It was a normal day at KISS. Gray, rainy weather, strict teachers, and social drama.
Massie stared out the window, annoyed at the constant rain. She loved England, but this was not okay. Shopping in London was a disaster. The rain always leaked through her bags and into her clothes.
"Earth to Block!" an adorable voice whispered in her ear. It was James, her english crush. He had sandy blonde hair, that his friends liked to mess up, and hazel eyes. Every girl on campus coveted him, but Massie was sure she had him in the bag. In fact, she was going to make her claim on him official, by inviting him to Westchester, where she was having her fifteenth birthday.
"So, Block, how's the New York planning going?" he asked, putting his elbow on her desk, and looking into her eyes. Massie's heart almost jumped out of her chest. She had read in Seventeen, that gazing into eyes was a sure sign of love. They were in the lunch room, and James had decided to sit with her, against the wishes of his other admirers. They were waiting for Massie's other friends to arrive. She hadn't made a clique because the Pretty Committee was too hard to replace.
"Planning is hard, I don't know how I'll fit everything I own into three suitcases!" James shook his head slowly. He still didn't seem to grasp the fact that Massie was rich. He wasn't. He was at KISS on scholarship, like Kristen at OCD. Massie knew he was sensitive about not being wealthy, because he was so popular. A tall brunette ran from the lunch line to their table. She was Emmy Shah, the style columnist for the school magazine, and one of Massie's friends at KISS. Emmy was Indian, and had long, thick, black/brown hair that a lot of girls envied. Her style sense was impeccable. Today she was wearing a Brandy Melville, Nora dress. It was black, with small white flowers.
"Hey guys! Planning for your New York trip?"
"Obviously," James said, "Ms. America here is worrying about her suitcase shortage." Massie raised her eyebrow at the nickname, and shared a glance with Emmy. She took a bite of her salad, and stared out the window, thinking about the PC.
Most of her first days in England were spent worrying about Alicia. The new Alpha would have to gain the trust of a highschool, as well as manage the PC.
Another of her english friends arrived, interrupting her thoughts.
Jaine Harman was a really dark blonde. She always wore her hair in a high ponytail. WIth her constantly sarcastic look, and almost perfect looking features, Jaine was one of the most popular girls in school. When Massie came, Jaine had immediately recognized an alpha, and became her first friend. But, Jaine and Emmy were an unbreakable set of best friends, which left Massie without one.
"Hi!" Jaine said, starting to reapply her lipstick.
"So, now that we're all here," Massie said, "Let's talk about Katrina Kornbluth." All the girls rolled their eyes, making James laugh.
"What's so bad about Katrina?" he asked, even though he knew. Katrina was the biggest LBR at KISS.
"In science, she came up to me an asked me if I had a nose job!" said Jaine. The blonde always boasted not having been to a surgeon.
"She's just jealous, because she looks like..." Emmy started.
"An ugly thing I can't even describe." Massie finished, seeing a mental picture of Katrina in her head. She dressed like a hippie. She had artificial blonde hair, with red roots, a nose ring, and horrible acne. To top it all off, she thought she was the most popular girl in school.
"She spilled paint on me in art class, told everyone my parents were divorced, and today, she said you were friends with some weird girl in a mental hospital, Mass!" Emmy ranted. The last comment caught both James and Massie's interest.
"Mental hospital?" Massie asked, very confused.
"Oh yeah," Jaine was excited to share gossip. "She just got a pen-pal assignment with a girl in your old school OCD."
"And?" the girls leaned in, egger for a gossip session.
"And, she did some research on OCD. I know because Mrs. O'Karma forced me to do research with her. Anyway, you know how if you see the word OCD in an article, they put it on when you search the word? Well, there was an article about a girl named Claire Lyons who was in a mental hospital for...I can't remember the reason. But I said, Massie probably was friends with another Claire. In her picture, this girl wore Keds!" Massie's skipped a beat. Thud, thud, thud...thud.
ooOOooOOoo
"Mom!" Massie's yell echoed through the halls. "Mom!"
"Yes?" Kendra was sitting in the living room, watching the news.
Massie ran in, collapsing on the brown recliner. Their maid Lucille, brought her a iced mocha latte which Kendra had brought on her daily trip to Starbucks. Their living room as huge. It was technically the great room of a castle. Window doors surrounded the walls, giving the room a light, airy, feeling. White and brown leather couches, faced a huge fireplace. An even bigger flat-screen TV was mounted on the wall. The room opened up to the breakfast bar of the kitchen.
"Wait sweetie, before you tell me, remember, your father's having a dinner party. You can either stay, and talk to the guests, or avoid the living room for tonight. Maybe, invite a friend over?" Kendra asked. Massie mentally cursed herself. She had forgotten about the dinner party. But, she had more important things on her mind.
"Mom, Claire's in a MENTAL HOSPITAL!"
Kendra sighed. Long and sad.
"Massie, I know."
Massie couldn't believe it. One of her best friends. One of her betas was in trouble, and she wasn't informed.
"But, how?"
Her mother sighed again. All Massie could think about was Claire. Sweet, innocent, candy-loving, Keds wearing, Claire.
"Massie. A week ago, we received some news for Jay and Judi. Claire had a boyfriend, Cameron. At a freshman party, Claire had a little too much to drink. She was really wild. Her boyfriend apparently broke up with her for another girl, at the party, and she got very mad. She had drank way too much than she was supposed too, and attacked the girl, injuring her badly. Claire didn't know what she was doing. She also injured Cameron. The girl was knocked out, and was taken to the hospital. Eventually, the same happened to Claire. The police wanted Claire to be in rehab for a month, just to be safe. Everything was cleared up, and the hosts of the party spent some time in the police station. We thought the news would upset you, so we didn't tell you."
Massie couldn't process the information. There was only one thing she could do.
"Mom, thanks for telling me. I'm going to go face time my friends in Westchester."
ooOOooOOoo
Kristen was the first to respond.
"Well, you see, Claire was at this party and..."
"I know!" Massie yelled.
"Everyone at school is gossiping," Dylan said, "She totally ruined her rep." The rest of the PC agreed.
"We're thinking of kicking her out of the PC!" Alicia chimed in.
"What!" apparently, PC rules had changed. "How could you! It wasn't her fault. Who hosted the party, anyway?"
Her three friends all exchanged glances.
"What?"
"It was Derrick Herrington." Alicia finally said.
Massie shuddered at the stupidity of her ex. James was a total upgrade from him.
"Anyway Mass," Dylan said, "Cam was going to break up with Claire anyway." Even though they had never told their friend, the PC had thought, and betted gossip points, that Cam would break up with Claire before the new year. The formerly sweet Blairwood boy had become, well, a jerk. He was obsessed with soccer, missed his dates with Claire, dissed the PC in public, and spilled punch on Massie's Lois Vuitton handbag.
"Who did he ditch her for at the party? Please tell me that it wasn't Faux-Livia" Massie rolled her eyes at the mention of Alicia's ex beta, and plastic surgery addict.
"No, it was some one even worse." Alicia said, grinning.
"I don't even know!" Kristen excitedly said.
"It was Layne!"