The proud smile on Ma.s.sie"s face was the last thing Claire saw before a ma.s.s of curious fans completely surrounded the leader of OCD"s infamous Pretty Committee.
Suddenly Claire had a tiny idea of what being Ma.s.sie Block must feel like. Every day she had to make people want want to be her and every day she had to somehow show them that it was a lot harder than it looked. And that was the one thing about Ma.s.sie that Claire didn"t envy. to be her and every day she had to somehow show them that it was a lot harder than it looked. And that was the one thing about Ma.s.sie that Claire didn"t envy.
OCTAVIAN C COUNTRY D DAY S SCHOOL T TREE-LIGHTING P PARTY.
6:00 PM PM.
December 21st The dark winter sky was filled with thousands of shining stars and the hickory smell of the bonfires was putting everyone in the holiday spirit. Ma.s.sie didn"t even mind the sound of the OCD choir. In fact, she even walked toward them so she could hear them sing "Jingle Bells" under the tree.
She stood with Claire below the ma.s.sive pine and looked up. Blue and orange lights flashed for Briarwood, and navy and burgundy glowed for OCD. A copy of every student"s ID card hung off the branches, and gifts for the poor, wrapped in shiny paper and fancy ribbons, surrounded the base.
Usually Christmas trees made Ma.s.sie feel sad because they reminded her of that terrible feeling of being all dressed up with nowhere to go. But tonight the bright dangling ornaments filled her with excitement. She had a feeling the new year would be the best one yet.
"How are we ever going to find Cam in this crowd?" Claire asked Ma.s.sie.
"He told me he"d call when he gets here. How many times do I have to tell you that?" Ma.s.sie didn"t mean to sound impatient, but it was the third time Claire had asked her about Cam and it was starting to get ah-nnoying. "I hope you don"t act this desperate around him him. It"s a total turnoff."
"You"re the only one who ever sees me like this."
"I must be blessed," Ma.s.sie said. "It"s freezing out here." She loved her new fur-trimmed Anna Sui Eskimo minidress, but it was doing a lousy job of keeping her warm. How did Derrington do it? Ma.s.sie felt her heart flutter when she thought about him and couldn"t believe she was cursed with liking a boy who only wore shorts. "Where are those kiss-b.u.t.ts with the hot chocolate?"
"Who?" Claire asked.
"Every year a few loser students dress up as angels and pa.s.s out warm drinks," Ma.s.sie explained.
"One kiss-b.u.t.t at your service." Strawberry seemed to appear out of nowhere.
She wore a white snowsuit with huge angel wings sewed to the back. Her face and hair were covered in silver glitter and she held a tray filled with plastic foam cups. Each cup had tiny angel wings of its own.
Ma.s.sie busted out laughing and turned away.
"Uh, she"s sorry," Claire explained, fighting a smile. "She didn"t mean it."
"Whatever," Strawberry said. "Just take one before I whip this tray at her glossy new blowout."
"You noticed." Ma.s.sie smirked.
Claire helped herself to two steaming cups, automatically handing the marshmallow-free one to Ma.s.sie. "Thanks, Strawberry. Happy holidays."
Strawberry snorted, then turned and walked away.
Claire turned her back to Ma.s.sie and took a sip.
"How are the marshmallows?" Ma.s.sie asked.
"How did you see that?" Claire turned around and faced Ma.s.sie.
"Why didn"t I get any?" Ma.s.sie whined.
"SUGAR!"
"Please," Ma.s.sie said. "Do you know how much sugar is in those Dr. Juice drinks I was downing? Did you know that fruit is is sugar?" sugar?"
Claire shook her head.
"So I might as well have one of those." Ma.s.sie pointed to Claire"s cup. "It"s practically the same as eating an apple."
Claire pinched a marshmallow and handed it to Ma.s.sie.
"Thanks," she said with her mouth full. "I wonder where everyone else is?"
"Maybe you should check your phone to see if anyone called," Claire said.
"You"re brutal." Ma.s.sie tried to open her brand-new Samsung picture phone without spilling on it. "Weird, it says I have two messages." She secretly hoped one of them was from Derrington.
"Oh my G.o.d, check them, check them."
"Hold," Ma.s.sie said, giving her cup to Claire. "It"s Alicia. They"re over by the cookie table."
"And the other message?" Claire asked once Ma.s.sie closed her phone.
"Wrong number."
Claire"s face dropped and she looked like a sad puppy.
"Kidding, okay? Cam wants me to tell you he"s at the cookie table with Derrington and the girls."
Claire tossed their hot cocoa in the trash and took out her vanilla Softlips SPF 30.
"I don"t care what your dad says; I"m getting you a cell phone for Christmas," Ma.s.sie declared.
On their way to the cookie table Ma.s.sie and Claire checked in with their parents, said "happy holidays" to at least a dozen teachers, and even waved to a few of the losers. By the time they got to their real friends, Ma.s.sie"s face hurt from fake smiling so much.
"I thought you"d never get here," Cam said to Claire, handing her a CD.
"Thanks." Her face lit up when she accepted his gift. "Sorry I"m late. I was just talking to my boyfriend in Florida." Claire giggled. "He misses me so much around the holidays."
"I can"t imagine why." Cam tossed his half-eaten cupcake at her face.
Ma.s.sie laughed at the glob of brown icing on Claire"s nose.
Claire wiped the icing off and smeared it on Ma.s.sie"s cheek.
"Very funny," Ma.s.sie said with a smile, hoping Derrington would notice how good-natured and fun she was.
Alicia quickly handed Ma.s.sie a napkin. "So what do you think?" She slipped her gray coat off her shoulders.
