Hello my dears! Thank you for the lovely review! Heads up about this chappie: it's a build up chappie so it's not going to be that intresting. Sorry. Promise the next one with be drama-filled! xoxo, Cady
"Hey—" Alicia slapped her palms onto the glass table as she fought to catch her breath—"did you hear?"
Massie barely looked up from her glowing Sidekick. Ever since the accidental smooch with Liam, they had been texting each other non-stop for the past twenty-four hours. Thank Gawd for unlimited texting.
"No I did not hear." Dylan tapped her mouth with her palm. "And before you ruin my appetite with another story of LBRs flirting let me digest my lunch first." She squirted reduced fat raspberry jelly over her cream cheese-slathered toasted poppy seed bagel.
Alicia sniffed. "Whatevs, Snippy Longstockings." She was referring to the Dylan's red French braids. "Not like you need any more calories!" she said loud enough for Dylan to hear. Dylan looked down at her mint-green-leggings-clad legs then back at her bagel. She immediately pushed the plate away.
Ignoring the verbal slap she had just given to Dylan, Alicia said, "Kris?" Alicia looked expectantly at Kristen, who had been surprising quiet during the entire exchange.
"Not now. Huge exam next period! If I flunk it, I die!" Kristen snapped as she flipped through her color-coordinated English Honors notebook.
"What?" Claire finally mumbled, poking the floating pieces of cereal with her spoon. The soggy Lucky Charms kept bobbing up, like mini islands floating in a milk bowl, instead of sinking.
Alicia rolled her eyes, dropped her Miu Miu next to Kristen's grilled chicken salad, and squeezed into the tiny spot next to Dylan. "Gawd, if you don't want to hear the latest Briarwood gossip, fine." Alicia rolled her eyes and pulled a Nutz Over Chocolate Luna Bar out of her purse.
"Who needs the Tomahawks when there's Liam?" Massie looked up from her Sidekick like she was peeking up from one of her new limited-edition Oliver Peoples sunglasses.
"Well, suh-orry if we can't meet up to Liam's standards," Alicia muttered.
Dylan snorted softly while Claire flicked a soggy rainbow marshmallow into her melting strawberry smoothie. Even Kristen briefly looked up from her notes to exchange an eye roll with Dylan.
Massie rolled her eyes. No wonder jealousy was considered to be a deadly sin. "Fine. Tell us your big news." She slapped her purple-crystal-covered Sidekick onto the table and folded her hands. "Continue," she said in mock sweetness, widening her eyes as if Alicia's gossip was going to be front-cover Star-worthy.
Alicia rolled her eyes and popped another piece of Luna Bar into her mouth. "I'm surprised you seem so casual about this. It is Derrington we're tawking about."
"What about Derrick?" Massie tore off her Luna Bar's silver foil Dylan-style as she said his name.
If Alicia noticed she used the term "Derrick" instead of "Derrington" she didn't press the matter. "Okay, so you know those new French girls—Antoinette or Marisol or whatever, right?"
Massie rolled her eyes as if to say, "What about them?" She sighed and tapped her nails against the table's glass, obviously impatient for Liam to respond."Didn't we agree that foreign imports are so … trashy?" She looked into Alicia's wide brown eyes when she over-pronounced "trashy", making it clear that she still wasn't completely forgiven about the whole "Nina the Obscena" semester.
Alicia blushed. "That was so nawt my fault! How do you think I felt when she was flirting with Josh?"
"At least she didn't kiss him," Dylan chuckled. Suddenly, as if remembering something, she turned to Claire, her emerald eyes wide with horror. "Oops."
Claire felt her stomach reenact the tornado scene in The Wizard of Oz. Her newly-tanned skin turned white then gray as she tried to swallow the squeak that threatened to escape from her throat.
"What were you saying about the foreign students?" Claire asked desperately, her voice cracking. The only thing worse than losing Cam was losing her friendship with girls who had the power to make her life a living hell.
Alicia glanced suspiciously at her, her eyebrows raised. "Um…"
"Continue." Massie butted in. She gave Claire a speedy let-me-handle-this look before smiling at Alicia. "Please." She patted Alicia's hand.
Alicia, obviously thrilled of capturing Massie's undivided attention, turned back to the alpha of the school, her glossy black hair swinging Pantene-style in Claire's face.
"Okay, so I was walking with Josh and then Derrington just suddenly pops out of no where and asks if he could talk to me for a sec…"
Massie rolled her eyes and reached for her Sidekick. "Congrats, Alicia. Now that you finally captured Josh's heart why don't you go for Derring—Derrick—now?" She paused, mid-grab, to shoot Alicia a frosty smilerk (smile-smirk). "Or as Nadia likes to say, 'Go from it.'"
