She giggled again, and then quickly warmed to the attention. "Totally." "Totally." She beamed, feeling the weight of her friends pressing against her back. She beamed, feeling the weight of her friends pressing against her back.
"Heyyyy!" They waved into the camera.
"What"s this this?" screeched a familiar voice. Without turning, Claire knew it was Kelsey. "Get in the house! Now!" She grabbed each of the girls by the backs of their costumes, pulled them inside, and slammed the door in the reporter"s face. "You"re in huge trouble," Kelsey barked. "Huge!"
The words coiled around Claire"s body and squeezed out all her joy.
"I had no idea they were there," she tried to explain, her hands still a shaking mix of excitement and fear.
"I had no idea you you were there." Kelsey chewed her bottom lip until it was redder than her cheeks. "Would someone care to explain?" were there." Kelsey chewed her bottom lip until it was redder than her cheeks. "Would someone care to explain?"
"Run!" Sarah made a break for the door, a flurry of yellow and black glitter falling from her costume and forming a mini glitter puddle on the carpet. Sarah made a break for the door, a flurry of yellow and black glitter falling from her costume and forming a mini glitter puddle on the carpet.
Kelsey blocked her with a stiff arm to the chest. "What"s with the b.u.mblebee?"
"I told you I looked like a bee bee!" Sarah pouted.
"Well, it is is a bee costume," Mandy explained. a bee costume," Mandy explained.
"Easy for you to say!" Sarah"s blond curls bounced indignantly. "You got the Princess Fiona gown."
"At least you"re not in a blue romper," Sari chimed in, tugging at her Dorothy dress. "Claire, why couldn"t you have been a model instead of an actress? The clothes would be way cool-"
"Silence!" Kelsey brandished a tan cordless phone like a sword. "I want Mr. and Mrs. Lyons to hear me clearly clearly when I tell them you were sneaking out to be on some reality show." She began dialing. when I tell them you were sneaking out to be on some reality show." She began dialing.
"Reality show?" Mandy giggled. show?" Mandy giggled.
"Wait!" Claire reached for the phone.
Kelsey pulled it back.
The limo horn honked.
"Who is that that?" Kelsey pushed past the girls and stepped outside. A chill filled the front foyer.
"Kelsey, wait!" Claire tugged the bottom of the babysitter"s lavender crewneck. "You don"t understand!"
"No, you you don"t understand." She smacked Claire"s hand away. "I had to combine all my holiday gift cards to buy this J. Crew sweater. It"s a wool and cashmere blend. Stretch it and don"t understand." She smacked Claire"s hand away. "I had to combine all my holiday gift cards to buy this J. Crew sweater. It"s a wool and cashmere blend. Stretch it and cry cry."
"But just listen," Claire pleaded.
"Yeah, Kelsey, just listen." Sari stomped her ruby redslippered foot.
The others nodded with urgency.
Kelsey ignored them and stepped farther out onto the front porch. "Go home!" she shouted, waving the driver off. "No thank you!"
"Kelsey, wait wait!" Claire begged.
"We"re not interested!" she continued. "Not interested!"
The driver started the engine.
"No, wait wait!" Claire called. But it was too late. The limo rolled down the street like a rejected boy at a dance.
"How could you do this to me?" Claire cried. Her night was ruined. Her New Year"s Eve was ruined. Her life was ruined. "This doesn"t just happen every day, you know know?" she sobbed, not caring if her friends were watching. Not caring if the neighbors could hear. Not caring that the babysitter had no clue what she was talking about.
Kelsey slammed the door.
"What doesn"t happen every day? You sneaking out of your house? You being totally irresponsible? You-"
"Kelsey?" chirped a familiar voice from the living room.
"Todd!" Claire stomped her navy Keds sneaker. "Stay out of this!" Claire stomped her navy Keds sneaker. "Stay out of this!"