"You look ah-mazing," Ma.s.sie said.
Alicia was wearing the turquoise Greek G.o.ddess dress with a pair of skinny black jeans and metallic gold boots.
"Thanks again for my early Christmas present," Alicia said. "Wait until you see what I got you."
"I"m psyched," Ma.s.sie said before focusing her attention on Dylan. "That DKNY dress is so slimming."
"Thanks." Dylan turned and smiled.
"Cam, that emerald sweater really brings out the green in your eye," she said.
"And Kristen, uh-" Ma.s.sie searched for something nice to say about Kristen"s outfit but couldn"t find a thing. Her parents were at the party, which meant Kristen had to wear her dowdy navy church skirt with a yellow knit cardigan. "You look so warm."
"It"s okay; I know my clothes suck," Kristen said. "Why do you think. I"m wearing this big coat?"
They all laughed.
"Where"s my compliment?" Derrington mumbled.
Ma.s.sie was so nervous around him, she"d accidentally left him out.
"Uh, I like your ..." Ma.s.sie could have said Blond hair, big smile, sense of humor, or knees, and she would have meant it all. She just didn"t know which one to choose.
"That"s okay," Derrington said. "I like you too."
Ma.s.sie felt that rush of warm tingles on the bottoms of her feet again. The exact same ones she felt at Sushi Samba. She looked over at Claire to see how she acted around Cam and instantly envied her for seeming so comfortable. They were laughing and scrolling through all of the pictures she had stored on her digital camera.
"Where"s Harris?" Ma.s.sie asked Alicia.
"At the Strokes concert," Alicia said.
"Why didn"t you go?" Ma.s.sie asked.
"Uh, long story." Alicia rolled her eyes. "I"ll tell you later. It"s a total PC."
"Yes!" Ma.s.sie said. They hadn"t had a private conversation private conversation in what seemed like forever. in what seemed like forever.
Suddenly the sound of teachers and parents shushing the crowd was everywhere.
Ma.s.sie was standing between Derrington and Alicia while Princ.i.p.al Burns and Headmaster Adams walked up to the microphone on the platform beside the Christmas tree.
"Awww, awww," someone bird-called from the crowd the instant Princ.i.p.al Burns"s birdlike face came into view. She ignored the jab as she always did and waited for the crowd to settle down before she spoke.
"On behalf of Headmaster Adams and myself, happy holidays to all of the students and parents who have been part of the OCD/Briarwood Academy family for another wonderful year," Princ.i.p.al Burns said.
The crowd started cheering. She quickly raised her hand.
"I"m not done." She smirked. "I have a very special announcement to make."
"Awww, awww."
Princ.i.p.al Burns exhaled sharply through her nose before she continued. It sounded like a gust of wind. "Many of you know OCD"s wonderful DJ, Deena Geyser."
"Hey, Comma Dee," someone shouted. "You"re not funny!"
"You suck!"
"Well." Princ.i.p.al Burns cleared her throat. "She"s going to start making very tiny contributions to The OCD Times The OCD Times and will no longer have time to DJ." and will no longer have time to DJ."
The crowd exploded with applause.
"So thank you, Deena, for you hard work, wherever you are." Princ.i.p.al Burns acted like she was scanning the crowd looking for Deena and quickly moved on. "And without further ado, I would like to introduce our new DJ, or should I say, our news news DJ. Every day she will deliver important school news and celebrity gossip. ..." DJ. Every day she will deliver important school news and celebrity gossip. ..."
Ma.s.sie looked around, wondering who this new girl could possibly be.
"And she"s going to start by giving you the facts on this year"s nondenominational holiday tree. Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Alicia Rivera."
Ma.s.sie"s jaw dropped. She had no idea. But when she saw the huge smile across Alicia"s beautiful face, she knew it must have been something she had wanted for a long time.
"Congrats," Ma.s.sie said, hugging her friend.
"Thanks," Alicia shouted above the applause.
She took her time walking to the front of the crowd, her silky ponytail swinging in perfect time with her hips.
"You"re hot!" someone shouted.
Alicia didn"t flinch. She looked more beautiful and poised with every step she took.
"Thank you," Alicia said when she took the microphone from Princ.i.p.al Burns. She pulled a pink index card out of her back pocket but didn"t refer to it once. "Thank you, Princ.i.p.al Burns and Headmaster Adams, for this honor. This year"s tree stands sixty feet tall. It came from deep within the Hudson Valley and it took seven men to chop it down. It is covered with four hundred lights and eighteen hundred photos and the star is made of homemade marzipan from Marion Foley"s kitchen. Thanks, Marion. Three hundred and twenty gifts have been left for poor kids and the hot chocolate is free, so drink up! Have a happy holiday season and an ah-mazing new year. This has been Alicia Rivera for OCD."
The crowd exploded and the choir started singing "Silent Night." By the time they got to the chorus, everyone had joined in.
Ma.s.sie"s heart swelled with pride. She had the coolest friends in the world. And she would do everything she could from now on to let them know how important they were to her.
"Hey, Ma.s.sie," she heard someone say. She lowered her head and saw Todd and his tiny friend Nathan. Normally Ma.s.sie would have sent them away with a flip of the hair and a snide remark, but this was a special occasion.
"What"s up, Todd?"
"Nuthin,"" he said, kicking the gra.s.s.
"Liar," Ma.s.sie shouted over the final chorus of "Silent Night." "What is it?"
"I just heard my parents talking," Todd said to his L. L. Bean boot.
"Shocker." Ma.s.sie rolled her eyes.
Tiny Nathan covered his mouth and giggled into his palm.