A Tale of Two Pretties Read online

  All of the anxiety she’d been feeling about whether her financial status would affect her alpha status was gone. If today proved anything—apart from her inevitable career as the next Anna Wintour—it was that her friends and classmates still ah-dored her.

  With a new spring in her step, Massie opened the front door, pulled off her Dior sunglasses, and greeted Bean with a humongous kiss on the forehead.

  She smiled at her reflection in the foyer mirror, and for the first time in weeks it smiled back. Her amber eyes were vibrant and perfectly contoured from her Stila Jewel eyeshadow palette, and her hair was tousled just the right amount. So what if she had to sell old clothes to raise money? She looked rich. And, thanks to her ah-mazing friends, she felt rich. Massie wouldn’t ever forget the way the PC kept her secret and rallied around her today. It was like having her own personal glee club, without all the ah-nnoying singing.

  “Ehmagawd,” she said to the mirror. “Those poor people were right!”

  “Massie, is that you?” Kendra’s voice sang out from the kitchen.

  Massie followed the scent of scorched chocolate. It smelled like someone had tried—and failed—to bake brownies. Massie pulled open the sleek trash drawer beside the sink. Sure enough, an upside-down charred cake had been dumped on top. It closed with a bang. Why did her parents insist on playing Top Chef when Inez wasn’t around? They inevitably turned the place into Hell’s Kitchen, without the kitchen. But like her, they were trying their best. Stopping at nothing to survive. Because that’s what alphas do. No matter what. It was in their blood.

  “I’ve been saving some money,” Massie said, channeling the stack of hundreds in her wallet. “Let’s go to the bakery and load up. You drive, I buy.”

  Hearing the words come from her mouth warmed Massie more than an open oven ever could. After all these years of taking from her parents she was finally in the position to give back. It bolstered her self-worth in a way that all the black diamonds at Barneys couldn’t. If she had to be the breadwinner, so be it. As long as the word winner was involved, she was on board.

  “Come sit with us.” William pulled out the bar stool in between him and Kendra.

  They were seated at the breakfast bar, their mouths set in grim, straight lines. Massie’s stomach tightened and her good mood deflated faster than a punctured yoga ball. Her parents suddenly looked very, very tired.

  “Is everything okay?” Massie asked, her speeding heart already seeming to know.

  Kendra took Massie’s hands in hers. If felt like being stuck in the ice cube maker.

  “We know things have been really tough around here,” William said, smoothing the imaginary hair on his bald head. “So as a token of our gratitude, we have something for you.”

  Space heaters? Take-out? High-speed Internet?

  Massie glanced back and forth between her parents. She didn’t know what to expect.

  Kendra slid a rectangular, black Barneys box across the counter and into Massie’s hands. But she refused to get excited. The boxes could be bought on eBay for under five dollars. For all she knew they’d put a key inside for some brand-new bike lock. The bike, which was probably on layaway, would be all hers by senior prom.

  “Open it,” William urged.

  Massie managed to smile as she lifted the lid. “What? You’re kidding, right?”

  Inside was the black diamond bracelet, the one she’d dreamed of hugging her wrist for weeks, and the matching black diamond earrings. It was a post-Christmas miracle!

  She snapped the lid shut. “Be honest. Did you do anything illegal to get this?”

  “No, silly!” Kendra pulled Massie into a squishy hug while William laughed loudly.

  “I got a new job!” her dad added. Bean barked.

  Kendra clapped. “We’re in the black.”

  “More like the green!” William said, high-fiving his wife.

  The world spun as Massie tried to process the news—and the fact that her parents seemed to high-five now. She had just made poor cool, and rich was already back? She couldn’t just spring this on the LBRs. Not after today. They trusted her when she told them used clothes would be huge next semester. If she switched back to retail before spring, they’d revolt. Trends took time to turn. It’s the cycle of life, even at Target. You can’t stock the shelves with skinny jeans one day and boot cut the next. It’s confusing, even to the LBRs.

  “Massie?”

  “Are you okay?”

