“Yeah and even if they do, so what?” Dylan added. “The last skimpy outfit I was thin enough to fit into was designed by Pampers.”
By third period there had been at least four Dirty Devil wanna-be sightings. By lunch there were eight.
“There's another one,” Alicia said, pointing to Jaedra Russell.
She was ahead of them in line at the Café, wearing a super-short jean skirt and a black V-neck that had been torn just below the ribs.
“We've started more trends in one day than Marc Jacobs has in a year,” Kristen said.
They slid their trays a few inches closer to the cash register.
“Aren't you so glad to be one of us?” Massie said to her friends, then answered her ringing cell phone.
“Speaking,” she said with an eye roll. “It's AUDREY,” she mouthed.
“You'll be at the party tonight? … Well, I'd be excited too if I was you … really excited, considering you've never been invited to one of my parties before.” Massie covered the mouthpiece so she could join her friends, who were hysterically laughing. “How did you get my number? … Really. Are you sure it didn't say Claire? You never were a good reader… .”
Dylan grabbed the cell phone away from Massie's ear and pressed end. The girls cracked up. Audrey called back, but this time Massie hit ignore and dropped the phone in her Prada messenger bag.
“That's the fifth call I've gotten this week from an LBR,” Massie said. “And unfortunately every one of them has RSVP'd ‘yes.’”
“Is Derrington coming?” Dylan asked as she pulled the loose skirt up over her hips.
“Yup, and so are all of his cute friends,” Massie said.
Trays in hand, the four girls made their way through the sea of lunch tables, stopping every so often to chat with their adoring fans about the highly anticipated boy-girl party that was only hours away.
“Massie, is it true that Landon Dorsey is doing your party?” Mandy Ross asked.
“Totally,” Massie said. “She said this party is going to be one of her best.”
“Will there be sugar-free candy?” Suze Gayner asked.
“If Dylan's Candy Bar makes it, we'll have it,” Massie said.
“Are you guys wearing the Dirty Devil costumes tonight or do you have something else planned?” Vanessa Covers asked.
“You'll have to wait and find out.” Kristen shook her glittery butt.
“Can I bring a dance mix I burned last night?” Ava Waters said.
“Totally.”
“Is it true that Becca Wilder thought of the boy-girl party first?” Parker Lemons asked.
“What do you think?” Massie looked Parker straight in the eye. The girl responded with a nervous giggle.
“We should have held a press conference,” Massie said when she sat down.
“Seriously,” Dylan said. “Can you believe Allyson asked if your house had any good make-out spots?”
“I know,” Kristen said. “Hopefully the only thing going on her lips tonight is a tube of ChapStick. Did you see all those cracks?”
“Any more calls from your new BFFs, aka the LBRs?” Alicia asked Massie.
“Jocelyn was telling everyone in math that she spoke to you this morning before school,” Kristen said.
“No way!” Massie said.
“I swear. Then two seconds later Liza and Hope said they spoke to you last night,” Dylan said. “I think Hope even said you guys talked for hours.”
“NO WAY!”
“I heard that too,” Kristen said.
“Ehmagod, that can't be good for your reputation.” Alicia twisted open her bottle of Perrier and the whole thing fizzed over and soaked her California rolls.
“Great, thanks a lot,” Alicia said to a stranger at the table behind her.
“How is that my fault?” the girl said.
Alicia didn't respond.
“Did you tell everyone Hope was lying?” Massie asked Dylan.
“I was about to, but the teacher walked in.”
Massie's head started to spin. The sound of everyone talking in the Café suddenly seemed too loud to bear and the dirt smell of the grilling veggie burgers made her want to puke.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She waited for the panic to pass before she spoke.
“If Hope and the other LBRs are saying I've been talking to them on the phone, people might think I like them. I'll be ruined.”
“That is brutal,” Kristen said. “How did they get your number?”
