The Clique

by Lisi Harrison

  “How is that going to help me become wildly popular?” Massie asked.

  “Oh, is that the motivation?” William asked. “Sweetie, I may be a successful businessman, but I was never an expert on popularity.”

  “I should have known.” A playful smile formed across Massie’s face.

  “What do you mean?” William said. He tried to sound offended.

  “Wasn’t Jay Lyons one of your best friends?” Massie said.

  “Bean,” William said. “Your mommy is evil.” He rubbed the dog’s tiny head and kissed Massie good night one more time before leaving.

  Bean was still shivering, so Massie turned on her hair dryer and blasted her with hot air.

  She reached into her dresser drawer and pulled out a baby blue cashmere blanket with a white fire hydrant sewed on the front. She wrapped Bean up like a newborn and held the shivering puppy close to her heart.

  She heard a bell ding. It took a second for her to place it.

  With her dog in one hand and her mouse in the other, Massie checked to see who was IM-ing her. She smoothed her hair just in case it was Chris Abeley.

  SEXYSPORTSBABE: PLEASE DON’T TELL ANYONE!!!!!!!

  MASSIEKUR: HUH?

  SEXYSPORTSBABE: I’M SERIOUS!

  MASSIEKUR: I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT

  SEXYSPORTSBABE: THANKS

  OCTAVIAN COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL THE LOCKER ROOM

  11:40 A.M. September 20th

  “Where’s Claire?” Alicia asked Massie. They were getting changed for tennis. They’d all chosen it as their sports elective because swimming dried out their hair, yoga was boring, and Tae Bo was so last year.

  “How am I supposed to know?” Massie snapped.

  “Isn’t she your new best friend?” Alicia’s voice contained a trace of bitterness.

  “I’m not the one who gave her a cell phone.” Massie turned toward Kristen. “Or asked her to sign up for tennis.”

  “She gave me her extra racket so I wouldn’t have to buy one—what was I supposed to say?” Kristen screeched.

  “Since when can’t you afford your own racket?” Massie said.

  Kristen stiffened. Her aqua blue eyes turned navy and her face became deep red.

  “That’s really nice, thanks a lot,” Kristen said.

  “Whhhat?” Massie asked.

  Dylan stepped off the scale and walked over to join them.

  “I’m never eating again,” she said.

  “Maybe you should try taking off that tent you call a skirt before you step on the scale,” Massie joked. “That thing probably weighs fifteen pounds.”

  “But that’s light compared to my fat legs, right, Massie?” Dylan said.

  Massie laughed. She thought Dylan was fooling around but realized she wasn’t once the skirt was airborne and heading toward her head.

  “Who are you people and what did you do with my friends?” Massie said.

  “You mean Claire, Chris, and LAYNE!” Kristen yelled. She slammed her locker shut, grabbed her tennis racket, and ran out of the locker room. Dylan took off next and then Alicia.

  For the second time in her life, Massie was left standing alone.

  She took a deep breath and walked into the heated bubble that covered the tennis courts. Kristen, Alicia, Dylan, and Claire were teamed up for doubles and Massie was left to find her own partners.

  She felt like everyone was watching her, waiting to see what she would do next.

  “How cute are your sneakers?” she said to Saylene Homer. “I can’t believe you found rhinestone-covered tennis shoes.”

  “Thanks, Massie, I made them myself.” Saylene licked her thumb and reached down to polish one of the pink stones.

  Behind her back, Massie referred to her as Homer Erectus because she had perfect posture thanks to a lifetime of ballet lessons. She wore her super-long brown hair in an irritatingly high pony and only took it down for birthday parties and dances. But because of the circumstances she would have to do.

  “You’re so lucky,” Massie said.

  “I am?” Saylene sounded confused. “Why?”

  “Well, not only do you have the best hair in the entire school but now you’re one of the best tennis players too,” Massie said. “You must have played a lot over the summer.”

  “Not really, no,” Saylene said. “Maybe it’s the shoes.”

