The Alliance 1, a clique fanfic

They didn't understand her

"You just don't get it, do you?" she asked.

"I do. Massie, please. You know what T is like. Give him one more chance." L tried to reason with her.

"I've given him a million chances, and he's blown them all. I'm sorry." She was ice-cold now.

So she left them and formed her own group.

"The Alliance is officially on," she spat into her iPhone. "Meet me in the library pronto."

Now, AMSA is about to get the full-blown force of two warring groups.

"This means war, L, as I'm sure you know."

"I didn't want you to go down this way," she added.

And only one can be the ultimate champion.

"I didn't want it to end this way," she said, and pulled the trigger.

Two gallons of water squirted over L's face. Massie punched the air once the spray cleared and she could see L. He was soaked.

Who knew victory was this sweet? Massie thought.

Starring:

Massie Block

"He blew all of his chances. I'm sorry." She stood up, and walked away.

Alicia Rivera

"I thought you liked L…as a friend, I mean."

Kristen Gregory

"I personally think we need to make a peace treaty with them." Kristen twirled a strand of blond hair around her index finger.

"Ew, why?" Alicia asked.

"Don't you see? This whole thing is tearing the school apart. Half are on L's side, and half are on Massie's."

Dylan Marvil

"I'm starving, anyone got any food?" Dylan threw her LV onto her seat.

"You ARE a pig," Massie said.

Claire Lyons

Claire fished around in her pocket. "Want a gummy worm?" she held one out to Massie.

"No, thanks. Sugar won't help."

"At least give him one more…"

"No." She cut him off. T had gotten enough chances and he'd blown them all.

"So she left because I ruined her life. Cry me a river, build me a bridge, and get over it."

"Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo…"

"What are you doing?"

"You weren't supposed to see me, GAWD!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! I'm a crappy secret agent!"

"Here are the donuts you requested."

"Want one, Massie?"

"I'd rather not waste my calories."

"Your loss."

Z let out a choking, hiccupping noise that sounded like a strangled laugh. Massie turned around faster than you could say "alpha".

"What was that?" she asked sweetly.

"Trusting L is never a good idea." Z said.

"Why?"

"How much do you know about the nasty deaths that took place at AMSA two years ago?"

"Not much…"

"What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?"

Dragon Pictures

Presents

The Alliance

"You're going to regret this someday."

"Maybe. But not today."

AMSA Parking Lot B, 1500 hours, one year ago

Massie sat down on the grass next to a grey-blue Honda Accord that she knew for a fact belonged to her Latin teacher. She buried her face in her jacket.

L sat down next to her. "Massie, whatever I did, I'm sorry."

"It's not you," she muttered "You're freaking wonderful. It's T. I'm sorry. I just can't work with him anymore."

"At least give him one more chance," L pleaded.

"You just don't get it, do you?" she asked.

"Massie, you know what T is like. Just give him one more chance."

"No. He's gotten enough and he blew them all."

"At least give him one more…"

"No." Massie cut him off, her voice cold as ice. "I've given him a million chances. He blew them all."

"So… you're leaving."

"Yes. Farewell."

"You're going to regret this someday."

"Maybe. But not today." Massie stood up, threw her cashmere scarf around her neck, and strode off.

"Come back…" L trailed off. He considered chasing after her, but that would look like he had a crush on her.

"Come back…" he said, his voice a whisper now. He got up and left.

"The Alliance is officially on." Massie spat into her iPhone. She heard six gasps, one from Alicia, one from Dylan, one from Kristen, one from Claire, one from her friend A, who was in seventh grade with her and one from her friend Z who was in ninth grade. "Meet me in the library pronto."

"Oh, but the library's for nerds," Z fake-whined.

"Ha ha ha," Massie fake-laughed. "See you in," she checked her watch, "five minutes."

She walked purposefully towards the school building, climbed the stairs, and entered the peace and quiet of the library.

The Library, 1520 hours one year ago

The library was empty but for A, Z, Dylan, Kristen, Alicia, and Claire when Massie arrived. She sat in the last squashy armchair and placed her book bag on the table in the center.

"As I told you, the Alliance is official. I said farewell to L today, five minutes ago," she said.

