live up to reality. That was much better than I'd dared hope!" Then she bites her lip and wriggles. You think her elbow touched your rock hard erection.<br/>
<br/>
"Um, sorry about that." you manage, blushing yourself now.<br/>
<br/>
"It's OK Will. I know how you feel about me. It's... weird but I think I can cope with that. You know, you thinking of me like that. But you do understand I don't feel the same?"<br/>
<br/>
"Except when I'm a snake?" you say, then kick yourself. Not the right thing to say.<br/>
<br/>
She closes her eyes and sighs.<br/>
<br/>
"OK, yeah, you as a snake does turn me on. But... knowing it's you in there is... wrong. Look, I'm not sure I'd be OK with... that. Let me think on it, OK?"<br/>
<br/>
Wait, she's considering it? Sex with a snake? Damn! Straining you don't say anything. You don't want to make her mind yet. It's probably be the wrong way.<br/>
<br/>
After a few minutes you reluctantly sit up. The view down there was good. But with her obvious dislike of your... maleness, you do feel awkward being naked in front of her. Maybe this is how she feels when she's naked in front of you? Weird.<br/>
<br/>
OK, well it's getting late." she says using the sheet to dry her hair some more, then brush it again. "I can manage without lunch and if I get out pretty quick I think I can get back to school in time for History class."<br/>
<br/>
"Heh, I'm fine. I've already had lunch!" and you lick your lips. "Tasty!"<br/>
<br/>
Umeko goes bright red practically instantly.<br/>
<br/>
"Ah. Um, Yeah. OK. Um." and she nervously puts her blouse on. "I'm... glad you... enjoyed it?"<br/>
<br/>
You smile, but it weakens.<br/>
<br/>
"Honestly, yeah it was a lot of fun, but... I think you get more out of that side of it than I do."<br/>
<br/>
"In a way," she says, looking over her shoulder at you as you get dressed "I'm glad of that. Not sure how I'd feel about you getting aroused by my being eaten... OK that's silly, I know you..." she looks down at your groin. "Well I heard what you did while I was... in there. But for some reason you getting turned on by the ACT of eating me... that might be too much."<br/>
<br/>
Before you can respond she heads up the steps, but pauses at the top.<br/>
<br/>
"Or maybe not." she says back at you, then quickly leaves, shutting the door behind you.<br/>
<br/>
SHEEEIT! She... she might... Oh my god! Wait, she never even asked about the Masks? She could...<br/>
<br/>
Suddenly a thought hit you. She's a Lesbian. You can make Masks. You can put an image of a girl into a Mask. YOU COULD BE A GIRL FOR HER! Wouldn't that be better than a snake? Well, seeing her reaction it's possible it isn't but... You're pretty sure she would love it! For that though you'd need more masks! *sigh* More buffing! This is getting to be a grind! But the results would be worth it!</span></div></div>


path: 11112211111111111111111111
author_id: gimlet
title: Yet more masks.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>For a few minutes you just sit on the floor of the basement, even pull the sheet she used to dry herself. It has her smell on it. You realize you're falling for.. .her... wait, Lisa?<br/>
<br/>
You stop and think for sec. When was the last time you even thought about her? What about Eva? Maybe now would be a good time to finally talk to Eva about Lisa? It still would hurt, but knowing Lisa definitely doesn't want anything to do with you might actually be freeing now... maybe. Damn your head hurts! And even if that happens Umeko... she doesn't like boys. Even if you make a girl mask for her would she actually want to be with you? More than just... sex? Even if she wants to do that! You realize you may be falling a bit deeply for her at this point.<br/>
<br/>
"Shit shit shit!" You fall in love and it's with a Lesbian! God can you get anything right?<br/>
<br/>
Your eyes sting, images of Lisa and Umeko flowing behind your eyes, but eventually you rub them and sit up. This is no good! You've got to get a hold of yourself! You blow your nose, clean your face somewhat, then head out and buy another $200 worth of mask materials, enough for two more masks. In the afternoon you do the task of making them, then hold two new gray masks ready for buffing. Again you stare at the books next spell. Not now! This is way too important to worry about new stuff!<br/>
<br/>
Packing stuff up in a bag up and hiding the Mask making equipment in a corner you head home.<br/>
<br/>
"Where have you been Will!" your mom says when you arrive "I was worried about you! You need to stay in bed!"<br/>
<br/>
"I know mom," you say as she feels your forehead.<br/>
<br/>
"You feel hot son. Come on get to bed! You've got the weekend to recover from this."<br/>
<br/>
Sighing you relent and head upstairs to bed. She tucks you in and for once you let her. You aren't a kid any more, but right now you have other things on your mind.<br/>
<br/>
"Sweet dreams William."<br/>
<br/>
"Good night mom. And thanks for taking care of me when I was sick."<br/>
<br/>
She smiles and closes the door.<br/>
<br/>
Turning you set your alarm for midnight. It's 2:30PM now, so you should have enough sleep time. You drift to sleep with dreams of a naked Umeko running ahead of you as a snake.<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
You wake in the dark, still hearing your brother messing around in the next room as you slam your hand down on the alarm. OK, people are still up, but you can buff masks at least, even if you can't head out without bumping into someone. You grab the masks from your jacket and the buffing cloth and start to work on them, strapping them to your knees again. It's getting like a rhythm now, and while you buff you fantasize about Umeko. Not all of it with her naked either. She's always been a kind of down to earth girl. Not Tomboy certainly, but... wait, as a Lesbian shouldn't she be a tomboy? Was she hiding that side of herself? Maybe you just don't know enough about all this stuff.<br/>
<br/>
After a couple of hours you take a break, waggling your arms about to get the blood flow back, then throw on some clothes and head downstairs. Who could you record? One obvious one would be Umeko herself. What would she think about being with her own body? Might freak her out too much... although given what you two have been doing lately you're not sure what WOULD freak her out!<br/>
<br/>
Maybe someone else? Um, but who? Eva? You know her of course, but not very well. You could ask Caleb to help with that, but he's already been reluctant about the whole thing. Getting a mask on her... ooh! How about a merge of her and Umeko? While you open the fridge and get out a glass of orange you ponder it. With a merge like that if you ever get caught in the mask there wouldn't the awkwardness of explaining what Eva was doing there. Or the danger of bumping into Eva when you are in the Eva mask! Not likely, but who knows?<br/>
<br/>
"Will?"<br/>
<br/>
You practically hit the ceiling!<br/>
<br/>
"DAD! God, don't do that!" you say, your heart thumping in your chest.<br/>
<br/>
"Heh, I guess you're feeling better then huh?" He says, he's acting a little odd, and what is he doing up this late? It's 2AM!<br/>
<br/>
"Um yeah, said so yesterday at breakfast." he nods and taste a sip of coffee.<br/>
<br/>
"Will, come into my office, we need to talk."<br/>
<br/>
Uh oh, this sounds serious!</span></div></div>


path: 111122111111111111111111112
author_id: gimlet
title: Aerospace job.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>Your Dad takes you into his office. Obviously he's been working in here. Stuff is strewn around, designs, circuit diagrams, graphs. Looks like something detailed whatever it is.<br/>
<br/>
"Sit down son."<br/>
<br/>
He shuts the door as you sit and he goes round behind his desk. Ah, he didn't sit in front of you, he's doing his 'boss behind a desk' thing. This is work related.<br/>
<br/>
"Will, Salopek is upscaling soon. A new building is going up on the east side of town and there are a lot of new positions opening up. Is Caleb still interested?"<br/>
<br/>
You blink. You thought this was about you?<br/>
<br/>
"Um, yeah, hell yeah! I mean yes I know he wants it."<br/>
<br/>
"How would he feel about a more technical position? Not the loading worker job. He's pretty good with computers as well as chemistry, right?" You nod "You understand that I'm taking a risk with this. We do a lot of government contracts and security is important. He'll have to go through a security screen, check him out. If it turns out he's into drugs, has a REAL criminal record," oh thank god, he didn't believe that hokey shoplifting fiasco last year! "then I'll be in trouble. I'm pretty sure he'll be good for the job itself, but can he be trusted? Seriously!"<br/>
<br/>
You gulp. You've known Caleb for a long time now, but you know he has quite a sense of humor. Quite a prankish sense of humor. How would he do at a serious aerospace company?</span></div></div>


path: 1111221111111111111111111121
author_id: gimlet
title: Getting Caleb the job.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Yes, He's a little... odd sometimes with his jokes, but you can trust him. I do."<br/>
<br/>
The moment you say this you realize you really don't. Not like that. Otherwise why haven't you told him about the Book and the Masks?<br/>
<br/>
"Alright. I trust you Will. It's getting close to the end of the school year. He'd be on part time for now, and if his grades are good this year we might consider taking him on full time."<br/>
<br/>
Before he's finished school? That isn't normal is it? What has Caleb been up to to grab Dad's attention?<br/>
<br/>
"Uh, OK Dad, I'll tell him when I next see him."<br/>
<br/>
"It's OK, I plan on calling his father tomorrow and letting him know. I'll get the paperwork started on Monday."<br/>
<br/>
He gets up from his chair. Obviously the meeting is over.<br/>
<br/>
"Thank you Will."<br/>
<br/>
You head upstairs and Dad locks himself back in his room again. What was that about? There was way more there than just a job, you know that.<br/>
<br/>
You head upstairs and start buffing masks once more, now while you try and ponder what Caleb has been up to of late. Hacking again maybe? Or was he trying to make Nitroglycerin? No, that wouldn't peak the company's interest. Would it?<br/>
<br/>
After a while you nervously let it drop and think back to images of Umeko. You find yourself remembering what it was like to... eat her. Somehow the whole thing was sort of dream like, but so real. The feel of her skin in your mouth. Her taste on your tongue. Her wriggling sexy movements as she slid into you. Damn you're getting hard just thinking about her... or the experience. You're beginning to wonder if you do like this, despite the oddity. No, really it's her you like, but feeling her that close, that sensuously. Damn it was nice! You now know every inch of her body intimately! At least with your mouth.<br/>
<br/>
Before you know it the masks are half done and you stare at the clock. It's 5 AM! Well, you slept a lot, so you carry on, trying to finish them off tonight.<br/>
<br/>
You don't make it, sounds of breakfast preparations start when the masks are 3/4 done. Still a lot more than you'd hoped. You relax and feel your arms throbbing. 'Wax on, Wax off.'  Heh! This is certainly building arm muscle for you.<br/>
<br/>
Once you think you've recovered from your polishing you head downstairs for breakfast. Like every Saturday Mom is making Bacon, the smell of it filling the kitchen.<br/>
<br/>
"Hey Rob." you say idly.<br/>
<br/>
"Hey Dick." he says back softly so mom can't hear. Ah, he's getting a bit back to his old self again.<br/>
<br/>
You sit down and wait for the bacon as Dad comes in and nods to you slightly. Reminded of last night again you ponder what's up with Caleb.<br/>
<br/>
"Here you go, Yours extra crispy Robby." and she puts out everyone's bacon. How does she always manage to time it just for when everyone is ready?<br/>
<br/>
Breakfast is a bit more friendly than usual, though Robert is still a little withdrawn, compared to normal. He dashes out as soon as he's finished, not waiting for Dad to assign chores. Sighing, and without complaining as usual, you simply start bagging trash.<br/>
<br/>
"That's nice dear, don't forget the bathroom."<br/>
<br/>
Your Dad however stares at you. Yeah, you aren't exactly behaving normally are you. Well you're rather preoccupied right now, and besides you don't need as much time today to finish the masks as you thought. You're in a good mood.<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
Trash takes about an hour, but only because you're going slow, wandering about Umeko the whole time. After that you head out, but where to go? Umeko's? That would be cool, maybe you could finish the Masks and show her... herself, or something. But you have become real curious about Caleb. Maybe you should head over there first, then see Umeko tonight? Maybe you could even get Eva on a mask first and merge it with Umeko then before fixing it tonight.</span></div></div>


path: 11112211111111111111111111211
author_id: gimlet
title: An Umeko Mask.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>You have both blank masks along with your already made masks, both the dog and the Robert one. Just in case you need more to explain things. You hope she takes this well. Should you bring the book? Well you have to head to the Clubhouse anyway to pick up some fixer to make the mask permanent.<br/>
<br/>
Getting in you close the door behind you, then wonder about getting a deadlock bolt on it? You could lock it from the inside then for added privacy. You might need that soon. Grinning at the thought of you and Umeko in here you head down. It's still a bit of a mess from yesterday, and the sheet is still there on the table. Feeling really stupid you sniff it. Yep, Umeko smell! God look at you! You're like love sick puppy!<br/>
<br/>
Taking a deep breath you focus and gather up the Book, the fixing solution (not that much left, have to make more), and a brush. You grab a bag and shove all that plus all the masks so far made in and head out, locking behind you.<br/>
<br/>
It's a long walk but you head off whistling. Things have certainly... changed these last weeks. Mostly for the better. When you reach Umeko's house you're thankful that there aren't any cops there and head up to the house.<br/>
<br/>
"Hey, hey!" comes from the trees.<br/>
<br/>
Umeko is in t-shirt and jeans over there, seemingly surprised to see you.<br/>
<br/>
"Look," she says as you head over to her, "best not head to the house. I'm not exactly popular in there right now. Having you over might make my parents get some odd ideas."<br/>
<br/>
"Nice to see you too Umeko." you say, grinning.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh Will! Come on, it's nice to see you too. I just... well it was a bad night. My mom was... well she was still crying this morning. Dad was furious, blaming me! And I couldn't tell him the truth! I haven't lied to them in... well, a very long time! I said I was checking the stars and lost track of time, I'm not sure they believed me. I think they think I'm seeing a boy!"<br/>
<br/>
"Er, you are?"<br/>
<br/>
She glares at you.<br/>
<br/>
"You know what I mean! That way, not... *sigh*"<br/>
<br/>
Actually, you're pretty sure if her parents knew what she was doing with 'that boy' then they would be even more horrified!<br/>
<br/>
"So you want to head to the clubhouse? It'd be private, and there are a few things I need to explain."<br/>
<br/>
She smiles knowingly.<br/>
<br/>
"I kinda hoped you would. Yeah, lets go." she grabs a bag and heads out with you.<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
Back at the clubhouse you drop the bag on the table and open up. You should have thought you'd be coming back here. You didn't need to lug this stuff around! Never mind.<br/>
<br/>
"So, the snake?" she says idly.<br/>
<br/>
"What, again?"<br/>
<br/>
Suddenly her eyes go wide.<br/>
<br/>
"Noooo, no I mean you were going to explain the snake... but... I guess later... maybe?" She grins at you.<br/>
<br/>
Damn just the thought of that is getting you hard!<br/>
<br/>
"OK, better sit down this is a lot to take in." you wait for her and you to sit across the table once more and get started. You decide to go the whole hog, explain everything, the book, the masks bloody thumb print and all and she is looking a little pale at the end.<br/>
<br/>
"...so I managed to get the Mask off the snake and get out of there. Man I thought it was going to stay stuck on it!"<br/>
<br/>
"Then," Umeko said softly "You tried it out?"<br/>
<br/>
You nod.<br/>
<br/>
"The dog had been weird, but the Snake was worse, but I have to admit after a few goes it is getting easier. Later Dad caught me downstairs, after the turkey thing, but I changed back in time. I don't think he knows anything about that, but damn doing that hurt! Maybe eventually I'll get used to that."<br/>
<br/>
She places her hand lightly on yours on the table.<br/>
<br/>
"Trust me, I really appreciate what you put yourself through for me. I know what that felt like!" she leaves her warm hand softly on yours for several seconds, peering into your eyes before lifting it and leaning back. "But now the whole deal with these Masks... you say you're sure this wasn't supposed to work for animals?" you nod "And you've only tried your brother?" again a nod.<br/>
<br/>
She pauses and bites her lip.<br/>
<br/>
"OK, I'm curious. Could I... Could I try him out?" You blink and look down into the bag where the Robert Mask is.<br/>
<br/>
"I.. guess. But you can't have it outside here. I don't want Rob to get in trouble, and being in two places at once could make a lot of trouble!"<br/>
<br/>
She nods as you hand her Robert's mask. She turns it over in her hands and peers into the image.<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, that looks like Rob. Oh this is weird. And it hurts less?"<br/>
<br/>
"Actually it doesn't really hurt exactly. It's weird and you get knocked out, or at least feel drowsy, but not as bad as with animals."<br/>
<br/>
"OK, could you turn around?"<br/>
<br/>
You sigh and do as she asks, hearing the rustle of clothes behind you. Damn you wanted to see her again!<br/>
<br/>
"OK, Stay turned around, I'm going to lay on the floor and put the mask on."<br/>
<br/>
You hear step away from the table and sit down, then nothing.<br/>
<br/>
"MMMMmmm!" she gasps and you turn without thinking and see her naked there, just as she changes. God she's beautiful... then, she isn't.<br/>
<br/>
"Umeko?" you say, leaning over... your Brother.<br/>
<br/>
"Ooh my... head?" she says and coughs. "Oh the voice will take getting used to!" Then her eyes go wide as her hands go down to her waist. "Oh fuck!"<br/>
<br/>
Yep, Robby's got an erection, and Umeko seems scared of even touching it, but also thrilled about it.<br/>
<br/>
"So, you like?" you say to her when she's calmed down a little.<br/>
<br/>
"Um, yep, I think so. This feels so different." You grin and she/he smiles back at you. It's weird not thinking of Robert in there.<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, so... I was wondering Umeko?" you say awkwardly. "Would you be interested in... making a... Mask of you? For me I mean. Well for you but for..."<br/>
<br/>
"I get it Will!" she says, interrupting you as she looks flushed again, weird on Robert's face. "I... don't know. That's a lot to take in!"<br/>
<br/>
You both stare down at Robert's erection and burst out laughing.<br/>
<br/>
"*Chuckles* Yeah, I think I'll pass on that Umeko. You don't know where Robert's been!"</span></div></div>


path: 111122111111111111111111112111
author_id: gimlet
title: She lets you make an Umeko mask.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Hey, after this I don't exactly have a leg to stand on to say no do I?" She says, pointedly staring at Robert's dick. Damn, she's shy as hell in her own body, but totally free about Roberts, despite being in it.<br/>
<br/>
"Thanks Umeko, I admit I'm kind of interested in what it's like to be a girl."<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, and..." she pauses, staring at her/his groin. "what's it like Will?"<br/>
<br/>
"What what's like?" You say, worried that you do know where this conversation is going.<br/>
<br/>
"You know, what you did while I was in your stomach." So she is a little embarrassed about this, she can't say 'masturbation'.<br/>
<br/>
"Well, you know what it's like for a girl, right? I could hear that much." and she blushed once more, but her eyes didn't leave her new toy. "OK, well, it's... what? Good? I don't know what to say. Fucking good?"<br/>
<br/>
You both laugh at that, then she wraps her hand around it, licks her lips and pumps.<br/>
<br/>
"Oooh! I like it!"<br/>
<br/>
This is freaky! It's your brother for god's sake!<br/>
<br/>
"OK, now I know how you feel. Umeko. You mind if I turn my back?"<br/>
<br/>
She/he grins up at you<br/>
<br/>
"Hey sure, as long as you don't mind me doing it! I gotta try it out!"<br/>
<br/>
You smile, a little weakly, but pat her on the shoulder.<br/>
<br/>
"Go ahead, I'll just be over here." and you sit down at the table.<br/>
<br/>
The next few minutes are... weird. Listening (you can't stop listening, despite wanting to!) to Umeko whack off. When she finally comes and screams... OK, you've head a muffled version of that before. Now you know what some of the sounds from your brother's room have been. TMI!<br/>
<br/>
"*Pant* Oh OK, *gasp* I'm done, for now!" and you turn to see Umeko/Robert standing against the wall grinning at you. "I guess I have to take this mask off for you to.. what, scan me?"<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, I guess. Even if it worked on you now, it'd be an image of Robert it stored." And you really aren't sure that would work anyway. It doesn't exactly say as much in the book but there are hints about it, using the term 'once' where it really isn't needed, implying only one mask... maybe. Oh this is all so we...<br/>
<br/>
"*EAAAARGH!*" Umeko grunts as she pulls at the mask. "Ungh, a little help here? It's not coming off."<br/>
<br/>
You try pulling at her/his face as she says the words, while you go over them in your head, checking she's saying them right, then 'PLOP!" it comes free.<br/>
<br/>
You stagger back as she changes, twisting and wriggling, collapsing against the wall but not quite fainting this time.<br/>
<br/>
"Oooh!" She says, clutching her head. "You're right that does feel weird, but no pain at least. I guess..." and she stops, then hands rapidly cover her gorgeous chest and crotch. "Will!"<br/>
<br/>
"What, what am I supposed to do? I was helping with the mask!"<br/>
<br/>
She turns around and holds a hand behind her.<br/>
<br/>
"S.. so give me the blank mask OK? I'll do it."<br/>
<br/>
You seriously consider doing just that, but you can't do it. You could catch her of course but it wouldn't be right not to warn her.<br/>
<br/>
"Ah, that won't work." you say as you stare at her fantastic bum. "When the mask melts in to scan you, you always seem to fall asleep and collapse. You're out for like ten fifteen minutes."<br/>
<br/>
"And the whole time you'll be staring at my body?" she says.<br/>
<br/>
"OK, Umeko? I understand I think, but if thats the case, why were you so open when I was a snake? I was still me inside."<br/>
<br/>
She takes a deep breath.<br/>
<br/>
"I know, I know it's not... right, but with you in that body it just feels wrong. Hey could you sit there and watch me... do what I did when I was Robert?"<br/>
<br/>
You ponder that.<br/>
<br/>
"Honestly, as Robert no. It's too freaky, but as another guy, me maybe. I think I could do that for you."<br/>
<br/>
"Do that... wait what? No I wasn't asking you to..." her body blushes again, still facing away. "I meant that you couldn't watch, just the watching I was talking about."<br/>
<br/>
"I could do that. But my brother? I'll pass."<br/>
<br/>
Umeko looks over her shoulder at you with an odd expression.<br/>
<br/>
"Um, just... give me the mask and your jacket. I'll lay down with it over me, OK?"<br/>
<br/>
"OK." You say simply.<br/>
<br/>
Handing her the blank mask and your jacket you turn around and let her get settled. when she signals she's OK, you turn, just in time to see her put the mask on. As always it melts into her, her body shuddering under the jacket, then she's quiet and the mask is gone.<br/>
<br/>
You sit down to wait.<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
Quarter of an hour later the mask re-appears and you are tempted... oh so tempted, to peek under her jacket when you pick it up, but you manage to resist.<br/>
<br/>
"Whoah! Different." she gasps as she wakes up, and sees you painting something on the mask. "What's that?"<br/>
<br/>
"It fixes the mask, lets you use it." and you paint the last bit in, "There, all ready. You might want to close your eyes."<br/>
<br/>
"What is it bright or something?" she says, clutching the jacket to her body.<br/>
<br/>
"No, but I'm stripping."<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, right of course." and she closes her eyes.<br/>
<br/>
"I said you might want to, not have to." you whisper to yourself under your breath, a little disappointed that she didn't want to watch.<br/>
<br/>
"OK," you say, laying down yourself, "I'm about to put on the mask."<br/>
<br/>
The usual swirling twisting in your body, the usual... when did this get 'usual'? This time you manage to stay awake and pant on the floor, and then stare down at your own body!<br/>
<br/>
"Wow!" you whisper, and then regret it as Umeko opens her eyes.<br/>
<br/>
"You're done? Wow, you ARE done! Oh my god!" and she roll up, forgetting the jacket, falling to the floor as she peers at you. For a moment you feel as awkward as she did earlier with her staring at your body like this, but... no you aren't going to do that. You bite down on the nervousness and sit up yourself.<br/>
<br/>
"So, you like?" you say.<br/>
<br/>
Grinning she looks up.<br/>
<br/>
"Of course I like... oh," and her face falls, "You mean 'like' like?"</span></div></div>


path: 1111221111111111111111111121111
author_id: gimlet
title: Actually, it is a turn on. She gets closer.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Um, I've never..." she gets up her knees and stares at you, first fixed just on your face, then her eyes drift lower. "... I've never been with a woman... a naked woman, before Will."<br/>
<br/>
"OK, Let the master show you how it's done!" you say calmly.<br/>
<br/>
Her laughter isn't what you expect.<br/>
<br/>
"Will, look, you are NOT the master in any of... well you're just not. Have you ever had sex before?"<br/>
<br/>
Now you're blushing!<br/>
<br/>
"Of course I have! I've had girlfriends before!"<br/>
<br/>
She looks seriously at you, one eyebrow raised quizically.<br/>
<br/>
"OK," you wince under her glare, "so... maybe... not exactly."<br/>
<br/>
She gets up smiling, comes over and kneels again beside you.<br/>
<br/>
"It's OK, I"m a virgin too. Besides, no matter what experience you've up till now this," and she points to your female body, "isn't amongst it is it?"<br/>
<br/>
You look down at your breast and cup one of them in your hand, squishing lightly. Damn that's good!<br/>
<br/>
"Ungh, I'd have to say no." you manage, grinning despite yourself.<br/>
<br/>
Umeko leans in and takes your face in her hands, bringing it close to hers.<br/>
<br/>
"Look Will, I... this feels weird but you've done so much for me..."<br/>
<br/>
"Wait what? You're doing this cos you feel sorry for me?" You manage, heat coming to your face.<br/>
<br/>
A look of confusion crosses hers and you manage to hold on to your temper.<br/>
<br/>
"Actually, no. I do want this, for quite a few reasons." she says and you calm down a little. "One, I've never been with a girl before and I REALLY want to! Two, I trust you, I know you I've been with you for so long that I feel I can... well, open up with you like with no-one else. and Three? Well, I do like you Will. You are the closest friend I've ever had, and to be with you this way? I think, like this, I can do this."<br/>
<br/>
"But you don't love me?" it comes out of your mouth so fast you can't stop yourself and Umeko's almond eyes go wide.<br/>
<br/>
"Lo... wait.... You Will? Oh my god!" for a moment she leans back, breathing hard, obviously thinking things through.<br/>
<br/>
"You... really..." she starts, but you interrupt her before you can second guess yourself. You take her hands in yours and lean in.<br/>
<br/>
"Yes Umeko, I love you, deeply and with a passion! I've never felt like this for anyone before!"<br/>
<br/>
"Not even Lisa?"<br/>
<br/>
That hurts and it looks like she regretted saying it to when she saw your reaction.<br/>
<br/>
"E... even her. Umeko. This whole thing is weird and intense I know, but I've always felt very close to you, now more so."<br/>
<br/>
"More than when you ate me?" she says with a slight grin, which then disappears. "OK, I know not the time to joke. It's difficult. Put yourself in my shoes. What if Caleb had these masks, he made himself into a girl and then confessed his undying love for you. How would you react?"<br/>
<br/>
You blink, that is kind of... disgusting? Maybe.<br/>
<br/>
"I guess it would depend on how cute a girl he was."<br/>
<br/>
She gapes at you.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm serious." you say softly. "He is my best friend, but you and I are more. Even before we were more than that."<br/>
<br/>
Umeko takes her hands from yours and rests them on your shoulders. That feels nice.<br/>
<br/>
"Will, that's a lot to accept. And... You understand I don't love you! I care about you a lot, am willing to do a lot with you, but I don't love you!"<br/>
<br/>
"Love takes time." you say simply. "I'm willing to wait."<br/>
<br/>
She stares at you, eyes watering.<br/>
<br/>
"How in hell did I ever end up with you?" she said, smiling "I'm not usually that lucky!"</span></div></div>


