Prepare thyself for a shocking chapter! You've been warned...


Millie's POV:

Please, kill me now, Lord, I prayed as I sat down on a chair Monday afternoon. We were in a classroom after school. This room was usually reserved for student council meetings, but I guess nobody scheduled a meeting on a Monday. That part wasn't too bad. The bad part was that the Pops were there. They were just so annoying.

They had already set up a circle of desks when we had arrived. The main Pops, Addie, Dana, Sabrina, Claire, and Maya, were there, sitting straight up in their chairs and clasping their hands together formally.

Maxine plopped down in her chair, her butt near the edge of the seat and her legs splayed out. She crossed her arms and looked irritated, so she put her headphones on. The Pops were obviously irked by this, but Maxine looked too bothered to talk to.

Celeste's tiny body seemed to take up hardly any space in her chair. She stuck out her chin jauntily and sat quietly. She too seemed to feel a little out of place, staring at the set-up of the room.

I was leaning forward in my seat, my elbows resting on the desk. One hand supported my chin. I watched as each of the Pops looked self-consciously at themselves, checking their outfits when Sophia walked in.

Sophia smoothly sat down and crossed one leg over the other, surveying the Pops' outfits. She leaned back in her chair and blew a bubble with her watermelon-flavored gum. After she finished silently judging them, she tossed her long, smooth hair over her shoulders, signaling the start of our meeting. "Felicia and her friends are causing trouble," she started. "They're going after our poor Maxine because our arrival to the school has caused Josh to—"

"Become a total tool and start going after pretty girls when he already has a girlfriend?" Addie finished. She smirked. "Don't worry; he's the talk of the school. We've also got it on video, remember?"

Maxine said nothing, but her eyes flickered over to Addie. Her headphones were still on. I suddenly wished I had something to do. This was a waste of time. I got out my phone and began texting, ignoring Celeste's curious glances.

"So what should we do to get back at them?" Maya asked.

Sophia got out her lip gloss wand and slathered it over her lips. "Well, we've got the video, remember? We could post it on YouTube or the school website."

"That'll show how Josh is a total jerk and how insane Felicia is!" Dana exclaimed, totally on board with the plan. I put my phone away, a little more interested. Maxine watched me and took my cue. She shut off her IPod Touch and dropped it in her purse.

"But that's not good enough," Sophia decided. "We should record Felicia as much as we can so we can change her words and make her seem even more psycho. You know, in one of those voice-editing programs and stuff. Then we post it on YouTube and spread the word around."

"Genius!" Claire said. "In the meantime, we could think of other ways to embarrass Jenny, too. We should've teamed up earlier. We can do a whole lot of damage."

Maxine slammed her hands on her desk. Everyone in the room jumped. She stood up angrily. "No! Why would you guys want to do that? You guys are rude, mean, egotistical, arrogant, and incompetent! Do you realize how low you guys are? Honestly, you guys are lower than dirt with your stupid obsession with clothes and how you look and you ALL listen to the worst songs EVER! I'm sick and tired of being pulled around by Sophia, who forced us to go to this lame meeting."

Everyone sat there, dumbstruck. I didn't know what to say. Maxine turned to Sophia. "You're the shallowest person I've ever met. You belong with the Pops, and we all know what you've said about them." Maxine began gathering her stuff. "Now excuse me, I've got a meeting with my agent. My ratings are shooting up, and I got there because I focused on my talents and skills, not what Jenny and her friends are doing." She stormed out of the room.

"Wow," Addie said. "That was a little psycho."

And that's when I got angry, too. Sophia agreed with Addie, and I boiled. Talking about Felicia was one thing, but going after Maxine was too much.

"She's right," I said loudly.

"I know." Addie smiled at me. What a poser.

"No, not you," I hissed. "Maxine! She's right about you guys! Addie, you're a loser, poser, and the fakest person I've ever seen." I paused. "Actually, you're pretty even with Sophia. That's why you guys would be great friends." I sprinted out of the room in my heels, hoping to find Maxine.

Thankfully, I found Maxine waiting outside the school. She was just about to get into an expensive-looking car when she saw me running after her. She must've had an idea of what I did, because she grinned at me and asked, "Want to come meet my agent? I'll give you a ride."

"Sure thing," I said, and grinned back. And that was when I finally knew that I was her favorite friend, and had always been.


Millie's POV:

Lily was a very hyper woman, who talked twenty times faster than the average person and flitted about the room, talking to various people and typing things on her BlackBerry at an incredible speed. "You've got to email that recording contract to me….I've got a possible signing with Justin Bieber, but I really want to work with P!nk…You have to hurry up, I'm supposed to be talking with Maxine about her ratings and a possible opportunity…of course she's great, that's why I'm working with her!"

Maxine smiled to herself. She turned to me. "That phone call will probably take a while. What happened with you?"

"I agreed with you and left, basically. After yelling at Addie and Sophia a little."

Maxine looked at me in a different way than she usually does. "I knew you were different." Her words were short, but they shook through my body to the bone.

My insides burned up, and waves of electricity ran through my body. "I hate the music on my IPod," I blurted. "I listen to what Sophia tells me to. Can you download your songs on mine?"

"Of course," Maxine said, and she got out her IPod and played a song on random. "You might like some of them. They're mostly recent music."

I put on her headphones. Lee DeWyze was singing "Beautiful Like You". Maxine sang along, and I listened carefully to the words.

And I wish that
You could feel it
But you don't choose
To believe it
Cause I know that
You can't see it that way
That way

If you could only just stop stop stop running
If you could only take a second to breath it in
Everything that you know would be beautiful
Like you
You know they're never gonna stop stop stop your love
Let's pretend that the world is waking up
Everything that we see is beautiful
Like you
Like you

"Sometimes I hate this song," Maxine said after the song finished. "Because it makes me hopeful that one day people would wake up and realize how they're acting."

"Are you sure you're thirteen?" I joked. "Because I wish I talked like that."

"Oh, you're more like that than you realize."

"Maxine, was that you singing?" Lily interrupted. "That was just wonderful; we should record you singing that, maybe post it on YouTube, and with Lee's permission, we can put it on your CD!"

Maxine and I looked at each other and grinned. "Sure, Lily," Maxine said. "After I download a couple songs on Millie's IPod, though."


Maxine and Millie are growing closer, but what is going to happen to Celeste and Sophia? Who will Celeste choose? Well, to find this out, you gotta do one small thing for me. REVIEW!