Don't get Claire Lyons wrong; she loves living with the Blocks. And it's much better than that one time when the guesthouse was being redone, because now everyone has their own rooms, plural. As in bedroom, bathroom, sitting room, and den, all to themselves. So she and Massie don't have to take up all each other's space.
Also, she and Massie are a lot closer now, practically sisters. Kendra treats Claire like she is her second daughter. The Block parents even act like Todd is their son.
The only thing wrong is the situation that brought this all on.
"The situation" being the Lyons parent's rapidly diminishing relationship. With Jay's career improving, he's gaining more money, and his laid-back, fun-loving personality is disappearing. Judi detests the ruthless businessman that is taking her husband's place. William understands Jay's point of view, and Kendra has been supporting Judi, which does nothing to improve the state of affairs. The reason the Blocks have been taking sides is mostly because they went through the same thing themselves. The difference is that they adjusted. Jay and Judi haven't.
It was decided that, to help, Claire and Todd would stay with the Blocks for a while. All their clothes, toys, books, and decorations were moved into their own wings of the Block Estate, which left Jay and Judi alone, so they could hopefully solve their problems. Then Claire and Todd can move back in, and once again, the Lyons would be a happy, innocent family.
Massie doesn't mind. She enjoys having Claire near her, so that, when she wants to vent a little, she doesn't have to call the Epsilon and then wait impatiently for her to come over.
Dylan sympathizes. She knows what it's like when a parent changes because of money and pressure.
Kristen understands. Her parents argued a lot when Mr. Gregory lost 80% of the family's money.
Alicia hates the entire thing. She doesn't get it, because her parents have always agreed on everything, or at least compromised easily. All she sees is that suddenly, she isn't Massie's best friend anymore. Now there's Kuh-laire, the little LBR that she is.
Needless to say, Alicia isn't loving the Orlando-born blonde too much right now.
But, other than that, the Pretty Committee is thriving.
Massie's become much less of a bitch, and she's volunteering at the local SPCA shelter, while also finding time to design a clothing line for Lilly Pulitzer and sing. Alicia's dancing has improved drastically, and since Skye Hamilton moved up to the Expert class, she's officially the Advanced-Expert captain of BADSS. Dylan's lost weight, forged a better relationship with her sisters, and can apply makeup like nobody's business. Kristen's family has a more money now, and they've moved out of the Pinewood Apartments into the Montador Building next door. Not only that, she makes straight A's and practices with the Soccer Sisters five days a week. And Claire has finally succeeded in getting Massie and the others to accept Layne Abeley.
Well, almost.
They're nice to her, but not in public, because until they give her the official makeover, she can't be in the group. They do have a reputation to uphold. But she's invited to the sleepovers, the carpools, and most of the five-way calls.
That's another reason why Alicia's annoyed with Claire. She doesn't appreciate 'contaminating' the Pretty Committee with all these losers, especially since they still won't let Olivia in. They hardly even let Alicia hang out with the ditzy blonde. But they'll let Claire hang out with Layne. That's not a problem.
And speaking of Olivia, the reason Massie won't let Olivia join her clique is Claire's fault. Ever since Claire told the Pretty Committee that she dumped Cam when she caught him making out with Olivia, they've labeled her as a boyfriend thief.
Which is true, to an extent.
Olivia had been hooking up with Cam for a long time, and they'd been hanging together more and more, while becoming more and more careless about who saw them.
Cam's reason for cheating on Claire was that he just wanted to be prepared when she dumped him. When Claire found the two together, she slapped Cam and informed him that she was never going to break up with him, but she would now.
But Cam didn't believe her anyway. He'd been convinced that Claire was going to drop him for someone older, probably because Massie was dating a sophomore and he figured Claire was going to follow in her Alpha's footsteps.
Claire made out with Cam one last time (partially to diss Olivia, who was sitting right there, and partially to get Cam's hopes up). But then they broke up. And when the rest of the boys defended Cam, the Pretty Committee dumped them all on their sorry asses. Then, when Massie found out that Landon was moving, she decided that the Pretty Committee would be single for a while. But this time, they're not ignoring boys completely. Now, they're looking. Each girl is searching for The One.
