OCTAVIAN DAY SCHOOL

THURSDAY, APRIL 13

7:30 A.M.

HOMEROOM

Massie plopped her new Prada messenger bag on the homeroom table, waiting patiently for Alicia, Dylan, and Kristen. Claire was gone in LA again, and there was an extra spot at their table now. And Massie wanted to make sure nobody would take it. Especially not a member of that ah-nnoying Cute Suit.

Alicia, Dylan, and Kristen came in and sat with Massie, putting their expensive designer bags on the table as well. So far everything was going all right… but all the seats were soon filling up. Massie breathed a sigh of relief, glad that nobody was sitting with the Pretty Committee. Homeroom was about to begin, when suddenly…

A beautiful girl walked through the door, swinging her hips in a confident, cool manner. Her dark blue eyes pierced through Massie, making her shudder. She had super-straight blonde hair was laid down and had a strange glow to it that made it look dark and bright at the same time. She had on fashionable Uggs that Massie had never seen before- in fact, Massie had never seen anything like her clothes in any designer shops. Were they knockoffs? Or…

Massie refused to believe that this girl had designer clothes she'd never heard of. She decided that Felicia's boots were fake, the diamonds were really plastic, her 'velvet' shirt was just shiny material, and her skirt was faux suede. Slightly interested, she looked to see where Felicia would sit…

"There aren't any other seats left except at our table!" Dylan whispered. "Do we want her to sit with us?"

"No," Massie said. "She's wearing knockoffs. This'll totally ruin our reputation."

Felicia turned and saw an empty seat at Massie's table. "Can I sit here?" She asked calmly, with a slight French accent.

"No," Kristen said. "This is our special table. Nobody's allowed to sit here except members of the Pretty Committee. And that doesn't include you, however much you want to be us."

Massie smiled at Kristen, who returned her smile humbly.

The teacher looked around, and then back at Massie. "Massie, please allow Felicia to sit with you for homeroom. She's new and we want to welcome her as kindly as possible. Go ahead, Felicia, sit down with Massie."

Massie bit her lip. How dare that stupid teacher tell her what to do! Gawd. Besides, didn't the teacher want the students to welcome her back, too?

"Aren't those fake?" Dylan smirked. She was looking at Felicia's Uggs.

"No, they're my special custom-made Uggs. My father is friendly with the owner of an Ugg section, and we ordered a pair of boots exclusively for me. See? There are many rare furs here. And I myself decorated this with many diamonds. Since my father was a friend, we got a discount, but these boots are worth $120,000 dollars. More than some people's houses," Felicia said proudly.

"Are you serious?" Kristen's jaw dropped. "EhmaGAWD."

"Of course. Why? Don't you buy designer labels?" Felicia asked.

"Yeah, but not $120,000 dollar boots," Alicia said. "We're not that rich."

"So how much do your boots cost?" Felicia asked.

"A lot," was all Massie could think of to say. How could she admit to this ultra-rich girl that her wedge heels had only cost her $1,400 dollars?

"Yeah," Kristen said, obviously not wanting Felicia to think she was totally poor in comparison. "So, um, we heard you were from France."

"Yes," Felicia said. Massie sniggered at her accent. "We are the richest family in Paris, and we own Astierė Couture. You obviously have heard of it."

Massie made a mental note never to shop at Astierė again.

"Your family owns Astierė? Ehmagawd!" Dylan said excitedly. "I love Astierė! I spent, like, five thousand dollars there on a shopping spree. That place is ah-mazing. I never thought I'd actually know the girl who owned it."

"Dylan," Massie said, nudging her in the arm. "Ow!"

"So are your clothes Astierės?" Kristen asked eagerly, leaning in. Felicia nodded. "No wonder I didn't recognize them, I've only been there like twice. But that's only because we don't have your store in our mall. We went visiting in New York City, though."

"Oh," Felicia said. "Well, not all of my clothes are made by my parents. Of course I shop other designer labels, like Uggs, Prada, Versace, Sephora, Gucci, Fendi, and those kinds of shops. But yes, a lot of them are Astieres."

"I figured." Alicia nodded.

"Can we puh-lease get off this topic?" Massie asked, annoyed. She didn't get why her friends liked Felicia so much. Just because Felicia was pretty and blond and rich didn't mean they had to ditch their alpha for her. Gawd, she was so irritating. "It's not like anyone here really shops at that place. Besides, there are tons of other stores that are way better."

Kristen shot her a surprised look, silently asking her why she was being so mean. Massie gave her a don't mess with me look and Kristen immediately began glancing at the floor.

"Are there any cute boys here?" Felicia asked curiously.

"Sorry, but they're all taken. And if you say a single word to Derrington, you better watch your back," Massie threatened angrily. This was like Nina all over again- except this time, Felicia wasn't a thief. There was nothing fake about her. She seemed just as fashionable and cool as Massie, and that was what Massie hated about her. Underneath all that outer confidence, Massie was afraid. What if Felicia tossed out her empire and became the most popular girl in OCD?