"I thought you liked L… as a friend, I mean," Alicia said.

"That was last year," Massie said. "Now, he's my sworn enemy."

"Wait, who are we up against?" A pushed his square framed glasses up as they slid down his narrow nose.

"T, C, L, and J." Massie said nonchalantly.

"Oh. OK. I know all of them, so…"

"Excellent. I declare this meeting dismissed. I'll make badges tonight."

The AMSA Hallway, Lower School, Second Floor, 0800 hours, present day

Massie barreled through the congested hallway. She didn't have time to stop and apologize to the lowly sixth graders she knocked down. She was in a hurry to get to an emergency pre-class meeting with her English and Literature teacher. This meeting wasn't about grades. It was about something secret.

Massie entered the classroom. Nobody was there. There was a large file addressed to her on the table. Her amber eyes sparkled excitedly. She picked it up and opened it. Her teacher had fulfilled the mission. In the file were photos of L, T, C, and J, taken by a hidden camera. There were files on each of them in twelve-point Times New Roman. Massie shoved the file into her book bag and made her way to homeroom. She barely made it.

She sat down in her usual seat, next to A, and passed him the file. Then, her iPhone buzzed, announcing a text from Z.

REQUESTING URGENT MEETING it said WHEN IS CONVENIENT FOR U?

LIBRARY AFTER SCHOOL Massie texted back. THAT OK?

YEPZ texted back.

Massie grinned and dropped her iPhone discreetly into her bag.

Meanwhile, in the Library…

"I can't believe it. She left." L put his face in his hands. "And it's all because of you, T!" he said.

"So she left because I ruined her life. Cry me a river, build me a bridge, and GET OVER IT!! It's been a year!" T licked the last of the powder off a powdered donut.

"Shut up." L said.

"I pride myself on being intelligent," C began. "Yeah, do you also pride yourself on being a stuck-up little a**hole?" T asked.

"Erm, no, now that you mention it." C said.

"Well, then, shut up," T said bluntly.

"You know what?" L said suddenly. "Maybe Massie was right. You are a brat."

T made his cute face- his lower lip wobbled, and his eyes brimmed with tears.

L instantly dropped his anger.

Then, the bell rang, summoning them to homeroom.

The Library, 1500 hours

"In exactly fifteen seconds, Z will be-speak of the devil! This is the closest to punctuality he'll ever get." Massie said as Z barreled through the door of the library.

"We only have a few minutes until the Tormentors show up, so I'll be quick," he said.

"The Tormentors?" Alicia asked.

"This is their secret meeting place too." Z said.

"Talk. Now. DISH." Massie said.

"Well, I saw L texting C over his shoulder, and he was saying that they should conference about you destroying the Alliance and joining them."

"NEVER!" Massie yelled. At that moment, L and the Tormentors crashed awkwardly through the library entrance, completely ruining their planned dramatic entrance. It seemed that C was in a headlock with T, and T was losing. L and J were trying to pry them apart.

L stood up and kicked T. T swore and got up. C was on the ground, panting and laughing like a lunatic.

"Dial L" Massie coughed. She didn't need to elaborate. Everyone in the Alliance knew that she was referring to the film Dial L For Loser.

L walked over to Massie. "See you in the conference room. We have something to discuss."

"The usual rules?" Massie asked.

"Yes."

"Excellent." The usual rules were:

One ally per head-L usually brought C, and Massie usually brought Alicia- her dad was a lawyer, so she could negotiate.

No booby traps-C disabled hers, and A disabled his.

No bribery (unless it's in the form of food.)

Massie and Alicia raced up the specially designated "up" stairs to the fourth floor (usually a staff-only place, but…)

L and C raced up the "down" stairs, without getting caught. They reached the conference room first, but only because Alicia was bad at running.

Massie was the only one who held a key, so they waited for her. She and Alicia arrived fashionably late.

Conference Room, 1520 hours

Even though A had disabled his booby traps, and C had disabled hers, Massie stepped carefully around the rigged areas. She and Alicia sat at one end of the conference table, and L and C sat at the other end.

"So, what brings you here, L?" Massie asked sweetly.

