The Baxters' House
Ripple's Room
Friday, September 3
8:25 p.m
Ding dong!
"I got it!" Ripple shouted as she rushed out of her room, stumbling on a sleeping bag on the way out. Gwen followed behind in quick steps. But when Ripple opened the door, she was faced with much disappointment. Instead of Kaitlin, in front of her stood The Snob. Well, at least Kaitlin was there behind The Snob though, so she didn't have to spend the whole night with Ms. Hotshot and Gwen against her alone.
"Why are you here?" Ripple sneered.
"What's with the attitude? Your friend there invited me," Verity answered.
Ripple rolled her eyes but let Verity pass anyway, "She has a name, you know."
Verity smirked at her, "Actually I don't. Could you refresh my mind?"
Ripple was about to say something until Gwen put a hand on her shoulder. "It's Gwen. Gwen Anderson," the redhead said softly. Ripple and Verity both took that as a clue for them to stop arguing. Kaitlin stepped in after Verity, who was following Gwen to Ripple's room right now.
When the four stepped into the beach themed room, Verity used that as a chance to say something snarky to the annoying wannabe who Gwen somehow was friends with. Something that would definitely hurt Baby Blonde in a way that she would curl up into fetal position if it was physical. "Isn't this a little…small?" she asked innocently, but made sure Ripple could hear the bounce in her voice.
Ripple narrowed her eyes. "Maybe for someone with an ego as big as yours," she said slowly. Kaitlin looked at her worriedly.
Verity blinked and cocked her head, "Oh, I just assumed, because you know, most houses here are a lot bigger." Verity made sure to emphasize that last part so that it would sting like salt on a wound.
"Girls," Gwen cut in warningly before Verity could continue or Ripple could say anything back. The two fighting girls glared at each other, but both shut up.
"I like your mirror," Kaitlin said, directing her gaze at the shell framed full size oval mirror, trying to lighten the mood. "Thanks," Ripple said flatly. Then there was an awkward silence. "Okay, girls. Peace out. Who wants to make friendship bracelets?" Gwen said, breaking the silence.
"Me!" screamed Kaitlin and Ripple. Ripple only screamed halfheartedly, but at least they could move on. Verity only shrugged, but followed the other three to the center of Ripple's room and plunked onto the pink flower rug.
"What type of bracelet should we make?" Kaitlin asked Gwen as they were choosing string colors. Ripple felt a tiny pang of jealousy at the way Kaitlin looked at her best friend as if she was an alpha, but quickly brushed it aside. "A simple braid. Then we'll string beads representing us and the name for our group on it," Ripple said briskly before Gwen could respond.
"What's the name of our group?" asked Kaitlin with wide eyes, this time focused on Ripple entirely. "Any ideas?" Gwen asked, cutting in on Ripple. Ripple narrowed her eyes slightly and glared at Gwen, telling her to stop stealing the attention. Gwen only stared back with a firm look that said don't argue with me. Ripple shrunk back sulkily. Whenever Gwen looked at her like that, it was always as if Gwen was an adult scolding her and she was an inobedient child fussing over unimportant stuff like candy.
"How about the Chick Clique? Our symbol can be the interlocking Cs of Chanel. I even have beads of it," replied Ripple as if she hadn't spent hours thinking of it and spent days browsing the internet to find the beads on Etsy. "I like it," said Gwen with a bright smile which Ripple could tell was fake, "And we could be called the Chique for short." "Okay, then it's decided," Kaitlin said and clapped her hands together. Ripple noticed that Verity hadn't said a single thing since they started making the bracelet. Strange. Especially since she seemed like the type to say negative things about other people's ideas.
Soon each girl had very own bracelet. Ripple's had a hot pink braid strung with clear, light pink plastic beads. Gwen ended up with ivory braid with tiny copper and gold beads. Next to the Pandora charm bracelet on Verity's wrist was an baby blue braid. The sunlight streaming in the windows caught on the reflective silver beads and made the transparent, faceted ones sparkle. And Kaitlin now sported a bracelet of gold thread strung with golden glitter coated beads. There was not even a slip of negative conversation as the girls stared in awe at their work.
"Now we have to make a pact," Gwen announced. Then she put her hand in the center and said, "I, Gwen Anderson." Then Ripple put her hand on Gwen's and said, "I, Ripple Baxter." There was a moment's hesitation before Verity finally placed her hand on Ripple's and said, "I, Verity Wang." "And I, Kaitlin Martinez," Kaitlin said with a big smile and laid her palm over Verity's. "Pledge to forever be friends as long as we wear these bracelets," Gwen finished. There was no doubt that the atmosphere in the room changed. And all four of the girls felt the bond of the bracelets bind them together. It was almost…magical. And no one could deny that this was the start of something big. They, no, the Chique, was ready to dominate, even if there was going to be a few bumps and fights along the road.