Layne Abeley is the main bitch in this town. Claire Lyons is the beautiful beta. Heather is the trendsetting delta, Meena being the gentle, scholarly omega. Kristen Gregory is the nerdy athlete wannabe on a scholarship. Dylan Marvil is the fat loser with no control whatsoever. Alicia Rivera is the journalist with no social life outside the newspaper editor's office. And Massie Block is the everyday girl-next-door. When reality collides with Massie's fantasy of 'the pretty committee', what happens to the perfectly imperfect and their upside down world?
"Ready?"
"Ready."
"You sure?"
"Positive," Massie confirms. Strands of hair fell into her face and blocked her vision the slightest. Tucking them back behind her ear, Massie stood with a strong feeling this would all go wrong.
Sunlight pounded against her fair skin, heat radiating through her body and causing sweat to release; along with a pungent body odor that decidedly ignored the deodorant she applied just an hour before. Massie had pulled her tresses back into a tight ponytail, ignoring how messy it ended up. Her feet were outfitted in two year old teal Nike sneakers that had muck and dirt lining the bottom of each. Purple running shorts and a white tank top covered her torso and hips. They both came from target, she wasn't too particular with brand names. If it was cute, then she would buy it- who cares what the designer's name is?
They were on the BOCD track that encircled the football field, Massie and Nikki were. Nikki's lengthy black bangs had grown out now and were nothing but choppy remains of what middle school her used to be. She wore a gray t-shirt and similar periwinkle shorts. She leaned down and tied her white Adidas sneakers, stretching her long legs that were tan from a summer at camp as a counsler with Cam.
When she moved here, Claire was so bitter that she set out to destroy her. Claire was usually the laid back one of those girls but the fact that Nikki dared to have a crush on her Cam was totally crossing the line. Or so Massie heard. Not that she was really involved with those girls.
Those girls.
The popular girls that seemingly had everything; all the right clothes, the boys falling at their feet, wannabes and followers kissing at their feet, teachers that adored them, and no other clique to compete with. Sometimes, only the slightest amount of times, Massie had a dream in the midst of her tossing and turning throughout the night. A dream where she was the alpha of the school and her clique, the Pretty Committee. A dream where her only problem was staying on top. A daunting task but certainly something she could handle. In the 'Pretty Committee', her beta/best friend was Alicia Rivera; but Massie knew that would never happen. Alicia is the Fannish girl obsessed with journalism. She was positively crazy. Worse, she thought Kristen Gregory would be the delta. The girl with flimsy limbs, stringy blonde hair, a scholarship at BOCD, and a spot on the sideline bench during the girl's soccer games so cold that Massie could see her goosebumps from the top of the stands. Worst of all, she thought that the fattest girl in school would be her omega. Dylan freaking Marvil. The infamous talk show host, Merri-Lee Marvil's daughter. Not the oldest one, no that's Ryan. The one with Bulimia. Massie isn't a very shallow person, but she knows that popularity depends on looks. That's how Layne is popular. It's not for her personality, after all she is a complete bitch, its for her chocolate brown curls and shimmering green eyes that makes everyone envy her. How would running around with the freak shows of school get her popular?
No thanks, Massie thought. Popularity just wasn't her thing. Running was her thing.
And boy, did she love running.
Adrenaline pulsing through her veins-just urging her to go farther, longer, faster. Pushing her endurance to the limit. If running was a drug, she would die of over-dose. It wasn't just her passion, it was her life. Ever since the accident with her parents... Well that accident doesn't matter anymore, to say the least. She's over it. And she has dozens of trophies dating back to her toddler years to prove it.
"Now!" Massie shouted, taking off with such speed and flawlessness that even Nikki was taken aback. She began to chase after her, knowing that racing against Massie is never easy. Clumsily tripping over her own feet, it took Nikki a moment to regain her correct footing. Massie heard her shoes squeak as concrete scraped against the rubber soles. Heart ripping out of her chest, she felt her breath get heavier.
And heavier.
And heavier.
