“This is only temporary,” she sighed.
“Huh?” Claire was kneeling on the floor below Massie’s bay window, digging though one of the boxes, looking for her pajamas.
“Nothing.”
Claire looked up and bit her bottom lip. “Don’t hate me because I’m a pack rat.”
“As long as you don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.” Massie tried to mask her frustration, but it wasn’t easy. There were six boxes and two scuffed-up army-style duffel bags in the middle of her bedroom. If they had been YSL trunks, maybe Massie could have looked at them without feeling like her eyes were going to bleed. But the only initials Massie saw were CSL, for “Claire Stacey Lyons,” and they were written in black magic marker.
“Well, that’s the last of ’em,” said the stocky moving man as he loosened his weight belt and arched his back. He made a loud yawning sound on his way up. “Where are you going to put all of this stuff? This is a big room, but still …”
Massie lifted her palm. “My problem.” She showed him to the door, slamming it shut when he left.
Claire dropped to her belly and rested her head on a heap of clothes. “He’s right. Where are we going to put all of this?”
“Clue: It’s green, plastic, and gets picked up every Wednesday morning by a loud truck,” Massie said.
“I am so not throwing this stuff in the trash! I’ve had it since I was little.”
Massie clenched her fists so hard, her fingernails dug into her palms She didn’t know how much longer she’d be able to keep up the patient friend routine. She took a deep breath and shook out her hands. “I think it’s time for an unpacking montage.”
Claire crinkled her blond eyebrows. “A what?”
“You know in the movies? When the characters have to clean up after a raging house party before the parents come home?”
“Oh, I love those scenes.” Claire clapped her hands together.
“Well, have you ever noticed how they always manage to get the job done by the end of the song?”
“What song?”
“Whatever song they’re playing in the movie.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Claire said.
Massie pressed Play on her CD player, and “Lose My Breath” by Destiny’s Child came blasting through her speakers. “Well, then, get off your butt. Everyone will be here in ten minutes.” She started shaking her hips to the beat of the song. “I’m Beyoncé.”
Massie lifted Claire’s ugly metal tripod and started singing into one of its legs as if it were a microphone.
… After I done everything that you asked me
Grabbed you, grind you, liked you, tried you
Moved so fast baby now I can’t find you …
Claire ran across the room with an armful of sweaters and started dancing with Massie’s mannequin. When she thought Massie wasn’t looking, she tossed the sweaters under the bed.
“I saw that.” Massie laughed. “I’m fine with it if you are.” She lifted a pile of Claire’s socks and underwear and ditched them on the floor of her closet.
“Fine.” Claire shrugged. She lifted the arm of Massie’s mannequin and sang into the fingers …
… Can you keep up?
Baby boy, make me lose my breath
Bring the noise, make me lose my breath …
Bean was running from Massie to Claire, back and forth, trying to stay a part of the action. When the song ended, Massie hopped over the bags and played it again. She danced across her room, stacking Claire’s binders and books on her desk, singing as loud as she could. It was so much more fun pretending to be Beyoncé when someone else was in the room. She didn’t feel as freakish as she did when she danced in front of the mirror alone.
Suddenly, the bedroom door burst open. Massie heard herself shriek. But her expression quickly changed to one of agitation when she saw Todd and Tiny Nathan dancing and playing air guitar on Massie’s Hermès riding crops.
She marched over to the boys and tore the crops from their sticky hands.
“Where did you get these?” Massie shouted.
“In the back of your closet.” Todd yawned casually.
Massie drew back the crop and slapped him twice on the butt, the same way she’d hit her horse, Brownie, when she needed him to giddyap.
“You’re dirtier than I thought.” Todd gave a devilish grin.
“Get,” Massie said as she pushed Todd out of her room, “outta here.” She shoved Tiny Nathan and slammed her door behind them.
“Gawd.” Massie tossed the crops on her bed. “How ah-nnoying.”
“Sorry ’bout that.” Claire was obviously embarrassed by her brother.
