1st chapter- enjoy!

Have you guys heard of Lisi's new series, The Phoenix Five? It's going to be so cool. I'm also excited for the Gracelet (this item that one of the characters in the series made and Lisi's planning to sell it for, like, real). By the way, if you guys are interested, there's a new Clique community called Ah-mazing ~ A Clique Archive and it's managed by splendeur. If you want to be a staff of the community, just PM her (but you gotta check the rules on her profile page first)! :)

Thanks to hawtjuicyaddict and XDReadingPersonXD for reviewing. Stay loving and keep on reading!

Thanks for the Favorites and Alerts. :3

Sadly, I do not own the Clique, but I do own my OCs. :):

THE HARRINGTON RESIDENCE
KITCHEN
FEBRUARY 05, SUNDAY
2:00 PM

"So, Millie, did Centina say if she's coming?" Maxx Harrington asked as she tied her dark red hair into a messy bun.

"Nope," answered Millie Fisher. "She hasn't texted back yet." She fished out her scratched Samsung out of her skirt pocket and shoved it to her friend's flawless, porcelain-white face.

Maxx squinted at the phone's screen with her narrow, brown eyes. A picture of a huge, fluffy cloud floating in the grey-blue sky was all she saw. "Um... okay." Maxx finally said. It didn't really bother her whether or not Centina Crane came to her house—they were friends, but they weren't super close either. She just invited her because her mom, Dylan Marvil-Harrington, thought it would be nice to see a familiar, yet somehow fresh face. "Besides, the more the merrier, right?" Dylan had told her daughter.

Satisfied, Millie put back her phone in her pocket and went back to tying her apron.

"Uh, you guys?" Roxanne Solomon called, waving a black hairnet in the air. "Whatever happened to wearing hair nets while cooking?" She shot a dubious look at Maxx's messy bun.

Maxx wrinkled her nose and huffed. "Hair nets are ugly," she explained. "And we're baking nawt cooking. Besides, whenever my mom cooks, she hardly uses a hair net... and you know how her hair can be." As soon as the words left her glossed mouth, she quickly looked around, hoping her mom wasn't lurking nearby.

Roxanne's almond-shaped sea green eyes widened in horror. "You mean, not even when she's cooking for Red Spoon?" Red Spoon was the cafe that her mom owned. It wasn't as popular as that old coffee place, Starbucks, but with franchising and expansion, the logo of Red Spoon would become more popular than that starry-haired lady.

"Of course she does!" Maxx snorted. Sometimes, she found it annoying whenever their beta always insisted in following "tradition" or old rules that most wouldn't be caught dead following anymore. "It's like, mandatory. But she usually doesn't when she cooks for us."

"I don't need a hair net!" Millie giggle-interrupted, giving her light brown hair a quick tug. Her short hair stopped just below her sharp chin, making it hard for her to do any hairstyling other than braiding, clipping, or using a headband. "It's not like we're going to be serving this to the masses or something."

Maxx smiled her thanks to Millie. And with that, she swiped the hair nets from Roxanne's tan hand and stuffed them in her own apron's pocket.

Roxanne let out a sigh but still smiled. "Oh well." She removed the blue and yellow scrunchy from her wrist and quickly tied her thick, honey blonde waves into a ponytail. The way that Roxanne didn't argue back like she would usually do made Maxx chuckle a little. But then again, Roxanne always struggled when it came to putting her elbow-length hair in a hairnet during lab which was probably why she didn't want to argue any longer.

"So let's start, ladies?" Maxx asked in her best TV chef impersonation.

Roxanne and Millie eagerly nodded, their stomachs rumbling in anticipation.

Hours later, the marble kitchen countertop was shiny with water, the tiled floor slippery with flour and baking soda, and the girls' white aprons dusted with sugar, chocolate (both sugar free and not), and juice stains.

"Fiinnaally," Millie breathed, leaning against the refrigerator. She slowly slid down to the floor. "Who knew baking could be this fun and chaotic?" Her small, sky blue eyes were shining with happiness.