She dreaded that moment. All of a sudden, her breath got thinner again. Energy surging, she went faster. Striving to get to the finish. Pebbles ricocheting against the ground behind her and pelting Nikki's vulnerable shins, Massie got overrun by the exhilaration. Mind spinning, she pushed onward until she broke through the lap and won the 200 yard dash against her best friend. Instantly collapsing to the ground, she let the air swirl around her and felt her muscles let loose. Closing her eyes for just a moment, she slipped into the 'relaxation stage'. It was the wait for Nikki to grab Massie's bottle drizzle water over her until she reluctantly stood. This was their process. They were used to this. Comfortable.
"Good job, Mass." Nikki says, standing above her and preparing to pour the water. "This was your fastest time yet."
Crystal clear liquid, the tap water of Massie's sink, began to slosh around. Slowly, it dropped out of the nozzle like rain. Her eyes fluttered back open and stared at the bottle's tears. They dawdled as they formed, taking more time than they most likely needed. But as soon as they had been created, they splashed down. Airborne for an instant. Just to become dry for another eternity. How pointless, Massie remarks silently.
Leaping to her feet and clenching her duffle bag of equipment in her fists, Massie began the long trek back to her driver's car. Nikki followed, fastidiously, carefully. They were only entering Sophomore year and didn't have official drivers licences of their own yet. Forcing a smile for Isaac, the girls climbed in and began to discuss the events of the past 6 weeks. After all, Nikki had been away at camp and Massie stayed in her place. They were due some time to catch up besides racing.
First day of school.
The scariest day of the year- if you're a Freshman.
But these ladies aren't 'freshies'. They're mature young Sophomores. Not upperclassman yet, but have enough experience in the halls of BOCD to know what to and what not to do. Massie was wearing a lavender floral dress she found at a thrift shop for only $10- a steal. It complimented her skin tone perfectly and showed off her girly-ness. A messenger bag was slung around her shoulder, adding to her down-to-earth style. She was by definition the perfect girl. Her only flaw available for observation by the public:her ego or rather the lacking of one.
Her self confidence was in the toilet and everyone knew why. Her parents' accident.
No one knew what it was; it could have been anything. It wasn't any of their business, so the student body never pried. All they knew, and needed to know, was that she struggled through as a fragile child and grew up to be a fragile young lady. She was sweet and caring, pretty, and an all around good person. She had the key makings for someone who would surely make it big one day. She was everything Layne wasn't.
Layne Abeley is the lead bitch. Or Alpha as she chooses to be referred to. Stomping on everyone's dreams, she has no problem with crushing Massie and intends to do so. Her efforts won't never slacken until people hate Massie as much as she does. At least, she thinks they won't.
"May-se!" she calls out to the quiet brunette. Layne feels her amber eyes flicker over to her.
"It's Massie,"her warm voice corrects kindly.
"Whatever," Layne waved it off. She analyzes Massie's outfit before noticing that no designer has that dress. A sly Cheshire smile crossed her face. "Say, who's that dress?" she snarls.
Massie glances down at her outfit regrettably. After a second, Layne thinks she's won this battle. That was until Massie looked up again, confidence radiating off of her flawless skin. "It's vintage. Something you've probably never heard of."
Jaw clenching, Layne scowled. It was an ugly scowl, Massie noted. She released the frown and chuckled instead. It wasn't a humorous chuckle. "Uh. Yeah. Vintage is for grandmas- so no thank you."
Meena and Heather, who stood behind her, laughed and high fived. "Wow," Massie rolled her eyes. This is the first time someone has seen her do such. "What a blow. I'm so incredibly heartbroken now that I know my style doesn't have your stamp of approval. My life is completely ruined. I'm done! I'm done!" She rambled in a sarcastic manner.
"Shut up." Layne hissed, taking a step closer. Closing in on her prey. Chatter dissolved in the background. Students were taking notice of the showdown for real now.
"Layme," Massie narrows her eyes and drew a comeback from one of the first dreams- along with the nickname they had for Layne in the dreams. "Did I invite you to my BBQ?"
"Um no... wait you're having a-"
"Then why are you all up in my grill?"
Huh? Layne's mouth formed an 'O'. Someone actually had the nerve to go against her. Shaking her head and letting the confusion pass, she took another threatening step towards Massie, hoping she'll get a clue. "What'd you say to me?" she asks, her voice hard as stone. Massie shrunk back, her new found confidence vanishing and scurrying off to never be found again. Layne's mouth coiled up in a devilish grin.