  Massie offered up her best fake laugh. “Maybe,” she said. “Wanna partner up? I would love to play with someone who’s better than me—it’s good practice.”

  Saylene searched for her usual partners. They were on the next court, bouncing balls on their rackets, waiting for her to join them.

  “Uuuhhhh,” Saylene stalled. She looked over her shoulder. “I guess it’ll be okay.” She noticed her friends were getting ready to start without her.

  “Sure,” she said.

  Saylene and Massie also partnered up for lunch because they had both been exiled from their usual groups. Massie spent the rest of her day campaigning for new friends. She congratulated Suze Gellert for using up ten minutes of class time to argue with the math teacher over an answer (even though she ended up being wrong). She promised Denver Gold a burned CD by the end of the week and shared headphones with Aimee Colt so they could both listen to Massie’s iPod at the same time. She felt like a politician desperate for votes. The only thing missing was a baby for her to kiss and a photographer to capture it.

  She knew she could get through the year with these people if she had to. They would eat lunch together, go to movies, and maybe even shop, but it wouldn’t be the same. She already hated how her voice sounded when she talked to them. It seemed loud and foreign. Now that she was on her own, she became overly aware of everything she did.

  Did Aimee think my music was cheesy? Did Saylene think I should have picked the table by the wall instead of the one by the window? Does Suze think my laugh sounds nasal?

  She was out of her usual comfort zone and everything felt weird. It was the same feeling she got when she slept at someone’s house and had to wear their clothes home the next day. Nothing felt familiar. She missed how reassured she felt with Alicia, Kristen, and Dylan. Over the last three years they had become her sisters. If they stopped being part of her everyday life, she knew she would go back to the way she felt before she met them. Like an only child.

  Massie saw the new foursome pass her in the halls. They’d been best friends only a few days ago, but now they wouldn’t even look at her. How quickly things changed. She knew their sudden outburst of laughter was fake and brought on for the sole purpose of making Massie think she was missing out on something great. After all, she was the one who taught them that trick. Instead of fighting back with the same strategy, she tried a new one.

  Massie made sure to lean close to Saylene while they walked so it looked like she hung on the girl’s every word. Why not let her ex-friends think she and Homer Erectus had become wildly close since third period? Massie figured this would make them crazy with jealousy. But if it did, they didn’t show it.

  Massie waited for them after school until 3:50 P.M., but they never showed up.

  “Where is everyone?” Isaac asked when he saw Massie walk toward the car alone.

  “Detention,” Massie answered. “Alicia’s driver is going to pick them up. We can go.”

  The ride home was silent. Along the way they drove right past Kristen, Alicia, Dylan, and Claire. The foursome walked down Briar Patch Lane barefoot holding their high-heeled shoes in their hands. They looked like they were taking a carefree stroll on the beach.

  Massie slid down on the leather seat to keep from being spotted. She felt Isaac’s eyes on her and was grateful that he let the moment pass without asking for an explanation.

  Once the car stopped in front of the estate, Isaac unlocked the doors and Massie ran straight up to her bedroom without thanking him for the ride. She logged on to her computer, hoping one of her friends would be online, but they weren’t. They were probably s
till walking home. She speed-dialed every one of them, but no one would pick up. She even started to dial Claire’s number but stopped after three digits—she wasn’t that desperate.

  She had three new e-mails. One was from info@purple skirt.com, one was from DailyCandy, and the other was from Chris Abeley. She clicked on his name and felt her heart speed up as she waited that endless half second for the message to appear.

  M,

  HOW’S IT GOING? IS EVERYTHING OKAY WITH YOU AND LAYNE? SHE SEEMS UPSET.

  BTW–I CAN’T RIDE AGAIN FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS. THINGS ARE GETTING REALLY BUSY.

  CHRIS

  All she needed now was for her parents to tell her they were moving to Europe without her and the day would be complete.

  Finally a familiar ping shot through her speakers. SexySportsBabe had sent her a message.

