The Clique (6 page)

“Isaac,” she shouted from the back.

He kept driving.

“ISAAC!” Claire tried again.

She lifted her leg over the seat and crawled into first class. She tapped Isaac on the shoulder.

“Isaac,” Claire said, “unfortunately I have to get out.”

He jumped and slammed on the brakes. “What are you doing here?”

“That seems to be the question of the day,” Claire said.

Isaac reversed the car back into the school’s circular driveway.

“Thanks for the ride,” Claire said. Isaac closed the door after she stepped out.

But Isaac didn’t answer. He was too busy searching the lawn for Massie.

He spotted her hugging an eighth-grade girl with a scooter helmet in one hand and a yoga mat in the other.

“Massie,” Isaac shouted. He obviously didn’t mind attracting attention because he screamed her name three more times.

Everyone looked his way except Massie.

He abandoned the Range Rover in the middle of the driveway despite the angry drivers who honked and demanded he move it.

“I have to talk to you,” he said.

Massie was still speaking to the eighth-grade girl. Dylan, Alicia, and Kristen waited patiently for her to finish so they could move on.

“Massie!” Isaac said.

“What?” she said.

She looked at her friends and rolled her eyes.

“You left Claire in the car.” He sounded annoyed.

Massie and the girls let out a snicker.

“I thought
you
were going to let her out,” Massie said. She smiled when she spoke.

More giggles.

Claire felt everyone’s eyes on her. She wanted desperately to tell them that she had been fine with being left in the car, that it was an honest misunderstanding, and that she’d in no way put Isaac up to this, but she didn’t. She sang to herself instead.

Brown paper packages tied up with strings
.

These are a few of my favorite things.…

“I expect you to treat Claire with kindness and respect.” Isaac looked straight into Massie’s amber eyes.

“Uh, I better go,” the eighth-grade girl said. “Good luck with your babysitting job.” Claire watched her run toward her friends like she couldn’t wait to tell them what happened. Massie crossed her arms and stared back at Isaac.

“Thanks a lot,” Massie said. “She’ll probably get at least fifty gossip points for this story.” She watched the eighth-grade girl laughing with her friends in the distance and pointing her out. Then she turned her attention back to the driver. “Isaac, did I ask you to take my temperature?”

“What?” Isaac asked. “No.”

“Then why are you all up in my butt?” Massie asked.

“Oooh, no, you didn’t,” Alicia said.

Dylan, Kristen, and Alicia whooped and hollered in celebration of Massie’s never-ending cleverness. They exchanged high fives in her honor.

Even Claire couldn’t help but be a little bit impressed. Everything Massie said was so smart and funny and
cool
.

Claire looked up at Isaac. She had no idea how he was going to react. She sort of expected him to pull Massie aside and yell or threaten to tell Massie’s parents, but he didn’t. He just stood tall and stared down at her. Massie stared straight back. It seemed like they were communicating telepathically using their own private language. Everyone watched in silence.

“Fine.” Massie took off toward school and Claire followed. Isaac watched from a distance.

“This is OCD,” Massie explained in a monotone voice. She sounded like a tour guide who had given the same spiel at least fifty times earlier that day.

“When you get inside, you’ll see rows of kiosks that look like ATM machines,” Massie continued. “Put your student ID card in and your schedule will pop out. The café is to the left along with the gym, the dance studios, the pool, and the spa. On your right are the seventh-grade classrooms and the teachers’ lounge. Meet us here at exactly 3:25 if you want a ride home. If you’re not here, we’ll assume you decided to walk.”

O
CTAVIAN
C
OUNTRY
D
AY
S
CHOOL
T
HE
S
TARBUCKS
K
IOSK

11:25
A.M
. September 2nd

Second period had just ended and the girls met at the newly renovated on-campus café for chai lattes before their next class. The café was beautifully done up, complete with cherrywood paneling and brass accents. Kristen carefully grabbed the hot tea from the guy in the Starbucks booth and walked toward Massie, Dylan, and Alicia. They were leaning against a wall mural of people drinking hot beverages throughout history, their hands filled with notebooks, pocketbooks, and venti-size cups.

A gaggle of studious girls dressed in different-colored Juicy sweat suits sped up and looked at the floor as they walked past Massie.

“Look, it’s the Mathletes,” Massie said. “Cheer up, girls, school has finally started again.”

They knew better than to respond.

Alicia leaned toward her friends and whispered, “I think Jena Drezner is wearing her dog’s shirt by mistake. Look.” She pointed. “It barely covers her rib cage.”

“Hi, you guys,” Jena said. “How was your summer? You all look so amazing, as usual. Hey, Massie, I heard you’re taking that new girl under your wing.”

“What?” Massie said.

“Yeah, everyone’s saying you have a new BFF,” Jena said. “I was hoping I could meet her. It’s been a while since we’ve had a real ‘fashion don’t’ around here. I’ve almost forgotten what one looks like. But if anyone can whip her into shape, you can.”