Massie had a hunch but was interrupted before she could answer.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Claire asked. She was wearing a faded Good Charlotte concert tee and a loose patchy jean skirt. Both were obviously borrowed from Layne.
“Go ahead,” Massie said.
“I mean in private,” Claire said.
“She's gonna tell us everything you say, so you might as well just talk to her here,” Dylan said.
“Fine.” Claire pushed her bangs to the side of her forehead and tried to tuck them behind her ear, but they weren't quite long enough to make it. “I thought we were going to wear the same costumes tonight.”
“We are.” Massie's voice was flat and impatient.
“Yeah, but now I can't wear mine because all the boys will think I went home after school and copied you,” Claire explained.
“Believe me, none of the boys will be giving you or your costume a second thought tonight,” Massie said. “Besides, how are they going to know what we wore to school today?”
“Supposedly everyone at Briarwood has already heard about your sexy costumes,” Claire said. “The boys have been talking about them all day.”
“Really?” Massie's face lit up. She forgot all about the Losers Beyond Repair for a second.
“Why didn't you tell me you were going to wear your costumes today?” Claire asked. Her voice trembled. “I could have worn mine too.”
Massie stood up and placed her hands on her hips.
“Normally I would make up an excuse so I wouldn't have to tell you straight to your face that I never wanted you to be a part of our costumes. But since you decided to put my cell phone number on every loser's invitation in the greater New York area, I'm not going to bother,” Massie said. “Who cares what our mothers say at this point? The party is a done deal. Go be Elmo or whatever it was you were going to be and leave me alone.”
Claire opened her mouth like she was about to say something big, but before anything came out, she took off. Massie saw Layne get up from her seat by the bathrooms and chase after her. Massie secretly hoped Claire wouldn't tell on her, but she was too mad at the moment to try and stop her.
“To the Dirty Devils,” Massie said, raising her glass of lemon water.
“To the Dirty Devils,” they all repeated back.
OCTAVIAN COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL
NURSE ADELE'S OFFICE
8:42 AM
October 31st
Claire burst through the door of Nurse Adele's office. She turned to her whenever she needed a sympathetic ear at school.
“Claire, is someone after you?” Adele asked.
Claire wanted to laugh, but she was too distraught.
“You know how you told me to stand up to Massie?” Claire said. “Well, I did.”
“And?” Adele said.
“Let's just say she was taller,” Claire said.
“What happened?” Adele asked.
“It's nothing. Just a little confusion over a costume. I really just came to say hi and wish you a happy Halloween.” Claire knew she had started this fight with Massie by giving her phone number to the LBRs, but she was too ashamed to admit it to Adele.
Claire took a handful of candy corn from the glass dish on Adele's desk and dropped them into her mouth. The taste reminded her of her friends back home in Orlando, and she wondered what they would be dressing up as this year.
“I thought I'd find you here,” Layne said as she entered the office. “Are you okay?
I could tell by the way you bolted out of the Café that things didn't go so well with Massie. Did you ask Adele if you could look through the rack of clothes in the lost and found? You know, maybe you can actually go as ‘lost 'n' found’ or something.”
“Do you still need a costume, Claire?” Adele asked. “Because you're more than welcome to take—”
“No, that's okay.” Claire didn't want Adele to think the only reason she came to visit was to look for clothes. “I still have the Powerpuff Girls costume I wore last year. I'll just be Blossom again.”
Claire hated the way Layne was looking at her. Tilted head, wide eyes, crossed arms, and a do-you-want-to-talk-about-the-pain look on her face. Claire knew her friend was only trying to help, but she needed to get her confidence back, and a good cry wasn't part of that process. A few minutes alone in her bedroom with a mirror and a few nobody-can-bring-me-down songs and she'd be better than ever. Now if only Layne would stop staring at her… .
The next girl to throw open the door was Amber Ryan. She was hunched over and holding her side as if she'd just crawled off the front lines of a battlefield.
“Nurse!” she cried. “Call 411.”