path: 11112211111111111111111111211111
author_id: gimlet
title: Will and Umeko have some time to themselves.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>Umeko leans in and hugs you, her chest smooshing your own delightfully. Then she leans back with a longing look plain on her face.<br/>
<br/>
"OK, I know this is a rush... but can we fuck?"<br/>
<br/>
You laugh and hug her back passionately.<br/>
<br/>
"Gladly Umeko, but ungh, you probably have more experience with the 'software' than I do. Can you give me a few pointers?" She giggles at this but nods against you.<br/>
<br/>
"Mmm, only if you show me the best way to... you know. With another body, not Robert."<br/>
<br/>
That would be weird! But for her?<br/>
<br/>
"Sure." you say, and pull back a little and kiss her. That surprised her but she responds momentarily. It lasts maybe a minute, but seems like an age!<br/>
<br/>
"Oh I could get to like this!" she says, giggling and you gasp as her hands firmly cup your rump. "Mmm, nice. Hah, I can make you blush!" and she squeezes more and...<br/>
<br/>
"Eep! Hey, watch the thumbs!" You say feeling her thumb prodding between your butt cheeks.<br/>
<br/>
"You don't like that? Sure?" and she does it again "REALLY sure?"<br/>
<br/>
It's nice but, what is she getting at? Then a thumb pushes harder and...<br/>
<br/>
"he.. HEY!" You gasp, feeling your sphincter grip her thumb as it slides inside. "What are you doing?"<br/>
<br/>
"You said I should show you how to do this?"<br/>
<br/>
You blink at her.<br/>
<br/>
"You do this a lot?" and you nod down your back towards your rump.<br/>
<br/>
Her face gets a little less enthusiastic and her thumb stops moving.<br/>
<br/>
"Er, yeah?" she says nervously.<br/>
<br/>
"OK," you say, smiling again, "just checking. But I'm not sure it's what I'd like."<br/>
<br/>
She smiles again, now she's sure you aren't angry at her.<br/>
<br/>
"You're not sure? Want to find out?" and she moves her thumb slowly in and out.<br/>
<br/>
Groaning you lean against Umeko, the tightness getting you rather hot. That actually feels good!<br/>
<br/>
"Um M.. maybe?" you gasp.<br/>
<br/>
She grins and you feel her pick up the pace, then other fingers fumble against the front of your body, around your crotch. Sighing you feel her work you from both sides, teasing just above that slit down there, getting inside the folds. She's working round this tender nub inside, but not touching it. It's like fire!<br/>
<br/>
"U..Umeko! Oh god!" and you collapse against her, her thumb jamming tight inside, and her finger slipping into the wetness in front. The feelings are utterly incredible.<br/>
<br/>
"Told ya you'd like it." she said as you panted on her shoulder. "Let me show you something else."<br/>
<br/>
She pushes you back, to lay on the floor looking up at her. Then she turns around and knees astride your head. You get a wonderful, up close look at her rump as she bends over you. Hands fondle your hips, then between them as her thighs straddle your face and press down.<br/>
<br/>
"Don't get too close to it, OK?" she says, her breath on your groin, "It's too sensitive to touch directly. Work around it, like this."<br/>
<br/>
Your eyes go wide as a lithe, moist, squirming mass of flesh oozes into your sex, then back up and across the folds above it. Again her tongue teases around, but not quite touching that nub. You guess that is what she's talking about. Then she pulls back briefly.<br/>
<br/>
"You can join in any time Will." she say and wiggles her butt at you.<br/>
<br/>
Oh boy do you! You grab her rear firmly, loving the feel of her warm flesh against you, and pull her down, licking at the folds, hearing the moans, feeling them more, as they reverberate through your bones! Damn she's good! You try to keep up, but she kind of gets away from you.<br/>
<br/>
Half an hour, four orgasms for you, two for her later you are sitting up, laying against her panting, the back of your head planted between her breasts as she  strokes your nipples.<br/>
<br/>
"Mmmmm! Oh you can keep doing that all day Umeko!" you say and she giggles.<br/>
<br/>
"I kind of wondered if I'd ever get to do this. Fantasizing is one thing, but this is much better! Thank you Will, you have no idea what this means to me!"<br/>
<br/>
"Hey, no charge. Trust me I'm enjoying this as much as you are love."<br/>
<br/>
She twitches at that last comment, but seems OK. She doesn't stop tweaking your nipples at any rate.<br/>
<br/>
"Will?" she says a few minutes later "I have a favor to ask of you. A pretty big one actually."<br/>
<br/>
"Sure, shoot."</span></div></div>


path: 111122111111111111111111112111111
author_id: gimlet
title: I'd like another Anaconda mask, a female one.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>She continues tweaking your nipples delightfully as she talks softly.<br/>
<br/>
"Well, I'd like for us to make another mask. For me." you nod idly, feeling her breasts against your hair. "What I'd like... is, well we've got an Anaconda mask, a male one. Very definitely a male one!"<br/>
<br/>
You chuckle, then frown as you start to see where this is going.<br/>
<br/>
"Um, Umeko? Are you sure? There might be... well isn't the mask we've got good enough?"<br/>
<br/>
"I'd really like a female mask, or better yet two female snake masks!" and she cups your breasts with both hands.<br/>
<br/>
"Oooh, um, well there might be a problem with that. Our Zoo only has one Anaconda in it, male. Um, I think I saw another snake there... I mean another big snake, but not an Anaconda. I think it was a Rock Python? Not sure if that was female."<br/>
<br/>
"Well, could we make two masks of that?"<br/>
<br/>
You moan from her ministrations and hear her chuckle.<br/>
<br/>
"You are really really distracting. In a good way that is!" You wriggle your head more firmly between her breasts and hear her moan. You can't resist reaching down and slipping a hand under her butt, her helping, and teasing a finger back there. You know she likes it after all. While you are playing with her rosebud you continue "But that Mmmm! Could be a problem still." One of Umeko's hands keeps up the work on your chest while the other strays south between your thighs, "Oooh yes, just there! I *ah!* I only have one remaining.. *gasp* blank mask. Making another would.. Would tak.. take t.. Ooh shit!"<br/>
<br/>
Her hands on your chest had already got you hot, this tips you over the edge. You come hard and feel two of your fingers jam up her ass. She comes herself moments later, gripping your head and clutching you to her chest.<br/>
<br/>
When the two of you have come down again she sighs.<br/>
<br/>
"Oooh, thanks." she says, wiggling on your thumb. "Um. Well, one mask would be good for now I guess. Can we do it tonight?"<br/>
<br/>
Panting you sit up, looking back at Umeko.<br/>
<br/>
"Tonight? Get the mask on the snake tonight? Um, I'm not even sure the mask will work on a Rock Python. The head is a little smaller than an Anaconda. The snake is about the same length but less bulky. If the mask won't fit on it's head will it even work?"<br/>
<br/>
"Um, can we at least try?" she says.</span></div></div>


path: 1111221111111111111111111121111111
author_id: gimlet
title: Agree, head to the Zoo.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Um, it's risky." You murmur to her "It might not work. But maybe you can help with making sure no-one interrupts me while I get the mask on it?" she nods enthusiastically. Her grin says it all. She really wants that mask! "OK, sure I'll do it Umeko. But, can we snuggle a bit longer first?"<br/>
<br/>
"Just snuggle?" She says coyly.<br/>
<br/>
"Well...."<br/>
<br/>
The giggles and moans that follow last quiet a long time. By the time you both dress it's one in the afternoon. Then, after you remember to undress, take off the Umeko mask, and dress again it's about one thirty. That was fun!<br/>
<br/>
"So, Umeko? You're sure about this?" she nods and smiles "Right then, lets get to the Zoo!"<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
It's a little busier today than the last time you were here. You guess they have more business on Saturdays. You wander around the Reptile house and are a little worried that it's so full of people. Then you find something else to worry about.<br/>
<br/>
"Er, miss?" you say to one of the staff "What happened to the Rock Python?" and you point to an empty tank.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh she's not here right now, she's having a medical exam across the ways." and she points out the window.<br/>
<br/>
Well, that answers two questions. One it's female, but the one about where it is is unfortunate.<br/>
<br/>
"A medical exam? Is is painful?" you say, trying to draw her out a little.<br/>
<br/>
"No, don't worry they treat them very well here. We have our own in house veterinary building next to the administration block. Don't worry she'll be fine."<br/>
<br/>
You head back to Umeko and give her the bad news.<br/>
<br/>
"Damn it!" She groans "How can we get in there?"<br/>
<br/>
"You still want that particular snake?"<br/>
<br/>
"Well, you said smaller one's would be less likely to work, right? I don't see many around here even close to Anaconda size."<br/>
<br/>
You nod idly.<br/>
<br/>
"OK, lets at least check the place out first."<br/>
<br/>
Walking out of the reptile house you head over as directed and find the veterinary building. There are two buildings backed onto each other by the looks of it, the front is a front office or work place, probably where they do medical tests, surgery etc, and behind it is a larger, lower, concrete building. It looks like that is one huge room, maybe where they store animals? There is a guard outside and you wonder why they need one? You guess someone might want to steal animals... especially rare ones.<br/>
<br/>
You motion for Umeko to wait here and walk over to the guard.<br/>
<br/>
"Excuse me, could you tell me where the Rock Python is being checked out? In the main building?" and you point to the front structure.<br/>
<br/>
"Aah think so," the bored looking guard says in a drawl. "I think it were a regular check up or som'it. Be done soon."<br/>
<br/>
Behind the guard you see the large, badly lit room, cages filling half of what little you can see of it from the access way. You wonder if there are any other interesting animals in there you could scan or are the cages occupied at all? You can't tell. Well, you can't do anything about that now. Umeko wants that one particular snake.<br/>
<br/>
"Thanks." You say and leave the bored look guard to his magazine.<br/>
<br/>
"You heard?" You say to Umeko.<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, we got to get in there!"<br/>
<br/>
You go round to the painted front building, looking more like a store than a veterinary building. Keeping away from the front in case anyone sees you the two of you start checking windows.<br/>
<br/>
"Here! I can see her!" Umeko gasps as quietly as she can. "Give me a boost!"<br/>
<br/>
You grab her foot and heave and she pushes open a swinging window and crawls in. Once in she leans back and leans out.<br/>
<br/>
"Come on, I'll help you."<br/>
<br/>
Between the two of you you manage to get yourself pulled in through the small window, but it's tight. The room looks like an examination table and...<br/>
<br/>
*Click!*<br/>
<br/>
You look up and see the window shut. Just idly you try to open it... and find it's locked!<br/>
<br/>
"Shit! We're locked in!" you whisper to Umeko.<br/>
<br/>
"Um, get the mask done quick, while it's unconscious!" she says. You hardly think that is the most important thing to worry about right now, but oblige, dropping the mask on the sleeping snake's head. For a few nail biting moments you wonder if you were right and it's too small, but it fits and melts in.<br/>
<br/>
"OK, that'll work then. I take that mask when it's done, you take the Anaconda and we can slither out of here!"<br/>
<br/>
You look at her askance.<br/>
<br/>
"Um, two things. One, How could we slither out the front without anyone noticing? And two I don't have the fixing solution with me! We can't use that mask till we get it home!"<br/>
<br/>
Umeko looks crestfallen, but ponders while the two of you wait for the mask. Cautiously you go to the exit and watch to see if anyone is coming, but it looks clear at the moment. Although the front of the building looked flash, this looks a little primitive. The walls are nicely finished painted concrete, and the interior walls look nicely done, but the ceilings look like cheap polystyrene sheets and the floors are wide wooden slats. There are even spaces between the planks! You wonder how many people have lost things through that floor?<br/>
<br/>
"It's coming back!" she hisses at you and head back from the door.<br/>
<br/>
Sure enough the mask finishes emerging and you pick it up, Umeko practically brimming with excitement. Now how to get out of here?</span></div></div>


path: 11112211111111111111111111211111111
author_id: gimlet
title: Try to sneak out one of the side doors.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>The corridor outside leads down several similar rooms, then bends on your far right. Left seems to head to the front and the front desk is sure to be tended. You can't sneak out that way!<br/>
<br/>
Heading right the two of you creep down the corridor, occasionally looking in the rooms, but they look the same as the one you came from, but with no animals in. When you get to the corner the rooms are different. They look like windowless storage rooms, but with cages in them, most unoccupied, some occupied. You see a door at the end of this stretch of corridor and things look up... right up till it starts to open!<br/>
<br/>
"Shit!" Umeko whispers and pushes you into the nearest room and pushes the door to.<br/>
<br/>
*Clack!*<br/>
<br/>
"Oh I don't like that noise." You say in the pitch blackness.<br/>
<br/>
You hear Umeko fumbling with the latch.<br/>
<br/>
"Um, it's locked." she says softly.<br/>
<br/>
"And this is a small room, no-where to hide! Did you notice that all those doors were left open? Sooner or later someone will notice this door is shut and investigate. Then we get caught! What'll my dad say? Caught trying to steal from the Zoo?"<br/>
<br/>
"Hey, we can... no We could... um, Wait! I got it! I'll eat you!"<br/>
<br/>
OK, that floors you.<br/>
<br/>
"Say what?" you manage weakly.<br/>
<br/>
"Eat you, swallow you. Give me the mask and get naked quick. Put all your clothes, and mine, in our bag and I'll eat that too. That way when they come in they'll just find a snake and that's normal, right?"<br/>
<br/>
"Wait, you want to eat me?" you repeat.<br/>
<br/>
"Well, honestly I'd rather eat you wearing the mask of me, but that's..."<br/>
<br/>
"...Right here." you say, and hear her giggle.<br/>
<br/>
"Okay, that'll work."<br/>
<br/>
"Is this an escape plan or an orgy?" You say chuckling.<br/>
<br/>
She pauses.<br/>
<br/>
"Sorry," you say. "I didn't mean..."<br/>
<br/>
"Both." She whispers in your ear.<br/>
<br/>
Ho Boy!<br/>
<br/>
You strip in record time, shoving everything in the bag, including the clothes she hands you. Putting a mask down to the floor you can catch flicker of light from under the door and can just barely make out which mask is which. You hand her the snake one and take the Umeko one yourself, closing everything else in the bag.<br/>
<br/>
It's only when you put the Umeko Mask on you remember the pain of using the snake mask. You should have offered to... *Gnnnn!* the twisting and adjusting grabs at you and you collapse, slowly filling out into Umeko's wonderful shape. By the time you've recovered you can hear hissing gasps next to you. Reaching out you can feel the Anaconda... feel Umeko wriggling there.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm sorry, I should have thought of that. You shouldn't have to go through that pain. I could have been the snake!"<br/>
<br/>
That's when snake jaws ease over your hands.<br/>
<br/>
"Or you could have said that 'cos you WANTED to be the snake?" you say weakly as she continues, holding her teeth back, just sucking you in. Your dainty, Umeko hands slide into the jaws of the Anaconda which pop apart and spread wide up over your forearms. Pushing in in can feel the warmth of... wait no!<br/>
<br/>
Yanking you pull out quickly, and briefly feel a flick of pain as one of her teeth comes down. But she controls it.<br/>
<br/>
"Sorry Umeko, but it can't be hands first. I'd suffocate! You hear me? SUFFOCATE!"<br/>
<br/>
You think she understood and so you lay on the floor, point your toes towards her and giggle in her voice as her muzzle nudges across your thighs, finding your feet in the dark.</span></div></div>


path: 111122111111111111111111112111111111
author_id: gimlet
title: Umeko eats you.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>In the dark you can't see anything, but can feel it as her snake jaws spread wide and take in your toes. Wriggling you push in, pressing into the back of her throat. You can fe...OOOH!<br/>
<br/>
Umeko's tail just nudged between your thighs! She twists in a bit and.... Oh god! It's big! Somehow she wriggles writhes and twists it in. You are wincing, but it mostly feels tight, not actually painful, she's being careful. Still it's a good deal larger than what normally fits in there and takes quite a bit of shoving on Umeko's part to wedge it in.<br/>
<br/>
"Sheeeeiiit!" you groan, the sensations as she licks and swallows your calves makes you moist enough that the tail finally hits bottom. With a wriggle it begins to twist and shove in there, driving and turning, sending you through the roof! When the orgasm hits you her jaws are nearing your thighs and you can feel her chin nudging between your butt.<br/>
<br/>
Coming down from the heat of pleasure, and finding your snatch unfortunately empty now, you gasp when her nimble little tongue works into your backside.<br/>
<br/>
"EEP!" you gasp as she probes you for a few delightful seconds before pulling free and swallowing again. Gently you ease deeper and deeper, the pressure and squeezing of moist flesh DOES feel nice, but you don't think it would get you off by itself as it seems to for Umeko. Still she is loving it and it is very comfy so you wriggle in, gently helping her where you can, prizing yourself in between her jaws. Wedging your elbows in she gulps them down beside you and then you sigh when she hits your chest and waddles that in, eventually swallowing it down. You gasp in pleasure... then, as the enclosing flesh arounds you starts to be pretty much all encompasing your instincts rev up. Starting to panic as you feel her jaws cleave in on top and bottom of your head you jerk a little. You can't see it thanks god, but you can feel the moistness enclosing you and the panic rises. She's really eating you!<br/>
<br/>
"N..no!" you say weakly, you drained by the orgasm. "I.. Umeko! I *Mpphh!*"<br/>
<br/>
It's too late, her jaws close and she swallows one last time, easing your body into her. You feel her shudder, and realize she just came from eating you! With desperation you force your panic back, trying to regain control. When she opens her jaws, leaving a passage for you to breath through it's a little easier.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh god." You moan "That was, different!"<br/>
<br/>
You're inside Umeko, completely, just like she was in you before. Twisting a bit you can feel the silky wet flesh in here squeeze over your nipples and it IS nice. Still... Snakes still aren't your thing. <br/>
<br/>
*CLACK*<br/>
<br/>
Umeko twitches and light floods in down her cracked open throat.<br/>
<br/>
"Who's in here?" comes a voice from outside. "Whell shit! HARRY! Who let George out of his case?" You can't hear the reply from up the corridor "Well he's here, in bay 5, happy as can be."..... "You're kidding me? Well who's this geezer then?"<br/>
<br/>
Briefly you see a face between Umeko's jaws as he bends down, flashlight in hand, then her jaws snap shut. Oh god! You aren't one for claustrophobia normally, but... this is nasty! Shivering despite the humid heat inside her you hear the talk outside muffled by Umeko's flesh and you can't quite make it out. Every now and then Umeko opens her jaws and lets some fresh air down for you, but she isn't letting you out. You guess it isn't safe yet.<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
"Mmmmm? Wha?" you shudder awake, in moist, dank, squishiness and almost have a panic attack. You feel curled up awkwardly. You fell asleep? In Umeko? Is she twisted around somehow? Oh god, how long have you been in here?<br/>
<br/>
*Thunk*<br/>
<br/>
Comes from outside and light streams in. Peering ahead you can see out of Umeko's jaws up to... bars? Are she in a cage? Beyond the bars is a dusty floor, the same as in the room you were in with wide slatted wood that... Wait is that writing? A tail taps the dust. Yep, it says, scratchily, 'Cant get door open'<br/>
<br/>
"Fuck!" You gasp in Umeko's voice, and tail stops twitching. "OK, I got it Umeko. Um Where are.. no scratch that, tell me later. Tip your head up, I need to see the door lock."<br/>
<br/>
The view shifts as her head and neck goes up and to the left. The bars are part of a cage, and you can see the frame of a door with some kind of latch. It isn't a simple flick up kind though, some sort of twist lock. Umeko's tail can't curl tightly enough to grip it.<br/>
<br/>
"How big is the cage Umeko? Could you throw me up? I could unlock it."<br/>
<br/>
Her tails wags left to right in front of her. No go.<br/>
<br/>
"*Ungh!* It is tight in here." you say, and feel a shiver around you. You didn't think reptile's shivered? Isn't that just mammals? "Um, maybe I can reach up. Open your jaws and I'll see if I can reach it."<br/>
<br/>
Umeko twists a little, your body bending inside her, as she curls her head closer to the lock. Then she opens her mouth and throat wider. It's still tight in here, your hips and shoulders particularly squeezed, but you manage to wiggle your right arm up against yourself and extend it up Umeko's throat. You're quite a ways down but luckily your hand just reaches beyond her jaws. Fumbling you reach through the bars and grasp the twist lock and try to undo it. It's tricky, with your arm blocking her throat you can't see what you're doing. It takes several minutes to do what you'd normally manage in a few seconds. Finally you hear a click and the door swings away from you. You can feel the tension ebb from Umeko's body around you and she wriggles forwards and...<br/>
<br/>
*Gulp, SQUELCH!*<br/>
<br/>
"OOooh!" You gasp, your arm swallowed down, and your body too a little ways as she frees herself from the cage. Thankfully she doesn't keep going. You have no idea how far down in her body a snake's stomach is. Are you already in it? Also, how long have you been in here? Panic starts to rise once more as you realise where you are and what normally goes on in here!<br/>
<br/>
You keep a hold of the panic and grit your teeth while Umeko stretches and relaxes. Her jaws widen again after a minute and you peer down at the floor once more through her throat, her tail scratching away.<br/>
<br/>
'sorry    you OK?' it says in staggered letters.<br/>
<br/>
"I... I think so. It's a little tight, but comfortable. I'm just worried at being inside you so long." Another shiver from her. Well you can't blame her, you're scared about what might happen to you too. "OK, now we're out of the cage throw me up!"</span></div></div>


path: 1111221111111111111111111121111111111
author_id: gimlet
title: Umeko can't cough you up! You're stuck!
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>She pauses for a second, (was that a sigh?) and then you feel heaving flesh pressing all around you. Relaxing now you know you are not going to be a REAL dinner date for Umeko you try to enjoy this... and it is kind of pleasant. Feel her moist, warm body squeezing around you... wait, aren't snake's cold-blooded? Why is she warm in here? Mmmmm! OK, that's better than nice! Uhhh?<br/>
<br/>
"Ooooch!" You grunt as pressure jams tight on your shoulders, and you stop your inching forwards. "What's up Umeko?" she wriggles, and then tries again with the same result, your shoulders pressed tight against what feels like a constricting ring. It feels like muscle and flesh, not bone. Why isn't it giving to let you out? She was deeper than this in you when you swallowed her and she came out fine. Heck, it can't even be difference in meal sizes as you are wearing the Umeko mask so you're the same sized meal she was!<br/>
<br/>
Finally Umeko gives up and her throat opens to a view of the dusty floor again.<br/>
<br/>
'Will!  cant get you out. help!'<br/>
<br/>
Panting from the exhertion of being squeezed (rather pleasantly mostly) you try to think what to do and force back the panic rising once more. It's hard not to think of what is going to... what might happen if you stay in here.<br/>
<br/>
"OK, OK, we'll think of something!" you manage, and are amazed your voice didn't crack. "First, can you get out of here? Are we still in the Vet building?"<br/>
<br/>
'out back i think' she scribbles 'theres window by guard. Ill try sneaking out'<br/>
<br/>
"OK, be careful, and remember your sense of hearing is bad as a snake, or at least different. What you hear isn't what he hears."<br/>
<br/>
The tail bobs up and down in agreement and she starts moving.<br/>
<br/>
"Oooh!" You gasp as her undulating body squeezes you. She stops instantly. "Oh, er, it's OK Umeko, just kinda caught me by surprise."<br/>
<br/>
She starts off again and you restrain a moan as the ripples move along you from head to foot. OK, you could REALLY get used to this! A short time later you realize that she's moving just like a snake, exactly what you tried to do when you had the mask on, and failed. Well, you guess she had quite a bit of practice at this when she fled her house.<br/>
<br/>
Slowly your body bends back as Umeko lifts her head and neck upwards. It's uncomfortable but Umeko is going slow and trying to be gentle. You wriggle a bit, then as she moves further upwards you straighten out a little, bending more in the lower back and legs. Through a brief crack as her mouth opens ahead you see a small window high on a wall. Then she's undulating again, first rippling over your chest wonderfully, then something jams against your shoulders. You bump, then it presses harder as Umeko tries to fit through the window. She goes slow, but you aren't sure you'll fit by the feel of it.<br/>
<br/>
Twisting Umeko squeezes in and you grunt as you feel yourself driven deeper into her slightly. You daren't say anything as the guard might be close by, so bite your lip and try not to squeal as more ripples ooze over you. Just as you are about to give up you feel something tight go past your shoulders. There are a few more tight spots, but it doesn't halt her this time and Umeko wriggles through the window. Bending once more you feel her settle slowly to the ground and coil loosely in a big circle, large enough that it doesn't curl you too much.<br/>
<br/>
Opening her mouth you get a scent of fresh cut grass and the view out of her maw of her tail pointing at the wall about fifty yards away.<br/>
<br/>
"OK Umeko, go for it." you say, your voice ragged "But please stop for a rest on the other side, and find some dust, dirt or something to write in on the other side. I might need to ask you something."<br/>
<br/>
The next few minutes are total bliss, a constant, slow ripple over your whole body. It's like a complete body massage, and thanks to wearing the Umeko mask it is very erotic too! Unfortunately she does reach the wall and stops undulating to rear up to it. From the feel of it she has to maneouver over quite a few obsticles and it feels like it's maybe ten minutes of climbing up and down before she is on the ground again. The climbing was, interesting, but not a patch on the massage before hand!<br/>
<br/>
"You OK Umeko?" you say, your voice a little more solid now. Her mouth cracks again and her tail wags up and down in view. "Good. See if you can find somewhere to hide, preferably where you can write to me too."<br/>
<br/>
A minute of pleasurable slithering later and she's curled behind some bushes, her head over some dirt. You fumble with your feet, grabbing the bag with yours and Umeko's clothes in it, among other things.<br/>
<br/>
"Uh, Umeko, could you try to relax a bit? I'm trying to get at my phone."<br/>
<br/>
Another tail bob says 'yes' and you try to push the bag up with your feet, twisting and bending around to attempt to reach down and grab it. It takes a lot longer than you'd like, but eventually you heave it up as far as you can (you certainly can't get it beyond the lump of your breasts) and fumble it open. A few tries find your pants inside and grab the phone from the pocket. A flick and light illuminates your surroundings from the cellphone's display.<br/>
<br/>
You blink, gazing at the moist pink prison you've been stuck inside.<br/>
<br/>
"Nice view," you murmur, "but could use a few curtains and drapes." was that a shiver?<br/>
<br/>
Anyway, to work you've got at least one phone call to make! First is an all important one. Your parents! You see on your phone that it's 6:45PM. On saturday they would expect you to let them know if you're late for dinner. Now you've got to tell them you won't be home tonight! You don't know if you'll get out of here in time...<br/>
<br/>
You take a breath and wriggle your hand up to your face.<br/>
<br/>
"See you later Umeko." you say to your own body, and only after wonder what the real Umeko thought about that phrase. This stuff can start to stretch your brain after a while!<br/>
<br/>
You pull, say the requisite Latin phrase and yank the mask off, feeling the shudder run through you and the weirdness ripple through your body. A few moments later you are Will again. Thankfully you didn't drop the cellphone in the other hand! Tucking the mask back into the bag you flip open the phone.<br/>
<br/>
"Hey mom.... yeah, I know.... I'm, well I'm going to be out with Caleb tonight." You pray you can contact to Caleb before your mom rings him! "Yeah, a science project... no nothing from school, just our own stuff. No, No mom! I wouldn't do anything dangerous! I know. I love you too. Take care!"<br/>
<br/>
Closing the phone with a sigh you go to the next task, figuring what to do to get you out of here.<br/>
<br/>
"Umeko? Do have any idea how to get me out?" a tail shake; 'no' "Damn! Well, maybe you could head to the clubhouse. I'm pretty sure I've got some antacids there. It's not far, but as a snake? I'm not sure how long it'll take to get there." You pause, considering the other phone calls you were considering. "There is another option. We could call someone for help." you feel her jerk at that. "I know, but... there is someone else who knows something, though not much, about the masks. You see I sold a mask to Andrew."<br/>
<br/>
She starts scribbling.<br/>
<br/>
'you what?'<br/>
<br/>
"Early on I needed money for materials, and he needed legs. I merged our faces to make a mask of a new person for him. With it he can walk again."<br/>
<br/>
'ok, I understand. why didnt you tell me'<br/>
<br/>
"um, I guess I didn't think of it?" you manage weakly as you get a few spasmodic squeezes from her, you guess this wouldn't be good place to piss off Umeko from! "He doesn't know much about them. I told him I found out about how to make them online, but the website is gone."<br/>
<br/>
'he believ that?'<br/>
<br/>
"Um, yes?" you say awkwardly. You guess it does sound kind of stupid like that. "He seemed to. Look he's already grateful to me for giving him the ability to walk back, he hasn't pushed about if I know about anything else other than masks."<br/>
<br/>
'what else?'<br/>
<br/>
"Well, I haven't read ahead yet much, actually the book won't LET you read ahead much, but I haven't tried the next spell. I'm actually kinda scared. These masks are powerful enough. What else is in there?" you shake your head "Anyway, Andrew knows the masks exist even if not about the book. We can tell him I made a snake mask and you put it on ... and..."<br/>
<br/>
'I ate you accidetly?'<br/>
<br/>
You could swear she hissed a laugh there.<br/>
<br/>
"OK... awkward I know, but... we need to do something! If we get Andrew's help he's going to have to know what's happened. Can you stand him knowing you ate me?" Oh that sounds so weird on so many levels... this could give you a permanent head ache just thinking about it!<br/>
</span></div></div>


