It was like the first day of school all over again. The floors had been freshly polished. The lockers were pristene. And, of course, Massie, Kristen, and Alicia were all over the social scene, trying their hardest to set fall trends even though southeast Texas had only two seasons: summer and December.
The three girls, collectively known as the Carolayne Drive Girls, squeaked through the shining linoleum floors of Westchester Heights High School with goofy smiles on their freckled, tanned faces and dark-wash skinny jeans tucked into the latest Burberry Check Rainboots.
"Oh my Lord, Massie," Suze Gellert called out as the three waltzed through the cafeteria, the designated waiting area in the morning. "I absolutely love your rainboots! Why didn't I think of that?"
Massie, Alicia, and Kristen shot Suze sincere smiles as they passed her by, but as soon as she was out of earshot, Kristen muttered, "Probably because all the dope you smoke deleted the two brain cells you used to have." The Carolayne Drive Girls burst out laughing just as Kori Gedman cornered them.
"Alicia, you have to tell me what you did with your hair this morning," the slouchy dirty blonde begged. "The humidity's so thick that I could, like, cut it with a knife. My hair's all frizzy while yours is like, flawless."
Alicia beamed, and Massie gave a small, secret smile. There was nothing Alicia loved more than a good compliment—and an excuse to share her coveted hair tips.
"Believe it or not, having no hot water because of Ike is actually a good thing," Alicia confided in hushed tones. "Cold water makes your hair all shiny, right?"
Kori nodded eagerly. Massie was almost surprised that the girl didn't whip out her Virgin Mobile and start taking notes.
"Plus I use Aveda shampoo," Alicia continued. Kori bit her lip, and Kristen and Massie watched the revelation dawn over Alicia's face as she suddenly remembered that Kori lived in the townhomes by the school instead of in Octavian Heights Neighborhood like most of their classmates. "But, uh, I'm sure Garnier Fructis works fine. I've gotta go talk to Olivia about something, so I'll see you around, kay?" Alicia rushed away, dragging Massie and Kristen with her.
The rest of the Carolayne Drive kids were gathered at the back of the cafeteria, sucking down Monster energy drinks and Frappuccinos in a halfhearted effort to perk up. Cam was flirting with Olivia, who was typically labeled a slut because of all the guy friends she had as a result of Massie shunning her. Derrick and Danny were chatting up Vader and his entourage of preppy blondes who lusted after Vader's skater-boy looks. Layne, the only freshman of the group, was laughing with a couple other 'niner-minors'. But the only one who mattered, Chris Plovert, was sitting on top of a lunch table, grinning and holding up a Mint Chocolately Chip Frappuccino.
Massie sprinted the rest of the way to her friends, catching Plovert in a giant bear hug and planting a kiss on his lips before snatching up her early-morning snack. Clasping his hand tightly the whole time, Massie made her morning rounds: hugging Cam and Danny, nodding at Olivia, breezing past Derrick, and raving over the purple streaks that little Layne had recently applied to her hair.
"So whose brilliant idea was it to wear rainboots instead of Uggs?" Olivia sighed to Alicia with just the slightest touch of envy in her voice.
"Dylan's, of course," said Alicia, rolling her eyes. "Now that she's going to NYU, she's all over the fashion scene."
"Not to mention that she can actually wear the fall lines of clothing," Kristen grumbled. "And here we are, still stuck in our summer separates from Hollister."
"Oh, please," Massie snapped, taking a hearty chug of her Frappuccino. "That makes winter all the more special! And besides, what hoity-toity boarding school in New England gets ten days off of for a hurricane?"
"Amen," Danny burped, fanning the Red Bull-scented waves away from his face.
The morning bell suddenly rang, sending Westchester Heights's four hundred students off to class.
-x-
Second period World Geography with Mr. Myner was the bane of Massie's existence. Not only did she barely know any girls in the class, but the only guys worth talking to were Cam and Derrick. And even she wasn't desperate enough to become friends with Derrick again just for the sake of having a partner during group projects.
