Previously on Secret Life of the Influencers..
Josh nodded and gestured down the corridor with a grin on his face. "I'll walk with you."
"Dyl, I need to win student body president."
Charlie slapped her hand, "Don't touch it! Your hands are dirty, it'll get infected!"
Sensing Claire's confusion, Charlie spoke, "Bopdaily's posts are a hit or miss.. sometimes they uplift us, sometimes they bash us. You never know." Charlie shrugged her shoulders.
"What does this mean?" Dylan asked. While Alicia could read Massie's mind, Dylan was ten steps behind
Westchester, New York
Pam's Pamper Salon
Saturday September 11th
3:47 PM
Massie Block rolled her shoulders page and gazed at the camera; a true alpha prevailed in any situation. There would always be an omega trying to claw their way up the rank, coming for her spot. The only way she could keep them at bay was to beat them into the ground. When Alicia's cousin visited from Spain and threatened the PC's relationship with their boyfriends, she sent her back where she came from. When Skye Hamilton sent her on a scavenger hunt for the key to the boiler room, she won. Losing would never be on Massie's resume-she was a winner. She always won.
"Pose!" She snapped at her two best friends. The Spanish babe and sexy redhead posed alongside their alpha.
If Claire was going to pathetically try to upgrade to a different clique, Massie needed to prove to everyone at BOP that the Pretty Committee was the one to beat. They were now going to go on mandatory outings every odd day of the month, starting today, take as many pictures as possible, and brag on social media about how ah-mazing their lives were compared to everyone else's. That was Plan A, making them seem more perfect than they already were so everyone on the outside could make the same assumption she had: that Claire always has been, and always will be, an LBR. It didn't matter that she lived in her guest house, Massie had hated Claire when she initially arrived to begin with, and for a reason. It also didn't matter how many times Massie had spent her own money on Claire, getting her designer clothes, trying to make her look as good as possible. Claire was ungrateful, and Massie regretted every moment they ever spent together. Plan B was-
"Hi Massie!" it was Kori Gedman interrupting their cellphone-photoshoot in the mirror of the salon, which was the perfect place to take pictures, really. You could see everyone in the background with outfits that weren't even half as good as theirs, they'd be making themselves look better than everyone else, again, without even trying.
"Um, hi." Massie giggled, looking to her left at Dylan and to her right at Alicia before making eye contact with Kori again.
Kori was wearing yellow rubber flip flops with green biker shorts and a black turtle neck. Aw-ful. Her terribly dyed red hair was now cut into a bob, which Massie admitted framed her face very well.
"Not sure if you remember me from OCD but I just wanted to let you know you toe-dally have my vote for freshman class president!"
Massie's tongue got caught in the middle of her throat just as she was about to swear Kori's name to Hell. "Freshman what?" That was nawt what she chose to run as. Student body president was Charlie's current position. If she wanted her crown, she needed her title to go along with it.
Dylan blinked rapidly before meeting Alicia's eyes, who were equally as shocked.
Kori nodded and pulled up a post from Bopdaily. It was the lineup of nominees for each grade running for class president. "I don't know too much about the whole Claire situation-" Kori's eyes darted to Dylan for a quick moment before reverting, "-but I know you would never do anything like that."
At first, Massie was angry. No doubt Charlie had something to do with this. Her best friend, Chantelle, was an SGA princess. She practically lived in the student council meeting room. But Massie noticed another name on the nominee list for freshman class president, Claire Lyons. And if Claire was going to switch to the other side then she needed to be buried. Beating her for class president would show her who the real alpha is. She would have to find a way to take student body president from Charlie after she infiltrated the SGA system and became a member herself.
Massie chuckled and smirked, placing a dainty hand on her hip. She cocked her head to the side and examined Kori's horrendous outfit once more. Kori knew better than to approach her, especially with this outfit on. She was practically begging for a makeover. But if she wasn't worried about Massie making an insult or two about her outfit, then she had to be there for one thing and one thing only. Kori wasn't there to give Massie her vote, she was there to get dirt.
Acknowledging the opportunity, Massie feigned a frown and flipped her hair, "Ugh, that whole thing was soo crazy." She then shook her head slowly, "I can't believe Claire did that."