“Check your source, Jena. Obviously if I had a new BFF, she’d be here right now.” Massie rolled her eyes and took a sip of her latte.

When the girl left, Massie leaned in close to her friends and whispered, “I heard she peed in her bed at sleepover camp this summer.”

“I heard the same thing,” Alicia said.

“Too bad, I said it first, so I get two gossip points,” Massie said.

But Massie had gotten a lot more than a few points from her encounter with Jena. She’d gotten tipped off to the fact that people were talking about her and Claire.

“My social life is in a state of emergency,” Massie said under her breath.

“You’re not really going to be friends with Claire,” Alicia said. “Are you?”

“Yeah,” Massie said. “I’m dumping you and bringing her on full time.”

“Are you serious?” Alicia asked. Her smile faded. A look of sheer horror took its place. “Is it because I didn’t want to cancel our shopping trip to take care of you yesterday? ’Cause I was only kidding.”

“I know, so was I,” Massie said.

She watched Alicia cross her arms in front of her chest like she had just caught a chill, but Massie knew she was hiding her big boobs. She always did when she got nervous.

“Burberry cap,” Massie said. She pointed at a seventh grader wearing a hat made of the signature plaid. “No punch backs.” Massie hit Kristen on the arm as hard as she could.

“Owwwww!” Kristen yelped. Her books fell to the floor and the scalding chai latte covered her chest and left arm.

The first person to spot someone wearing anything made by Burberry got to punch whoever they wanted as hard as they wanted. That was the rule. They had been playing this for the last two years and had all suffered a painful blow at one time or another.

Massie heard the familiar squeak of rubber against the floor. Her entire body tensed up. That high-pitched sound meant Claire and her Keds were getting closer.

“Kristen, are you okay?” Claire asked.

“She’s fine. We do this all the time. See?” Massie pointed to Kristen, who forced a smile.

“Always come prepared,” Kristen said. She lifted a backup shirt out of her bag as if she was pulling a tissue out of a box. She patted her notebooks dry with the hem of the stained T-shirt she was wearing.

Massie could not believe Claire was still standing with them. “Claire, did I invite you to my barbecue?” Massie asked, her neck tilting to the right and her arms tightly crossed.

“Huh? No. I mean, I don’t know,” Claire said.

“Then why are you all up in my
grill?
” Massie said through her teeth.

Everyone laughed except Claire. Her lower lip twitched.

The piercing sound of the bell jump-started the slow walkers who were shuffling to third period, and suddenly everyone was on the move.

“Gotta go,” Dylan said as she bolted to English.

“Think I have time to run to the bathroom and wash the chai off my chest before second bell?” Kristen asked.

“Yeah, go. I’ll save you a seat,” Alicia answered.

“Hurry,” Kristen shouted.

“She doesn’t know
how
to hurry,” Massie joked.

“Why should I get all sweaty over an art class?” Alicia said.

“I have art too! Is your teacher Vince—?” Claire was cut off.

“You better go, Alicia,” Massie said while looking right at Claire.

Alicia sauntered off.

Massie and Claire were left alone to face each other. The hall was suddenly silent and empty. Massie realized this was the first time she had ever looked at Claire’s face head-on. She was pretty in a plain sort of way, and Massie couldn’t help thinking that with a new wardrobe, a little mascara, and longer bangs she might be able to make a few friends of her own.

“I don’t understand why you hate me so much.” Claire’s voice was shaking.

“Claire, this isn’t
Clueless,
okay?” Massie snapped. “Why don’t you just make your own friends and worship me from afar like everyone else?”

Claire’s aqua blue eyes widened with disbelief and she let out a nervous giggle.

“I practically live with you, Massie,” Claire said. “I can’t just go away. No matter how hard you try to make me.”

“You obviously haven’t seen me try,” Massie said.

Claire pushed the stack of bracelets away from her wrist and back up her arm. She looked like she was rolling up her sleeves before a fistfight.

“I was just wondering,” Claire said. “Are you a female dog?”

“What?” Massie asked. “Why?”

“Because you’re acting like a real
bitch!
” Claire shot her a scowl and hurried away before Massie had time to answer.

Poor Claire,
Massie thought.
In her world that was probably clever
.

But in Massie’s world it was a big mistake.

MASSIE:
CLAIRE CALLED US BITCHES

DYLAN:
????

DYLAN:
HOW RUDE. SHE JUST MET US

MASSIE:
I VOTE HER OFF THE ISLAND

ALICIA:
DONE

DYLAN:
DONE

KRISTEN:
AND DONE

Massie clicked her phone shut and smiled. She knew her friends would do most of the dirty work, which was exactly what she wanted. That way she’d be “innocent” when her mother and her conscience caught up with her for what they were about to do.

O
CTAVIAN
C
OUNTRY
D
AY
S
CHOOL
A
RT
C
LASS

11:40
A.M
. September 2nd