"Nothing," she squeaked. Layne's Fingers snapping, the crowd cleared the halls and took off to normal classes. That left Massie alone to face the girls. Her spirit plummeted to the pit of her stomach. She wasn't sure of what would come next. Meena, Heather and Layne exchanged a few glances; none of them helping Massie's state of being.
"The abandoned Janitor's closet?" Meena inquired. The other two nodded, smirking wickedly. Heather and Meena flanked either side of her and gripped firmly onto her arms. You could run A voice whispered in the back of her mind. Running from your fears is no different than running ahead of the other racers. She silently cursed it for being so taunting, so hurtful. It was meaner than the girls doing this to her. She braced herself for the worst as they dragged her up some stairs and down hallways she had never seen. If I ran from everything that was hard, where would that get me?
Some girls had it easy.
Massie was of the few who don't.
They stopped, abruptly. Without a word, they opened a large wooden door and tossed her in like a trash heap. Her eyes widened, watching Layne's retreating figure and Meena slam the door. Massie thrashed against the wood, whimpering like a puppy for help. The door shuddered and a sickening thud erupted with every bang of her skull against the surface. But alas, no one was there to hear. In the dark room, she searched the ground for anything. The first thing she picked up was an old toilet paper roll. Quickly, she ripped off a piece of stale paper and dried her sodden cheeks which were streaked with oil and tear stains. Knees buckling, she fell onto the hardwood floors. A sharp pain rushed up her leg with no mercy to the poor girl. Reaching up, she rattled on the handle with a killer grip, not willing to let go.
"I hate my life," she sobbed. "If only I never found out who my real parents were. Maybe I would still be in my small town back in Massachusetts. The Doctors mixed us up at birth, why couldn't it stay that way?!"
These words she shouted at the top of her lungs, thinking this hallway was forever empty. That no one would dare walk through it. She was wrong.
A girl with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes walked the hall that day. She didn't know what she was doing. She could be in the meeting room by now but there was a feeling inside of her, a feeling so strong that she simply couldn't resist. Claire Lyons wouldn't betray her alpha until that very day.
She heard Massie's cries and she heard the secret. Warily turning the handle, she opened the door to find a trembling Massie digging her nails into the other side. Leaning onto the wall for support, the trapped girl stood to her feet and attempted regaining her composure.
"You heard?" Massie asked, lip quivering. Claire nodded. "So you're going to go tell the whole school? Honestly, I could care less. They could care less."
"I'm not going to give anything away. Don't worry."
Massie gave her a skeptical look. "Why?"
Shrugging Claire replied simply, "It's not my secret to tell."
Giving a weak smile Massie muttered a "Thank you," before beginning to head off to her class.
"Wait," Claire called after her. She turned and waited for Claire to continue. "Maybe you should just skip the rest of first period. We can hang out with my other friends. If you want, of course."
"Sounds good," Massie agreed. She's already 20 minutes late. And what's the point of going anywhere when her makeup is ruined like this. "You have friends besides the popular girls?"
Giggling Claire rolled her eyes. "Puh-lease. I'm not even that good of friends with Layme. She just concocted this friendship to gain popularity. These are my real friends."
She leads Massie into a dusty old classroom. The desks are shoved in a circle and girls were sitting on top of them, talking in hushed whispers. Secrets. Their eyes darted to the thin brunette, making her feel more self conscious than before. She stood, bewildered, as she stared at the girls from her dreams of The Pretty Committee. Dylan Marvil, not as fat as Massie knew her to be. Actually quite skinny. Kristen Gregory, an athletic beauty that should be the captain of the Debate team and the soccer team, and finally Alicia Rivera; an exotic sultry with tan skin, dark brown eyes and even darker hair in luxurious waves. They were clad head to toe in designer clothing. For the very first time, she didn't feel uncomfortable being without her Ralph Lauren polo and her Michael Kors handbag.
"You were right Kuh-Laire," Alicia nods approvingly, examining Massie. "She is perfect. We just need to touch up her makeup and we'll be ready to throw Layne down."
