A/N: So I edited the last chapter, but I accidentally uploaded this one instead. Sorry to those of you who read this one in advance . . . everything's fixed now.
I'm going on a cruise next week, so don't expect an update.
xx,
Rachel
-Chapter 2-
Westchester, NY
The Block Estate
Sunday, October 14th
7:31 P.M.
Sunday evening, Massie Block sat cross-legged on her purple duvet, a pile of old notebooks around her. It was strange how she had all her notebooks and diaries from December and November of 5th grade, and it was only October. She stretched out her arms and sighed. She was trying to go over everything about Presbyterian Middle School, so that she would be prepared for tomorrow.
She picked up a purple glitter notebook and opened it up. The notebook was from back when she went through a diary phase at the beginning of 5th grade. She wrote about everything in her diary, simply because she didn't have anything else to do. Ahnna was a hard person to put up with, so she put all her feelings into her writing.
Massie used to be a good writer. Key words: used to. When she met the Pretty Committee, she put all her energy into making the PC's lives perfect. She had no time for writing after she transferred to OCD. She had to work hard to keep her alpha status. Whereas, at PMS, Ahnna was the alpha of their clique, so Massie didn't have to do anything.
Looking at the journal, Massie realized that she semi-missed the good old carefree days, when she could write her heart out. She had a lot of problems back then. She would write stories about her dream life. In sixth grade, her fantasy came true. She had her own clique, and she was the alpha of Octavian Country Day School. Being an alpha was fun, but also tiring.
Did Massie really miss the Pretty Committee? Sure, she missed being an alpha. But she also liked her old life. Things were easier. But . . . no. Of course she missed Alicia, Dylan, Kristen, and Claire. She smacked herself on the forehead for being so stupid. She should never had said those things. A little part of her wanted her life to stay like this, though.
Massie stared down at her loopy handwriting from fifth grade. She read the first entry:
Monday, August 27th
Dear Diary,
Today was the first day of middle school. It was pretty scary at first. Lockers, being at the bottom of the heap, everything. My classes are pretty nice, though. I still don't get why we start middle school in fifth grade.
Brady Erickson started a food fight in the cafeteria. No one usually starts food fights on the first day of school. It just doesn't happen. Anyway, Brady started one, and it was complete pandemonium in the cafeteria for about fifteen minutes. Ahnna didn't want us to get involved, so we just sat there at Table 6, doing nothing. Eventually, one of the teachers came in and broke up the fight.
Ahnna wants us to get mani-pedis together tomorrow. I'm afraid to tell her that her favorite spa is actually really sucky. She'll yell at me for sure.
I have really good ideas, and I know it. Ahnna just doesn't. Sometimes I wish that I could go to a private school, like Octavian Country Day. I would kill to go there. It's also single-sex, so I wouldn't have to endure something like the food fight. Boys are so immature. I also want to be the alpha of my own clique. I'm tired of being part of the Ahnnabees.
I went shopping after school. I bought a bunch of new clothes, but it won't even matter. Ahnna will ask to do a clothing trade, and she'll never return my clothes. Can I help it if my taste in clothes is better than hers? I'll be stuck with her clothes. They're designer, but they're the sort of clothes that get hidden in the corner of the store so that no one will find it, because they're so hideous. Ahnna's family is rich, they're probably richer than my family. I've offered to shop with her, but she's turned down my offer countless times.
I know I have to stop being so shy. I have to stand up to Ahnna. But I don't know how. All my elementary school life I've been "Ahnna's super nice friend" or "the shy brunette." I want to change my label. The problem is, it's not that easy. These people have known me for a long time. I can't just change my personality. The only way to change it would to be to transfer to another school.
I've brought up this possibility with my parents multiple times. They said no all of those times. They also said something about how "private school girls are snobby" and how "I should learn to interact with boys." I can't believe them.
I'm dreading school tomorrow. Ahnna is becoming really unbearable. I don't even know why I was friends with her in the first place. But I am, so I guess I'll have to make the best of it.
~Massie
Massie closed the notebook. She couldn't believe that she was actually shy back then. What she couldn't believe even more was that she had so much free time to write. She didn't have much extracurricular activities, and Ahnna didn't organize much shopping trips with the Ahnnabees. Massie had hated Ahnna back then, so she turned all that pent-up anger into words. Writing was her therapy. It helped her get through all her fights with Ahnna.
