The Clique (13 page)
“Iiiiiii knnnoooowwww,” Layne said. Her seat was now vibrating at high speed.
“Oh, by the way,” Massie said without looking up from the pages of
People
. “Did your brother tell you we met last weekend?”
“Nnnnnnnnnnnoooooooooo,” Layne said.
Massie slapped the magazine closed and held it against her thigh. “We went riding together,” she said. “Are you sure he didn’t mention it?”
“Yyyyeeeaaahhh,” Layne said.
“You must not be very close.” Massie gave a sympathetic smile.
Layne shut off the chair and stared directly into Massie’s eyes.
“He’s my best friend,” Layne said. “We tell each other everything.”
Massie knew she must have hit a nerve and decided not to push any further. It was important that she keep on Layne’s good side.
“I know, he told me,” Massie said. “He even said he wished you liked riding so you could spend more time together.”
“He did?” Layne said.
“
Oh yeah
.” Massie nodded and made her voice sound very intense, like she had been moved by the depths of Chris Abeley’s love for his sister. “Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t you let me teach you how to ride next weekend? Then we can all spend the day together.”
“Come on.” Layne slapped her hand against her heart. “You would do all that for
me
?”
“Of course.” Massie raised her hand to her head and smoothed down her already perfect hair. “Who
else
would I be doing it for?”
11:11
A.M
. September 13th
Claire stared at the microwave. The clock showed double numbers, which meant she had one minute to make as many wishes as she could before it became 11:12
A.M
. She asked for friends at OCD, good grades, Massie’s approval, which would lead to Kristen, Alicia, and Dylan’s approval, which would lead to everyone else’s approval, the lead in the school play (whatever it was), new clothes, a different carpool, braworthy boobs by Christmas, neater handwriting, and faster-growing hair.
“Shouldn’t Layne be here by now?” Judi asked. She stood by the stove dipping strawberries into a pot of bubbling chocolate one by one and then laying them out on a sheet of wax paper. It was her turn to make dessert for the book club she’d joined.
“She’s not coming,” Claire said. She sat at the kitchen table mindlessly rolling and unrolling a cherry print place mat.
“What was her excuse this time?” Judi asked sympathetically. “Is something wrong between you and Layne?”
“No, she’s just busy with ‘her new’ best friend, Massie,” Claire said. She was so upset, she put air quotes around “her new” instead of “best friend.”
Judi glanced at the place mat Claire was mangling, with a look of concern in her eye.
“I don’t understand. Can’t you all hang out together?” Judi asked.
“Gee, that’s a great idea,” Claire said. “Come to think of it, the president could really use your help with that crisis in the Middle East.”
Claire heard a snicker come from under the table. She leaned over and found Todd curled up in a ball with his hand over his mouth.
“All kidding aside, do you want me to talk to Massie’s mom about this?” Judi said. “I mean, I see no reason why they can’t include you. Maybe it’s an oversight.”
Todd laughed through his nose.
“I will give you everything I have in my savings account if you promise not to talk to
anyone
about this,” Claire said. “I’m fine. I swear.”
Claire pushed her seat back from the table and stepped lightly on her brother’s hand as she stood up. She watched him squirm through the cracks on the wood table and choked back her laughter.
“I think Todd is by the pool,” Judi offered. “Why don’t you join him for a swim?”
“Maybe,” Claire said. “He pees in the pool, you know.”
Claire heard his gasp and pressed her foot down one last time.
“I’m going to change.”
Claire thought about how badly she wanted to tell her mother the truth, what a relief it would be to finally be honest, admit that she
had
no friends. She’d
thought
she had Layne but then
Massie
had swooped in stolen her. Ever since Massie had started inviting her places, Layne had all but disappeared. Claire was too embarrassed to admit this to her mother, so she kept her mouth shut.
Instead she wiped the tears from her eyes and slipped into her favorite bikini—the denim-looking bottoms with the belt and a white triangle top. She’d gotten it on sale at Target, for fifteen dollars, and it usually made her feel like a million bucks. But today, a beautiful Saturday afternoon when she had no one to hang out with but her little brother, she felt like fifteen cents.