Catching on, Alicia nodded her head and moved to Dylan's side, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly. "I know, poor Dyl."
Kori's eyes moved frantically from each girl, shocked that her plan had worked and she was actually getting gossip first-hand from the Pretty Committee themselves.
Before Kori could ask what happened, Massie's mouth was already moving.
"Cam wanted to break up with Claire once we left BOCD, but Claire didn't want to start freshman year without a boyfriend so Cam agreed to pretend to date her for a few months until she could find someone else."
"Yeah, but then Cam started liking Dylan and Claire got jealous, so she sent that video to everyone pretending to be Massie and made it seem like Cam was cheating on her with Dylan." Alicia chimed in as well. "What a low blow."
Dylan, trying her hardest to stay in character, bit the bottom of her lip. Claire was never going to forgive her now. Not only had she slept with her boyfriend, she was engaging in spinning the story to make Claire seem like the delusional ex-girlfriend who couldn't move on. If she had any chance at making Claire not hate her for the rest of her life, she was going to have to get to her first and tell her everything before word got out at school-or worse, on Bopdaily.
Eventually, after a few more white-lies were told, Kori decided she had more than enough dirt to earn her some cool points in the halls of BOP and left. She returned to her friends, each of them wearing eager faces.
"Ehmagawd I can't believe we did that!" Alicia whisper-squealed. Her and Massie shared their excitement discreetly before Massie used her phone to signal Isaac that they were ready to be picked up, but before they left she had to make one more phone call.
"Who are you calling?" Alicia questioned, her brown lipgloss shining under the fluorescents.
Massie winked and pointed to her phone with her free hand. "Our invite to the cookout tomorrow."
Westchester, New York
Hotz' Estate
Sunday September 12th
1:07 PM
Josh Hotz was never the centre of attention type-it came naturally but he never sought it. Things were different at BOP, however. Even though he was a freshman, and freshmen were typically bottom of the food chain, he had the motion of an upperclassman. Although he figured it was because he was related to his legendary football star brother, Nick Hotz, he still adored the attention he got. Which he would never admit out loud.
"Can we please go?"
Josh peered over his shoulder, smiled at the beautiful girl on his bed, who wore less clothes just a few moments before, and quickly fastened the buckle of his Gucci belt. Currently, Josh felt as though his life was made. He was doing well on the field, in class, and socially.
Grabbing his house keys and his phones, he held out his hand.
"Thank you," Alicia giggled. It had only taken one week of school, and a stressed phone call from Alicia last night, for the two of them to get back together. It made Alicia happy to be able to put her focus into something that didn't have to do with social destruction. Massie had her loyalty no matter what, but she didn't want all of her time being dedicated to bringing Claire down.. even though she was doing that right now.
Just then Alicia's phone buzzed. She gestured for Josh to head downstairs, informing him that she would catch up in a few moments. He kissed her forehead before exiting the squeaky clean bedroom.
Her stomach began to churn.
Josh had always had a distaste for Alicia's hunger for social status, and he made it clear to her a few times, including last night when they agreed to give their relationship another shot, that he wanted her to appreciate their relationship as just a relationship and not use them being a couple to make herself look better. He would absolutely have an issue with the plan Massie.
Retrieving her phone from her Michael Kors clutch, Alicia opened her new notification.
Massie: In the car. We're picking up D C now.
Alicia decided not to respond. She would find a way to please Josh and Massie without hurting either of them.
Armani's Estate
Entertainment Room
Sunday September 12th
12:55 PM
Charlie Armani was a different kind of alpha.
Whereas the previous alphas of BOP fed off exclusivity, aside from Nick Hotz, she liked to be more inclusive. Telling people, or even insinuating to them, that they couldn't be around her or talk to her simply because they didn't have the same clothes or the same car as her was not in her character. She didn't want anyone to feel less than her. Charlie being alpha made sense, and it was important for her to pick the right successor. Whoever would replace her as alpha when she graduated needed to have the same values as her, if not better. The wrong person as alpha would ruin everything she and Nick had worked for.
So if she needed to defend her crown, she would.