“Why? Do you need a local listing?” Layne asked.
Claire covered her mouth in a desperate attempt not to crack up.
“Amber, do you mind if I take a look?” Adele said.
Amber shook her head, then wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. She lifted the side of her sweater slowly, bracing the nurse for a hideous sight.
Claire and Layne leaned down to peek at the wound just when Adele did and they all bumped heads. Claire burst out laughing, which made Amber start to cry all over again.
“Shhh, it's okay,” Adele said. “It's only a scrape. A little disinfectant and you'll be just fine.”
Amber's sobs were reduced to light tears, which gradually became sniffles.
“What happened?” Adele asked.
“I tried to cut my sweater with scissors and I slipped,” Amber said, as if that was as common as dropping her books on the way to class. She must have noticed Nurse Adele's puzzled look, because she continued explaining without even being asked.
“Massie and her friends came to school today in these really amazing super-skimpy ripped tops and everyone's been trying to do the same thing to their clothes,” Amber said. “I feel like such an idiot.”
“For trying to follow them?” Layne said. “Well, you should.”
“NO, for cutting myself,” Amber said. “Shari, Mel, Trina, and Shannyn cut their shirts, no problem.”
Nurse Adele frowned.
“You mean other girls are doing this?”
“Everyone is,” Amber said. “You would too if you saw how good it looked.”
Claire could tell Adele was fuming because her nostrils were flared. She didn't even offer Amber a giant Hershey's Kiss from the Feel Better Closet when she was done. Instead she stormed out of her office.
“Where are you going?” Claire shouted after her.
“To speak to Principal Burns,” Adele called back. She marched down the hall toward the administrative offices. “This is a school. NOT a runway.”
“Looks like Massie's in for a pretty scary Halloween,” Layne said with a smile.
“I love this holiday.” Claire reached for one more handful of candy corn before heading off to her next class.
OCTAVIAN COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL
PRINCIPAL BURNS'S OFFICE
1:27 PM
October 31st
“I told you we'd get in trouble,” Kristen whispered to her friends. She was holding her stomach and rocking back and forth as if she had food poisoning. “My mother is never going to let me leave the house again. I'm going to be homeschooled.”
They were all seated on The Bench, an antique church pew that was pressed up against the wall outside Principal Burns's office. They could just barely hear her clipped tones as she called their parents, one by one, to tell them about the “incident.”
“This is so stupid,” Massie said. “My parents raise so much money for this school and this is how they treat us? Puh-lease!”
“Don't worry.” Dylan hooked a red curl with her pinky finger and tossed it away from her face. “I'll have my mom dedicate a whole episode of The Daily Grind to this injustice.” Whenever Dylan didn't approve of a situation, she threatened to have her famous mother expose it on her hit morning show. “She hates when people try to force their beliefs on others, especially when it involves the arts.”
“Enough talking, girls, this is an office, not a birthday party.” The cranky secretary whipped off her tortoiseshell glasses and twirled them around her index finger. When she finished glaring at the girls, she slid the glasses back on her head and returned to her computer.
“She thinks she's in the Wild, Wild Westchester,” Massie whispered.
The girls giggled.
“One more sound and I'll blast the air-conditioning,” the secretary said. “Your half-naked bodies will be frozen solid in under ten seconds.”
Massie slowly opened her phone and the other girls did the same, except for Kristen. She was too busy twisting long pieces of blond hair around her shaking fingers.
MASSIE:LOOK AT THE DOOR.
DYLAN:WHAT?
MASSIE:THE SIGN. READ IT.
ALICIA:P. BURNS. SO?
MASSIE:SO C A DR.
All three girls burst out laughing, which made Kristen turn purple with rage.
“If she hears you laugh, she'll get even madder,” she said, pointing to the principal's office.
“What's she going to do?” Massie asked. “Dress us to death?”
“Precisely, Ms. Block,” Principal Burns said.
