Claire followed Massie up the main steps and into the school. Even though it was Claire’s plan, she was relieved to see Massie taking charge again. It took some of the pressure off.
It was 12:30 P.M. when they arrived at their stakeout spot behind the Dasani vending machine, outside the Café. It was time for Alicia’s lunchtime news announcement and the beginning of Operation Toe Jam. They were right on schedule.
Bon appetit, OCD. This is Alicia Rivera with your lunchtime news brief.
Everyone in the halls stopped moving and looked up at the speakers in the corners of the ceiling.
A string of mysterious robberies has left a few of our students rattled this morning. The first crime was reported on Friday by Jessi Rowan, who noticed the furry monkey key chain on her Kipling backpack was gone. Several more reports have come in today. Among the list of missing items are Natalie Nussbaum’s Chococat pencil case, Mrs. Beeline’s red Montblanc pen, and my Ralph Lauren argyle gym socks. Think twice before leaving open lockers unattended, and please report any suspicious activity to Principal Burns … . This has been Alicia Rivera for OCD news saying, I heart you.
The usual amount of applause followed and everyone returned to their previous conversations.
Alicia finished at exactly 12:40 P.M., right on schedule. Massie reached into her back pocket for her cell phone and accidentally elbowed Claire in the ribs.
“Sorry,” she whispered. “It’s just so cramped back here.”
Claire mouthed, “It’s okay.”
After Massie sent Alicia a text message saying that they were ready, Claire gave the order to start chewing.
Claire and Massie tore open the bags of BLC and stuffed handfuls of the purple shredded gum in their mouths. Massie held her hand over her mouth to keep the gum from falling out and when she moved it away, it was covered in spit. She wiped it on the side of the vitamin water machine and went right back to chewing.
“Ew.” Claire started laughing so hard, she almost choked … until she heard the slow whine of the electronic dollar-bill taker. Knowing someone was standing on the other side of the machine made her freeze with fear. Claire’s mouth was overflowing with spit from the wad of gum she was chewing. But she was too afraid to make even the slightest swallowing sound, so she dropped her jaw and let the excess saliva dribble onto the ground. Surprisingly enough, Massie did the same thing. And the girls’ bodies shook with suppressed laughter.
The machine whined three more times.
“This thing sucks,” someone said before kicking it three times.
Massie yelped and then covered her mouth.
“Kori, did you hear something?”
It was Strawberry, the violent redhead that Alicia had recruited to replace Dylan when they were fighting last semester.
“Like a puppy getting stepped on?” Kori offered.
“Yeah.”
Claire felt a rush of sweat to her armpits. She would definitely need a shower tomorrow.
“Maybe there’s an animal stuck in the machine and that’s why it’s broken,” Kori suggested.
The girls giggled and walked away.
Massie and Claire sighed with relief.
Uh, excuse me? I have one more announcement… .
Everyone stopped again when they heard Alicia’s voice.
Will Nina Callas please come to the DJ booth ASAP for a very important message? This has been Alicia Rivera for OCD news saying, I heart you.
As soon as they heard that, Claire and Massie started pulling chunks of purple gum out of their mouths and whipping them onto the floor. The familiar click-clacking of Nina’s boots echoed through the empty halls as she tore out of the Café to meet Alicia in the DJ booth.
“Music to my ears.” Claire smiled. Everything was going as planned.
The louder the click-clacking got, the more they chewed and tossed. Unfortunately, a group of Frankenstein-boot-wearing drama geeks who were skipping down the halls singing “Popular” from the Broadway musical Wicked happened to stumble through the purple minefield before Nina did. Despite Massie’s audible cackle, they didn’t notice.
Finally Nina rounded corner. Claire was so nervous, she buried her face in Massie’s shoulder. “Did she step in it yet?”
“Not yet,” Massie whispered. “Oh, wait… . Nope … Oh … There she goes… . A little to the left … Yes!”
Claire lifted her head.
“Dios!” Nina shouted as she scraped the bottom of one boot against the top of the other, which only made it worse. Now there was gum smeared across the toes of her red suede boots. “Ayudar.” She looked around the halls. “Help!”
