"Ew, why?"
"We"re poor."
Bean buried her face in her paws.
Ma.s.sie didn"t know what to say next and wished she had turned on the stereo before they started. Was Kristen making this up? She looked at Dylan to see her reaction.
"I shouldn"t have told you," Kristen said, rolling onto her stomach. She pulled her pillow over her face and kicked her legs.
"Yes, you should have," Ma.s.sie said as she processed the news. Everything suddenly started to make sense: the after-school job, the obsession with money, the lack of designer clothes. ... "Wait, I thought your dad was a famous art dealer."
"He was," was," Kristen said into the pillow. "Heostllfhismoney-aewyearsoverore." Kristen said into the pillow. "Heostllfhismoney-aewyearsoverore."
"What?" Dylan ripped the pillow away from Kristen"s face.
"I said ..." Kristen wiped her eyes. "He lost all of his money a few years ago. That"s why I"ve never invited you guys over before."
"I always wondered about that," Ma.s.sie said. "I just thought your parents were too uptight."
"Well, they are." Kristen looked at her fingers. "But that"s not why I never had you over."
"How can you afford OCD?" Ma.s.sie asked.
"Scholarship," Kristen said. "Why do you think I"m always studying?"
"I just thought you were a geek," Ma.s.sie said.
Kristen let out a small phlegmy chuckle. "You know the OCD benefit at your house every year?"
Ma.s.sie nodded, afraid of what she might hear next.
"Last year the money went to me," Kristen said.
"No way, that"s so cool," Ma.s.sie said.
"I can"t believe no one knows this but us," Dylan said.
"Actually, Claire knows," said Kristen.
"Kuh-laire?" Now Ma.s.sie was really really shocked. "She knows one of your secrets before I do?" Ma.s.sie felt dizzy. She stood up and walked to the fridge to get some Perrier. shocked. "She knows one of your secrets before I do?" Ma.s.sie felt dizzy. She stood up and walked to the fridge to get some Perrier.
Kristen stood up and followed her. "I thought thought I was telling you one night when we were IM"ing, but it was the time Claire got on your computer, so-" I was telling you one night when we were IM"ing, but it was the time Claire got on your computer, so-"
"And she never told anyone?" Ma.s.sie said, yanking open the fridge door.
"Nope," Kristen said. "Not a soul."
"What an idiot-you know how many gossip points she could have scored?" Dylan said, walking toward them.
Kristen put her hands on her hips and glared at Dylan.
"Kidding." Dylan pushed past Ma.s.sie and grabbed a virgin pina colada out of the fridge.
"Claire was really cool about it," Kristen added.
"Impressive," Ma.s.sie said with a distant smile. She turned back to Kristen and held out her arms for a hug. "Great secret, Kristen; you have our trust."
Kristen hugged Ma.s.sie back.
"My clothes are your clothes."
Dylan put down her frothy drink and joined them. "Yeah, and I"ll totally give you half of my allowance."
"I"m not third world." Kristen cackled, then wiped her eyes. "But thanks." She pulled out of the group hug. "Okay, who"s next?"
"I"ll pick the next name," Ma.s.sie said. She made a show of mixing the remaining two pieces of paper by shaking them around in her hand like a pair of dice. Finally she stopped and read one. "Dylan."
""Kay." Dylan sat down on one of the white leather stools at the juice bar. She tapped her nails on the marble countertop a few times before she spoke.
"Come on," Kristen urged.
"I"m thinking!" Dylan said. She took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly before she finally spoke. "Okay, so you know how I told you my mother is taking me and my sisters to St. Bart"s tomorrow?"
"Yeah," Kristen said.
Ma.s.sie was too excited to speak.
"Well, she"s really sending me to St. Barf"s." Dylan pulled the cherry out of her pina colada and bit off the stem.
"That fat camp in upstate New York?" Ma.s.sie asked.
"Yup," Dylan admitted. "I forget the real name; it"s something like St. Bartholomew"s. But whatever it"s called, it"s supposed to be good. Half of the guests on my mom"s show have been there."
"Why are you going?" Kristen said.
"My mom doesn"t think I have the self-control to stick to my diet."
"I didn"t know you were on a new diet," Ma.s.sie said.
Dylan rubbed the cherry stem between her thumb and index finger. "I guess that"s her point."
"Well, you look beautiful beautiful to us," Ma.s.sie said, drawing Dylan into another group hug. "Dieting is hard. You think I have an easy time staying away from sugar? I swear I don"t know how Claire stays so thin." to us," Ma.s.sie said, drawing Dylan into another group hug. "Dieting is hard. You think I have an easy time staying away from sugar? I swear I don"t know how Claire stays so thin."
"I bet her p.o.o.p is shaped like a gummy bear," Kristen said, then cackled at her own joke. Ma.s.sie and Dylan laughed too.
"We love you, no matter how fat you are," Ma.s.sie said before their next group hug.
"Thanks, you guys." Dylan wiped her runny nose on Ma.s.sie"s shoulder. "I guess the cool part is my mom told me if I lose ten pounds, she"ll get me a nose job."
Ma.s.sie looked at Dylan"s tiny b.u.t.ton nose. "You want a nose job?"
"Nah," Dylan said. "She"s just trying to be nice."