"But I have a question." The little redhead emerged from behind the La-Z-Boy. "What does irresponsible irresponsible mean?" He curl-buried his fists inside the sleeves of his Batman pj"s. mean?" He curl-buried his fists inside the sleeves of his Batman pj"s.
"Toh-odd!" Claire sniffled. "Just go to bed, okay?"
Kelsey held up her pinkish palm. "It"s okay, Claire. He can learn from this. I"ll allow it."
Todd beamed smugly.
The babysitter crouched down and met Todd"s brown eyes. "Irresponsible means, hmmmm, let me see, how can I explain it?..." She scanned the stucco ceiling until... "Okay, ir-re-sponsible means breaking the rules when people trusted you to follow them." She gripped his narrow shoulders. "An example would be: Claire and her friends were irresponsible when they tried to sneak out of the house. Or, Claire"s parents will say she was irresponsible and that"s why they are going to ground her. "
Todd smiled. "Oh, I get it."
"Good." Kelsey stood, then dusted off her jeans like she had just fixed a leaking sink.
Claire met her friends" eyes and silently apologized for what was turning out to be the worst New Year"s Eve ever. They responded by looking away. The international sign for you are too pathetic to make eye contact with you are too pathetic to make eye contact with.
"Is this right?" Todd put his hands on his hips like a superhero. "Kelsey is ir-re-sponsible because her boyfriend is hiding in the broom closet."
"What?" the babysitter snapped.
"Or how about, Kelsey is ir-re-sponsible because Mr. and Mrs. Lyons told her no friends or boys while she"s working and she"s broken that rule almost every Friday for the last year."
The invisible joy-sucking coil released its grip around Claire. Her tears dried like puddles after a sun shower. Her love for Todd ran deeper than a groundhog. "There"s a boy boy in here?" in here?"
Todd wagged his thumb toward the kitchen.
Sarah, Sari, and Mandy shriek-ran toward the mystery guest.
"Wait!" Kelsey called, chasing after them. But she was too slow. The girls ripped open the narrow door and shrieked.
There stood a very embarra.s.sed strawberry blond boy with the physique of a bendy straw-thin and arched. His cheeks were flushed. And his black sweatshirt and skinny gray jeans were covered in dust bunnies. "Hey," he croaked.
"This is Zadrienne," Todd announced. "His real name is Adrienne Adrienne." He giggled. "Adrienne, like a girl girl." He giggled again. "He told Kelsey he changed his name last week. After they kissed. On the lips!" He turned bright red. "I saw it. It was grosser than spaghetti barf."
"You"ve been spying spying on us?" Kelsey"s heart-shaped mouth fell open. She fanned her reddening cheeks and leaned against the kitchen table for support. on us?" Kelsey"s heart-shaped mouth fell open. She fanned her reddening cheeks and leaned against the kitchen table for support.
"You said he was asleep asleep!" Zadrienne smacked his shiny forehead.
"I thought he was was!"
Claire stood back and grinned. "My parents are not gonna like this."
Kelsey"s head tilted left-a silent plea for mercy.
Claire giggled. Like her father always said, things had a funny way of working out. "Unless..."
"What?" Kelsey asked, biting her thumbnail.
"How did Adrienne get here?"
"Zayyyy-drienne," he corrected.
The girls giggled.
"Whatever, how did he get here?"
"He drove," Kelsey offered.
"Drove what what?" Claire began pacing like a frustrated interrogator.
"His Prius."
"Kels, I better get going." Zadrienne saluted, then hurried toward the side door. "I"ll call you later."
"Wait!" Claire insisted with a swoosh of her Scarlett O"Hara dress.
Sarah, Sari, and Mandy air-clapped in antic.i.p.ation.
"If you drive us to the Disney"s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, wait with us until midnight, then drive us home, I"ll keep your secret."
Zadrienne opened his mouth in protest, revealing two rows of silver braces.
"And if you don"t," Claire continued, "I"ll make my parents fire Kelsey and arrest you for trespa.s.sing."