path: 11112211111111111111111111211111111111
author_id: gimlet
title: Call Andrew for help.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>Umeko doesn't write anything for quite a few seconds, her tail idly tapping the dirt slowly. Just as you are about to speak up she starts scribbling.<br/>
<br/>
'I dont like him knowing, but ok. we need help'<br/>
<br/>
"Thanks for understanding Umeko, don't worry Andrew is a great guy, he'll be considerate I'm sure." another snake sigh at that. You wonder how many 'considerate guys' Umeko has been close to, unable to tell them why she wasn't interested in them.<br/>
<br/>
You flip your phone out again, glancing at the illuminated stomach as you do... very distracting, and dial Andrew's number.<br/>
<br/>
"Hello? Gray residence." For a moment that voice on the other end of the line floors you, then you realise it IS Andrew, wearing his mask.<br/>
<br/>
"Er, Fred? I didn't think you were going to be... around." you say, lamely.<br/>
<br/>
"Freddy. And no I'm not around much, I'm helping Andrew out. You can help him too, you know how difficult it can be around here, what he thinks about phone lines." oh yes, Andrew and his conspiracy theories. Well at least he's not a nut about it.<br/>
<br/>
"Sure... Freddy, it's just we need Andrew's help."<br/>
<br/>
"We?" he says curiously "You and Caleb been breaking things again?"<br/>
<br/>
You chuckle to yourself and feel Umeko squirm. Can she hear Andrew's side of this? Maybe it's easier to hear things inside her. Echoing perhaps? Who knows.<br/>
<br/>
"Say," 'Freddy' says before you can answer "What's that gurgling sound?"<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, that. Nothing, just a little indigestion. Um, that is something you can help with though. When you come could you bring some antacids? A lot of them?"<br/>
<br/>
"Where do you want ANDREW to come?" he says frostily. Oh yeah, this is 'Freddy' not Andrew.<br/>
<br/>
"Out by the Zoo on 17th Street, East exit, outside the gate. Um... look for something weird and... don't be surprised and... think of what you know and some odd possibilities... OK?" hey, you can be cryptic too! Serve him right... though it might just make it more difficult for him to help you. *sigh*<br/>
<br/>
"Um, sure. I'll tell Andrew all that." he says more quietly, obviously wondering what you're talking about. "Anything else?"<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, make sure the back of... his 'truck' is cleared out. We'll need the space. Oh, and bring a big tarp."<br/>
<br/>
"Hmm, OK. Andrew'll be along soon I'm sure. Take care Will." and he hangs up.<br/>
<br/>
"Well," you say closing the phone, "He'll be here soon." Umeko seems to collapse a little "Hey, it'll be OK, I'll be here for you. Heh I'm sure not going any place!" No laugh from that lame joke. Maybe you should stop trying to cheer her up?<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
It's not that long a wait. You're guessing he took longer to get the mask off, get his wheelchair into his SUV (Which he insists on calling a truck for some reason) than actually driving here. His Blue 'truck' pulls up across the street and he gets out on the lift. Soon you can see him as Umeko tracks him, framing his wheeling form in the view from inside her maw. When he gets close you ring him again.<br/>
<br/>
"Hey Andrew, go up to those bushes up ahead, and try to relax. There is NOTHING dangerous there, OK? Promise!"<br/>
<br/>
He doesn't even answer, just nods and wheels in your direction. This is it!<br/>
<br/>
When he gets within a few feet Umeko gently lifts her head from the foliage and opens wide, your hand sticking out and waving calmly.<br/>
<br/>
"JEEE... I mean, oh god! What have yo... Who...?" He sighs and collects himself for a moment. "OK, which one of you is Will?"<br/>
<br/>
"See Umeko, told you he was smart?" you say, she just hisses around your arm.<br/>
<br/>
Pulling it back inside you settle back while Umeko slides back into cover, though Andrew can still see her from where he is you think. Tricky to tell from in here.<br/>
<br/>
"OK," you say up Umeko's throat "It's like this. The... snake here is Umeko, and yes, she ate me. But she can't seem to throw me back up. Can you think of a way to get me out of here?"</span></div></div>


path: 111122111111111111111111112111111111112
author_id: gimlet
title: Calming stomachs and tempers.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"To quote the irrepressible McCoy, 'I'm a programmer Jim, not a veterinarian!' But seriously, what did you think I knew about snake stomachs? And... do I want to know why Will is inside Umeko?"<br/>
<br/>
"Um..." is about all you can manage, and feel Umeko shiver.<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, didn't think so. Your business not mine." He says. Obviously not a snake person! "Well, I got some antacids, but are you sure they'll work on snakes?"<br/>
<br/>
"Well, we don't have much choice to we? I've been in here a little while now and don't want to become a permanent resident here." Umeko tensed at that.<br/>
<br/>
"Um, Will... Is Umeko OK?" Andrew sounded a little odd, almost suspicious?<br/>
<br/>
"I don't know. Didn't think there was anything wrong... beyond the whole 'guy in her stomach' thing. Umeko, what's wrong?"<br/>
<br/>
Again the view switches down, watching her scratch in the dirt.<br/>
<br/>
'nothin, im fine. give me the antacids'<br/>
<br/>
"Wow!" Andrew says as he opens the bottle. "But Umeko, why can't you throw him up?"<br/>
<br/>
'dont know, just can't. blocked on way out'<br/>
<br/>
"It's like a tight ring of muscle or something. Not sure what. I di..." you pause. You were about to say 'I didn't feel anything like that when I ate Umeko, but you really don't want Andrew knowing that right now. "Well, just I'm pretty sure that shouldn't be like that."<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah..." Andrew says, again with that odd tone of voice. "And Umeko, how long as Will been sqiurming around inside your body now?"<br/>
<br/>
You gasp as she shivers around you, squeezing you a bit.<br/>
<br/>
"I wish she'd stop that!" you mutter quietly. "Nice but distracting!"<br/>
<br/>
"Ahhh," Andrew says cryptically.<br/>
<br/>
"Aaah what?" you say.<br/>
<br/>
'yes, what up?'<br/>
<br/>
"Um, I don't think we can have this discussion here. Look Umeko, take these antacids. That's it, now I'll go bring the car over nearby and open the rear door. You try and sneak in. OK?" she nods "Good. I'll be over in a minute."<br/>
<br/>
You feel the pills against your head, a LOT of them, and try to maneouver them around you and down. It's tricky but you at least feel some about your feet. You hope they work! Soon you can hear the SUV... sorry, 'truck', pull up nearby and Umeko starts slithering. Oh GOD! After a few minutes of bliss you can the echo of her entering the truck and the fumbling of her crawling under the tarp.<br/>
<br/>
"OK you two, can one of you close the door?" Clunk "Thanks Umeko. Then lets be going."<br/>
<br/>
The drive home is short but it IS getting late. Nearly 7pm now by your phone's clock, again illuminating the insides of Umeko. What must she be thinking of all this? You moan as she starts moving once more but after a few minutes she stops and you hear a door close.<br/>
<br/>
"OK, Chez Andrew at your service miss. But I think I might know what stopped you from coughing Will up. Umeko, you like Will right?" she nods "and you like the feel of him inside you? You liked eating him?" two more nods "OK, I suspect that you can throw Will up... you just don't want to. Not consciously, but subconsciously. That's stopping you from bringing him up. You don't want to be free of him."<br/>
<br/>
"Um, Andrew I don't want to go into too many details... but part of that statement is probably inaccurate." You don't know how much Umeko wants Andrew to know about all this.<br/>
<br/>
"Well, maybe, but from what I see Umeko IS resisting it, and wants you in there to a large degree. Am I right?"<br/>
<br/>
You're just about to say something when Umeko's head nods slowly. Um, what?<br/>
<br/>
"Umeko? I know you like this... but it wouldn't stop you from thowing me up would it?" she doesn't nod or shake her head at that "Andy? Can you get her something she can write in?"<br/>
<br/>
"I... yeah, I think so. Hang on a minute."<br/>
<br/>
You talk to Umeko while Andrew is gone.<br/>
<br/>
"Umeko. Is that it? Do you really just not want me out of here?" She pauses, but nods slowly. "And that's why you couldn't throw me up?" her tail comes in front of her mouth in a question mark shape. "Oh. But it's possible?" She nods, reluctantly.<br/>
<br/>
Soon Andrew comes back with a tray filled with salt. Neat!<br/>
<br/>
'I dont know if thats it, but I do like him in there.' she writes. 'a lot'<br/>
<br/>
"Try to cough me up again Umeko, please. I can't stay in here forever!" she shivers, and you wonder if all these little shivers she's been doing have been shivers of pleasure? She's turned on by the idea of you trapped inside her? But she does try.<br/>
<br/>
A lot of heaving and squeezing later and you are still inside her.<br/>
<br/>
'Im sorry.' she writes.<br/>
<br/>
"I know Umeko, I know. Look honestly, I like it in here." you say, embarrassed to say in front of Andrew, but manage somehow. "It is nice, especially knowing it's you I'm in." and she shivers at that! "But I need to come out. What will your parents say if you are late home again? Twice in three nights? They won't just call the cops they'll have a fit!"<br/>
<br/>
Looking out of her mouth you see her writing to you once more.</span></div></div>


path: 1111221111111111111111111121111111111122
author_id: gimlet
title: Umeko suggests Andrew impersonate her.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Say what?" Andrew says. "Oh hey I didn't sign up for that! I mean, look I like Freddy but you? Um, could it be someone else?" Umeko shakes her head emphatically and then writes.<br/>
<br/>
'fewer people that know better'<br/>
<br/>
"Well, I guess I agree with that... but... being a girl? That sounds kinda freaky."<br/>
<br/>
"It's actually pretty cool." you say, chuckling.<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, well I'd expect that from you Will." He pauses for a few minutes, thinking. Neither you nor Umeko interrupt him. "OK... I guess I can do that, but for how long?"<br/>
<br/>
"As long as it takes I guess?" You say "She's got to figure out a way to cough me up."<br/>
<br/>
'My parents will want me there at dinner, then to bed.' she writes, shakes the tray then goes on 'morning, breakfast. Then come back here. Thats all'<br/>
<br/>
"That's all huh?" Andrew mutters. "If I do you two have to try to work out your differences and get Will out of there. I'm not doing this for more than one night. This is going to be weird enough as it is!"<br/>
<br/>
Umeko starts going over what Andrew should do to make her parents believe it's her, but she closes her mouth and you are unable to read it. Was that on purpose? Andrew makes a few comments, but nothing beyond 'un huh' or 'if you say so' so that doesn't help. Eventually he sighs, says he needs a drink and heads out of the room.<br/>
<br/>
"Umeko. We're alone, right?" She nods "Are you sure about this?"<br/>
<br/>
Her mouth opens again looking down on the tray.<br/>
<br/>
'yes. you trust him. right?'<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, but that's not what I meant. This is a lot to hand out. You're asking someone to BE you! Take over your life for a time. That's some pretty heavy shit!"<br/>
<br/>
She chuckle/hisses around you for a few moments.<br/>
<br/>
'yes. heavy. could you put my mask on for a bit Will?'<br/>
<br/>
You blink. The mask?<br/>
<br/>
"Um, OK Umeko. Sure." You fumble for it in the bag then pause. "You like the idea of a girl in your stomach? Rather than me?"<br/>
<br/>
'its better. but both are nice' she writes, a bit hesitantly. This is obviously hard for her.<br/>
<br/>
"I know. And I know you wanted me as a girl in here. I shouldn't have asked, I just... this whole thing is weird."<br/>
<br/>
Without saying anything else you put the mask back on, shifting and squirming inside as you turn into her alter ego again.<br/>
<br/>
'thank you Will'<br/>
<br/>
"Hey," you say in her voice "Anytime."<br/>
<br/>
For several minutes she just lays there, twisting a little, moving around you and squeezing, feeling you inside her. Eventually you hear Andrew return and hastily take off the mask. The shock of it makes you miss part of what he says, but it's obvious he's ready. You think he asked for the mask so without replying you push your arm up Umeko's throat slowly holding the mask. It's tight, but after a few minutes with Umeko helping it plops free and Andrew takes if from you.<br/>
<br/>
"This is a loaner Andrew. You understand that right? That's Umeko's mask, not yours."<br/>
<br/>
"Oh trust me kid," Andrew says "She's welcome to it when this stuff is all sorted out!"<br/>
<br/>
You hear a pregnant pause, a sharp intake of breath, then a thump. A few moments later you hear Umeko's voice.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh my god!" Andrew says as Umeko. "Quick, her clothes. This is too weird!"<br/>
<br/>
Ahh right. You wriggle and squirm, pushing the bag upwards. Now that you're male again it isn't hard to get it up past your chest into her throat, but coughing it up is tricky. At least the bag squishes down as her throat muscles work on it and after a few minutes  it plops up onto the sofa, a bit wet on the outside but none the worse for wear.<br/>
<br/>
"Hmm, wrinkled, but dry at least." Andrew mutters to himself as you hear him pull out the clothes.<br/>
<br/>
"I've still got my phone in here" You say, though where you'll put it to make sure you don't lose it is beyond you. "So you can call me if you need help from us."<br/>
<br/>
Rustling sounds come from outside but Umeko's jaw resolutely stay shut. Hey, it's not as if you haven't seen her naked... though you guess it IS Andrew as her... yeah, that would be a bit icky.<br/>
<br/>
"OK," comes Andrew in Umeko's voice "I can do this, I can do this! Just be angsty."<br/>
<br/>
Umeko opens her maw at last onto the tray.<br/>
<br/>
'Im not ansty! just not close to parents!'<br/>
<br/>
That's odd, from what you've seen she had a loving, caring family? She was always nice, polite and friendly to them when you were around.<br/>
<br/>
"I'll do my best Umeko, just don't answer the door for anyone, OK?"<br/>
<br/>
Both of you chuckle at that.<br/>
<br/>
"Not a problem Andy. Take care of yourself!"<br/>
<br/>
You see him/Umeko wave as he leaves the house. Now what do you do?</span></div></div>


path: 11112211111111111111111111211111111111222
author_id: gimlet
title: Spending the evening with/in Umeko.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>You've always wanted to spend a Saturday night with Umeko, but not IN her. You have to admit though it's a lot nicer than you would have expected before today!<br/>
<br/>
'what you want to do?' she scribbles 'scrabble?'<br/>
<br/>
You laugh.<br/>
<br/>
"I was more thinking of talking Umeko." You say, and feel her tense. "I know it's hard but we have to work this out."<br/>
<br/>
You stare out her mouth as she looks up at the clock. 8PM, hopefully Andrew is having Dinner with Umeko's parents now. It's a little  late for dinner in your book, your family usually eats around 6:30. You wonder about it idly, and then ask Umeko about that.<br/>
<br/>
'Dad insists. he work late often and want family together for meal.'<br/>
<br/>
"Well that sounds cool Uncle Scott, I mean your Dad, sounds like he wants a good family. Why don't you get along?"<br/>
<br/>
'oh, this my fault?' she says, a little erratically.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." you say, awkwardly.<br/>
<br/>
'sorry, old argument.' she scribbles, then shakes the tray blank. 'Dad wants family bad, mom too, but Dad forces it.'<br/>
<br/>
"Forces?"<br/>
<br/>
'he doesn't raise voice, doesn't hit, he just insists. a lot' she shakes the tray again 'he doesnt like to not have his way. doesnt listen'<br/>
<br/>
"Ahhh. Yeah Dad can be a little like that too sometimes, but generally he's OK."<br/>
<br/>
'I know. My Dad talk about uncle Harris a lot.' another tray shake 'he envy you big family.' she pauses 'god I sound like caveman writing here!'<br/>
<br/>
"Hey it's tricky I know. You'll get your voice back soon enough Umeko. Don't worry."<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
Umeko is obviously feeling awkward right now so you let it drop and you have a drink of water, and she has a drink, thus bathing you in the process.<br/>
<br/>
A  little later you spend a couple of hours watching a soppy movie that you wouldn't have touched with a 10ft bargepole before, but Umeko recommends. It's actually better than you expected and you actually find you're enjoying yourself, more for knowing you're watching it with Umeko than for the movie itself. You think at the end that if Umeko had tear ducts she'd be crying.<br/>
<br/>
You find both of you not saying/writing anything for a while, just a kind of awkward silence. She manages to swallow a bottle of antacids (you have to open the bottle inside!) and she curls up in front of the radiator in the living room.<br/>
<br/>
You try to think of something to say, something that might make her feel better, but the day has been really complicated, and find yourself drifting off to sleep again.</span></div></div>


path: 111122111111111111111111112111111111112221
author_id: gimlet
title: Wake and have breakfast.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>You drift awake before Umeko and find yourself content. No panic, no fear. Weird. For maybe half an hour you rest, listening to her heart beat around you, her moist insides pressing against your skin... Hmm, you wonder why you don't have bed sores or a rash or something? You've been in her for a long time... well, partly in the Umeko mask, maybe that lessened things, switching back and forth. Still all night in a (admittedly comfy) very wet place probably should have left you a little worse for wear. You aren't even itching.<br/>
<br/>
Slowly you feel Umeko start to shift, twitch, then finally raise her head.<br/>
<br/>
"Good morning." you say in a gentle, tender voice.<br/>
<br/>
Your world jerks around you and shudders, ripples going over you. Whoah, you thought you were being gentle about that, but you must have caught her unawares.<br/>
<br/>
"Mmm, Uh, you OK Umeko?"<br/>
<br/>
A little shifting, the sound of the salt tray shaking and her mouth yawning before you, light streaming in.<br/>
<br/>
'Im fine. Good morning.'<br/>
<br/>
You realise that wasn't just surprise. Again it was her reacting to the thought of you inside her. Maybe Andrew was right, maybe the reason you couldn't get out was because unconsciously she doesn't want to let go of you.<br/>
<br/>
"Umeko? I know these last few days have been weird, but I'd like to ask you a serious question." You pause, trying to arrange your thoughts. "You know how I feel about you. From all our time together I was already close and... OK, yeah I wanted to be with you anyway, but the last couple of days have made me want more. As I said, I love you Umeko. I know, me as a guy you can't love, but I think I've made my mind up. If you want me as a girl, as a snake, or anything else you've got me. I'll make any mask you want and... honestly there is one last thing. I know I have to get out of here to avoid getting turned into lunch, but can I come back? Please? Being inside you has been fantastic. You have no idea what it's like in here when you slither around. You're going to have to show me how you slither just so I can show you what that feels like!"<br/>
<br/>
Through your speech Umeko was still. Now she shakes the tray and shakily writes.<br/>
<br/>
'Will. you dont know how much means to me.' shake 'I wish there was way you could sleep in me every night'<br/>
<br/>
"I'd love that!" you say chuckling, and she shivers around you again. "But your parents wouldn't want you out at night and mine would start to wonder. I might make it for a couple of nights a week tops, but doubtful more than that!"<br/>
<br/>
'deal!' she writes, and her tail slides into her own mouth, coming to rest in front of you.<br/>
<br/>
At first you don't know what she wants, then you realize she has no hands. This is her version of a handshake! Smiling you wriggle an arm up and take her tail lightly and shake on it. After her tail leaves you wriggle up a little.<br/>
<br/>
'what you want for brekfast?' she scribbles.<br/>
<br/>
"Hmm, how about we just do it simple. Bacon would be nice but I don't think even with my arms sticking out we could do breakfast properly. OJ would be fine. But would you mind just having water? I really don't feel like an orange juice bath!<br/>
<br/>
For a few moments she pauses, just laying there not answering.<br/>
<br/>
"Umeko? What's up?" no answer. You're just about to ask again when she breaths in and *SQUEEEEZE!* "OOOOHH GOD!" You grunt as muscles heave down on you. It's not as fun in your body as it is in Umeko's, but still it's nice, even though the massage this time is a little rough. Again you hit a ring of muscle as  you head up, but it seems to be twitching. And as you hold your breath she squeezes you against it again and again and... *Pop!* and your shoulders are oozing up Umeko's throat! You're heading out! It takes quite a while and you try not to shift too much, not wanting to make her swallow again. The light gets stronger, her jaws yawn past you and you finally see her tongue brushing your face as her lips move down.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, Umeko!" you gasp feeling the pressure all around your lower body. As your hips reach her jaws she studiously avoids the rigid pole with her tongue, but soon you are easing your legs from her throat and laying on the floor, panting. As soon as you get your breath back you turn and lean over to her. "Thank you, and I meant what I said. Any time you want a snack I'm available!" then you lift her snake head up and kiss her on the lips.<br/>
<br/>
For a while she goes with it, then suddenly she pulls away, her tail coming up to her face, gripping her eyebrow and nose and... oh! She hisses three times, pulls and... nothing. She blinks, tries again.<br/>
<br/>
"Maybe you're saying it wrong?" you say and lean in, grip her face the appropriate way and say the phrase and pull.<br/>
<br/>
"HIIISSSSESEEEAAAARGGGGHHH!" she screams, her changing body falling into your arms as she writhes. Yes you have a hard on as she becomes female once more, but you try to ignore it, holding and soothing her as she undergoes the painful transition. Finally she is panting in your arms, human once more.<br/>
<br/>
"Welcome home." you say softly, and kiss her. She doesn't respond as enthusiastically as you'd like, but she doesn't stop you either. She even smiles at you with a very tired looking face.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm sure Andrew has some clothes here somewhere for us." you say, helping her to her feet.<br/>
<br/>
It takes a while to find something that fits her, but you do. At least she doesn't seem to be nervous being naked around you any more, and you aren't as all fired up to see her naked now. You need her, but not in that way. At least not only in that way! You still love the way she looks but it kind of feels... natural now.<br/>
<br/>
"Will, thank you. For... so many things." she says as she finishes pulling on a t-shirt and slacks, about the only things that will fit her. As you finish dressing she comes over and hugs you "I wish we had my mask right about now."<br/>
<br/>
You chuckle<br/>
<br/>
"That would be a fitting start to the day! But I could always use the snake mask if you want."<br/>
<br/>
It's obvious she's tempted, but...<br/>
<br/>
"I think we'll give him a rest for a while. Besides I'm famished, haven't had a meal... a meal I could digest, in ages. lets get breakfast then try to find out how Andrew made out last night."</span></div></div>


path: 1111221111111111111111111121111111111122212
author_id: gimlet
title: Andrew wants to get out of there!
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Please tell me you got out of... <font class="size1" style="">Umeko</font>?" Andrew says after he answers the phone, in Umeko's voice of course. His attempt at whispering that last word makes you think he isn't really alone over there.<br/>
<br/>
"For the moment, yeah, I'm out." You say, and see Umeko suppress a giggle. Andrew sighs in relief "Then I need to get out of here! Oh god I hate being young again! This isn't like the movies, I like my freedom for god's sake. How do kids make it with all the rules?"<br/>
<br/>
You pause, trying to avoid bursting out laughing. Andrew probably would not appreciate that.<br/>
<br/>
"Look, I'll hand you to, <font class="size1" style="">Umeko</font>," You say, imitating his silly whisper, "and you can sort out the details of how you extricate yourself from the living hell over there. Bring me back a pitchfork OK?" Andrew just blows you a raspberry before you hand the phone to Umeko. As she takes the phone you get the impression she wants to say this in private so before she can 'look meaningfully' at you you head out, saying over your shoulder... "So, I'll get you that OJ for you Umeko, now I'm not in the way down there."<br/>
<br/>
By the time you head back in with her drink, and one for yourself, the phone is hung up.<br/>
<br/>
"He'll be over in about an hour." Umeko says, though you raise an eyebrow at this. The trip would only take fifteen minutes. "He's got to persuade my Dad to let him out for the day. That'll take a little while."<br/>
<br/>
"Fair enough. Enough time for breakfast anyways." and the two of your head to the kitchen to make some bacon and toast... quite a lot of it for Umeko. Apparently she was REALLY hungry!<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
"Here, take it, keep it, burn it!" Andrew says as he comes in, as Freddy, shoving the Umeko mask into your hands. "I don't care, just keep it away from me! Oh god, teenage girls! Bah!" and he storms off upstairs.<br/>
<br/>
"Um, welcome back?" Umeko manages weakly by your side to his retreating back.<br/>
<br/>
"It's OK, I'm sure he'll calm down later." You say, almost going to put an arm around her waist, then pause and think better of it. "Here, this is yours I believe?" you say, handing her the mask.<br/>
<br/>
Umeko stares down at it, peering into the holographic image of herself in the mask, glinting in the light.<br/>
<br/>
"No... it's yours Will." she says quietly "But can I get one of you in return?"<br/>
<br/>
This floors you for a moment, then a grin slowly spreads across your face.<br/>
<br/>
"One of... me? Is this going where my, admittedly smutty, mind thinks it's going?" you say, and see her blush.<br/>
<br/>
She just nods, still blushing. You gently lift her face to look her in the eye.<br/>
<br/>
"Is this for... well, you by yourself or... with me and..." and you wave the Umeko mask idly.</span></div></div>


