Masks

by Muas

Jaskin was an actor, a performer on the stage, and she'd never had it as good as she had it now.

After years of working at perfecting her style in drama classes, she had been accepted to the prestigious Neopian Fine Arts Academy, to major in drama. Many of the graduates from NFAA went on to great careers and were widely known, and Jaskin planned to be no exception.

She loved it at NFAA's campus, a sprawling five-acre place with classes for every form of the fine arts, from painting to dancing to sculpture; and the students were every bit as cultured as she would expect them to be, yet not haughty as she had been afraid of. She found them great companions.

All, except, for the rotten apple of the bunch, Reca. He was a stiff yellow Aisha, enrolled in almost every class with an ever-changing major. One day, you might walk in to find him sitting in your modern painting class, and then a week later hear your friend complaining that he had just joined the golf club and was taking lessons in that friend's class. He was unpredictable, which Jaskin liked ordinarily, but he was also stuck-up and elitist.

One day, Jaskin found that she had lost her favorite blue pencil. She tapped the Aisha in front of her and asked, "Do you have a pencil I can borrow?"

The Aisha turned around and she realised it was Reca. He sniffed the air as if he smelled something unseemly, said "No," and turned back with a smirk on his face.

Later, as she walked out the door, she heard him relating the incident to his clique of friends, laughing derisively and making fun of her voice as if she were a redneck from southern Neopia.

After that, Jaskin tried her best to stay away from Reca, but he kept popping up in her classes. Finally, she found something she thought he'd never touch: a play the school was putting on that summer, in which many of the characters were poor. She felt he'd never stoop so low as to play a poor character; he was too rich for that.

To her delight, she got the lead NeoPet part, and played the pet of a rich Neopian who suddenly turned poor. The play dealt with the adjustments that both pet and human had to make in the face of sudden poverty.

One day, Jaskin hurried to rehearsal to find that Amandeli, who played an important part, was missing. "He's got D'achoo," a Tuskaninny stagehand informed her sadly, "and I don't think he'll be able to be in the play."

The director, a human teacher named Miss Atkins, told everyone that, indeed, Amandeli wouldn't be able to make it. "We're bringing in his substitute," she said. "While he hasn't been present for the rehearsals, he assures me he knows all of his lines. Come on out," she shouted.

To Jaskin's amazement, out walked Reca, walking smugly, looking very satisfied with himself.

The other actors looked at each other, each feeling amazement and dread at working with Reca. They had heard of his reputation when he was in plays: everything had to be done his way, or it could not be done at all. And with his persistent nature, it often was done exactly how he wanted it. He never seemed to realise that he was usually the reason plays he was in got bad reviews, and constantly shifted the blame to the actors, directors, or stagehands.

"Hey, everybody," he said now, jumping up on stage so he seemed to tower over the other actors. "How ya doin'? Don't worry; I've memorised every single line, so not only will I do my job great, I can help you guys if you mess up or something."

Everybody rolled their eyes and shifted their attention from Reca to the director, not even noticing as he climbed down from the stage.

Jaskin was especially tentative about this new addition to the play, since Reca would play her best friend, and he was in many of her scenes. She knew that, sooner or later, they would confront each other, probably over some petty thing.

They decided to go over the scene where Jaskin's "owner", played by a nice man, Joe, whom Jaskin really liked, found out he was now broke and headed home to tell her. In the scene, she was playing in their mansion with Reca, and so they both found out at the same time.

They settled on the stage next to some Usuki dolls and sat discussing everyday things - the newest dolls, the coolest toy, the new Rainbow Pool - when Joe walked in, a frown on his face, and tossed his hat over the sofa.

"What's wrong?" Jaskin asked.

"I just found out today that those items I invested in a few weeks ago aren't showing any increase in price at all. The price is dropping, actually..."

Before he could finish, Reca's sharp voice rang out over the stage. "Wait! I have a suggestion."

We didn't even get a few minutes into it before he just had to change something, Jaskin thought, turning towards him.

"What is it, Reca?" asked Miss Atkins.

"Well, it's the wording of Joe's lines. Shouldn't we specify what item it is, instead of just saying 'those items'? It makes a lot more sense."

Jaskin was unable to refrain from replying. "No, it doesn't! Item prices change a lot in Neopia, and what we put in there might be outdated by the time the play is put on!"

Reca ignored her and looked pointedly at the director, who looked unsure of the decision. "Well," she said, "Jaskin makes a good point. I think the line should stay as it is."

