7:17 PM
November 14th
After almost three long months of living in the guesthouse on the Blocks’ estate, Claire Lyons had finally started to feel at home. It was a smaller, more rustic version of the grand stone mansion Massie and her family lived in. And Kendra had used the cottage to store antiques and paintings that weren’t impressive enough to display in the main house. But Claire didn’t think there was anything second rate about it. In fact, now she liked her new home even more than her old one in Orlando. Suddenly they were reclining in cushy leather chairs—no more stiff wicker. They could sip root beer floats from heavy crystal fountain glasses instead of mismatched plastic ones. And family game night no longer felt like a tired tradition. It was an event.
“Todd, it’s your turn to pick,” Judi Lyons said to her son as she burst through the swinging kitchen door and joined her family in the living room.
Claire heard the soothing hum of the dishwasher in the background and knew that meant her mother was finally ready to play.
Todd put his root beer float down on the glass card table and wiped his sticky hands on his Hulk Hogan pajama bottoms.
“Gross,” Claire said.
“Oh, please, I just saw you wipe the sugar from your sours on the chair,” Todd said. “Why don’t you take them out of your back pocket and share them with the rest of us?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Claire said, feeling the bag of candy under her butt as she shifted in her seat.
“I know why you’re hoarding them,” Todd said.
Claire felt her face turn red. She prayed that for once in his life, her brother would be cool and keep his mouth shut.
“Because Cam Fisher gave them to you.” Todd made kissing sounds and started rolling around on the couch. “Oh, Cam, I love you sooo much. I will protect your sours with my life. …”
Claire lifted her leg, ready to kick Todd off the couch, but quickly changed her mind. Instead she crossed it over her knee and tugged her shoelace. She was defenseless, and had been for the last week, ever since Cam stopped Todd at Briarwood Academy’s bike rack and asked if he was Claire’s brother. When Todd said yes, Cam made him his trusted delivery boy, the guy responsible for bringing mix CDs and candies home for Claire. And the last thing Claire wanted to do was kick the messenger in case he walked off the job. All she could do was roll her eyes and pray for the moment to pass.
“So when are we going to meet this Cam?” Jay asked, removing his wire glasses and sticking them in the front pocket of his blue Brooks Brothers shirt.
“I dunno, whenever,” Claire said. “It’s not like we hang out every day after school or anything. We just e-mail each other and stuff. We’re just friends.”
Claire wished there was more to it than that, because Cam was the sweetest, most thoughtful boy she had ever met. But they never actually hung out alone and sometimes Claire wondered if maybe there was some other girl he liked better.
Claire slapped the scoop of ice cream in her float with the back of her spoon. “So what game are we playing?”
“Hey, Dad, what do you feel like playing?” Todd said as he walked over to the oak armoire where they kept the board games.
“Anything—I’m feeling lucky,” Jay said, rubbing his chubby hands together.
“Cranium?” Todd held the purple box over his head.
“No, you always pick that,” Claire said, brushing the blonde bangs out of her eyes. “Let’s play Trivial Pursuit.”
“Claire, I’m ten,” he said. “The only trivia I know is who got kicked off last night’s Survivor.”
Claire watched her parents crack up.
“Cranium it is,” Jay said, stuffing a handful of popcorn into his mouth. A clear brown kernel shell stuck to his cheek and Claire watched it bob up and down while he chewed. It finally fell off and landed on his sweatshirt.
In Orlando, Jay and Judi were thought of as attractive. They both had bright blue eyes, big warm smiles, and deep tans. But ever since they moved to Westchester, Claire had become aware of their imperfections. She noticed that her mother and father were relatively short and that they dressed too casually and were both about ten pounds overweight. When Claire found out Massie’s parents had personal trainers and nutritionists, she was ashamed hers still got excited every time Ben # Jerry’s came out with a new ice cream flavor. But in time she learned to appreciate their shameless snacking habits, because they were the only people in Westchester who didn’t give her dirty looks when she ate a bit of junk food.
“Who wants more ice cream?” Todd said, jumping to his feet.
They had been playing for two hours and Claire and Judi were one right answer away from winning.
“You always do that when you’re about to lose,” Claire said to her brother.
“Do not.”
“Do.”
