Tuesday, February 10th 5:37 P.M.
Massie led Claire and Alicia around to the side entrance near the kitchen. Across the yard, the workmen were loading up their trucks with lumber and tools, ready to pack it in for the day. Claire couldn’t make out any specific details in the dark, but it looked like the house had walls and half a roof.
“They sure are building that guesthouse quickly.” Alicia sounded impressed.
“It doesn’t feel very quick when you’re sleeping in a bathtub,” Claire mumbled.
“Huh?”
Massie elbowed Claire in the ribs. “Nothing,” they said at the same time.
“Whatever.” Alicia shrugged. Then she lowered her voice to a whisper. “Are you sure Todd will be home?” she asked Claire while Massie unlocked the door.
“If I know Todd, he’s circling Inez while she’s cooking dinner, hoping she’ll accidentally drop some scraps on the floor.” Massie reached in her bag for her keys.
Alicia and Massie started giggling.
“I’ll admit, sometimes Todd may act like a dog but—,” Claire started saying, but Massie cut her off.
“Look, Kuh-laire, if what you told us in the car about his spying is true, he’s more like a weasel!” The door clicked open.
They walked into the warm kitchen and Claire knew right away that they were having Inez’s crispy roast chicken. The rich, succulent smell of the browning skin was unmistakable. Claire peeked inside the pots on the stove and saw bacon mashed potatoes and noodle soup. At least dinner would be a success.
“Kendra.” Judi followed Mrs. Block into the kitchen. “With all due respect, you can’t just expect a child to want to show up to school on time. You have to teach them good habits by setting a good example and getting involved.” They must have been in the living room having tea, because they dropped their empty cups in the sink.
“Well, Judi, with all due respect . . .” Kendra rested one hand on the kitchen counter and the other on her tiny waist. “This whole thing is new to me. You see, Massie never had a detention until today. In fact, she never got into any trouble at all until she started hanging out with—”
“Hi, Mom.”
Kendra and Judi whipped their heads around and gasped when they saw the girls standing there.
“Uh, hi, sweetie, how was school?” Kendra asked.
“Fine,” Massie said. “Where’s Todd?”
“Upstairs, practicing his tuba.” Judi gave Claire a We-need-to-talk-about-those-detentions look. Claire rolled her eyes.
Inez hurried into the kitchen, frantically waving her arms like she was trying to clear a cloud of smoke. “What are you doing in my kitchen before dinner?” She clapped her hands three times. “Get out! Out!”
Everyone left without saying a word.
Massie led Claire and Alicia upstairs to Todd’s room. She reached the top and turned around. “Why are our mothers fighting about discipline?” She said “discipline” like she would say “dog poo.”
“I dunno. But it’s weird. It sounded like your mother was about to blame me for the detentions.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Alicia huffed as she climbed the last stair. “She used to blame me every time Massie got a wrong answer on a test.”
“Better you than me.” Massie winked, then turned toward Todd’s room.
Once they were outside his door, Claire squeezed her way past Massie and gently placed her hand on the brass knob. She could hear the farting sound of Todd’s tuba through the walls. “Allow me,” she whispered. And to her surprise, Massie and Alicia willingly agreed.
Claire counted to three inside her head and then pushed open the door. “Hi-ya!” she shouted and kicked her leg like a kung fu expert when she entered his room.
Massie and Alicia screamed, “Hi-ya!” too, then sliced the air with the sides of their palms. Even though she was supposed to act mean and angry, Claire couldn’t help smiling at their improvised entrance.
Todd lifted half of his mouth off the tuba. “Hello, angels. Does this make me Charlie?”
“Where’s your spy gear?” Claire asked.
“What spy gear?” Todd widened his eyes, trying to look innocent.
“Massie, you search under the bed. Alicia, you check the drawers. I’ll take the closet.”
“What are you doing?” Todd jumped to his feet. “Help, police!” He started blowing his tuba like a car alarm. Puurp . . . puurp . . . puurp . . . “Police! I’m being robbed!” Puurp . . . puurp . . . puurp . . .
“We should be the ones calling the police.” Claire pulled Todd’s clothes out of his closet and threw them on the floor. “It’s illegal to spy on people.”
“Not in New York State,” Todd said. “Hidden cameras are legal here as long as one party knows about it. And I’m that party.” He handed Claire the legal document that had come with his camera equipment. “See?”