And they're expanding their ranks. Slowly but surely, Layne is acclimating herself into the group. Kori, Strawberry, Meena, and Heather are being treated as though they're at least B-List. Massie gives everyone outfit advice. And Claire personally welcomes every newcomer to Briarwood Octavian Country Day.
The boys have changed their strategies. Derrick's been chasing Claire. Josh is going after Massie. Kemp's following Alicia around all day. Dempsey's lusting after Dylan. And Chris and Kristen have actually struck up a close friendship, but she's still clueless to the fact that her favorite study partner is in love with her.
Cam is still with Olivia, but he doesn't seem to be enjoying himself too much anymore, and sneaks off regularly to hang out with his friends, who are spending time with the Pretty Committee. He's tried more than once to kiss Massie, and been humiliated when she ignored him.
Basically, he's an man-whore.
And an ass.
While the rest of the girls (except Kristen) don't really pay attention to their hopeful suitors, Alicia loves talking to Derrick. But every time she tries to strike up a conversation with him, he's tagging after Claire. It would be cute (in a golden Lab sort of way) if Alicia didn't like him, but she did. Which instead makes the whole thing incredibly annoying.
Claire has tried to turn Derrick's attention away from herself and onto Alicia (more than once, in fact). But no matter what Claire does for the Latina, Alicia will not stop loathing her. Claire's sure that Alicia's hatred stems from the Josh incident that happened back before Lake Placid. But every time the blonde tries to say that what Alicia did with Cam was worse because it was strictly to hurt Claire, Alicia insists that they shouldn't be discussing something that old and boring. Then she'll accuse Claire of something horrendous, such as using Massie for money, or encouraging Dylan to be anorexic.
Pretty much every direction Claire turns, there's a feud with Alicia. But she began to ignore it, especially when Kendra presents her (and Todd) with platinum American Express cards. At first, Claire doesn't use hers at all except for food. Then Massie forces the Omega to join her on a day-long shopping spree.
She dreads the return back to the Block Estate all day, afraid that Massie's mother will scold her for wasting money. But it turns out that Kendra's happy Claire is "enjoying herself" and "having some fun."
And of course Alicia is angry and jealous that Massie now goes pairs shopping with Claire instead of her.
Things have been okay, sort of. The Beta and Epsilon maintain a civil silence, and a forced friendship. And they don't fight.
But when Claire starts dance, Alicia is pissed. She knows Kendra is making Claire do hip-hop and ballet. She knows it isn't Claire's choice. But she doesn't care. Especially when, out of the blue, Claire becomes better than her. Alicia is still the captain, but everyone knows Claire is the real star of BADSS.
The other annoying thing is that Claire already acts and does photography. Why does she need more things to be good at?
Alicia's hardly considered the prettiest girl in school anymore. And Dylan's hearing more gossip than her through her sisters.
But there's one big piece of gossip that the Pretty Committee tries to ignore: Alicia's no longer an It Girl. She's at the bottom of the group, and several girls (including Dylan and Kristen) have loudly suggested that she be kicked out.
Claire, strangely enough, is the only one really defending Alicia, but that's mainly because she doesn't want to have to deal with another Alpha War.
But with the eighth grade year ending, it's obvious that Alicia will no longer be a part of the group.
It saddens Claire a little, makes her remember what she thought when she first joined, way back in the middle of seventh grade. How she would never get to be a part of the Pretty Committee in its glory days.
But it's not that bad now. It's actually pretty awesome once she ignores Alicia and forgets the boys that stalk her at school. Oh, and the possible divorce her parents might go through.
The year is ending, and, in a few months, she's heading into high school. And her summer is planned to perfection. Skye Hamilton is coming to visit too, and Claire and Skye are really close now.
Skye's even dropping hints about talking to Shira Brazille about accepting the entire Pretty Committee to Alpha Academy.
So with the possibility of becoming a real Alpha, an amazing summer planned, and a semi-new life being a 'child' of the Blocks, it's pretty easy to forget about boys and parents and trivial issues.
Her biggest problem right now is Alicia, and Claire is determined to make it stay that way.
A/N: Beta done by outside the crayon box