Octavian Country Day High

Hallways

September 26, 2010

10: 00 a.m.

When Massie opened her locker, she couldn't help but feel that all the students in the hallways-which would mean the whole school-were looking at her. She ignored that feeling and she numbly started to get some books out, stuffing them in her royal purple bag. The mirror on the locker's door reflected a bunch of girls looking at her…and whispering. Massie frowned, but didn't turn around. She wasn't feeling the alpha-mode. Especially since all of her friends were missing.

Kristen had called her earlier telling her that she would come late to school that day, which intrigued Massie, since Kristen left school early the day before. What was she up to? Dylan was in the school's bathroom, moaning about some tacos she had eaten the day before. Apparently, the meat in them was rancid. And Alicia? She didn't answer her calls, and when Massie saw Alicia making her way to Math class, and waved, Alicia just trotted off.

Zipping her bag close, Massie scowled, and soon, she started to feel butterflies in her stomach. But it wasn't because she was nervous, it was something else. She closed her eyes, trying to figure out how she felt. Friendless and depressed, she thought. Unwanted, empty. Like an LBR. Luckily, Kristen would come before lunch, and Dylan's stomach would get better by then, so she wouldn't have to eat all alone on Table 18, confronting all of the LBRs' whispers and stares. But still, she felt horrible walking down the halls alone. She couldn't even act like a true alpha right now. Put it together, Block. Closing her locker shut, she spun around, and walked down the halls, looking at everyone as if they were cupcakes, and she was the grand wedding cake. That's better.

She stopped behind the classroom's door, and flipped her hair. She had decided to enter the room with an air of superiority, after all, she was superior. But when she set foot on the classroom, everybody looked at her, and once again, started whispering, draining that superiority feeling away. Some girls were giving her bad looks. Others were giving her sarcastic pity looks. Others just stared at her, horrified.

Massie tried to ignore it, like an alpha would. But the hushed tones stung her ears like a needle. She struggled to push away that awful feeling that was growing inside of her. Was it embarrassment? Could be, after all, she was acting like an alpha without a clique. Could it be anger? Another possibility, everybody was whispering about her and not with her. But there was another feeling, deep inside, something she couldn't quite yet describe. She felt…Hurt.

The whispering increased, and Massie couldn't handle it anymore. She turned around, and, red with anger and embarrassment, hissed, "What is it that you are whispering about!"

The students stopped, and stared. Massie was now breathing hard, all of the feelings she had been experiencing that day controlling her.

"Tell. Me," she demanded.

Everybody remained silent. Massie gulped, and tried not to knit her eyebrows worriedly. She wanted to burst out in tears. How could her friends leave her? Even if Dylan and Kristen had excuses, they still should be here, helping their alpha. Or at least Massie thought. Suddenly, a name appeared in her mind. Alicia. After her little escape from her and the group, Massie had ran out to find her. She had searched everywhere. But she didn't find Alicia.

Massie focused once more on her classmates, trying to stare them down. Some looked away, some frowned, but some remained unmoved.

One girl looked up, and said, "There have been-"

The doors of the classroom flung open, interrupting the girl's reply.

"Good morning, students," Mrs. Lopez said, entering the classroom. A chorus of hellos and good mornings were heard in reply.

Massie licked her lips nervously, and tried to smile at her teacher, but it only came out as a grimace. She slowly walked towards her seat, and trying to stand straight, sat down. Her eyes slid over to Mrs. Lopez, who had now started her lesson. But the words of Mrs. Lopez couldn't sink in her mind. There was only one thing she could think about. Am I still an alpha?

A white piece of paper landed on her desk, and Massie looked at it quizically. Slowly, she opened it and gasped, horrified. Is it true that you and Derrington are back together? it read. Massie started shaking her head, and quickly got out her cellphone, trying to shield it away from Mrs. Lopez's eyes. She quickly typed a message to Landon Crane, her boyfriend. She certainly didn't want him thinking that she and the bet-loser were dating once again. But all she got from a reply was Is that why you haven't texted me the past week? Massie, I hate doing this, but I can't even look at you. We. Are. Over.

Kristen used to get angry easily. And that is one of the things that she had changed the summer before high school. But what her parents had just told her…that made her angry. No, more than angry. It enraged her.

Kristen walked to the living room. Well, one of the ten new living rooms. She slumped down on the new, luxurious, cream colored couch with the pale pink cushions, and exhaled. I can't even sit on the new couches she thought. The material of the furniture was too slippery and soon, she found her butt landing on the carpet, and a bunch of pink cushions on top of her.

"I hate being rich," she groaned. "I miss my old life."

Which was true. She missed her old living room, she missed her old couches, she even missed her old room! Her new one was the size of her old apartment, and she hated that it was a long distance from her bed to her bathroom. It was nice to have all the designer clothes you wanted easily, but still. I wasn't even poor, I was middle class. Now she understood what people meant when they said that one should appreciate what one has. Well, then, I'll appreciate being rich. I certainly don't want to be richer than what I am already. But the way her mother's business and her dad's job were improving, Kristen knew that more money would come. Her father had once been an arts dealer, but he had studied to be a lawyer. With the help of Mr. Rivera, Alicia's dad, her father landed a job as a successful lawyer. Her mother had decided to be less strict, and launched her own, successful, fashion line, plus, she was also a wedding planner.

Kristen looked at the clock hanging on the wall, and sighed. She should've been heading to school already, but after that "family reunion", she didn't feel like it. I'll go later. Kristen felt her eyes water. She had always wanted to be rich ever since her father lost all of his money, and now that she was, she hated it. It had destroyed her family. She couldn't believe her parents were getting divorced.

