AN: Disclaimed. :)
Okay, so this chapter is the days counting down to the dance; now everyone, I must say here: remember all those Chris Plovert chapters? Yeah…
Dedicated to Mersaydez. :D
"So you guys are going together to the dance, right?" Massie asked Claire and Derrick. She had to admit, they did look pretty okay together. But ever since their sort-of fight a couple of days ago, things had become different. Kristen seemed more distant and so did Cam. Josh seemed like the only sane one, even if he and Antoinette weren't together and she was going stag to the dance which was coming in two days.
"Yep," Claire chirped, biting into her salad. "I already know what I'm gonna be—a stewardess." Claire waggled her eyebrows.
Massie laughed out loud. "Are you seriously going in a costume?" she asked incredulously.
Claire nodded as if it was obvious. "It is a Halloween dance after all."
Massie chuckled again, feeling Connor's laugh along with her. Out of nowhere, Massie's phone rang with All Time Low's Remembering Sunday. She shrugged from under Connor's arm and pulled out her phone. She didn't bother to check who was calling, but it was an unknown number. She put the phone to her ear, "Hello?"
No answer came. But a heavy breathing sounded from the other end. Massie raised an eyebrow. "Hello?" she asked again.
"Whoever you are, you better stop it. That's not funny. Hello?" While she was talking, the breathing came faster and heavier.
"Who was it?" Connor asked, staring down at Massie with concern.
She shook her head and slid her phone back into her pocket. "It was no one, just a prank I guess."
"Okay, well, now that that's over with," Claire said, "why shouldn't we wear costumes to the Halloween dance?"
Connor's eyes were still on Massie when she answered, "Because, Claire, this is high school. No one wears Halloween costumes anymore. All you have to do is look your best. Wear a short dress and look hot for the night, you know?" She winked playfully and punched Connor's stomach. "Now what about you?" she teasingly asked him.
He chuckled and leaned in, kissing her cheek and leaving his face there. "What do you mean?" he asked, his warm breath tickling her skin.
"Oh you know what I mean," Massie whispered into his ear.
"Derrick! Derrick! Derrick!" a girl squealed.
Connor adjusted his position and so did Massie. She met Derrick's flickering brown eyes before they broke away and he looked up at a fiery redheaded girl. "Hiiiiii," she squealed in her abnormally high-pitched voice. "Anyway, I was wondering whether you probably, oh, I don't know, wanted to, like, uh, go to, like, the Halloween dance with me? Like, together?" she asked, batting her eyelashes.
Kristen smirked. "Like, maybe you should, like, check on your, like, grammar?" she teased, receiving hearty chuckles from all around the table.
Derrick rolled his eyes and said, "Well, I'd love to go with you—"
The redhead squealed loudly, grabbing the attention of those near enough to hear the conversation.
Derrick cleared his throat. "Right, anyway, like I was going to say, or what I meant to say, was that you're probably really cool and all, but you know, I'm already set on going with Claire."
Claire looked up innocently and smiled. "Hi there," she squeaked.
The redhead cocked an eyebrow and sniffed. "Oh. Well. Okay then. It's okay. I have a few guys who asked me anyway. They're probably not going to reject me, you know?" She turned on her heel, and with a defiant chin in the air, stormed off.
Cam ran a hand through his dark hair. "Jeez, what was that, the seventeenth time you've been asked out?"
Kristen absentmindedly said, "Actually, it was only the fourteenth. But you know, who's counting?" She stabbed her tuna sandwich with her spoon angrily while grumbling to herself.
"Uh, hey, you okay?" Massie asked, worried about Kristen. She had been acting strangely different in the past couple of days. Massie didn't want to think it was about Derrick, but deep down, she knew that it was. The way that she arrogantly would leave Claire out of the conversation but try and have Derrick say as much as he could; the way that she would roll her eyes at Claire when she looked at Derrick mischievously; the way that she would only talk to Massie and purposely avoided locking eyes with Claire.
But Claire, on the other hand, hadn't seemed to notice. It seemed to not have taken progress in her head that Kristen detested her for being with Derrick. Derrick smiled down at Claire, but not a full smile. In fact, Claire seemed to be the only one to enjoy the relationship. Massie couldn't help but feel satisfied at the thought of that.
She shook her head and continued to smile at her peers surrounding her, not helping the feeling of fake-ness in her smile.