Claire pretended to read it, but she was angry and couldn’t focus. She threw the document on the floor. “Well I don’t think mom and dad will care if it’s legal or not, especially since you’ve already been grounded for eavesdropping.” She tapped her stubby fingernails against his closet door. They had been chewed so much, it actually hurt. “I wouldn’t be surprised if mom grounded you from playing in the finals game.”
Massie and Alicia folded their arms across their chests like threatening bodyguards.
“Okay, fine. It’s in the box marked Dirty Old Underwear.”
Claire searched the floor of his closet.
“Up top.” Todd pointed to the shelf above his hanging clothes.
Claire jumped up and knocked the Adidas shoe box to the floor. It fell to the floor and spilled open.
“Ew!” Claire shrieked. “There’s nothing in here but dirty old underwear. What’s wrong with you?”
“Oops, wrong box.” Todd grinned. “I keep those for good luck.”
“Well, you’re gonna need ’em if you don’t tell us where the spy gear is,” Massie said.
“Try the box that says Operation Underpants,” he offered.
“What is with your family and operations?” Alicia asked.
Claire shrugged as she knocked the L. L. Bean shoe box off the shelf.
“Easy.” Todd threw his tuba on the bed and rushed over to the closet. “This stuff is fragile.”
Claire gave a dramatic sigh before lifting the lid. “Ready?” She loved that she was in control of the situation, and was trying to milk it as much as she could.
“Yeah,” Massie insisted. “Open it already.”
“Hurry,” Alicia said.
“Here goes.” Claire lifted the lid. A swatch of red velvet material lined the inside of the box.
“Hey, that’s my Christmas scarf!” Massie shrieked. “Where did you get that?”
“It was a gift from Nina. Because she thought I was cute.”
“Well, it’s mine.” Massie tugged on the red velvet, knocking around the little camera that had been resting on top of it.
Alicia reached into the shoe box and pulled out something that looked like a black button. “What is this?” she asked.
“It’s a button cam,” Todd explained.
“Cam,” Claire sighed, then turned to Massie.
“Oh no,” Massie said. “Don’t start thinking about him now.”
“Todd said it, I didn’t. It’s just that I have no idea what we could have possibly done wrong—”
“Not now.” Massie turned to face Todd. “So how does this work?”
Todd folded his arms, then turned his back on the girls.
“Todd, you better talk or else no soccer game.” Claire was amazed at how much she was able to sound like her mother when she wanted to. “And without that, you have absolutely no chance of ever getting a girl to like you.”
“Fine.”
Todd explained how to work the hidden camera and showed the girls how to watch the feed on a TV. Once they understood how to hook everything up, Alicia took the camera and dropped it in her signature brown-and-black Fendi change purse.
“Alicia, are you sure you’ll be able to plant it on Nina without her knowing?” Massie asked.
“Given,” Alicia said with a big, toothy smile.
“Okay, then tomorrow after school we’ll meet in the DJ booth to watch the footage,” Massie said, reviewing the plan. “Todd, if you ever tell anyone about this, I’ll tell every girl at OCD that you talk to your fingers.”
Todd whimpered and shook his head.
“Then not a word to anyone.” Massie narrowed her eyes. “Not even Mr. Thumb.”
Alicia and Claire giggled. Todd threw a sneaker at them on their way out, but Massie shut the door before they got hit. “I’m so not done with you yet, Lyons,” Massie shouted through the door. “So not!”
“Now remember,” Massie whispered before Alicia left the estate, “not a word of this to Kristen and Dylan. For some sick reason, they seem to like Nina, and they may end up telling her.” She held out her pinky.
Alicia wrapped her finger around Massie’s and swore. Then Claire did the same.
The next afternoon, Claire could hardly sit still through her classes. She couldn’t wait to see what Nina was really like. If her plan worked, Massie and Alicia would be forever grateful. And if it didn’t, they’d never listen to her ideas again. The second the bell rang; Claire bolted out of English and ran down the hall.
When she got to the booth, Alicia and Massie were already there, staring at the tiny TV monitor they’d gotten from Todd.
“This is so strange,” Massie noted. “The camera’s not moving.”
Claire pushed her way closer to the monitor. They were looking at a lopsided shot of a gray cement floor and the legs of a bench. A white sweat sock was lying in the background. “Maybe she fainted.”
“I wish,” Alicia murmured.