path: 11112211111111111111111111211111111111222122
author_id: gimlet
title: Umeko is... curious.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>Umeko peers deep into your eyes and her blush deepens.<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, that is the general idea Will... if you don't mind?"<br/>
<br/>
You almost just agree instantly, just out of principle, but pause to consider. You know it felt weird with Umeko in the Robert mask before. How much more weird is it going to be as her, with her as YOU!... She bites her lip as she sees you seriously considering it.<br/>
<br/>
"I think I can handle it Umeko, if you're gentle with me." and that at least gets a giggle out of her. "But first we need to get to the Clubhouse and 'fix' the Python mask."<br/>
<br/>
Umeko's eyes go wide at that and you suspect she'd actually forgotten about it! She nods enthusiastically and is about to just head out. You grab her arm and shake your head.<br/>
<br/>
"First lets get our stuff back. Andrew still has my bag with our old clothes and stuff... and the unfixed mask. Plus I want to thank him for the diabolical living hell he's just walked through. I mean, living as a kid again! Shock horror!" and you both chuckle.<br/>
<br/>
The two of you head upstairs and knock on his bedroom door and hear him tell you to come in. Inside he is out of his Freddy mask and in his wheelchair again, in front of a computer.<br/>
<br/>
"I just wanted our bag of clothes back..." and Andrew sighed, grabbed it from the back of his wheelchair. It was up here the whole time? *sigh* He tossed the bag to you and you nodded back to him. "Thanks. Oh and also to say thank you Andrew, we owe you big time for all this! Saving us from the Zoo and what you just went through" You say he stares at you with a strong frown and nods slowly.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh boy do you ever owe me!" He says, and melodramatically shivers. "If I ever go near that house again I'll probably break out in hives!"<br/>
<br/>
You suppress a grin and try to remain calm.<br/>
<br/>
"How does a blank mask sound? As recompense?" you say calmly, waving good bye to a thousand bucks. Hey, Umeko is worth it! "I'll give you a pot of fixer and you can make it of whoever you want, a mix I'd suggest, like before. You go as someone else and... well, identity theft has nothing on this!"<br/>
<br/>
Andrew's face starts to calm, the irritation draining out of him, but leaving him looking at you oddly.<br/>
<br/>
"Will, this last week or so, have you been on drugs or something?" You peer at him and he waves his hand. "I'm serious! You aren't exactly known for... well, how can I put this. Generosity? Forethought? Thinking with something other than your..." Andrew pauses and his gaze slips to Umeko who bites her lip. "...hormones?" he finishes lamely.<br/>
<br/>
"I... well, you know. This is big stuff Andy." you say, beginning to realize you have begun to think bigger lately. When did that start? With the book? Why? "I... I just want to do something right, I guess. Hey, what're you worried about, you'd be down another grand otherwise!"<br/>
<br/>
"I ain't complaining Will. Thanks, just if you see William Prescott say hi to him for me."<br/>
<br/>
You chuckle and mutter something about making him a blank mask this week and out of his room. You dash into the bathroom while Umeko goes into the spare room and dress in your own clothes again, leaving the 'loaners' from Andrew here. Going back out on the landing you meet up with Umeko and head downstairs. Half way down the stairs you stop and stare at Umeko.<br/>
<br/>
"Have I changed these last few weeks Umeko?" you say carefully.<br/>
<br/>
She turns and looks at you seriously and pauses for quite a few seconds.<br/>
<br/>
"Honestly... yeah." She says, some nerves showing in her face "You've kind of grown up."<br/>
<br/>
"Oh come on! I've been grown up! I ain't a kid!" you say, but manage to remain somewhat calm.<br/>
<br/>
"That's what I mean. Before you'd have really blown your top over anything I said like that. Now, you seem more able to deal with stuff. Not as over emotional as you used to be." you raise an eyebrow and she smiles.<br/>
<br/>
"I thought that was the line guys said to girls about emotional outbursts or something?"<br/>
<br/>
"Well, get me a Will mask and we'll see if it holds true there huh?" she says and heads downstairs, then calls over her shoulder "Before, during and after!"<br/>
<br/>
Oh boy!</span></div></div>


path: 111122111111111111111111112111111111112221221
author_id: gimlet
title: The Clubhouse, and fixing the Python mask.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>Another stroll across town (You gotta get a car someday soon!) and you head down into the old school basement again. Everything looks good, seems Blackwell didn't follow you here before or something. You pat the book, but right now really don't want to go into something new. There are other things on your mind right now, and something specific on Umeko's! A gleam is in her eye as she gets the Python mask out and uses the pot of fixative on it carefully, though you do notice a slightly shaky hand with the brush. With a lick of her lips she puts the pot down and lifts the finished mask up before her, inside facing herself, and gazes at it.<br/>
<br/>
"OK... a little privacy Will?" she says.<br/>
<br/>
You turn away then hear the rustle of clothes, then the squeak of a chair that she moves out of the way so she can lie down. A brief sigh, then a stifled scream when she puts the mask on. Wincing you keep away while she changes, the sound of thrashing limbs, then thrashing tail, coming from behind you, grating teeth sounds blending into hisses before finally subsiding. About twenty seconds later there is a tap on your shoulder and you turn around.<br/>
<br/>
The new Umeko is... different. The anaconda was bulky, thick around and with a fairly large head for a snake, about 8 or 9 inches long. It was also only maybe twenty foot long. The Python is thinner, a fair bit longer (25, 30 feet?) but the head is thinner and a little shorter, maybe 6 or 7 inches long. You're surprised the mask worked on it actually.<br/>
<br/>
"Hey Umeko." You say, smiling at 'her' "So, the new suit fit well?"<br/>
<br/>
She can't grin of course, but makes a fair imitation of hissing a laugh. You wonder if Pythons can hear better? She has her head lifted up level with yours as her body slowly curls around you... and then you see a mask in her coils, which then hoist it up from the floor in front of you. Ah, she wants you to change too huh? You take the mask and look into Umeko's eyes. For some reason this snake seems... more sensuous than the other. It's a lighter color, a mottled mid and light green mix all over rather than with dark green, light and yellow stripes, but it's also the shape, longer thinner, and the head is also somehow more feminine. Perhaps that is more to do with the species than the gender, but what ever it is it works. A coil loops lightly up, across your back and over your shoulders lightly, rippling slightly across them. She taps the mask before you with her snout.<br/>
<br/>
"He, OK Umeko, I get the message. Hurry up and change huh?" She hisses as you bring the mask up before you.</span></div></div>


path: 1111221111111111111111111121111111111122212212
author_id: gimlet
title: It's the Umeko mask.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>You gaze into the mask and see the holographic face of Umeko. Oh, somehow you'd figured she'd want the snake? Well, this is more your thing certainly. Sitting down (though Umeko doesn't uncoil from you, just flows with you) you just unbutton your shirt, undo your trousers (and slip your underwear down a little inside to be sure) and take a deep breath before putting the mask on.<br/>
<br/>
The usual discomfort, and something more, flows over you as you change. A few seconds later, while you are still recovering, you feel Umeko draw the last of your clothes off and realize that is why it felt odd. Umeko had lifted you off the ground in her coils and stripped you while you were changing!<br/>
<br/>
"Whoah! Um, thanks." you say in her voice. Her slender head bobs into view over you and nods back, then settles comfortably between your breasts as her coils wrap around your limbs, flexing and rippling over you. There is even a tight coil behind your head, supporting you like a pillow. It's actually rather comforting. She seems insistent on wrapping  around you, but lets you pull your right arm free and you reach up and stroke the side of her head, just poking out of your cleavage. That in itself is an odd thought, but you're starting to get used to the idea of having cleavage. She wriggles contentedly in there as you stroke her, you moaning in sinc with her motions. That feels good!<br/>
<br/>
For what seems like hours you literally float on a sea of Umeko Python, her body massaging you all over, she even slips her long tongue into your mouth at one point, though snake kisses aren't all they could be from your point of view. Not mobile enough lips. Stroking her head, now back in it's cleavage abode again, you smile down at her.<br/>
<br/>
"Mmmmmm," you moan as a coil wriggles around your rump slowly. Her motions are getting a little more insistent and you think she is getting a little horny from the rubbing of her head in there and the way a length of her tail is pressed between your legs. You just like the feel of her all around you and let her go as she pleases for now, and the massage continues, a couple of coils lifting up from the side and looping over your breasts gently and starting to ripple, as if she were slithering, kneading the supple flesh tightly. "Oh now THAT is good!" you moan, then moan deeper as the length between your legs presses harder and ripples too.</span></div></div>


path: 111122111111111111111111112111112
author_id: nirxor
title: I'd like a mask of you, Will.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>Umeko, changes her position, instead of laying peacefully on you, she sits up, looking at you, with a strong and meaningful flare in her eyes. You sit up and meet her eyes with your's. <br/>
<br/>
"I want a mask of you." <br/>
<br/>
Is all that she asks for, it's not a request you can refuse, as you take a look at your body, you smile at her, she laughs, and you know immediately that it's what she wants. The laugh after she asks for something is her way of blowing it off, trying to sweep it under the rug, you've know her for a long time, and you are her, you hold her hand gently, she stops laughing, almost shocked by your sudden change. <br/>
<br/>
"Of course you can, I mean you let me make one of you, so it's only fair!" You tell her, shattering the odd wall of laughter she placed between you. She smiles an incandescent smile, latching on to you. Kissing you and squealing as she does this.<br/>
<br/>
"THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH WILL!!!!!!" Umeko screams in joy! Literally trying to kiss her face off your body. "I mean I felt so weird not being able to like girls, and then you became one! Or well, you became me and then I got to expirence it finally! Now if I become you we can finally understand each other! I mean am not going to ask for sex as us! But you know maybe we can find a girl we can get a mask of to at least see what it's like!!" She speaks, slowly getting more and more excited. As the planning and utter delight reach a critical mass, your phone goes off, cathing both of your attentions, you pick it up, quickly anwering it. <br/>
<br/>
"Hello?" You say, suddenly remembering who is speaking your words. <br/>
<br/>
"Umeko?" Your mother questions, sounding slightly relieved. "I was worried about Will. Thank god he's with you, can you hand the phone to him?" She asks. Umeko is giggling at your predicament, the akward conversation of playing your cousin with your own mother now under way. <br/>
<br/>
"Sorry auntie, he is helping my friend moving some stuff, I asked if he could help us without sending you a message!" You quickly say, Umeko suddenly sending daggers at you with her eyes. "They went to get some pizza while I cleaned up some of the furniture. They should be back any mintue." You finish quickly. <br/>
<br/>
"Oh, tell him his supper will be waiting for him when he gets back if he is still hungry." She says joyfully, relieved that you're safe, strange as it seems to hear from another person's perception. Your mother talks to you for quite a bit about love and other things, but soon you begin to understand, maybe she treats Umeko like a distant daughter. Not as strict your relatives treat her under their household rules, but like she isn't a stranger to being an outcast at all. The conversation hits a powerful note when she says the final set of words. "Umeko, I know you're different than what your parents want, but if you need anything am here for you."she speaks with a strong sense of motherly love, a little shocking to hear from her, then it hits you. <br/>
<br/>
<i>"My mom knows Umeko isn't in to guys!!!"</i><br/>
<br/>
This revaluation shocks you, to the point where Umeko takes the phone and sighs off. <br/>
<br/>
"What the hell Will!!!" She says looking concerned for a moment, her face trying to not show the concern for your sudden change of attitude.<br/>
<br/>
"Ume, my mom knows your a lesbian....." You tell her, not trying to be blunt, by using a nick name she hated. She even pauses, sort of taken back by this, she looks at you, blankly staring at her own face, until the words she puts out are a simple<br/>
<br/>
"Oh.... Shit!" <br/>
<br/>
*****************************************************<br/>
<br/>
The return home is greeted by your father not being to happy about you being home after nine, yet happy you helped family. Your mother sits with you at the dinner table as you eat asking about Umeko and her friend.<br/>
<br/>
"Is she tall?" She asks, being quieter than normal, you know how to deal with it, but you need to ask her straight to her face. It's not easy, but it has to be done, or else it would be weird to dance around the subject, so you choose to says it bluntly.<br/>
<br/>
"Umeko isn't into her friend, she just hangs out. Plus she isn't into girls like Umeko." You say bluntly, just like you were told to do by Umeko. Your mother smiles, she stands up to approach you, embracing you with a very tender hug. <br/>
<br/>
"Am glad you're able to be her family and friend William. I know your dad's part of the family is a bit more religious than most, especially his brother. He was the most out spoken about our relationship when we started getting serious." She tells you as she lets you go and gets a glass of water. <br/>
<br/>
"Wait, what do you mean?" You ask, the curiosity of your mother now being on the rise.<br/>
<br/>
"I never told anyone this, but my hometown is filled with people dedicated to a very isolated belief. It praises illusion's, truth, lies, understanding one another. My mother, your grandmother was very much into it, it's part of the reason you don't see them too often." She relentlessly tells you, looking down at the cup of water.  "I was the priestess' daughter, so it was expected of me to go into the faith, but I wanted to see the world, then I met your father." She looks happier, beaming fondly over the memories going through her mind, the look on her face being on of pure satisfaction. "I was made to do a lot of things against people who were different. Not racism, but just for being different, I learned later about how amazing people can be, especially when your father snuck me out of the town. All the way to Texas, it's where we made it official. Point is I didn't look back once I left that prison. It's okay for people to be different, and am glad you don't hate Umeko for liking what she likes." She says with a brighter smile, looking at with proud eyes. "Even if you had the biggest crush on her, more than Lisa." She teases as she leaves, leaving you with a strong blush on your face as you finish the meal. <br/>
<br/>
*****************************************************<br/>
<br/>
You're up till one in the morning preparing a mask, not the full treatment, just the basics. You can't risk starting a house fire when your this sleepy. Still as you look on, the way your mother spoke about the place she grew up in, you can't recall it's name, but you know of it. It's a very bothersome feeling, but you push it aside and finish the mask before it gets it's final treatment for your face. The thought of you being so close to Umeko like this, maybe there is something about these masks that you don't fully understand? Maybe it's worth going deeper into the book? You're unsure of it, there is an eerie feeling encroaching from it, like the book is somehow, deceiving you. You hold it in your hand trying to turn the pages past the other pages, some are blank, others are gone, some are scribbled with barely readable words. The leather almost feels like it's breathing, like a child in your hands, or a shark. You hold above your head, curiosity gets the better of you and you begin to type in some of the words scribbled on it, and look at the strange markings. The search is long into the night, it's sunrise when are able to stop, but you have discovered a lot more about the book, more than you wanted. The ruins on the leather praise gods of deception, trickery, cunning, silver tongued devils, assassin's, druids, sorcerers, and, all manner of spirits. The book from what you can tell originated in Europe, somewhere before the dark ages, the runes are from the oldest of alphabets used by shamans and druids. You print everything you can find about it. The list of god associated with anything of it to who my have had it, at some point, you begin to think Alistair Crowley may have used it, or have knowledge of it. It's past seven when your obsession ends, the mania leading you to run your hands over the computer screen and papers of many names, but only a few stand out. It's too perfect not to match it the runes have it traced back into Gaulish, the ancient druidic letters lead you to Taliesin and Gwyyddion, Shapeshifting gods. Yet in runes, Loki is seen, even more confusing, the words are more than insane ramblings, they are incantations, of some sort, the words don't flow right. They created a blend of ancient celtic and elder runes, some are even from Greek and Angelo Saxon times. You don't even have time to process it, but as you barely chant, the starnge words, the book vanishes into thin air! You jump back falling onto your bed, knocking the chair spilling papers off your desk, a cup breaking in the process. <br/>
<br/>
"WILL? Is everything all right??" Your father calls, a little confused by how early you're up. <br/>
<br/>
"Yeah am fine, just rolled out of bed!!! Literally....." You finish as he opens the door, looking confused by the mess. <br/>
<br/>
"Okay.... Get dressed, go have breakfast, normally you aren't even up this early. I'll take your brother too school, your mother is going to see my sister today." He sighs in disbelief. " I swear she makes more money by keeping that stupid fortune teller gig, and it goes directly to her head." He mutter as he walks out. When he's gone, you examine you hand, something feels off, like there is more weight to it now, or it's being held by something...... "CLEAN YOUR ROOM BEFORE YOU GO ANYWHERE TODAY!!!" your father shouts from the staircase. You say nothing, but recall the letters in your head, trying to word them out, in a flash, dull and a strange ghost flame, the book appears. You place it down, trying the words spell again, the book disappears, or hides itself.... Now you know a little actual spells........ You get into the morning routine of a shower and have breakfast, you aren't speaking much, but processing the information, the things you can barely translate about the book, maybe it's more than just masks, maybe your on to something. As you leave the house, searing sensation attacks your right hand! You check your hand, to see a small mark, it's a mask tattoo almost branded perfectly to your  palm. </span></div></div>


path: 1111221111111111112
author_id: gimlet
title: Someone Saw.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Well, I thought this place was kind of private, where I used to go as a kid, but I suppose I'm not the only one that hangs out here. About twenty minutes ago when I was slithering in here there was a scream." she sighed and sat down on the creek bank "There was a couple up there on the ridge, the girl screamed and ran off, guy following her. Didn't recognize them."<br/>
<br/>
You groan.<br/>
<br/>
"And how is this 'not bad' Umeko? Now they're going to be searching for a giant snake!"<br/>
<br/>
"So?" she says simply "Do I look like a giant snake to you?"<br/>
<br/>
You blink.<br/>
<br/>
"I... OK I guess it's not too bad." and you relax. You're over thinking this you guess.<br/>
<br/>
"Just means I'll have to change in private."<br/>
<br/>
Blinking to stare at Umeko.<br/>
<br/>
"Wait, what? You still want to be the snake?"<br/>
<br/>
She giggles and blushes.<br/>
<br/>
"Well, I said I DO have a thing for snakes... unless you'd rather be the snake? I've never actually been with a snake that big in person before. It'd be fun."<br/>
<br/>
Alright, try not to freak out! Try not to freak out. You manage carefully to stay calm.<br/>
<br/>
"Um, OK. Lets get you back home first Umeko, talk about this later."<br/>
<br/>
"Sure, Meet you tomorrow after school?"<br/>
<br/>
Getting up you reach a hand down to help her up.<br/>
<br/>
"I'd like that, thanks Umeko." she smiles, but is there something a little tense in her expression? "Do you know the old elementary school? I've got a clubhouse in the old basement." she nods as you give directions to be sure.<br/>
<br/>
"Just make sure you bring that mask Will." she says and the two of you head up the creek.<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
When you reach the house the cops are gone.<br/>
<br/>
"OK, I can manage from here." Umeko says quietly "Pretty sure I can grab some clothes from my room then come in from outside and say I was out stargazing or something. My window is still open isn't it?" she says squinting at the side of the building.<br/>
<br/>
"Was earlier when the cops were here. Are you sure Umeko? I could help?"<br/>
<br/>
"Hey, you've done enough. Thank you. Besides I really don't need help dressing Will."<br/>
<br/>
Now it's your turn to blush!<br/>
<br/>
"No, I didn't mean...." and shes laughing. OK it was pretty funny. You join in.<br/>
<br/>
"I'll see you tomorrow night." She seems on the verge of saying something else, and looks nervous about it, but then changes her mind and just starts creeping over to her house. You stay there till she at least gets into her room without being uncovered. You guess she'll change then go out the window and come in the front door. You wouldn't want to be her then! Her dad is nice, but you've seen him in a bad mood! Not fun!</span></div></div>


path: 11112211111112
author_id: gimlet
title: Octopus.
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>OK, this is weird.<br/>
<br/>
You're staring in through thick glass to an octopus. It doesn't exactly HAVE a face. Would the mask even work? You are just trying to visualize what it would be like to be that, to be that flexible, twistable... problems though. They live underwater. Would you have to build some sort of Aqualung for fish? Um, well not fish. What is an Octopus anyway? Reading the information plate you find it's a Mollusc... no a Cephalapod. That last name rings a bell, you've probably heard it before, but aren't molluscs shellfish or something? Weird.<br/>
<br/>
"Er, miss?" you ask a lady nearby with a Zoo uniform. "Can Octopuesses... er Octupi? Can they move and live out of water at all? You know hold their breath?"<br/>
<br/>
"They can survive for brief periods out of water but can't support themselves up out of water. They are strong, but without a skeleton tend to collapse out of the supporting buoyancy of water."<br/>
<br/>
Biting your lip you thank the lady and return to watching the creature. Would you even be able to control those limbs? Under water it would be fun and lithe and limber... You wonder if there are any girl's who have a fetish for Octopi? You can't actually get the courage up to ask the lady if they penises. You'd probably be fobbed off with a pat answer and shooed away or something.<br/>
<br/>
Octopus, Hmmm, the plate says their skin needs water for moisture. You've heard that they had similar trouble transporting dolphins and things. Have to keep them wet. Would Octopi be easier? The moisture thing would be tricky but...<br/>
<br/>
Suddenly you go wide eyed and almost burst out laughing. You remember a TV show where an Octopus squeezed through a tiny opening. Could you... fit that entire body into... into a girl's pussy? Holy shit! What a thought! You're sure that would be moist enough, though you'd still need to breath, water or something.<br/>
<br/>
You end up heading home ponding how to build a aqualung... or would that be an atmolung? Aerolung? Aerogill? Probably based on the fish tank aerators you've seen, but with their own power supply. You'd need a small reserve tank of water to aerate, circulation equipment, flexible rubber grommets that would seal over an Octopi's... um, lips? Vents? You'd really have to do some research on this.</span></div></div>


