Westchester Academy

The Front Lawn

Monday, September 8

8:30 am.

Massie Block inhaled the fresh, crisp air that surrounded the campus of Westchester Academy. She rolled back her shoulders as she stepped out of the Range Rover, surveying the expanse of manicured lawn - followed by Kristin, Alicia, Dylan and Claire. Alicia stood next to Massie, obviously waiting for the alpha to make a first move. Massie looked over and saw Claire biting down viciously on her cuticles, Dylan picking on a muffin in her bag, and Kristin nervously bouncing back and forth on the toes of her adidas sneakers.

"Heeyloo? Earth to TPC? Why do you all look like a bunch of nervous LBR's?" Massie said, placing a hand on her hip and sliding down her sunglasses to look at each of the girls. The truth was that Massie was at least ah-million more times nervous than all of them combined. She had only been to Westchester Academy once, when she had the student interview with the Dean over the summer. The idea of being in a new, foreign place never usually made massie nervous - she had travelled Europe countless times with her family. However, Westchester Academy was different. She didn't have the rep that she did at OCD. She was also, a freshman. At least she was a freshman with good fashion sense.

Massie's hair had been blow-dried to perfection by Jakkob at 6 am this morning, leaving it silky and high glossed. Her bangs had grown out, causing her to look older and more sophisticated than the fringes she sported 6 months ago. That style was so pre-teen. She wore a teal Trina Turk kimono dress with black True religion skinny jeans underneath and a brand new pair of black, teal and coral Emilio Pucci satin pumps. She felt her alpha confidence return as she applied another coat of Glossip Girl extra-shiny lip gloss. She was Massie Block - the girl that had revolutionized OCD, leaving behind a legacy. She could certainly handle high school.

Before the girls could answer, the loud blaring sound of a horn came from behind them, causing Massie to jump out of the road. She turned around, her manicured hand over her racing heart to see who had blown the horn. Paper Planes by M.I.A was blasting from the perpetrator - a crimson red Enzo Ferrari. Massie recalled that being the car her father had sought after for so long, but had given up in order to provide for herself. She felt poor staring at the car. Suddenly, it seemed like the whole school had congregated to see who had arrived.

"Woah..." Claire said as the door went up, revealing a supermodel-esque girl that couldn't possible be a student at the Academy. An ah-dorable boy with a face only suitable for Vogue covers stepped out of the crowd to escort the supermodel out of the car. His messy black hair framed the side of his flawless, tanned face as he took the arm of the girl.

"Oh em gee, it's Ivana. I can't believe she's back from Paris already," a LBR whispered from behind TPC.

"Yeah, I heard that she got bored with modelling there and was hopping between Italian and Spanish agencies for a while. Eventually she got sick of them and came back here," the LBR's friend replied.

"Who knows how long's she'll be back here for though, she'll be signed with Elite in no time."

"I'm sorry babe," the girl cooed in what sounded like a foreign accent. Massie looked over at Alicia for verification of whether or not the accent was European, but Alicia wasn't even glancing at her. She had her large brown eyes fixed on the girl. Dylan had dropped her muffin in awe, Claire was biting harder on her cuticles, and Kristen had a look that said 'I wonder how many kids in Africa she could have saved instead of buying that car' plastered on her face.

"I would have been here sooner if these freaks weren't standing in the middle of the road," she said, pushing up her sunglasses to size up Massie.

"Ex-cuse me? You must have the wrong person," Massie said standing up to the girl on a sudden whim of encouragement.

"Uhm, no honey. I dunno if you're one of those special ed students the Academy's decided to use as a pee-ar stunt, but you were just standing in the road. In my spot. Don't let it happen again, kay pumpkin?" she said patting Massie on the head.

Massie's head pounded as she lost focus of the surroundings.

All I wanna do is bang bang bang and a kaching and take ya money.. All I wanna do is bang, bang, bang and a kaching and take ya money..

Her head throbbed along with every 'bang' of the song as she struggled to come up with a comeback. It was now or never to make a name for herself at the Academy.

"You obviously don't know who I am," Massie said in her bravest voice as she tried to come eye to eye with the girl. Unfortunately, Ivana was at least 5'11" and in a pair of incredibly high and incredibly cute heels.

Ivana gave out a thick, mocking laugh. "I know who you are, Massie Block. You're the girl who thought she ruled OCD back when Skye went there and was really running things. It was kah-yoot the way you'd kiss her ass like a complete loser. But let's get this straight from now - this is high school, things are different. And if you ever get in my way like you did today, you'll regret it even more than you already do. By the way, ka-yoot clearance rack outfit."

Unfortunately for Massie, Ivana was right. Her outfit looked like a reject from Sears compared to Ivana's 'not released to the public yet' black Burberry knit dress, fuschia leggings and pair of Christian Louboutin Belle suede booties. Ivana's outfit had cost more than her Tiffany's trailers project.

Massie stood stunned as the crowd began to snicker and gossip about TPC when Ivana and her man-candy walked off.

"We certainly made a scene, Mass," Dylan said, taking a bite of blueberry muffin in shame as she started towards the school. Kristin followed alongside Alicia. Only Claire with bleeding cuticles remained behind with Massie who was on the verge of tears. Claire was the only person she would reveal her insecurities to, but this wasn't the time or place to break down. She would have preferred to call Isaac, ordering him to turn around and pick her up so she could spend the rest of the day crying her eyes out, hating the Academy and researching a new school.

"Claire, what just happened?" she asked as she pushed open the heavy wooden doors leading to the hallways of the Academy.

"I dunno Mass, things are different in high school," Claire said with a shrug, taking in the sight of the various characters that inhabited the Academy. One thing remained the same though - they all looked as if they had stepped off a runway. Down to the social rejects looked chic and fashion savvy in full black and studded belts, which made Massie feel uncomfortable. She felt as if she felt dowdy and dressed down compared to everyone else.

For the first time in her life, Massie felt awkward and out of place. She tried to take consolation in the fact that Claire would feel even worse, but when she looked over at Claire - she was batting her eyelashes and flashing a shy smile at a cute junior.

'What the hell is going on here!' she cursed in her mind.