“Fine,” Todd said. “Go.” He turned the hourglass over as quickly as he could, clearly hoping to catch them off guard.
But Claire refused to let him intimidate her. “Okay, Mom.” The whole game was riding on Judi’s ability to sketch a picture with her eyes closed. She picked up her tiny pencil and started drawing.
“Belly button,” Claire shouted.
Judi shook her head.
“Stomach woman!”
“No,” Judi said. She shut her eyes tighter and drew faster.
“Belly mover. Belly button shaker. Stomach dancer. BELLY DANCER!”
“Yes!” Judi screamed. She pulled Claire into a hug.
Claire smiled brightly. Beating Todd at Cranium was the only way to put him in his place these days. “Losers clean up,” she announced. She couldn’t wait to escape the mess of candy wrappers and empty froth-stained root beer glasses that Todd and her father were obligated to clean. All she wanted to do was take off her orange Old Navy cargo pants, slip into her flannel Power Puff Girls pj’s, and return Cam’s e-mail.
Suddenly Claire heard the front door open.
“Who’s here?” she asked her mother.
“No idea,” Judi said with a trace of fear in her eyes. “Jay? You expecting anyone?”
“What, dear?” he called from the kitchen.
Claire’s stomach clenched with nervousness and excitement when the mystery guest walked into the living room. “H-hey, what’s up? What are you doing here?” she asked.
Judi brought her hand to her heart and slowly shook her head. “Massie, you scared us.”
“Sorry.” Massie pulled her black cable-knit poncho over her head and draped it over the back of the corduroy couch. She was wearing a red velour sweat suit and sheepskin slippers. “Sometimes I forget I have to knock. I guess I’m still used to walking into this house whenever I feel like it.”
“That’s totally understandable,” Judi said with a nervous chuckle. “Did you need something?”
Before Massie could answer, Todd barged through the kitchen door wearing an apron and yellow rubber gloves. “Massie, want a root beer float? I can make you one.”
“No thanks, I ate already,” Massie said. “But thanks for offering.”
Claire knew Massie was just being nice to Todd because her mother was in the room. Normally Massie would have said something about too many fat grams or not wanting his booger-stained hands touching her food.
“I just got The Sims 2. Wanna start a family together?” Todd asked, his brown eyes flickering with hope.
Massie looked at Claire and tilted her head toward the staircase. “Normally I’d be all over that, but I have to talk to your sister.” She turned away from Todd and looked straight into Claire’s eyes. “Now,” she mouthed.
“’Kay.” Claire couldn’t help feeling like she was about to get in trouble for something and wondered if anyone could hear her heart pounding. “Let’s go to my room,” she said, avoiding her mother’s suspicious glare.
“Perf,” Massie said as she walked toward the staircase.
Claire followed Massie up the stairs. While they were walking, Claire reached into the back pocket of her orange pants and pulled a sour out of the plastic bag as quietly as she could. She popped it in her mouth while Massie’s back was to her.
“Why do you eat those?” Massie asked, without turning around. She sounded disgusted. “They’re all sugar.”
“I know.” Claire was ashamed and tried to swallow the red worm as quickly as she could. “I’m over them. That was my last one.”
When they entered Claire’s bedroom, Massie closed the door.
Claire was so uncomfortable she walked over to her window and looked outside, hoping the spacious lawn below might make her feel less trapped.
“What’s going on down there?” Claire pointed to the woodpile outside the old horse barn that hadn’t been there in the morning.
“My parents are turning the barn into a state-of-the-art home gym,” Massie said, sounding utterly unimpressed.
“Phew,” Claire said with a smile. “I thought another family was moving in.”
“No, you guys are more than enough,” Massie said. “By the way, when are you leaving? I thought this situation was quote ‘temporary,’ end quote.”
Claire looked at her pink-and-white-striped socks, suddenly aware of how ridiculous they looked with her orange pants.
“It is temporary,” Claire explained. “My parents look at houses every day.” She actually had no idea how much longer they’d be staying and had stopped asking her parents when she and Massie had started getting along, barely a month ago.
“Relax, Kuh-laire. I was joking. I actually don’t mind having you here anymore.”
“Oh,” Claire said, lifting her eyes to meet Massie’s. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Massie smiled.