path: 11113
author_id: seuzz
title: My Friend the Guinea Pig
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>This thing is like a science experiment, and who should you try a science experiment on? <br/>
<br/>
That's right! A scientist!<br/>
<br/>
Unfortunately, you don't know any scientists. <br/>
<br/>
But Caleb is kind of like one. He's a hell of a lot more science-y and math-y than you are. He even has the look: Long face, beaky nose, droopy lips, and tightly curled hair cut short into a scalp-hugging rug. Put him in a lab coat, and he could play Egon Spengler in a high-school production of <i>Ghostbusters.</i> But even geekier!<br/>
<br/>
So you call him up. "Hey, we're getting together tomorrow after church, right?" you say.<br/>
<br/>
"I don't got church," he retorts.<br/>
<br/>
"I know that, you godless fuck. I mean when I get out of church."<br/>
<br/>
"You kiss Jesus with that mouth?" he chortles. "But text me later, okay? I'm watching porn."<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah? What kind?"<br/>
<br/>
"Shut up," he says, and the line goes dead.<br/>
<br/>
So you text him. He doesn't reply. Fucker must have turned his cell off completely.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
It's Monday before you catch up to him in the student parking lot at school. "How long was that fucking porno anyway?" you jeer.<br/>
<br/>
His brow crinkles. "What porno?"<br/>
<br/>
"The one you were watching when I called the other night."<br/>
<br/>
He rolls his eyes. "It was the perfect length. Long enough for me to cum."<br/>
<br/>
"So after the end credits, huh?"<br/>
<br/>
Caleb flips the bird in your face. "I was concentrating on something else, and I turned it off after spackling the computer screen. Do you watch your pornos past that point?"<br/>
<br/>
"Jesus," Stephanie Wyatt mutters as she strides past you. "Keep it to the locker room, you pervs." <br/>
<br/>
"Thirty-six-double-deez!" Caleb shouts after her. "She had thirty-six-double-deez, and I paused the video when she popped them out, and I pinged her right between them with my spooge!" He grabs his package.<br/>
<br/>
Stephanie shoots him a murderous glare over her shoulder, but doesn't veer or break stride otherwise.<br/>
<br/>
"You can talk to Stephanie that way?" you mutter at Caleb.<br/>
<br/>
"Didn't you just hear me?"<br/>
<br/>
"I just can't fucking believe it. She scares me." You shake your head in jealous wonder. Stephanie Wyatt plays for the girls' basketball team, and has thighs she could probably use to crush your head like a brittle walnut, if you were ever bold enough to put your head between her thighs. You'd probably lose an arm-wrestling contest with her, too.<br/>
<br/>
And she looks <i>fucking great</i> and <i>great to fuck</i> in shorts and polo shirts, which makes her even more intimidating.<br/>
<br/>
"You need to stop giving a shit, Prescott," Caleb says. "Like it matters what she thinks of you. So what did you want to talk to me about the other night that was so fucking urgent?"<br/>
<br/>
"I wanted to know if we were going to hang out after church yesterday."<br/>
<br/>
"Oh. Well, I guess not."<br/>
<br/>
"So what did you do instead?"<br/>
<br/>
"Nothing. Jacked off twice between Sunday School and whatever time you guys sang your last hymn. Mm." Caleb stretches. "It must suck for you, only getting to spend one morning a week with your wood."<br/>
<br/>
"Hey Stephanie, wait up!" you yell after her. "This perv won't shut up about his pecker!" But she's too far ahead, and of course you didn't really mean it anyway.<br/>
<br/>
"So what was the crisis?" Caleb asks.<br/>
<br/>
"No crisis. But did you ever turn your phone back on again? I couldn't ever get you."<br/>
<br/>
Caleb checks his cell with a frown, and runs his thumb over the screen. "Okay, I'm hooked up again. Apparently I didn't miss anything."<br/>
<br/>
"Well, I did want a chance to show you something, get your help with it."<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, what? Your—?"<br/>
<br/>
"So fucking help me, Johansson, I will punch you in the face if you shove your cock into the conversation again."<br/>
<br/>
"Ewwww!" That's from three girls. You're passing into the breezeway that runs in front of the gym, so it's crowded with other students. Caleb laughs asthmatically as you sputter at the girls. But they just return your flannel-mouthed apologies with dirty looks and shrink back against the wall until you're past.<br/>
<br/>
Another voice sounds as you exit the breezeway into the small quad on the other side. "Yo, where the fuck you guys been?" Keith Tilley asks. He's hunched up, and he darts fearful glances over at the gym doors. "I've been dangling over there with my dick hanging out—"<br/>
<br/>
"Shut up, Tilley," Caleb sneers. "No one wants to hear about your genitalia."<br/>
<br/>
Keith's jaw goes slack, and he turns a wounded expression from Caleb to you. "What's his problem?"<br/>
<br/>
"He only wants to talk about his own—" You glance around, but there aren't any girls about. "Penis."<br/>
<br/>
Caleb nudges you hard. "Never mind, Keith," he says in a kinder tone. "What's <i>your</i> story? You look like you're about to shit yourself."<br/>
<br/>
"Well, you would too if Javits came into the place you were working, the day you were working, and ordered three dozen donuts from you, and fucking <i>winked</i> at you after picking them up."<br/>
<br/>
"Jesus," you mutter.<br/>
<br/>
But Caleb is nonplussed. "Did Seth do that? That's good news, isn't it? Sounds like he's forgiven you for being, well, <i>you.</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"The fuck is that supposed to mean?" Keith snarls.<br/>
<br/>
"I dunno. You tell me why he's so spastically opposed to your existence."<br/>
<br/>
"I don't know!" Keith's hands explode into the air.<br/>
<br/>
"So it must just be <i>you.</i> Anyway, when did this happen? His coming into the donut shop and offering to suck you off, I mean."<br/>
<br/>
"Just piss off, man!" Keith turns and sprints off around the front of the school.<br/>
<br/>
"Tch, look at that fucker fly," Caleb sneers.<br/>
<br/>
"What is your problem today?" you demand.<br/>
<br/>
"I don't got a problem, Will." Caleb's tone is serene. "I'm just feeling, I dunno. Contented with the world."<br/>
<br/>
"Well, you're pissing everyone else off."<br/>
<br/>
Then: "Porn." You say that one word and stop in your tracks. "It's the porn, isn't it?"<br/>
<br/>
Caleb arches his eyebrows. "If you're asking if I'm well-satisfied with what I watched the other night—"<br/>
<br/>
"It's on account of the porn you gave to Walberg for the time capsule. Isn't it? You smug son of a bitch." You feel the blood rushing up and over your scalp as Caleb's shit-eating grin just widens. "You've got a chubby for yourself because you think you're so goddamned clever! Because fucking Walberg let you put <i>porn</i> in the time capsule, and he's going to let you write a <i>god-damn fucking term paper about it!"</i><br/>
<br/>
Caleb clasps his hands behind his back and rocks back and forth on his heels, thrusting his pelvis in and out. It looks like he's air-fucking the administration building.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You and Caleb both have Mr. Walberg for first-period Sociology, but you refuse to talk to your friend in it. He doesn't seem offended at your cold-shouldering him, though, and he takes it with good grace when in English you tell him you'll be eating lunch with Keith instead of him. "I'll just hang out with Carson and them," he says.<br/>
<br/>
And how do you know that Keith won't be eating with you and Caleb, as the three of you usually do? Because in second-period word Keith said you'd have to make a choice because "no fucking way" was he going to "break bread with that cocksucker."<br/>
<br/>
"Okay, sure, Caleb's being a dick today," you tell Keith when you settle down with him in your usual spot behind the school at lunchtime. "But it'll wear off."<br/>
<br/>
"He's usually that way, Will," Keith says. "More and more. He thinks he's better than us. Where is he now?"<br/>
<br/>
"Eating with Carson and James, I think he told me."<br/>
<br/>
"There, you see? Those two—" Keith muffles his dark mutter by shoving a thick sandwich into his mouth.<br/>
<br/>
"What's wrong with Carson and James?"<br/>
<br/>
"Nuthingk," Keith says. "Sept'ay ack tall—"<br/>
<br/>
"Swallow that shit, then talk. What is that, anyway?" you ask, for Keith's sandwich looks a lot more appetizing than yours. He doesn't answer, though, and just keeps chewing. "Anyway, Caleb's just fucking pleased as piss with himself. You heard about our time capsule project?"<br/>
<br/>
Keith rolls his eyes and shoves his sandwich back into his mouth.<br/>
<br/>
"Are you <i>trying</i> to eat that thing in one mouthful? Christ, come up for air. But you know we had to bring something in for that dumb time capsule in Walberg's class. And Caleb brought in a thumb drive full of porn. He was so fucking smarmy about it, like he thought he was getting away with putting in a Kleenex of his own cum."<br/>
<br/>
You pause. Now that you think about it, <i>that</i> should have been what you put in. You bet you could have gotten away with it, too. <i>It's a DNA sample, Mr. Walberg, so scientists in the future will be able to clone me.</i><br/>
<br/>
Well, it would have been better than what you <i>did</i> contribute.<br/>
<br/>
"Whaddhid you put in?" Keith asks, and smacks the bread that's still caught in his teeth. <br/>
<br/>
"Never mind. But Caleb put in porn, and then shat himself when Walberg said we had to write a paper on what we put in. Wanted to dig up the capsule and replace his—"<br/>
<br/>
"Does this story come with a T-L-D-R?" Keith picks at his teeth with a fingernail. "It needs one."<br/>
<br/>
You roll your eyes. "Fine. T-L-D-R, Walberg let him get away with it."<br/>
<br/>
"Pft. Yeah, well, that doesn't make it right what Caleb was saying to me this morning."<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
So your two best friends still aren't talking to each other when school ends, which leaves you with a choice as to which friend to experiment on.<br/>
<br/>
If either. Because maybe you can find a stoner after school. They probably wouldn't notice if something funky happened during the experiment.</span></div></div>


path: 111131
author_id: seuzz
title: Concussing Caleb
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>Your original idea is the best, you deem. Caleb has that quasi-scientific spirit that will let you talk him into trying out something new.<br/>
<br/>
So you announce yourself with a "Hey" at his locker after classes let out.<br/>
<br/>
"Hey yourself," he says as he changes books out of his bag. "You and Tilley have fun sucking each other off at lunch?"<br/>
<br/>
<i>Asshole.</i> "Sure, now it's your turn to suck me off."<br/>
<br/>
"Dream on, Prescott."<br/>
<br/>
"I just mean, you and me are hanging out now."<br/>
<br/>
"We are?"<br/>
<br/>
"Aren't we?"<br/>
<br/>
"Sure, whatever. You have any ideas about where to hang out?" He slams his locker shut and looks at you blankly. He rolls his eyes when you can only shrug. "You should be on the prom committee, you're so full of plans."<br/>
<br/>
"Well, I got this thing I wanna show you." Someone jostles you hard, almost pitching you face-first into your best friend. "Come on," you tell him when you straighten back up, "I'll tell you outside."<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
TL;DR: Caleb storms off after nearly blowing your head off with a lot of cuss words, and that despite your practically getting him that job he wants at your dad's work. Oh, also, you get something really cool off of him and into that mask you made.<br/>
<br/>
The long version, taking it backwards:<br/>
<br/>
"Go fuck yourself!" In those three words Caleb distilled and punctuated a two-minute streak of curses. On stiff legs he stalked off to his car and peeled out of the Salopek parking lot, fishing-tailing slightly as he let his anger guide the wheel.<br/>
<br/>
All of which leaves you no more than bemused as you stare down at the mask. It gleams very brightly in the afternoon sun, but it's not the polished surface that so beguiles you, it's the— But we'll get to that in a minute.<br/>
<br/>
Caleb was cussing you out because you'd had to slap him conscious. He was laying in the bed of your truck, and you were starting to get really scared at the way he wasn't moving and was barely breathing. He yelled at you after reviving, and after you told him he'd been unconscious for fifteen minutes. "You don't fucking know what you're doing with that shit! Keep it away from me and keep yourself away from me too!"<br/>
<br/>
Those were the opening words of the rant that followed. After that, he'd detailed your ancestry and what you could do to yourself and to the foul brood that had perverted themselves and polluted their genetic stock in order to finally birth the monstrosity that is yourself.<br/>
<br/>
And why was he unconscious?<br/>
<br/>
Because after getting out the Salopek offices—<br/>
<br/>
And why were you at the Salopek offices?<br/>
<br/>
Because while you were still walking through the school parking lot, and telling him that you had this "science project" you wanted to try out with him, he'd grabbed hold of the conversation to ask if you'd talked to your dad about getting him that job at Salopek. You'd said "No," and he'd gotten pissy and listened with vague contempt as you told him you had this "mask" thing that you wanted him to try on.<br/>
<br/>
"Okay, fuck it, I'll do it," he said, "if—<i>if,</i> asshole—we go out to your dad's work, and we fucking talk to him about me applying for that job that you're too much of a little shit to take. And we do that first."<br/>
<br/>
Which wasn't a proposal that thrilled you, and his characterization of you stung, but you'd agreed. So, separately you'd driven out to Salopek Aerospace, and gone up to your dad's office. Your dad was pretty mad at being interrupted, and he was also pretty goddamned torqued that you <i>weren't</i> interested in taking that job he kept pushing on you. But after a minute of glowering he abruptly changed tack, and with fatherly warmth told Caleb that he'd be <i>delighted</i> to recommend him for the job, and that all he had to do was go to the office and fill out an application.<br/>
<br/>
Flash forward to something that technically hasn't happened yet in this higgledy-piggledy recital: Your dad is very cold to you all evening, but makes a great show of telling your mother over dinner about how Caleb—<i>who he'd always known was a bright and ambitious young comer</i>—would soon be working at Salopek, and predicting great things for him in consequence.<br/>
<br/>
Return to scene: So you'd gone back to the main office and Caleb had filled out the paperwork, then cheerfully returned to the parking lot and climbed into the bed of your truck.  He'd looked a little askance at the mask after you'd brought it out, asked what the fuck was supposed to be the big deal about it, but you'd only said "Guh'dunno" before dropping it onto his face.<br/>
<br/>
And it had vanished into him.<br/>
<br/>
Seriously. Literally. It was like dropping a dinner plate into a lake. For just a moment it rested on his face, then it sank with a brief flash into him and was gone.<br/>
<br/>
Horrified, you watched for about half a minute, then tried to wake him. You didn't succeed. You shook him, slapped him, punched him all over. But Caleb just lay there with glassy eyes and a gaping mouth. You put your ear to his chest and mouth, and felt his pulse. He was still alive, but he was completely catatonic.<br/>
<br/>
That lasted about ten minutes, and you were shitting yourself about having to call the paramedics when, like a piece of film running in reverse, the mask suddenly appeared on his face again. You'd whipped it off and peered closely at it. It took you a while to figure out if it was an illusion or not, but soon you were satisfied that there really was— <br/>
<br/>
Well, that's the detail we'll get to later.<br/>
<br/>
Then you tried waking Caleb up again. It didn't take long. Two good slaps across the cheeks and he bolted up with a wild-eyed glare in his eyes.<br/>
<br/>
That's when the explosive cussing had occurred, followed by his driving off.<br/>
<br/>
Now, finally: You sit in the back of your truck and study the mask for a solid minute, feeling a surge of excitement and wonder.<br/>
<br/>
Then you loft yourself to the ground, leap into the cab of your truck, and tear out of the parking lot, fish-tailing almost as badly as Caleb had.<br/>
<br/>
But you're not mad. You are bursting with anticipation. You just have to get home to where that book is.<br/>
<br/>
That amazing book of magic!<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You are sitting on your bed with the book in your lap. (Dinner is still to come, so your Dad hasn't given the absent Caleb that tongue bath yet. Not that it matters, for it will not signify to the rest of the story; we mention it in the narrative only as a bit of characterizing color.) The grimoire isn't balanced perfectly there, because you've got a slight erection. The thrill of success has your blood pumping that hard.<br/>
<br/>
The book is open to the spell that you had executed last Saturday. There's an oval-shaped stain on it now (when it appeared there you don't know but could hazard a guess), and with a beating heart, you lay the mask atop it.<br/>
<br/>
It might be your imagination, but you think you feel a thrill running through your fingertips when you pick the mask up again.<br/>
<br/>
The page comes away with it. It falls closed again, but you definitely saw it flutter.<br/>
<br/>
Your heart is in your throat as you pull at the corner.<br/>
<br/>
It comes away. <i>The goddamned page turns!</i><br/>
<br/>
So that's got to be the way it works. You have to finish a spell before you can turn a page in the book, and after finishing the spell you have to "show" the book that you've done it by touching the completed item to it.<br/>
<br/>
Eagerly you pore over the newly revealed pages ...<br/>
<br/>
And of course you have to move over to your computer to use an online translator.<br/>
<br/>
It's tedious work, and the Latin comes out really funky. But you think you get the gist of it well enough.<br/>
<br/>
On the reverse of the page is a long paragraph that tells you what you've done. You have made a mask, and you have filled it with something that the book calls "imago." <br/>
Basically: The mask now contains a copy of your best friend. A copy of Caleb Johansson's body is now inside the mask. You're sure of that not only because of the translation but because of the mask.<br/>
<br/>
If you hold it up and know where to look, you can see it: the ghostly image that  floats inside the surface. It's the face of Caleb Johansson. And if you turn the mask this way and that, you can catch the side of his head, and even the tops of his shoulders.<br/>
<br/>
And if you put the mask on—<br/>
<br/>
Well, wait. The book warns you that things are a little more complicated. Before you can wear the mask, turning yourself into a copy of Caleb, you have to seal it.<br/>
<br/>
That's the next spell, on the facing page, and when you look it over you see it doesn't seem that difficult. You think you have most of the ingredients it calls for, so sealing the mask won't be a problem.<br/>
<br/>
And if you don't seal the mask?<br/>
<br/>
Then (the book says) the mask will keep adding images to itself, and mixing them together to form new faces. You puzzle over what precisely that means, but you're interrupted by your mother calling you down to dinner. (And, though you have no reason to anticipate it as you hop to your feet, your father's pointed remarks about Caleb's many positive qualities.)<br/>
<br/>
All through the meal, though, you're mentally absorbed by the experiment you are running upstairs. <br/>
<br/>
Do you modify the image it contains? That would be a properly "scientific" thing to do—run the experiment as far as possible. Or do you go ahead and seal it, so that you can see what comes next?</span></div></div>


path: 1111311
author_id: seuzz
title: The High Cost of Scientific Advance
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span><i>Aw, hell.</i> You were never one to wait to open your presents on Christmas Day when you had a chance to open them Christmas Eve, and you never waited to peek at them on Christmas Eve if you had a chance to peek at them before Thanksgiving.<br/>
<br/>
Upstairs, you gather the material for the next spell. This batch of stuff, fortunately, doesn't give off any kind of stink, and just makes a kind of runny paste that you paint onto the inside of the mask. It instantly bonds and dries while turning translucent.<br/>
<br/>
You hold up the mask and regard it and the reflection of your best friend inside it. You're not entirely sure what it will do if you put it to your face, but whatever it does, you don't want to get caught by your parents doing it, so you delay a direct experiment with it. Instead, you lay it onto the book. When you lift it, the next page turns.<br/>
<br/>
The reverse only confirms what you've already deduced: that you've sealed the mask and can now wear it. You go on to the next spell.<br/>
<br/>
It leaves you frowning. As with the first spell, there is no real description of what it does. It does call for some specialized material, though: strips of metal, metal-working tools, and a couple of mirrors, along with some chemicals that you don't have on hand. <br/>
<br/>
You count your much-depleted cash reserves, and decide that you don't have enough money to continue. You suck hard on your lower lip as you ponder what to do about that ...<br/>
<br/>
<i>"Caleb, my friend, you got forty bucks you can loan me?"<br/>
<br/>
"I sure do, Will, right here in my locker which we are standing in front of while our classes change. Here you are, and you don't even have to pay me back. It was awesome of you getting me that job at Salopek like you promised, and I want you to have my first paycheck to show you my gratitude. I'll give you fifty dollars now, actually, as a down payment on it."<br/>
<br/>
"Thanks! Uh, you're not pissed about that thing that happened yesterday, in the parking lot, are you?"<br/>
<br/>
"What thing? Oh, that? No! Actually, I was going to apologize to you for getting so bent out of shape about it. I don't know why I got so mad. Say, here's our mutual friend, Keith. I'll leave you with him because I have to get to class now."<br/>
<br/>
"Yo, Tilley, wassup? You don't have ten or twenty dollars I can borrow from you?"<br/>
<br/>
"I have thirty, and you can take it from me now. Seth Javits is after me, and I don't want him to find it on me because I know he'll take it and I won't get it back from him. Here."<br/>
<br/>
"I can do that. When do you want me to pay you back?"<br/>
<br/>
"I don't need it until I graduate. See ya. Hey, look, it's Carson Ioeger!"<br/>
<br/>
"Yo, guys. Where are you running off to, Keith? Oh, now he's gone. Say, what's all that green for, Will?"<br/>
<br/>
"I'm holding people's money for them, on account of Seth Javits."<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, he's looking for people to take money from, on account of me and James lifted sixty dollars out of his locker while he was at basketball practice. See?"<br/>
<br/>
"So that's what these newfangled sixty dollar bills look like. Can I touch it?"<br/>
<br/>
"You can have it, Prescott. James and I don't need it, we just lifted it on principle, and would feel dirty if we kept it."<br/>
<br/>
"Cool. Dad! What are you doing at my school? And is that a strip-club dancer with you?"<br/>
<br/>
"It is. I'm researching a certain Christmas present for you. Also, a great-aunt you've never heard of sent you a hundred dollars in today's mail, and I figured you might want to get your hands on it as soon as possible ..."<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Midnight.</i> The house is asleep, and your door is locked. The only light is from the streetlamp filtering in through the curtains on your window.<br/>
<br/>
You are laying in your bed with the sheets thrown off. You are stripped to your underwear, and are gripping the new mask while blinking at the ceiling. Your breath is coming in shallow gasps as you psyche yourself up to the experiment.<br/>
<br/>
You're in your bedroom because obviously. You're on your bed because it's softer than the floor. And you're in your underwear because it has occurred to you that if this things works there's a good chance you'll wind up with Caleb's cock and balls, and you don't want them flopping around freely down there.<br/>
<br/>
And you're <i>only</i> in your underwear because you're not sure if clothes will interfere with whatever transformation may take place.<br/>
<br/>
Then, it occurs to you that the underwear is just such an encumbrance that might interfere. So you grit your teeth and peel it off, leaving you shivering and exposed.<br/>
<br/>
Did you just think the word "exposed"? Exposed to what? Magical forces? The forces of darkness? The evil that lurks inside sorcerous grimoires?<br/>
<br/>
Or just to the air conditioner, which chooses that moment to come on?<br/>
<br/>
You shiver, but you've broken that brief spasm of fear. You grip the mask firmly, hold it over your face, and lower it.<br/>
<br/>
For a moment it rests there, and you've just time to wonder if that's all it's going to do, when it grows very heavy. Like, anvil heavy. Battleship heavy. All the moons and all the asteroids heavy. It pushes into your face and into you and it pulls all the rest of your body with it. Your mind sinks and you grow warm all over, as though you're being pulled down into a pool of simmering syrup ...<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
It's the cold stiffness that finally convinces you that you're awake. Eyes open or eyes shut, it's the same darkness, but the chill on your limbs is the familiar cold that you feel when you're trying to wake up from a hard night's sleep. In fact, you feel like you've been beaten all over with sticks.<br/>
<br/>
But that stiffness abruptly vanishes when you sit up and draw your knees to your chin. When you rub your eye with the heel of your hand you feel yourself fully awake.<br/>
<br/>
Now. Where are you and what is going on—?<br/>
<br/>
You twitch all over. <i>The mask.</i> You were trying out that mask! You laid it on your face and then you felt like you were drowning and then ... Here you are? You pat the bed around you, and feel at the pillows. <br/>
<br/>
It's gone.<br/>
<br/>
So where is it? Is it ... inside you? The way it went inside Caleb? And if so, what has it done to you?<br/>
<br/>
There's a mirror inside your closet door, but before checking there you cautiously feel at your face.<br/>
<br/>
It feels like a face. That much is a relief, but you can't tell anything from that. Knees and shins? You pat at those, and you have the impression that there's a lot less hair on them.<br/>
<br/>
Hair! Your hair is totally different from Caleb's. His is cut in short, tight, wiry curls that cling close to the scalp, while yours sticks out in stiff waves like bundles of straw. Gingerly, you rub a palm over the top of your head—<br/>
<br/>
It's like a rug up there! A close-woven fiber rug!<br/>
<br/>
You scramble from your bed and run over to the closet. You yank the door open and flip on the closet light.<br/>
<br/>
Caleb stares back at you from inside the mirror. His eyes pop and his mouth hangs open.<br/>
<br/>
You gulp, and so does he. You feel your eyes widen, and so do his.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Oh. My. Fucking. God.</i> You look just like your best friend! From the top of your head down to—<br/>
<br/>
Yikes! You look back up into your face. The sausage below is not something you need to be contemplating. <br/>
<br/>
You put your hands to your cheeks and rub them. They feel like skin and they move like skin. You pull at them, and the flesh doesn't come away. You pinch it, and grimace. It doesn't feel like pulling at a mask. It feels like ... like it's your own skin.<br/>
<br/>
You grin, and a very Caleb-like light of mischief comes into your eyes.<br/>
<br/>
You could fool <i>anybody</i> with this thing!<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
<i>Tuesday. First period.</i> "Caleb, my friend, you got forty bucks you can loan me?"<br/>
<br/>
"Fuck off!" he snarls.<br/>
<br/>
"What? What did I—?"<br/>
<br/>
"I'm not talking to you after what happened yesterday!"<br/>
<br/>
"You're not talking to me because I got you that job?"<br/>
<br/>
He presses two middle fingers into your face. After that, he turns around again and refuses to speak for the rest of class.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Second period.</i> "Yo, Tilley, wassup? You don't got ten or twenty dollars I can borrow, do you?"<br/>
<br/>
"No, but I got a giant cock you can suck on."<br/>
<br/>
"Money, Keith, I'm asking—"<br/>
<br/>
"I got a cock, but no money."<br/>
<br/>
"Why, did Javits take it from you?"<br/>
<br/>
He wheels on you. "I don't bring no money to school, Prescott! For exactly! That! Reason!"<br/>
<br/>
<i>Lunch.</i> "Carson! You got any money you can loan me?"<br/>
<br/>
"No. You got any you can loan me?"<br/>
<br/>
"Gwah?"<br/>
<br/>
James Lamont, who is seated on the grass nearby, leans into the conversation. "All our money is invested."<br/>
<br/>
"In what? The stock market?"<br/>
<br/>
"Projects, Prescott," says Carson. "Projects."<br/>
<br/>
"What kind of—?"<br/>
<br/>
"Projects," he repeats still more firmly. "But that doesn't mean you can't invest too."<br/>
<br/>
"But I don't have any money!"<br/>
<br/>
He shrugs. "Not <i>my</i> problem."<br/>
<br/>
<i>At supper.</i> "Dad, can I get an advance on my Christmas money?"<br/>
<br/>
"What Christmas money?" he asks as he plops some mashed potatoes on his plate.<br/>
<br/>
"Well, usually Uncle Scott and Aunt Mary give me—"<br/>
<br/>
"What makes you think they're giving you anything this year?" Before you can answer, he adds, "I hear the movie theater is hiring."</span></div></div>


