Revenge of the Wannabes (13 page)

“Sure,” Massie said with fake enthusiasm. “Once we’re
friends
.”

“Come on.” Alicia grabbed Olivia by the arm and pulled her away.

Suddenly a voice bleated over the loudspeaker, saving Massie from having to answer any questions.

“What’s up, OCD, this is Comma Dee letting you know that it’s time for the Give Thanks on Thanksgiving gift exchange. Please take all of your prezzys to the auditorium so we can get started. …”

Kristen, Dylan, and Claire grabbed their gifts off the table and stood up. Massie stayed seated.

“Hey, here’s one for ya. … What part of the turkey does Snoop Dogg love to eat? … Give up? …”

“You coming?” Claire asked Massie. She sounded tired.

“Yeah.” Massie stood up. Her legs felt like lead.

“The GRIZZLE … Snoop loves to eat The Grizzle. Get it?”

Everyone groaned when they heard Comma Dee’s corny punch line.

“That girl is such a loser,” Dylan said.

I know,” Kristen agreed. “She actually thinks people like her.”

Massie walked a few paces behind her friends, wondering if one day people would be saying that about
her
.

T
HE
B
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GLU H
EADQUARTERS

7:55
PM
November 17th

Claire loved the rich woodsy smell of cedar in the Blocks’ old horse barn. But she had been painting in there for over an hour and a sharp, pungent odor hovered in the air like a noxious cloud. Massie opened a window, but all that did was let in the cold.

“How’s everyone doing?” Massie asked, taking a step back to survey the freshly painted wall.

“Good,” Kristen said from the top of her stepladder.

Dylan nodded while she tightened the Pucci scarf around her head.

“I’m almost done,” Claire said, dipping her brush in paint. She tapped it against the side of the can, then lifted it to the wall.

Claire knew what they were about to do was wrong. But she couldn’t turn back now. Massie would never invite her to do anything with them again.

“Shoot,” Claire said looking at her shoe. “I just dripped paint on my white Keds.”

“Looks like you’ll finally have to get rid of those,” Massie said with a teasing smile.

“Why? Your clothes have paint all over them,” Claire said, referring to Massie’s blotchy turquoise outfit.

“Yeah, but they’re supposed to be like this. These are my Primp Splatter Sweats; I bought them for the occasion.” Massie ran her hand over the unicorn patch that had been sewed to the front. “And by the way, these stains are bleach, not paint.”

“I can’t believe your mom is letting us paint the walls,” Kristen said, wiping her hands on her old gray soccer sweats. “My parents would never let me do this.”

“It’s part of her self-help homework,” Massie said, reaching for her Dr. Juice. The clear plastic cup had
Power
written across it in big black letters. The protein-omega-3-banana-soy blend was her new favorite. “Everyone in her book club has to do something this week that shows they can ‘let go.’ So she said we could paint the walls.”

“My mom said she’s only letting us do this because they’re putting mirrors on the walls in a couple of weeks,” Claire said.

“Yeah, but until then this place is all ours,” Massie said. “And I am officially declaring it GLU headquarters.” She raised her juice and the girls cheered. “Ehmagawd, it’s eight o’clock. Lucinda said she’d know by now if we got the modeling jobs.” Massie flicked open her Motorola. Another purple rhinestone fell off and bounced along the hardwood floors. “I am so getting a new phone. This one isn’t responding well to my jewels.”

Massie’s amber eyes shifted back and forth while she listened to her messages. “Alicia called to say she’s going to be here at eight-thirty,” she reported. “That means we have to hurry up and finishing painting.” Massie hit delete and Claire watched her eyes shift again while she listened to the next message.

“It’s Lucinda,” Massie shouted. The girls jumped off their stepladders and grabbed each other’s hands like finalists on
America’s Next Top Model
.

“IN!” Massie snapped her phone shut.

Claire had waited months to hear that word.

“We’re gonna be models.”
Dylan was so excited she actually tackled Massie. They fell to the ground and landed on a dusty drop cloth, laughing hysterically.

“Go to hell, Gisele!” Kristen shouted as she dove on top of them.

“Walk the planks, Tyra Banks,” Claire shouted before she joined the giddy pile.

“I am so starting a raw food diet,” Dylan announced as she stood up and wiped the dust off her mother’s old maternity caftan.