"I want to negotiate terms for a peace treaty." L said calmly.

"I agree to that." Massie said.

"So, the first term is…" L began.

"No. We need to each make up a copy of the terms. I propose a recess." Alicia said.

"Ok then." L said.

Massie and Alicia pored over their yellow legal pad, scribbling out the peace treaty. In the end, they came up with this:

Peace Treaty Between the Alliance and the Tormentors

I solemnly swear that I will obey the following rules

No more plotting against my opposition.

No more booby trapping the locations of my opposition's meetings

No more attacks on my opposition.

No more rudeness to my opposition.

Keeping all promises made to my opposition.

Obeying all these guidelines and any more should they come up.

If you agree, sign on one of the lines below.

_______________________________ _________________________________

______________________________

She put it down on the table and slid it across to L and C, who in turn slid their copy across to her and Alicia. Their copy looked something like this.

Peace Treaty Thingy

I solemnly swear that I will obey all the rules below to the best of my abilities

No more secret text message conversations.

1. No more booby traps in secret meeting places.

2. No more bribery to my opposition.

3. No more plotting against my opposition

4. Obeying all these guidelines and any more should they come up.

If you agree, sign on one of the lines below.

__________________________ _____________________________

__________________________

"Really sloppy, but it looks exactly like ours," Massie said.

"We agree to these terms." L and Massie said at the same time.

"Excellent." L said.

"Wait, does everyone have to sign it?" Massie asked.

"Nah, I just felt like drawing all the lines." C said. "What about yours?"

"Same." Alicia said.

"We agree." L and Massie sealed the deal with a handshake. Then, J arrived panting.

"Here are the donuts you requested." He dropped a pink Dunkin Donuts box onto the table.

"Want one, Massie?" L asked.

"I'd rather not waste my calories," she said.

"Your loss." C smirked.

Massie and Alicia walked back to the library.

Meanwhile, in the library…

Kristen lay on her armchair so that her legs dangled over one armrest and her head rested on the other.

"I personally think we need to make a peace treaty with them." Kristen twirled a strand of blond hair around her index finger.

"Ew, why?" Dylan asked.

"Don't you see? This whole thing is tearing the school apart. Half are on L's side, and half are on Massie's."

"Maybe we like it that way," Dylan said.

"Well, I don't." Kristen said.

"Why don't you pull a Massie, then?" Dylan said. Pulling a Massie had become the euphemism for splitting off and forming your own group.

"Maybe I will." Kristen muttered.

The Library, 1545 hours

Z was the only one left when Massie and Alicia reached the library.

"So, how did it go?" he asked.

"We negotiated a peace treaty. Now, we have a truce. I trust him to keep up his end of the bargain, and I will keep up mine." Massie said over her shoulder as she and Alicia hurried out.

Z let out a choking, hiccupping noise that sounded like a strangled laugh. Massie turned around faster than you could say "alpha".

"What was that?" she asked sweetly.

"Trusting L is never a good idea." Z said.

"Why?"

"How much do you know about the nasty deaths that took place at AMSA two years ago?" Z asked.

"Not much…"Massie said. "Tell me tomorrow, same time, same place, with all of us here."

She and Alicia walked out of the school to Massie's Range Rover.

"We're waiting for Dylan," Isaac said to Massie. At that moment, Dylan showed up.

"I'm starving, has anyone got any food?" Dylan threw her LV onto her seat before she sat down.

"You ARE a pig," Massie said.

Dylan snorted a few times for effect.

Massie looked glumly out the window on the ride home. Claire fished around in her pocket. "Want a gummy worm?" She held one out to Massie.

"No thanks. Sugar won't help." Massie said.

"What are you worried about?" Claire asked.

"Well, Z told me he has some inside information on L. He says L was somehow connected to the nasty murders that took place at the school a few years ago." Massie shot this out in one breath.

"Nasty murders?" Claire asked.

"DISH. NOW!" Dylan said.

"He said he'll tell us tomorrow," Massie said.

The Library, 1500 hours

"So, what was that about L that you were telling me yesterday?" Massie looked at Z.