"Have you seen this?" Aubrey Stone asked over the sound of loud music.
Currently, Charlie, Aubrey, and Talia were lounging on the couch drinking a bottle of Screaming Eagle Sauvignon Blanc, a six-thousand-dollar bottle of wine, while Nathan and Emilio slap boxed by the foosball table with Nolen acting as referee. Chantelle had driven down to Washington, D.C. for a seminar and would be back tomorrow. They'd be leaving for the cookout soon.
Charlie set down her glass of wine and made her way to the love seat Aubrey occupied. Talia followed behind her from her seat on the couch.
On Aubrey's phone was a post from Bopdaily. The photo was of Massie, Alicia, and Dylan at a salon taking pictures together.
"This just in," Aubrey read aloud, "one of our newest additions to the soccer team, Cameron Fisher, is getting off the bench! The bench of love, that is. Turns out, he broke things off with Claire over the summer and agreed to keep the ruse up so Claire could save face.. until she got jealous of a brooding romance between Cam and Dylan and outed them, telling everyone he cheated on her when the truth is.. he scored, and she lost. #DamselInDistress! Let's get Claire in a new relationship ASAP so the happy couple and live their lives happily ever after.. comment down below if you're interested!"
"Oh. My. God." Talia spoke with wide eyes. "Are they serious right now?" She asked with furrowed brows, turning her head to read Charlie's facial expression. It was blank.
"We took Claire from Massie and she still wants a fight." Aubrey rolled her eyes and scrolled through Instagram to find Massie's page, where she found a post from the day before that featured her, Dylan, and Alicia with the caption 'The only thing harder than getting in, is staying in...' Aubrey laughed audibly, "And she's trying to make it seem like she got rid of Claire, not the other way around."
Charlie examined Massie's post quickly before standing up straight. If Massie was putting on a show for everyone to see, she was scrambling. Looking for an opportunity to save herself from the war she started the day she decided to crash their bonfire.
"Easy fix." Charlie noted with a small grin, her eyes locking with Aubrey, who desperately wanted to know her game plan.
There wasn't much left that Charlie needed to do. Her method for going up against Aubrey and another girl, who shall not be named, was the exact same method she was going to use to handle Massie, who's target was now set on Claire. Massie was feeding out of her hand and didn't even know.
Though she hated being vindictive and manipulative, it was the easiest way to solve problems without being the bad guy in everyone's eyes.
Charlie felt an arm wrap around her waist and glanced to her left to find Nathan, who was planting a soft kiss on her forehead. She giggled softly and wrapped her arm around his muscular back.
As Charlie nestled her head into Nathan's chest, he examined the scene before him. Aubrey sat in the love seat with her legs crossed with her head resting in her left hand, while Talia stood with a leg propped up and her hand on her hips.
"Who died?" He asked, tightening his grip on Charlie's waist as if she needed his protection at that very moment.
Talia cackled and slapped Aubrey's knee, who laughed as well.
A freshman, Charlie thought to herself.
Nolen made his way over to the group, taking Talia's hand in his, "Y'all ready to go?" He asked in a country accent
Talia cackled again and pinched Nolen's bicep, "'Y'all,'" she mocked. Nolen snickered.
Aubrey examined the group of teens in front her, then glanced to the right of them where the foosball table sat. "Where's Emilio?" She asked. The panamanian devil, his own personal nickname, was gone. She hadn't heard him leave, and Nolen was the last one with him prior to his exit. More than likely, he knew where he was going and didn't want to tell them.
Nolen scratched the corner of his right eye, "He said he had to pick something up before the cookout." He shrugged and looked around the room before meeting Nathan's eyes.
Talia stretched her hand, which was still in Nolen's grasp. He was lying, or hiding something. Scratching the corner of his eye was his tell.
Charlie could feel a shift in Talia's energy. They had grown up together, their moms were best friends, and they were practically raised as sisters-when something was wrong, Charlie was the first to know, whether Talia verbally told her or not.
She rolled her shoulders back and straightened her posture. "Let's go."
The End.
Alright guys! I've been trying to get a little better with my writing-I hope you can tell, lol. I also want to start showing you guys who the characters really are individually, so expect to see more sub plots!