Her cellphone beeped, but she ignored it. She walked to the kitchen, and grabbed a spoon out of one of the drawers. She didn't know what Massie would think about her parents getting divorced. What if she kicked her out? Kristen didn't know why, but she also felt embarrassed about her parent's divorce. She'd keep it a secret as long as she could. Especially because the day before, she heard a lot of kids talking bad about a girl whose parents had divorced in the summer.

When Kristen opened the big refrigerator, a white box caught her attention. Opening it, she saw a huge, grand wedding cake. Probably one of my mom's client's wedding cake. She reached out for a chocolate fudge can on the far end of the refrigerator, and, dipping the spoon in the sticky material, leaned on the refrigerator's door. While she ate the chocolate, her thoughts wandered back into her family's problems. Maybe, if we weren't rich…Kristen sighed, wishing that somehow, something will happen, and her family would go back to their middle class life, and her parents would rethink the divorce. But her mother loved being rich, and she was eager to make her mom happy, especially with the divorce issue in their lives.

Kristen closed the chocolate can angrily, and threw it in the refrigerator. When the chocolate landed, one of the bases of the refrigerator made a weird clacking noise. Kristen didn't pay attention, thinking that the noise was produced by the can's landing. But when she turned around, and walked a few steps, she heard a squish noise. Slowly, she turned around, and nearly fainted. Besides the fact that the refrigerator was a disaster, there was frosting all over the floor and pieces of yellow bread. It didn't take long for Kristen to notice the other half of the cake, upside down on the floor.

"Ehmagawd," Kristen gasped.

She couldn't move. She was terrified. Her mother's job was going to go downward when people realized that she had given her client a destroyed wedding cake. And when her mother arrived home at 3:00 p.m. and saw her cake destroyed…she could have a heart attack.

Kristen ran to the living room to look for her mother's address book. Maybe she'll find a cook who could re-do the cake for her once more, after all, she remembered how the cake looked before it was destroyed.

With all the disaster, she didn't realize that her foot had gotten stuck on the rug. So when she tried to keep running, she found herself flying across the living room, and landing, no, crashing on top of the grand piano.

Kristen's eyes widened, and she smiled. The piano. She knew who could help her, and for free! The person who was going to help her was her best friend, someone who she couldn't live without. Smiling, she ran outside, not caring if her hair wasn't braided. She jumped on her bicycle, and pedaled fast. School could wait. Her mother's job was at sake.

"I'm home," Alicia murmured, as she closed the door behind. She couldn't believe how nice Claire had been with her that day, after everything that Alicia, Kristen, Dylan and Massie had done to her back in eighth grade. If she had done all those things to Massie, Massie would probably make Isaac drive Alicia to hell. But Claire was different, and now that she knew the real reason why Cam had broken up with Claire, she felt sympathy towards her. She hadn't eaten lunch that day with Massie, she had eaten lunch with Claire. Massie and Dylan kept glaring at them, and Alicia did feel a bit guilty for not eating with them, but Claire and her friends had been so nice to her throughout the day, that she couldn't say no to them when they asked her to eat with them.

"Hey, Leesh."

Alicia looked up to find her cousin, Nina Callas, standing in front of her, with a sarcastic smile on her face. Alicia frowned.

"What are you doing here?" Alicia demanded.

Nina raised her eyebrows, and walked towards Alicia. "I heard what happened," she cooed. She stroked Alicia's dark hair softly, while her eyes glimmered with mischief, "I just had to be here to help you through this. After all, you and your friends weren't but the nicest the last time I came."

Dylan sipped her cup of coffee. She turned her T.V. on, and Mr. Magorioum's Wonder Emporium came on. Dylan laughed, remembering Kristen. It was one of her favorite movies, even though Dylan couldn't understand why. She remembered the first time they saw it, and how Kristen was marveled by the way Mahoney played the piano. Kristen had bought the movie and the soundtrack too, and kept replaying the song. She loved it. She probably still does, Dylan thought.

Her phone ringed, and Dylan hurried to pick it up. When she did, her mother's soft voice spoke up.

"Dylan?" she asked.

"Yeeees," Dylan burped.

"Dylan, don't do that, that is so un-ladylike," Merri-Lee Marvil chided.

Dylan giggled. "What's up?"

"My boss just told me that the show wouldn't be famous if it wasn't because of me."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"Well, what I am telling you next might make you faint, so get those cushions ready…they are planning to make The Daily Grind: The Movie!" Her mother squealed.

Dylan frowned, "How can they make a movie out of a talk show?"

Her mother laughed, "It is not about a talk show. They are going to make a movie of my teenage life. Fiction, of course. They are going to add some drama to my wonderful life."

Dylan smiled, "Way to go, mom!"

"And, this is the best part, they want you to play me!"

Dylan gasped, "What?"

"Sweetie, you are going to be playing the teenage Merri-Lee Marvil on the big screen."

To: Fellow Readers / From: Spy in Disguise / Subject: Author's Note

First off, I want to apologize for my grammar. I'll try to improve it, and when fan fiction lets me get an editor, I'll get one as soon as I can. I also want to thank the reviewers: Pepsigirl120 (who also favorited it), iheartme104, skiiergirl97, and crystalpowerkiss (thanks for the constructive review). And to all of those who didn't review but did read. Please tell me what you think of this chapter, and if you have any suggestions, message me, maybe I can add them to the story.

Thank you so much,

Spy in Disguise.