"Well, he and C have a sort of AMSA mini-mafia. They have their allies and their enemies. Three years ago, when L and I were sixth graders, this group of girls got on L's bad side. The next day, they were found strangled behind AMSA. I saw L kill them, but he denied everything. He threatened me when I was going to turn him in." Z's hand shook and he accidentally knocked over his latte. It spilled all over his pre-Calculus textbook.

"Oh, CRAP!!!" he yelled. Massie leapt up and dashed to the bathroom. She returned with a good supply of paper towels and helped him mop the mess up.

"So, L was involved in the nasty deaths? And he threatened to kill you too if you turned him in?" she asked.

"Yeah, pretty much." Z said. "Thanks for cleaning up the latte mess. I'm not usually a coffee person."

"I can see that," Massie commented.

"Ha ha ha." Z said. "So original. Laugh when someone older than you suffers."

"What can I say? It's a classic." Massie feigned innocence.

"Well, anyway, L stopped talking to me after that, and we sort of drifted apart." Z said.

"Why didn't you turn him in then?" Massie asked.

"Because he might still act on his threat." Z muttered. "And I'm scared."

"Wuss," Massie coughed into her hand.

"Shut up!" Z said.

"Listen, I've got to go." Massie said, looking at her watch. She grabbed Alicia, who grabbed Kristen, who grabbed Dylan, who grabbed Claire, who grabbed her gummy worms, and walked to the Range Rover.

The Library, 0800 hours

Z waved a hand in front of Massie's face. "Hello? Are you listening?"

"No," Massie said, "I'm thinking about this strange dream I had. There was an oracle, you know, like the Delphi one, and she said

As a team you'll compete for the ultimate prize

But only two to power shall rise

When you need it most, your knowledge will fail

Tormentors and Allies combined will prevail."

"What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?" A asked.

"That's what I was hoping you could figure out, Mr. Brainiac." Massie teased.

"If you insult me, I won't do anything." A threatened.

"Big deal. I think it basically means that we are supposed to team up with the Tormentors. And you and L are supposed to compete for some sort of 'ultimate prize' or something." Alicia nibbled on a biscotti left over from lunch.

"Brilliant, Leesh!" Z said. "That's pretty much what the oracles used to do. They delivered cryptic messages from the gods.

Massie smiled. She knew just how to win.

Meanwhile, in the conference room…

A had still not turned his booby traps back on, so the Tormentors were meeting in the conference room. L sat at the table, J was getting donuts, T was stuffing his face with sugar, and C was draining her third-or was it fourth, or fifth, or sixth- espresso.

"You do know you're going to hit a wall later when all the caffeine wears off," L muttered. C ignored him. J barreled in just then, holding a pink Dunkin' Donuts box.

"I'm back," he panted.

"Excellent." L said. T instantly ran over to the table, grabbed five donuts, and shoved them into his mouth all at once.

"You eat like a pig, T." L said.

"Now that we are all here, I wanted to tell you about this strange dream I had last night. I saw this oracle lady, and she said

As a team, you'll compete for the ultimate prize.

But only two to power shall rise.

When you need it most, your knowledge will fail

Tormentors and Allies combined will prevail."

"Now what the hell is that supposed to mean?" T asked, shoving a sixth donut into his mouth. C got another espresso.

"Well, I think it means that Massie and I will have to team up to receive the ultimate prize and that we are supposed to team up with the Alliance in general." L said. Everyone was dumbstruck. A half eaten donut fell off T's index finger. C put her espresso down on its saucer with a soft clink. J blinked like an owl.

"Team up with them? Never in my life!" T finally burst out.

"We have to. It's fate." L said simply. C downed her espresso. Then the bell rang.

The Conference Room, 1500 hours

Today was a great exception to the conference room rules. All of the Alliance and all of the Tormentors were sitting in chairs around the long polished table. C and A were discussing gadgetry, and A was blushing a shade of red to match his sweater. L and Z were glaring daggers at each other from opposite sides of the conference room table. Massie, Alicia, Kristen, Dylan, and Claire were plotting their revenge on T. Finally, Dylan handed over a chocolate chip cookie. Massie coated it with sleeping powder, and gave it to T. He snarfed it down and instantly fell asleep. L prodded him in the side repeatedly, and finally yelled "Get off of me! You're crushing me!" T snapped awake.

