Chapter 1
The Block Guesthouse
Saturday
12:23pm
Claire glared at herself in the ornate guilt mirror. Eyes two slices of cucumber, skin pale, pale, creamy white. She removed a cucumber and squinted, one-eyed, at the instructions on the back of the MAC face mask packet. After a minute she rinsed off the pulpy remains of the cucumber, and the rest of the failing face mask. Her face was not 'rejuvenated, shining and smooth'. It was simply the same old Claire that stared right back at her, her face absurdly round amidst her wisps of blond hair.
She trudged back to her room, still dressed in the grubby Mickey Mouse pyjamas her aunt had sent over last Christmas. As if she was still five years old.
'Claire! Get down here!'
She jumped out of her reverie at the sound of her name.
'OKAY!' she screamed.
She skipped down the flowery-patterned stairs and plonked herself down on the old saggy sofa they had kept from Florida.
'So, what is it?'
'WELL, Kendra phoned us earlier about their holiday. It's all set. Massie's going to the Bahamas!'
'What? You mean the Clique's going to the Bahamas, right?'
'Well, Massie, Dylan and Alicia are.'
'Oh yeah.' She'd forgotten about OCD's new ah-noyying scholarship protocol, and how Kristen had to attend two weeks of summer school. Then she saw the catch. 'What about ME?!'
'Er..well..' Jay Lyon looked over at his wife for support. 'The thing is, we can't let you go on holiday without a responsible adult with you.'
'Why NAWT?!'
'Look, darling, you'll understand when you're a parent.'
'What will I understand?!'
'Claire! Don't answer back!'
No amount of acting experience could have caused Claire to hide her anger, her sheer outrage.
'I'LL ANSWER BACK UNTIL I GET WHAT I WANT! AND I WANT TO GO ON HOLIDAY WITH THE CLIQUE!'
And with that, she flounced back up to her bedroom, slammed the door, and nestled herself, sobbing, in her body shape still imprinted on her soft bed from her lie-in.