So guess what? Mikky-good-luck-charlie-lover pointed out something very important about the last chapter. It turns out that Kendra isn't in Beverly Hills with Massie. Obviously, I knew it, you knew it, everyone knew it, but we all forgot. Except her. So a shout-out to her for noticing. I fixed it so Massie's talking to her father, BTW. So good for Mikky-good-luck-charlie-lover. And BTW, the OC Mikayla is based on her.

Heart ya,
Joy

BLOCK ESTATE
MASSIE'S ROOM
2:14 PM
DECEMBER 8, 2012

"This is so cool!" Claire exclaimed. "I think I'm gonna be a security guard when I grow up."

"If you say so," Kristen murmured. The volume on the TV was as high as it would go, but she could barely hear what the girls in the cabanas were saying. The cameras were too far away from them. "Alright, come on, let's go."

"Hold on! Don't you need to write down what they're talking about?"

"I can't hear what they're talking about, Kuh-laire," Kristen snapped. "And it's cuz you keep blabbing."

"Sorry," she muttered, retreating toward the closet. The amazing outfits gave her an idea. "Um, maybe you should change before the perfect 10 test. You can't tell them to look great if you don't."

"That's true," Kristen admitted. She grabbed a hanger, and in a few minutes was adorned in a simple, flowing blue lace dress that hit her knees. With it, she slipped on black pumps and an onyx ring with matching hoops. "Better?"

"Much," Claire complimented. "Ready?"

"Let's go."

They sauntered downstairs and walked around back toward the cabanas. Kristen knocked loudly on the door to the first one, and waited until a cluster of girls opened it giddily. "Claire will lead you to the living room," she instructed loudly, then moved onto the next one. Their system worked well, and before 2:30, the girls were grouped together on couches and chairs.

Claire clapped once, but before she could say anything, Layne, Kori, Strawberry, and Mikayla stood up, their eyes glinting.

"I thought everyone had to try out!" Layne yelled.

"Yeah!" the others echoed.

"Claire is my Beta!" Kristen hollered back. "If you don't like it, you can leave."

Grudgingly, Mikayla sat back down. But the others marched out.

"Now that we're rid of them," Kristen rolled her eyes, "we can give you the next test." Kendra materialized in the back of the room. "This is Massie's mother. And no," she added over the roar of the crowd, "Massie is not coming back. Anyway, Massie's mother, Kendra, will be administering the clothing test. I will be in charge of the IQ quiz, and Claire will teach you how to fill out our applications. Clear?"

There was a muted "Yes," and then the room came alive with action as the girls swarmed toward Kristen, asking, "Which group are we in?"

"Oh, sorry," she said, flustered. She grabbed a piece of paper and read off each girl's assignment. "When you're done with each test, your leader will tell you where to go next. Okay?"

After all the questions were answered, everyone led the girls off.

SEXYSPORTSBABE: This is tiring.
CLAIREBEAR: No kidding.
SEXYSPORTSBABE: How r the apps going?
CLAIREBEAR: Fine. How's the test?
SEXYSPORTSBABE: We seem 2 hav pretty smart peeps. There hasn't been trouble yet.
KENDRABLOCK: I h8 2 interrupt, but I can't find the sheet you gave me on the standards on which to score the girls.
SEXYSPORTSBABE: It's in the third drawer of the desk.
KENDRABLOCK: Thx.
CLAIREBEAR: That was interesting. I didn't know Massie's mom texted.
SEXYSPORTSBAE: U learn sumthing new every day. ;)

BEVERLY HILLS
STUDIO CHARMANTE
11:28 AM
DECEMBER 8, 2012

Obviously there was no such thing as a weekend in the world of modeling. "Are we done?" Alicia moaned.

"No way." Pop shook her head. "Are their folders ready?"

"Given." Alicia rolled her eyes and sat back.

"They're coming in four hours! This is no time to get lazy, Alicia," Lolly reprimanded sternly. "Get a glass of lemonade and a ten-minute break if you need one."

Immediately, she leaped up and strolled outside, leaving her handbag on her chair. The fresh air felt amazing on her sweaty neck and forehead.

She was looking forward to modeling, obviously, but the wait was becoming a little too much for her to handle. Patience was not one of Alicia's virtues. Not only that, she missed Massie. She knew that if the Alpha was here, she'd be able to cope with the long, hot days, but without her, Alicia felt lost. Massie made her whole.

Sighing, she threw open the glass doors and walked back into the studio, where Pop and Dylan were having a heated argument.

"No way!" Pop screamed at the top of her lungs, waving her arm and displacing a neatly stacked pile of papers, which fluttered down to the floor.

"Um, knock-knock!" Dylan placed her hands on her hips. "We can't model without our Alpha."

Sparks flew in Alicia's mind. Massie! Dylan wanted Massie back too!

"Yeah," she agreed stubbornly.

"Stay out of this," Lolly snapped, placing a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Cool it."

"No! We are in charge. We cannot have a little redheaded pest questioning our desicions!"

"Do you know who I am?" Dylan thundered. "I am Merri-Lee Marvil's daughter! My mom's crew is managing you. She's giving you an exclusive interview on the Daily Grind, for Gawd's sake!"

"So?" Pop smirked. "We can do just fine without her. We don't need any of you."

