I have no excuses. I'm so sorry for taking forever to update. To all of you who stayed faithful to me...I love you so much! I'll update a lot more, I promise. Just please read and enjoy; even though this chap isn't very exciting until the end.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Clique, sadly.
"It smells like sweat out here!"
"We're outside...on a football field, and the soccer team is, like, fifty feet away from us. How can the natural air smell like sweat, Cecilia?" Sutton snapped at the petite beta.
"I don't know, okay?" Cecilia mumbled, her cheeks turning slightly pink at Sutton's irritated tone.
Sutton rolled her Revlon-lined eyes, feeling heat creep up her neck. Cecilia's "Ehmagawd-I-Hate-Anything-To-Do-With-Body-Odor" attitude was driving her up the wall. Couldn't her friends just be patient for a few minutes? For the past half an hour that they'd been standing on the field, all the girls could do was complain. Sure, Monica was late. Sure, it was frigid outside. And, sure, the soccer coach's high-pitched whistle was a constant ringing in her diamond-studded ear; but did they have to be so…dramatic?
Wait, Sutton is talking about someone else being dramatic?
That's like the cheap perfume calling the mom jeans tacky.
After a few Zen-inspired deep breaths, Sutton was ready for a few more minutes of pretending to ignore the constant crabbiness of her friends. And it worked…for a few more minutes.
Then Elle opened her mouth.
"If you ask me," she whispered, tilting her head to the side innocently, "Monica is abusing Sutton. She said she would be here at three o'clock. What time is it? Oh yeah, it's three thirty. And Sutton is just taking it! She would neh-ver let anyone else do this to her."
Sutton whirled around; her perfect, no-hair-out-of-place fishtail braid swung against her shoulder blades, "Ex-cuh-yuse me, Elle? Did you have something to say to my face? Or are you just going to insult me behind my back?"
Elle looked helplessly at the rest of the girls for help, but no one offered any type of reassurance—Yumi was bouncing nervously from foot to foot, Cory had whipped out a notebook in two seconds flat, and was now reading the contents of it intently, and Cecilia was thoughtfully twirling a curl around her finger, staring into the distance. Elle was cuhm-pletely alone on this one.
"Um…" she stuttered, looking anywhere but Sutton's venom-filled violet eyes, "No…" but something seemed to change in the strawberry-blonde's posture, her chin snapped up and she locked eyes with the alpha, "Wait, yeah I do have something to say. Why are we just waiting here? Why haven't we left yet? Monica is thirty minutes late, Sutton! A whole half hour! She's just being rude—and you're playing right into her game! You're doing whatever she wants. Sutton, you are one of the best alphas ever, and you never let anyone step all over you! So why start now? Why let Monica win?"
The rest of the girls gasped, covering their mouths with their freshly manicured hands, wondering where their friend got the courage to speak to their alpha the way she was.
Sutton looked stunned for a few seconds, but it didn't last long. Her eyes darkened, and, if it was possible, she looked even more irked than before, "Listen, Elle," her normally high and clear voice was low and barely audible, "Our social future depends on this. Let me handle it, okay?"
"Hey, girls," Cecilia spoke softly, her eyes focused on something behind Yumi's head, "Talk about it later."
"Why—?"
"Monica's here." Cecilia's bright green eyes were oddly large; almost as if she sensed something bad was going to happen.
All the girls subtly tilting their zit-free faces to the left; and every one of them saw the tall, lean figure of a girl walking slowly across the lawn in their direction.
Sutton glanced over at Elle, taking in her beta's dejected expression; "Elle…thanks for caring. I know I'm not acting like myself, but I have to be like this until Monica's party is over. Then things will go back to normal."
Elle looked ready to throw her arms around Sutton in a huge hug, but Monica was suddenly right next to them; her face glowing with excitement. And, if the girls hadn't known the alpha better, they might have thought that the look in Monica's eyes was childlike.
But we all know that Monica is a perfect alpha, and that she isn't capable of being too excited. I mean, alphas don't do that. They can't act all excited; even if they really want to. They have to be ice-cold and calculating at all times…right?
"Are you ready?" Sutton's voice was clipped.
"Someone woke up on the wrong side of her goose-feather bed!" Monica redid her already-perfect ponytail, meeting Sutton's annoyed gaze with a playful smirk.
"I just want to get this over with. Who knew being a dating service would take so much effort?"
"You are nawt my dating service—"
"There's Coach Mullins," Sutton wrinkled her petite nose at the broad-shouldered, semi-manly coach. The entire school—including the teachers—were always debating on whether the coach was a lesbian or not; Sutton had decided long ago that Coach Mullins only looked manly. Nawt to mention Yumi had seen her making out with the AP Civics teacher…
But that's another story for another time.
"Ew," Yumi winced, probably remembering the tonguing session she'd had to witness.
Sutton turned to Monica, letting her moves become slow and lazy, "Well, go talk to her! She's your ticket to the squad…and to Aaron."
Monica gave Sutton a death glare, "I'm nawt going up her alone! You have to come with me!"
"So you need me?"
"Don't taunt me. I might need you to get Aaron, but you need me to have a social life." Monica's eyes were suddenly feral, like a cat ready to pounce.
"Whatever," Sutton knew that was just about the worst comeback ever, but Monica was as unpredictable as she was pretty…so Sutton was going to have to be prepared for anything.
Sutton was starting to wish Cory's dear older brother was never born.
::
"Do you guys think Monica's going to make the team?" Elle's voice broke the tense silence between the four girls and Monique.
"Um, duh!" Monique rolled her eyes, speaking up for the first time.
"You sound confident," Cecilia sounded bored.