11:25
A.M
. September 13th
Chris Abeley and Massie trotted along Shady Lane, constantly looking over their shoulders to make sure Layne was still behind them. She had refused to get on her horse, insisting that the mare much preferred a leisurely walk.
“Layne, are you sure you don’t want to at least
try
riding Trixie?” Massie asked. “I’m sure she won’t mind.”
“No, I’m having fun taking pictures of flowers and stuff,” Layne answered.
“That’s cool. It’s just that I have to be home at one o’clock for a meeting and at this rate we won’t be out of here for another three hours.” Massie grit her teeth and tried to force a smile. It came out looking more like a grimace.
“I didn’t know you had to leave early,” Chris Abeley said. “I packed some sandwiches, hoping we could all have a picnic at the falls.”
“If we ever get there,” Massie mumbled under her breath.
“I heard that!” Layne said.
“I was only kidding, Layne,” Massie said. “I would love to have a picnic. I can be a
little
late, I guess.”
“Good,” Chris Abeley said. “By the way, are you ever going to bring back my Yankees hat? Layne told me you wear it every day to school.”
His face was beaming and Massie couldn’t tell if he was serious about wanting it back or if he was just flirting.
“I do not.” Massie felt her face getting hot. “Layne, why did you tell him that?”
“Because it’s true,” Layne said. “I thought he’d be flattered.”
“The hat I wear isn’t your brother’s, it’s mine,” Massie said. “Chris, I will gladly return your hat. I’ll bring it next weekend. It’s too big for me anyway.”
“Oh, I forgot to tell you I can’t ride next weekend,” Chris said. “I have a lacrosse game.”
“I can ride,” Layne said.
But Massie pretended she didn’t hear that.
“Hey,” Layne shouted. She was crouched down at the edge of the trail. “Look what I found.”
Chris and Massie stopped their horses and waited patiently for Layne and Trixie to catch up to them. The way Layne walked the tiny object over to Chris made her look like a lawyer approaching the bench.
“It looks like a little microphone,” Layne said.
“Massie, isn’t this yours?” Chris Abeley said. He handed the charm to Massie, making an extra effort not to drop it. “I saw it on your bracelet before. You must have lost it while we were riding last time.”
“Do you want me to put it on for you?” Layne asked.
“Thanks, Layne.” Massie knew her tone sounded irritated and made every effort not sound ungrateful.
“Charmed,” Layne said with a British accent. “Get it?”
Chris cracked up and Massie mustered up the best fake laugh she could under the circumstances.
“That’s some luck that Layne found it, huh?” Chris said once he stopped laughing.
“Yeah, totally,” Massie answered.
Some
bad
luck
, she thought. She had ditched that tacky thing a week ago, yet somehow it was back to haunt her. Not unlike the tacky family that gave it to her.
11:45
A.M
. September 13th
It wasn’t even noon yet, but it was hot, hot, hot. Claire walked over to the Blocks’ pool, figuring she’d take a quick dip since nobody was around, but when she got there she saw a long buffet table, draped in a white tablecloth, set up in front of the cabanas. She stopped in her tracks. Covering the table were platters of mini-sandwiches, pasta salad, and chilled soups wrapped in saran wrap to keep the flies away. It looked like the Blocks were in the middle of setting up for a party.
A few inches away from the food, closer to the silver-ware, Inez had fanned four notebooks out like magazines. Each one said GLAMBITION in big bold type. Suddenly Claire didn’t feel like swimming.
“What’s going on?” Claire asked Inez.
Beads of sweat had formed on the woman’s upper lip and she was squinting from the sun.
“Massie is having a meeting,” Inez answered.
Just as Inez said that, Claire heard the pool gate click open. Alicia, Kristen, and Dylan walked in wearing bathing suits, sarongs and flip-flops. They moved slowly and scraped the wooden soles of their shoes across the pavement as they made their way over to the deck chairs.
Dylan dragged two chairs across the deck and pushed them together, and all three of them piled on. Their tangled arms and legs made them look like one big spider.
“Hey, Claire, who made your bikini?” Alicia asked.
