Chapter 2: Pool Parties On Snowy Days Bring Problems Along

"It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend."-William Blake


"Okay, class…listen up!"

Everybody turned their attention to the P.E. coach, who was wearing tropical patterned swimming trousers with a white towel on his shoulders. "Boys, I know that girls in swimsuits might cause a few distractions-" Giggles and chuckles. "-but please, try to focus your attention on today's lesson. It took me a lot of persuasion for the principal to finally allow me to teach you some swimming techniques."

Everybody began cheering and clapping, including Kristen, who prided herself for being a fast swimmer.

"Dempsey's staring at you again," Claire Lyons, her best friend, whispered.

She didn't even bother looking. "Doesn't matter. He dumped me a week ago because of what your crush told him, remember?"

Claire bit her lower lip as Kristen shook her head.

She still didn't understand how Claire could like such an idiot like Derrick. Claire was supposed to be her best friend (since fourth grade), so how could she like the enemy? Sadly, Claire thought that Derrick's hazel eyes were, and I quote, "so warm and so nice" and his smile was "so bright…brighter than sunshine". Kristen shook her head. Claire obviously was too head over heels for that jerk to even use her brains. Who would say such cheesy lines?

"Okay, guys, lines of six students per lane. No more, no less. If any of you dives into the pool before you hear the sound of my whistle, then you're heading straight over to the principal's office and staying late at school doing laps. Understood?" the coach asked in a stern voice.

"Yes," Kristen answered alongside the whole class.

Kristen and Claire began walking toward the pool, when Alicia Rivera, the gossip queen of the tenth grade, approached them. She smiled before asking, "Anyone knows why Dylan Marvil isn't here?"

Kristen and Claire glanced at each other.

Dylan was known for three things: her fiery red hair, her mother (the principal) and the fact that she was overweight.

"No…why?" Kristen shrugged.

"I actually thought you knew, since you're kinda friends."

Kristen shook her head.

"She's probably scared that people will laugh at her when they see her in a swimsuit," Claire reasoned, a pitying look in her face.

Alicia and Claire talked, Kristen's gaze wandered over where Dempsey was. She couldn't help but smile when she saw him laugh at something Derrick the Loser had said. In seventh grade, they had gotten the lead roles of the school's play; Kristen was Pandora and Dempsey was Prometheus. Ever since then, she'd had a huge crush on him. Kristen never knew that Dempsey also liked her, until the beginning of last summer vacation, when he asked her to be his date to Olivia Ryan's famous end-of-the-year party. Flash forward to now, four months later, she's still trying hard not to cry over the fact the he dumped her.

His gaze met hers, and she quickly looked away. Luckily for her, she was still mad at him so she didn't blush. Kristen grabbed her things and quickly began making her way to the farthest lane.

How could Dempsey believe whatever lies Derrick had told him about her? She knew they were best friends, but still, Kristen was sure Dempsey knew about her's and Derrick's "relationship".

All of a sudden, she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Hey."

It was Dempsey.

She turned around. Claire, Alicia and Derrick were looking at them with an expectant, or in Derrick's case, unreadable look on their faces. Alicia gave Kristen a "good luck" smile before walking away.

"What do you want?" Kristen asked, glaring at Derrick from Dempsey's shoulder.

Dempsey looke down. After a while, he looked up at her again. "I wanted to apologize." When Kristen remained silent, he continued. "I'm sorry for dumping you last week…it's just, I-" He sighed, rubbing his neck uncomfortably. "I don't know how to say this, but-"

"You just want to be friends, now?" Kristen asked, hiding the disappointment she felt.

Dempsey began to shake his head, but before he could say anything, Kristen felt a pair of strong hands pushing her. Before she knew it, she had fallen into the pool with a loud splash. After a few seconds, she emerged from the water just to find Derrick laughing at her while Dempsey glared at him. She still had her flip-flops on, so she grabbed one and threw it at his face. After it whacked his cheek, he stopped laughing. Or maybe it was because the coach was approaching them with an extremely angry look on his face.

Claire quickly made her way toward Kristen and helped her out of the pool. Once she was out, the coach was scrutinizing them with his scary pale blue eyes.