  She heard her parents speaking but couldn’t respond. Echoes of their earlier words still reverberated in her head. New job… in the green… black diamonds…

  “Ehmagawd!” Massie cried, springing up from her stool as she realized exactly what the words meant. Who cared about the LBRs? The only thing that mattered was that there was life after death! Like a beautiful butterfly emerging from a cold cocoon, she would live to fly again. She hugged her mom and swung her around in a circle. “We’re rich again!” Bean yipped excitedly and started licking William’s toes. This was the best news she’d ever heard, including the time Landon told her she had the most kissable lips he’d ever seen. By the time he returned from Bali, everything would be back to normal. He’d never have to know how close she had come to financial ruin.

  “Is Inez coming back? What about Isaac? And the heat, can we turn it on now? Can I go shopping? No, maybe I’ll move my stuff back from Claire’s. I was thinking of painting my room green. Not a forest green or a kelly, more like a spring green. Something fresh and new. But I desperately need a manicure! Mom, let’s go together. Dad, you come, too. Then we’ll go for sushi and—”

  “There’s more,” William said.

  Massie bounced on her toes in anticipation. “Tell me, tell me, tell me!” A trip to Belize? Cabo? Bali to meet Landon?

  “Well,” William said, disentangling himself from Massie. “We’re still moving…”

  Huh?

  “But to an even bigger house. In fact, it’s a castle!”

  Massie gasped so hard she got an ice cream headache. Her Sweet Sixteen would be royal! She always knew she was meant to live like a queen. “Wait, not White Castle, right?” she asked, suddenly in the mood for jokes.

  Kendra and William exchanged a look. Massie’s stomach dipped. “What? You didn’t buy a White Castle franchise, did you? Because I was kidding and that would not be okay and—”

  “No.” William managed a smile. “This is a real castle.”

  Massie sat back on the stool. Her weakening knees warned her that it might be a good idea. Or was that her internal compass, telling her that there weren’t any castles in Westchester? “Where is it?” she dared.

  “Just across the pond,” her father said.

  “That brown duck pond?” Massie furrowed her brow, picturing the swampy pool that separated Westchester from the next county over. “Oh. I suppose that would be okay… maybe we can turn it into a natural hot spring. And with Isaac back I—”

  “No, Massie,” Kendra said quietly.

  “ ‘The Pond’ is a nickname for the Atlantic,” William said.

  “Ocean?”

  Her parents nodded.

  “We’re moving to England,” Kendra whispered.

  Massie jumped to her feet. “The European England?” Suddenly her knees felt more wobbly than Claire in heels. Her breath coming in shallow rasps. Besides the princes—one of whom was already spoken for—what was waiting for her in England? Some Harry Potter school? Fish sticks? More soccer? Excuse me, football. What about OCD? The Pretty Committee? Landon? High school? Brownie? Galwaugh Farms? The mall? “Can’t you commute?”

  “To London?” William scoffed.

  “England isn’t so different from Westchester,” Kendra tried.

  “Except it’s completely different!” Massie tried to swallow, but her throat refused to cooperate. Her whole body felt just like the brownies her parents had tried to bake: over and done.

  “You’ll be going to a wonderful private school,” William continued, t
rying to sound encouraging. “And my office is right down the street from our castle, so I’ll be able to spend more time at home.”

  William started to tell her more about life in England, but his lips looked like they were moving in slow motion. Massie put her hand on the kitchen counter to brace herself, but it seemed to shrink and move out of the way.

  She thought her father started to say something about changing their last name from Block to Bloke, but she couldn’t focus.

  “Am I London Bridge?” she mumbled.

  Kendra held her ice-cold hand up to Massie’s forehead. “Are you okay?”

  “Then why am I falling down?”

  Just like her father’s financial statement, Massie was in the black.

  CURRENT STATE OF THE UNION

  IN OUT

  Sale-ing for New Year’s Sailing for New Year’s

  American Apparel American Express

  The Simple Life The Life

  THE FISHER HOUSE

  THE GARAGE

  Tuesday, December 28th

  6:32 P.M.

