Here's my super-long author's note that you can skip if you want, but don't blame me if you miss something in it that you might find important. : - ) I pretty much copied it from CoolFolk, my friend's and my website, where The Meaning of Strife is also posted. This program isn't letting me type out the URL for CoolFolk, but you can go to my profile and click on the link there to visit our site...yes, I take every opportunity possible to promote CoolFolk. lol...
The Meaning if Strife is an unfinished story, and therefore it runs the risk of being stopped and/or called off at any moment without further notice. If you're an author, you'll understand that no one can finish every single story they start. I have started putting chapters of The Meaning of Strife on Fan Fiction. net because I feel that the story has progressed enough for it to be revealed.
I apologize in advance if I ever decide to stop writing this story and warn you that I may not take action upon petitions to continue. In other words, I'm the one who decides whether I stop or not.
A common disclaimer for fanfiction: I do not own the Clique or any of the characters. That right is entitled only to Lisi Harrison and any of her such associates.
Many of the preliminary ideas for The Meaning of Strife were inspired by a story I read on Fan Fiction .net called Out with the Old, In with the New, by a certain person on Fan Fiction .net whose pen name is HPgirl008. In her profile, she says her name is "Akira Rosalina wanttobe Hotz butgottobe Robinson." (Things like that make me laugh...it's not like I'm going around proclaiming that I want my last name to be Hyuga. ) I thought I should credit her, even though I do not know who she is/have never met her in my life.
I warn you of the inconsistencies of my chapter lengths!!
Please do not clamber all over me demanding new chapters. I'd rather have you hate the story; I do not work well on long-term projects under pressure.
Please DO email me with as many reviews as you'd like!! I am appreciative of all praise and derogation as long as you are not physically hurting me. Ideas for plot line are welcome, as well, though I cannot guarantee that I will incorporate your suggestions into the actual story.
And lastly, but most certainly not leastly, I would like to give a big thank you to ZaneLover0511 for going over my writing with me and giving me ideas.
Alrighty, then, that's most certainly enough of my blathering. I hope I didn't put you to sleep...A sincere thank you if you actually read all of that!! Most of it was a bunch of formalities, but as a fanfiction author, I feel that I have an obligation to include said formalities. Okay, I will shut up now. Enjoy the story!!
--MC
BLOCK ESTATE
MASSIE'S BEDROOM
Wednesday, August 29th
7: 00 am
Massie Block woke up on the first day of her sophomore year at Augustian Day High with a smile on her face. As much as she hated teachers, classes, and homework, she loved boys, gossip, and ruling the social scene. It just wasn't the same in the summer, and she was looking forward to school. Plus, she would have a way to see Chris Abeley, her boyfriend, every day without seeming desperate.
Massie rolled out of bed and admired her fifteen-year-old self in front of her full-body mirror. She had changed a lot from seventh grade; her legs were longer, she'd had a chest growth spurt and was now finally a C-cup, and her brown hair was mid-back length and slightly crimped from sleep. But in some ways, she hadn't changed at all. Her amber eyes gazed out from the mirror with the same queen-like light.
She had one hour to shower, dress, do her makeup, hair and meet Isaac downstairs. After fifteen minutes in a steaming shower and a thorough brushing and flossing, Massie put on the outfit she had laid out for herself last night. If there was one thing that had changed since she had been in seventh grade, it was fashion. Massie looked in the mirror again and admired her Marc Jacobs mid-thigh-length, off-the-shoulder dress in fireweed and burgundy and Manolo Blahnik knee-high black leather boots.
But after a moment her admiration turned to disgust at how much she looked like a hooker. She might have been able to pull the look off if she had been in seventh grade, but with her summer-tanned legs and newfound cleavage, it was just not classy.
Ripping open her closet doors, Massie shed the dress and kicked off the boots. She grabbed a short-sleeved emerald-and-teal Chloe empire waist top and the latest black Sevens, but she decided that they made her look fat, or at least made her look as if she thought she looked fat. She threw the dark jeans back in the closet and settled for thigh-hugging light wash Diesels.
Finally pleased with her outfit, Massie sat down at her vanity and brushed out her hair before drying and crimping it at the bottoms so that it was slightly wavy. She left it at that, because long, free hair was the innest look at the moment. She carefully made up her face and threw a few touch-up tools and lip gloss tubes into her Louis Vuitton messenger bag, along with her new school supplies.
Massie slid her feet into blue Dolce & Gabbana slip-ons with four-inch heels, but decided that she didn't want to be elevated to a height of five ten and opted for strappy silver Jimmy Choo kitten-heeled sandals. Then, realizing she needed a necklace, Massie fastened a diamond pendant around her neck.
Finally she headed downstairs, where Inez had a breakfast feast laid out for her. Massie only had a piece of toast and a tangerine, though, before she rushed out to the Range Rover. Yes, this was the same Range Rover that Isaac had been driving since Massie was in fifth grade. Massie had come to love the faithful car and its equally loyal driver and couldn't bear to part with them.
She stood outside the car and tapped her foot until Claire Lyons hurried towards her from the guesthouse in multicolored layered tank tops, a denim miniskirt, and black-and-white pumas. No matter how much time passed, Claire's fashion sense didn't change. It was still rather lame, Massie thought. But Claire she looked really good (for Claire) with subtle makeup artistically applied to her face and her long flaxen hair pulled into two loose braids.
"Hey," Claire said. "Sorry I'm late. Todd was throwing a fit at having to wake up early for school. You look great, by the way."
