THE P.C. IS BACK…

Location: The Block Estate; The Block's Pool

Time: 3:45 p.m.

Massie

I yawned and took my Ray Bans off my eyes and replaced them on the top of my head. As usual, I looked perfect. The sun glittered of my pool, making the blue pigment brighter than normal, and my summer tan was finally perfected. I wore a salmon Vera Wang one-piece swimsuit and the straps of the swimsuit were adorned with Swarovski crystals, and I finished my look by tying a beautiful mint blue sarong that lay loosely on my now developed hips.

It is currently in the high 80s and a warm breeze passed through every few seconds. Although it seemed the perfect weather, it disguised the fact that it would soon rain. I tried to remain calm, but a thought kept intruding on the calm afternoon. The P.C. and I would all be graduating into East Mountain High School, and even though I didn't want to admit it, I was nervous. Obviously, I knew there would be older Alphas who everyone would follow instead of me, but I'd already started planning how I would rule the new school. A smile played at my lips. The only way to rise to the top, would be to be a couple of steps ahead of everyone. That's why I called an emergency meeting with the Pretty Committee.

"Hey Massie," Dylan called out, sitting on the pool chair next to me. She was staring at her Vogue magazine, biting her lips, deep in thought.

"What?!" I snapped at her. I was feeling really tense, and Dylan's obnoxious questions wouldn't calm me down. Dylan flinched, and tossed her flowing red locks into a perfect messy bun, complete with loose tendrils framing her face.

"Geesh, okay then, never mind." Dylan sounded hurt and she lifted the magazine to her face.

I let out a mouthful of air and turned to face her. "Dyl, I'm so sorry, kay. I'm just so stressed and…"

I looked away and stared sadly at the iron wrought gates that were newly added to the Estate. Kristen, Claire, and Alicia hadn't arrived yet, and it made me angry and confused. I'd told them to get here at 3:00 sharp, and yet 45 minutes later, only Dylan had arrived.

Dylan tossed her magazine aside and reached over to the pool table for the ice blend smoothie they got at Starbucks. She stood up and removed the pale green sarong that we'd picked out when we went shopping at Brandy Melville. Underneath the sarong, Dylan sported a pearl white bikini top that she got from the Bahamas, and wore a matching bottom that was extremely cheeky, even for Dylan. She looked over to me and we both smiled.

"Swim contest?" I wiggled her eyebrows and Dylan burst out laughing.

"Should we wait for the others?" As Dylan asked this, my IPhone 6 rang out. I reached for the purple cased phone and answered the call. Dylan moved closer so she could here who was there. Kristen was breathing heavily on the other line. "Ew, Kris, why are you doing that?" I asked.

"Sorry," Kristen said impatiently, even though she was the one late to my pool conference. "My mom and dad told me that they couldn't drop me off at your place, so I'm running over. Then, I remembered that I left my phone home, and when I realized this, I was already a mile away from home." She finished breathlessly.

"So, why didn't you just call me to pick you up?" I demanded, getting more and more frustrated by the moment.

The breathing stopped on the other line for a second. "Wow, for a straight-A student, I'm not the brightest." She began giggling and so did Dylan and I.

"So where are you, I'll call Isaac to pick you up. And do you know where Leesh and Claire are?" I finished.

Kristen didn't answer. The smell of a barbecue wafted through the air, and laughter rang out. The sky was a brilliant gray color, signaling the beginning of a rainstorm. I motioned to Dylan to start packing up our things, and Dylan got to work. Over the summer, since the Wayans' moved next to the Estate, it hasn't been so quiet. The Wayans' had 18 children, and another one got born on August 18, my birthday. I remembered those mornings when I would wake up to Mr. Wayan mowing the lawn at 5:00 a.m. If it wasn't that, it would be the huge amount of toys the Wayan kids left on their lawns that disfigured the beauty of the neighborhood.

I snapped back to reality and remembered that Kristen still hadn't spoken a word. By now, Dylan had already went inside, and little trickles of rain began splashing down on my head. I began my walk inside.

"KRISTEN!" I screamed. "Are you freaking deaf?! Answer my question! I've been waiting for you guys since 3 and it's freaking four o' clock, and I'm so sick and tired of you guys flaking on me." Massie breathed in and entered her large foyer.

"Massie…" Kristen took in a deep sigh, and I could hear the annoyed beeping of car noises in the background. "Claire and Leesh are at…they're at…the Joyce's birthday party." I gasped. I couldn't believe that my two best friends ditched me to go to the Joyce's party! My number one enemies. I collapsed on my sofa and hung up on Kristen.

Location: The Joyce's Estate

Time: 4:00 p.m.

