i swear, this entire thing has a point. i promise. (: even if it appears it's completely random. it's all needed for the chapters that follow.

I NEED HELP; i want a name for this group, because there is only so many words for 'pack', 'group', 'friends', 'popular sophomores'. so, wanna suggest something? i'd love you forever. (:

kay, quick summary; Derrick is new. Dylan and Kemp are Claire's, popular and beautiful, best friends, and Josh is her boyfriend. Todd and Claire are really, really close and only a year younger. Josh is overprotective, Cam is rambly, Chris is random and fatherly, Dylan is loud and happy, Massie is slutzilla (could be worded nicer, i guess), Griffin is quiet, Derrick is quieter and slightly jerky, and Kristen...well, she doesn't have a personality yet. just to put everything you learned into a few sentences. hope it helped. (:

disclaimed. i don't own the characters or any of the cereal mentioned...or well, anything but Ness Plovert and the plot. hope you like it!


"You look great, Claire!" Dylan barged into Claire's bedroom two hours before they officially began classes as WA sophomore. Merri Lee Marvil goes to work at an ungodly hour and drops Dylan off on the way, their few minutes of mother-daughter bonding.

Claire smiled at her best friend in greeting, but didn't agree with her compliment. Claire had tried on fourteen different outfits and cleaned off and reapplied her makeup six times. But no matter what she did, the reflection staring back at her just didn't look right.

"As do you, Dyl." Claire yawned, not everyone can be super perky at six in the morning. Claire decided to just trust Dylan's taste. Though considered a 'beta' by anybody who actually pays attention to that stuff, Dylan was honest. If Claire looked like crap, Dylan would tell her. They were best friends, not just alpha and beta, and if best friends could be trusted for one thing it was being able to be trusted.

Claire wasn't lying when she returned the compliment, either. With her red hair pushed back with a black headband, paired with a huge black hobo bag and black flats, and clad in a short, flattering, mint green dress with a black belt resting loosely on her hips, Dylan looked as beautiful as ever. And without her moaning and groaning about being 'fat', she was more fun to be around, which was saying something.

"So, I'm thinking Lucky Charms for breakfast." Dylan informed Claire, her mind already off of appearances and focused on something much more important. Food. "Or maybe some Cocoa Krispies...do you have any?" She asked as they walked out of the room, headed towards the kitchen.

---

The Lyons did have Cocoa Krispies. After filling their bowls with sugary cereal and milk, the two girls made their way to the living room, where they watched an episode of The Hills taking up space in Claire's TiVo. Twenty-five minutes and two bowls of cereal later, Todd appeared, barely-awake and fully dressed.

"Last night, Griffin told me that he'd pick me up too, my ride ditched last minute. But, he also told me to ask you just in case, and I forgot." Todd told his sister, slightly groggy. He sat in 'his' chair before looking at his sister expectantly. "You don't mind, do you?" Claire shook her head, flipping open her suddenly buzzing phone.

"Kemp! Are you excited or what?" Claire answered her phone brightly. She was suddenly wide awake, probably thanks to the two bowls of the sugary Lucky Charms. Dylan and Todd heard Kemp reply with a tired 'or what'.

Claire and him came home late, again, after four games of bowling and a lot of neighborhood roaming. It was their 'last hoorah' before school started and Josh was busy with his sisters birthday, so he didn't have a chance to get jealous of the time Claire spent with her best friend. Claire smiled at Dylan and Todd apologetically before exiting the living room stage left. Todd changed the channel.

---

"I've come with brownies!" Chris crawled into Griffin's car, he was the last one to be picked up in the mornings. Griffin's driver stopped at Kemp's, picking up him and Derrick, followed by Claire's where they picked up Claire and Dylan and Todd whenever he needed a ride, and swinging by Plovert's ten minutes before arriving at WA. The rest of them took the Block's car to school, as they lived on the other side of Westchester.

"Why? Sudden urge to bake last night?" Claire joked, scooting over to make room for the new arrival. Chris did not know how to make cereal let alone bake brownies .

"Ness was bored and she decided that it'd be fun to bake some brownies." Chris explained, pulling the plastic container out of his bag. "Then she remembered she was on a diet." He added with a roll of his eyes, handing a chocolate square to Claire. Ness was Chris's college-age sister, who was visiting from Yale for a few weeks, and she's been on an ongoing diet since she was thirteen.

"I love Ness's cooking!" Dylan took the brownie from Claire's fingers, taking a big bite of it. "All hail Nessa Plovert's everlasting diet and her sudden urge to bake when she visits." Dylan proclaimed in a loud voice and everybody, but Derrick, replied with a happy 'hear, hear!"

"I'll be sure to tell her you guys like them. Don't all of them, please. We have a carload of others who want to eat some of Vanessa's fantastic cooking." Chris took the container back from Kemp, who glared.

"Yeah, well that carload of people decided to live farther away! Can you blame us for living closer to you then they do?" Dylan reasoned, digging through her bag. "Does anybody have any gum? I thought I brought some, but it's not here..."

Derrick had one thing to say about his new carpool. He was, for one of the first times in his life, terrified. Dylan was scarily loud and happy, Chris was scarily bossy and fatherly, Griffin was scarily silent, Kemp was scarily Kemp, and he wasn't sure what it was about Claire, but Derrick had never been so fearful of somebody in his entire life.

