The Westchester Mall

BCBG

Thursday, September 8th

4:43 PM

"Cute." Alicia held up a black three quarter length sweater that had a fur trim on the hood.

"Mmmmm…it is." Massie agreed, but her mind was on Dylan.

"Are you okay?" Alicia asked as she sipped her Starbucks Strawberry Cream Frappicino.

"Fine." Massie smiled.

"Tomorrow's sleepover?"

"Will be you, Kristen, and me. No Dylan. No Kuh-laire." Massie said as she grabbed the sweater from Alicia.

"Okay. Soooo…what'll we do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Isn't three people, like not enough to have a sleepover?"

"No." Massie looked at her.

"Sorry. I was just saying."

"Kay. Well it's nawt." Massie told her.

"Kay." Alicia agreed and sipper her drink again.

"This?" Massie help up a black mini dress.

"Mmmmm. You'd look great in it." Alicia smiled.

"Let's head to Juicy Couture. I need some pajamas."

"Kay." Alicia agreed.

The two of them walked through the mall together with their other shopping bags in hand.

"WAIT!" Massie called.

"What?"

"You want some?" Massie pointed the candy store across the hall.

"Sure." Alicia shrugged. The two girls walked into the store for the first time.

"What do you want?" Massie asked her.

"Hmmmm…chocolate!" Alicia grinned.

"Kay." Massie grabbed a bag full of chocolate Hershey kisses and jammed them in a clear pastic bag. Then she grabbed two full-size chocolate lollipops and put them in too. She went up the register and paid for the candy.

"C'mon." She told Alicia and the girls left the store.

"Why're we having candy?" Alicia asked.

"Whaddya mean?" Massie asked.

"We never eat candy." Alicia responded.

"Special occasion." Massie said as she stuck the chocolate pop into her mouth.

Alicia took hers too. The girls sat down on a bench and finished the candy in silence before going into Juicy Couture. By the time they got in Massie was already in a better mood. The sugar from the chocolate and her Starbucks drink was finally kicking in. For once that afternoon she completely forgot about Dylan and Cam and just focused on having fun with Alicia.

Claire sat on her black computer chair waiting for a response from Kristen. So, she hadn't talked to her at school. She just didn't want to get caught. Kristen was good at heart. Plus, she knew about Kristen being poor. Though she'd never stoop to that level.

CLAIRE: Kristen. Hi.

Claire typed another message hoping Kristen would respond.

CLAIRE: I guess your too poor to have a computer sorry. Maybe I should let everyone at OCD know…

Claire could not believe she'd just done that. That was beyond mean and insensitive. But what about getting back into TPC-that was important too.

KRISTEN: You wouldn't

CLAIRE: I would

CLAIRE: I guess I'll start with Carrie…

KRISTEN: WAIT!

Perfect. Kristen was willing to play along.

CLAIRE: I need you to help me

KRISTEN: With what?

CLAIRE: Getting back into TPC

KRISTEN: No way

CLAIRE: Fine. I'll just tell everyone about you.

KRISTEN: Claire! Come on

CLAIRE: Fine. Help me with a plan to get back at Massie

KRISTEN: Done

Claire sighed. This was perfect. With Kristen and Layne's help she would finally bring Massie down.

Massie took her Palm Pilot out of her new purse and wrote her famous in/out list.

In- Massie, Alicia, and Kristen.

Out- Claire, and Dylan

She sighed when she was done. Why did Dylan betray her? Claire hadn't really but she was OUT from the minute she stole Massie's part in Dial L for Loser. Why couldn't life just be simple again? Were Kristen and Alicia also back stabbers? There was no way to know.

"What're you doing?" Alicia asked as she slurped yet another Strawberry Cream Frappacino.

"Nothing." Massie put the phone away.

"I heart this." Alicia grabbed a pink tank top off the shirts rack.

"You'd look ah-mazing times ten in it." Massie agreed.

"Ah-greed." Alicia joked.

"Heyy, woouldn't I look ah-mazing in this?" Massie asked as she grabbed a sky blue top just like it off the rack.

"Duh."

"Huh?"

"Mass, you look ah-mazing in EVERYTHING." Alicia smiled.

"Really?" Massie hated showing her insecure side but she had to know if Alicia was serious.

"Ah-bviously. You're the most popular girl at OCD." Alicia shrugged.

"Thanks." Massie smiled at her friend. But she knew that Alicia looked even more

ah-mazing in everything because she was stunningly beautiful.

"Yup. Hmm…I love these." Alicia held up a pair of turquoise shorts and a white lace cami.

"Those are fabulous." Massie assured her friend.

"I need something for school tomorrow."

"Why?"

"I just feel like wearing something new and fresh."

"Kay. Wear some of the new clothes you bought in Ralph Lauren."

"I plan on it." Alicia agreed.

"Soooooo…I can't wait until tomorrow."

"Why?"

"It'll be our first sleepover without Claire in forever." Massie's eyes smiled.

"And Dylan." Alicia said unhappily.

"Forget about her we can have our own fun with Kristen. You'll see." Massie told Alicia.

"I guess." Alicia sighed.

The girls continued shopping for two more hours and then made it home by 8:30 PM.

"Massie, where were you?" Kendra demanded.

"Um, shopping." Massie told her mother.

"You should've called if you were going to be out this late!" Kendra scoled.

"A crisis came up." Massie told her.

"Call next time!" She told her daughter.

"Kay." Massie agreed.

Kendra walked away into the kitchen. Massie was relieved. Her mom hadn't asked the question she'd been fearing.

"Oh, and Massie, why wasn't Claire with you?" Kendra turned around. There it was.

"Well, Alicia and I needed some alone time. Kristen and Dylan didn't come either." Massie reassured her mom..

"Alright." Kendra patted her daughter on her arm and walked away again.