Massie flipped through a couple of pages. She stopped when she got to the entry titled "Monday, October 15th." Whoa. Creepy. She could read all about what was going to happen tomorrow. Massie read the entry:
Monday, October 15th
Dear Diary,
I got kicked out of the Ahnnabees today. For the fifth time. I don't even know what I did wrong. You want the full story? Here goes:
Today, Ahnna came up to me during lunch and started yelling her head off. She said that I had told Hanna Harrington, Derrick Harrington's cousin, that she liked him. Which totally wasn't true. I tried to tell Ahnna that, but she kept insisting that I told Hanna because I'm friends with Hanna. The being friends with Hanna part is true. She's my only friend outside of the Ahnnabees, and she's really nice and fun to be around. She's fashion-savvy, like me. She's also part of a clique, The Glamour Girls, which is the C-list gamma clique. Just like me, she's the outsider.
Anyway, Ahnna said that I must've texted Hanna or something. She pulled out a phone and showed me this text that she got from Derrick saying, I heard from somewhere that you like me. :) But it didn't say where he got the information from. I told Ahnna this, but she just yelled at me even more. She had no proof that Hanna was the one who told Derrick, and that I was the one who told Hanna, but she still kept on yelling her head off.
Ahnna called me a liar. She said I wasn't worthy of being in the Ahnnabees. She said that she had no idea why she even let me in the clique in the first place. She also said some other stuff, but I'm not going to repeat that type of vulgar language.
It's so unfair. I didn't do anything wrong. Ahnna's so conceited. She was probably looking for another reason to kick me out of the Ahnnabees for the fifth time. But knowing Ahnna, in a few days she'll figure out that it was just a misunderstanding and she'll let me back in the clique. She always does.
The problem is, I don't think I want to be let back in the clique this time. I'm tired of Ahnna. I really, truly am.
~Massie
Massie suddenly remembered this day clearly. It was one of the biggest fights she and Ahnna had ever had. Did this mean that this was what was going to happen tomorrow? No one could guarantee that. Suddenly, an idea popped into Massie's head. She would do things differently than her diary. See how that turns out.
Tomorrow, Massie would admit to telling Hanna. If Ahnna thought she was admitting to being wrong, and if Massie was really, truly sorry, she wouldn't get mad and kick her out. She had to stay in the clique to see what happens. Massie quickly pulled out her phone and texted Hanna.
Massie: Hanna - I have a plan. Will explain later. If anyone asks, I told you that Ahnna likes Derrick, your cousin. It's all my fault. Derrick found out from me.
She immediately got a reply.
Hanna: Okay . . . I'll do it.
This was one of the reasons Massie liked Hanna. She never questioned anything, ever. If it had been Lana, Shauna, or Brianna, they would have been super suspicious and probably wouldn't have agreed. But this wasn't Lana, Shauna, or Brianna. This was Hanna. And she had agreed.
Massie turned a few pages and continued reading:
Friday, October 19th
Dear Diary,
I knew it. I knew Ahnna would let me back into the clique. This morning, when I arrived at school, she apologized and said that she made a mistake.
Things have been shaky between us all day. Just because she forgave me doesn't mean that we're best friends again. It's like this after every time I'm kicked out of the clique and let back in. Every single time.
I'm trying my best to be nice to Ahnna. It's not working. She's acting like her snobby old self again. She also made me email Derrick and tell him that Ahnna doesn't like him, and in fact, she thinks he's stupid. I did as I was told, because I probably would have gotten kicked out again if I didn't. It was really awkward because I didn't even know what Derrick looked like and who he was.
Ahnna has too much power over me. I don't know why, but I always do everything she says. She's isn't that scary, really. What's the worst she could do to me? Kick me out again? Somehow, I still stay scared of her. Everyone else in the school is also scared of her, but they use a better-sounding word: respect. Puh-lease. Everyone knows that Ahnna is the opposite of respected.
Today I came to school wearing that new floral print tunic that I bought on Monday. Ahnna yelled at me. It's currently hanging in her closet. I don't know why I let her do this to me. I also lost my favorite pair of boots to her. She gets to wear my adorable clothes, while I get her designer-but-hideous outfits.
I wish I had power over Ahnna. That would be much better, don't you think?
~Massie
Massie closed the notebook. She hadn't really accomplished her goal of learning more about PMS, but she already knew everything she needed to know: Ahnna was a bee-yotch. She was even worse than Massie remembered her. She had forgotten all about the "clothing trade." The clothing trade was absolutely horrible.
Massie got up and peeked in her closet. Right now, the hangers held super stylish designer clothing. But she knew that in just a few days, they would be holding hideous pieces of clothing. Not if Massie could help it. A new idea formed in her brain. She scoured through her closet to find the plainest clothes she could find. Her new plan was to wear really plain clothes so that Ahnna wouldn't have anything to trade. When she was home or without Ahnna, she would wear her stylish designer clothing.
She would be seriously restricting her fashion rights at school, but so what? It was for the greater good.
Review!