OCTAVIAN C COUNTRY D DAY S SCHOOL T THE S SOCCER F FIELD.

Friday, April 9th 4:22 P.M. P.M.

After a tiring week at school and endless key hunting, the last place Ma.s.sie wanted to be on Friday afternoon was on a soccer field doing jumping jacks with a team of jumping-jack-loving girls in loose boy shorts and ill-fitting yellow tees.

"This warm-up isn't working." Alicia rubbed her bare arms. "I'm freezing. It's a day for denim and cashmere, nawt cotton."

"Ah-greed," Dylan panted. "If I get sick, can we get your dad to sue the coach?"

"Given."

"Claire's so lucky," Ma.s.sie huffed.

"Why? 'Cause she has those eyebrows to keep her warm?" Alicia snickered.

"And auditions to get her out of practice?" Dylan offered. "All of the above." Ma.s.sie sighed, wondering how Claire could abandon the Pretty Committee-during key season-for a director who wanted her to look like a "before" picture.

Puuuuuuurp. Purrrrrrp.

Instantly, the Sirens stopped jumping.

Coach Davis cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "I want everyone dribbling!"

Dylan turned to Ma.s.sie and Alicia, a string of saliva dangling off her bottom lip. "How's that?"

The entire team t.i.ttered, except for Kristen, who crouched to tie her already tied laces.

"E-nuff!" The coach blew her whistle an inch away from Dylan's wet lips. "Kori!" she yelled. "How 'bout those b.a.l.l.s?"

"She said b.a.l.l.s b.a.l.l.s," Dylan whisper-snickered.

Ma.s.sie and Alicia burst out laughing.

Despite her swollen knee, Kori was dragging the yellow mesh bag across the field. "Coming!"

The sight of her limping and tugging made the girls laugh even harder.

"What's so funny?" snapped the coach.

"Nothing." Dylan giggled. "It's just that you said-" She cracked up all over again.

PUUURRRRPPP!.

"You three! Drop and give me seventy-five sit-ups."

Coach Davis hurried toward center field, the bottoms of her coral Juicy sweat suit dragging across the gra.s.s. "The rest of you, over here!"

Ma.s.sie, Alicia, and Dylan lowered themselves onto the cold field.

"Who wears peach in April?" Alicia said once they were alone.

"Your dad." Dylan giggled.

"Very funny." Alicia ripped a handful of gra.s.s out of the ground and whipped it at Dylan's face.

Ma.s.sie rolled her eyes, temporarily hating her friends for having fun when they should be obsessing over the key.

After two crunches and a quick check to make sure the coach wasn't looking, she pulled her list of boys' names from her white kneesock and rested it against her thighs.

"I should only have to do fifty of these," Alicia huffed, barely lifting her shoulders off the gra.s.s. "My b.o.o.bs are like weights."

Dylan cracked up. "So is my hair."

"Let's go over this one more time." Ma.s.sie curled toward the list.

"We have," Alicia whined. "Like nine hundred hundred times." times."

Ma.s.sie stopped midcrunch to glare at her.

"Sorry."

"Quit talking!" Kori shouted from the bench.

"Quit breathing!" Ma.s.sie shouted back. "Dylan, you checked Cody, Luis, and Billy, right?"

"Right." Dylan lifted her neck, then lowered it. "The only thing I found was a stack of Sudoku mags under Luis's mattress and an Ashlee Simpson CD under Billy's."

Ma.s.sie slid the tube of Glossip Girl Blueberry Pie out from her other sock and drew a purple X X through their names. through their names.

"Leesh? What about Greer, Lowell, Andy, Oliver, and Liam?"

"No, no, no, no, and no. But FYI, Lowell sleeps in a tent on an air mattress. He invited me to his camping birthday party. He's gonna try and set the record for number of beetles caught in an empty peanut-b.u.t.ter jar."

Alicia and Dylan looked at Ma.s.sie, expecting her to say something clever about Lowell's LBR-ness, but she was too stressed to bother.

Glossy purple X Xs through Geoff, P.J., and Lee's names were cruel reminders that none of Kristen's guys had panned out either. If Harris Fisher didn't have the key, Ma.s.sie would have to rea.n.a.lyze Skye's poem, restrategize the plan, and redeploy her troops. It could take days, and someone else could win. And before they knew it, they'd be begging for invitations to Lowell's beetle birthday party.

In the parking lot, an old Eminem song blasted from a car's speakers, turning everyone's attention to a dirty black Mustang.

"Ehmagawd, it's Harris Fisher." Alicia propped herself up on her elbows. "I think my crush on him is back."

"You're not the only one." Dylan pointed at the two girls wearing similar beige trench coats, running toward his car.

