THE BLOCK ESTATE

MASSIE’S BEDROOM

Friday, October 2nd
8:09 P.M.

For the first time ever, Massie’s white- and purple-accented bedroom smelled like Cinnabon. And nawt the scented candle version from Target. The real, honest-to-goodness, butter-and-sugar, bought-it-at-the-mall, diabetics-beware, jeans-don’t-fit, I’ll-start-my-diet-on-Monday deal. Yet none of her sleepover guests noticed. Not even Dylan. They all seemed distant, preoccupied. It was like hearts were the new stomachs.

A buzzing cell phone forced their thoughts back to the room.

“It’s mine.” Massie tapped her iPhone, basking in the delicious warmth of all eyes on her. “Ehma-yay!” she shrieked. “Dempsey just invited us to Rye Playland Sunday. His parents rented it out for some orphans thing and they have extra tickets.”

“Are any other boys going?” Alicia smoothed her ivory, down-filled sleeping bag.

“He invited the Socc-Hers and the Socc-Hims.” Massie giggled at her little joke.

“Yayyyy!” Claire and Alicia jumped up on the bed and hug-jumped for joy.

“Josh!” Alicia shouted.

“And Cam!” Claire joined in.

“Josh!”

“And Cam!”

“Josh!”

“And Cam!”

“Down!” Massie snapped her fingers, a gesture usually reserved for Bean. “Kris, want me to ask if you can bring Dune even though he’s not on the team?”

“Yeah, sure.” Kristen rolled onto her tummy, propping her chin on her fists. “Sure.”

“Don’t sound too excited,” Massie mumbled, her thumbs speed-scuttling across her touch screen.

“Whaddaya mean? I sounded excited, didn’t I? Because I am. I toe-dally am—”

“So, what’s it like having Dune back?” Dylan asked.

Massie rolled her eyes. She had been waiting for the right moment to discuss Dempsey and whether his text meant he liked her, but now Dylan had hijacked the conversation and driven it back to Boringtown.

“Ah-mazing.” Kristen nodded excitedly, her head making up for the lack of enthusiasm in her voice.

“Have you guys lip-kissed yet?”

“We haven’t been able to cuz I’m grounded.”

“You know what?” Alicia sat down on Kristen’s butt. “Josh and I wore the same Ralph shirt this week by total accident.”

“Apple C.” Claire giggled.

“Point!” Alicia lifted her finger just as Kristen bucked Alicia off her butt. Alicia landed on Dylan’s leopard-print sleeping bag with a thud.

Dylan quickly turned away.

“Speaking of C”—Alicia sat up and finger-combed her glossy hair—“D, are you still a C-minus, or have you found someone?”

Dylan’s eyes narrowed slightly as she folded her arms across her chest.

“C-minus,” she blurted, her eyes narrowing even more. “So, um, Kuh-laire, how many times did you and Cam lip-kiss this week?”

Claire blushed. “I don’t lip-kiss and tell.” She playfully slugged Dylan with her pillow. Then she held up two fingers and giggled.

“Ehmagawd!” the girls squealed.

Massie rolled her eyes.

“Dempsey and I will probably lip-kiss after Rye Playland,” she interjected, sounding more certain than hopeful. “The only reason we haven’t done it already is ’cause he’s been so busy with soccer and I’ve been so busy with—” She suddenly stopped herself. Claire and Cam were in the same situation and they still managed to see each other. “Who’s ready for my new game?”

“Meeee!” Everyone raised their hands.

“Sit in a circle,” Massie instructed.

The girls shimmied onto their sleeping bags and crossed their legs, their satin pj-covered knees touching, in a “we’re best friends” sort of way.

“Make room,” Massie grunted as she lowered a silver platter of Cinnabons and a crystal bowl of low-fat, low-sodium popcorn into the middle. She pulled Bean onto her lap and joined them.

“This game is called Given/Nawt Given,”the alpha announced. “I invented it last night.”

“Point?” Alicia asked, sounding bored, like someone who had never invented a game but wished she had.

It’s really just a veiled tactic; a way for me to gossip about my crush issues without coming off like an insecure LBR, Massie thought, but she’d sooner have gone bald than admit it.

“The point is, we take turns asking each other questions. If your answer is given, you get to eat the low-fat popcorn and stay thin. But if it’s nawt given you have to eat Cinnabon and get opposite of thin.”

“Shouldn’t it be the other way around?” Claire asked. “You know, like the reward is the Cinnabon and the punishment is popcorn?”

“Ah-greed.” Dylan giggle-high-fived Claire.

“Nawt unless you wanna be the Fat in the Hat on Hal-loween.” Massie rolled her eyes. “Now let’s start.”

“Pause.” Alicia held up her palm. “If our answer is yes, we say ‘given’ and eat Cinnabon?”