  SEXYSPORTSBABE: JUST 2 LET U KNOW, I HAVE A RIDE FOR

  TOMORROW. DON’T PICK ME UP

  MASSIEKUR: WHAT IS GOING ON?????

  SEXYSPORTSBABE: STOP ACTING ALL INNOCENT.

  I TRUSTED YOU.

  YOU SAID YOU WOULD KEEP

  OUR SECRET!!!

  MASSIEKUR: WHAT SECRET? I HONESTLY

  HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE

  TALKING ABOUT!

  Massie dialed Kristen’s cell phone.

  MASSIEKUR: IT’S ME, PICK UP

  “You have three minutes,” Kristen said.

  Massie knew she was serious and was grateful she’d answered the phone.

  “Kristen, for the last time, I have no idea what secret you’re talking about,” Massie said.

  “You told me about being friends with Layne and I—”

  “I never told you I was friends with Layne,” Massie snapped. “Who said I was friends with Layne?”

  Kristen started talking like a detective. “Last night at 8:26 P.M., you told me that you were hanging out with Layne and then I told you—”

  “Wait—,” Massie said.

  “Stop cutting me off!” Kristen said.

  “But I was out walking Bean at 8:26 P.M. When I sent you that message last night telling you I didn’t know what you were talking about, I was serious,” Massie said.

  She lifted Bean off her lap and gently placed her on the floor. She needed to pace.

  “Then how do you explain the IMs that were coming from your computer?” Kristen asked.

  “I have no idea,” Massie said.

  “Why should I believe you?” Kristen asked.

  “Because if I was lying, you know I’d have come up with a way better excuse than that,” Massie said.

  Kristen’s face slowly broke into a smile and then she let out a small laugh. “That’s true.”

  WALNUT ROAD

  4:55 P.M. September 20th

  Claire and Alicia were on the last legs of their long walk home. Alicia was talking about something that had happened during last period. It had to do with a bottle of rubber cement and Jaden Hiltz’s rabbit-foot key chain, but that was all Claire heard. She had been too busy thinking about her new “friends.”

  Claire knew the girls were only being nice to her for two reasons: (1) Because she had tricked them into thinking Massie liked her; and (2) They’d stopped liking Massie.

  But Claire didn’t care, not much anyway. Besides, anything was better than being abused, right? She wanted to hold on to this false sense of security for as long as possible. Even if she was having trouble sleeping at night, even if her stomach hurt

  They had parted ways with Kristen and Dylan four blocks back and were just around the corner from Alicia’s.

  “Thank God we made it,” Alicia said. She was dragging her Prada messenger bag along the ground.

  “We must have walked at least six miles,” Claire said.

  “It was worth it. The last thing I wanted to do was share a car with Massie Blecchh,” Alicia said.

  “I know.” Claire rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe I have to go back to that house right now.” She was doing everything she could to keep the girls in their anti-Massie phase.

  “You don’t,” Alicia said. Her eyes twinkled more than usual. “Let’s go buy something to wear to Dylan’s birthday.”

  Claire didn’t know how to tell Alicia that she had a total of three dollars in her bag and most of it was in change.

  “I would love to, but I left my credit cards at home,” Claire said.

  “No prob. I’ll pay,” Alicia said.

  “I can’t let you do that,” Claire said.

  “Sure, you can,” Alicia said. She took out five different credit cards and held them like a winning hand of poker.

  Normally Claire would have spent a lot more time objecting, but she had seen Alicia pay for the other girls on several occasions and no one seemed to give it much thought. She liked that Alicia wanted to treat her. Not for the free clothes but because it meant she considered Claire a friend.

  How else would she have been able to buy the Swiss-dot silk DKNY dress ($248), the Marc by Marc Jacobs leather kitten heels ($265), the BCBG beaded clutch ($108), and the hair clip ($32)? The grand total (not including tax) came to $653.00. That was exactly $53 more than she had saved up from the birthday money her grandmother sent every year.

  It was dark out by the time Claire was finally dropped off by Alicia’s driver. As she walked across the path to her house, she looked at Massie’s window and saw her sitting alone at her computer. Claire swallowed hard.