"Since when are Kaya and Penelope all buddy-buddy with Harris Fisher?"

"They think he has the key," Ma.s.sie a.s.sumed.

"They must have the other two CD-ROMs," Dylan concluded.

Without a single word, Ma.s.sie jumped to her feet and took off toward the Mustang. "Come awn!"

"Wait!" Dylan rolled onto her side, then pushed herself up.

"Yeah, wait!" Alicia speed-walked behind them.

Puuuurp. Puuuurp.

"Stop!" Coach Davis waved her toned arms like she was hailing a cab. "Now!"

Ma.s.sie froze.

The coach jogged to meet them by the fence, eyeing two trails of uprooted gra.s.s left behind in Alicia's wake.

"What happened to the field?" she gasped.

Alicia checked the bottoms of her shoes like someone who'd just stepped in dog poo. The metal spikes were covered in mud and weeds.

"Miss Rivera, you're wearing cleats, not cross-country skis. The idea is to lift them when you run."

"Huh?"

The coach's green eyes softened and the crease in her forehead smoothed. "Girls." She forced a grin. "Do you care about your school?"

While nodding, Ma.s.sie snuck a peek at the parking lot. Kaya and Penelope were making small circles with their fists, gesturing for Harris to roll down his window.

"Do you care about the OCD Sirens?"

They nodded again.

"And are you aware that we have a chance to make it to the finals?"

"Uh-huh," Ma.s.sie managed as the compet.i.tion poked their heads in the open window.

"Then please, I'm begging you...." The coach put her hands together in prayer position, obviously about to plead for their undying cooperation and dedication.

Alicia rolled her eyes. Dylan twirled her hair. Ma.s.sie fought the urge to charge Kaya and Penelope.

"Please, please, please," the coach continued, "will you please please quit the team?" quit the team?"

"What?" they all said.

"I'm sorry if this hurts your feelings. It can be our secret. In fact, I'll tell Princ.i.p.al Burns you injured your ankles from overexertion." She zipped her lip and threw away the key. "Just please please don't play Sunday, and stop coming to practice." don't play Sunday, and stop coming to practice."

"Seriously?" Alicia beamed.

Coach placed a rea.s.suring hand on her shoulder. "Seriously."

"Done." Ma.s.sie pulled her friends by the arms and dragged them off the field. "Tell Kristen we'll call her later."

The coach responded with a huge smile and a thumbs-up.

"Don't you think we should change outfits first?" Alicia freed herself from Ma.s.sie's grip. "We can't talk to Harris like this this." She pinched her baggy Sirens uniform.

While walking, Ma.s.sie tied a knot on either side of her shirt, instantly tightening it. She rolled down the elastic waistband on the shorts and pulled off her socks. Wrapping one around her left wrist, she stuffed the other through the mesh fence on her way out.

Dylan and Alicia did the same.

Scooting Kaya and Penelope aside, Ma.s.sie stuck her head in the car's open window. "Hey, Harris. I'm Ma.s.sie, Cam's friend."

It took all of Ma.s.sie's strength to look at him straight on because a) his green eyes were piercing, and b) Kaya was tugging at her shirt.

"What brings you to OCD?" she eked out.

"Pickin' up my brother and his friends after practice." He c.o.c.ked his head and squinted, probably wondering why girls had surrounded his car like he was Nick Lachey.

"Perf!"

Ma.s.sie opened the door and slid across the backseat. Alicia and Dylan jammed in beside her.

"Wait a minute." Penelope adjusted her skinny double-wire headband. "We were here first."

"Back off!" Ma.s.sie hit the automatic lock. She blew a kiss to Kaya and Penelope as they skulked off toward the bike rack.

Harris turned. "What's going on?" He smiled, showing amus.e.m.e.nt, not concern. His teeth were so white and his eyes so green, Ma.s.sie had to focus on the distressed collar of his brown leather jacket, to minimize the glare.

"Cam invited us over after practice, so we thought we'd ride with you because my driver is sick. Is that okay?"

Quickly she texted Isaac with the change of plans.

"Sure." He turned up the stereo, blasting the Eminem song all over again.

Dylan shouted the lyrics while Harris bobbed to the beat.

You better lose yourself in the music, the moment- "So how was the visit with your uncle?" Ma.s.sie shouted toward the front seat, hoping conversation might make Harris lower the music.

"What uncle?" he shouted back.

"The uncle who visited you on Tuesday."

"I don't have an uncle."

Ma.s.sie shot Alicia a confused glance.

"Does Cam?" Alicia tried.

Dylan burst out laughing, but to Ma.s.sie, the situation was far from funny.

"Why would Claire lie to me?" she mumbled.