OCTAVIAN COUNTRY DAY
FRENCH
2:31 PM
SEPTEMBER 1, 2012

Massie pulled out a chair and sat down, proud that she had found her way around OCD so fast. She was sure this was the mark of an Alpha. As she searched for a notebook and folder that she hadn't already used, she heard a chair scrape and the thud of someone sitting down. She glanced up. "Hey, Leesh!"

"Hey."

Massie had already decided that Alicia would a perfect Beta. Her Beta. "I didn't know you took French."

"My mom wanted me to take Spanish, but she can just teach me herself, so what's the point?"

Massie nodded assent and was pulling out a silver tube of Vanilla Bliss Glossip Girl, slowly running it over her chapped lips, when it hit her. This could be her trademark! Glossip Girl! Other girls would wish they could buy it, but it would be hers. Not only becuase it was uber-expensive to purchase a subscription, but also because they simply wouldn't dare.

The sharp click-clack of stilletos interrupted her reverie.

"Bonjour," breathed a sexy French woman with cat-like eyes and long, long auburn hair.

"Bonjour, Madame Ralston," the class responded on cue.

"How has your first day been?" Madame asked in a thick French accent.

"Bon, je vous remercie," everyone responded. It had been on the first page of their textbook, and last year they had been told to study their language books as soon as they got this year's.

Alicia used her curtain of hair to hide her face as she texted someone. Then Massie's phone blared, 'I'M WIDE AWAKE!'

"Ehmagawd!" Blushing fiercely, Massie grabbed her phone to silence it. "Je suis vraiment désolé." After apoligizing, Massie slid the switch to Vibrate and sank down in her seat before remembering this was not what an Alpha would do. She tried and tried to think of something witty and clever to say, but the oppurtunity passed, and Madame Ralston was back to teaching.

Had Alicia done it on purpose?

OCTAVIAN COUNTRY DAY
LOBBY
2:44 PM
SEPTEMBER 1, 2012

Alicia waited with Massie, her arms folded and her head tilted sideways, searching for her limo. "My driver's here," offered Massie. "You want a ride?"

'Grace under pressure,' she told herself. 'Innocent until proven guilty.' Alicia would never have gotten her in trouble on purpose.

"Sure." Alicia removed her clutch from the smallest compartment of her black-and-white flowered Vera Bradley backpack before swinging it over her shoulder. Quickly, she texted her father, Len, to let him know she was going home with Massie. Then she called her driver. "¿Dónde estás?" she demanded bossily.

"Estoy en la tienda de remolque con una rueda pinchada," Alex replied. "Estaba a punto de llamarte."

Alicia rolled her heavily-done-up eyes at Massie and said, "Está bien, me voy a casa con mi amiga."

"¿Sabe tu padre?"

"Si." Alicia put her phone away and left OCD with Massie.

They climbed into the back of Massie's Range Rover. Alicia purposefully settled in before she said, "They don't let you sit in the front?"

"No, of course they do! But I thought it, um, would be nice of me to share the back with you."

"Oh." They lapsed into silence, and rode most of the way to Massie's house without speaking.

Massie wasn't sure she liked where this was going.

BLOCK GUESTHOUSE
FAMILY ROOM
2:58 PM
SEPTEMBER 1, 2012

"How was your first day of school, honey?" Judi asked her daugher, who was curled up against the arm of the couch, sucking down Gummi Worms.

"Fine."

"Did you... make any friends? Did you like your classes? Did you...?"

"Omigod, Mom! Can anyone have just a few minutes alone in this place?" Claire stormed upstairs and into her room. She locked the door before collapsing on her bed. She wasn't sure why her mother's comments bothered her so much. But she did know that the one person she'd wanted most to impress, Massie Block, hadn't said one word to her today. She'd been too busy giggling with a girl from Spain. Even when Claire had tried to walk next to her, Massie had looked away and walked faster.

A stunned Judi Lyons sat alone on the couch. "What happened to her?" she asked her husband when he walked in.

"What did she do?" he asked comfortingly.

"She just... blew me off! That's never happened before. You know we've been trying to raise our kids in a very family-friendly environment."

"Look, she's a pre-teen. Maybe she just needs a few minutes to be by herself." Jay sat down and stroked his wife's hair. "Don't worry, we still have Todd."

"Oh God. Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

Jay laughed and swatted his wife's arm. "Judi!"

"Sorry. Todd, can you come here please!"

"What's up, Mom?" He was holding a remote, controlling a racecar that was currently running over Judi's feet.

She snatched the controller and said, "Sit down, kiddo."

He obliged, then reached for his car.

"Hold on. Do you know what's wrong with Claire?"

"No. Are you ever going to ask me how my day was? And for the record, it sucked."

"Why?" Judi went into instant parental freak-out mode. "What happened?"

"I didn't know anyone, and the only person who talked to me was this girl named Samantha who no one can stand because she doesn't shut up."

Judi let out a sigh of relief. "I hope that's the worst that ever happens to you."

MARVIL MANOR
DYLAN'S ROOM
4:32 PM
SEPTEMBER 1, 2012

Dylan was searching her closet for an outfit to wear the next day when she heard a knock on the door. "Come in!" Merri-Lee Marvil entered the room. "Hey, Mom."

Her mother didn't waste any time. "They want the Daily Grind to do a fundraiser for OCD scholarships, and they want models. So I was figuring it would be good sister-bonding time."

"You want me to model with Ryan and Jaime, you mean? Sorry, Mom. I'm not gonna stand there and listen to them complain that they're fat when I'm four sizes bigger than them." Dylan busied herself in her closet so her mom wouldn't see her tears. She had no problem with being a size 6, but when her size 2 sisters insisted that they were "so heavy", Dylan's self-esteem took a major hit.

"Oh, honey." Merri-Lee Marvil rubbed her daughter's back. "You're not fat."

"That's the problem!" Dylan shouted. "Because technically when they're saying they're fat that implies that I'm really fat."

"Oh." Then a smile blossomed on Merri-Lee's face. "Then how about this? The fundraiser is in three weeks. If you can make two good friends and talk them into modeling with you, then Ryan and Jaime won't have to. I don't think they really want to, anyway."

"Oh, so now you're challenging me to make friends?" Dylan stood up angrily. Merri-Lee looked shocked, but her daughter broke into a huge smile. "It's on."

OCD
SOCCER FIELD
6:00 PM
SEPTEMBER 1, 2012

Soccer was what Kristen lived for. It got her blood pumping, her heart beating, and the best part was that she knew most of the girls on the OCD soccer team from playing in other places.

"Pass!" Kristen waved her arms wildly and jumped, trying to make herself seen. Her best soccer friend, Belle, kicked a perfect leftie straight toward her, and Kristen slammed it in.

"Goal!" hollered the fans in the bleachers, doing the wave as though they had been perfecting it for years.

"Yes!" Belle slapped Kristen a high-five as the buzzer rang out. "Another game won."