BLOCK ESTATE
MASSIE'S ROOM
3:08 PM
OCTOBER 17, 2012
"Focus!" Massie barked. She didn't receive a single response. Alicia was blabbing to Kristen about her pregnant mother, and Dylan was texting and shoveling down taco chips simultaneously. "Shut up!"
The girls glanced at their Alpha guiltily. "Which first, Skye update or Gossip Points?"
"Ooh, definitely gossip," Alicia urged. "Hurry, Kris, you're up."
Massie opened up her Notes and poised her fingers for typing.
Kristen tapped her fingers against her chin. "Um... oh! Did you hear that a bunch of LBR's are trying to convince Ms. Bloom to do the school up in a Star Trek theme?"
Massie imagined her now-beloved OCD decked out in Enterprise posters, and the smooth marble tile replaced with rough black flooring. No doubt the LBRs would do something even more outrageous, like sponsor a dress-like-your-favorite-character day. Massie cringed. "No way will the principal ever go for that."
"Actually," continued Kristen. "She said if they got three-quarters of the sixth grade to sign this petition thingy, she'd let them decorate our wing however they want to."
"We have to do something to stop that. Six points, and thanks for the warning. Dylan?"
"Layne told me that Coral McAdams, that girl she hangs out with, dyed her hair red because she wanted to look like me," she told them with a toss of her natural-colored tresses.
"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," Massie smiled. "Three points. Leesh?"
"Did you hear Kelsey Walsh's mom had quadruplets?" Preening, she flipped a piece of hair out of her eyes.
"Why does anyone care?" asked Massie, cocking her head.
Alicia laughed. "No, I'm just kidding. The real news is that Skye's hosting a Halloween party and-"
"Shh, that's the update!" Massie hissed. "I'll give you 12 points if you close your mouth this second."
Alicia clamped her lips together. "Deal," she mumbled through her teeth.
"My turn!" Massie exclaimed. "Kuh-laire's starting a new clique."
Kristen stopped braiding her hair. "What? How do you know?"
"She told me herself," she explained. "She was bragging about it to me when Kendra invited them over to dinner the other night."
"What'd you say?" inquired Alicia.
"That I didn't give a shit. But not where the parents could hear." That got everyone laughing. "Anyway, back to Skye."
"Wait, what about your points? I vote nine," Alicia said.
The others nodded.
"Alright, alright," the Alpha rushed. "So Skye is throwing a Halloween party, but that's nawt the good part. She's co-hosting it with us!"
Dylan stifled an excited shriek.
Massie grinned victoriously. "And we have to be over there for a meeting..." She checked her Michael Kors watch. "Stat!" She snapped her fingers and scrambled to her feet. After everyone had reglossed and rebrushed, she led them out to the Range Rover, where Isaac was waiting. "483 Rose Street," she ordered.
"Yes, ma'am." He closed the glistening door and locked it. "We're on the road."
HAMILTON HALL
FRONT PORCH
4:02 PM
OCTOBER 5, 2012
Massie stood slightly in front of Alicia, Dylan and Kristen, who were balancing on the top stair of Skye's curved entryway steps. Confidently, she rang the doorbell. A maid dressed in traditional uniform answered. "Hello?" she said in an honest-to-God British Cockney accent.
"I'm Massie Block," she told her importantly.
With a sickly sweet smile, the maid gestured for them to come in. "Skye's two floors up, first room to the left."
"Thank you." Massie led the Pretty Commitee over to the elevator.
"Nice place," Dylan commented.
"Nice elevator." Kristen scanned the four walls: mirrors on three, with cushioned benches in case the occupants were too tired to sit. Right as she was about to collapse on one, there was a light chime and the door smoothly slid back into the wall.
"Stawp," Massie ordered before they entered Skye's room. "Ratings please. Kris?"
She stepped in front. In a loose gray Armani skirt and a black Gucci tank with a burnt sienna Louis Vuitton scarf and flats, she was the postergirl for preppy but cute.
"9.9," Massie said.
"9.8." 9.8."
"10," Alicia disagreed. "I heart that."
"Thanks." Shyly, Kristen edged away.
Dylan twirled around. In a jungle-green Lilly Pulitzer halter dress, midnight-colored YSL strappy sandals, and a black Tiffany jet bracelet, she was impeccably stunning. "It's Ryan's," she confided.
"Good steal," Massie laughed. "9.6."
"9.7." "9.4." "9.6."
"Do me," Alicia whispered with a covert glance toward Skye's closed door. She was wearing an outfit that clearly stated, 'I'm not intimidated by you.' It was distressed dark wash Sevens, gold Coach flip flops, and a buttery Tommy Hilfiger tee, which was just transparent enough that you could see just the outline of her lacy white bra.
"9.5," Massie decreed.
"9.9." 9.6."
"That's slutty." All three of the girls' heads swiveled to face Kristen. "It is."
"It is nawt!" She developed a look of outrage on her face, just by raising one perfectly plucked eyebrow.
Kristen just looked at her. "Really?"
"Whatevs," Alicia mumbled, rolling her eyes and moving closer to Massie, away from the Delta. Trying to be discreet, she pulled a Ralph Lauren mink-lined jean jacket out of her bag. They were coming back into style.
"Okay, okay," Massie interrupted. "Hurry. I told her 4:15. We have one minute, and Skye doesn't do late." She gave them The Look. She had on a pink Chanel tube top with tiny denim Miss Me short shorts and diamond Cartier hoops. Her shoes only differed slightly from Dylan's, but they were white.
"9.3," Alicia said.
"9.4." 9.8."
