Previously on Secret Life of the Influencers...
"Are those freshmen?" Charlie heard Tatia's angry voice ask.
"They call themselves the Pretty Committee."
"Everything okay?"
"...they'll think it's an easy win if you don't fight back."
"Don't stress about something you can't control."
"Fits perfect." He declared with a cheesy grin, eyeing the jacket as it hung on Claire's frame, who struck a goofy pose or two.
Briarwood-Octavian Prep
Drop-Off Lane
Monday September 6th
7:32 AM
Massie Block's weekend was nothing short of amazing. She had successfully thrown Charlie for a loop, networked with upperclassmen to make sure when people talked about them crashing the bonfire, they'd know exactly who was being referred to, and devised a plan to become alpha. Her secret weapon: Claire.
When she got home from the bonfire, she had two notifications from an anonymous BOP Instagram account, bopdaily. The account would have been the perfect way to spy on Charlie during the summer, but at the end of every semester whoever ran the account deletes all of its post. The bonfire was the subject for the first post of the fall semester.
The first post bored her: pictures of the flag football game, a photo of Emilio crowd surfing, Charlie smiling before giving her toast.
Massie rolled her eyes, borrringggg.
The next post, however, was more insightful.
The very first picture was of her! Well, her, Dylan, Alicia, and Claire (plus the boys). She might as well have been on the front page of Us Weekly!
The next picture in the slide was Josh Hotz taking a total of six shots back-to-back. She had rolled her eyes again. But the third one was what interested her almost as much as the first one—Claire and Charlie brother, Pierre.
Massie read the caption of the post she and her friends had been tagged in: Here's a quick look at the foxy freshmen that crashed the bonfire! Their bold entrance followed by the life they brought to the party calls for a one-way ticket to the spotlight. Anybody else sweating?
It was cheesy, and a bit too gossip girl-ish for her liking, but nonetheless it gave her all the more reason to remain perfect at all times. If someone was going to be watching their every move waiting for them to mess up, she sure as hell wasn't going to give them any help in finding anything.
Claire's picture of Pierre looked innocent, but to Massie it didn't matter how it looked. Claire could possibly give them an in. What better way to take down an alpha than with their little brother?
She immediately called Claire. When she didn't answer, she typed a quick text and pressed send;
Massie: u + pierre = PC on top !
"Girls?" Isaac questioned, snapping Massie out of her thoughts.
She blinked twice before waving him off, clapping once to get her friends attention.
Massie grinned, "Are we ready?" Wearing a white top purposely left unbuttoned to reveal a black bandeau paired with BCBG skinny jeans and red Louis booties, Massie couldn't wait to get inside and see what people had to say about them. She accessorized with a red patent leather clutch from Gucci, pearl earrings, and her favorite diamond necklace.
"Ready." Alicia answered. Massie examined her navy-blue Ralph Lauren slacks paired with a black Moschino jacket and a white V-neck Marc Jacobs blouse.
"Ready." Dylan responded, wearing nude Prada heels with black tights to go under her Gucci pencil skirt paired with a nude Alice + Olivia trench.
Claire nodded. "Yup." Massie was completely satisfied with her outfit. The jeans and peach color block top she'd tried on at Dolce & Gabbana were perfect. Her hair was tied into a high ponytail with curtain bangs styled to frame her face. Thank Gawd she grew them out.
Massie signaled for Isaac to exit the car and open the door for them to get out. Opening the door for yourself was so middle school.
Once the door swung open, Massie placed her red bottoms on the ground and stood, making space for Alicia, Claire, and Dylan to exit the car as well.
Massie counted them off, "Five, six, seven, eight."
The Pretty Committee began strutting, one foot in front of the other, up the cement steps of the courtyard. Isaac roared the engine of the Porsche before pulling off, as Massie had instructed, and the loud engine drew the students attention.
As students began cocking their heads towards them, confusion etched into the features of their teenage faces, Massie forced herself not to grin. Knowing that, no matter what school the Pretty Committee attended, they'd always remain the center of attention. Charlie who?
"That's them!" Alicia heard one girl say to her friend. She pinched Massie's elbow.
"They crashed the bonfire on Saturday!" Another student said.
"Point!" Massie imagined Alicia's voice in her head. The more they walked the more people stared at them like celebrities on a red carpet. Imagining a reporter begging to take her photo, Massie flipped her hair with her right hand and lifted her chin a few centimeters.
Get a good look, she thought to herself while smizing, your new alpha is here.
