THE BLOCK ESTATE
MASSIE'S BEDROOM

6:50 PM

October 31st

Massie was standing in front of her full-length mirror, trying to slide the devil horns onto her head without ruining her perfect part. It would have been easier if she wasn't talking on her cell phone at the same time, but she was late.

“Kristen, try to stop crying,” Massie said. “I can't understand what you're saying.”

“My” (gasp) “Mom” (sniff) “won't let me” (sharp inhale) “go tonight.” Kristen let out a final sob.

“Tell her it's an all-girls party.”

“It's not that.” Kristen blew her nose into the phone. “It's the call she got from Principal Burns about our outfits today. I knew we should never have worn—”

“No offense, but your mother's way too strict.” Massie straightened the devil's tail on the back of her skirt. “When I got home, my dad gave me a two-second speech about obeying school rules and went right back to downloading an audio book off the Internet.”

“You're so lucky you have cool parents,” Kristen said.

“Can't you just sneak out?” Massie asked.

“No way! I'm already in enough trouble.”

“Well, it will totally suck if Dylan steals Derrington.”

Kristen started crying even harder.

Massie knew that comment was the last thing Kristen wanted to hear as soon as she said it, but she was upset that her friend was going to miss her party. Massie wished that just this once, Kristen would stand up to her parents.

“Kidding,” Massie said. “I'm sure she won't even have the guts to talk to him.”

“Yeah, right.” Kristen sniffed. “Ever since she lost weight, she's been a total flirt.”

“Don't worry. I'll call you, 'kay?” Massie knew she should have been more comforting, but she had five minutes to get Bean in her Dirty Devil outfit, and her makeup wasn't even close to finished.

After fifteen more minutes of primping, Massie was finally ready. By seven o'clock she was in position by the side gate, ready to greet her guests. It was a warm night, especially for October, which made the backyard feel as magical as it looked.

“Everyone is going to be talking about this for the next fifty years,” Landon said as she zipped by carrying a venti cup of coffee and a box filled with skull candles.

Massie's heart was so full of pride, she thought she was going to burst.

A huge banner hung above the entrance that said, WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER. It was written in red paint that looked like dripping blood. Waiters in red unitards dressed as Satan's helpers handed out orange-and-black tote bags so guests would have somewhere cute to keep their candy. A huge skating rink with a layer of mangled heads frozen below the surface had been placed beside the swimming pool. Two ghouls were stationed in one of the cabanas that had been converted into a booth full of rental skates. And mannequins hung off the massive oak tree dangling above the pool, which had been dyed red.

Three raging bonfires crackled and roared, casting an orange glow across the entire lawn. These “Pits of Despair” were surrounded by red blankets so the guests could sit on the ground and roast marshmallows with the wooden pitchforks that were laid out beside them.

The DJ was already playing music, Jules the caricature artist was setting up his easel, and the dry ice machine was casting an eerie fog that hovered above the top of the grass. Everything was in place except for one last detail.

Massie scribbled OUT OF ORDER on a piece of paper and stuck it to the door of one of the bathrooms by the pool. After all, every hostess needed a private place to rendezvous with her friends.

The first guests had started to arrive. Just as Massie had hoped, everyone was speechless when they walked through the gates.

“Massie, I think I've died and gone to hell!” Sadie Meltzer said, trying to be funny. She and her other B-list friends were dressed as princesses. Sadie always looked for an excuse to let her butt-length hair out of its ponytail, something her mother only agreed to on special occasions. “This is the coolest party I've ever been to. You and Claire are amazing.”

“Actually, Claire didn't have anything to do with it,” Massie said. “Unless of course you count writing out the invitations.”

Sadie said something back, but Massie could barely hear it. The only thing on her radar was Cam Fisher. He was approaching with Derrington and an unidentified person in a gorilla costume.

Massie thought the best thing about Cam was his eyes. One was green and one was blue. Alicia described his look as “psychotic husky,” but Massie preferred “intense.” Even though she was tempted, she stood by her decision not to tell anyone about her feelings until she was absolutely one hundred and ten percent sure that he liked her back. She had learned a lot from the humiliating mistake she'd made with Chris Abeley.

For weeks Massie had stalked him at Galwaugh Farms so they could ride their horses together. She ditched her friends to spend time with him and even pretended she was BFFs with his sister, Layne. All the while Massie had no idea that Chris only liked her as a friend; he was dating a disgustingly beautiful ninth grader named Fawn.

“Don't you look vicious.” Cam grimaced as he greeted Massie. She searched her brain for something clever to say about his costume, but he was dressed as a soccer goalie, so there wasn't much to work off of.

“What are you supposed to be?” she asked Derrington, hoping the abrupt subject change didn't tip them off to how nervous she was.

“A dirtbag,” Derrington mumbled. His head was poking through the top of a green garbage bag that was smeared with mud. “So are these the famous costumes we heard about all over school today?” Derrington looked Massie up and down, but she wished Cam had noticed her instead. He was too busy pulling a twig out of the gorilla's facial fur.

Massie was getting ready to brag about how much trouble they got into at school when she was interrupted by a Powerpuff Girl.

“Hey, sorry I'm late. My parents made me pose for a thousand pictures before they'd let me leave the house.” She turned to Derrington. “Hi, I'm Claire.”

“You must be the new girl we've been hearing about,” he said. Cam turned away from the gorilla to steal a look at her.

“You've heard of me?” Claire asked. But Massie pulled Claire away before they had a chance to answer.

“Look,” she hissed. “There's no point in both of us standing in the same spot. Why don't you hang by the DJ booth in case people want to request a song or something? I'll stay here by the front and take care of the welcome thing.”

Massie was relieved beyond belief when Claire left with-out putting up a fight. Now that she was out of the way, Massie was free to focus on Cam. He was heading toward the treats table, and Massie tried to look casual by chatting and mingling while she followed closely behind. She was suddenly overcome by a strong craving for sugar.

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