Massie hadn't gone for impressive. She'd tried to accomplish the same thing as Alicia, but the Beta had done it better. Even though Alphas were always supposed to be the best.
HAMILTON HALL
SKYE'S ROOM
4:15 PM
OCTOBER 5, 2012
The faint strains of Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson wafted from the seventh-grader's room as they knocked.
The door swung open to reveal Skye sitting on the floor with four other girls. "Hey," she said without a trace of meanness in her voice. "Come meet the DSL Daters."
One girl with long, long auburn waves, narrow green eyes, and a typical redhead's coloring introduced herself as Chelsea, the Beta. Her Gamma, Hilari, was a petite brunette whose face was caked in makeup, which normally wouldn't look good on someone so small. But she made it work. The Delta, Bree, was a willowy girl with high, sharp cheekbones, platinum-blonde hair with $400 lowlights, and extremely tan skin. Skye's Epsilon was African-American. With perfect dark chocolate skin and long, long lashes, she resembled a model Alicia had seen in Teen Girl magazine. Her name was Maya.
"Nice to meet you," she said at the same time as Massie.
Skye patted the floor next to her. Each girl took a seat next to the one who held their same position. Maya was sandwiched between Skye and Kristen. "We were just doing some yoga. Wanna join in?"
"No thanks." Alicia rubbed her lower back. "I think I pulled something."
Massie smiled. "We'd love too."
Alicia scooted back and took out her iPhone. When they were finished, she rejoined the circle. "Ready to talk party?"
The others nodded, and Skye took over. "So I was thinking we could have it at your house." She tilted her head toward Massie. "So we can see how good of hostesses you are."
"That sounds great," Alicia watched her Alpha gush. Sickening.
"Uh-huh," she forced herself to add. Both Skye and Massie glared at her. Whatever.
"But we have to keep this top-secret," Skye cautioned. "We can't tell anyone until we've already handed out invitations."
"Got it," Massie agreed. "What should the theme be?"
"We're going to leave that up to you," Skye replied with a shifty smile.
"But we have final say," Chelsea broke in.
"Of course," Massie acknowledged genorously.
Alicia stared at her best friend with a frown. How could she be an Alpha if all she was doing was agreeing with everything the DSL Daters said?
HAMILTON HALL
ELEVATOR
4:47 PM
OCTOBER 5, 2012
"So what do you think the theme should be?" Kristen asked with a gigantic smile. Everyone was thrilled with how well the whole endeavor had gone.
"Ehmagawd!" Massie shrieked. "What about Hawt Hallucinations?"
"What do you mean?" Dylan wondered.
Massie was growing more excited by the second. "We could have uber-hawt waiters with little monster snacks walking around, but they can be actors who, like, know how to disappear if someone tries to take another look at them. Wouldn't that be cool?"
"Yeah." Kristen's hair swung around her ears as she nodded. "And maybe we could have more people dressed like monsters who do the same thing."
"But cute ones," Alicia put in. "Like a vampress." She drew a triangle on her chest that was supposed to signify where the v-neck would dip down to. "Ehmagawd, we could really do that!"
"You're right," Kristen grinned, awed by the idea but determined not to show it. "This is great."
BLOCK ESTATE
GUESTHOUSE
4:53 PM
OCTOBER 5, 2012
"We have to wrap up in exactly seven minutes," Claire warned authoritatively, checking her watch. She was so over the Pretty Commitee. She'd started her own group, the Chic Clique, and already she'd convinced Layne, Coral, Kori, and Mikayla to join.
"Your mom is so OCD." Layne stuffed a handful of popcorn into her already-full mouth.
"Tell me about it," Claire sighed. Even though she kept telling herself that Massie and Co. couldn't matter less, the truth was that she thought about them nonstop. And it kept coming up at the worst possible moments, like now. Every time she felt uber-lame, she realized that they'd probably be doing something cool, and glamorous, and fat-free at that exact moment, like getting mani-pedis at Serenity or chugging down those tasteless Delicious Nutritious Smoothies. But she'd rather down a thousand than be out of the Pretty Commitee for life.
MARVIL MANOR
DYLAN'S ROOM
5:06 PM
OCTOBER 5, 2012
Ring... Ring... The dialtone echoed obnoxiously in Dylan's ear. She slammed down the phone.
"Why do they say their office is open until six if it's not?" she grumbled, crumbling her gum wrapper into a tiny aluminum ball and chucking at the wastebasket in the corner of her room. It missed, so she retrieved it and slam-dunked the foil into the trash.
She was supposed to be calling Landon Dorsey, but the woman's office had apparently closed early without informing anyone. So she did something she'd been warned never to do. She used her mother's connections. Merri-Lee had told her the password to her e-mail account when Dylan had been too young to ever remember it, or so she'd thought. But she was wrong. Dylan tapped it in with Minnie Mouse OPI-manicured nails and logged in. It took her five minutes of scrolling through the star's contacts before she found Landon's address.
Quickly, she fired off an e-mail.
TO: Landon Dorsey
FROM: Dylan Marvil
Hi:
You don't know me, but my name is Dylan Marvil, Merri-Lee's daughter. My friends, Massie Block, Alicia Rivera, Kristen Gregory, and I are planning a Halloween party, and we wanted to enlist your help. You might know Alicia; you organized her back-to-school bash. Anyway, I called your office and nobody picked up, but I was wondering if you could join us and a few other girls for a planning session over the weekend. If we find your performance helpful, I'm sure I can recommend you to my mother for her New Year's Yves blowout.
Thanks,
Dylan Marvil