With that, she shot a meaningful glare at Lolly and picked up the phone to call the new girls who she hoped would be good enough to replace the "redheaded pest."

BEVERLY HILLS
GOLDEN ISLES
11:46 AM
DECEMBER 8, 2012

"Do you need something?"

"They fired us," Dylan bawled, running to embrace her friend.

Massie smoothly disentangled herself and stepped back. "So?" She raised one plucked eyebrow and replicated Pop's signature expression perfectly.

"Come on." Dylan reached for the Alpha again. "We want to be friends. Can't we just put the past behind us?"

Behind her, Alicia nodded vigorously.

"I guess." Massie sighed, a smile creeping across her face. "Come here, you guys." She fell to her back on her bed, and her Beta and Gamma engulfed her. When they finally gave her breathing room, she sat up and reached once again for her suitcase. "So, back to Westchester?"

"Back to Westchester."

BLOCK ESTATE
CABANAS
2:58 PM
DECEMBER 8, 2012

Claire walked slowly around the room, bending subtly over the girls' shoulders as she'd watched her teachers do countless times. One by one, the Witty Commitee wannabes finished their applications and began chatting softly. When they were all done, Claire sent them off to Kendra and accepted the next group.

This was easy, mindless work, which gave her time to think about the things she really wanted to. Like, what if Massie and the rest of the Pretty Commitee came back and tried to take over OCD again? And she knew that if they tried, they'd succeed. And, if and when that happened, would the Witty Commitee go down the drain? Would everyone once again bow down to Massie Block?

Her head was spinning. She sat down on a pale green loveseat and considered her options. She could either stick to her guns and declare everlasting loyalty to the Witty Commitee, no matter how it might affect her in the long run. Or she could run as fast as humanly possible in the opposite direction, toward ADD, the nearest public school. Or she could get on her knees in front of the Pretty Commitee and beg them to take her back. She wasn't sure if she was strong enough to attempt any except number two.

Her hands were cold and clammy, and her chapped lips and cuticles alike were bleeding from the constant nibbling, yet she had no reason to believe that the pretty Commitee was ever returning. She even convinced herself that they weren't, and by the end of the second session, she'd stopped panicking. She even thought that there was no way they would possibly leave California.

But, even though she didn't know it, she thought wrong.

BEVERLY HILLS
GOLDEN ISLES
12:29 PM
DECEMBER 8, 2012

Seemingly without a hint of worry, three gorgeous girls went to confront their parents.

"Mom," Dylan pleaded in the baby voice she knew Merri-Lee couldn't resist.

"Oh, Dyl, sweetie! Hold on." She stepped out of her meeting and crouched in the corridor with her daughter. "What's up?"

"I have to leave." She pouted and batted her eyelashes, tilting her head slightly to the side. "Please?" She squinted her eye enough that she could fake a tear, but wiped it away before her mother noticed it wasn't real.

"What happened?" Merri-Lee exclaimed, sitting Indian-style on the carpeted tile.

"Pop 'n' Lolly chose all new models and kicked all of us out. They... they were sick of the drama. Or something." Her pale green eyes gleamed.

"That's terrible." Merri-Lee sympathized with her children as her mother never had with her, but she couldn't move heaven and Earth to please them. Especially when she was in the middle of an extremely important conference. "But we're not going back to Westchester. Whether you hate the twins or not, I'm still sponsoring them. You have no idea how much the ratings will shoot up!" As though they weren't high enough already.

"But-"

Merri-Lee placed a smooth hand on her daughter's shoulder. "I'll let William, Ally, or Len take you home. But I can't."

And that was final.

BEVERLY HILLS
GOLDEN ISLES
12:31 PM
DECEMBER 8, 2012

Massie wasn't doing much better with William. "Puh-lease?"

"No." He was kind but firm. "You asked me this earlier. We're not going anywhere. End of story."

"Why nawt? The others are leaving." She wasn't positive if this was strictly true or not, but she didn't care.

"Well..." He pressed his index fingers against his pale gray temples. "I don't know why we can't." He shrugged. "If the other parents say it's okay, I'm in."

Massie threw her arms around his waist. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

"You're welcomewelcomewelcome. Now, come, sweetheart, go pack."

"Okay!" She ran toward her bedroom.

She had known all along that this argument was hers in the bag.

BEVERLY HILLS
GOLDEN ISLES
12:34 PM
DECEMBER 8, 2012

"Massie y Dylan están volviendo a Westchester. Me gustaría ir con ellos." Alicia stated her case calmly and clearly, then politely stepped back and waited for their desicion. From years of experience, she'd discovered this was the best way of handling Ally and Len.

Her mother spoke first. As she opened her mouth, Alicia crossed her fingers and tightened her full lips. "En unos pocos meses, no voy a poder viajar." Ally rubbed her belly as she spoke. "Aquí o allá. Elija. No más movimiento de ida y vuelta."

"Hay."

"En este momento, esto es lo del bebé. Si la Alianza se siente bien, podemos usted y sus amigos retirar." Len glanced adoringly at his wife. "¿Estás segura de que estás cómodo?"

"Buena," she insisted. "Alicia es nuestra hija." With a smile, she grabbed Alicia into a hug. The girl's face smashed against her swollen stomach.

"Gracias, gracias!" She thanked them profusely. She wasn't going to be the odd-one-out. The Pretty Commitee was going to rule OCD, once and for all.