Briarwood-Octavian Prep
Room 219
Monday September 6th
9:11 AM
Claire Lyons yawned as her teacher, Dr. Tibben, read the syllabus for the course aloud. He was far too old to be teaching in her opinion—his reaction to everything was slow and delayed, hence his nickname Dr. Turtle.
Just then, her phone buzzed. She slipped it out of her pocket, snuck a peek at Dr. Turtle, and read the message.
Groupchat – PC5eva
Massie: table secured!
Massie and Alicia had skipped the freshman seminar for the first hour of school to track down the janitor, steal his keys, and break into the cafeteria to reserve their table for lunch before jotting each of their names down on the sign-up sheet for their designated clubs.
Claire liked the message and slipped her phone back into her pocket.
"Please take out... one... or two... sheets of paper... and write down... a few things about yourself."
Most of the students in the class groaned.
Dr. Tibben had three PhD's, yet for some reason chose to teach a variety of classes at BOP instead of becoming an astronaut or a microbiologist. The previous school year he taught home economics, but this year he was teaching intro to American sign language.
A finger aggressively tapped her right shoulder as she fished around in her bag for her notebook. She turned around to find a boy with dark red hair and brown eyes smiling at her, recognizing him as the boy who had hung out Pierre for at least half of the bonfire on Saturday night (not that she was watching him). Thinking of Pierre, more specifically Massie's text about him that she never responded to, made her feel like a miniature gymnastics tournament was being held in her stomach.
Massie wanted her to get Pierre to like her, "You don't have to like him at all-he just needs to like you enough to spill secrets about his sister!" Massie had told her in the limo on the way to school that morning. Claire, who already regretted crashing the bonfire, didn't want to be involved in another scheme. Especially not one where she had to pretend to like a really great guy and possibly hurt his or Cam's feelings.
"Can I have a sheet of paper?" He asked, pulling Claire out of her train of thought, before dropping his eyes and mouth, "Or... two..."
Claire accidentally laughed out loud as he mocked Dr. Tibben, her hand rushing to cover her mouth.
"Is everything alright... back there?"
Claire struggled to contain her laughter as she realized how spot on the red-head's impression was, down to the octave and pronunciation.
"Not at all... sir!" The boy answered.
As bouts of laughter passed through the rest of their classmates Claire handed the boy a sheet of paper.
He thanked with a firm nod her before introducing himself, "I'm Donovan, but they call me DJ."
Claire, deciding not to ask who he meant by 'they,' introduced herself in return; she held out her hand, "I'm Claire."
DJ glanced at her hand before examining her, her hair specifically. Claire blushed as she worried the crumbs of the granola bar she'd eaten on her way to class had become habitants of her face. She licked her lips to be sure.
He slammed his elbow onto his desk and propped his face in his hand, "You know, you kind of look like Tinker Bell."
Claire blinked, "Tinker Bell?" He was starting to remind her of Plovert.
"It's the bangs," she heard a now familiar French accent chime in as DJ nodded aggressively as a means to agree.
She looked to the right of DJ to see Chantelle, the girl from the mall who had invited her to the bonfire with Massie.
Massie would probably be pleased to know Claire had a class with Chantelle, and was probably hoping that she herself a class with Charlie or one of her friends. But if Claire's name started leaving bad tastes in people's mouths her entire year was going to be awkward and stagnant.
Claire blushed, instantly overwhelmed with guilt, rushed to apologize for the incident.
Chantelle waved her hand in the air, "Ancient history." She offered a small smile to which Claire matched with one of her own.
"I promise," Claire placed a hand on her heart sincerely, "Mass is a great friend once you get to know her."
Chantelle's brows furrowed and her mouth formed the first word of her reply, but she was cut off by Dr. Tibben.
"Please pass your papers... to the front... I will collect... them, and pass them... out randomly... and you will have to guess... who's paper... you have..."
Claire bit her bottom lip to keep from groaning. This was going to be a slow semester.
Briarwood-Octavian Prep
Principal's Office
Monday September 6th
10:53 AM
Alicia Rivera shivered in the cold room of Principal Cahn's office. She wrapped her Moschino jacket around her extra tight as the wooden door of the office flew open.
In walked a tall man with a shiny bald head a thick pair of prescription glasses. His nose was too small to hold the glasses, and he frequently used his pointer finger to push them into place.
"Do you know why you're here, Miss Richards?" He questioned as he sat into his recliner seat with a heavy grunt of effort.