When no one came, Nina dropped to the floor, crossed her legs, and tried her best to pull the gum off. But her long nails made it difficult to get a grip. Eventually, she managed to scrape most of it off her left boot, but the right one was too far gone.
“No. Dios, no!” she moaned, upon discovering a wad tangled around the pink pom-poms and stuck in the rear zipper tracks.
“Mission accomplished,” Claire whispered. “She’s nothing without those boots.”
“It’s like we captured the broomstick of the wicked witch,” Massie said quietly.
After a good amount of grunting and groaning, Nina managed to pull off her boot. She started weeping softly, cradling it like a kitten that had just fallen out of a tree.
“That’s your cue. Go! Good luck.”
Claire slid out from behind the vending machine and walked toward Nina as if she were enjoying a casual lunchtime stroll down the hall.
“Nina, is that you sitting alone on the floor?” Claire tilted her head as she approached, in a show of genuine concern. She hoped Massie would appreciate her convincing delivery.
Nina looked up. Black streaks of mascara and smudges of blue eyeliner had skidded into the red circles of rouge on her cheeks. Her face looked like a melted oil painting.
“My boots are ruined.” She lifted her legs into the air so Claire could see for herself.
“Yeah, you gotta be careful in these halls,” Claire pointed out. “They can be hard to navigate, especially in ridiculously high heels, like those.”
Nina sniffed, then wiped her nose with her wrist.
Claire felt a pang of guilt. Could she really go through with this? She knew what it felt like to be the hated “new girl” and was finding it hard to humiliate someone the way the Pretty Committee used to humiliate her. She would just tell Massie and Alicia that Nina had run off to the bathroom and ruined the rest of the plan. Seconds after making this decision, Claire felt her shoulders relax. The guilt was gone.
“Nina,” Claire suggested in her kindest voice, “why don’t you go to the bath—?”
But Nina ignored her. Instead she pushed herself up off the ground and faced Claire. She was at least two inches taller, even without the boots. “I can’t wear these to Briarwood after school. They’re disgusting.”
“Briarwood?” Claire asked.
“Sí, Cam and Derringtons are going to give me a private tour of the boys’ locker room.”
“You don’t say.” Claire clenched her fists together and stuffed them in the front pockets of her Old Navy jeans. “Well, then, I have the perfect solution.” She was back to the original plan. Only this time there was no guilt whatsoever. “Let’s go to Nurse Adele’s office. She has a lost and found that is more stocked than Bloomingdale’s. She’ll definitely have spare boots.”
“But will they be sexy?” Nina asked. “And high? How high will they be?”
“She’ll have whatever you need,” Claire said. “Follow me.”
“What about designer name brands?”
Claire clenched her fists again and took a long deep breath. “She has it all.”
“Good. Because everyone expects me to look fabulous.”
“Of course they do,” Claire said as she passed one of Layne’s NINA IS OBSCENA posters.
“Don’t you just love those?” Nina admired Layne’s work.
“They don’t upset you?”
“No.” Nina chuckled. “There is no such thing as bad press.”
Claire wondered what it would actually take to break this girl. She was harder to destroy than pleather.
After a short walk down the hall, the girls arrived at the nurse’s office. It was the only white door in the school, with lace curtains in the window instead of the standard beige metal blinds.
“Wait here on the bench,” Claire said. “It’s better if I go in and get what she has—you know, ’cause we’re friends and everything.”
Nina shrugged her shoulders and sat down on the wooden bench that was pressed up against the wall outside the office. The only people that ever sat on it were kids with lice who were waiting for their parents to pick them up. Claire hoped that people would pass by and assume Nina’s hair was an infested nest.
After a quick chat about flu shots with Nurse Adele, Claire excused herself and went to the lost-and-found closet. For some reason, the boot selection was better than ever, which was exactly what Claire didn’t want. She ignored the silver Sigerson Morrison kitten heels and let her eyes drift past the cute red leather cowboy boots. Instead she grabbed a pair of stinky brown Birkenstocks that had probably belonged to Sage. Then she picked up one of every ugly shoe that came in a size six.