Finally, Massie stood up and tapped a teaspoon against her latte. "Ah-tenntion! Ah-tenntion!" Everyone's faces turned to her.

"Ech-hem! You all know the secret purpose of this meeting. If you don't, it's because we have to team up in the search for the ultimate prize. SO, L and I have put together a list of rules that you all have to sign." Massie grabbed L by the arm and forced him to stand up. He passed her a letter with a lot of lines on the bottom. She put it on the table. One by one, the Alliance and the Tormentors all signed it. Massie picked the letter up and put it in her purse.

"Excellent," she said, and then left with the Pretty Committee in tow.

The Library, 0800 hours

Massie perched on the armrest of a squashy armchair. Z was sitting in the armchair and he refused to get up. He was too busy glaring daggers at L. T and C were sitting with their backs to each other, and C was talking to A again.

"If I didn't know better, I'd accuse A of fraternizing with the enemy." Massie whispered into Z's ear. Z didn't respond.

Massie stood up and cleared her throat. "Ech-hem!"

Everyone looked at her. Even Z and L broke eye contact. Now that's a first, Massie thought. Usually even an earthquake combined with a volcanic eruption couldn't distract them from glaring daggers at each other.

"I have decided to call you here in order to plan." Massie got straight to the point.

"Plan what?" T asked. What a clueless moron, Massie thought.

"Plan that little competition for the 'ultimate prize' that the oracle mentioned." Massie said.

"Oh. I still don't get it." J said.

"AAAGH! Shut up for once, you little delinquent!" Massie screamed.

J looked hurt for a minute, then ate a jelly donut. That seemed to cheer him up a little.

Massie looked around. Everyone was looking at her. She blinked.

"Ah, um, well, you all know why we are here. Today AMSA announced its school-wide Olympiad. This consists of a writing contest, a math competition, a Latin competition, a programming contest, and an obstacle course."

Z gulped audibly. "What was that?" Massie asked.

"Well, AMSA's obstacle courses are usually deadlier than normal ones." Z said.

"Why?" L asked.

"Uh, this is a school for genii. And since they're smart, they can make lava pits, acid geysers, volcanic climbing walls, and of course… THE KILLER." Z ticked the obstacles off on his fingers.

"What's the Killer?" Massie asked.

"It's a series of flaming hoops, followed by a ropes course, followed by disabling a bomb." Z smiled. "It's kind of difficult."

Massie gulped, then continued. "We can compete on our own, or in teams. I think this is what the Oracle meant. We all have to be a team."

All present were shocked by the profanity that flew out of T's mouth.

"Over my BLEEP-ing dead body!" he finished.

Massie looked at him. "I take that as a yes," she said.

T swore under his breath and punched C. She punched him back. L leaned over and whispered "Cease and desist" to the two before a fight broke out. They sat quietly and listened as Massie outlined the distribution of power.

"We should send Kristen and J for the writing contest, Z and T for the math competition, Dylan, Alicia, and Claire for the Latin championship-we need a full team of three for that one- A and C for the programming competition, and L and I will do the obstacle course. So, are we all agreed on this?"

There were murmurs of assent from the crowd.

"Good. I'm signing us up for it. What should we be called?"

"The Alliance." L said. "It would be a shame to let such a good name go to waste," he added, blushing slightly.

"Got that. Let's make like a banana and split. The Olympiad is next Monday, aka the first day of the last week of school. We only have a week to train." Massie said. "We should meet every day. How about at the multi-purpose quad? It's got a running track, an obstacle course, and some nice study corners. See you there today after classes."

They said goodbye, and Massie, Alicia, Kristen, Dylan and Claire walked to their classes. Massie, Alicia, and Claire had History, Kristen had Algebra, and Dylan had Computer Science, the worst subject ever.

"Cheer up, Dyl. I'll be able to hear your class from the math room." Kristen joked. It was true. Their CS teacher was known for her incredibly loud voice and her constant delusions that the whiteboard with a computer image projected onto it was a Smart Board. Plus, the CS room was next the Algebra and Geometry room.