Claire was desperate to ask Massie why she was there but thought it might be better to act as though the surprise visit was normal. Maybe that way it would happen more often.
“What’s this?”
Claire hoped Massie was talking about the e-mail on her computer screen from Cam. She had been dying to share the details of her secret crush with Massie but could never catch her alone. Maybe tonight …
But Massie was pointing to the digital pictures on her wall. Every shot was of Claire standing in front of her closet wearing a different outfit.
Claire felt her face getting hot. “Oh, that’s nothing.”
“It looks like you’re stalking yourself,” Massie said.
Claire couldn’t help laughing.
“What is it? Come on, I won’t tell anyone.”
“Yeah, right,” Claire said, enjoying the moment. Finally Massie Block wanted to know something about her.
“I promise.” Massie held out her pinky. Claire held out hers. They looked each other in the eye and then locked fingers.
“Fine,” Claire said, letting go. She paused and took a deep breath. “I hang those pictures up to keep track of my outfits. You know, so I don’t wear the same thing twice.”
Massie widened her amber eyes. Claire instantly regretted confessing.
“That’s brilliant,” Massie said.
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. Mind if I copy you?”
“Not at all,” Claire replied, sweeping her bangs to the side of her forehead. She couldn’t believe how well things were going and decided this was the perfect time to show Massie the note Cam sent her the night of the OCD Fashion Week Uniform Contest.
Claire reached for the mesh pocket inside her backpack and pinched the worn paper between her fingers.
“Kuh-laire, we have to talk,” Massie said.
Claire released the paper and watched it fall to the bottom of her bag.
“It’s go time.” Massie pushed on the bedroom door to make sure it was completely shut.
“Huh?”
Massie went into a detailed description of Alicia’s sleep-over party, the phone call she got while she was spray tanning, the candy cane tan that she blamed on that phone call, and the Teen Vogue modeling job.
“What are you going to do?” Claire felt just as cheated by Alicia as Massie did but wasn’t quite as bloodthirsty. Maybe because she knew how awful Massie made her life when she moved to Westchester and refused to wish that on anyone, even Alicia.
“Let’s destroy her,” Massie said, looking deep into Claire’s eyes.
Claire felt paralyzed, like the breath just got sucked out of her body.
Massie dived stomach first onto the middle of Claire’s unmade bed. The mattress squeaked under her weight. “Here’s the plan.”
Claire stayed on the very edge with her feet planted firmly on the ground while Massie explained.
“So are you in?” Massie asked when she had finished.
Claire thought about it.
“Well?” Massie pressed.
Claire nodded, deciding a little guilt was better than making Massie angry.
“Good.”
Massie lifted the olive green rotary phone off the dark wood night table and handed it to Claire. “This is so heavy, I don’t know how Grammy used to lift it.”
“I know, my arm gets stiff after one phone call,” Claire said, trying to lighten the mood.
“You have to get a cell phone.”
“Four more years,” Claire said, remembering her parents’ rule.
“Brutal,” Massie responded as she flipped open her cell phone, pulled up a number, and hit Send. She hit Speaker Phone before anyone answered.
“Can you hear it ringing?” Massie whispered.
Claire nodded.
Massie covered the mouthpiece. “We’ll probably have to leave a message because it’s late—”
“Lucinda Hill’s office,” a voice answered.
Claire gasped and Massie raised a finger to her lips.
“Sorry,” Claire mouthed. She dug into her back pocket and popped a yellow sour in her mouth.
“Uh, yeah, uh, is Lucinda Hill there, please?”
“Who’s speaking?”
Massie stood up and started pacing. “It’s Ma—It’s Alicia Rivera and Olivia Ryan.”
“Hold.”
“Hey, gorgeous, make my day and tell me you got permission to do the holiday shoot,” a different voice then said. Claire assumed it was Lucinda.
“Mmmm, not yet,” Massie replied.
Claire sat perfectly still on the edge of the bed, trying not to make a sound. She didn’t want to miss a single word.
“That’s not why I’m calling.” Massie faced the window, reminding Claire of a high-powered executive on an important business call.
“What, then?” Lucinda sounded annoyed.