  “Layne, we told you. We’re not wearing those,” Harris said, tapping his drumstick with every syllable.

  “No way, no how,” Derrington added.

  “What’s wrong with them?” Layne asked incredulously. She pointed to Claire. “You like them, right?”

  Claire surveyed Layne’s outfit. It had been hard not to notice it when she arrived at the Fishers’ garage for another band practice, but it was only now, under the bright lights that Cam had set up to make the garage seem more stadium-like, that she could see the intricacies that made it, as Massie would say, Layme. A silver-and-blue unitard with gloves ran the length of her arms with a matching headband. She’d painted silver streaks on her cheekbones and was sporting silver lipstick. Avatar-u serious?

  “Well,” Claire started to say. “I think they’re really orig—” But her eyes quickly moved to Cam, who was making a “cut it out” sign with his hands. “They’re… well, you know me, Layne. I still wear flared jeans, so what do I know?”

  “I just don’t understand why you guys insist on wearing regular street clothes,” Layne protested. Her breath echoed into the microphone as she glared at the band. “We have Lady Gaga and Katy Perry to compete with!”

  “Who?” Derrington asked.

  Claire giggled.

  “No costumes,” Harris said. “And that’s final.”

  “Boys!” Mrs. Fisher opened the door that led to the house. She was pretty for a mom, with dark brown hair, green eyes, and a warm smile. It was obvious where the boys got their looks. “Come say goodbye to your grandparents.”

  Harris stood up from his drum set.

  “Be right back,” Cam said to Claire. “Grandma always sneaks me a twenty when Mom’s not looking.”

  “Anyone want some chips?” Derrington asked, trailing behind them.

  Claire shook her head no, grateful for the alone time with Layne.

  “I seriously can’t believe we’re going to be neighbors.” Layne said, joining Claire on the old brown corduroy couch facing the band. “I rewired my walkie-talkies so your house is in range and clocked the bike ride between our places. Nineteen seconds if you take the left side and sixteen if you take the right. The curve near the Adelmans’ adds time but the sidewalk on that side has fewer nicks so it’s kind of a win-win.” She dug out a Slim Jim from somewhere within the depths of her costume and began chewing loudly. Claire swapped her one for a Swedish Fish, and they munched, happily imagining the possibilities.

  “We should make sure to have copies of each other’s house keys, too,” Layne continued. Bursts of crumbs flew out of her mouth and landed on the unitard, smearing orange powder over the stretchy silver fabric. “That way we can borrow each other’s clothes all the time. And we can probably build some sort of secret underground passage from my bedroom window to yours. We can smuggle homework answers back and forth!”

  Claire tried to picture borrowing from Layne’s closet. She couldn’t imagine what Massie would say if she showed up at OCD in silver spandex. She shook her head to clear the image.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Tears gathered behind Claire’s eyes. “I’m so excited to be your neighbor and to have our own house,” she started. “But… what if moving off the Block estate means I’m moving out of the Pretty Committee? What if I was only there because Kendra forced Massie to let me in?”

  “What did Massie say when you told her?” Layne asked, seeming as normal as one could in an avatar costume.

  Claire sighed, too embarrassed to admit she hadn’t found the courage to tell the alpha yet.

  Layne, like the best friend she was, guessed it anyway. “She doesn’t know?”

  Silence. The question hung in the air like Todd’s cologne.

  Finally, Layne gripped Claire by the shoulders. “Do you seriously think that girl would be your friend because Mommy made her? Did you block out your first few months in Westchester? The ones where her mother wanted her to include you? The ones where she threw smoked salmon at your body?” She giggled.

  “What?” Claire asked, not finding the memory particularity funny. In fact it brought back full body pains that could have passed for tetanus. “Why are you laughing?”

  “I said, ‘block out.’ Get it? Pretty clever, right?”

  Despite her anguish, Claire couldn’t help smiling. Her phone buzzed with an incoming text.

  Massie: Where r u?

  Claire: Cam’s. What’s up?