“It’s not your fault.” Massie lowered the stereo. She looked around with a satisfied grin on her face. They had stacked all six boxes in the corners and covered them with Massie’s colorful silk robes. Nothing had been unpacked, but a walkway had been cleared, which gave the impression that order had been restored.
“Now I’ll never find my pjs,” Claire whined.
“Here.” Massie tossed a pair of burnt-orange satin pajamas at her. “Wear these. They’ll look good with your coloring.”
Claire smiled and quickly started changing.
“Oh, and wrap this around your waist.” She handed Claire a folded brown Dixon. “It will transform those simple satin pajamas into evening wear.”
“Uh, okay.” Claire slipped her legs through the mesh tube and wiggled it up and around her waist.
Massie stepped into her closet and opened her “delicates” drawer. She sifted through a rainbow of silks and satins until she found her wine-colored boy shorts and the matching baby-doll top. When she was dressed, she climbed up on top of her desk, being careful not to knock over Claire’s books, and pulled a gold brooch that looked like the sun out of the cork. She stuck it to one of the straps of her top and jumped down.
“Bean, let go.” Claire was sitting on the floor trying to pull one of her striped socks out of Bean’s mouth. She finally gave up when she started sneezing uncontrollably and needed both hands to cover her nose.
“Ew, are you catching Dylan’s cold?”
“I hope not.” Claire was hunched over with her hand covering her face as she made her way into the bathroom.
Massie rolled her eyes when she heard Claire sniffling and blowing her nose.
This is only temporary, she told herself. Just a couple of weeks.
“Wanna hear a secret?” Claire called from the bathroom.
“Always,” Massie shouted back. She jumped onto her bed stomach-first and propped her chin up with her hands. The heels of her feet took turns hitting her butt cheeks. “How many gossip points is it worth?”
“Zero, ’cause it’s about me.” Claire stepped out of the bathroom and unhooked her backpack from Massie’s doorknob. She stuck her hand inside and moved it around before she continued. Claire looked around the room, then lowered her voice to a whisper. “I am going to kiss Cam at the dance.”
Massie bolted up and crossed her legs. “No way! Have you ever—?”
“Nope. It will be my first time.” It sounded more like a confession than a statement. “But he’s the one, I know it. He was nice to me back when I was wearing Keds.”
Massie had no idea what to say. A billion questions went zipping through her head. How will you know what to do? Are you scared? What if you kiss him and he laughs? What if you’re bad at it? What if he tells everyone you’re bad at it? …
“Well, it makes perfect sense,” Massie assured her calmly. “You two have been together for weeks.”
“Yeah, and look what he sent home with Todd today.” Claire pulled a plastic bag of yellow, pink, blue, and green hearts out of her backpack. She reached into the bag, pulled out handful of candy and opened her palm. “They have different Valentine’s Day sayings on them. At my old school in Orlando we used them for telling fortunes. But these ones are even better, because these ones are bigger and the messages have been totally updated.”
“Huh?” Massie was still thinking about the kiss. How could Claire be so sure of herself?
“Ask me a question about boys or love or something.” Claire dropped the hearts back in the bag and shook it.
“Hmmmmm.” Massie held her big toes and rocked back and forth while she thought. “Okay, will Derrington and I win the Cupid Award?”
Claire made a spooky haunted house sound while she fished around the inside of the bag. She pulled out a green heart and held it in front of her face and squinted to read the tiny letters. “Love Works in Mysterious Ways.”
Massie jumped off her bed so quickly, she almost landed on Bean. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“You have to eat it now.” Claire held it out in front of Massie’s face. “It’s tradition.”
“Ew, no, I don’t want it.” Massie waved the candy away. “I want to try again.”
“Why? That was a positive one, I promise. Trust me. I have a lot of experience with these.”
Massie took the candy and chewed it as quickly as she could.
“Now you do one.”
“Fine.” Claire closed her eyes and sat down on the corner of Massie’s bed. “Am I going to kiss Cam at the Love Struck dance?” She reached her hand in the bag, grabbed a yellow heart, and read it aloud. “In Your Dreams.”
Her face turned red and her blue eyes darted back and forth as if she were watching a fly buzz around the room.
“Impossible. You’re right; maybe we should try that again.”