People: Claire Lyons and Alicia Rivera

Claire

I bit my lips, a new bad habit that I'd become accustomed to, as I waved myself through the gyrating bodies that surrounded me. Ever since Alicia dragged me into coming to this party, I'd felt so guilty. For one, I didn't inform Massie, and I knew the brunette would be infuriated. Secondly, the Joyce's were Massie's number one concern ever since they met at the Block's "End-Of-Summer" pool party. Usher's OMG rang out and everyone began screaming. A girl dressed in a tight black body con dress pushed me, slamming me into a confused waiter who gave me a dirty look. She looked over to me, her eyes barely registering who she just slammed into. She pulled her friend with her and they went on the dance floor. How rude! I thought. I wasn't surprised though. All the people I'd met were rude snobs that thought they were better than everyone else. I actually had to stop one of the Joyce 'sisters' from dumping a Diet Cherry Coke on one of the waitresses who got her order wrong.

I spotted Alicia, dancing with the second Joyce 'sister,' Xiomara. As usual, Alicia looked flawless. She upgraded her looks over the summer by layering her gorgeous black locks into a shoulder length bob. She'd finished it by adding blonde highlights at the tips of her hair and she curled the ends. She was wearing a floor length navy blue gown that had a beautiful sweet heart neckline made out of lace. On her neck glittered a necklace with one crystal on it that she got from Spain. She looked effortlessly amazing, and I felt a little embarrassed. All I wore was my yellow sundress from Florida and my Calvin Klein combats that took up 3 months of my allowance. I had spent hours curling my honey blond hair to perfection, but the humidity had flattened them into sorry ringlets. I put little to no makeup on, and wore Massie's Baby Breath lip-gloss from Glossip Girl that she had trashed.

Ugh. I thought. No matter how hard I try, I will never be anywhere close to as good as the Pretty Committee. I flashed back to when I first moved to Westchester from Kissimmee, Florida. I was the new girl, and the Pretty Committee hadn't warmed up to me yet. All they did was play pranks on me until finally, Massie the Alpha, had took me in. It took a lot of convincing, but the Pretty Committee finally recognized me as one of their own. What I was doing now, by attending this party, was sure to get me kicked out.

I stopped by the bar and sighed. I looked over and saw Alicia wobbling on her heels and laughing hysterically. Earlier this morning, Alicia had asked…no begged me to come with her.

...

"Come on Kuh-laire! This is like…the highlight of summer!" Alicia begged, staring intently at her new gold IPhone 6.

"I mean look!" She swiveled her chair in my direction and held out her phone. I moved closer, squinting to see the interface of the phone. On the screen, I saw the Instagram logo, and the picture I was looking at was from last summer. It showed a picture of all the Joyce 'sisters' taking a selfie in the midst of their party. Their mouths were wide open in a half smile and their eyes glittered mysteriously. I bit my lip.

"Alicia, come on, you know Massie will have a cow if she knows we went to their party." I pointed out. She turned sharply, and looked at me with her dark eyes. She smiled coyly and moved closer.

"Well, I guess that's cool, it's just that I heard that Rupert Mann will be there. He's looking for some new people for his new movie, Cast in the Ocean, starring Jamie Dunn." She looked at me expectantly. She figured that because I starred in his last movie, Dial L for Loser, I would pick it up. I guess she was right.

"Okay fine."

She squealed in delight, and ran over to hug me.

"On one condition."

She stopped where she was, her arms circling the open air. She dropped them against her sides. "What is it now?" She blew a piece of stray hair that had fallen over her eyes.

I raised my pointer finger. "Number one: you cannot leave me while I'm there. I don't know them, and this is a high school party so things could get crazy." She rolled her eyes, and nodded in agreement.

"Number two: please do not drink anything. We are responsible for each other." I stopped, waiting for her to agree.

"Fineee." She drew out an exasperated sigh.

"And number three," I raised my ring finger. "Do not take any pictures-

"But- She started.

"No, I'm serious. We cannot have any photographic evidence of us being at the party. Lay low and don't make any chaotic scenes." She frowned.

"I am so serious, Leesh, follow these rules or I'm not going." Her eyes became alert and she blew out another exasperated breath.

"Okay, okay fine. I promise to do as your ridiculous rules say."

...

Someone tapped me on the shoulder, and I turned face them. A familiar face looked at me.

"Hallo dahll, it's so nayce to meet you ahgain." Rupert Mann smiled at me. I stood up and gave him a friendly hug, happy that I found someone that I knew at this party.

"Hey Rupert, how are you?" I smiled back at him. He was holding a blue concoction in his hand and I motioned to it, confused about what it could be. He laughed.

"It's just sahm fizzy blue cocah-nut wah-ter, and I'm doing just fine thank you." He sat down and I sat down beside him.