"Thanks," Massie replied, smiling. "Ready to kick tenth grade's butt?"
"Absolutely." The girls climbed into the car and Isaac set off for Kristen's. Kristen Gregory no longer lived in the trashy Brickview Apartments, but she didn't live in the Montador, either. She and her parents had relocated halfway across Westchester into White Plains. Her dad's business was flourishing and Kristen lived in a high-rise apartment at the center of the city. Massie loved being able to go to the city every time they picked Kristen up, but she hated the traffic and impatiently tapped her foot the whole time, ignoring Claire when she tried to talk.
The Range Rover finally arrived at Kristen's apartment building, and the aqua-eyed blonde was opening the car door in a flash.
"Ehmagawd!" Kristen exclaimed, sitting down next to Massie. "You'll never believe it!"
"Believe what?" Massie inquired.
"I'll tell you when Alicia and Dylan get here," Kristen said mysteriously, suddenly quelling her previous excitement.
"Come awn," Massie pressed, but Kristen stayed silent. Massie knew better than to argue with the stubborn streak Kristen had been developing and took the time to admire her outfit. Kristen always had clothing problems on account of her money-less-ness and super strict parents, but recently she had been rebelling more and more against her mother and father. Today she was wearing a simple light blue tank top that had blue rhinestones glued around the neckline, which brought out her eyes; dark blue pants; and shoes similar to the Dolce & Gabbanas Massie had tried on that morning. Kristen could use the extra height, though, considering she was only five feet two. Her dark blond hair was tied in two sporty low pigtails. "You look amazing, Kris," Massie said. "Blue is so your color."
"Thanks," Kristen replied. "My mom almost wouldn't let me out of the apartment. She said sleeveless tops were for prostitutes. But our crazy neighbor held her up, thankfully."
Kristen went on to describe how Nigel, the old man next door, had asked for a cup of milk since he had run out of it. He had hearing problems, so he always yelled, and you had to yell back to get him to hear you. Claire laughed appreciatively at the funny parts, but Massie could only think about what Kristen was being so secretive about.
Soon they arrived at the Rivera Estate and picked up Alicia, who was looking cheery in a white and pink dress with a golden sunflower charm around her neck, matching earrings, and lace-up golden sandals. Her long black hair shone in the light and cascaded down her back.
"Kristen's got news," Massie announced the moment Alicia got into the Range Rover.
Alicia's brown eyes immediately widened; she was a major gossip-lover. "What?"
Kristen cocked her head ever more mysteriously. "I'm not telling until Dylan gets here. I want you all to hear at the same time."
The drive to Dylan's was short, though, and they barely had time to talk before the redhead hopped into the car, wearing a low-cut, knee-length dark green dress and ankle boots. Somehow she managed not to look like Peter Pan. Her hair was pulled into a high genie ponytail, the red curls swinging as she moved.
"Okay, Kristen. Spill it," Alicia demanded, once Dylan sat down.
"Spill what?" Dylan was oblivious.
"Kristen's got a secret, but she wouldn't tell us until you get here," Massie said.
Dylan looked pleased. "I'm flattered that you'd wait for me, Kris."
"No prob—" Kristen was cut off by an impatient Massie.
"Just tell us!" Massie exclaimed.
"Okay, okay." Kristen looked around at everyone, all staring at her. "Last night, I was looking through the class lists, right? And in our homeroom, there's this girl named Vanessa Boyd." Kristen paused.
Massie looked at her expectantly. "So…?"
"Think," Kristen said. "Vanessa Boyd."
Suddenly Claire sat up higher in her seat. "I got it!" she shouted. "Abby Boyd!"
"Hey, did you guys see her new movie?" Dylan asked. "I swear, she gets better and better—"
"Not the point!" Alicia interrupted. "Kristen, do you mean to say that this Vanessa girl in our homeroom is related to Abby Boyd?"
Kristen nodded slowly, her blue eyes triumphant. "I looked her up online, and I found out that Abby Boyd has a younger sister named Vanessa. She's our age, but Abby kept her secret and rarely talks about her to the press. No one knows why, but there are the usual theories." Kristen looked around at the Pretty Committee's wide-eyed faces. "Abby did say," she continued, "in a recent interview, that she and her younger sister were relocating to live with their aunt in Westchester. She's coming to do a movie, but she didn't say why here sister's tagging along."
"So we're getting the Boyds at our school?" Claire asked somewhat tentatively. She seemed to be remembering how Abby had befriended her and then ditched her while they were co-starring in Dial L for Loser when Claire was in seventh gradeClaire had stopped acting after that, but Abby had made seventeen movies since then and had won two Oscars.
"Just Vanessa," Kristen replied. "Abby's only coming so she can commute to New York each day, for her latest movie. She has a private tutor."
"Freedom's Wind," Dylan declared. "That's Abby's next movie. But how come my mom didn't know Abby had a sister? She knows everything about celebrities!" The redhead now seemed rather angry.
Meanwhile, Alicia was questioning Kristen. "What does this Vanessa girl look like?"
Massie was silent. If Vanessa was anything like her older sister…
It had taken Massie and the Pretty Committee almost all of their freshmen year to right all the social wrongs of their disastrous eighth grade. She really didn't need any celebrity sister to come along and undermine it all. But she had a feeling that was exactly what Vanessa was going to do.
Do not expect the rest of my chapters to be anywhere near as long!! LOL, please review and thanks for reading!!
--MC