Nina already had her boots off in anticipation of the new designer boots she’d be trying on. She was massaging her feet when Claire walked out of Nurse Adele’s office.
“Here you go,” Claire announced with the pride of a Foot Locker salesman who had just emerged from the stockroom with a wonderful selection. She dropped the shoes in a heap at Nina’s feet.
“What is this?” Nina lifted up a black-and-white-checkered sneaker that had a ketchup stain on the toe. “No. Dios!” She dropped it as if it were covered in roaches.
“That shoe is popular with the skater crowd. It’s called a Van.” Claire searched her messy pile of shoes. “Here you go.” She lifted up a black pump. “I would pair it with this Cynthia Rowley dress shoe, because of the similar colors.”
“But they are two completely different styles,” Nina gasped. She leaned over and started sifting through the pile herself. “None of these match.”
“These do.” Claire held up the Birkenstocks.
Nina winced as she unbuckled the side strap and slid her foot inside. Claire’s insides were trembling with suppressed laughter. She hated that Massie and Alicia weren’t there to witness this. Why should she have all the fun?
Nina shuffled across the floor like an old lady in a nursing home. “Too big.”
She kicked them off and reached for the Van/pump combination. This time she hobbled across the floor, and Claire burst out laughing.
“Sorry. It’s just that they’re so, uh … big.”
“I know. And I like my things to fit.”
“I’ve noticed,” Claire mumbled. “But I grabbed you a size six, same as the boots you wore at the sleepover.”
“Maybe a size six in America is different than it is in Spain,” Nina countered. “Like in Westchester a six is really a five.”
Nina managed to find one silver pump that she liked and a similar gold one. She pulled a pair of Ralph Lauren argyle socks out of her bag and slid them on over her fishnet stockings. Then she stepped into the shoes. They fit perfectly.
As they walked down the hall, everyone stared at Nina’s feet. Claire couldn’t help filling up with pride. She’d done it. She’d actually come up with a plan that would show everyone how lame Nina really was.
Eventually, the whispers turned into pointing. While they walked, Claire snuck a peek at Nina to see if she was starting to sense the negative attention. But if she was, she showed no signs of it. Her head was held high and her strides were long and confident despite the two different heels.
Finally the ultra-stylish Sydney Applebaum and her best friend, Emma Levy, approached Nina. Claire could hardly control her excitement. She wanted to remember everything so she could tell Massie and Alicia everything without missing one humiliating detail.
“Cool shoes, Nina,” Sydney said.
“Totally. J’adore the two different colors,” said her best friend, Emma. “Could you be any more fashion-forward?”
“Gracias.” Nina smiled and waved. “Glad you like them.” She admired her own feet.
“We totally have to go to shopping in Spain this summer,” Sydney said to Emma as they passed by.
Claire rolled her eyes.
The après-lunch bell rang and the halls started filling up again.
“Thanks for your help, Claire.” Nina waved goodbye.
“Where are you going?” Claire asked. “Don’t you have fifth period?”
“Sí, but I have to go to the DJ booth to see what my cousin wanted.”
“Oh yeah.” Claire moped back to her locker, wondering how she would explain to Massie and Alicia that she’d helped Nina start a new trend.
“Claire Lyons?” Principal Burns crowed.
“Yes?” Claire turned around. She had never heard the principal say her name before.
“I have a report saying that you and Miss Block spent your lunch hour hiding behind a vending machine, stealing dollar bills. Is that true?”
Claire felt a wave of dizziness, like she was slipping into a wavy TV dream sequence.
“Uh, no. We weren’t stealing money.”
“Well, that’s not what I heard,” Principal Burns said. “Everyone is starting to say that you and Massie may be the cat burglars.”
“But that’s not—”
“Either way, you and Miss Block will have another detention after school. And that’s final.” Principal Burns turned on her rubber heels and squeaked off down the hall.