"What do you mean 'Throw Layne Down'?" Massie asks; Dylan, Kristen and Claire already pulling out their products.
"You will be the Alpha of our new clique. We plan to overthrow Layme and grace the student body with their new queen: You."
"ME?" her jaw dropped.
"Yes you!" Alicia threw her arms up into the air. "Did you see what you did earlier? You proved you have the skill to take her down. We'll need to work on your self confidence, but by the time lunch rolls around we'll be able to take Table 18."
"Okay..." she nodded her head slowly. Maybe she could prove herself wrong. She could be a better Massie than the shy girl who let herself get pushed around. "I'll do it. But we need a name. How about..." she considered what she was about to do for a second but took a chance anyway. "The Pretty Committee?"
"Ehmagawd! I heart that!" Alicia exclaimed.
"Perf!"
"Totes!"
"That's Ah-Mazing!"
She hadn't even realized they had been working on her makeup until Dylan shoved a mirror in her face with a burp. "Ew!" she giggled. But Massie looked perfect. A subtle shimmery eye shadow with brown eyeliner and a soft rosy cheek color. Lastly, her lips were coated in Glossip Girl: Strawberry Daiquiri. She didn't know the lip gloss brand made that flavor, but apparently so. "Should I change my dress?"
"No way!"Claire shook her head. "Vintage is so in right now. In fact, maybe we should change. Do you think we have time to go to a local thrift store?"
"Honey," Massie flipped her hair, sauntering over to the circle of desks where they were and casually sitting atop one cross legged. "There's always time to go to a local thrift store."
"See, you're acting like alpha already," Alicia said, causing them to burst into giggles.
The Pretty Committee strolled into lunch fashionably late.
Layne and her only friends at table 18 stared daggers as they drew the attention of every student in the school. Gasps of shock from seeing Massie with her head held high and leading the 'rebels'. Claire was wearing a loose chiffon button down tank top with a peter pan collar tucked into a turquoise lace skirt and transparent high heels- much like Cinderella slippers. Pieces of her blonde locks were pinned back by a bow that matched her skirt. Alicia had on an orange sundress much like Massie's floral one, with criss-cross tie straps. White wedges completed her look. Kristen wore simple tan pleated shorts and a light pink tank top with matching pumps. Dylan, lastly, had a mint peasant shirt and straight leg light wash jeans that complimented each other perfectly and faux leather gladiator sandals.
They marched over to Layne's table and pulled the seats out from under them, replacing the space with their own bottoms. The other girls gave horrified looks, glancing towards each other and not knowing what to do.
"WHAT do you think you're doing?!" Layne puts her hands on her hips. Massie smiled.
"Just taking what's rightfully ours."
"Since when is it yours?"
"Since we got tired of you bullying others. You might think that makes you better than everyone if you put them down but in reality, people have less and less respect for you. And without respect, you've really got nothing going for ya besides looks. And those will fade as soon as you hit age 30. I'm Sorry. And I honestly do have pity for you."
Unable to respond, Layne stormed away- followed by her minions. As soon as they disappeared around the corner, the cafe erupted into applause. Massie got the same adrenaline rush that she got on the track field. Her world was traveling in slow motion; the cheering, the hugging. It all ended with Nikki slamming her hand on the table.
"What the Hell?!" She yelled. The cafe went dead silent. "Only half a day and suddenly you're best friends with Kuh-Laire?! I thought you didn't like attention or popularity! I can't believe you- You... You Traitor!"
She looked around to see everyone staring before darting out of the room in a huff. When Alicia looked at Massie, she saw shattered amber eyes. Gently rubbing her shoulder Alicia tries to comfort her, "Mass, she's no friend if she won't let you have this moment. This is for the greater good of our fellow students. It's just selfish to call you a traitor and embarrass you like that."
"Yeah, I guess." Massie mumbles. She had a feeling that she sold her soul. She just needed to figure out whether it was good-
Or bad.
haha Idk why this is so long...well Hope you liked this one-shott
sorry if it got crappy near the end..It's like 11 and I want to sleep..
good night!
xoxo,
Nattattack
