Hey guys! Okay, so no one seems to be reviewing anymore. So don't forget to press that button and tell me what you think! And check out my other story: Story of Our Lives. You can find it in my profile. Just because Clique: Sixth Grade is drawing to a close doesn't mean you get to stop complimenting me on my ah-mazing writing skillz! Ok, JK, but seriously, please review! :)
Heart ya,
Joy
BEVERLY HILLS HOTEL
ROOM 397
7:24 AM
JANUARY 1, 2013
"Think of something that makes you really happy," was the first thing Dylan heard as she awakened. She peeked over her shoulder to see if Alicia was talking to her, which it turned out she was.
"Why?" she inquired, rubbing her eyes.
"Cuz we have to spend the day with Vail and Zara," she explained. "And we have to deal with it."
"Why?" she reiterated.
"Cuz we came here with them. We can't just ditch."
"Why?"
"Cuz... you know what, I don't know! Why can't we?"
"Exactly." Dylan got up and gave her friend a hug. "They can do whatever they please. It won't reflect on us no matter what they're doing, what they're wearing, or who they're with."
"Right." Alicia cracked the door open to check whether the breakfast she'd ordered had arrived. Instead, she glimpsed something she wished she hadn't. Pop 'n' Lolly were strolling as though they didn't have a care in the world down the carpeted hallway. And right next to them were Vail and Zara. "It doesn't matter," she told herself, although her aching stomach told her it very much did.
"What doesn't matter?" asked Dylan, helping herself to a doughnut out of the pantry.
"Nothing."
Dylan ran over to join her. She gasped when she noticed the group sashaying down the corridor. But, being her true outspoken self, she said something. "Yo, guys!" she hollered at the top of her lungs, waving.
Vail and Zara turned at the same time, putting their right foot down first, then smirking. Dammit, they'd practiced.
"Hey!" Alicia waved happily, as though nothing was wrong.
"You know them?" Pop blinked.
"Yes," answered Dylan.
The awkward conversation was thankfully interrupted by the arrival of the food cart. Pop 'n' Lolly continued with their new proteges, leaving Alicia and Dylan to eat their food in peace.
BEVERLY HILLS HOTEL
ROOM 397
8:40 AM
JANUARY 1, 2013
"What about this?" Alicia repeated endlessly, holding up gown after gown after gown and receiving nothing but criticism from Dylan. ('It's too long, it's too short, it looks frumpy,' etc.).
"Ooh, perfect!" Dylan exclaimed. "Look!" She carefully slid a forest green dress off its hanger and flat onto the bed. It was romantic, with delicate cap sleeves and a rounded neckline, and obviously vintage. It was overlaid with an oversize, sheer floral-patterned crochet. The tag simply stated, Oscar di la Renta. She placed the gleaming silver princess tiara her mother was forcing her to wear above it. She quickly picked out large-stud earrings with pave' diamond detailing she'd gotten when she'd gone to Harrods, in England. A matching snake ring made of 18-karat rose gold, diamonds, and emeralds was also ideal. A simple black Gucci clutch worked well, as did plain matching pumps. A container of Shake Your $$ Maker by Essie lay on the sheets next to it, along with pale pink lip gloss and some eyeliner, both by Stila. A $4,000 iPhone case with genuine sapphire gems and colorful jewels went well with everything and complimented the outfit.
"That's great," smiled Alicia, still considering her own choices. Dylan skipped over to her friend's side of the closet and began to help her look. It only took her two minutes to wordlessly place a Bebe outfit in the girl's hands.
Alicia's dress was cocktail-based, with a plunging sweetheart neckline and an empire waist. It was basic and unadorned, but eye-catching enough by itself, since it was fire-engine red. A pearl bracelet and earrings worked wonders when matched with contrasting black Blahnik heels. A raven Chanel clutch evened out the attention. Bright red lipstick was really the only makeup she needed. Triumphantly, she grabbed a bottle of fire-colored nail polish. After snapping a white snakeskin case onto her iPhone, she was set.
"You wanna try it on?" Dylan suggested.
"Why nawt?"
They each got dressed, making sure to face away from the mirror until everything was just right. After detangling their hair with custom-made brushes and using Extra-Whitening Crest toothpaste, making sure to wait the five minutes for their teeth to become sparkling clean, they crept around to look at their reflections.