When Claire arrived in Mrs. Peckish’s room after school, it was colder than it had been that morning. And instead of bitter coffee, everything smelled like egg. Claire shivered in her seat, wondering if Strawberry and Kori were responsible for this.
The door flew open and Massie strutted in with a grin on her face. Claire loved Massie’s ability to make detention seem like something she’d chosen for herself.
“Strawberry and Kori,” Massie mouthed to Claire as she took her seat.
Bing, bang, bong.
The announcement bell sounded over the loudspeaker.
“Will all staff please report to the teachers’ lounge for an emergency faculty meeting,” said Principal Burns.
Mrs. Peckish sighed then shrugged. “That’s me,” she said. “You two better be here when I get back.”
“We will.” Massie tried to sound as sweet as possible.
After the door clicked shut, Claire turned to Massie. “Will it bother you if I take a shower tonight? I need to wash this day off of me.”
“Go right ahead. If you promise to pick your clothes up off the floor, I might even let you take one tomorrow.”
“Really?” Claire joked, even though she was serious.
“Yup.” Massie’s eyes drifted off for a second. “Hey, I’ll make you a deal.”
Claire turned to face Massie.
“If you let Bean come back in the room, I’ll let you take first shower every day.”
“But it wasn’t my idea to get rid of her—it was your mom’s,” Claire insisted. She couldn’t believe they were back on the Bean topic again.
“Well, what if you tell her it really was a cold after all?” Massie suggested. “And for the rest of the week, you’ll sleep in the bathtub.”
“What?”
“I’ll fill it with sleeping bags and cashmere blankets, and you can have all of my down pillows except for one.”
Claire tapped the bottom of her chin with a Bic pen. The more she thought about it, the less crazy it seemed. Not only would she be able to shower again, but she could sleep in darkness and cry about Cam as loud as she wanted.
“Deal.”
They stuck out their hands to shake but quickly drew them back when the door flew open. Cl
aire and Massie turned and faced the front of the room and folded their hands on their desks.
“It’s just me,” Kristen moped. Her pink Wet Seal V-neck was splattered with what looked like french fry grease. And she looked utterly exhausted, as if the pressures of life had finally managed to beat her down.
“What are you doing here?” Massie whispered.
“I got too close to the Bunsen burner in science class and my water bra exploded. Do you know they’re actually filled with oil and not water?”
Claire and Massie started cracking up.
“It’s not funny.” Kristen wiped her eyes. “My mother is going to kill me.”
“Why should you get in trouble for burning your bra?” Claire asked. “It was an accident.”
“Well, that part was but the rest wasn’t,” Kristen added. “I had hot oil dripping down my chest, so I took off the bra under my shirt and threw it across the room.”
Even Kristen laughed at herself this time.
“Ladies, what’s all the ruckus about?”
The girls faced forward and stopped laughing immediately.
“Relax,” Dylan said. “It’s just me.” Her face looked like she had dipped it in a bowl of melted Skittles.
“What are you doing here?” Kristen looked disgusted.
“I kept sneezing in art, and every time I blew my nose my makeup would come off,” she explained.
“So?” the girls said.
“So, Vincent caught be rubbing a green pastel on by eyelids and a red one on by lips.” She tried to blow her stuffed-up nose, but nothing came out.
Kristen slammed her hands down on her desk. “Aren’t pastels poisonous?”
“Vincent seems to think they are,” Dylan said. “That’s why I’m here.”
“Hey, guys.” Alicia sounded bubbly when she walked into the room.
“No way!” Massie clapped her hands.
“What did you do?” Dylan asked.
“Nothing,” Alicia said.
“Then why are you here?” Claire asked.
“Because everyone else is.” Alicia strolled over to the empty desk beside Massie and slowly lowered herself into the seat. “Plus it’s the first chance I’ve had to get away from Nina since she moved here. She keeps talking about the new trend she’s started in footwear. It’s so ah-nnoying.” Alicia glared at Claire, obviously blaming her for Nina’s latest success.
Invasion of the Boy Snatchers Page 12