path: 11113113
author_id: seuzz
title: Thefts, Identity and Otherwise
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>It sounds like Caleb doesn't want to be your friend anymore. But that doesn't worry you.<br/>
<br/>
Because it doesn't really matter. It's a pretty common thing, actually, his being pissed off unreasonably at you. Hell, you've been pissed off (much more reasonably) at him before. You always kiss and make up (minus the kissing) eventually.<br/>
<br/>
But as long he's not treating you as a friend, you've no reason to treat him as a friend. Which gives you a wonderful reason to steal from him.<br/>
<br/>
You've got a great opportunity, too. On your way to lunch—during a twenty-second interval when he forgot that he hated your guts—Caleb mentioned that he couldn't hang out with you after school because he had to go in to Salopek for some orientation and training. That means you can sneak into his house without risk of being caught.<br/>
<br/>
You're not even tempted not to take advantage of it.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
As you drive up to Caleb's house, you're a little worried that you might be mistaken for a burglar. It is, after all, not the nicest neighborhood in the city. The houses are tiny and dilapidated, and too many of them have Rottweilers in their front yards.<br/>
<br/>
Then you remember, <i>I'm Caleb Johansson!</i>, and that gives you all the courage you need to saunter right up to the front door.<br/>
<br/>
Because of course you're not going to risk being caught acting the part of burglar under your own face. You went home after school and got that mask you'd made.<br/>
<br/>
The front door, naturally, is locked, but you make a show of fiddling at the knob expectantly, and of fishing in your pockets. Then you snap your fingers ostentatiously and stride around to the side yard. You vault a flimsy fence and swagger onto the back porch, where you fish around inside an old bird house to retrieve the house key.<br/>
<br/>
It would be really cool if you knew about that key because, in addition to Caleb's body, you had his memories. But you don't. The mask gave you his outside form, but nothing on the inside. <br/>
<br/>
Which is just as well. The guys a total pervert, even if he does pretend to be shocked at some of the fantasies that you've shared with him.<br/>
<br/>
You fiddle open the back door and call out, "Mom?" But no one answers. Satisfied that you've the house to yourself, you jog back to his room.<br/>
<br/>
Caleb has no brothers or sisters, but he likes to hide his cash stash anyway. That's never stopped him from bragging to you about where it is. So you pull out his top dresser drawer, turn it upside down on the bed, and rip away the envelope taped to the bottom. It contains seventeen dollars. <br/>
<br/>
It must really suck being so poor. Out of pity and friendship, you leave the two ones behind.<br/>
<br/>
As you replace the drawer, along with the underwear and socks, you entertain two thoughts: First, that you should use this disguise to get more money from more people, because fifteen dollars won't be enough. And second, that if you're going to do that, you should do it in some of Caleb's own clothes.<br/>
<br/>
A grin distends your face as you open the drawer again to take out underwear and socks. And slacks. And a shitty old button-down shirt. And the ratty extra sneakers that he keeps under a laundry pile in his closet.<br/>
<br/>
Ten minutes later, looking even more like Caleb Johansson than you did fifteen minutes before, you swagger back out to your truck and go in search of Keith Tilley.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"You'll take my friendship and you'll like it," you honk at Keith as you follow him back to his bedroom.<br/>
<br/>
"No I won't," he snarls back.<br/>
<br/>
"Who else you got to put up with your shit?" you demand. <i>Bully Keith.</i> That, you figure, is the key to convincing Tilley that you're Caleb.<br/>
<br/>
"Lots of people!"<br/>
<br/>
"So you admit that you've got lots of shit they have to put up with." You cackle. Keith shoots you a dirty look, but lets you into his room.<br/>
<br/>
What follows is thirty minutes of desultory talk about girls and porn and the relative merits of flesh and pixels. During Keith's three breaks to answer calls from his dad, you sweep the room for any cash he has on hand. You're twenty-five dollars richer when you leave. And, as near as you can tell, Keith resents Caleb about as much when you leave as when you came in, but not appreciably more.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"So I hear from Keith that Will says that you and James are running some kind of investment club," you tell Carson Ioeger. He's leaning inside the doorway to his house and pointedly not letting you in.<br/>
<br/>
Carson snorts. "Prescott needs to stop hanging out with Tilley. It's a race to the bottom, intelligence-wise, with those two."<br/>
<br/>
You grin while grinding your back molars. It seems to operate like a secret handshake, though, for Carson abruptly pulls you inside.<br/>
<br/>
"It's not a money club or anything," he tells you in a low voice as he leads you back into his bedroom. "We're buying karma."<br/>
<br/>
"What, like tithing?"<br/>
<br/>
"No. You've heard that karma's a bitch? We're buying enough bitching karma to really fuck up Black and Patterson and them."<br/>
<br/>
"Cool." You wonder if Caleb would understand what Carson is getting at, but you're sure he'd pretend to, at least. "And if I wanted to invest?"<br/>
<br/>
"How much you got?" he asks, and looks only slightly impressed at the cash you show him. But he takes it anyway and shoves it into a fat manila envelope he has pinned to the wall above his desk. "It uses ammonia sulfide," he replies when you ask what he and James have planned, and launches into a technical exposition that leaves you baffled. You guffaw along with him, though, and exclaim "Nice!" and "Awesome!" at key spots.<br/>
<br/>
When Carson leaves to meet James at the front door, you empty the contents of the manila folder into your pocket. Your haul is now closer to two hundred dollars than to one hundred.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You have plenty of money left over after buying supplies for the new spell, enough that you're tempted to buy yourself a new Xbox game. But you exercise some self control. After all, maybe you'll need the money for the spell that comes afterward!<br/>
<br/>
That evening, after finishing your homework, you set to work.<br/>
<br/>
Your mood sours as go. It took no time at all to make the mask using the first spell in the book, but it took days to finish polishing it up. This one is taking hours and hours just to get the item made. If you have to "polish" it up? Why, that might take until it's time to graduate!<br/>
<br/>
The job itself is also fairly tedious. You start by sandwiching a strip of zinc, a strip of copper, and a drop of mercury between two pocket mirrors. Into the back of one mirror you have to carve some runes, and when you open the sandwich you again you find a strip of flexible silver. But then you have to carve some runes into the strip. It's hard and exacting work, for the metal doesn't want to cut, and you have tap and scratch over and over again with the steel-nib pen you had to buy in order to deepen the faint scratches into grooves you can feel with your fingertips. You have to take frequent small breaks—to run to the bathroom, to get something from the fridge, to find a new video on YouTube to listen to—in order to stretch and pop the muscles and bones in your shoulders and back. Eleven o'clock comes, then midnight, and still the work goes on.<br/>
<br/>
At around one-thirty, though, you scratch the last line of the last rune into place, and when you lay it on the sigil the ink on the page shimmers and runs. When you lift the strip, the page comes with it. You shove the metal band to the side and eagerly flip it over so as to find out what exactly it is that you've made.<br/>
<br/>
There's only a single line of text. The online translator kicks back a simple English translation of the Latin: <i>to know the mind of another.</i><br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You have the band in your bag the next morning as you drive to school. There's a thoughtful expression on your face. <br/>
<br/>
The mask you made copied Caleb's body, but it didn't give you any of his memories, and it didn't give you any of his talents, so far as you could tell. In other words, by wearing it you could look like him, but you couldn't act like him, except in the way that any friend can parody another.<br/>
<br/>
But this new device: <i>to know the mind of another.</i> That certainly sounds like mind-reading. It sounds like a bonus add-on to the mask. <br/>
<br/>
There were no instructions on how to use it, but you bet it works like the mask. You put it onto someone, then when you put it on it gives you their memories and anything else inside their brain.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Anything else.</i> Eww. You can imagine some of the stuff Caleb's got in his.<br/>
<br/>
You sigh as you pull into the parking lot. That's the obvious thing to do with it, right? You have a copy of his body; with a copy of his brain you could be his perfect doppelganger. But there are other possibilities, you reflect as you watch the stream of students moving toward the school. You have enough supplies on hand to make another mask—you groan inwardly at the effort implied—and with that new mask and this new band, you could make a complete copy of some other person.<br/>
<br/>
What to do? Indecision sits heavily on your chest.<br/>
<br/>
Then you notice Carson pulling into the parking lot. <i>He'd know what to do,</i> you spitefully think. <i>He's full of plans.</i><br/>
<br/>
Then you think: <i>That's right. He's full of plans.</i> If you had his brain—and you can get a copy of his brain, without a copy of his funny-looking body if you don't want it—you could be full of plans too!</span></div></div>


path: 111131131
author_id: seuzz
title: I'm My Own Best Friend!
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>Caleb didn't give you a chance on Thursday to get close to him, but he's more sociable on Friday. <br/>
<br/>
Or, at least, he's more sociable with you than with anyone else, which is saying something, for with you, in both first period and fourth, he slouches in his desk with folded arms, snarling and snapping when you try talking to him. And yet, when the lunch bell rings he grabs you by the elbow before you can stomp off, and says he wants to eat alone with you. "Sure, if you can stop acting like a tortoise with a toothache," you retort before you remember that you <i>want</i> to get him alone if you can.<br/>
<br/>
"Tortoises don't have teeth," blurts out Michael Hollister, who is standing behind you and trying to squeeze past.<br/>
<br/>
"And I don't give a fuck," you snarl back. "Come on, I'll eat with you anyway," you tell Caleb, and your feet and his feet and Hollister's feet make an untidy dog pile as you all try stepping into the same square foot of aisle space. You jam Hollister back with your elbow and push Caleb in front of you.<br/>
<br/>
Keith is already lurking outside the classroom, but his expression curdles when Caleb approaches. "Fucker," he mutters.<br/>
<br/>
"Fuck you," Caleb mutters back.<br/>
<br/>
"Get off my tail," mutters Keith.<br/>
<br/>
"Get off my <i>dick,</i>" Caleb snaps.<br/>
<br/>
"Guys!" Mrs. Gladstone calls out. "Gutter talk."<br/>
<br/>
"I'll gutter talk <i>you,</i> you cow," Caleb mumbles as he brushes past Keith.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm taking Caleb off by himself," you tell Tilley.<br/>
<br/>
"Good. Less I see of that fucking liar, the better."<br/>
<br/>
"So I can't eat with you," you add, for you're puzzled at the way Keith is still lingering by the door.<br/>
<br/>
"Find a shit someplace else, because I don't got one to give," Keith airily replies, and he exchanges hand-slaps with Hollister, Carlos Montoya and Josiah Shank, who have followed you out of the classroom. The four of them plunge into the stream of students and swim the other way.<br/>
<br/>
When you look around, you see that Caleb has gone on without you.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You catch up to him outside, and follow him around the back of the Sciences wing to the wide patch of ground between the school and the tennis courts. He slumps there, in full view of passing parades of students, and you cuss him under your breath for picking such a public spot. "So what's the deal with you and Tilley?"<br/>
<br/>
"He's fucking crazy," Caleb retorts. "They <i>all</i> are."<br/>
<br/>
"Who?"<br/>
<br/>
"Tilley. All the other assholes." He rips open the paper bag containing his lunch, and a plastic-wrapped sandwich and a bag of chips falls out.<br/>
<br/>
"Like who?"<br/>
<br/>
Caleb peers up at you from under hooded brows. "I didn't come around to your place after school yesterday, did I?"<br/>
<br/>
"No," you blurt out before you can think of any but a truthful answer. "At least, um, I don't think so," you add more cautiously. You're beginning to suspect where this is going.<br/>
<br/>
"You're not sure?" Caleb asks. "Weren't you home?"<br/>
<br/>
"Oh. Yes. Yes I was," you assert confidently, and hope that the sweat you feel breaking out all over your body isn't visible on your brow.<br/>
<br/>
"You sure?" Caleb's tone turns sarcastic. "I didn't come by and borrow your truck and drive it all over town?"<br/>
<br/>
"No, it was with me the whole time."<br/>
<br/>
"Then I wish you'd tell Tilley and Ioeger and Lamont that."<br/>
<br/>
"The fuck are you talking about?"<br/>
<br/>
Caleb peels apart his sandwich and stares moodily at the contents. "According to them I was driving around town visiting them <i>when I was actually</i> at Salopek. You know that, I told you that's where I'd be."<br/>
<br/>
"So they're all high," you assure him. "Or they're pranking you. Gaslighting you?" you add. "Is that the thing it's called when—?"<br/>
<br/>
"Well, you just remember," Caleb says, and he jabs you a couple of times in the knee with a very sharp and rigid forefinger, "that I have an alibi and that you had your truck when they tell you that I was driving around town robbing them blind."<br/>
<br/>
His voice is a choke, but whether from anger or a sense of persecution, you're not sure.<br/>
<br/>
"I will," you tell him, and pat his knee reassuringly.<br/>
<br/>
And too late you realize that in giving Caleb an alibi, you might be putting yourself at risk. Now Tilley and Ioeger and Lamont might think you're in on it with Caleb. In fact, now that you think about it, you probably should have told Caleb that he <i>did</i> come by your place, and that some of your own money is now missing. <br/>
<br/>
Well, it's too late now. Or is it?<br/>
<br/>
"Of course," you say, feeling your way cautiously, "I can't say for sure that my truck was at my house all afternoon. I was up in my bedroom. Except—" You lunge toward another idea. "Except when I went jogging."<br/>
<br/>
"Since when do you jog?" Caleb demands.<br/>
<br/>
"Since, uh, I dunno." You shrug. "Sometimes I go running."<br/>
<br/>
"Hrmph. And you didn't notice if your truck was gone when you were out running?"<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, I was running for a long time. Like, until suppertime?"<br/>
<br/>
"Bullshit."<br/>
<br/>
Yeah, you pushed that idea too far. "Well, we ate an early supper. But what's the story that Tilley and them are telling?"<br/>
<br/>
So Caleb relates, in bitter, bitter tones, the story that he showed up at people's houses, driving your truck, wasting their time, and walking out with all of their money. And all that time, of course, he was at Salopek getting an orientation.<br/>
<br/>
"Well, there's your problem." You snap your fingers, for an idea really has just occurred to you. "Salopek. There's all kinds of ooky stuff that goes on out there."<br/>
<br/>
"Like what?" Caleb cries.<br/>
<br/>
"I dunno. That's what makes it ooky and creepy. Real Area 51 stuff. More than that. Area <i>52!</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"Oh God! You are so fucking high!"<br/>
<br/>
"That's one reason I didn't want to work there. My dad won't tell me what goes on out there, and I bet it's because of stuff like happened to you."<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah?" Caleb is scowling so hard that it makes your own face hurt just to look at it. "What happened to me?"<br/>
<br/>
You look around, then lean in close. "You think maybe they made an evil robot duplicate of you?"<br/>
<br/>
Caleb grabs you by the face and pushes you away.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Well, you argue some more, with you insisting with as much sincerity as you can muster that some Top Secret project at Salopek might have got loose and gone around pretending to be him, and that that's what your friends saw. Caleb gets very tired of it very quickly.<br/>
<br/>
But it's given you an idea for how to get that new doohickey onto him.<br/>
<br/>
During your argument, he mentioned that he had to go back out to Salopek to drop off some paperwork. When school lets out, you tail him at a distance, and when you've confirmed he's on his way to Salopek you telephone a cab company. The taxi is waiting for you in the parking lot of a Denny's just down the road from Salopek when you arrive. You had packed Caleb's mask inside your backpack in case you found a use for it at school, so you've got it with you when the taxi drops you off in front of the Johansson residence. You wait until you're inside, and hidden under Caleb's bed, before putting it on.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
The dust bunnies <i>will</i> keep bringing you to the verge of a sneezing fit, but you keep patiently hidden for the twenty minutes or so it takes for Caleb to get home. You tense when you hear the front door open and shut, and fight down a grin when his bedroom door bangs open. From under the bed you see his sneakers as he walks in and falls into the chair at his desk. His backpack drops to the floor.<br/>
<br/>
You rub your nose, count to fifty, then groan softly.<br/>
<br/>
Caleb doesn't react.<br/>
<br/>
You groan again, more loudly. "Gwunnggghh."<br/>
<br/>
Still Caleb doesn't move, but it seems like a watchful kind of inactivity. You only have to grunt softly a third time, and one of his feet shifts.<br/>
<br/>
But still he remains seated.<br/>
<br/>
You drum your fingers in the dust, then decide to gamble everything on a single throw.<br/>
<br/>
Striking like a rattler, you grab one of his ankles.<br/>
<br/>
He yelps like a stung chimpanzee, and lunges to the opposite corner of the room. You scramble deeper under the bed, away from the edge so he won't be able to spot you easily.<br/>
<br/>
For a very long time neither nor you move. Then his feet approach the bed. They shift and squirm. He bends at the ankles, slowly.<br/>
<br/>
You slide forward, watching ... watching ... as first his knees, and then a hand, and finally his face come into view. With staring eyes and a mouth like a circle, Caleb peers under the bed and looks into your face.<br/>
<br/>
Into <i>his</i> face.<br/>
<br/>
You shove that metal band at him. With a thump, he falls backward, striking his dresser. When you scramble out, he is as dead to the world as when he donned that mask.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You are lying on your own bed now, out of Caleb's mask, but with that metal band resting on your forehead. Well, <i>inside</i> your forehead, to be scrupulously accurate. It went into you when you tried it on, just like that mask did.<br/>
<br/>
And now you've got his memories flooding around and mixing with yours. The last thing he remembers is <i>seeing his own doppelganger glaring out at him from under his bed.</i><br/>
<br/>
Which, from your point of view, makes for a way-cool memory.<br/>
<br/>
With his body and his mind, you could go out and be his perfect doppelganger if you wanted. You know he was planning on staying in this Friday evening. You wouldn't run into him if you crashed a party someplace and spread more "doppelganger" mayhem.<br/>
<br/>
Or you could start working on the next spell.</span></div></div>


path: 1111311311
author_id: seuzz
title: The Phony Party Crasher
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>You pull out your cell phone and log in to x2z.com.<br/>
<br/>
x2z just might be the shittiest, most baleful social media site ever invented. It's a variation on Tumblr, where people can post pictures and memes and Twitter-type posts that they can upvote and downvote and out of which sub-streams can be formed dedicated to particular topics via hash tags.<br/>
<br/>
The difference is that x2z does not allow users to register individually. Rather, it grants "charters" to communities: usually schools, clubs, churches, and the like, who are supposed to patrol their members. Unfortunately, once the charters are granted, <i>then</i> individuals can register, which means in practice that "communities" like the Westside x2z stream become gorged with the usual filth-plying trolls and character assassins. After a bad experience your freshman year, you have stayed far away from it.<br/>
<br/>
But there's no better place to find out where the local parties are, and inside of two minutes you've followed the never-long-submerged "party" hash tags and jotted down the addresses for three this-night parties where you can have fun and mayhem without getting in trouble—because it will be "Caleb Johansson" who attends.<br/>
<br/>
"Going out for a little while," you announce as you saunter through the living room.<br/>
<br/>
"Remember your curfew," your dad says without looking away from the television.<br/>
<br/>
"Yessir."<br/>
<br/>
He turns his head, maybe at the unusual "sir" that popped out of your mouth. (Did that come from Caleb? You've still got that memory band inside your head.) But it's your clothes he comments on. "Where did you get those? Are those yours?"<br/>
<br/>
"They're Caleb's."<br/>
<br/>
His eyebrows go up. "Why are you wearing Caleb's clothes? Aren't the ones we buy for you good enough?"<br/>
<br/>
"Harris," your mom says in a low voice. He gives her a bewildered look, then shrugs and turns back to the TV.<br/>
<br/>
For your part, you can't believe that he recognizes which clothes aren't yours.<br/>
<br/>
Well, whatever. You drive your truck down to the old elementary school. That's where you put Caleb's mask to your face.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You have no idea who Alexis Lachance is, which is the fact that recommends her party as one to crash. You also liked the address, up in the expensive, northwest part of town. And you especially like her house when you see it. It's a big brick pile with lots of gables and all by itself occupies the end of a cul-de-sac. Cars are piled up in the empty lots that flank it—lots of them, so it's a big party. A steady drone and thump of music emanates from it.<br/>
<br/>
You don't smoke, but Caleb sometimes does, so you pause at the end of the lighted walk long enough to pull out a cigarette from the pack you bought on the way over. You draw down half of it as you study the house, which blazes in the night, then toss it away and stub it out with your toe. <i>Time for some consequence-free douchery!</i> you tell yourself as you swagger up to the front door and push inside without bothering to ring the bell.<br/>
<br/>
The driving beat of the music engulfs you in a deafening wave. Half a dozen couples sprawl on the stairs at the end of the foyer; those without paper plates and cups in their laps are nuzzling. A shrimpy kid is treating the staircase like playground equipment, clambering up its side on his tiptoes and clinging to the bannister for support. But a beefy kid with beard stubble whacks at the kid's hands, and he falls into the hallway below with a soft thump.<br/>
<br/>
Rooms to the left, right and rear. And upstairs, but that's for later if you're lucky.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Very lucky,</i> for you're looking like Caleb Johansson, who with his tight, curly hair, protuberant eyes, and fish lips could play Egon Spengler in a high school production of <i>Ghostbusters.</i><br/>
<br/>
The kid who got knocked off the stairs comes sauntering over. He's short—probably a freshman—with sloppy brown locks that cover his ears and fall almost to his eyes. He barely gives you a look, but you hold up your hand for a high-five. "Wassup?" you ask.<br/>
<br/>
He fakes a return, then throws a fist into your stomach. You hunch double, but he pulls the punch at the last second. "Shit," he mutters, and looks around with a bored expression.<br/>
<br/>
"Where's the girls?"<br/>
<br/>
"Fuck. Come on." He struts through a double doorway<br/>
<br/>
In the dusky light, the room beyond is a blanket of shadows pocked here and there with islands of burnished lamplight. Couples entangled in various degrees of embrace sprawl across three sofas, pile up in two easy chairs, or lean against an upright piano. Some you recognize as football players; the girls, in their skimpy shorts and tops, could be from any class in the school.<br/>
<br/>
"Watch this," your new friend mutters into your ear. He waves his hand between the faces of a boy and a girl on a sofa. "Vrrt, vrrt," he says.<br/>
<br/>
The guy catches your friend around the back of the neck with a brawny arm and pulls him onto his shoulder; you leap aside as he stands up and carries his struggling captive out the door. You narrowly miss getting kicked in the head by the kid's flailing legs.<br/>
<br/>
But there's now an empty spot on the sofa, and on an impulse you hop into the still-warm spot and smile brightly into the face of a girl with long blonde hair.<br/>
<br/>
"Hi," you exclaim. "This spot taken?"<br/>
<br/>
"Brownie'll be back in a minute," she tells you.<br/>
<br/>
"No he won't. My friend'll kick his ass."<br/>
<br/>
She grins. It's a toothy thing, but attractive. "Did he do that for you? So you could get rid of Brownie?"<br/>
<br/>
"Sure. People do favors for me all the time." You twine your hands behind your head. "I'm a popular guy."<br/>
<br/>
Her eyebrows tent skeptically. Someone yells, "Take it somewhere else, Johansson."<br/>
<br/>
"Brownie'll be back in a minute," the girl says again.<br/>
<br/>
"So come out in the back yard with me."<br/>
<br/>
"I'm waiting for him."<br/>
<br/>
"You can wait for him in the back yard." <br/>
<br/>
A shadow falls across you, and you look up. It's Brownie. From your sitting position, he looks even bigger, like a foothill that decided to take a stroll. "You're in my light," you tell him.<br/>
<br/>
With a sigh he grabs you by the belt buckle and hauls you onto his shoulder. "Come look for me," you shout at the girl as he carries you out. "I still need to get your phone number!"<br/>
<br/>
Brownie deposits you on an outside patio, gives you a chuck under the chin, and abandons you to a skuzzy crowd of kids with bad hair and zits. <i>The loser crowd,</i> you think unhappily to yourself.<br/>
<br/>
"How'd you piss Brownie off?" You turn at the question.<br/>
<br/>
The girl who asked it is small and bony, with great puffs of curly brown hair give her the look of a gangly dandelion. She's not very attractive, so you figure that you—meaning Caleb—might have a chance with her.<br/>
<br/>
"I didn't," you tell her. "I won a bet."<br/>
<br/>
"What kind of bet?"<br/>
<br/>
"That I wouldn't just walk up to a girl and kiss her."<br/>
<br/>
Her lips curls. "Who'd you kiss?"<br/>
<br/>
"Lots of girls. It's your turn now."<br/>
<br/>
With the calm abandon of a horny high-school boy with nothing to lose and no fear of the consequences, you mash your lips onto hers and grab her ass with one hand while laying the other against her chest.<br/>
<br/>
"F'muck!" she yells, and when you lean back with a grin, she whales you on the side of the jaw with a tiny fist. It jars you a lot harder than you'd have expected.<br/>
<br/>
"Hey, what's going on over there?" someone calls.<br/>
<br/>
"Fucking sexual assault, that's what!" your once-but-no-longer-future girlfriend yells.<br/>
<br/>
"None of your business," you yell back over your shoulder. "Let's keep going," you tell the girl, who stares back with haggard eyes and mouth. "If you want to go any faster, though, I'll have to take my pants off."<br/>
<br/>
She gives a low shriek.<br/>
<br/>
Then a couple of hands grab you and loft you into the air.<br/>
<br/>
You've just time to make out their faces, but none of them are built like your previous playmate. But they don't have to be. They hurl you over a fence that separates the patio from the side yard, and you tumble head over heels down a shallow slope until you hit the bottom. But the turf is soft and springy, and you bounce off it to your feet. Your eyes are briefly dazzled by the flash of a cell phone camera.<br/>
<br/>
"Just spell the name right when you post it!" you yell up at them. "That's Caleb Johansson! Two Ss, two Ns—" You grab your crotch. "And one package for when you wanna come find me!"<br/>
<br/>
Someone yells a cuss word back. You just shrug and light another cigarette.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
That was some kind of fun, but not as much as you were hoping for. Maybe you're just not as good at being a douchebag as you'd hoped. You could just hit another party (or return to Alexis's) and try for more mayhem, but you could try something else.<br/>
<br/>
You could, for instance, go out to the Warehouse. That's a really dangerous party spot in the most dangerous part of town, where the bravest kids party without any kind of adult supervision at all, and where drugs, alcohol, and really regrettable kinds of sex are rumored to abound.<br/>
<br/>
Or—and this would be a really evil prank on Caleb—you could go sneaking around the high school at night. The alpha-est jocks have 24/7 access to the gym, including the infamous "fuck room." That's a loft where they get to take girls any time they want. You could get in so much trouble—or rather, Caleb could get in so much trouble—if you tried breaking in there.</span></div></div>


path: 11113113111
author_id: seuzz
title: Hangover for an Absent Party Crasher
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>That's the start of the swath you cut through the Friday night party scene. <br/>
<br/>
You return via the front door to Alexis Lachance's party, where you hassle another girl in the other living room and barge in loudly on some in-progress necking sessions in the upstairs bedrooms, but retreat before any of the beefy guys can start to take serious issue with you.<br/>
<br/>
At the next party you run into Stephanie Wyatt, who plays for the Westside girls' basketball team. She's always scared you, slightly, for she's intense and athletic and never has the time of day for you. So you barge up to her and call her a bitch to her face. She does a double-take at you: "What did you say?"<br/>
<br/>
"You heard me. You're a bitch and you've been bitch for as long as anyone's known you."<br/>
<br/>
"Are you drunk, Johansson?"<br/>
<br/>
"Only drunk on the truth, babe. Start being nicer to my man Prescott, and maybe I'll think about taking it back."<br/>
<br/>
She stares at you, then sprays you with a "Pfft!" and turns away. "That's the kind of shit I'm talking about!" you yell after her. "Don't have time for anyone except your own self!" For the next ten minutes you circulate the house, butting in on conversations purely in order to tell people that you think Stephanie Wyatt is a skanky bitch and doesn't everyone agree?<br/>
<br/>
Eventually you're pulled aside by a very big and intense-looking dude in an Eastman High letterman jacket. He asks you politely to leave, and when you inquire if he's as pussy-whipped by Stephanie as everyone else, he carries you outside. His hands are incredibly strong, because you're unable to so much as twitch while he's got you in his grip.<br/>
<br/>
After that you go down to the river, where cars are strung out along the strand for half a mile and kids are wandering up and down with beers, joints and their arms around each other. You start at one end and march steadily toward the other, carefully insulting every person that you meet along the way. (When you're asked, incredulously, to repeat what you said, you just reply that you always charge a dollar for the privilege of sharing your opinion twice—five dollars if you're sharing it with an idiot.) You make it about a hundred yards down the riverbank before you're hurled into the black, eddying water of the Mohegan River.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm back and it's not my curfew yet!" you holler as you return through the living room on wet, squelching footsteps. Your dad, who has changed into a robe and pajamas and is reading a book, looks up with a scowl. But instead of yelling at you, he asks what happened to you. "Some jerks threw me into a swimming pool when I lipped off about the music. So I came home. I'm gonna take a hot shower and go to bed." You find a couple of weeds caught in your pants as you peel them off, and judging by the smell you'll have to throw the clothes away.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Sure enough, Caleb is a trending topic on x2z when you check the next morning, but still you only managed to get him into the top 25. It's a painful reminder that you and your friends may be the tiniest zits on the expansive ass that is the Westside High School social scene.<br/>
<br/>
For instance: <i>Really!</i> All that trouble you went to at three different parties to get Caleb thrown out in a memorable way, and still the number 5 trending topic is Hannah Westrick <i>(who?)</i> getting drunk and making out with a guy who wasn't her date at the Warehouse.<br/>
<br/>
On the other hand, you ruefully reflect, maybe it's for the best. You didn't want to get Caleb in too much trouble. You just wanted to create some really memorable scenes so your best friend would freak out some more about the apparent arrival of a doppelganger in his life.<br/>
<br/>
"Dude," you ask when you talk him later that morning, after you've texted him to see if you can call. "What was your problem last night?"<br/>
<br/>
"What problem?" he says. His tone surprises you by having more than a little panic in it.<br/>
<br/>
"You okay?" you ask.<br/>
<br/>
"Why shouldn't I be?" Now he definitely sounds rattled.<br/>
<br/>
"Look, if you want to get together and talk about it—"<br/>
<br/>
"I don't need to talk about anything," he exclaims, "except to find out why you're fucking calling me!"<br/>
<br/>
It sounds like he's already seen the x2z streams, though why he'd be looking at that site—he has the same feelings about it that you do—you don't understand. "Did any of those guys come find you last night? Or this morning?"<br/>
<br/>
"What guys?" Now his voice has risen to a shriek.<br/>
<br/>
"The guys posting about you on x2z."<br/>
<br/>
There's a pause. "I don't know any guys posting about me on x2z."<br/>
<br/>
"You don't? Then what are you so freaked out about?"<br/>
<br/>
"I'm not. Freaked. Out. Except for the way that you seem to think that I should be freaked out about something!" He hangs up.<br/>
<br/>
You call him back. Though aggravated, he at least takes your call, and agrees to meet you someplace for a burger.<br/>
<br/>
"How can you not remember any of this?" you demand as he scrolls for the third time through the x2z posts tagged with his name. "Were you high?"<br/>
<br/>
"I wasn't there!"<br/>
<br/>
"How could you not be there? Dude, there's a picture of you!" You scroll through the feed on your own phone until you find the photo that got taken of you at Alexis Whosits's place. You show it to him, though he's already seen it. "Is that you, or isn't it?"<br/>
<br/>
His brow furrows up in worry as he chews his lip. He mumbles something. "What did you say?"<br/>
<br/>
"I said's not me. 's a Photoshop."<br/>
<br/>
"Are all these posts fakes?"<br/>
<br/>
He stares at you. You almost relent and confess everything when you realize he's about to burst into tears.<br/>
<br/>
"Look, I'm not calling you a liar, man. But what did you do last night? Did you take some funky cold medicine? Some expired cough syrup? Did you go out and do this shit and there was something in your system that made you black out?"<br/>
<br/>
"I don't think so!" he squeaks. His eyes are half bugging from his head, and he's stopped blinking. "But it's gotta be a hack. Someone hacked the servers and put this stuff up."<br/>
<br/>
"So what did you do last night?"<br/>
<br/>
"Nothing!" He finally closes his eyes and clasps his head between his hands. "I stayed in. I had a bad day."<br/>
<br/>
You decide to dial things back. "Well, maybe things will look better on Monday," you tell him. "Maybe someone did hack the x2z stream. I'll, uh, text around, see what I can find out."<br/>
<br/>
Caleb looks at you wetly. Then his eyes fall, and he mumbles something that sounds like a gratitude.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You do text around, contacting people you know who would be in a position to testify one way or another about what Caleb might or might not have been doing Friday night, and they confirm the authenticity of the posts. Of course, you knew that already, but now you've got proof for Caleb.<br/>
<br/>
You decide to wait until later to talk to him about it, though. Instead you spend the balance of Saturday shopping for supplies.<br/>
<br/>
The next spell in the book wound up being easy to cast. Just a handful of the ingredients you already had on hand, burnt in a bowl over a sigil (it didn't even produce any noxious odors or smokes this time) and you got a slightly sticky paste that you could use to glue that metal band that contains Caleb's brain into the mask that contains his face and body. So you did, giving you an all-in-one Caleb Johansson disguise for the next time you release his doppelganger.<br/>
<br/>
The spell after that, though, looks to be much bigger, and the ingredients, once you got them deciphered, scare you a little with their quantities and their cost. It makes you very glad that you collected all that money from your friends, because you've spent most of it by the time you haul the ingredients back to your house. You have to hide them inside a giant cardboard box in the garage.<br/>
<br/>
But you still have one ingredient to get, and it's not going to be able to fit in a cardboard box.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Dirt from a graveyard.</i><br/>
<br/>
Yep, the spell requires four hundred pounds of it. And because you're supposed to soak it in stuff that is basically jet fuel and set it on fire, you know you won't be able to execute it in your room. So you sit on your bed and think long and hard about where to try it out.<br/>
<br/>
You're almost embarrassed when the idea comes to you.<br/>
<br/>
That old school a couple of blocks from your house, where you changed into Caleb's mask. It used to be an elementary school, but it closed a bunch of years ago and got converted into a community center. Only part of it is used, though, and on the opposite side of the building is an outside door that leads into the basement.<br/>
<br/>
You found that door a year ago, and busted through it, and explored the dusty spaces beyond. It wasn't very interesting, only being stuffed with old desks and chairs and cabinets and bookshelves. You put your own padlock on the door, and when you checked back on it a few days later, you found it still there. So for a couple of weeks you and your friends had free rein of that basement, moving stuff around, stashing some liquor, and even holding a small Halloween party. You've not been back, though, in many months.<br/>
<br/>
You grab your keys and race over. To your delight, your padlock is still on the door.<br/>
<br/>
So you run back and forth from it to your house, moving your supplies. In the midst of the basement junk you clear a space that might be big enough for four hundred pounds of dirt.<br/>
<br/>
Which then raises the question: Do you get that dirt tonight? Or do you add to Caleb's troubles with another "doppelganger sighting"?</span></div></div>