Alicia looked as stunned as the rest of the girls. "But I—"
Massie cut her off with an impatient smirk and a fake throat clear noise. "It's really interesting and all, except—" Suddenly, as if understanding she sounded utterly too LBR-ish, she stopped, mid-sentence. An awkward silence hung in the air like one of Kemp Hurley's silent-but-deadly farts.
Claire glanced at Dylan who glanced at Alicia. Alicia turned to a preoccupied Kristen who did nothing but a shrug in return. No one had ever seen Massie Block have an awkward LBR comeback moment.
"Hey, Leesh, are you having a re-run of the time Delilah Wong wore the exact same outfit as you in the fourth grade?" Massie suddenly asked, her voice slicing through the silence like one of those flaming steak knives used at the Block's country club.
"No…" Alicia said slowly.
"Then why do you think I actually care about you're tacky rumors?" Massie rolled her eyes and slid a hand through her newly-razored brown bob. "The 'gossip' you're 'investigating' wouldn't make it to an issue of that PennySaver crap Kristen subscribes to." She made air-quotes when she said "gossip" and "investigating", carefully avoiding Kristen's disbelief-filled aqua eyes.
Claire gasped. She understood Massie needed a snippy comeback to snap Alicia back into her rightful beta position—and her accidental stutter had been totally un-alpha-like—but the Kristen comment was totally unnecessary. She snuck a peek at the petite blond beside her. Kristen's perplexed look had vanished and was replaced by a stony expression that covered her face like a heavy drama mask.
Dylan discreetly pinched Kristen's soccer-tanned elbow.
"Thanks a lot, Massie," Kristen mumble-snapped. She brushed Dylan's hand away with a small smile whispering, "I'm fine! Really!"
"What?" Massie looked from one girl to another, looking genuinely confused. "Did I say something wrong or something? Why do you guys keep giving me that look?" she demanded. "It's beyond ah-noying!"
"Can I puh-lease just finish?" Alicia begged. She held her Jo Malone Amber Lavender body crème- applied hands prayer-style in front of Massie's face.Massie rolled her eyes and nodded.
"So as I was saying…me and Josh were walking together, right? And then Derrington comes out of no where and goes, 'Can I tawk to you?'" Alicia barely paused for breath. "And at first I was thought he was tawking to Josh, 'cause it's like why would he want to talk to me…"
"And then?" Massie pressed. "Why did Derring—Derrick—want to talk to you?" She instantly hated herself for sounding so desperate. To cover up her deadly mishap she grinned nonchalantly and added a breezy, "Being a perv as usual?" comment.
Alicia whipped her purse in front of her chest. "Opposite of yes!"
As the rest of the girls laughed, Massie's head throbbed. What did Derrick want with Alicia? She was the beta for Gawd sake! Weren't alphas always better than betas? Massie gasped. What if Derrick thought Alicia was prettier? She dug through her new Chloé Paddington Plexi bag, pushing past loose items for her compact. No. She suddenly stopped, dropping her Coach keychain-attached keys back into her bag. She wouldn't—couldn't—stoop to such measures. She was Massie Block, for Gawd sake, the uncontested, comeback-ready ruler of OCD. Nothing was ever going to change that. Nawt even Derrick Harrington.
"Mass, are you even listening?" Alicia whined, stomping an open-toed boot-clad foot.
Something in Massie snapped. Maybe it was the why-does-everyone-think-Alicia's-prettier anger that had been building up inside her ever since she had laid eyes on Alicia. Or maybe it was the fact that her ex was ready to forget about swiping her lip-virginity for some overly-big-chested Spanish beauty. Either way she was still furious. "Yes! Yes! And yes! Just continue tawking about my ex-boyfriend! Why should I care? He's only the guy that I lost my lip-virginity to! But, hey, what do a few kisses mean anyway, right? So, just go and lunge yourself at him! Why should I give a crap?!"
Heads turned, random onlookers holding eco-friendly trays rubber-necked, chairs scraped against the tiled floors…it seemed like everyone—from jocks to the drama dorks (x), A-listers to LBRs—was trying to witness—or at least catch a glimpse—the Massie-breakdown.
Claire's mouth dropped open. She had never seen Massie lose her dignity like this before. Watching this was like the time beloved anchorwoman Rhea Osgood threw up her arms and shouted she'd rather quit than to do another Paris Hilton-related story. Random…totally unexpected…flat-out weird…and … and … devastating.
Alicia gasped and slapped both hands over her cherry red lips, shaking her head. "No! I so did nawt mean it like that!"