_WhereItAllBegins_
Massie smiled at the girl passing by her. It had finally come; Friday, the Halloween dance. Massie squeezed herself in a black Gucci number; Kristen had come in a dark purple strapless BCBG dress that swayed above her knees. Claire had yet to show her beautiful, blue eyes. Connor's masculine arms were holding onto Massie's waist, and she was enjoying watching the many slutty girls in tight, short dresses dance themselves onto random people.
Massie thought that the National Honor Society had done a great job with the gym; to enter the gym, they had to go through a long, dark hallway called the Hall of Doom (with a comedic, "Wow, that's clever," from Kristen) with sticky spiders on floors and dirty hands reaching out. Kristen was holding onto Josh the entire time and the amused look on Josh's face said it all. Inside, the dance floor was packed with tons of students grinding up against each other. The DJ was up on stage, rocking the whole gym out with a Ke$ha song. The neon lights that illuminated the gym and casted glows on students' faces continued to fly around, bouncing off the walls. Black confetti continuously fell from the ceiling, landing in the students' hair, outfits and in the punch bowl (receiving a, "Whose stupid idea was this confetti thing anyway?" from Kristen).
Massie looked around, hoping that her amber orbs could detect blue ones. Finally, after seeing a couple or two sneak off into corners, Massie's eyes landed on a very sexy, devilish stewardess dragging along someone in a blazer and a white t-shirt with a black skeleton on it. Her eyes widened as she realized that it was Claire in a blue, not-even-reaching-her-midway-thigh dress with golden buttons on it, and her name on a nametag. Her white-blond hair was up in a bun and over it a dark blue hat. But she wasn't who Massie was studying.
She was studying the boy she was dragging behind; the one with the dirty-blond shaggy hair in his face and an outfit that greatly reminded her of Jess and Rory, when Rory saw Jess at his book show. In his white shirt, black blazer and earphones, he had to be the man of her dreams.
Until he looked up.
And smirked at Massie.
And glared at Connor.
And smiled at Claire.
And again scowled at Connor.
"Hey guys!" Claire chirped happily, the bun on her head sliding off slightly.
"Hey!" Kristen yelled over the pulsating Flo Rida song. "You look amazing!" she said, leaning into Claire.
She beamed back, her white teeth glowing against the neon lights. "You guys look great, too!" she shouted, tugging on Mr. Blazer's hand.
"Uh, Derrick," she shouted at him, "could you go get me a drink? It's really hot in here."
Derrick looked up from his iPod's screen and pulled out an earphone. "Huh?" he loudly replied.
Claire rolled her eyes and laughed. "Drink, Derrick, drink. I need to drink something."
Derrick nodded. "Oh. 'Kay then." He threw another smirk towards Massie and her dress and frowned at Connor when he piped up and said, "Ah, I'll go with you!"
Derrick shrugged and turned on his heel, disappearing into the crowd of sex-craved teenagers. Connor smiled at Massie before following after Derrick. Massie watched as he left, feeling a sense of relief. She turned to Claire and half-smiled.
"So," she shouted, "you and Derrick are official now, yeah?"
Claire smiled coyly and shrugged. Leaning in towards Massie and Kristen, she said, "I'm not really sure. He hasn't exactly said it yet." She again shrugged her shoulders, the mood in her eyes shifting. "But then again," she brightly chirped, "he said yes to the dance and we had a make-out session before coming here. So that must mean we are, right?"
Massie shared an uh-oh look with Kristen, who then looked at Claire and nodded, unsure. "Yeah, totally," she lied. The moment Claire looked away, Kristen returned to Massie and mumbled, "If being totally ignored at the dance while wearing a hot outfit means you're together forever, then hell yeah, they'll get married and have fifteen kids." When she pulled away,
Massie chuckled uneasily.
Cam was eyeing Claire the whole time that she was there. Staring at her, wondering why on earth she hadn't noticed him. Cam's gray blazer hung low, almost drooping, as if it understood what Cam was feeling. Cam's heart was tearing in two pieces. Kkkkkkkk, it seemed to be growing louder and louder every time he looked at her. He sighed and walked away from Josh, who was talking to him about the new Johnny Depp movie that was coming out soon. He continued walking, not even noticing the large silhouette in the corner, watching the inside of the gym.