path: 111131131111
author_id: seuzz
title: The Graveyard Thief
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>You have to make another trip up to Walmart for sandbags, but your dad already has a shovel, so there's no much prep work for when it comes time to raid the cemetery. You're anxious to get to work, though, so you go back out to the elementary school to set things up to receive the dirt. That basically involves clearing away a big table in the back, and that what is there to do?<br/>
<br/>
Well, you've got your original supplies for making masks and those mind band thingies. So with nothing else to do, you decide to lay in a stock. Before setting to work casting more masks, though, you put on Caleb's mask, which you brought with you. After all, if you're going to get caught down here—and you keep glancing nervously at the door, expecting a maintenance guy to stick his head in and bark, <i>Who's down here?</i>—you don't want to be the one who gets caught.<br/>
<br/>
And maybe it's lucky that you did change into Caleb's mask, because after you're inside his face, you have his brain inside of yours. And after using up the last of your supplies to cast five more basic masks, you are staring dully at them and flinching at the thought of the <i>weeks and weeks</i> of polishing that will go into them, when a little voice honks inside your head: <i>Hey, about you use like a car buffer on them, you dumb doorknob?</i><br/>
<br/>
You smack yourself in the forehead at the obviousness of the thought.<br/>
<br/>
So, after pulling Caleb's mask back off, you run home and dig through the garage, for you're sure you've seen your dad using one of those motorized car buffers before. You find it and—without asking permission, naturally—you take it back to the school, where you apply it to one of the masks.<br/>
<br/>
Forty-five minutes later, you're done, and are smirking over the deep, burnished blue surface. <i>Who am I going to use </i>this<i> one on?</i> you wonder.<br/>
<br/>
Well, there will be time enough for that later. You polish up two more masks, by which time it's more than dark enough to risk heading to the cemetery. You hide the masks inside a lopsided old cabinet, and lock up.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
There may be other cemeteries in town, but the only one you know of is about a mile or so away, by the river on Farm Road. You drive deep inside it when you get there, parking as far from the nearby roads as you can. You kill a minute drumming your fingers on the steering wheel, wondering if you're really going to do this.<br/>
<br/>
Then with a sigh of determination you return Caleb's mask to your face.<br/>
<br/>
You brought it with you for a couple of reasons. One is that, if you get caught you don't want it to be under your own face. You're not trying to add to Caleb's woes, but you'd rather they fall on him than on you if this thing goes pear-shaped. Also, his muscles are no worse than yours.<br/>
<br/>
But the main reason is so that you can wear those stinky, river-soaked clothes of his while you work. They're already ruined—a funky stench is rising off them, and they're cold, and they feel like they're eating into your skin after you're in them. But at least it means you won't be fouling up a set of your own clothes with the night's labors. Once you're fully dressed out as a grave-robbing duplicate of your best friend since elementary school, you grab a shovel and a box of sandbags from the back of your truck and hike out to the tombstones.<br/>
<br/>
The book only said the dirt had to come from a graveyard and did not make any special point about it having to come from a grave. Still, you'd rather err on the side of caution, and it seems to you that if the spell wants something from a graveyard, then getting the dirt from an actual grave would be the best guarantee of getting what you need. But you don't go looking for any grave in particular, and just trudge over to the nearest one. You break the sod in great circle, toss it aside, and start deepening the hole. <br/>
<br/>
It is long, hard, back-breaking work. Jam the shovel blade into the firm earth. Scoop. Gently lift and turn the blade over an open sandbag. You soon decide that you could really do with some help, not just with the digging, but to hold the lips of the damn bags open so you don't spill as much next to a bag as into it. Your arms and your wrists are soon aching, and then your lower back starts to yelp; and work that started off cold—for there's a small but persistent breeze blowing—soon turns uncomfortably warm.<br/>
<br/>
At least the ache of labor dulls your imagination. Early on, the hairs on the back of your neck and the flesh between your shoulder blades kept prickling. It is a clear and moonless night, so that you haven't even the glow of the city to light the scene. The tombstones nevertheless shine faintly in the dark, and you can't help the feeling that there's something slightly occult about the brightness with which they glow.<br/>
<br/>
But worries about things coming out of the nearby graves are gradually supplanted by a tired irritation and growing vexation with the work itself. And pretty soon you're less worried about the bright tombstones and the shivering rustle of the wind in the grass than by the bright headlamps of vehicles and the rumble of their passage. You worry you're not parked nearly as far off Farm Road as you'd thought, and it occurs to you that your truck, itself being white, might be visible from the street.<br/>
<br/>
After thirty minutes or so, then, you take a break by moving your truck farther back into the cemetery and tackling a different grave. Shovelful by shovelful the dirt goes into the bags, and the bags go into the back of the truck. You're very happy when you fill the fortieth bag, for it means you're halfway to your quota. Then you realize you're not sure that the bags, which are supposed to hold five pounds each, are holding that much, and you grimly decide to press on until you've filled all one hundred that were in the box.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
But you give up, in an aching sweat, with the ninetieth bag. You feel like you've been worked over by every bully at Westside.<br/>
<br/>
You transport the spoils of the night to the elementary school. It's already past your curfew, so instead of rushing back home you unlock the basement door and, five bags at a time, transfer the dirt into the basement. You've no scales on hand, so you don't empty them. But you do glance through the spell to see how much more prep work is needed.<br/>
<br/>
Not much, it looks like. You don't have to mix all the stuff up beforehand, and can pour each thing directly onto the pile once you've got it measured out. But you could save time tomorrow by putting the smaller ingredients together into one of the plastic tubs you brought out.<br/>
<br/>
On the other hand, it wouldn't save much time. And you'd really like to get out of Caleb's stinky clothes (and mask) and get to bed.<br/>
<br/>
</span></div></div>


path: 1111311311111
author_id: seuzz
title: A Plot Twist for Caleb Johansson
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>It's forty minutes past your curfew. So as you're already technically in trouble, you decide to press on with the work. It doesn't take long to measure out and mix the ingredients.<br/>
<br/>
But in checking back over the spell, you realize there's a wrinkle. To execute these spells you have to pile the ingredients onto a sigil in the book; which in this case that means you'll have to pile the ingredients (including all that graveyard dirt) onto the book and set it on fire.<br/>
<br/>
The ingredients, not the book. And yet the book will be in that pile of stuff, so there's a good chance that it'll go up in flames too.<br/>
<br/>
You sag against a table and scrub at your face. Almost you give up for the night. It would be much smarter to make a copy of the sigil. But you are so exhausted that you just mutter a "Fuck it" and slam the open book onto an empty table. Before you can stop yourself, you start pouring bags of dirt atop it.<br/>
<br/>
And after you've got the last bag poured out, it's nothing to pour the rest of the ingredients over the mound.<br/>
<br/>
And after you've done <i>that</i> it's the easiest thing in the world to light a match and—<br/>
<br/>
In the back of your head a little voice tells you this is a very bad idea. The stuff you poured on the dirt? It's basically rocket fuel. It would be a bad thing to blow up the community center basement. Even worse to blow it up at midnight. Even worse to blow it up at midnight while standing in the middle of it looking exactly like your best friend. (You still haven't taken Caleb's mask off.)<br/>
<br/>
But you mutter a "Shit" and throw the match onto the pile anyway. You're so tired you almost hope it does blow you up so you can get some sleep.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Phoomph!</i> A sheet of purple-tinted flame rolls off the pile and envelops you like a soft cloud. You shut your eyes. <i>So this is what it feels like to be on fire, burning like a greased pig,</i> you think. <i>Not bad.</i><br/>
<br/>
You open your eyes and find that you're <i>not</i> on fire. But the pile of dirt is. Violet flames, three and four feet tall, curl and twist and lick at it. But so softly does it burn—there's no hiss or crackle—that you find yourself straining your ears for any noise at all. You edge up to the table, and find that there's no heat coming off it either. You stick your hand in it, all the way up to your elbow. If you closed your eyes, you wouldn't even know there was a fire going at all!<br/>
<br/>
Cool!<br/>
<br/>
You look around to check the book for further instructions, then remember—this is how punchy you are—that it's under the fire. You grimace. The book said something about the fire going out and having to be relit until it can be relit no more, but that's all you can remember.<br/>
<br/>
But you've no intention of camping out to babysit it. You can check on it tomorrow. With heavy feet you trudge up the groaning wooden stairs to the basement door.<br/>
<br/>
You're home before you remember that you need to take Caleb's mask off, and when you wake, the soft light of dawn is filtering into the truck cab where you slept the night. You sneak into the house through a side door; water is running upstairs, and with your parents so preoccupied you slip into your room, change clothes, and hop into the shower before they can catch you.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Except you do get caught, and you do get grounded, for no one is fooled by your wild protestations that you <i>did</i> get back by your curfew, it's just that no one saw you come in.<br/>
<br/>
So you're not able to get back to the school basement until Monday morning, when you stop in early on your way to school. You wince hard when you see through the basement windows that the fire is still burning. <i>How long is this going to take?</i><br/>
<br/>
Caleb is tensed up in his desk first period when you catch up to him, and the glower in his eye tells you it's not a good idea to ask about his weekend. But you do, just to be polite. No surprise, he just seethes at you. You also get the impression, as you glance around the room, that he's getting dirty looks from some of the other people—Kelsey Blankenship in particular—but maybe you're seeing emotions that aren't really there.<br/>
<br/>
But things sure turn around for him in the fourth-period English class you share.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
He's slumped in his desk—bony shoulders practically resting on his seat; bony knees pressed up against the back of the desk in front of him—with his arms folded. You're ignoring him and staring listlessly at the front of the room when a girl comes in. Her eyes bounce off you without registering your presence, but you sure notice her. Your cock does, too.<br/>
<br/>
She's a cheerleader.<br/>
<br/>
Okay, she's not one of the Westside cheerleaders. You know all of them by name, face, and breast and hip size. But this girl could be one. Physically, she almost defines the stereotype.<br/>
<br/>
Her features are regular and even, and her teeth are snowy white inside her wide smile. Shimmering blonde hair—<i>spun gold</i> might a cliche, but it was invented to describe hair like hers—drapes down to her shoulders. A summertime tan glows under her skin. Her legs are strong and toned. She is wearing a dark, flimsy, one-piece dress that clings to her figure and drops to the middle of her thigh. She is wearing strappy sandals.<br/>
<br/>
A lump forms in your throat. <i>My God, what I wouldn't give to have her straddle my lap, open her mouth, and let me put my tongue down her throat!</i><br/>
<br/>
You sit up. <i>Where did that thought come from?</i> You heard it inside your head—almost like a voice, nestled in the creases and folds of your brain, whispering to you.<br/>
<br/>
She rakes the classroom with her gaze, a slight pout on her lips. Then she finds what she's looking for, and her eyes light up.<br/>
<br/>
Oh my God! She isn't looking at you but she is walking your way, coming down your aisle! She'll pass your desk in a moment!<br/>
<br/>
She stops right next to you! She's standing right next to you, and a scent like fresh pine and aloe tickles your nose! You almost capsize.<br/>
<br/>
"Hey," she says, and twists a lock of hair behind her ear. "You're Caleb, right? We have calculus together?"<br/>
<br/>
Your eyes almost start from your head. She's talking to Caleb?!<br/>
<br/>
Well, at least she's standing next to you, her smooth elbow practically in your face. You can't help but ogle the curve of her ass beneath the clinging skirt. The dark fabric looks as light and fragile as Kleenex. <i>If I tore it back,</i> you think, <i>I could see her—</i><br/>
<br/>
"Uh, yeah." That's Caleb, though you can barely hear him over the rushing in your ears.<br/>
<br/>
"So yeah," she replies, "I have you in math and— Well, I'm having trouble with some of the homework? And someone told me you're really good at it? So I was hoping maybe we could—" She twists on her feet, and your mouth fills with a foaming spit as the muscles and tendons in her thighs flex. "We could get together, to go over stuff? Like tutoring? I'd pay!" she adds. <br/>
<br/>
You can practically hear Caleb's jaw creak as it drops open.<br/>
<br/>
"No," he gurgles. "Erp! No, what I mean is— Uh, sure we— We can get together. But you don't have to pay. We could just, uh— Whatever." He gulps. "When?"<br/>
<br/>
"Like, real soon? 'Cos, <i>God.</i> I don't know why I signed up for the AP class, it's really kicking my butt."<br/>
<br/>
<i>Her butt. Her supple, supple butt.</i> You have to grip the sides of your desk to keep from reaching over to touch or tweak it.<br/>
<br/>
She's still talking, and Caleb is still talking, and then she's opening up a little black coin purse. "—give you my card," she says as she hands it to him. "It's all current. You have a card you can give me?"<br/>
<br/>
"Nuh," Caleb says. "Mm, no, but I can—"<br/>
<br/>
"That's okay. Just call me or text me."<br/>
<br/>
Again, she twists in place, then says, "God, thanks so much. Text me, like, later today? I have to get to class now."<br/>
<br/>
She skips back to the door with a light tread, glancing back once with a glinting smile before vanishing around the corner. You lean forward to follow her with your head and eyes, and nearly impale yourself on your erection.<br/>
<br/>
You gape at Caleb, who gapes back at you. "Who was that?" you whisper.<br/>
<br/>
"Beats the fuck outta me." With a dazed look he examines the little white card he holds between a forefinger and thumb. "Sydney Melissa McGlynn," he says.<br/>
<br/>
"She's in your calculus class?" A hot fury suddenly washes over you. "And you never told me about her?"<br/>
<br/>
Caleb flushes in turn. "So what if didn't, Prescott? What good have you ever done <i>me?</i>" He sinks into his seat, and spends the rest of class in a reverie.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"Yeah, I know her," Jenny Ashton says at lunch, which you take with her and her friends. You asked her about that girl. "She's new this year, that's why you don't know her."<br/>
<br/>
"Prescott gives lots of people lots of reasons for not knowing him," Carson Ioeger snickers.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, I know who you're talking about," James Lamont says as you flip off his best friend. "I got her in AP Calculus, same as Johansson."<br/>
<br/>
"I have her in English," says Paul Davis.<br/>
<br/>
"And I've got her in Environmental Science," Jenny says, "so you guys can stop bragging. Why do you want to know about her?"<br/>
<br/>
James guffaws, and you shoot him a dirty look.<br/>
<br/>
Obviously you want to know why a gorgeous creature like Sydney would be interested in Caleb, even as a tutor.<br/>
<br/>
And you wonder if she'd settle (unwittingly) for a fake Johansson.</span></div></div>


path: 11113113111111
author_id: seuzz
title: A Confidence Artist
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>Jenny Ashton isn't a font of information, exactly, but she and the others tell you enough about Sydney McGlynn to make clear what an insanely lucky son of a bitch your best friend is to have her glomming onto him as a tutor. <br/>
<br/>
<i>She moved to Saratoga Falls over the summer,</i> runs the tl;dl, so this is her first year at Westside. She was a cheerleader at her last school, on a squad that actually went to national finals or something. She missed the WHS cheerleader tryouts at the end of summer, or maybe she skipped them because she just wasn't interested in being a cheerleader anymore. She's not super sociable, but she's got some friends. And she's taking a lot of AP classes.<br/>
<br/>
Gorgeous, athletic, smart ... <br/>
<br/>
And she wants to be tutored by Caleb? What did Johansson ever do to deserve winning the lottery that way?<br/>
<br/>
You ought to be happy for him. But he was never happy for you (it seems now as you think back) when you and Lisa were going out. (And you don't care what Lisa says now, you <i>totally were dating over the summer!</i>) And though you don't want to mess things up for him—and least, not yet—you don't see any reason that you can't share in his good fortune.<br/>
<br/>
Not when you can <i>be</i> him to collect some of it.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
<i>We should get together after school,</i> you tell Caleb at his locker just before last period. <i>My treat.</i> He agrees to meet you at the Starbucks on the far side of town—"In case we want to hit a comic book shop after," you explain. When school ends, you follow him in your truck at a distance until you confirm that he's not heading home.<br/>
<br/>
Then you shoot south, in the opposite direction.<br/>
<br/>
First you stop at your own house, just long enough to gather up the foul-smelling clothes that you stole from him. Then you race over to his place. There's not enough time to change into his mask, so you sneak in through the back door in your own form. Your phone buzzes with a text from him while you're in his bedroom grabbing fresh shirts and pants from his closet. <i>had t stop my hoise cot by mom b thre soon,</i> you text back. He replies with a rolling-eye emoji.<br/>
<br/>
Well, fuck him then. You make a third, unplanned stop at the school basement—to teach him to cool his heels patiently—where you drop off the new batch of clothes and check on the fire. (It's still burning.) Only then do you make the leisurely drive out to the Starbucks.<br/>
<br/>
You're just turning into the parking lot when he texts to tell you that he's taken off and will see you later, if at all.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"Christ, it's not my fault!" you insist when you lure him back out that evening after supper. "My mom—!"<br/>
<br/>
He only glowers at you over the top of an Ultra Mocha Frappacino with five shots  of caramel (at a dollar-fifty apiece) and one of their Cinnamon-Rolls-as-Big-as-Your-Head. You're at The Crystal Cave, one of the kookier (and more expensive) coffee shops in town, and as per your promise you are paying for his food as well as your own smallest-size Colombian coffee.<br/>
<br/>
Naturally, you're in a sullen mood, but so is he. "So what's this about?" he demands. He tears off a shank of the cinnamon roll and pops it in his mouth without offering you any.<br/>
<br/>
"Why does it have to be about something? Aren't we friends?"<br/>
<br/>
"Sure," he says. "You're not mad at me too, are you?"<br/>
<br/>
"Why would I—?"<br/>
<br/>
"'Cos everyone else is." He glowers.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Right. Everyone else is mad at him because a guy who looks like him went around borrowing and stealing money, and acting like a fucking jackass at parties where he wasn't invited.</i> "Well, I'm not."<br/>
<br/>
"Are you here to tell me something?" His eyes narrow. "You got, like, a <i>message</i> from people? People got something they want to say to me," he seethes, "and you've been elected to fricking-fracking <i>tell me?</i>"<br/>
<br/>
<i>Wow.</i> He's in a much worse mood than you were expecting. You wonder if he had words with Tilley or Ioeger or someone this afternoon.<br/>
<br/>
"No! I want to talk to you about that girl in English, that's all."<br/>
<br/>
"What girl in—? Oh," he catches himself as your jaw drops.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh fucking yeah! Sydney McGlynn! You ever talk to her before?"<br/>
<br/>
"No." He squirms and glances away. You suppress a smile: He's probably getting a boner just thinking about her. You certainly are.<br/>
<br/>
"Have you texted her? Talked to her?"<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, I texted her. Set up a—"<br/>
<br/>
"Lemme see!" You claw at his chest. "Come on, man!" you yells as he flinches. "I wanna see how you did it! Please!" You sprawl over the table. "I bet you were real cool about it. I wanna learn from the sensei, learn how to text a fucking sex goddess when she—"<br/>
<br/>
"Fuck you!" He blushes over his frown, but he also looks pleased. "All I said was— Well, here!" He slides his phone to you. "I just played it cool, you know," he goes on as you frantically scroll through his texts. "Set a time for a tutoring session, like it's a business. You don't wanna come on too strong—"<br/>
<br/>
<i>Yeah yeah.</i> You let him natter on stupidly while you sear the back of your eyeballs with his text to her, her reply, and her contact info.  As he said, it's all very business-like. They will meet tomorrow evening at the municipal library to study together for the weekly calculus quiz.<br/>
<br/>
"What are you going to say to her tomorrow?" you ask. "In class."<br/>
<br/>
"When am I going to talk to her in—?"<br/>
<br/>
"In your calculus class! Jesus, you're not just going to ignore her! You've gotta talk to her in class, keep the lines open!"<br/>
<br/>
He blushes furiously. "We'll keep the lines open at the library."<br/>
<br/>
"Dude!" You grab his wrist. "This is your chance! This girl, she's like—!" You grapple for an analogy, then give up: Sydney McGlynn is one of a kind. (Certainly there can't be another like her who will ever approach Caleb!) "Well, this is your chance! You gotta grab every moment you got!"<br/>
<br/>
"Fine." He pulls free of you. "Okay, I'll go over to her in math class and I'll say, um, hey, see you tonight? Well, what else am I supposed to say to her?"<br/>
<br/>
You've no idea, actually. When you try to imagine yourself in his place, what would <i>you</i> say to Sydney McGlynn?<br/>
<br/>
Then, as you imagine yourself in Caleb's place—<i>as you actually visualize yourself walking into his calculus class</i>—a wonderfully wicked idea comes to you.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Caleb didn't want to do it, and it took all your persuasive powers—and the most vividly hellish picture you could paint of what a fantastical fool he is in danger of making himself into—to talk him into it. Even then, when you woke Tuesday morning, you were sure he was going to back out, so you drove unannounced to his house to pick him up. He was haggard and angry on the drive up to the university, and he didn't want to surrender his phone when you sprang that part of the plan on him at the last minute. "I'm not that bad of a fuck up," he whined. "I can talk to girls—"<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, anyone can talk to a girl," you sneer as you pushed him out of the truck in front of the university library, where he has agreed to spend the day instead of going in to school. "You just don't know how to talk to a sex goddess like Sydney McGlynn." At those words, he turned red and green and purple and white all over. "Trust me," you assured him. "I'll be the one to text her so you won't even risk fucking that up."<br/>
<br/>
"The fuck? What makes you think you can text better than me?"<br/>
<br/>
"'Cos I'm not a nervous wreck like you are."<br/>
<br/>
Is he a nervous wreck? He better be, after all the work you put into undermining his self-confidence so that he'd skip school rather than risk seeing Sydney before their big date and say the wrong thing to her. <br/>
<br/>
<i>You'll have to say </i>something<i> to her,</i> you assured him. <i>And just think of all the stupid-as-shit things you'll probably wind up saying, and all the stuff you </i>should<i> say but are too stupid-as-shit to say. Better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and hock a fat loogie into her face.</i><br/>
<br/>
So he's going to skip school, and on his behalf you'll send her a text saying that he has a medical appointment that is keeping him from calculus but confirming he'll see her at the municipal library that evening. In the meantime, he can use his time away from school to hone his math skills for the tutoring session.<br/>
<br/>
So now you've got his phone, his clothes, a copy of his face, and the whole school day to rearrange all his plans with her.<br/>
<br/>
You park in the farthest corner of the student parking lot and quickly change clothes. Then you cram yourself own into the passenger-side foot well and put his mask to your face. You're cramped and hurting when you awake, and your head pounds as you clamber back onto the truck bench. You do a double-take in the rearview mirror and grimace at Caleb's face: <i>What a dork. Big nose, protuberant lips, tightly-curled rug of hair. He looks like Mark Zuckerberg's idiot little cousin.</i><br/>
<br/>
But he's got a date tonight with Sydney McGlynn, and at the thought of that a shit-eating grin spreads across your borrowed face.<br/>
<br/>
Except he won't. Survey says she'll have it with <i>you</i> instead!</span></div></div>