It was practically the first time she had heard them refer to her by name. But she had to be careful: It could easily be a trap. Claire had learned enough in the last few weeks to know that admitting it was from Target would have terrible repercussions.
“Please tell me you’re kidding,” Claire said.
Alicia looked to Kristen and Dylan with a hint of panic on her face, but they immediately looked away.
“It’s an Astrud,” Claire said, and paused as if she were waiting for a sign of recognition from Alicia. “You know, from Brazil?”
“Duh!” Alicia smacked herself in the forehead. “I knew it looked familiar. I just saw a whole story on her in
Teen Vogue
.”
“You mean
him!
” Claire hoped she wasn’t going too far with her lie.
“Seriously, Leesh,” Kristen said.
“Everyone knows Astrud is a guy,” Dylan added.
“I must have just spaced,” Alicia said. “I’ve had a bad headache all day and I can’t think properly.”
Kristen started twirling her hair. Dylan reached for a bag of sunflower seeds. And Alicia began massaging her temples. Claire knew they were each secretly wondering how they could have possibly missed the news about Astrud. And Astrud didn’t even exist!
“Where do you think she is
this
time?” Kristen asked.
“What?” Claire asked. But the girls were back in their tangle and she realized they weren’t talking to her anymore.
“Whatever it is, I’m sure it has everything to do with Chris,” Alicia said. “I’m sorry, I mean Chris
Abeley
.” She took her sunglasses off as she spoke and put them right back on when she finished. “I’m so tired of having to say both of his names.”
“Well, if she blows off one more Glambition meeting, I’m going to fire her,” Kristen said. “This project is worth seventy-five percent of my grade and if I fail, I’m dead.”
“Why do you think she never invites us to hang out with them?” Dylan asked.
“Because she wants quuuuaaaaaa-lity time with Chrisabeley,” Kristen said. She blended his two names together so they sounded like one. The other girls laughed.
But Claire knew what was really going on. Massie didn’t want them to find out she was spending time with Layne. She’d seen Massie avoid Layne at school by using the same techniques she had used to shake Claire—sudden detours to the bathroom, engaging in must-have conversations with B-listers when Layne approached, or acting like she was in the middle of a crucial cell phone call and just couldn’t be interrupted.
“Do you think she’s going to start hanging out with high school girls?” Dylan asked. “You know, now that she’s so in with Chrisabeley.”
“Not if she keeps wearing that cheesy Yankees hat,” Kristen said. “I remember a time when the only initials she wore were YSL, LV, and CC. I’m not sure I can handle NYY.”
“Please, I saw you checking the price on a Yankees hat at the mall last Wednesday,” Alicia said. “I even saw you try it on when you thought I was checking my hair in the mirror.”
Claire felt a jumble of nerves rolling in her stomach, but she opened her mouth and forced herself to say the coolest thing she could think to say. “I hate to interrupt, but it wouldn’t kill you to have a little fun while you’re waiting,” Claire shouted.
They looked up from their cluster in shock, but no one said a word. The only sounds were sunflower seeds cracking between Dylan’s teeth.
Claire managed to stroll past them with grace and nonchalance, but on the inside she was still reeling from her gutsy outburst.
She stepped up on the diving board with the poise of an Olympic diver and padded to the very edge. She bounced a few times to test the spring of the board and waited for the wind to shift.
They were watching.
She moved to the back of the board and placed her arms stiffly by her sides. One quick hop and she was airborne. Her body curled into a tight ball and after one flip, she snapped open like a jackknife and landed a perfect dive.
Claire surfaced to applause.
One by one the girls untied their sarongs, kicked off their flip-flops, and pulled their bathing suits out of their butts before jumping in. Alicia ran into the cabana and blasted the radio. Britney Spears’s “Oops! … I Did It Again” was playing and even though the girls couldn’t stand her anymore, they all seemed glad it was on.
They stood by the edge of the pool and sang along to the chorus.
Oops! … I did it again
I played with your heart, got lost in the game
Oh baby, baby …
“Oops!” Dylan shouted as she pushed Alicia into the pool. She was still wearing her shirt, but Claire had a feeling she would have stayed covered up even if she hadn’t been taken by surprise.