  Okay, so Massie looked sort of pathetic sitting there by herself. But then again, Claire was the one who’d been banished to the backseat of the car and ignored in the hallways and had red paint dumped on her pants, had food dumped all over her and—worst of all—had Layne stolen away from her. So when she thought of it that way, she didn’t feel like such a horrible person. She was the victim in all this. That meant she could do whatever she wanted to make herself feel better. Didn’t it?

  “Where have you been?” Judi asked. She was en route from the kitchen to the front hall.

  Claire tossed her shopping bags in the front hall closet and managed to get the door closed before her mother appeared.

  “What did you do to your hair?” Judi asked. She was looking at the awkward way Claire’s bangs were pinned away from her face.

  “Sorry, I ended up going to Alicia’s house after school to study,” Claire said. She couldn’t believe she had forgotten to call home.

  “I was going out of my mind with worry,” she said. “I called Layne and Massie and neither one of them had any idea where you had gone. I taught you how to call home when you were five years old.”

  “I’m sorry, okay!” Claire shouted.

  “‘Sorry’ doesn’t change the fact that you didn’t call,” Judi said. “For the next two weeks I want you home straight after school.”

  Claire couldn’t believe her bad luck. “I thought you wanted me to make new friends! Now that I finally did, you won’t let me hang out with them?”

  “You’re missing the point, Claire,” Judi said.

  But Claire didn’t care about “the point.” She ran up the stairs and slammed her bedroom door behind her. A framed black-and-white photograph of some lady taken next to what might have been the Titanic fell off her wall and crashed to the floor.

  Before Claire could pick up the glass, Mr. Rivera’s cell phone rang. She answered it quickly so her mother wouldn’t know she had a phone.

  “Claire? What’s up? It’s Kristen.”

  “My mom freaked out on me because I just got home,” Claire said.

  “Where were you?” Kristen asked. She sounded overly concerned.

  “Shopping with Alicia, buying outfits for Dylan’s party,” Claire said.

  “I didn’t know you had a credit card. That’s awesome,” Kristen said. Claire thought she sounded a little jealous and knew exactly why.

  “Alicia paid,” Claire said.

  “She did?”

  “Doesn’t she always. I think tomorrow I’m going to make her go back and get
me the matching coat.”

  Claire heard the sound of someone gasping on the line and knew exactly what was going on.

  “Todd, hang up!” she shouted. “Sorry ’bout that. My stupid brother was listening.”

  “No problem. Look, I should probably go. It’s getting close to 8 P.M., which means my mother is about to cut me off. See you tomorrow?” Kristen said.

  “Yup, see ya,” Claire said, and then hung up.

  Mr. Rivera’s cell phone rang again. It was Dylan.

  “I hear you bought a great outfit for my party,” she said.

  “Yeah, it’s pretty cool. The dress is super-tight and the heels are pretty high,” Claire said. “Alicia said it looked smokin’ on me.”

  “I know, she told me,” Dylan said. “She also told me you scored a few gossip points on your walk home.”

  Claire panicked at first, quickly shuttling through her day in fast-forward, trying to remember if she told anyone about Kristen being on scholarship.

  “I did?” Claire asked.

  “Yeah, you told her about Massie and Layne,” Dylan said.

  “Oh yeah, that’s right,” Claire said. “All those times Massie canceled plans with you to hang out with Chris Abeley she was also with Layne.”

  “Two points,” Dylan said.

  “They even went out after school a few times,” Claire said.

  “Another point,” Dylan said. “How do you know?”

  “Layne told me,” Claire said.

  Dylan was silent.

  “You know, when we were hanging out,” Claire said. “Before I got to know you guys.”

  “I can’t believe Massie lied to us.” Dylan sounded hurt. “Maybe I should uninvite her to my party.”

  “I would,” Claire said. “Unless of course you want her to make you feel guilty every time you have a bite of your own birthday cake.”

  “You’re so right!” Dylan said. “Claire, is that the only secret you know?”