Before he could say anything, Kristen pointed a finger at Derrick. "He pushed me!"

The coach glanced at Derrick and then at Dempsey. "Dempsey, is that true?"

Dempsey was about to answer when the coach cut him off. "You know what? You like Kristen and you are Derrick's best friend. I don't think I'll get an honest answer from you." He turned to look at Claire. "Who's telling the truth?"

"But she's the wicked witch's best friend!" Derrick coach gave him a stern glance.

"She never lies."

Kristen crossed her arms triumphantly as she looked at Derrick. He was finally going to pay for good. Not just for throwing her into the pool, but for everything he-

"Derrick didn't push her."

Kristen gasped as she stared at Claire, her supposed best friend, lie to the coach.

She began to protest. "That's not-"

"Ms. Gregory, you know what to do."

Before leaving (and glaring at Derrick), she gave Claire a shocked and disappointed look. Claire mouthed an apology, but Kristen ignored her. Looks like I'm gonna have to look for another best friend, Kristen thought.

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The pool was extremely cold.

It didn't matter that I was in my parents' indoor pool (a Christmas gift from me) or that this place had an overpriced and really modern heater (another gift from me). All I could think about was how Massie's mind worked (who would ever make a pool party in the middle of December?) and how cold I was. I inhaled loudly once my head reached the surface. I could hear a lot of sounds: my family talking, my little cousins laughing and splashing each other…but the sound that stuck out the most was Josh's hysterical laughter.

"Ha ha…funny," I muttered sarcastically as I swam toward him.

"Y-your face…it-it was P-PRICELESS!" Josh replied in between laughter.

Though I rolled my eyes, I couldn't help but smile. Josh had left behind his snobby attitude, and instead, began to act like a sneaky and spoiled five-year-old. If you don't believe me, I'll begin by enlightening you about last night's dinner. Well, for starters, he decided to spice up my Coke…which I nearly spit out on my future brother-in-law (not that I would've cared). Then, he decided to dump a glass of water on my extremely ancient cat, Fluffy. And after pulling a series of pranks on Fluffy and I, he still had the nerve to order me to unpack his stuff. My parents loved every single bit of his immature attitude, and decided to agree with everything he said, so I ended up organizing stacks and stacks of clothes (he brought four large suitcases).

SPLASH!

I turned around, just to find Josh's head emerging from the water. I grinned as I glanced back and found Massie, who was now standing where Josh had been.

"You'll thank me later," Massie told me, sitting down and letting her feet dangle in the water.

Big mistake.

As soon as she did that, Josh swam toward her and pulled her feet toward him.

"NO!" Massie shrieked, before falling into the water. As Massie swam next to me, Josh resumed to his hysterical laughter.

Massie smiled at me. "He isn't such a snob anymore, huh?"

I tilted my head as I looked at him playing with some of my little cousins and neighbors. "Nope."

"They say love softens the heart."

My smile vanished instantly and I felt the blood rise up to my cheeks. I placed my hands on top of Massie's head and pushed her down into the water.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!" Massie exclaimed, trying to escape my grasp.

"YOU AND YOUR ASSUMPTIONS!" I exclaimed, my face still red.

Someone squirted water in my face, letting Massie slip away.

"You let the lady swim in peace," a red-headed little boy told me.

I burst out laughing as I help up my hands. "I will."

The boy nodded solemnly and walked away to the lemonade stand. I smiled and turned to look at Massie, who was now sitting on the pool's edge. I swam toward her and asked, "Where's Derrington?"

Massie glared at me playfully. "You are not enemies anymore, so don't call him that."

If only she knew.

"He's picking up some of his friends," Massie answered.

I nodded. "Alright, stay here all bored. I'll go for a swim."

I flopped on my back and began to float around as I stared up at the transparent and round roof. It was snowing, and a few mounds of snow had piled up in the edges. I closed my eyes and tried to relax. I'd actually had fun for the first time in what seemed like ages. Don't get me wrong, attending premieres and making movies is fun…but after a while of having the spotlight on you it's best to just relax and let someone else have it. In this case, that would be Massie. Even though I wasn't too happy with whom she was going to marry, the way she glowed last night made me know she was in love with Derrick, and that was enough.

"Kris, your phone is beeping!" I heard my mom exclaim.

I heaved a sigh and swam away toward the pool's stairs. After climbing out, I thanked grandma, who was holding up my bag.

"I made you and your sister's favorite cookies, superstar," she told me with a smile.

I grinned, already feeling the taste of white macadamia nut cookies in my mouth. "I'll be sure to take a bite after I check my phone."

I walked toward a secluded seat and, after lying down, checked my inbox.

The contents made my stomach churn.

The message contained two attached pictures of famous gossip magazines —each with a picture of Conner and I kissing or hugging. It wasn't the pictures that made me want to throw up, but the headlines; "The truth about Kronner's break-up: did Kristen cheat on Conner with three guys?" and "Kronner break-up: Conner likes to hit his girlfriends". I quickly scrolled down the message. Dear, people were starting to think that you and Josh left L.A. so you could be admitted into a hospital. Apparently, someone made up a rumor that Conner was beating you. To deny this, he had to tell everyone that you were in Westchester for your sister's wedding. Watch out for the paparazzi! And don't worry, he also denied the rumors that you had cheated on him -Aunt Kendra.

I closed my cell phone, feeling the color drain out from my face. So that's how they found out I was in Westchester…now I'd have to warn my family and Josh that there are paparazzi out there. I seriously felt like crying.

"Are you okay?"

I opened my eyes to find the same red-headed boy from before. I nodded weakly.

"No you aren't," he said, sitting next to me. He seemed really familiar, but I couldn't quite remember why. "I saw you on TV yesterday. People were talking about a breakup with you and Conner Foley."

I sat up and looked at him. "Don't believe the rumors. We broke up because for mutual reasons."

"He dumped you."

I stared blankly at him. After hesitating, I asked, "How do you know?"

"I heard Massie talking about it a few days before you arrived here," he answered.

I nodded. "Are you her friend?"

The boy looked down. "That's what she thinks."

I was about to ask him what was wrong when I heard Derrick's voice. I could see him and a bunch of people getting out of his car. I glared at him and, to my surprise, the boy did too.

"Did you just glare?" we both asked at the same time.

The boy looked down once more. "I hate Derrick…he stole my Massie! She was the love of my life."

I wanted to laugh. I seriously did. But this boy hated Derrick, and I didn't want him to hate me, too.

"Well, guess what? I think I hate him, too," I told him.

"He left you for your sister, didn't he? And you still love him."

"EWW! NO!" I exclaimed, flinching at the thought. "I hate him for the things he did to me in high school."

The boy nodded. "Did he steal something from you, too?"

I nodded. "Two things, actually."

The boy shook his head. "Thief…I'm Todd, by the way."

"Todd," I repeated. Oh my God…"You're Claire Lyons's little brother, aren't you?"

He nodded. "How did you know?"

I gasped silently. Last time I'd seen Claire…well, I hadn't been too nice to her, even though she had tried to apologize for siding with Derrick the time he pushed me into the pool.

The doors to the indoor pool opened, and in came Alicia Rivera. Then came a skinny Dylan Marvil holding Kemp Hurley's (another guy I didn't quite like) hand. Cam Fisher came next, and then Dempsey Solomon. I knew I had to leave, since things hadn't ended up so well with Dempsey and I. Olivia Ryan, a loyal girl who became my best friend after Claire, entered. And then Claire Lyons walked in, with Derrick Harrington laughing by her side.

"Todd, I have to go and check something in the oven, okay?" I told him as I stood up. I gathered up my stuff. "Don't tell your sister about what we talked."

Todd nodded. "I promise."

I smiled at him and left quickly.

There were three reasons why I had locked myself in the attic that day: one, Claire Lyons; two, Dempsey Solomon; three, Alicia was the head editor of OK magazine, and I wasn't in the mood for an interview.

Little did I know that my time in the attic would sort of change my view in some things…


A/N: Thanks for the reviews, story favorites and alerts from last chapter! I'm so glad people liked it :) I know Massie isn't on this much, but I'll promise that, beginning from the fourth or fifth chapter, she'll have more appearances.

Tell me what you think of this chapter in the reviews!