MASSIE’S BEDROOM
Friday, October 9th
1:27 A.M.
Suddenly, everything went quiet.
After lying in fetal position, listening to motivational audio books for three and a half hours, the battery on Massie’s iPod died . . . just like everything else that mattered.
She kicked the covers off her aching body and tried to sit up. But vertigo—from crying on an empty stomach—had left her weak and dizzy. Massie collapsed back on her salt-stained purple pillowcase, unable to escape the weight of hopeless desperation.
Adversity was not new to her. In the last year she had triumphed over a Clique-crasher, a cheating Fannish beta, unrequited crushes, a Spanish boy-snatcher, lip-kiss anxiety, a lost movie role, expulsion, an eighth-grade alpha, a boy invasion, class in a trailer, a job in the Hamptons, one week in Kissimmee, and a boyfast. But this was different.
Today, all of her friends had betrayed her at the same time. Claire had abandoned her for Cam. Kristen for Layne. Alicia for the Heart-Nets. And Derrington for some mystery beta. All she had left was Dylan, who refused to answer her phone. Oh, and Dempsey, who still hadn’t thanked her for the get-well package she’d left outside his door. She had become a human headband, something everyone obsessed over and then tossed.
A fresh stream of tears pooled in her eyes. It was painful to think of the countless hours she’d spent trying to keep the Pretty Committee on top. The homework missed. The plans hatched. The money spent. The clothes bought. She’d opened up her heart, her bedroom, and her closets to these girls. And despite the countless efforts to hold them back and keep them from moving on, they still . . . OMG.
Massie shot up like the waking dead. Something about all this seemed familiar.
“Bean!” She pulled the black pug onto her lap and stroked her tiny head. “Remember you went through that phase of not wanting to go for a walk?”
The puppy sighed.
“I thought it was the cold sidewalks so I bought you those mint green Gucci booties and the white poncho. I sang to you. I gave you Kobe beef treats. And I even got you a pedicure. But you still didn’t want to go. Nothing worked until I got you that long leash. Remember?”
Bean looked lovingly at Massie with wet black eyes.
“You just needed more space.”
Once again, Massie’s spirits plunged like Pam Anderson’s necklines. She started crying again.
“But why do they want space from me? I gave them everything.” She sobbed herself empty.
By 2:30 A.M., Massie’s breathing had steadied. She had run out of tissues and tears. Her face had the bloat of someone who’d eaten salty movie popcorn at 35,000 feet. Yet her insides had never felt emptier. Any more wallowing and she’d lose her beauty, the only thing she had left.
Massie opened her purple glitter notebook and reviewed the key notes she had taken before her battery died.
AUDIO BOOK #1
How to Make People Like You in 90 Seconds or Less
By: Nicholas Boothman.
Key point: The best way to make a person like you is to make yourself be like that person.
AUDIO BOOK #2
25 Ways to Win with People
By: John C. Maxwell & Les Parrott Ph.D.
Key point: Compliment people in front of others. Encourage their dreams.
AUDIO BOOK #3
How to Get What You Want
By: Zig Ziglar
Key point: Set goals.
The last one was easy. Her goal was to get her friends back without looking desperate. The rest would play out in a well-crafted text message. Because the only things Massie was willing to face in the next twelve hours while she pretended she was too sick to go to school were a cucumber eye mask, a bottle of Visine, and her mother.
After several drafts and several more hours, Massie’s heartfelt plea was complete.
Dear Alicia, Claire, Dylan, and Kristen,
I understand why you strayed. And I forgive you. I’ll
forget the past if you will. Let’s go back to the way things were.
If you agree, which I know you will, show up for our regularly
scheduled sleepover tomorrow night. We’re closing the pool for the
winter. Let’s crank the heat to 100 degrees and have one last dunk.
See ya then. It’s gonna be hawt! 
P.S. I won’t be at school tomorrow because I ate bad
sushi. But I’ll be fine for the pool party. Don’t be late.
Massie hit send and instantly felt a billion times better. She recalled that proverb, Forgiveness is next to Gawdliness . . . or was that cleanliness? Either way, she embodied both. And she did it without having to throw out a bunch of desperate-sounding compliments or hollow dream encouragements. No offense, motivational speakers, but when it came to “making friends and influencing people,” there was only one true expert.
And she was exhausted.