“Did one of you tell Kristen or Dylan?” Massie looked directly at Claire with her amber eyes. It felt like they were shooting heat rays straight to the back of her skull.
“I didn’t,” Alicia promised.
“Me either,” Claire added. “Maybe it fell off.”
“How could it? I stuck it to the outside of her bag.”
“Duh.” Massie rolled her eyes. “She’s a notorious bag-swinger. I noticed that the first day I met her. I assumed you would have picked up on it too.”
Alicia shrugged. She looked down and aimlessly began drawing tight spirals on a wooden desk with her silver Tiffany pen.
“This sucks,” Massie stated matter-of-factly.
“I knew we should have gone shopping.” Alicia slammed her pen down. “At least we would have had outfits for the dance.”
Claire was desperate to lighten the mood. “Hey, wouldn’t it be weird if we saw our own backs on the camera and then we turned around and Nina was standing right behind us?”
Suddenly the girls heard someone sniffle behind them. All three of them screamed and jumped to their feet. They started waving their arms and hopping up and down in hysterics.
“What is your problem?” Kristen was standing in the doorway with tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Ehmagod Kristen.” Massie put her hand on her heart. “You scared us.”
“Who did you think it was?” Kristen asked. “Chucky?”
The girls started laughing. Kristen waited patiently for them to stop.
“How did you find us?” Massie asked.
“I saw Claire run here after class and I—,” Kristen said. “Wait—do you not want me here?”
“No, it’s not that,” Alicia explained. “We just thought you had soccer practice.”
“That’s Tuesdays and Thursdays,” Kristen corrected. “Where’s Dylan?”
“She went home early because she’s sick,” Massie reminded her. “You know that.”
“Oh yeah.” Kristen looked at the ground. She twirled her index finger around her blond hair while a stream of tears fell down her cheeks.
“What’s wrong?” Claire finally asked.
She burst into hysterical sobs. “My mom is insisting on chaperoning the dance because I’ve been getting so many detentions lately.”
“What?” Massie screeched.
“No offense, but that woman needs to join a gym or something,” Alicia offered. “She’s obsessed with everything you do.”
“That woman is her mother,” Claire said. “Don’t you guys ever get in trouble?”
Alicia and Massie looked at each other and shook their heads.
“How am I ever going to kiss Kemp Hurley if my mom is watching me all night?” Kristen whined. “I’ll never win that bet, unless . . .” Her voice trailed off.
“Unless what?” Massie asked.
“Unless Dylan’s flu gets worse.” Kristen closed her eyes, crossed her fingers, and bit her bottom lip. She looked like an American Idol contestant waiting to hear if she’d won.
Claire was reminded of the dance and sighed. “Can we go to the mall?” she asked.
Massie whipped her head around. “Kuh-laire, did you just say what I think you said?”
“Seriously,” Alicia said. “That’s my line.”
“I know, but maybe if I have a cute outfit, Cam will change his mind.”
“I like the way you’re thinking,” Alicia purred.
“I think you should buy a cute outfit, but not for Cam,” Massie suggested. “You need to move on. We all do. Maybe you should kiss someone else at the dance.”
“I could never—”
“She’s not going to be part of the bet now, is she?” Kristen asked. “I mean, no offense, Claire, but I really want those boots.”
“I told you, I don’t want to kiss someone as part of a bet,” Claire reminded her.
“I think you should do it to teach Cam a lesson.” Massie’s lips curled up in a devilish way.
“Are you going to do that to Derrington?” Claire asked.
“Thinking about it.” Massie took out her Cinnabon lip gloss and patted it on her lips with the wand. Then she puckered up and blew an air kiss. “Maybe you should ask the hearts who you’re going to kiss.”
“Good idea.” Claire reached into her coat pocket and pried the plastic bag open with her fingers. Her supply was running short, and it took a few seconds for her to find a heart that hadn’t been crushed. There was one left. “Okay.” She sighed. “Heart, when I open my eyes after my first kiss, will it be Cam Fisher I’m looking at?
Claire pulled the blue heart out of her pocket and flipped it over. She felt herself smile before she read it aloud.
“What does it say?” Massie asked.
“Read it,” Alicia urged.
“Come on,” Kristen said.
Claire took a deep breath. “Whatever Your Heart Desires.”
The girls jumped up and down and clapped for Claire’s good fortune, while she sucked on the heart, trying as hard as she could not to let it break.