"I now have newfound respect for chefs." Roxanne added, saluting to no one in particular.

Maxx threw an arm around the blonde's toned shoulders and giggled. "Don't worry, girls. We'll be rewarded with some muffins, milk tea, cupcakes, and pudding later on!"

"It's not gonna make me... overweight, right?" Roxanne mumbled, pinching the side of her stomach as if searching for non-existent fat.

"You exercise," Millie pointed out. "And it's you're gonna have to be a major couch potato if you want to be as big as the ones in The Biggest Loser. No offense to them, though."

Roxanne rolled her eyes and pelted Millie with a chocolate chip. Over the sound of Millie's whining, Maxx heard heels clacking on the floor and the voices of people talking.

Finally, she's here. The talking decreased and the sound of the heels was getting nearer. Then, as if someone pressed the mute button, everything became silent. Roxanne stopped giggling, Millie stopped whining, and the heels of Centina stopped clacking. "So you finally came, huh, Cent?" Maxx sighed, eyeing Roxanne and Millie curiously. Roxanne's mouth was wide open and Millie's eyes were bigger than the plates displayed in the Harrington's dining room. How come they're reacting that way when it's only Centina? Unless it's a murderer who thought it would be good to become the newest Psycho in town...

"Sorry to disappoint. I didn't know you were expecting someone else."

Or maybe not.

At the sound of the European-accented voice, Maxx whirled around to face the not-so-stranger. "Solae?" she gasped.

"Hoh-la," the Spanish beauty smirked, placing her hand on her slim waist as she inspected the messy surrounding and the people standing in the middle of it. Even if two years had gone by, Solae Hotz didn't look like she changed. She still had shiny black hair that fell like a curtain down her mid-back, her big brown eyes were still bright, her skin still had that ever-since-I-was-born tan, her chest was still flat, and the way she carried herself still screamed confidence. And with her black and white cutaway halter top, black jeans, and matching strappy heels, she was still above 8.9. In short, she was still as beautiful and alpha as ever.

"Miss me?" Solae's answer came in the form of Millie running straight to her Alpha, enveloping her in a bear hug.

"Y-Y-You didn't tell us you were coming back!" Millie wailed. It sounded like she was about to cry.

"I wanted it to be a surprise," Solae smiled. "I missed you too, Millie."

Recovering from her shock, Roxanne jogged over to Solae, saying in top speed how much they missed her. But Maxx refused to move. Even if she missed their old friend so much, she still couldn't bring herself to move or talk. She still couldn't believe that the Alpha was back, even if she was there, being smothered with hugs and drowned by mascara-stained tears (courtesy of Millie). Ever since Solae retreated to Spain regarding some family issues in her mom's side two years ago, the remaining Pretty Committee members have been pestering her on when she would come back. Months later, they gave up and decided that it would be best to just wait and see. But now...

"Hey, is my gamma just gonna stand there and stare like an LBR?" Solae teased.

Shaking her head, Maxx walked towards her friends and gave Solae a hug. "I missed you," she whispered.

"I know," Solae whispered back. "I missed you too."

Finally, they broke apart and gave each other megawatt smiles. Solae opened her mouth to speak, but Maxx's mom suddenly barged in, interrupting her.

"Surprise, girlies!" Dylan exclaimed, looking like she was about to draw them in for another group hug. "I see you've had a reunion then?" She paused and snuck a quick glance at the kitchen. "And you finished baking too, I suppose...?"

Solae let out a laugh. "Your mom was the who planned all of this you know."

"Is that why you invited us over to make some desserts in your place, Mrs. Harrington?" Millie sniffled, wiping her tears away with a tissue. "Rather than hanging out at Roxanne's?"

"Yup," Dylan confirmed proudly.

"I thought it was because you didn't want us to stay there because Roxanne just moved in a new house and they're still trying to figure out a way to keep their parrot and cat from murdering each other," Maxx volunteered, receiving a playful punch from Roxanne.