Dylan’s serious tone was an instant buzz kill. Everyone got off the floor, smoothed her hair, and got down to business.

“Did she say when it was?” Kristen asked, opening her day planner.

“December sixth,” Massie said.

“Cool, I already have that weekend off,” Kristen said.

“Be careful. Something might happen to your
character
if you’re not wrapping presents for a few days,” Massie said.

Kristen rolled her eyes and slapped her planner shut.

Everyone laughed at Massie’s joke and Claire was relieved when Kristen joined them. She was the only one who knew that Kristen’s family was poor and that Kristen was extra sensitive to the comments people made about money when she was in the room.

Claire remembered the day she snuck onto Massie’s computer and got Kristen to confess over IM. Of course, Kristen thought she was confiding in Massie. When she finally found out it was Claire, Kristen begged her not to tell anyone. After that Claire had promised herself she’d never do anything mean or sneaky again. But the paint on her shoe reminded Claire that she was going back on her promise. She stared at the purple stain and sighed. This would be the very last time. …

“Wait until the boys at Briarwood find out we’re going to be models,” Kristen said. “Our stock is gonna go way up.”

“Now that it’s official, I can’t wait to tell Cam.” Claire tugged on the strap of her overalls. “I can’t wait to see his face when—”

Massie shot Claire a stern look and Kristen and Dylan rushed to Massie’s side. Claire could feel her heart starting to pound.

“So you’re choosing Cam over us?” Massie’s question sounded more like a statement.

“No, not at all.” Claire hated herself for mentioning Cam. She had done such a good job keeping their recent e-mails a secret and she’d just snitched on herself. “You didn’t let me finish.” Her armpits were starting to sweat. “I was going to say, I can’t wait to tell him, but I
won’t
because I don’t talk to him anymore.” Claire searched Massie’s face to see if she believed her. “I swear. We are so done.”

Massie held out her palm.

“What?” Claire said, biting her thumbnail.

“Give me the note,” Massie said, wiggling her fingers.

“Why?” Claire felt her stomach lock.

“Prove that you are done with him and give me the note,” Massie said.

Claire felt like the room was spinning. She wished she could think of something that would convince Massie to let her keep the note. But nothing came.

Claire grabbed her backpack off the floor and reached inside slowly. She moved her hand around the bottom of the bag like she couldn’t find it.

“I think it’s at home.” Claire’s head was throbbing.

“Let me look,” Massie ordered, coming closer.

“Oh, here it is,” Claire said. She was relieved Massie didn’t know about the three mix CDs Cam had burned for her. “It got stuck in the mesh cell phone pocket.”

“Hurry up,” Massie said, snapping her fingers. “Alicia is going to be here soon and we have a lot to do.”

Claire felt like she was watching herself in a dream when she placed the note in Massie’s open palm. It was covered in tiny rips and smudges from being read so many times. The familiar cherry Blow Pop stain in the bottom-right corner triggered a hot feeling behind Claire’s eyes that always came right before her tears. Cam had given her that Blow Pop and written,
Have a sweet day
, in tiny letters along the stick.

Massie crumpled up the note and walked toward the cans of paint. Claire quickly looked at Kristen and Dylan for help, but their heads were down.

“Say good-bye,” Massie said. She held her fist above the green paint, then opened her hand. The note bobbed on the surface, refusing to sink. Everyone ran over and stood above the can with their mouths open, except Massie. She reached for the nearest paintbrush and stabbed the stubborn note until it sank.

Claire took a deep breath, hoping the rush of air would suck back her tears. She would never get to look at Cam’s perfectly neat, all-caps handwriting again.

“There,” Massie said with a warm smile. “That should help.” She tossed the paintbrush on the floor. “When I dump a guy, I like to destroy everything he ever gave me. I find it really cleansing.”

“… ks,” Claire said. She tried to say, “Thanks,” but it wouldn’t come out.

All Claire could think about while they finished painting in silence was how to keep herself from sobbing. She told herself that Cam was a lame wannabe and that Massie was only looking out for her, but that didn’t get rid of the feeling in the pit of her stomach or the stinging behind her eyes. And it especially didn’t erase the mental image she had of Cam’s note, sitting all alone at the bottom of the can, covered in green paint.

A knock on the door startled them all. It was the first sound they had heard since Massie’s Maroon 5 CD ended.