"It's Rivera," she corrected with a finger pointed in the air, "and no, I don't."
Noticing her shivers, he apologized for the temperature of the room and turned down the air conditioning.
"Well," he cleared his throat and folded his hands on his desk, "the safety of my students is my top priority here at Briarwood-Octavian Prep." He paused for a few seconds to allow the student to ponder why she may be there. "When someone breaks into the cafeteria before first lunch starts it's kind of my responsibility to find out." He shrugged his shoulder.
Alicia rolled her eyes internally. She didn't care to be here, and it seemed like he didn't either.
"I understand," Alicia spoke, having her lie prepared, "I simply wanted to ensure the cafeteria offered spring water instead of purified water—it's a small difference that has a major impact on the brain."
Cahn blinked slowly and pressed his lips together. He wasn't quite sure what her answer was going to be, but he wasn't going to argue about water either.
He nodded his head slowly and opened the small desk to his drawer to retrieve a note pad, grabbed a pen, and wrote something down before closing the pen and ripping off a yellow sheet of paper. "Very well," he held the paper out to her. "I'm not going to give you detention, because I don't want you to miss College and Career Prep after school."
Alicia, who was preparing herself to stand and retrieve the paper, stopped in her tracks. "College what?"
Principal Cahn waved the paper slowly and pointed to it with his free hand. "As punishment for stealing the janitor's keys, you'll be required to attend at least ten meetings with the College and Career Prep Club after school. They meet once a week to discuss how to better prepare students for university life. You have until winter break to finish ten meetings from beginning to end." He sat back in his chair as Alicia pinched the paper and read it slowly. "I'm sure they will be delighted to hear how spring water can support students on their path to become BOP graduates.
He gestured towards the door and reclined in his seat, pulling a pack of Sweet Tarts from his pocket.
Alicia rolled her eyes, "Whatever," and exited the office. She made a mental note to clear her schedule to attend the meetings, deciding she was going to get it over with now instead of trying to cram ten meetings in at the end of the semester.
The door shut loudly behind her as she stuffed the yellow paper into the pocket of her purse. "This better be worth it." She mumbled to herself, hoping, somehow, that Massie could hear.
The bell rang and soon after students trampled out of their designated classrooms.
"Alicia!"
The Spanish babe was just about to turn the corner and make her way down the freshman hall in attempt to refresh her perfume, which she'd stashed an extra bottle of in her locker. Alicia looked over her shoulder to find Josh.
"Hey hey," she greeted with an awkward smile.
Alicia used to adore Josh during her seventh and eighth grade years at OCD, but in order for her to transition successfully into high school, she felt, she had to let go of the things that held her back in middle school-including crushes. Josh was the only reason Alicia allowed herself to be separated from her friends as they were sent to the overflow shelters.
"Where you headed?" He asked, appearing on her left with a binder tucked under his arm.
Alicia pointed down the hall and answered, "My locker."
Josh nodded and gestured down the corridor with a grin on his face. "I'll walk with you."
Alicia noticed the smile and held back one of her own. Josh was certainly making it hard to leave him in the past. Maybe he didn't need to be there after all?
As they made their way down freshman hall, Alicia found herself intensively engaged with the small talk that transpired between she and Josh. It was good to have a normal conversation with an old flame.
They finally reached her locker and Alicia took a few minutes struggling to open it. Her acrylics blocked the numbers on the lock, so she had to guess which digit she was at each time she turned the dial.
Josh, to her avail, offered to take over. Within seconds the locker swung open.
"Thank you." Alicia blushed. Quickly reaching for the Burberry perfume placed on the top shelf of her locker, she pulled the cap off and sprayed her wrist before placing her wrist on either sides of her neck. She put the perfume back and shut her locker as the warning bell rang from the speakers of the ceiling.
"I have to get to class, I have bio in the basement."
Alicia huffed at the mention of biology. She hated science in middle school, and was bound to hate it now.
"What lunch do you have?" Josh asked before heading off.
Alicia glanced at her lock screen (which she strategically changed to a picture of her schedule to prevent being a lost freshman with a paper in her hand struggling to find her next class), "Fourth."
Josh nodded and gave her a hug. Surprised, Alicia hugged back awkwardly.
They hadn't spoken all summer-where was his sudden interest coming from? More importantly, why did she like it?
"Me too." He gave a soft smile before releasing his binder from under his arm and holding it with his hand. "I'll see you then."
The End.