Introduction

Wednesday, after school.

Anyone passing by the picnic tables after school must’ve been witness to a strange sight indeed: five people gathered in a large, social-distanced circle around a single laptop screen, their faces hidden beneath strange and colourful masks.

“Now that we’re all here, let us begin the annual Cuspidor masquerade party!” Joseph’s voice crackled from the anime profile picture displayed on the laptop.

“Except we’re not all here,” said Daniel from within a full-faced military-grade gas mask, his voice reminiscent of a certain Sith Lord.

“Sorry,” the voice from the computer replied sheepishly.

“Even though you’re the one who proposed this whole farce!” Wendy exclaimed from behind the face of a clown.

“Since when did we have an annual masquerade party anyway?” Mohammed’s voice was muffled beneath a black ski mask.

“Shouldn’t we be working on the next issue of Cuspidor instead?” asked Jessica, her entire face covered in several layers of blue surgical masks. “Why did we agree to this in the first place?”

“Well, since we’re in masks already,” suggested the cat-masked Janet, “Why not just have some fun with it?”

And so, the Cuspidor editors held a festive masquerade party. In fact, they partied a bit too long—they spent the following day catching up on all the homework and article-editing that they had neglected the day before.