"So, I heard you're shooting a new movie." My statement sounded like a question. Ever since filming the last movie, making more movies has been something I began to gain an interest in. Back then, I was a shy kid who was afraid to stand up for what I wanted, and Massie had made me feel stupid that I got the role and she didn't. I was hoping there would be some other chance I could get to prove to her that she will never going to be as good as she thought she was. That's right. I've got a plan.

"Yass, I will be mah-king a new film, and I would lah-ve for you to stah-r in it." He smiled reassuringly. I gave a squeal of joy.

"I'll cah-ll your parents tomah-rrow with the information." He stood up and gave me one last hug.

"Bye Rupert." I called after him. I was so excited and I began laughing and dancing. Then I looked at the time. Oh oh, I thought, I've gotta find Alicia. Massie is going to be so pissed.

I pulled out my IPhone 5s that I got from my parents for my birthday, and called Alicia. I only got her voicemail, and I grunted in anger. All the rules that I laid down for her. She broke. Every. Single. One. Of. Them.

I was beginning to get angry, and I looked around the room. Everyone was dancing and laughing and Taylor Swift's I Knew You Were Trouble blasted out of the speakers and everyone began whooping. In the middle of the dance floor was a girl wearing a ripped blue dress that appeared to have been dragged through mud. She was whipping her black bob around in crazy circles.

Wait. That couldn't be… I squinted, and I recognized Alicia's necklace. Ehmagawd. This cannot be happening. My anger began turning into concern. I pushed my way past the dance circle and I began calling out Alicia's name.

"DANCE, DANCE, DANCE, DANCE!" The crowd began to chant. I reached as close I could to get Alicia's arm. Once I got hold of her, I yanked her out and dragged her to the bar. My fury returned.

"Sit down now!" I commanded. She looked up at me, and my breath caught on how trashed up she looked. Her eyes were swollen, and her lip was now sporting a red welt underneath it. Her neck was covered with different types of bruises and I gasped.

I reached out to touch her. "Leesh, what happ-

She looked away. "Don't tell anyone." She sounded distant.

"Leesh, we have to-

"I SAID DON'T TELL ANYONE!" She faced me, her face etched out in anger.

I swallowed in fear. Why did I allow this to get too far?

The Block Estate

Massie's Bedroom

6:04 p.m.

Dylan

I reached underneath me and picked out a wedgie that had been bothering me ever since we'd been in the pool. I looked over to Massie, who looked furious on her bed, while reading the Vogue magazine she got yesterday. She was trying to look calm, as if she didn't care about the news that Alicia had been beaten by one of the Joyce sisters.

It was a shock when Claire called earlier crying that something horrible had happened to Alicia.

…...

"So…what should we do?" Massie blinked her eyes comically at me.

I smiled. "You've never said that before. Usually you have everything planned out." I began laughing.

Massie shifted uncomfortably on her king sized bed with turquoise sheets that matched her new bedroom. I stopped laughing and realized what I'd said. I stood up from the corner of her bedroom and moved over to her.

"I'm so sorry Massie, that's not-" I began.

She held a pink manicured finger to my face. "Stop." She moved underneath her comforter. I sighed and started my trek to the living room. As I reached the doorway, Massie's iPhone began ringing. I sharply turned and saw Massie rustling about, looking for her phone. I spotted it on her marble dresser and ran to it.

Breathlessly, I answered. "Hello?"

I heard loud sobbing on the other end. "Massie?"

"Um, yes this is Massie." I bit my lip at the lie. Massie stood staring at me. She reached out to grab the phone and I motioned her to stop.

"Listen Mass, I'm so sorry Leesh and I couldn't make it. But I need you to come to the Joyce's party and pick us up. Leesh is really hurt." The line started breaking. "Please Mass, we need help right now. Mass? Mass? Please answer." Then the line went dead.

I dropped the phone and turned to Massie. She looked at me with horror. I guess she heard everything.

I moved next to her with caution. "Mass, we need to go and help them. Something's happened to Leesh and we can't leave them like that. You heard Claire start crying! When has she ever cried that much before?" Massie stubbornly moved her head.

I moved away from her, annoyed at her self-centeredness. "If you're not going, I am." I stormed away from her and raced downstairs.

"ISAAC!" I screamed. He turned around startlingly holding an arm load of food. There was a bagel hanging from his mouth that was half chewed.

For the first time I wasn't hungry. "Isaac, something's happened to Leesh and Claire. We need to go meet them."

He hurriedly dropped all the food on the counter and grabbed his keys. He motioned upstairs, "Is Massie coming?" I shook my head sadly. We began racing to the Range Rover that the Block's had gotten Isaac for Christmas.