Instead, Massie usually just sat down on the opposite side of the room from her sworn enemy and waited for a gaggle of wannabes to surround her, gushing over her hair and her makeup and her clothes in their twangy southeast Texas accents.
Sometimes, Massie thought as Kayla Horner gushed over her purple nail polish, I think I could be a real estate agent. Everyone in this school wants to live on Carolayne Drive just because the Second Generation lives there.
"Simmer down, everyone, we've got a fun day ahead of us and you'll just ruin it if you keep talking," Mr. Myner barked. There was a rustle of bodies as everyone crowded to get into their preferred seat, and everyone was quiet. "First off, I actually managed to grade over the 'hurrication' and nobody got below a B on the U.S. and Canada test. Congrats to Massie, who was the only one who scored a 100."
The class turned to stare at Massie, and she felt her cheeks heat in what she hoped was a humble blush. Overeager Aimee Colt instantly started applauding, and it wasn't long before the whole class was clapping their congratulations to Massie. Tired of appearing modest, Massie stood up on her chair and gave a dainty bow. Derrick rolled his eyes. Cam burst out laughing.
"Now that that's over, does anybody have a Hurricane Ike story that they'd like to share?" Mr. Myner asked, scanning the room with his warm brown eyes.
"Ooh! Ooh! I do!" Allie-Rose Singer shrieked. Mr. Myner nodded at her. "Okay, well, it was the day after Ike hit and our power was out but all of the sudden I heard this terrible screamy noise! I looked up in the trees but I didn't see anything. When I looked down, though, there was the most a-freaking-dorable baby squirrel! It was only the size of my hand! Anyway, I picked it up—"
"You know that if you pick it up, the mother won't take it back?" Cam interrupted. Allie shot him a dirty look.
"Well, yeah, um…anyway, before I was rudely interrupted, I picked it up and took it to my friend Wendy's house because her dad's a vet. But two days later, it died."
Massie glanced over at Cam. He looked like he was about to wet himself laughing.
"That…that was lovely, Allie. Does anybody else have an Ike story or a baby squirrel story?"
"Yeah!" Paul Danno exclaimed. "So I was at my friend's house a few days after the hurricane and this squirrel came up to me and it had like no eyes." Paul paused for dramatic effect. "So I kind of kicked it away because it was blind and all and I wanted it to leave me alone. Then all of a sudden my friend's little brothers come up and start kicking the crap out of the blind squirrel! Oh, and then one of them gets a freaking golf club and just whacks the hell out of it—"
"Thank you, Paul, that's enough," said Mr. Myner. "Let's see…Derrick? Do you have anything to say?"
Derrick looked up and grinned at the twinkling look in Mr. Myner's eyes. Derrick was notorious for sharing the randomest, longest, and most pointless stories in class just to kill ten minutes or avoid homework. Teachers and students alike had affectionately dubbed him 'the Procrastinator'. Massie smirked as her classmates moved to the edge of their seats, excited for one of the Procrastinator's infamous time-wasting stories.
"Actually, I don't," Derrick confessed. There was a collective gasp around the room. "All that happened over the 'hurrication' was a bunch of neighborhood parties. Every night on my street all the families would get together at somebody's house—a different family hosted it every night—and we'd grill food and drink and wait for the ice truck to come around."
"The best one was at Derrick's," Massie blurted. "His house was the only one on the entire street that had power. But the night we went to his house was the night the rest of the street got their power back." She looked straight at Derrick, green eyes to brown. "It was fun."
Massie sat back in her seat, wondering what had just come over to her. She couldn't remember the last time she'd spoken to Derrick directly—she normally never did if she couldn't help it. But the past ten days had been some of the best of her life, if she thought about it. The closeness, the sense of family, the confirmation that people were still willing to help each other when the cards were down—she couldn't let that sense of community go unspoken, especially when it was so quickly slipping out of her grasp.
Perhaps this was her heart's way of packing up boxes and cleaning out closets, even if it meant going against her very nature, her number one rule: Don't Acknowledge Derrick.
For the briefest of seconds, Massie felt like the tides might be changing in the ongoing Massie-Derrick Wars.
But like the shocked expressions on her peers' faces, that feeling went away too.