“No, low-fat popcorn,” Massie insisted. “Watch. I’ll start.” She twirled her purple hair streak. “I have a crush.”

The girls stared at her blankly.

“Well?” The alpha widened her eyes.

They kept staring.

“Do you have a crush or nawt?” she insisted, exasperated. Did she have to spell everything out for them?

They nodded yes.

“Then say ‘given’ and eat popcorn!”

“Ohhhhh.” They giggle-reached for the crystal bowl.

“Hey, Dylan,” Alicia purred. “Is there something you’d like to share with everyone?”

“Huh?” Dylan mumbled, her mouth full of popcorn.

“You’re a C-plus?” Massie could hear the disappointment in her own voice. How dare Dylan have a crush and not tell the alpha first?

“Ooops!” Dylan regurgitated the chewed corn into a white cloth napkin. Then, rocking onto her knees, she reached for the silver platter. “I got confused.” She bit into the round pastry and speed-chewed.

“I bet you did.” Alicia lifted her dark arched eyebrows.

“Next.” Massie looked to her left.

“’Kay.” Claire giggled, already digging into the bowl. “My crush likes me back.”

“Given.” Alicia joyfully placed a single piece of popcorn on her tongue.

“Given.”Kristen did the same.

“Nawt given.”Dylan stuffed the rest of the Cinnabon in her mouth.

Massie’s hand hovered tentatively above the snacks. Did she look as lame as she felt?

Smugly, Alicia ate another piece of popcorn just to prove she had no doubt.

Dylan swallowed loudly. “I say it’s a given.”

“How do you know?” Alicia asked, braiding her own hair.

“Because who wouldn’t like her?” Dylan leaned across the circle and tapped Massie’s foot encouragingly, as if she were some spastic boy in Little League. “Soon Massie and Dempsey will be a total couple, and she’ll throw water on Derrington, and—”

“I have another one,” Massie said, getting to the heart of the matter. “Some guys think Layne’s cute. Given or nawt given?”

Claire tentatively took a burnt kernel of popcorn and placed it on her tongue. Of course, if Massie had been playing truthfully she would have too. But come awn, she’d invented this game to get answers, nawt give them.

“Nawt given,” the other girls replied, reaching for the Cinnabons.

“I’ve lip-kissed my crush,” Alicia blurted. “Given. When I got back from Spain.”

“Given,” Claire blurted proudly.

“Nawt given,” Kristen admitted.

“Nawt given.”Massie sighed.

“Nawt given,”Dylan hissed.

“I am nawt lying,” Alicia tried again.

“Huh?” Massie blurted, wondering what she was missing but sensing it was something.

Dylan’s fists clenched. “I do nawt want to be captain of the Socc-Hers.”

“One at a time!” Massie insisted.

Alicia gasped. “I have a crush on my BFFWC’s ex!”

“Pause!” Massie snapped, suspecting some other force was at play. She eyed her friends slowly, waiting for one of them to sweat, or cry, or—

“Wait a minute!” Massie’s heart fluttered like it did when she was right. “I cannawt believe I didn’t pick up on this!” She duck-duck-goose-stepped around the friendship circle, lightly tapping each girl on the head. “I. Have. A. Crush. On.” She stopped behind Dylan.

“What?” the redhead screeched.

Massie paused for another second, just to make her sweat. And then: “Chris Abeley!”

Dylan exhaled and proudly bit into a Cinnabon with the rest of the girls.

Hmmm. Really? Massie wondered, slowly padding around the outside of the circle. Then why the jumpiness? She steeled herself, perking up her senses like a hunted animal in the wild. Something dangerous was creeping up on her. But what? All she could do was hide and wait.

“I heard Derrington has a new crush,” Alicia announced, and then ate popcorn.

Massie’s stomach lurched.

“Aaaaaaand the girl likes him back,” Alicia said. She took another handful.

The sickly sweet taste of Cinnabon began creeping up the back of Massie’s throat. “Source?” she asked evenly.

“Josh. He saw them kissing.”

“Who is it?” Massie stopped pacing, but turned away from her friends to avoid their eyes. The only thing worse than humiliation was pity.

“He won’t tell me,” Alicia replied. “But I know I can get it out of him if I really want to.”

“If I don’t find out first,” Massie hissed through clenched teeth.

“What are you going to do?” Dylan twisted a clump of hair tightly around her finger.

“I’ll start by putting Krazy Glue in her lip gloss.”

The girls giggled. Alicia cracked up. Dylan gulped.

“Everyone knows I marked him. Who would do that?” Massie reached for a Cinnabon and took an angry bite.

“Wait.” Claire lifted her hand like she was in class. “Was that a question?”

“No,” Massie snapped. “This game is over.”

CURRENT STATE OF THE UNION

’Nuff said.