History Class, 0819 hours

In History, Massie made a list of problems and solutions.

Problems

Solutions

1. School-wide Olympiad *gulp*

1. TRAIN HARD EVERY DAY

2. L?

2. Try not to make the fact that he's the best person in the universe so freaking obvious.

3. My grades

3. STUDY HARDER!!!!!!!!!!!

"Miss Block, I have a feeling those aren't the class notes. And if I'm wrong, which mountains block India from the West?"

Massie was stumped "Uhhh, the Hindu Kush?" she asked.

"Not bad, Miss Block. I was wrong. Those are class notes, then?"

"Um, yeah." Massie quickly hid the paper under her desk.

Meanwhile, in Algebra…

Kristen sped through her Algebra worksheet, and had it on the teacher's desk five minutes after he had given the okay to start. He stared at her.

"Whoa, Roadrunner, slow down!" he laughed. Kristen grinned. She was Roadrunner for two reasons; she was a super-fast runner, and a super-fast thinker. She sat down at her desk, and doodled aimlessly in her notebook. A few minutes later, she realized she had drawn J's name in bubble letters. She hurriedly erased it.

Meanwhile, in CS…

Dylan rolled her eyes and imported pictures from her My Pictures file onto Movie Maker for her project as the teacher delivered the same boring lecture. It was a waste of class time, as far as Dylan was concerned. She opened a Paint file and scribbled something. A few minutes later, she realized she had been scribbling T's name over and over. She hurriedly closed the picture, not saving it.

The Multi-Purpose Quad, 1500 hours

Massie led Alicia, Dylan, Kristen, Claire, J, T, A, C, and Z over to her favorite study oak, and went off to race around the track with L. She had bet him a bag of gummies that she would outrun him, and she wanted those gummies. Well, she didn't, but Claire did. And if she wanted a happy Claire, she had to run like she'd never run before. And technically she had never run before.

Massie caught up with L quickly, and passed him. She smiled over her shoulder at him.

After the jog, they both stopped. L was panting.

Massie smiled. "I believe SOMEONE owes me a bag of gummies," she said. L pulled one out of his pocket and gave it to her. Massie tossed it to Claire, and it hit her on the right ear. Claire looked up and saw the candy. She grinned, and dug in.

"How…do…you…run so fast?" L asked.

"PE pays off later in life." Massie said.

L smiled. "Last time I checked, you were failing PE. What's your real secret?"

"I practice in my room. You'd be surprised how big it is."

"I'm not easily surprised."

Massie laughed.

"You know, I've never heard you really laugh before. It's pretty musical." L said.

Massie shut up instantly.

She walked over to the study oak to see how the academics were going. She zeroed in on Kris and J first.

"Hey guys! How's the writing process coming?"

"Well, we need to write a persuasive essay, so we decided to be supportive of stem cell research." Kristen never looked up from her Dell as she spoke. She was on the Internet, researching and typing almost simultaneously. J was playing with a modified squirt gun that Massie recognized from one of her plots to humiliate L a few months ago. She sighed.

Massie crouched near on open window over the upper school corridor. She had L's timetable memorized, and he should be on his way to history. She zeroed in on him, and aimed the heavy squirt gun.

"I didn't want it to end this way," she said, and pulled the trigger.

Two gallons of water squirted over L's face. Massie punched the air once the spray cleared and she could see L. He was soaked.

Who knew victory was this sweet? Massie thought.

Massie was jerked sharply back to reality when a stray blast from the squirt gun soaked her Juicy tank and DKNY shorts. She shrieked. Then, she went over to check on Alicia, Dylan and Claire. They were sitting and reading. Claire was reading a Roman history text book, Alicia was reading a mythology collection, and Dylan was reading Kristen's grammar notes. Alicia looked up as Massie approached.

"You know," she said "All the goddesses are surprisingly bitchy. Take Artemis: she killed a guy because he caught her swimming naked."

"And the emperors were cool too. Did you know Caligula wanted his horse made a member of the Senate, and once rode into a meeting on the horse?" Claire asked.