"Ehmagawd, this is better than the modeling gown, even the first one," Dylan wept.
"Same." Alicia spun around, making sure her butt didn't stick out, which was only okay in form-fitting dresses.
"We are going to show them at the party tonight," Dylan gloated. "Oh, yeah. By the way." She grabbed Alicia's shoulders and turned the Latina toward her. "There'll be a segment, about half-an-hour or something, where my mom will bring Ryan, Jaime, and me onto the stage, just us. So you'll have 30 minutes or so to do whatever you want. Should I schedule something for you? Like, Hermia, or spa, or karaoke or something? You know, so you don't have to waste all your time waiting in line."
"Yeah, sure." Alicia nodded, pretending to think for a second. "Hermia would be cool." She tried to sound nonchalant.
"Kay-kay." Dylan picked up her phone and called her mother, who promised to fit Alicia in.
Finally, they tired of jumping around in their dresses, so they slid them off, hung them up in large plastic bags so they wouldn't get ruined, and examined each other.
"You need a small trim," Alicia observed. Her mouth twisted as she concentrated. She fluttered her eyes open and closed several times. "I think having your hair in light waves will be pretty, and then you could do it half-up under the crown."
"Okay! And you need to exfoliate and wax. Well, we both do."
"First stop, BHHS!"
They danced out the door and into the elevator, where there was thankfully no one to see them make fools of themselves. They rushed into the spa that filled up an entire floor of the hotel. "Could we make an appointment for right now please?"
The manager checked her computer. "We're completely booked for today." She shrugged. "Everyone needs to freshen up for Merri-Lee's party. Sorry."
Dylan rolled her eyes. "I'm Merri-Lee's daughter."
The woman looked up for the first time. "Oh, you're Jaime, aren't you?"
"Close. I'm Dylan."
"Okay. I'm sure we can find someone for you. And who is this?"
"Alicia Rivera, my best friend," she responded. "So you have two stylists for us?"
"Yes, miss. Of course. Rosie! Gayla!" she beckoned.
The two young women hurried over.
Alicia joined the redhead, Rosie, Dylan the brunette, Gayla.
By the time they were finished, they were thouroughly worn out. But it wasn't like they could do anything anyway. The women had expressly forbidden them multiple times to do any strenuous activites. So their only plausible option was to sit in their room and gossip. So they did.
BLOCK ESTATE
MASSIE'S ROOM
8:45 AM
JANUARY 1, 2012
"Happy New Year, Bean," Massie said sadly as she pictured Alicia and Dylan having the time of their lives in sunny California. She watched a torrent of snow fall off the roof and cascade past her window in an avalanche of white flakes. "This sucks."
Bean barked once and tilted her head, an obvious expression of sympathy. Sighing, Massie ran her head over the pug's silky black fur. This was nice, she reflected. Maybe there was nothing wrong with having a day of peace and quiet.
Of course Kendra had to ruin her moment by springing in and shouting, "Bonne année!"
"Happy New Year, Mom."
"Je suis si contente que vous comprenez enfin française. Cet enseignant doit être absolument incroyable," she rattled off. Kendra was fluent in French, William in both German and Portuguese, not to mention Spanish. And Massie's only acheivement was learning English. She had never met anyone who was more intimidated by their parents than she was.
"Uh, merci?" she guessed.
Kendra rolled her eyes. Massie couldn't tell if she was being affectionate or if she was just plain annoyed. "Never mind."
"Where's Dad?" she wanted to know.
"At work." Kendra sounded disgusted, just as she always did. She hated William's 24/7 business schedule.
"Oh. Well, bye."
Kendra clearly couldn't take a hint. "So what do you want to do? I was thinking a mother/daughter day, since you can't be with your friends. Unless, of course, you want to play with that dear Claire."
"I don't play, Mom. I hang out. And second, I'd be happy to hang out with Kuh-laire."
MASSIEKUR: want 2 come over?
CLAIREBEAR: sure.
"She's coming, Mom."