“I have a confession to make and I can’t handle the guilt anymore.”
“Yup,” Lucida said, hurrying her along.
“Olivia and I cheated during the OCD Fashion Week Uniform Contest. We didn’t really win. Massie Block and Claire Lyons did. We switched the ballot boxes because we’re such losers and we’ve never won anything before and we were desperate.”
Claire’s mouth hung wide open. “Nice,” she mouthed enthusiastically, giving Massie a thumbs-up.
Massie returned the gesture and Claire felt a surge of warmth rush through her entire body. They were a team.
The two girls looked at each other, their eyes wide open, wondering what Lucinda would say next. Would she sue Alicia and Olivia for fraud? Would she call all the newspapers and expose their lies? Would she blacklist Alicia from every store in Manhattan?
“And …” Lucinda said.
“And what?” Massie said. “How are you going to punish us?”
“I’m not a priest,” she said. “I don’t care if you cheated.”
Claire raised her eyebrows in shock.
Massie opened her mouth to speak, but Lucinda cut her off.
“All I care about is that you stay gorgeous. Gain a pound between now and the shoot and I’ll take a Town Car straight to Winnchester and kick your butt.”
“Uh, okay,” Massie said.
“Now what?” Claire mouthed.
Massie shrugged and Claire could hear Lucinda’s fingers clacking away on a keyboard in the background.
When the typing stopped, Lucinda said, “Alicia, you still there?”
“Uh, yeah, bad connection, sorry,” Massie said.
“When can you get me those pictures of your friends?”
“Huh?”
Lucinda sighed. “I need pictures of your pretty-in-a-real-sort-of-way friends because we’re still looking for four more models.”
Massie mouthed, “Yes!” and Claire got so excited, she jumped up on her bed. But the phone cord was so short, she had to sit back down to continue listening.
“Oh, right,” Massie said. “Sorry, I forgot. I’m a total airhead.”
Claire covered her mouth to conceal her laughter.
“What’s your e-mail address? I’ll have my friend Massie send those to you right now. She’s gorgeous; you’ll love her.”
As soon as Massie hung up the phone, she hopped on Claire’s bed and started jumping. “We are totally going to crash Alicia’s modeling party.”
Claire put the green phone on the floor and started jumping too. They bounced and giggled and held on to each other to keep from falling.
“I have to stop,” Massie panted. She fell onto the bed, rolled off, and stood up. Her hair was a tangled mess and her cheeks were flushed. “Can I take one of these?” Massie asked. She was pointing to the row of pictures on the wall.
Claire’s knees buckled. She stopped jumping and folded her arms across her chest. “You promised you wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“I won’t. I just want to scan a picture of you so I can send it to Lucinda,” Massie said.
“Oh,” Claire said. “Cool.” She jumped off the bed and landed on the floor with a thud. “Let me get you a better one.”
Claire pulled a shoe box out of her closet, tore off the lid, and quickly flipped through a stack of pictures. She couldn’t believe Massie thought she was pretty enough to model. Her hands shook with excitement.
“Here, send this one.” Claire held out a shot of herself sitting on the hood of a red convertible. She was hugging her knees to her chest and smiling brightly. Her legs were golden brown and her blond overgrown bangs were falling in her eyes. It was her favorite picture.
“Thanks,” Massie said. “I have some good ones of me, Kristen, and Dylan back in my room. I’ll go send them now.”
“Good luck,” Claire said.
“Bye!” Massie called, slamming the door behind her.
The minute Claire was alone, she went straight for her computer and read Cam’s latest e-mail one more time …
C,
U COMING TO MY SOCCER GAME 2MORROW? IF U DO, LOOK UNDER SEAT #27. THERE WILL B A SWEET SURPRISE WAITING THERE 4 U. OH, THANKS FOR SENDING THAT PICTURE OF YOUR TOE. … AND NO, I DON’T THINK IT LOOKS LIKE A FAT MAN’S THUMB.
–C
Claire wasted no time writing back.
C,
I’LL BE IN SEAT #27. BTW–THNX FOR THE SOURS. I 8 THEM
ALL. 
–C
Claire was bursting to tell Cam she and Massie were going to be models but held off. She wasn’t quite ready to stop accepting his sugary candy.