“Try what again?”
Massie turned toward her bedroom door. Dylan and Alicia had let themselves in.
“Try what again?” Dylan asked a second time. She was wearing white flannel pajamas with pictures of different sushi rolls all over them. Alicia was wearing a gold Japanese kimono with black silk karate-style pants underneath. Her hair was piled high on top of her head in a sexy bun. It was the first time Massie had ever seen it like that.
“Oh, nothing.” Massie wished she had worn her black lace nightie instead. “Claire was just saying we should try moving that heavy box again.” She pointed to the stack of boxes in the corner. She knew Dylan would have felt left out if she knew what had really been going on. And Massie wasn’t in the mood to deal with her irrational insecurities. “Where’s Kristen?”
Dylan shrugged. “She said she already had a ride.” Then she coughed and took a few seconds to look around. “It’s starting to look like my room in here.” She coughed some more.
Alicia laughed.
“Relax, it’s only temporary,” Massie said.
“Where are we going to have our sleepover?” Alicia asked. “The barn is now a gym, the guesthouse is about to get leveled, and all the other rooms are being used.”
“Uh.” Massie hadn’t even thought about that.
“This is all my fault—I’m so sorry.” Claire raced around the room gathering her belongings and hiding them behind Massie’s desk and under her rug.
“It’s no big deal.” Massie was trying to sound convincing. But it was hard. She felt like Claire’s stuff was sucking up the oxygen in her room and making it difficult for anyone else to breathe. “We’ll just have the sleepover here. It’ll be fun.” She pressed a small button on the white intercom beside her bed and lowered her face to the speaker. “Inez, could you please bring up five sleeping bags?”
“Yes, of course,” Inez’s pinched voice answered.
Massie inhaled deeply and tried to relax. She was starting to feel the tension in the back of her neck melt away, until the smell of thick, musky perfume filled her nostrils.
“Ew, what is that?” Massie turned toward the odor and locked eyes with Nina.
“Hola, Maysee, I was just talking to your father,” Nina purred. She was wearing her hair in a sexy bun, just like Alicia. “He is sooo sweet.”
Massie’s armpits started to sweat.
She was dressed in a tiny black slip that had slits on both sides. Tiny crisscrossed laces attempted to hold them together, and Massie couldn’t help staring at the diamond-shaped pattern they made across her exposed skin. A pair of metallic gold ankle boots with furry laces completed the look.
“Uh, I thought DVDs weren’t allowed at my sleepovers,” Massie growled at Alicia.
“They’re not.” Alicia looked at Dylan and Claire in utter confusion.
“Then why am I watching Lady and the Tramp?” Massie glared straight at Alicia, as if Nina weren’t standing right beside her.
Dylan busted out laughing and Claire giggled softly into her palm. Alicia widened her brown eyes and gently tilted her head toward her cousin, silently begging for understanding and compassion. She was trying to let Massie know that her mother had made her bring Nina, that she’d had no choice. Of course, Massie picked up on all of this; she spoke that silent language fluently. But she wasn’t about to let Alicia off the hook without making her point.
“You know these sleepovers are exclusive. And I never make exceptions.” Massie paced around the room, hands clasped behind her back. “But since Nina has absolutely no friends her own age, I will let her stay, out of pity. But just this once.” Massie turned and looked into Nina’s heavily made-up eyes. “Hopefully someone will have found a reason to like you by next Friday night.”
“Maybe that someone will be your leetle boyfriend, Derringtons.” Nina had a devious smile on her face. “I saw him checking me out during the party last Sunday.”
Massie heard her friends gasp and fought the sudden urge to knock Nina right out of her gold boots. Instead, she clenched her fists and sighed. As long as Nina kept calling him Derringtons, with an s, she had nothing to worry about … . right? But just in case, Massie would make it a point to e-mail him a cute picture of herself from Aspen, just to make sure.
“I’ve never seen an all-white room before. It’s so innocent and virginal. And look.” Nina pointed to the mannequins. “Maysee still plays with dolls.”