"I wish I could say something cool about relative pronouns." Dylan sulked. She was obviously unhappy with her part.

"Dyl, why don't you flip to the vocabulary section? There's a whole page of Latin insults." Kristen yelled over her shoulder. Dylan flipped rapidly.

Massie left the Latin geeks to their studying and went over to Z and T. She saw Z punch T playfully on the shoulder.

"Dude! You dork! How long have you been figuring this out?" Z asked. "This" was a simple equation: 3(x-4)=5(x-2). Z grabbed the paper and erased T's mess-ups. Then, he rewrote it so that T could see.

"Uh, something close to ten minutes. Thanks for the solution." T blushed a deep pink.

Massie went over to the last group; C and A. She saw them arguing over how best to set up a Dalain Explorer treasure hunt and what to name their "ladybug". Massie left the nerds to it, and went back to L. They ran around the track a few more times. Massie set up a rope swing from a maple next to the oak, and she and L practiced for the climbing wall with the mini-mountain (aka a gigantic boulder).

Satisfied with their accomplishments, Massie dismissed everyone, with instructions to "come back tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, and the next…" She, Alicia, Kristen, Dylan, and Claire walked home.

AMSA Cafeteria, Olympiad Day, 0800 hours

Massie, Alicia, Kristen, Dylan, Claire, L, T, C, A, Z, and J were sitting at one circular cafeteria table. Massie could see that L was nervous. It wasn't obvious, but he was picking at a patch of skin around his thumbnail as the principal spoke. "You shouldn't do that," she whispered.

"We are here today," she said "for a test of minds, bodies, and courage. You have trained hard, and I am pleased to announce that the day has finally arrived. We will begin shortly with the mathematics written test. Teams, please send your delegates to the podium."

Massie pushed T forward, then walked over to Z, who had frozen with nerves. He was white as a ghost.

"I can't do this," he whispered. "I can't."

"Yes you can." Massie said, pushing him up to the podium. "Just relax. Pretend it's homework."

Z visibly relaxed. Massie sat back down, and she and L watched as the contestants scribbled out answers. A bunch finished before Z and T, but they didn't finish last, either. The principal got back onto the podium.

"As our mathematics teachers grade the work, we will commence the writing round. Some of you have rough drafts that you have gone over with teachers. You have twenty minutes to make edits and submit. Good luck."

Kristen and J worked as a team; J read and Kristen typed. They were done in five minutes. Kristen looked relieved.

The next round was Latin. Thanks to Alicia and Claire, their team won. Dylan had not prepared well, but Massie couldn't blame her. Latin grammar was boring compared to monsters and emperors.

Finally, it was Massie's and L's time to shine. All their skill was about to be put to the ultimate test.

Massie and L stood next to each other at the start of the track, dressed in matching Alliance t-shirts and navy blue shorts. While the principal spoke, L turned to Massie.

"Massie, if I don't make it, I want you to know something."

"What?"

"I love you. I really do. That's why I wanted the two groups to bond together and team up."

The whistle sounded. L's words gave Massie ultimate power. She ran ahead of everyone, swerving, spiraling, zigzagging, and rolling. She lost track of everyone around her.

Suddenly, she heard a scream. "Massie! HEEEEELP!!!" L yelled. He was close to falling into a lava pit. Massie swung across the ropes course, and threw him a rope. He grabbed on and swung out of reach of the lava. Together, they ran towards the last task: disabling the bomb.

Massie had no knowledge of weapons, so she left this task to L. L went about it the simple way: he set it off. Then, he an Massie ran for their lives.

They finished first, and were awarded two trophies; Best Teamwork and First Place. Massie looked at L.

"I love you too," she said.

Epilogue

It turned out that the others had first place too, and the Alliance triumphed all around.

"This calls for a party!" Z yelled. He ran up to the conference room, and had everything set up before the Alliance got there.

L ignored Massie at the party, until she started flicking caramel popcorn at him. Then, a food fight broke out, and the party was called off.

The least week of the year passed in a blur for Massie; final exams, clearing out her locker, collecting phone numbers, saying goodbye to friends for the last time, and going home for a Pretty Committee sleepover.

As for what happens next year, wait for the sequel.