_WhereItAllBegins_
Massie continued milling around the gym, squeezing through bodies that were roughly up against her. She was searching for Connor, who had mysteriously disappeared. Derrick informed her that he had been, so in fact, behind him, but that the minute he turned away from him, he disappeared. Massie groaned to herself. Connor was not only her ride home, but was her boyfriend and she had hoped to get one dance with him.
Although looking for Connor made her think about Derrick, who was in the back, standing around Claire and every now and then randomly bursting out into a random dance move. She laughed at the one that looked as if he was praising the ceiling.
She sighed to herself when she realized that she had to stop doing that.
Doing what? she asked herself. Thinking about him.
Him?
Him. Derrick. Your soulmate. You have a crush on him.
Soulmates are stupid. I don't believe in them.
And fate? Destiny?
You make your own destiny.
Of course you do, Massie. That's what you keep trying to think. You have to stop forcing yourself to do what you think is right and do what's really right.
Which is?
Steal Derrick from Claire.
Claire's my best friend.
Yes. And she'd understand you if you told her how you felt and if you talked to her about how you know what Derrick really feels.
What do you mean?
That you know that Derrick has a huge crush on you, too.
By this time, Massie was outside and she was aimlessly walking around the school, hoping to find Connor kissing another girl, pushed up in a corner so that she had a reason to tear his heart out from his chest and stomp on it, just like Chris Plovert did. But she found something worst than that.
Connor was lying next to the trash bins, his arms were bent and his foot was twisted the wrong way. Blood was gushing from his nose and his forehead, and his eyes were bruised and purple.
Massie stood there like an idiot with her mouth open. She didn't know what to do; who to blame; what to say; where to go. After a few seconds of illiterate blubbering, her eyes welled up with tears and she ran back inside the gym, pushing past people, trying to get hold of someone. She was running, running, running.
"Hey," Derrick said, holding onto Massie. She was running so fast, her vision, blurry, that she didn't even notice him there. He stumbled a few steps back when she ran into him, but he caught her before she could fall. "Mass, what's wrong?" he asked, staring at her, concern and worry in his eyes.
"Connor—" she blubbered. She had no time, no sense to say what she saw, what she thought she saw. "Outside. Hospital. Broken." Words. Illegitimate words were flowing from her mouth and she still continued speaking, terror and anguish creeping into the words. "Connor. Dead."
At those words, Derrick acted fast. He, with Massie towed behind him, sprinted outside.
Claire looked after Derrick and the pale brunette behind him. Massie, she angrily thought. She stormed away from Kristen, who was laughing with Josh about something or other. She was angrily stomping around, hoping to see Derrick in a corner, talking to someone of the similar gender, and not running away with her so-called "best friend".
In mid-stomp, a girl with long, buttery-blond hair stopped in front of her. She was wearing tight leather and mouse ears on her head. She resembled Amanda Seyfried's costume from Mean Girls. Claire's eyes widened. It was Skye Hamilton, school alpha. "Hi," she purred. She sounded more like a poisonous cat than a cute mouse.
"Hi," Claire squeaked, her eyes still wide. Seeing Skye up close was different than seeing her from a distance. Claire had to admit, she was extremely gorgeous. Prettier than anyone Claire had ever seen.
Skye had a faint smirk on her face, her eyes glistening with joy. "Claire Lyons, right?" she asked.
At the sound of her name coming from such dominant lips, her breath hitched. "Oh, wow. Heh. Yeah, that's me, Lyons-comma-Claire." Her eyes widened at what she said. Lyons-comma-Claire? Who am I, Miranda Cosgrove? Not even close!
To Claire's surprise and utter joy, Skye giggled. Although Claire could hear the forced sound of it, that didn't matter. Claire Lyons had made the school alpha laugh. A smile slowly crept up her face and she found herself laughing along with Skye. It was a great feeling. It was better than getting your favorite flavor ice cream while your boyfriend draped his favorite hoodie over you.
Their giggles slowly faded, and Skye's faux-smile was still clear on her face. She wrapped an arm around her shoulders and said, "Come and hang out with my girls. We won't hurt you."
Skye wheeled Claire along with her, all the while Claire was following, a stupid smile on her face and the fact that she was wanted still thumping in her heart.
AN: Kuh-laire, joining the Pwetty Committee? Actually, yes. Yes, that's what just happened. Sorry to the Massington fans. Eventually, you will all be satisfied with the ending of this story. So, don't worry. (:
r&r?
ErickaxD