Massie took a couple of deep breaths and popped open an Evian, gripping the icy water bottle with shaking hands so they wouldn't "accidentally" find Alicia's neck and squeeze it until Alicia's eyes bulged. Taking a long, cleaning sip she willed herself nawt to cry. Why did she feel like crying anyway? It wasn't like she still felt anything for Derrington. And after he had tried to make her perform tasks in front of his pervy friends while bleating out apologies, there was no way she'd ever forgive him. Ever.
Claire laid a reassuring hand on Massie's slightly shaking shoulder.
Massie shook off Claire's hand, full-on ignoring the kind gesture, and swiped her sweaty bangs, her eyes glued to Alicia like the way Inez did to one of her Spanish soaps. "Continue…"
Alicia glanced hesitantly at Dylan. "Uh…"
"Continue. Now," Massie said through gritted teeth. She gripped her purple crown charm.
"Well, so he asked if he could tawk to me, right?" Alicia snuck a look at Massie. "Well, I was all like 'Sure…whatevs…' but Josh came with me," she added hastily.
Massie tapped her mouth, her charms colliding with her sharp wrist bone. "Okay, this story is a total snoozer. I don't understand you, Leesh. Are you purpously trying to piss me—"
"He likes you, okay?" Alicia blurted, slamming her glistening palms on the table. "He wanted to ask me to if you still liked him but then Marisol or Antoniette or whatever came up to him and asked for his autograph so he couldn't finish!"
Massie's Dulce de Leche Glossip Girl-covered lips dropped open.
Claire dropped the brush she was holding, Kristen glanced up sharply from her notes, and Dylan stopped in mid-bite, Claire's super-size low-fat cheese stick farting out an excess of organic mozzarella.
"Say whaaaaaaaaaat?" Dylan burped, breaking the silence.
Everyone but Massie giggled, who swatted the annoying icebreaker away.
Alicia nodded triumphantly. "So how do you feeeel?" she asked, imitating Dr. Baum's, the school's therapist, buttery voice.
Massie rolled her eyes. Like she was going to confide her emotions with the PC. "I feel—" A familiar bzzzzzzzzzzz of a purple crystal-covered Sidekick ruined the comeback, pissing off Massie and saving Alicia.
"Nawt again," Dylan mumbled, wiping her soy chips-stained hands onto her blue Marc Jacobs striped swim cover-up dress.
"How am I supposed to study with all these distractions?" Kristen muttered, more to herself than to everyone else.
"Hold that thought." Massie held up a palm in front of Alicia's perfect nose. She, with the casual looping lunge of a pro tennis player, reached past Claire's glass cereal bowl and grabbed her vibrating Sidekick, eager for Liam's response.
Derrick: Massie, we need 2 talk. 3:30. Wrap Star.
"What did Liam say?" Alicia asked eagerly.
Massie's mouth dropped open. In desperate need of a Chai latte she whispered,"It's nawt Liam."
Dylan glanced at the screen and smirked. "Speak of the devil."
"Ehmagawd!" Massie suddenly gasped. She licked her lips, desperate for some moisture in her mouth. She gripped Alicia's arm. "What should I do?" Nothing was more pathetic than an alpha begging for help, but right now Massie could care less. The future of her love life was in jeopardy.
"Tell him no," Alicia insisted. "He doesn't deserve you after what he's done."
"No!" Dylan snapped. She glared at Alicia. "That's why we don't have dates!"
Listening to the two bicker like a married couple was enough to annoy Massie to death but the only thing she could do was to stab her uneaten melting raspberry fro yo while glancing back and forth at the screen.
"Gimme the freaking phone!" With the speed of a pickpocket, Kristen snatched the glowing Sidekick out of Massie's hand.
Massie: I'll B there
"Kristen!" Massie wailed. "I hate you!" She slapped Kristen's muscular arms, the gesture inflicting more pain on her than Kristen.
"Maybe you guys can stop bickering now and let me study in peace!"
Bzzzzzzzzz
"What did Derringtom say?" Dylan leaned in eagerly. She twirled a curl.
Massie shooed her away impatiently and slowly read. Suddenly she clamped a hand over her glossy mouth. "Eh. Ma. Gawd." She tossed the Sidekick onto the table as if it was suddenly engulfed with flames and drew back.
"What?!" Everyone, even Kristen, crowded around her.
"Does he want to get back together?" Claire wanted to know.
"Look."
"Tell him you already have Liam!" Alicia flipped her hair. "You—"
"Just look!" Massie insisted.
The girls craned their necks for a better look, bashing their pimple-free heads against each other.
Liam: One week anniversary 2morrow, baby boo. I noe, hella tight, rite? Wrap Star at 4. I'll be waiting. Xoxoxo.
Okay, right now I'm just creating drama. Sorry the chapter's such a snoozer. It's a build-up chappie. Lemme know what you think. Xoxoxo.