Monique didn't seem aware of the icy glares the girls were giving her, "I am confident!" she peeked over her shoulder where Monica was laughing softly with the coach; Sutton stood to the side, her arms crossed loosely, looking like she'd rather be anywhere than where she was.
"Monica can charm anyone," Yumi breathed. She regretted the moment Cecilia and Cory both gave her furious, close-mouthed looks, "Nawt like it matters! I mean…she doesn't have Aaron yet, does she? She needs our help!"
Wow, should we just give her a shovel to dig with? Girl's definitely not getting out of that one…
Cecilia adjusted the bobby pin holding her curls away from her face and smiled, "What she means is; you can't get through life by just charming people, can you? That isn't any way to live! You have to work! So, in a roundabout way, Yumi was complimenting Monica! Telling you that because she needs a little help, she's doing the right thing."
"Yeah, that's what I meant." Yumi silently thanked her BFF for being so quick to catch on.
Monique's face turned into something like a smile, but not quite. "You know, Yumi," she said in a low voice, "You're kind of like me."
"We're both ah-mazing betas?" Yumi cocked her head; locks of dark hair fell over her shoulder.
"Sure," her voice was loud enough for everyone to hear. But she walked slowly toward Yumi, Jimmy Choo boots gently sinking into the emerald grass; and, soft enough for only Yumi's diamond-studded ears, she whispered something else: "And we ah-dore the latest gossip."
"So…should we go?" Cory was bouncing lightly on the soles of her feet, obviously itching to get moving somewhere.
Elle put her hand flat against her brow and squinted against the Sun, "Sutton seems to be doing fine with Monica. We should just go; she'll call us later and tell us how everything went."
They all spared a curious glance over at the two alphas—Sutton was currently attempting to show Monica how to do a cartwheel; but every time Monica tried to flip over, her Victoria's Secret underwear would peek out slightly from her skirt.
"She'll definitely be fine," Cecilia giggled softly.
"I don't know, guys," Yumi was still looking cautiously at Sutton, "I have this feeling we should stay."
"All we would be is dead weight, Yumi," Elle checked her Coach watch, "Ehmagawd, it's only four! We can still go shopping for at least two hours!" her attention span was almost as short as a fish's…maybe even shorter.
"I have to go home for a minute," Cory was at least ten steps ahead of them already, "My money's all in my piggy bank—" as soon as she said the last words aloud, her face turned sheet-white.
"Piggy bank?" Elle started cracking up, grabbing at her tiny waist in hysterics, "What are you, six?"
Cory glared at her friend indignantly, "No, Piggers is—"
She stopped when Cecilia poked her in the arm softly, motioning over to Yumi. The dark-haired beta was still staring at Sutton with wide eyes, her lips crushed together, and her brow furrowed in thought.
"Come awn, guys!" Elle whined, "I need to go to Coach, Sephora, and New York & Co.! And we have, what, like fifteen minutes to get to the mall? Stop worrying about Sutton; she's an alpha, she doesn't need us!"
Yumi quickly snapped out of her thoughts, "Yeah, let's go."
Anyone—except, apparently, her friends—could tell that her smile was awkward and forced, but Yumi walked toward the limo anyway; because that's what friends do for each other. They make each other happy and have fun together…
That is what friends are for, right?
::
The slope of Cory's plantation-styled house popped into view from the wide windows of the limo. All the girls ah-dored the pretty view; it reminded them of good times and peaceful relaxation together. And that was what today was going to be like.
Don't be so sure, girls.
"You guys can come stand in the foyer if you want, I just have to run upstairs for a minute," Cory's long legs were already outside the sleek, black door.
The girls all nodded and slipped out of the car along with their friend.
"It's so weird without Sutton," Cecilia stepped daintily into the lavender-scented entryway.
"I know…I feel bad; like we should be there with her." Yumi stood right below a huge window, and the sunlight streamed in, illuminating her dark complexion and bright streaks in her hair.
Cory quickly bounded up the stairs, taking two at a time like always.
Elle sighed, "Why are you guys so worried? Like I said, Sutton's fine! If it was one us, I wouldn't say that; but Sutton's clever, pretty, and knows how to get herself out of tough situations. And, like I also said, we would only be standing there, staring at her. Would that help at all?"
"No, it's just it seems a little rude to go shopping without her—"
"Guys," Cory's voice broke their conversation, "Come with me." She didn't wait for them to respond, she just dashed quickly to the formal living room a few doors away from where they were standing, "Shh," she added as an afterthought.
"Why are we—?"
"Shh," she said it more forcefully this time, motioning for them to come closer.
Elle and Cecilia shared a puzzled glance, while Yumi jumped forward, eager for a new piece of gossip.
All the three girls tip-toed silently to the dark-wooded door, palms sweating; but when their eyes landed on what Cory was talking about, they could do nothing but stare like freakish stalkers.
There, in the plush, leather sofa, was Aaron. And next to him, lips pressed into his, body to body, was a girl with dark hair running down to her waist. The girl's back was to them, so they didn't know who it was; but it was most certainly nawt Monica.
Cecilia's phone buzzed with a sudden text and the girls silent-gasped and trotted away from the room; eyes still large, glossed mouths still hanging open.
Cecilia opened the text wordlessly, staring intensely at the screen:
Oh hey, girls. Training Monica was fun, but I guess you wouldn't know that. Don't worry, I'll make sure we get into that party…no matter what. Hope my BFFs have ah-lot of fun without me. –Sutton
"Ehmagawd," all the girls breathed in at the same time. Could this day get any worse?
Don't ask that question. Life has a way of toe-dally making you regret what you think.
Hope you enjoyed it :) Next chap is up soon, don't worry!
In your review that you're going to leave me *wink wink* I need you to tell me one thing you'd like to happen to your character in the story. Please just do this, it will help me a lot. Thanks!