The girls bounced with glee. Claire wanted to join them but forced herself to remain stern. There would be plenty of time for celebrating later.
"Zadrienne?" Kelsey pressed her dusty boyfriend for an answer. Kelsey pressed her dusty boyfriend for an answer.
"I don"t have enough gas," he tried.
"Aren"t those things electric?" Mandy added.
"No!" he snapped. "Besides, I promised my sister she could have it by eleven."
"Better un-promise," Sari hissed, her upper lip curling into obscurity.
Claire fought the urge to high-five her.
"Come on, Zay!" Kelsey pleaded.
He sighed. "Fine."
"Yeahhhhhhhhhhh!" The girls came together and hug-squealed for joy.
Minutes later, a bitter babysitter, her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend, Scarlett O"Hara, Batman, Princess Fiona, and a b.u.mblebee were jam-packed in a little red Prius-heading for lights, cameras, and plenty of action.
WESTCHESTER COUNTY AIRPORTMERRI-LEE MARVIL"S NEW YEAR"S YVES PARTYFriday, December 31st9:01 P.M. P.M.
Navigating the packed dance floor felt different now. Glares and glances no longer felt like judgments. They felt like pleas for acceptance-as if these people suddenly knew that Ma.s.sie was the keeper of the purple stone. That she was destined to be the leader of something big, and that she would get right to it as soon as Blink 182 finished playing "What"s My Age Again." Even the band seemed to know that Ahnna"s reign was more done than disco.
That"s about the time she broke up with me, That"s about the time she broke up with me,No one should take themselves so seriously...
Ma.s.sie winked thank you thank you to Mark Hoppus while he was singing. And from where she was standing, it looked like he winked back to Mark Hoppus while he was singing. And from where she was standing, it looked like he winked back you deserve this you deserve this. And with that, Ma.s.sie pushed through the crowd with renewed force. Her shoves no longer said, Um, could you please make room?... Mind the toes.... Please don"t trample me.... Um, could you please make room?... Mind the toes.... Please don"t trample me.... They said, They said, Move! Do you know who I am? I said, MOVE! Move! Do you know who I am? I said, MOVE!
The Burberry Bunch were at the front of the stage, right where she left them. Their foreheads were slick with sweat, their voices hoa.r.s.e from screaming, and their pits ripe with the smell of Funyuns.
No one acknowledged Ma.s.sie when she joined their dance cl.u.s.ter. Had they even noticed she was gone? She reached inside the pocket of her dress and rubbed her thumb against the cool flat surface of the stone, releasing more of its power. Then she rubbed it again. And again...
She needed all the help she could get....
The performance ended with a final bang of the drums.
"Where were were you?" Ahnna snapped. you?" Ahnna snapped.
Ma.s.sie grinned. Her days of answering to Ahnna were almost over.
"Stawp smiling, it"s not funny." Ahnna peeled some sweat-stuck curls off her forehead. "Since your your parents didn"t want to spend New Year"s Eve with you, parents didn"t want to spend New Year"s Eve with you, my my parents are responsible..." parents are responsible..."
Owie.
"... and they wanted another head count." She paused dramatically. "I had to lie, Ma.s.sie. Lie! Lie! Why? Because Why? Because you you were gone. Ah- were gone. Ah-gain! Do you know how that made me feel feel?"
"Like you"re losing friends?" Ma.s.sie asked, stone-faced.
Shauna, Brianna, and Lana gasped then giggled. Ma.s.sie saw a glimpse of her future... a future with Friday night sleepovers, wardrobe summits, Isaac-driven mall trips, and a royal purple bedroom....
"How am I I losing friends?" Ahnna"s brown eyes bulged. losing friends?" Ahnna"s brown eyes bulged.
Ma.s.sie stood firm, despite the stream of people pushing their way to the bar before the next performance. "Because I have all the power now," she bellowed, feeling like Moses in that old movie The Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments.