Disclaimer: I do not own "The Clique". If you don't know that by now, you're slow.

I know the matter of boys hasn't come up yet, but it does in this chapter. So have fun with it. It has a view of both the Pretty Committee and the Beauty Elite, at basically the same time. Next chapter: clash of the groups!

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Ana's Limo

7: 58 a.m.

Monday, April 6th

Rue stepped outside and began walking towards Ana's limo. She was the first one on the route, and she didn't mind it that way. Besides, Ana was usually on her cell phone first thing in the morning anyway.

Rue sat down next to Ana, who was (as predicted) preoccupied with a cell phone call.

"Who is it?" Rue mouthed.

"One of my parents' clients." She mouthed back. "Okay. I got your number. My parents should have something for you. Gotta go, bye." She shoved the phone into her white leather Coach bag and looked at Rue. "Love the outfit."

Rue looked down at her Guess flower print top and khakis. "Thanks. The top is new. Who was on the phone?"

Ana rolled her eyes. "Some D-lister my parents work with. They're always calling me for a number or an address or something."

Rue looked up when the car stopped. They had reached Taylor Kensington's stone mansion. Taylor came running towards them, her long golden-blond hair blowing in the wind, making it look slightly messy. She was clad in dark-wash Seven jeans and a Juicy lime green halter top.

"Hi!" She stepped into the car. "Ugh. My hair's still wet. I couldn't finish blow-drying it."

"Looks fine," Rue said. She was trying to make her group as confident as possible so facing the Pretty Committee might not be so torturous.

Next to enter the Ana's carpool was the strawberry-blond Shannon Merrill. Her style was fashionable-yet-rebellious. She often paired things that were not similar, like today's pick: a colorful silk tunic with black Joie cargos and her own spiked belt.

"Hey! What's up?" Rue greeted her when Shannon settled in.

Shannon took a notebook out of her green leather messenger bag. "Unfinished history homework is what's up," she began scribbling answers down on a worksheet.

Rue looked at Ana. "I wonder if the Pretty Committee has as many celebrity hookups as you do. Claire's going to be in Dial L for Loser and Dylan Marvil's mom is Merri-Lee Marvil."

Ana looked at Rue. "Doubtful. I'm actually insulted you think that they'd beat me in that game for starring in one movie or having one famous parent."

"Don't tell me you're worried about facing the Pretty Committee," Taylor said.

Rue sighed. "You read me like a book."

Shannon put away her work. "That's stupid. You're a better leader than Massie Block is,"

"Really?"
The car door opened and shut again. Dark-skinned Michelle Thompson stepped inside. "Hey, guys! What are we talking about?" Michelle was wearing a lavender polo and white denim mini.

"Hi. We're saying that Rue's a better group leader than Massie Block." Shannon replied.

"I agree," Michelle flashed her bright white smile to Rue. "I always hear Massie insulting her friends on their outfits. And you let us borrow your clothes."

Rue's smile changed into confusion. "She insults her friends?"

"Well, not always, but I've heard her,"

"Well you might be able to hear her again, because we're at school." Shannon was picking up her messenger bag.

Once the group was firmly standing outside the car and Ana's driver had left, Rue checked for wrinkles in her outfit, gave her face a quick once-over in her compact for smudges, stood up as straight as she could, and pasted a confident smile on her face. "Beauty Elite, it's time to move forward!"

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Massie's Carpool

8:10 a.m.

Monday, April 6th

"No!" Claire whined. She looked down at her brand-new American Eagle white capris, ruined by a purple splotch on the upper left thigh, right under a buttoned pocket. She was frantically dabbing at it with a tissue.

The rest of the Pretty Committee watched her. Dylan and Kristen looked at her with pity in their eyes, and Alicia shook her head.

Massie polished the screen on her Razr. "I told you three times not to drink something colorful while wearing white…" she said to Claire.

Claire let out a little whimper, looking at the stain. "I know…"

Massie looked at the rest of the Pretty Committee's outfits. Dylan was wearing a Guess black silk mini and new Marc Jacobs black-and-gold suede pumps. Alicia had on black crop pants with a jewel button and a white blazer. Kristen was clad in a denim mini with a black slouchy belt and a green army-style jacket. Massie loved her own outfit even more, though. She had spent hours trying on outfits, dressing and undressing her mannequin and having Bean rate her two dozen times before deciding on the Guess white lace baby doll tunic top and cutoff Levis, with gold wedge heel pumps.

What Massie loved most about her outfit, however, was the thick, teal bangle around her wrist. It was a gift from Derrington, and even though it was hardly noticeable to some, it popped out at her whenever her wrist came into view.

"Are you looking at that bracelet Derrington gave you?" Alicia asked Massie.

"No," Massie lied, putting her hands on the leather seat of the Range Rover.

"Kristen, who was that guy you were flirting with on the soccer team? The guy who was replacing Brian Jefferson?"

"He's replacing Brian Jefferys, not Jefferson. His name is Lex, and I was so NOT flirting with him!" Kristen was blushing.

"You were."

"Not,"

"Were,"

"Not!"

"Okay then, what were you doing?" Dylan smiled. She was enjoying this.

"I was simply congratulating him. It looked liked the game was hard yesterday, and he was new. I was just being polite." Kristen replied matter-of-factly.

"You were laughing pretty hard for 'just being polite'," Alicia stepped in.

"Wait, wait! What was his name?" Massie asked.

"Lex," Kristen answered.

"Lex what?"

"Don't know."

"It's just that Derrington said there was a new guy on the soccer team, and his last name was Hera."

"So?"

"That Rue Hera girl leads the Beauty Elite!"

"No way!" Kristen's eyes widened. "I knew he looked familiar…"

When the car pulled up to OCD, Massie reached in her ivory suede tote and pulled out the new Glossip Girl flavor. It was White Chocolate and one of Massie's favorites so far.

"I wish my gloss smelled like that," Dylan commented.

"At least yours doesn't smell like my last flavor," Massie responded.

"Dulce De Leche Ice Cream? Yeah that was gross," Claire said, wrinkling her nose at the memory of the sugary scent.

"Yeah, it was too sugary sweet for my tastes,"

"That's because you're far from sugary sweet," Dylan joked. The Pretty Committee giggled.

Massie stopped laughing when she saw Rue Hera, standing with the Beauty Elite, giggling with another group of girls wearing black leather minis and different colored tanks.

"Ugh! Look at that!" Alicia said in disgust. "Those girls should be worshipping us, not those two-faced dingbats!"

"The Beauty Elite is D2M," Massie said. "Let's show those girls who they're dealing with."

The Pretty Committee stepped forward. Claire sighed. She didn't want conflict on the first day back at school. She reached into her back pocket and into new bag of gummy worms she had, courtesy of Cam. In honor of her getting back into school, the plastic bag was pink and a little bigger than usual, and Cam made sure to get as few green ones as possible. Claire put three of them in her mouth at once, wishing Cam was really there to distract her from what was going on.

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