PINEWOOD APARTMENTS
LIVING ROOM
9:07 AM
JANUARY 1, 2013
Boredom was a state of mind Kristen was all too used to. She had absolutely nothing planned for the day. Massie and Claire were buried up to their necks in Massie's closet, and were planning on having a slumber party afterward. Kristen had been informed of the sleep-over, but hadn't been invited. She wasn't sure if the girls were being mean on purpose or whether they had simply forgotten, but either way, she had nothing to do. She had wanted to sleep in, but her mother had woken her up at 8:30 for a family breakfast, which her father had slept through anyway. And now she was wide-awake with nothing to do.
Aimlessly, she flicked on the television, surfing through the channels to see if she could find something she wanted to watch. The best she came across was a live-action behind-the-scenes news network that was currently trailing Calgary Edwards, Merri-Lee's loyal assistant and sometimes co-host, around the set of the party. Every third person they passed was yelling at someone, or cursing at somebody else, while Calgary fruitlessly attempted to fend off the camera. Soon, Kristen became so interested in the show that she didn't even look down at the homework she'd been assigned over break.
"Kristen! Kristen!" She was staring so intently at the screen that she didn't notice someone calling her name. "Kristen Stewart!" a short, puffy man holding a microphone pronounced. "And there she is!"
Bewildered, Kristen glanced around before realizing the sound actually was blasting out of the TV. Then she checked the time to see if the hours of watching television might be causing her to hallucinate. 2:30. 2:30! "I'm gonna be late!" she huffed. "Mom!"
"What?" Mrs. Gregory padded into the room in her bunny slippers.
"We gotta go! We've got the game against Stoneybrook! The Westchester Cup could be ours!"
"Oh my goodness!" She became the whirlwind of energy she always was when in a rush. Balancing her pocketbook, her cell phone, Kristen's bag, a magazine, a lawn chair in case there were no bleachers, and her coffee, she ran out the door. Kristen followed her.
Twenty minutes later, they screeched into a parking spot at the Octavian Country Day field. They were home team, which Kristen thanked her lucky stars for. If they were visiting, she wouldn't have been allowed to play. As it was, she sprinted onto the cool grass at 2:58, cutting it extremely close.
"Where were you?" Coach Kumrow demanded, twirling her whistle. "We were about to put Becky in."
"I'm sorry. We were having a family crisis."
Coach Kumrow glanced at Kristen's mother, who did give off the impression of being in an emergency. She was yapping away on her phone, flipping through papers, and drinking her cappuccino like a madwoman. "Just this once, understood?" She glared deep into her best player's eyes.
Kristen nodded yes. "Thanks." She ran to her position as striker.
"Go get 'em, guys!" With an earsplitting TWEET, the game began.
An hour-and-a-half later, Kristen could be found doubled over, gulping water as fast as her body would allow, panting as though there was no tomorrow. In one hand was a freezing cold bottle of Evian, in the other, a solid gold, two foot high trophy.
THE DAILY GRIND
FRONT PORCH
7:01 PM
JANUARY 1, 2013
"I'm free-freezing," stuttered Dylan, wrapping her arms around herself. It was 55 degrees, but Dylan had become used to California weather, which meant sunny and warm year-round. Even though she was a Westchesterite, she found herself shivering in the tart air that would have been considered a winter heat wave back in New York.
"No kidding." Alicia waved the wrap she'd brought like a banner. She'd figured she'd throw it on if she got cold, but once she realized no one was wearing them, then forget it. She knew when she was out of her element, and there was no way she was setting trends tonight.
"Gawd, I can't believe all the celebrities get to cut." Dylan rolled her eyes at Jessica and Ashlee Simpson, totally unaware that the girls at OCD felt the same way about her. "Look at them!" This time she pointed to Selena Gomez, who was smiling brilliantly with her arm wrapped around Taylor Swift's waist. The second the camera panned away, she released the girl with a look of utter revulsion and side-stepped away. "Think she farted?"
Alicia cracked up and snapped a shot. "Massie's gonna love this."
"I know, right?" Without realizing it, they'd made their way to the front of the line. Alicia elbowed her hard in the ribs, and she looked up at the beefy guard who was standing imposingly over the scene, with one hand resting lightly on his .22 semi-automatic. Dylan knew beforehand that the gun was filled with blanks, but that didn't mean the machine didn't scare her.
"Tickets?" he asked gruffly, holding out a hand. She dropped them in, and he ripped off the stubs and handed them back to her. The girls flounced in, their skirts bouncing behind them.