"I'm sure I'll find someone," Felicia said slyly. "After all, all the guys in Paris loved me."

"Well, this is Westchester, New York. Nawt that stupid city you came from," Massie said angrily. "So get over yourself."

Felicia ignored her, which infuriated Massie even more. "Fuh-lee-sha! Are you the end of life?"

"Of course not," Felicia said, waving Massie off.

"Then why are you acting all deaf?"

Alicia laughed, and then caught herself. Kristen just looked at her like huh? Dylan pretended not to have heard her, and then pressed Felicia for more about her parent's company and if they could make a custom dress for her. Massie couldn't believe her friends had gotten so friendly with Felicia!

The bell rang. Massie promised herself that she would get rid of this new threat- somehow.

----

BRIARWOOD ACADEMY

THURSDAY, APRIL 13

3:50

SOCCER FIELD

"Come awn, guys, or we'll be late for Derrington's big game," Massie urged the girls. She needed to see Derrington again. Two days was long enough for her, and she knew how important this game was to him. If she didn't come, it would hurt him and Briarwood's chances of winning.

"But why would we care about Derrington?" Dylan whined. "He's your boyfriend, not mine."

"Because I said so," Massie said, exasperated. "Besides, don't you want to see Chris Plovert play? Last I checked, you had a ginormous crush on him. And Alicia and Kristen, don't you want to see Kemp and Josh? You don't want the Cute Suit to start flirting with them, do you, especially since they're not officially yours."

"Point," Alicia said.

They walked over to the bleachers and sat in the middle. "Where are the guys?" Massie hissed.

Kristen shrugged. "Maybe we're early."

"Impossible." Massie glared at the field. "They were supposed to start practicing, like, five minutes ago. And I only see the other team on the field. This is so not how it's supposed to work. They're supposed to wait for us."

Suddenly, Dylan pointed. "Ehmagod!"

Derrington, Cam, Josh, Chris, Kemp, and all the other members of the team were coming onto the field. "Yes!"

Derrington saw Massie in the bleachers and waved. Massie smiled and waved back. She noticed he still had the M brooch pinned to his uniform, and she was satisfied. He still loved her.

They did a few boring drills, and the bleachers started packing up. The coach gave them a five-minute break, and the Pretty Committee immediately went up to meet them. Massie lagged behind so it would look like she didn't care that much. Even though she did.

"Hey, Block," Derrington said, giving her a short kiss on the lips. Massie felt her face burn in pleasure and wrapped her arms around him. He looked cuter than ever, his shaggy blond hair longer and his cute brown eyes were shiny.

Kristen walked over to Kemp Hurley. "Hey, Kemp," she said, trying to be casual and failing, "it's been a while since I saw you. Do you still totally suck?"

"Oh, I'm the one who sucks?" Kemp teased, grinning. "You're the one who shot and missed the net by twenty feet."

"I did nawt!" Kristen shrieked. "The last time I did that was in second grade."

Kemp laughed.

Dylan was busy flirting with Chris Plovert, who was twirling his soccer ball with his finger. He accidentally dropped it, and it landed on his name. He gave a loud cry. "Ow!" Dylan laughed a little too hard.

"It's not funny," Chris said. "I might have a broken nose."

"Stop breaking everything on purpose," Dylan said, batting her eyelashes. "First your leg, and now your nose?"

Chris laughed. "I can't help it. I'm just cool like that."

Dylan smiled. "Cool? You? Puh-lease."

Suddenly, a group of girls ran onto the field wearing matching denim microminis and camis with super-low necklines. "Hey, boys," Brittany Porter said.

"Good luck on your soccer game," Julianna said sweetly, more to Josh than to anyone else. "We really hope you win, 'cause you guys are the best players ever. Crush Ferguson Academy."

"Yeah," Tina added in, smiling brightly at Derrington.

"Ehmagawd, those girls are so D2M," Massie hissed to Alicia. She nodded.

"Uh, thanks," Chris said. Dylan stepped on his foot.

"What was that for?" Chris asked.

"Whoops, I totally didn't see you," Dylan said through gritted teeth. "But it's not like I hurt you or anything, right?" Then she turned away and pretended to be interested in some birds flying overhead.

Brittany looked Massie right in the eye. Then she walked right out to Derrington, reached out, and ripped Massie's rhinestone M brooch off his soccer uniform, tossing it in the grass afterwards. "I really don't think you'll be needing that during your soccer game, Derrick. You might get hurt with something as ridiculous as that on."

Massie looked on with absolute disbelief. She was angrier than she had ever been in her life, and this time someone was going to get hurt.

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Okay, I'm done. This chapter was wicked long. Thanks for reviewing, everyone:)