path: 111131131111111
author_id: seuzz
title: The Substitute Student
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span><i>So this is what it's like being Caleb,</i> you think as you squeeze your way through the crowded hallways of Westside High School. <i>Basically just like being me, only thirty percent dorkier.</i><br/>
<br/>
The morning funk hangs thick in air. It's cool but muggy outside: the last day of September threatens to bring thunderstorms. The class body, crowding inside the school, has swept the humidity in with them and—clinging to the skin and snagged in the grimy folds of shirts and pants—it now comes boiling back out bearing the stink of sweat, exhaustion, fear, and lust. You wrinkle your nose as you scoot between jostling bodies.<br/>
<br/>
You shuffle into Mr. Walberg's first period class and slump into a desk. For a moment you feel yourself in the wrong place, and look over at Will to orient yourself. <i>Oh. Right.</i> You bite on a small smile—<i>I'm totally pulling this off!</i>—and prop your dirty sneakers on the back of the desk in front of you. You twine your hands behind your head.<br/>
<br/>
Brooke Galloway gives you a sidelong stare. For a moment you're disconcerted.<br/>
<br/>
Then you give in to every suppressed instinct that you and Caleb share, and lean over to pat the empty desk where Will would usually sit. "Come sit with me!" you yell, and chuckle as she spins away. Kelsey glances over at you; you chuck your chin at her and grin. She turns away with a curve of the lip like she's trying not to vomit.<br/>
<br/>
This is fun, like those parties you crashed but without the risk of getting punched in the face. You feel Caleb's terror, but also a rush of joy, at saying and doing things he's always wanted to. "Hey Mansfield," you bray at the asshole who took your girlfriend away. "You get any this weekend?" You jerk your chin at Lisa.<br/>
<br/>
He stares, then flushes and looks at Lisa, who is frowning with mystification. <i>Airhead,</i> you think.<br/>
<br/>
And that startling thought—<i>Lisa? An airhead? Where the fuck did that come from?</i>—obliterates everything else, preoccupying you even after Mr. Walberg has called the class to order.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Second period brings that math class that Caleb shares with Sydney: AP Calculus with Mr. Kowalski. It holds no fears for you, though, as you swagger in. You've got Caleb's brain, and the fucker's getting a 91% average on his quizzes. <br/>
<br/>
Sydney comes sweeping in after you're seated. She's halfway across the room, and your eyes are starting to screw up with anger and disappointment at being ignored, when she stops and with a startled expression glances around the room. When she sees you, her mouth spreads in a radiant smile. You smile back, and let her take her seat before making your next move.<br/>
<br/>
Kowalski has a seating chart, and Caleb sits near the front while Sydney's desk is in the back, so Caleb doesn't get a chance to ogle her, even though he's certainly noticed her coming and going. (And why hasn't he ever mentioned her to you? You can't find a definite answer to that question; but the weight that settles on your heart as you think of her suggests that Caleb sees no point in paying attention to a girl who ought to be light-years out of his—and your—league.) You turn around now, though, and slowly crane your neck to take in the room. She sitting with Whitney someone and Reagan whosists, two girls who look almost (but not quite) as trim and fit as Sydney. They've got their homework out and are muttering over it with vexed expressions.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Perfect.</i> You unbend yourself from your desk and saunter over. Whitney looks up at you; a moment later, Sydney looks up too. Her frown clears up, but it's not replaced by a smile.<br/>
<br/>
"Hey," you tell her, and feel a glassy calm settling over you. (You're not Caleb, says one inner voice; why should you be scared of embarrassing yourself? She doesn't know you're Will, says another inner voice; why should you be scared of embarrassing yourself?) "We still on for tonight?"<br/>
<br/>
"Sure." She smiles faintly.<br/>
<br/>
"Cool. But I was thinking maybe we could meet someplace else. The Crystal Cave, maybe?"<br/>
<br/>
For a moment, as she freezes, you think you've overplayed your hand. It really is supposed to be a tutoring session, not a date, and maybe a coffee shop—though it's not dinner—is going to scare her into thinking you're coming onto her.<br/>
<br/>
But either Sydney is a fantastic actress, or she really does like the idea. For as your suggestion registers, her smile turns blinding.<br/>
<br/>
"That'd be fantastic!" she gushes. "I love the Crystal Cave!"<br/>
<br/>
"Awesome. 'Cos I was thinking— Uh. Well, I was thinking they got those big tables we can spread out in. Also, we wouldn't have to keep quiet."<br/>
<br/>
"Right." That glint in her eye turns mischievous. "You could yell at me when I mess up on a problem."<br/>
<br/>
"I wouldn't yell at you," you protest. Then you think, <i>Holy Fuck, she's flirting with me!</i> and you lunge in the opposite direction. "Well. Maybe a spanking."<br/>
<br/>
<i>Aaa-Ooooogah!</i> Every alarm in your head explodes.<br/>
<br/>
But her grin only turns a little madder. "Sounds like something for the <i>fourth</i> tutoring session."<br/>
<br/>
You hold up three fingers in a "Scout's Honor" gesture and, with every nerve in your body shattered into splinters, shamble back to your desk. Once you're seated, your heart erupts in a frantic tattoo, and your knees turn to water.<br/>
<br/>
You did it! You talked to an insanely sexy girl! You even flirted with her! And she flirted back!<br/>
<br/>
And you'll have her to yourself this evening, leaving Caleb up shit creek.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You take the rest of the school day more or less on auto-pilot. You have to eat lunch alone, for you know that Carson and James are still pissed at Caleb, and when you boldly suggest to Tilley that you eat with him, he cusses you out. But Caleb's classes are just as boring as yours; and though he has more AP classes than you, with his brain you find them easier than your own.<br/>
<br/>
Which gives you a nasty twinge when you think about it. You think about the classes you're taking in place of Caleb's AP Chemistry II and AP Physics II and regular Statistics (because even that fucker can't handle more than one AP math class at a time): Career Planning and Film as Literature and Astronomy. Contempt fills your soul as you contemplate them, and that contempt can't help coloring your opinion of the kids who take them, including yourself.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Jesus!</i> You always felt that Caleb was a <i>little</i> bit condescending toward you, but you always felt him as a true friend. Now you have a much more vivid impression of how little he thinks of your academic performance and native intelligence.<br/>
<br/>
Well, fuck him. After tonight, he won't have Sydney McGlynn asking him for any more tutoring sessions (with or without spanking); and as you slink out your last class a plan is already forming for diverting her from Caleb onto yourself.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Caleb's in a bad mood when you pick him up that afternoon at the university library. For a start, you're very late. You stopped by the elementary school basement—which was far out of your way—to check on the fire first, and found it still burning. Then you had to change out of his face and back into your clothes before you could drive out to get him. You mollify him a little bit by springing for an early supper together. But he turns irate again when you tell him that you're going to keep his phone. "What if I need it?" he demands. "Besides, it's got my calculator on it!"<br/>
<br/>
"Then take mine." You're driving him back to his place, but you take your eyes off the road long enough to press your cell onto him.<br/>
<br/>
"The fuck? Why can't—?"<br/>
<br/>
"Because you don't want to be interrupted, do you? What if your mom calls or texts you, wanting you to come home? Or someone else?"<br/>
<br/>
"So I'll turn my phone off!"<br/>
<br/>
"Then you can't use your calculator. "No," you bulldoze over him, "you take mine, and you ignore it if it rings. You can even tell her that there was a mix-up and you got my phone by mistake and that's how come you can ignore it."<br/>
<br/>
"The fuck? That doesn't make any sense!"<br/>
<br/>
"Trust me, you don't want any distractions."<br/>
<br/>
"How did you get to be such an expert all of a sudden?"<br/>
<br/>
"'Cos I had all day to think about it. Caleb, friend!" You squeeze his arm. "I'm doing this for you. I got a clearer perspective on things. Like right now. I'm gonna run in and get you some clothes for tonight while you hide in my truck. That way your mom can't catch you and fuck up your date."<br/>
<br/>
Caleb is almost purple by now, but you've so overwhelmed him with nonsense that he can't find any good way of arguing. He stews in the passenger side of your truck while you run into his house—while tossing a cheery greeting to his mom—and bustle into his bedroom. You get him some clothes—<br/>
<br/>
And out of the mess on his desk you twitch the card that Sydney had given him. You tuck it into your wallet, and with Caleb's best clothes under your arm you run back outside.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You've got thirty minutes to kill yet, but after getting Caleb some more food, you drop him off at the municipal library and take off yourself for The Crystal Cave. Your plan is to change back into his mask and clothes in the restroom there.<br/>
<br/>
But as you pull up to 100 Twentieth Street—the building that holds the Cave—you spot Sydney herself. She's striding into Arnholm's Used Books, which is right next door.</span></div></div>


path: 1111311311111111
author_id: seuzz
title: The Straight and Tarot
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>There's still time before your meeting with Sydney, time that you should probably use to change into your disguise. But you're curious, and decide to seize the chance to follow her and spy on her without being recognized.<br/>
<br/>
Only after you're parked does the irony of it hit you: To avoid being recognized, you're going to spy on her under your own face.<br/>
<br/>
The characteristic odor of Arnholm's Used Books—dusty paper, cardboard, and oiled wood—hits you in the face when you enter, like a folded newspaper swatted across your nose. Ted Arnholm is at the register, and he glances up at you over his half-rim glasses before turning back to the paunchy man with the white whiskers he is waiting on. In the children's book corner two small girls are squalling over a picture book while their mother (?) patiently tries corralling them. But of Sydney there's no sign.<br/>
<br/>
Arnholm's is a rabbit's warren of rooms, some of them spilling up a flight of stairs onto the second floor, and the shelves are packed close together so that you'd have to make an almost row by row search. You start by looking for Sydney in the romance section, but that one is empty. So are the gardening, health, and lifestyle areas, which are the next ones you scope out. Literature is also abandoned. You give up on trying to anticipate where she might have gone, and settle in for a systematic search.<br/>
<br/>
You finally glimpse her cascading blonde hair through a gap between two shelves. Her head is turned from you, and she is looking down and muttering to herself in an excited whisper, but you can't catch her words or her mood better than that. When she half turns, though, you see that her brow is deeply furrowed, and her lips are working. There's a flush in her cheek.<br/>
<br/>
You duck when she spins with a flourish toward the shelf you're cowering behind, and you drop into a crouch. From this lower vantage you can only make out her knees and calves (and what amazing calves they are: tapered, and strong) between the bottom of one shelf and the tops of the books below. You peer up, and can just make out the hem of her short skirt. A little dab of saliva appears at the side of your mouth.<br/>
<br/>
Her hand drops to her side. She's clutching four books, only one of them a paperback. "Gods," she mutters.<br/>
<br/>
You glance around. Judging by the titles you're in the History section. Is that one of Sydney's favorite subjects?<br/>
<br/>
It doesn't take long for you to grow bored, and on your haunches you scuttle crab-wise down the aisle until you can stand up without attracting attention. You tiptoe over to peek around the corner into the aisle where she is standing.<br/>
<br/>
She has changed into a short white skirt and a fuzzy blue-and-white sleeveless sweater. A beret the color of fresh milk jauntily tilts atop her head. She now has a whole armful of books clutched to her chest, and is awkwardly flipping through another one.<br/>
<br/>
Somewhere in the store, a cell phone goes off.<br/>
<br/>
Sydney jumps and drops her books. She doesn't pick them up right away, though, but pulls her own phone from her pocket and checks it. Even from twenty feet away you hear her gasp <i>Fuck!</i> Then she does scoop up the books and carry all of them away.<br/>
<br/>
You hop down the aisle to watch as she marches up to the register and drops them in front of Ted Arnholm. His eyebrows twitch as he looks at the pile, then goes through them, one by one, tapping prices into the desk calculator. He murmurs a price at Sydney, inquires whether she has an account, then accepts the credit card she holds out to him. Not until she has bagged and carried her purchases out do you relax.<br/>
<br/>
You return to the spot—as near as you can guess—where she found her purchases. Your heart tries rotating in your chest when you see one of the titles still on the shelf: <i>Magic: Theory and Practice.</i> You look over the rest of the shelves and realize that you're in the Occult and Metaphysics section.<br/>
<br/>
Sydney McGlynn—that girl who looks like the stereotype for a cheerleader—is into magic? You scratch under your cap. Only a chime from your own phone reminds you that you've an appointment to keep with her, and you still have to change.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"Hey, sorry I'm late," you honk as you swagger up to a back booth of The Crystal Cave, where Sydney is waiting. Your surveillance operation has left you feeling like you've gained an advantage over her, and your confidence is correspondingly swollen.<br/>
<br/>
She smiles, then flinches as you drop your backpack with a thud onto the table in front of her. "That's okay, I was just catching up on some reading," she says, and lays aside a thick paperback. The cover is upside down from your perspective, but the lettering is big enough that you can easily read it anyway: <i>TAROT.</i> "I was waiting for you to get here," she continues, "before getting me something."<br/>
<br/>
"What do you want?" you ask. "My treat."<br/>
<br/>
"No, it's <i>my</i> treat," she insists. "You're the one doing me a favor."<br/>
<br/>
"No, first session's free," you improvise, "and I pay for your coffee or whatever myself. Just in case I suck at being a tutor. I don't want you going away thinking I suck at everything."<br/>
<br/>
Sydney grimaces in embarrassment, but relents. When you return with a black coffee for yourself and a chai latte for her, you find both her books and your books unpacked and spread over the table. "I wasn't snooping through your stuff," she assures you. You only smile and tell her she saved you some trouble.<br/>
<br/>
That <i>Tarot</i> book is still out, you notice, which is a little odd if she's wanting to get right down to business. You hesitate before saying anything about it, but the temptation proves irresistible. "So, uh, I guess you're into this kind of place?" You jerk your chin at the room.<br/>
<br/>
It's really weird: Keyserling College is an engineering school, and is hard-core enough that it punches above its comparative weight. And yet it's surrounded on all sides by kooky, metaphysically inclined businesses. The Crystal Cave is probably the kookiest of them. Looming on the walls of each of the twelve booths is one of the signs of the zodiac, and each of the ten tables in the center of the room has a little metal stand with a card on which is printed a different astrological symbol. Someone told you once that they are symbols for the planets, and that the Cave uses them and the zodiac signs instead of letters or numbers to designate the tables, but it's still a strange thing.<br/>
<br/>
Sydney grins and blushes. "I guess you mean <i>this.</i>" She drums her fingers on the paperback, then slips it under the table. "You probably think it's really dumb."<br/>
<br/>
"I wouldn't say it even if I thought it," you blurt back. "And I don't think it. I don't know enough about that kind of stuff to say anything."<br/>
<br/>
"You don't?" Her grin tightens. "You never studied up on anything to do with, like, the occult?"<br/>
<br/>
"Nope." You lean back and twine your hands behind your head. "Tell me about it."<br/>
<br/>
She holds your eye for what seems like a very long time. You find yourself holding hers. The air between you cools distinctly.<br/>
<br/>
She opens up her math book. "Maybe we should do some real work," she says.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You study with her for an hour. It's not a success. Oh, you're fluent enough at explaining things to her, and she does well under your tutelage. But she's only businesslike, and there's none of the little flirtations that her early behavior led you to expect. You also have the impression that she's pretending to be stupider about calculus than she really is. A couple of times you catch her applying knowledge and techniques that she later says she never learned or mastered. She treats you nicely enough, though, but when at the end you suggest getting together in a week for another session to prepare for the follow up quiz, she only says that that would "probably" work. You escort her out to the parking lot and wave her good-bye. Only after she's gone do you get in your truck.<br/>
<br/>
Thirty minutes later, out of your disguise, you saunter into the municipal library. It takes you nearly ten minutes to locate Caleb, who is curled up in a back corner. His eyes flash when he sees you approaching, and his mouth splits to show you all his teeth. "Dude," you say, "where's that girl? You didn't—"<br/>
<br/>
He hurls himself from the chair and grabs you. "Son of a bitch!" he growls. "Give me my goddam phone!" He shakes you till your teeth rattle. <br/>
<br/>
"Sh— Sure!" You pull it out. "I was just coming to— Ow!" You nurse your hand after he's grabbed it away. "The fuck is biting you? Where's that girl?"<br/>
<br/>
"She never showed up! Fuck! No texts from her, either." He turns blazing eyes up at you. "Did you do something to fuck things up with her?"<br/>
<br/>
"What? No! You think I—? Caleb! Dude!"<br/>
<br/>
He scrolls through his phone, and when he looks up again his eyes are screwed up hard. <i>Jesus,</i> you think. <i>He's about to start crying.</i><br/>
<br/>
"Well, she didn't show up," Caleb gasps. "And she didn't even send me a text. Did I fuck up the date? Was it supposed to be tomorrow?"<br/>
<br/>
"No, you didn't fuck up the date. It was totally tonight. Dude." You lay your hand over his phone before he start tapping at it. "She's a bitch. She was totally leading you on, that's all."<br/>
<br/>
Caleb flushes deeply, and tears spring into his eyes. "Maybe she just forgot, or she lost my—"<br/>
<br/>
"Don't make yourself crazy," you urge him. "Just forget her."<br/>
<br/>
Except you can tell that he's not. He's going to text her, or he'll talk to her tomorrow. You're going to have to move fast if you're going to use him to introduce yourself to Sydney.</span></div></div>


path: 11113113111111111
author_id: seuzz
title: The Bold and the Oblivious
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Look, don't text her," you urge Caleb. He glares at you. "If she didn't text you to cancel or change your plans, it's 'cos something came up. If you go charging in all mad, you'll just screw things up for yourself. Trust me on this."<br/>
<br/>
"I've trusted you so far and look how screwed up everything is!"<br/>
<br/>
"Jesus, man! How is any of it my fault?"<br/>
<br/>
"You had my phone, cocksucker! If I'd had it I could'a—"<br/>
<br/>
"And you'd'a said the wrong thing. Something must'a gone wrong on her end," you insist. "Maybe someone got sick. Maybe she got sick. Maybe her dad had a heart attack and she's at the hospital! Dude!" You grasp Caleb's arm as he blinks and pales at your suggestion. "Either she's a bitch and a flake and you're better off not getting mixed up with her, or something bad happened. That's how come you shouldn't even talk to her tomorrow."<br/>
<br/>
His eyes bulge. "I shouldn't what?"<br/>
<br/>
"Talk to her. In class. Just go in there and see if she's there, see what she says or does. If she comes over to tell you what happened, then you'll know what it's all about. If she just ignores you"—<i>which she totally will, probably</i>—"then you'll know she's just a flake."<br/>
<br/>
He glowers. "I still think I should talk to her. In case she just got the days confused."<br/>
<br/>
"I'll talk to her," you assure him. "It'll be less embarrassing for her if she just flaked out that way."<br/>
<br/>
Caleb grumbles, but after a little more argument he agrees to leave things to you.<br/>
<br/>
Because (you can tell) he's totally terrified of her and is scared of throwing up on her shoes if he tries talking to her.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You check out Sydney's card when you get home. It's a really fancy thing: thick, creamy card stock, and her name engraved in golden letters in a fancy font—Copperplate, it looks like. What's really odd is that it looks like she's got a logo to go with it. It's a line drawing of a face, and it takes you a moment to recognize it as a copy of the queen of hearts or queen of spades or some queen like that off a deck of playing cards. You set the card on your knee as you prop up on your bed with your cell phone.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Hey sydney this is will prescott i am a friend of caleb he said i should text you if that is ok.</i> Your heart leaps up the back of your throat as you hit the "send" button. You're a lot more nervous talking to her, even by text, under your own name and identity than you were under Caleb's.<br/>
<br/>
It's a solid minute before she replies: <i>Hi Will Nice to meet you.</i><br/>
<br/>
Your thumbs tremble as you tap in the sequel. This is either going to get you in good, or it will totally blow any chance you have of scooping her away from Caleb for yourself: <i>Caleb says your into magic and stuff so am i and he thinks we could talk about it.</i><br/>
<br/>
For an agonizing five seconds you hesitate to send it. Could you rewrite it to sound better? <i>Better to just get it out,</i> you pant quietly to yourself, <i>than to make things look weird by dragging it out.</i> You flinch hard as you hit "Send."<br/>
<br/>
Your heart sinks as the cell remains silent for a couple of minutes. You gnaw your lip. Your thumbs twitch. Should you send a follow up?<br/>
<br/>
Your heart explodes when three animated dots appear at the bottom of the screen: <i>She's replying!</i><br/>
<br/>
<i>Sounds cool Do we have classes together?</i> <br/>
<br/>
Your heart nearly explodes. <i>no maybe meet after school talk the crystal cave?</i> "Send"<br/>
<br/>
<i>Gah!</i> Your reply (now that you read it) leaves you sounding like a moron.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Love Crystal Cave! Meet tomorrow night?</i><br/>
<br/>
You leap around your room, pounding your fist in the air and whooping softly to yourself, and you can hardly restrain yourself from throwing the window up and screeching into the night. Your brow breaks out in a hot sweat as with shaking thumbs you tap out: <i>works for me tlk tmrw set time?</i> Her reply: <i>Sure!</i><br/>
<br/>
You collapse onto your bed, feeling like you've just run a mile. Is this what love is like? You never felt this way with Lisa. On the other hand, Lisa didn't look like Hollywood's idea of the head cheerleader at a Hollywood high school. <br/>
<br/>
You grind an eyeball with the heel of your hand, and reflect on how funny it is that hadn't noticed Sydney before, and that no one has ever talked about her in earshot of you.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"Jesus Christ, Prescott!" Carson Ioeger brays. "We talk about her all the time! Get the fucking wax out of your ears!"<br/>
<br/>
It's Wednesday, lunch time, and as seems to be becoming habitual, you're taking it with Carson and James and Jenny and Paul. Maybe your conscience is bothering you, but you don't like hanging out with Caleb anymore. In English he gave you a hopeful frown when you came in. You asked him what Sydney said or did in second period, and he grumbled that she smiled at him—"But it didn't look friendly." You tell him that you tried talking to her at her locker, but she gave you the cold shoulder when you dropped Caleb's name. That lie left him slouching and muttering to himself, and he probably wouldn't have been good company at lunch even if your gut wasn't twisting with guilt over the treacherous way you've been treating him.<br/>
<br/>
You had another reason for eating with Carson and his friends: You were hoping Yumi Saito or Lin Pol or maybe even Cindy Vredenburg would show up, as they sometimes do. Being cheerleaders, they might give you some clue about what the squad itself knows or thinks about Sydney.<br/>
<br/>
But they didn't, and it was left to you to broach her as a topic.<br/>
<br/>
"Well, excuse me for not knowing who she was," you retort. "Have you guys been jerking off to her? Bragging about jerking off to her? I didn't know she was someone special!"<br/>
<br/>
"When did <i>you</i> figure out she was someone special?"<br/>
<br/>
"Someone pointed her out to me." You dodge their eyes; you don't want to mention Caleb's name in connection with her. "And I was, like, how come I haven't noticed her before?"<br/>
<br/>
"Maybe you're gay," James suggests. "What?" he replies to your glare. "It happens. Just ask Charles Hartlein."<br/>
<br/>
"Will isn't gay," Carson says. "Having your head up your own ass doesn't make you gay."<br/>
<br/>
<i>"What makes you say I've got my head up my ass?"</i><br/>
<br/>
"'Cos it's the only way you could come to school without noticing Sydney McGlynn. Christ."<br/>
<br/>
"But isn't she new?" You look at Jenny, who has been hunkered down over her cell phone. "Didn't you say this is her first year at Westside?"<br/>
<br/>
Carson doesn't give her a chance to answer. "Like that matters. You don't notice half of the <i>insanely</i> sexy girls at this school. Jesus!" He sits up and, like a ground hog scoping out the open plains for predators, gazes around the quad. "It's like someone's been conducting genetic experiments and trying to breed only the most beautiful girls possible."<br/>
<br/>
"I think I notice!"<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah?" Carson's lip curls. "Name six."<br/>
<br/>
The challenge momentarily staggers you. "Um. Sydney," you gasp out. "Chelsea Cooper." That's a gimme, but you cast a nervous glance at Jenny, who despises the head cheerleader; but she's still preoccupied with her phone. "Um."<br/>
<br/>
James's lips twitch. "Lisa Yarborough?"<br/>
<br/>
<i>"Fuck you!"</i> But James only laughs at your reaction to your ex-girlfriend's name.<br/>
<br/>
"See what I mean?" Carson says. "You can't name more than two."<br/>
<br/>
"Can <i>you</i> name more than two?" you spit back. "Who do you want me to name? Yumi?" You glance at Paul, who suffers an ill-concealed puppy-dog crush on her. "Jenny here?" You glare at James.<br/>
<br/>
Now Jenny reacts. "Fuck you all," she says, and snatches up her lunch. "I'm gonna eat in the library." She stalks off.<br/>
<br/>
James glares at you, but Carson rolls onto his back with a happy sigh. "At last. I thought she'd never leave."<br/>
<br/>
"You <i>wanted</i> to get rid of her?"<br/>
<br/>
"Sure." He slides the heel of his hand up and down his crotch. "Now we can <i>really</i> talk dirty about Andrea Varnsworth and Josie Holden and Phoebe Beauchamp—"<br/>
<br/>
"And Kendra and Gloria?" James snickers. "Maria?"<br/>
<br/>
"Ha! Ellie Kemp. Catherine Muskov."<br/>
<br/>
"Julia Paez."<br/>
<br/>
"Alright, alright!" you shout. "So I'm oblivious!"<br/>
<br/>
But Carson isn't listening. He ticks off names against all ten fingers while gazing dreamily at the sky. And when he's done with his fingers he kicks his shoes off and waggles his toes inside his socks as he rattles off more names.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
It embarrasses you that you weren't able to come up with some of those names off the top of your head. It embarrasses you further that even now you're not totally sure who some of those girls Carson mentioned are. <i>Alana Ocampo? Madison Fortney?</i> You half suspect that Carson is just making shit up, and that most of the girls he named would turn out to be dogs if you went looking.<br/>
<br/>
So you keep alert as you push your way through the halls to your sixth-period class. And that's how you bump directly into Sydney, who is pushing the other way.<br/>
<br/>
Her expression brightens when she sees you. "Hey, are you Caleb's friend?" she shouts over the crowd. "Will ... Peterson?"<br/>
<br/>
"Prescott," you gasp back. "Yeah!" Someone jostles you into her, and you almost pass out with excitement at brushing up against her. "Ng'um—"<br/>
<br/>
"I have gymnastics after school," she says. "Can we meet still tonight? The Crystal Cave? At seven?"<br/>
<br/>
"Works for me!"<br/>
<br/>
"Cool!"<br/>
<br/>
She gives you a smile like something out of a toothpaste commercial, and sidles past. "See you then!"<br/>
<br/>
Only after she's gone do you wonder that she recognized you.</span></div></div>