“It’s showtime,” Massie whispered to her friends. “We’ll be right there!” she shouted.

The girls scurried around the barn, straightening and tidying. They knew Massie wanted this to be perfect. Once everything was in its place, Massie yanked opened the door.

“Oh,” she said when she saw who was on the other side. “I was expecting someone else.”

“Who could possibly be better than me?” Todd said.

“What do you want, Todd?” Claire asked her brother. She prayed he wouldn’t do anything to embarrass her.

“I just thought you ladies would be hurting for a little male companionship.”

“This is GLU headquarters,” Dylan said.

“What does that mean?” Todd said, poking his head inside to have a look around.

“It means Girls Like Us,” Massie said, closing the door. “No boys allowed!”

But Todd stopped the door with his foot. “Whoa, what did you do to the walls?”

“Get out,” Massie said, smacking his foot away. Todd lost his balance and fell on the grass. Massie slammed the door shut and leaned against it to make sure he couldn’t force his way back in.

His incessant banging filled Claire with sadness. Todd was just lonely. Her friends in Florida didn’t mind having him around and he was obviously missing that. Claire missed it too. But she didn’t dare ask Massie to make an exception to her “girls only” rule. Claire didn’t want to give Massie any reason to kick her out, especially when she had to work so hard to get in.

“Leave us alone,” Massie shouted.

The knocking continued.

“Go away,” Kristen and Dylan shouted.

“It’s me,” a voice said. “Alicia.”

“Oh,” Massie mouthed.

The girls smoothed their hair and got into position. Massie looked at them to make sure they were ready. When she decided they were, Massie threw open the door.

Showtime!

T
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GLU H
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8:10
PM
November 17th

“If this is a bad time, I can leave,” Alicia said.

“Why would you say that?” Massie had one of her infamous I’m-about-to-take-great-pleasure-in-destroying-you smiles on her face. Her lips were shut, the corners of her mouth were curled up, and her eyes sparkled with a devious glint.

Alicia recognized the look on Massie’s face and wanted to turn around and chase Dean and the limo down the street. But she’d watched him back out of the Blocks’ driveway. He’d be long gone by now.

“Welcome to GLU headquarters,” Massie said, giving Alicia a once-over. Alicia stuffed her sweaty palms in the back pockets of her pants.

“Don’t you look faaan-cy,” Massie added.

Alicia was wearing a blue satin cap-sleeve blouse, gray velvet pants, and square-toed boots, her Dixon stretched across her shoulders like a shrug. She felt ridiculously over-dressed compared to Massie, who was in Splatter Sweats and sheepskin slippers. When did she buy those anyway? It felt weird seeing Massie in something new. They usually shopped for everything together.

“Uh, I was just out for dinner with my parents,” Alicia said, avoiding Massie’s suspicious glare.

It smelled like paint inside the horse barn and Alicia stuck her head in to see what was going on. But Massie shifted her body and blocked Alicia’s view.

“We’re glad you decided to come.”

We?
Alicia had assumed it would just be the two of them. But she should have known. Massie was never by herself.

“Well, you e-mailed me saying you made a tribute to our friendship. How could I not come for
that?
” Alicia rolled her shoulders back, showing off her perfect jazz posture.

Massie smiled sweetly. “Thanks.”

“I’m glad you’re ready to apologize,” Alicia said. “I totally miss—”

“Who said anything about apologizing?” Massie stepped back to reveal Kristen, Dylan, and Claire.

“Oh, hey.” Alicia waved at Kristen and Dylan. It felt weird not hugging them. “Claire, hi, I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

Claire smiled uncomfortably and looked down at her cuticles.

“We had some extra room this week,” Massie said, practically spitting the word
extra
at Alicia.

“Yeah, I guess,” Alicia said, unsure of what to say next. She had left her coat in the limo and was starting to feel a chill. “Can I at least come in?”

Massie stepped aside.

The place was a mess. The floors were covered in newspaper, and paint cans and dirty brushes were lined up against the wall. Four Dr. Juice cups had been stacked on the rungs of a gray stepladder, and CDs and empty jewel cases were scattered everywhere. “Has your mother seen this place?” Alicia asked. She remembered the time Massie got grounded and couldn’t go to Six Flags because she didn’t pick Bean’s chew toys off the floor of her bedroom.