"Well, you four definitely won't have a proper sleepover if Roxanne's place is full of boxes, feathers, and hairballs."

"WHAT?" Roxanne, Maxx, and Millie squealed as Solae stood there with a proud, knowing smile on her glowing face.

Dylan chuckled. "You three are so cute right now, you know? Reminds me of the time I..." She stopped and listened to a woman's voice calling her. "Sorry, girlies, gotta go help Hermie and Alicia in the garage."

"Aunt Alicia is here?" Maxx perked up at the mention of her mom's stylish best friend.

"Duh," Solae yawned as Dylan went down, leaving behind a faint trace of Missoni. "If I'm here, then she's here too. So is Dad."

"Right." Maxx blushed.

Awkward silence fell upon them.

"So..." Solae cleared her throat, twirling a strand of her straight hair. "Cute aprons." She nodded at the stained aprons the girls were wearing.

"These were clean before," Roxanne clarified, even if Solae didn't ask her to.

"Obviously. Anyway, I like the name thingy you sewed to the aprons."

"Thanks!" Maxx beamed. It was her idea to ask one of her live-in housekeepers, Hermie, to sew their names to the bottom of the cute, frilly aprons in their favorite colors. Hers was sewn using turquoise thread, Roxanne's in gold, and Millie's in orange. "Do you want one? 'Cause I can totally ask—"

"No, I don't want one. Or need one as a matter of fact." Solae replied as she made her way to one of the kitchen stools, stepping over anything that might cause her to slip in her heels. The girls quickly followed her and sat on their own kitchen stools. "Speaking of names, I was thinking... maybe we should change our clique name into something else."

Roxanne shot Maxx a confused glance, and Millie looked down as she clutched her mascara-stained tissue hard. It was Roxanne who spoke up first. "Why?"

Solae propped her elbows on the countertop and stuck her neck out, making her gold hoop earrings swing indignantly. It was something she usually did whenever she was ready to put down anybody. "I love our moms and awl, but we are the second generation! I know how much you love to follow tradition, Roxanne, but don't you think it's time to spice up things? Girls at OCD only know us because of our parents and wouldn't it be great to have our own legacy? As great as it sounds, I'm pretty sure that it sucks to be only getting credit because you're the child of certain parents." She paused to stare at each of her friends' eyes knowingly. Roxanne, Maxx, and Millie knew how that felt, after all. "So what do you think? Changing our clique name is a start to creating our own legacy."

Roxanne raised an eyebrow, wondering if the alpha rehearsed her speech while crossing the Pacific Ocean or she just made an impromptu one. Either way, she was somehow impressed. And besides, having your own legacy didn't sound so bad. "Fine," she finally said. "And let me ask you, do you have any suggestions?"

Solae simply grinned. "Guess."

The girls were silent for a moment until Millie asked timidly, "Beautiful Committee?"

"What? No!" Solae laughed.

"How about the Extremely Pretty Committee?"

"Try again," Solae smirked.

"Uh, Elites?" Roxanne offered.

"Nice, but no."

"The A-list!"

"If only we were invited to the Oscars," Solae sigh-shrugged.

"Ummm... Sirens,"

"Isn't that the name of the clique your sister is in?" Roxanne questioned. Millie nodded shyly in response.

"Okay, okay," Maxx complained. "We're out of ideas! We give up."

"You sure?" Maxx and Millie nodded. Roxanne sighed. She waited for five seconds more so that their curiosity would reach its peak before blurting out, "Solae and the Girls! SAG, for short."

The girls exchanged looks. "Um... I like 'Pretty Committee' better," Roxanne said honestly.

Solae rolled her eyes. "Did you really think I'd give the name to you today?" She snorted. "I was just kidding. I'd tell it tomorrow." She silenced her friends' protests by raising her hands. "We have something more important to discuss."

"Like what?"

"Bold & Vogue, of course. I think it's time for them to be knocked into last season's fall collection, don't you think?"