Massie's jaw dropped when she saw the tall, scrawny, gray-haired woman standing above her. Rumor had it that Principal Burns picked orange peels out of the garbage can and ate them because they were packed with antioxidants. To keep from getting scared, Massie tried to picture her digging through the trash. It wasn't working.
“Each of your parents has been notified, and they will deal with you however they see fit,” she continued. “But as long as you are in my school, you are to dress like young ladies, NOT Vegas showgirls.” She lifted her watch right up to her eyeballs and checked the time. “Please report to Nurse Adele's office immediately and cover yourselves up with the garments she keeps in the lost and found. If I see so much as a fingernail uncovered, I'll have you all arrested for indecent exposure. Now go!”
The girls left in silence and did what they were told. Unfortunately, Claire had taken anything remotely decent over the last few weeks, so there wasn't a lot to choose from. After sifting through last season's rejects Massie, Kristen, Dylan, and Alicia emerged in time for fifth period. They still turned heads when they walked down the hall, but this time it was for all the wrong reasons.
Massie wore a bright red T-shirt that had a chocolate stain right above her left boob, which unfortunately matched the pair of XXL mustard-colored cords that she had to hold up when she walked.
Alicia found a floor-length denim skirt and paired it with a Gap jean shirt. Alicia called it a “rodeo-chic” look, but Massie simply referred to it as “rodee-oh no, you didn't!”
Dylan was forced to squeeze into a pair of Sevens that she had to leave unbuttoned because they were too small. She matched them with a long tie-dyed T-shirt that covered up the open fly.
Kristen was the only one who got to wear decent clothes—she changed back into the leave-the-house outfit she had stuffed in her locker earlier that morning.
“Having strict parents finally paid off,” she said to herself as she buttoned up the itchy tweed blazer her mother had bought her at Macy's.
On their way to class they passed two girls wearing torn T-shirts and miniskirts.
“Those ripped shirts are sooo out,” Massie hissed as she passed them.
“Already?” one of the girls asked.
“Try to keep up, will ya?” Mas
sie walked past them, knowing they were memorizing her outfit, trying to get a handle on the latest trend.
She couldn't wait for Monday, when half the girls in her grade would be dressed like Winnie-the-Pooh.
THE BLOCK ESTATE
THE GUESTHOUSE
6:05 PM
October 31st
Claire watched from her bedroom window as London Dorsey and her team of loyal manservants ran around the backyard, making sure every last corpse was in place. The house was filled with the sweet smell of her mother's caramel apples, but not even that could calm her down. The party was less than an hour away and Claire was still in her school clothes. Knowing that her brother and his incredibly tiny friend Nathan were behind closed doors putting the finishing touches on their Halloween costumes stressed her out even more.
Claire went over to her closet and pulled out a box marked Holiday Clothes. She opened the cardboard flaps and stuck her arm inside to search for last year's Powerpuff Girls costume.
How am I going to explain to my mother why I'm not dressed like my charming co-host?
Her fingers brushed against a smooth satin-polyester blend and she breathed a sigh of relief.
Found it!
“Claire, can we come in?” Todd called through her bedroom door. “We want to show you something.”
“Can't it wait? I'm about to get dressed,” Claire shouted back.
“No.” Todd walked into her room.
“What are you doing?” Claire asked.
He was dressed as Bubbles and Nathan was dressed as Buttercup, the other two Powerpuff Girls. Nathan wore a mint green minidress with a thick black sash around the middle and a short black wig. Todd's dress was the same, only blue. Claire wondered how he had managed to divide his blond wig into two perfect pigtails but was too stunned to ask. Huge cardboard cutout eyes were taped to their sunglasses.
“I figured you'd probably feel like a gigantic loser going as Blossom if you had no one else to play the other Puffs,” Todd said. “So we decided to help you out.”
“That's not what you told me,” Nathan said to Todd. “You said no will know who we are in these costumes so we'll be able to mess with Massie and her hot friends.”
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