  Minutes later a loud horn sounded outside and honked until Claire pulled up the creaky garage door. Glaring headlights from a limousine aimed directly at her.

  “Kuh-laire!” called Massie, waving from the open moon roof. “Ditch the avatar and get in!”

  Her head disappeared and Claire looked at Layne, who rolled her eyes. “Maybe now’s a good time to tell her about the house. It seems like she’s in a good mood—better hurry before the wind shifts.”

  “I can’t just run out like that,” Claire said, even though she was dying to know where the limo came from. Because if she used the sale money for—

  The horn honked again.

  “Practice is probably over anyway,” Layne offered. “I’ll tell Cam you had to run.”

  That was all the encouragement Claire needed. She high-fived Layne and ran down the driveway. The door opened from the inside as she approached.

  “Claiiiiirrreeee,” Dylan burped in greeting, her red hair catching the moonlight.

  “Come in, come in!” Kristen squealed, pulling Claire’s arm. She climbed inside and settled between Alicia and Dylan.

  “Please don’t tell me you wasted all our money on this,” Claire said.

  Ignoring the question, Massie passed her a champagne glass filled with sparkling pomegranate juice. As her arm brushed past Claire, an unfamiliar bracelet caught the light and twinkled like a constellation. She blinked in awe.

  “Massie, are you a ski resort?” Claire asked.

  “No,” the alpha said, raising an eyebrow in a this-better-be-good sort of way.

  “Then what’s with all the black diamonds?”

  Everyone burst out laughing, even Massie. Claire’s teeth chattered with joy. Then she turned to Alicia. “What are we doing here?” she whisper-asked.

  “Gawd,” Alicia snapped. “Just because I ran point on the sale doesn’t mean I’m in charge!”

  Claire held up her hands. “Sorry. Just asking.”

  “Attention,” Massie called, tapping her lip gloss onto the side of her champagne glass so it chimed. “This is an emergency GLU meeting.”

  Claire’s stomach dropped. Had Massie found out about Claire’s new house—and that Claire hadn’t told her? Or was it something even worse? She glanced around. Dylan was chewing on her hair and then spitting it out, looking disgusted at the taste of it. Alicia was bouncing her left leg up and down so fast, it was like she was inventing a new dance routine. And Kristen was retying her ponytail agai
n and again. They all stared at Massie with wide, guarded eyes. Claire didn’t have to borrow Alicia’s sterling monogrammed Chanel compact to know that she probably looked just as concerned as the rest of them.

  And then Massie broke into an earring-to-earring grin. “So,” she began, “I was thinking of changing my name to nachos.”

  “Why?” Alicia asked for the rest of them.

  “Because I’m fully loaded!” she roared, her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree—the ones Sven decorated, not the sad, pathetic one from this year.

  Claire’s jaw dropped. Alicia’s leg stopped moving. Dylan’s hair settled around her face. Kristen’s ponytail hung limply. The only sound was of the limousine’s tires skating along the icy roads outside.

  “I’m rich again!” Massie explained to their blank faces.

  And then a thunderstorm of cheers rang out. The limo driver shut the partition while the girls squealed with delight. Claire was practically rendered deaf when Alicia screamed, “You’re still the alpha!”

  Dylan raised her sparkling juice for a toast to congratulate Massie, and everyone quickly joined in. Claire tried to smile, too, but she found it harder than lying to Layne about her costumes for the band. Swedish Fish sloshed around in her stomach, and the sharp turns the limo driver was making weren’t helping. Because if the Blocks were rich again, it meant they probably weren’t moving.

  Which meant she needed to tell Massie the Lyonses were. Ay-sap.

  WESTCHESTER, NY

  THE LIMOUSINE

  Tuesday, December 28th

  7:40 P.M.

  Massie watched as Dylan shut the limousine door and then waved goodbye as she limped up the driveway to the Marvils’ house. Now that everyone had been dropped off, Massie dropped her smile and allowed the muscles in her face to take five. The audience had gone. She could stop performing. Of course Claire was still there, but she didn’t count.