“Those are not dawls. And they probably cost more than your entire—”
“Hey.” Kristen was standing in the doorway, her cheeks pink from the cold. She was wearing a black-and-white-plaid flannel nightgown and one of Massie’s old rabbit fur hats. “Do you know how hard it is riding a bike in this long thing?”
“Why would you ride a bike? It’s winter outside.” Nina sounded genuinely concerned.
“I’m trying to get in shape! The girls’ soccer playoffs are right around the corner.”
Claire nodded her head, like she understood perfectly. But Dylan rolled her eyes and Massie and Alicia giggled.
Kristen looked down at her new black-and-purple Pumas.
“You’re very smart. That’s probably why you have such sexy, defined legs.”
“You think I have sexy legs?” Kristen lifted up the bottom of her nightgown and inspected her calves, as if discovering them for the first time. She looked at Massie, Dylan, and Alicia. “See, I told you I wasn’t wasting my time.”
“Wasting your time? Por fah-vor.” Nina sounded horrified. She pointed to Massie’s long, skinny legs and chuckled. “Would you rather have weak limo legs, like her?” Nina shook her head in disgust.
“Nina!” Alicia looked at Massie and apologized with her eyes on behalf of her rude cousin.
Massie refused to let her irritation show. Why give Nina the satisfaction? Instead she lifted her palm in a gesture that meant, “No big deal.”
I happen to love my limo legs.” Massie pointed her toes like a seasoned ballerina. “They’re elegant.”
“Yeah, if you consider two straws in fuzzy slippers elegant.” Nina laughed.
Massie was grateful for the tapping sound on her bedroom door, because she had no comeback for Nina and wasn’t about to admit defeat by dishing out a weak “Whatever.”
“Come in,” Massie called out in her happiest voice.
Inez pushed open the door with the toe on her black rubber clogs. She was carrying a stack of pink and purple sleeping bags that covered her ent
ire face. Massie placed them on the mirrored trunk at the foot of her bed. “Thanks, Inez,” she said before closing the door.
“Let’s set up.” Massie, Claire, Alicia, and Dylan started clearing a space in the middle of the bedroom.
Kristen shuffled across the room in her long nightgown and stood beside Nina. “Do you play soccer, er, I mean football?”
“I’d rather chase the players than the ball,” Nina purred.
Dylan and Alicia giggled.
“I like doing both. I’m obsessed with David Beckham,” Kristen cooed. “I even set my bike lock combo to his birthday.”
“0-5-0-2?” Nina’s face lit up.
“Yup.” Kristen laughed and high-fived her.
Massie accidentally knocked the stack of sleeping bags onto the floor. “You’re starting to look like him, with that haircut.” She bent down to pick up the bags, purposely avoiding Kristen’s eyes. Massie knew her comment was mean, but Kristen was starting to act a little too BFF-y with Nina, and she deserved a verbal slap.
“You know, Becks’s wife, Victoria, had short hair when he fell in love with her,” Nina said.
“You’re so right.” Kristen took off the rabbit fur hat and tossed it on Massie’s bed. “I forgot all about that.”
Massie laid all of the sleeping bags out in her favorite spoke-’n’-wheel pattern; a perfect circle, with all of their heads facing the center. “Sorry, Nina, I only have five. But I can get you a towel.”
“That’s okay.” Nina dove onto Massie’s bed and started bouncing up and down. “I’ll just sleep here.”
“No, Nina, don’t!” Alicia pleaded. “Share my sleeping bag.”
“That’s okay. The floor is fine for you kids. But I’m thirteen. I should have a bed.”
“Then go home, grandma! Because this bed is not an option.” Massie ran over to Nina and grabbed the heels on her gold boots. “Get off!” She pulled as hard as she could, dragging Nina facedown across the duvet. The black slip rode up over her hips and revealed a red thong buried in her butt crack.
Massie shrieked. “Uh, Nina, you’ve got a letter in your mailbox.”
The girls busted out laughing.
Nina started kicking her legs but Massie hung on, her arms flailing around like a spastic Muppet’s. She counted to three inside her head and then tugged as hard as she could. “Huu-ahhhh!”
Invasion of the Boy Snatchers Page 7