"Cool." Ma.s.sie clapped. "Now who wants some Rice Krispie Treats? I iced them myself."
"Wait, what about your your secret?" Kristen narrowed her eyes. secret?" Kristen narrowed her eyes.
"Oops, I totally forgot." Ma.s.sie knew she"d never get away with it but loved herself for trying. "Thanks for reminding me." She paused. "This goes to the grave, right?"
"YES!" Dylan and Kristen shouted.
Ma.s.sie picked her nails, trying to look nervous. "My secret is that Alicia was right. I had a crush on Cam Fisher." She raised her eyes and looked at their faces. They looked anxious to hear more.
"Yeah," Dylan said. "And?"
"And it started at my boy-girl Halloween party and kept going past the OCD fashion show. We e-mailed for a while and I thought he was sweet, but when I found out Claire liked him, I gave up."
"What? Why?" Dylan said.
"Uh, because I knew I could find someone else and Claire probably couldn"t."
"That is sooo sweet of you," Kristen said, and then paused. "Wait, why did you tell her that he was an EW and that she should break up with him? Is it because you realized you were hopelessly infatuated with him and you couldn"t bear to see him love another?"
Ma.s.sie forgot they had witnessed that and had to think fast.
"NO, I told her that because I realized he was a total Harris wannabe and I was trying to protect her. By that time I was totally over him anyway."
"Oh," Kristen said.
Ma.s.sie hoped to G.o.d that answer satisfied her. "Group hug?"
"You may have a broken heart, but it"s made of gold," Dylan exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around Ma.s.sie.
"You"re the best friend anyone could ever have," Kristen said as she joined them.
Suddenly Ma.s.sie heard someone walking in the dried leaves outside the barn.
"What was that?" Dylan hissed.
"Is someone listening?" said Kristen. "I"ll die if anyone heard I"m poor."
"I bet it"s Claire," Dylan said. "I mean, can we completely trust her?"
"Yes," Kristen and Ma.s.sie said at the same time.
"Well, you never know," Dylan said.
"It was probably just Bean," Ma.s.sie said, looking at the doggie door.
"Wearing boots?"
Ma.s.sie felt her insides freeze when she thought of their secrets falling into the wrong hands.
"I"m positive," Ma.s.sie said, trying to stay strong for the others. Unsure of what to do next, she walked over to her sleeping bag and sat down. She felt a little dizzy and slightly nauseous.
"Ehmagawd," Ma.s.sie gasped. Bean was sound asleep on her pillow. Bean was sound asleep on her pillow.
"What is it?" Kristen shouted.
"Nothing, stay there, it"s okay," she said, covering Bean with a cashmere blanket. "I thought I saw a mouse, but it was just my cell phone."
Ma.s.sie hung her head between her knees and prayed for the sick feeling in her stomach to pa.s.s.
THE B BLOCK E ESTATE D DRIVEWAY.
8:45 PM PM.
November 21st The tires on Claire"s green bike crunched over the gravel as she rolled it down the Blocks" driveway. She stopped every few steps, held her breath, and listened, just to make sure Ma.s.sie, Kristen, and Dylan didn"t hear her. She didn"t want them to know she was sneaking off to Cam"s with Alicia. They"d call her a FEW (Friend of Eternal Wannabes) and that would be the end of their friendship, which had only just begun.
When she made it safely to the street, Claire threw her leg over the middle bar and plopped down on the black padded seat. The jeans Alicia lent her were too tight and Claire could feel the b.u.t.ton digging into her stomach. She"d called Alicia to tell her they were too small, but Alicia insisted she wear them anyway.
"Guys love tight jeans," she told Claire. "Trust me."
But these days Claire had no idea who to trust. ...
Was Ma.s.sie really looking out for Claire by telling her to stay away from Cam? Or was Alicia right? Was Ma.s.sie just jealous? Claire shook the questions from her head and hoped the answers would come soon. She was about to face Cam and still had no idea what to tell him.
Claire flicked on her bike light and pedaled as fast as she could, trying to ignore the cold winter wind that bit her ears and stung her hands. She"d thought about bringing a hat but didn"t want her bangs to be pressed against her forehead when she saw Cam.
At the corner of Holly and Rutherford, Claire slammed on her brakes and waited for Alicia under the streetlight. They"d promised to meet a block away from the Fishers" house so they could show up together.
The wind whistled as it snaked around the naked tree branches above her, and the chimes on the front porch of 50 Holly started clanging like they did in horror movies, right before someone got stabbed. Claire bit her nails and searched the street for Alicia. ...
Suddenly Claire heard a "pssst." Or at least she thought she did. She didn"t want to turn around suddenly, afraid of what she might see.
"Claire," the voice whispered again. "Sorry I"m late."
Alicia appeared under the yellow light on a brand-new vintage-looking Schwinn. The red-and-silver bike looked thick and heavy, like something kids from the 1950s rode on paper routes. But because Alicia was on it, it looked cool.
"Why are you whispering?" Claire asked, not realizing she was whispering too.
"I have no idea." Alicia laughed.
Claire giggled nervously.
"Where"s your hat?" Alicia pulled the white cashmere cap off her head and stuffed it in her bag. It had looked beautiful against her dark complexion, but Claire knew exactly why it had to go.