The second they cleared the doorway, they were bombarded by Kim Kardashian, who was laughing with her sisters. She looked as though she were on her fifth glass of champagne, at least. "Dylly!" The bosomy woman lunged toward her and engulfed her in a huge bear hug. Her siblings did likewise. "And who is this?"
"Alicia Rivera," answered Dylan. "She's my friend. Come on." She aimed this at Alicia, who was gawking at the famous women.
"You know them?"
"I know, like, everyone here. You wanna meet anyone else?"
"Um, One Direction?"
"They couldn't come. You know, family togetherness is very important for Brits and all that. But I think Liam might stawp in for an hour or so with Niall... hold on." She held out an arm, and Landon Dorsey halted in front of her.
The normally put-together woman was obviously frazzled. Her dark hair was escaping her tight bun, and her panty-hose had bunched at the knees. "Do you need something, Dylan? I'm awfully busy."
"Are Liam and Niall gonna show up at some point?"
"Nope." Landon consulted her guest list. "If we're lucky, Harry might come. But your mother had a bit of a falling-out with Zayn the other day, so don't count on any of them being here." She hurried off toward Miley Cyrus, who had already stripped off her shirt and was dancing on the table that had been reserved for the members of Green Day.
"How 'bout J-Lo?" Alicia wondered, glancing around at the hundreds of famous couples who were dancing.
"Over there." But before they could make their way toward her, Merri-Lee had searched them out.
"Dyl, sweetheart, we need you backstage."
The girl barely had time to hand off the voucher for Hermia before she was dragged from the room.
Alicia finally noticed how loud it was. The DJ was blaring Ciara's One, Two Step, and she could hear everything, from heels clacking on the stone floor to drinking flutes being placed on tables to the waitresses inquiring as to whether anyone would like appetizers.
She was standing by herself in the middle of a room with no clue where to go. So she pulled out an old school trick. She reached into her clutch for her iPhone, pressed random numbers, and held the electronic to her ear, tilting her head and laughing into the dialtone as though someone was saying something hilarious on the other end.
BLOCK ESTATE
MASSIE'S ROOM
10:35 PM
JANUARY 1, 2013
Althout it was late in Westchester, the party had just begun in California. Claire was gaping open-mouthed at the TV, singing along to the songs playing in the background.
Massie was watching her. It had finally dawned on her that an Alpha wouldn't be doing this. She, as much as she hated to admit it, was doing almost the exact same thing Claire was, watching ferociously for just a glimpse of either her friends or a celebrity. An Alpha wouldn't obsess like this. She grabbed the remote, pressed the power button, and got up.
"Hey!" Claire turned around and folded her arms. "What was that for? Merri-Lee's just about to bring her daughters on stage."
"So?" Massie fluffed her hair. "I saw Dylan there before we were even friends. You've got that right, I've been there; it's nawt that interesting." Lies, all of them.
"Well, okay," Claire agreed dubiously. "So what do you want to do?"
"Go to bed."
THE DAILY GRIND
PARTY
11:59 PM
JANUARY 1, 2013
Normally, Merri-Lee held her parties on New Year's Eve, as per Yves, but yesterday there had been technical difficulties that even the combined power of Merri-Lee, Princess Kate, who had wanted to go so badly but had to get back to England this morning, and the members of many famous bands, such as Maroon 5, couldn't influence. So January 1st it was.
Merri-Lee ascended the steps to the stage, tapping a fork against a glass into the many mics that lined the stairs. "Excuse me!"
Collectively, the crowd turned toward her.
"Thank you for coming to my New Year's Yves party! I'm so happy you're all here. And anyway, since we couldn't hold our annual New Year's Yves yesterday, I'd like to countdown now." She held up an ornate glass jar. It contained a plethora of slips of paper where each guest had written a resolution. "In five, four, three, two, one!" She unscrewed the lid and fed each goal into a fan, which blew the papers into the crowd. Each person caught one, and the idea was to complete the objective by next New Year's Yves. "Happy New Year's Yves!" The huge YSL handbag that had been dangling from the ceiling fell into a blocked-off arena, and people immediately started bidding on the object. "Happy New Year!"
And then the party really started.