Reca frowned, but didn't say anything more.

As the play continued, Reca constantly and obnoxiously broke in, even when he wasn't in the scene in question. He interrupted lines of dialogue, jumped on stage in the middle of scenes, and made himself a nuisance. Miss Atkins constantly reminded him to please stay quiet, but he kept "forgetting," or so he said.

It was a long, tiring rehearsal, and Jaskins was glad to leave when it was finally over. She quickly packed up her things, nodded good-bye to Miss Atkins, and walked out the door, dreading the next rehearsal.

She had good reason to do so. The next rehearsal, and the next, and the next, were all just as horrendous as the first one. With Reca's constant interruptions, they were only able to cover half the material they had covered before his arrival, and he was causing tension among everybody - not just the actors, but also the stagehands, whom he constantly accused of not knowing their jobs or how to do something properly. He was setting everyone's nerves on edge.

Finally, Jaskin had had enough. She went to Miss Atkins in her classroom, asking, "Why don't you just fire Reca? He's driving everyone crazy!"

Miss Atkins looked at her for a while before answering. "Normally, I would," she answered, "but I think Reca has some potential. I think that, deep down, he really thinks he's doing the right thing, but he just needs to be taught that he's not. Firing him won't work; he'll never learn his lesson. Could you try to stick it out?"

Jaskin reluctantly agreed, although she didn't think Reca was really all that much of a good guy; he was just a weirdo, in her opinion.

Finally, it was opening day for the play, which was called Poverty Level at the insistence of Reca, who thought it a much better title than all three of the ones proposed before, by different people.

She was just getting into her first costume, a grand, sparkling dress that looked like a million Neopoints, when she realised that Reca was nowhere to be found.

"Hey," she said to one of the cast members, "Have you seen Reca?"

"No," he replied, "and I don't see why you'd want to!"

She hurried to Miss Atkins, who confessed that she hadn't seen Reca, either. Now she was worried, although she did realise there was still two hours before showtime. He still had time, but it was running out.

"Where does Reca live?" she asked Miss Atkins, who told her. Running out and jumping on her golden bike, Jaskin peddled furiously towards his house.

She had expected a mansion, much like the one in his play, but to her surprise, she found a tiny four-room shack in the corner of a lot. Maybe he's just staying here for a while, while his mansion is defumigated, or something, she thought, ringing the doorbell, which promptly fell off.

Reca answered the door, his eyes getting a terrified look as he recognised her. He started to slam it closed again, but she put her foot between the door and the wall and kept him from doing it. "Where have you been?!" she demanded. "The show starts in ninety minutes!"

He sighed. "Come on in," he said, opening the door wider.

She walked in to find a house in as bad a condition as the front suggested. There was minimal furniture, dim lighting, and no carpet.

He looked downcast as he started to speak. "I'm not really rich," he said. "My clothes and my manner only make it seem that way.

"I was raised by my aunt and uncle, who did have millions of Neopoints, which is where I got the cultured accent and the haughty attitude. See, my aunt and uncle never hesitated to voice their opinions, so I didn't, either.

"But after they were disowned by their owner, who was leaving NeoPets, I had to leave, too. No owner wanted me, since I seemed too high-maintenance. My only asset was my art; I seemed to be good at many different types of the fine arts. But still, I couldn't find an owner.

"So I built myself this little shack and set to work creating clothes that would make me look like I was rich. It was pretty easy, since I just bought old material from clothes shops. It wasn't like I was really busy, or anything.

"When I had a fairly good wardrobe, I decided I needed a job. I couldn't get a job without education, so I applied to the NFAA, which accepted me.

"I just realised today that I am a total fake. I've been deceiving all of you all along, and I was being rude and mean in the process. I'm really sorry I put you through all of that. I can't go to the play now, not after I alienated all of you and embarrassed myself."

Jaskin was amazed. She had never expected any of this! But now she had a little insight into what made Reca tick. "Gee," she said. "I can honestly say you sure surprised me. But, I think, you should still come to the play. I'm sure the others will accept an apology. Besides, who said enjoyment of the arts is limited to the rich?"

He looked up. "You mean it?"

"Yeah. C'mon, I'll give you a lift."

They rode back to the school, where Reca gave a tearful apology to all of his castmates just before the show and gave a stellar performance.

From then on, Reca made a noticeable improvement, stepping out of the cliques and becoming more friendly. He became one of Jaskin's best friends, and a great actor on top of it.

The End