"I have some." Derrick tossed a pack of gum at Dylan. He learned a lot about the group in the nine days following the party, but there was one thing he always remembered. He was not officially part of the group until they decided he was. Cam said he'd know he was 'when the time was right'. Kemp told him he had to stay on Claire's good side.

Staying on Claire Lyon's good side wasn't a very easy thing to do. The guys gave him loads of advice throughout the nine days, they had taken a liking to him and didn't want to say goodbye, and Derrick was trying his hardest to stick to it. Be nice, avoid rude comments, laugh at others jokes and make jokes, give to others. Claire was nice, funny, giving, and she wasn't about to let someone who wasn't join her group of friends.

"Hey, Derrick, can I have a piece?" Claire asked loudly over the others voices. Derrick knew she had three packs of gum in her purse, she bought four packs at the drugstore the day before and they went through one pack, and he had a feeling he was testing her.

"Of course, Claire. All of you, help yourself."

---

Josh Hotz was the first to step through the door of Westchester Academy. Every girl, from freshman to senior, and the odd boy in the back hallway stopped to look. Josh Hotz was one of the most wanted guys in the school. Sweet, romantic, funny, and well, his last name is Hotz.

When the next person stepped through the doors, her hand in Josh's, all of the girls looked away from Josh, and everybody's eyes fell onto Claire Lyons. The guys all staring at her, all wishing that it was their hand she was clutching, and the girls all wishing they were her, or at least her best friend.

The rest of their friends trickled in behind them, Kemp leading the pack, pulling Claire's hair and making her laugh. Cam and Dylan followed, laughing at something, and Plovert was lecturing Massie (Chris was very fatherly with his friends). Derrick Harrington took the spot at the end, his phone attached to his hand like usual.

Most people had already met Derrick. Everybody who was anybody was at the Hurley's his first day and the spent the other nine days at the usual hangouts. Bowling alley, movie theater, the Westchester, Slice of Heaven, Westchester Park. Though rich, Westchester residents were like normal teenagers and normal teenagers had their hangouts.

Most people still weren't used to the extra person in the popular group of sophomores. New kids at Westchester Academy usually started at the bottom of the 'popularity food chain' (Massie's words) and if they didn't, they usually started as blisters or C-listers (again, Mass' words). Starting at A-list was almost unheard of, at least in WA. At BOCD, Claire came close and Griffin was befriended by Dylan his first day, but they were the only two A-listers at WA (and BOCD) who managed that.

"That is Derrick Harrington." Strawberry McAdams', a blister, nasally voice reached the groups ears. "Super cute. Since I've given up on Josh, you think I have a chance?" Claire rolled her eyes, only Strawberry would be stupid enough to talk so loud when they were so close, and continued pushing the keypad on her cell phone. She took her eyes off the screen to turn around, looking past all of her other friends, to wink at Derrick. His phone buzzed.

Queen Claire: Think she has a chance?

Derrick: Never met her. Who gave you permission to mess with my phone?

Queen Claire: Didn't know I needed it. (: Office is coming up. Who would you like to join you on the long journey?

Derrick: Claire; I choose you!

Claire (your queen): Thought so. I have to go talk to Principal B anyways. Get up here.

Derrick: Whatever you say, my queen.

Derrick pushed his way through the pack that was his new friends, making the jump from end to front in seconds. When she was standing next to Claire, she turned around. "Derrick needs to go to the office for last minute registration crap." Claire walked backwards through the hallway, it wasn't like anybody risked getting in her way. "And I have to go talk to Bowers. So, we'll be extending the trip to the MO. Someone please grab my schedule from the table and meet us at our usual table in the cafe."

Nobody questioned her and, with a wave, she steered off to the main hallway, Derrick at her heels, as everybody else continued walking to the sophomore hallway. It wasn't until Claire finished her short talk with Principal Bowers (better known as Bow-wow-sers, due to his name and puggish look) that her phone buzzed.

Kemp: This text was meant to be sent when you left. But Josh is watching me.

Kemp: DH's flirting.

Claire: Flirting? No. He's being nice.

Kemp: I know flirting when I see flirting. He's flirting.

Claire: He wouldn't dare! Josh...well, you know what Josh would do.

Kemp: That I do. So does he, actually.

Claire: This conversation is over. DH is done. See you in a few minutes.

"All set?" Claire asked Derrick as she hoisted her bag onto her shoulder again. Derrick nodded with a smile. "As am I. Principal Bowers told me that if me and my friends kept up the trouble we caused last year, there is a good chance we could get suspended, which is no good on our permanent record." Claire rolled her eyes at the principal's words. Why was she the one always getting warned? She was the good one of the group! "Great to see you too, Bowers." She muttered and Derrick laughed.

Kemp: Flirting.


yeah, so remember, that all had a point. from claire's -i look like crap- to dylans -i don't complain about my weight- and the fact that claire was texting the entire morning and well...everything.!

HAVE A GREAT NEW YEARS EVE AND DAY. (: i, for one, am super happy to start 2009. ONE OF MY RESOLUTIONS.? getting through this entire fic. i didn't do it for F&F and i want to prove i can.

review, if you want. and i'll talk to you all next year.! (: -how cheesy of me- i'm going to a hotel for the holiday and i'm not a big swimmer, so i'll have time to write the next chapter. expect an update soon.!

-bailey.