8:16 PM PM.

November 21st "Bean, stay away from the G.o.divas. They're for the guests." Ma.s.sie pulled the gold foil out of her dog's mouth and put the chocolate back in the center of Kristen's goose down pillow. She smoothed the sleeping bags with her hands and pulled the bottoms to make sure there were no creases in the nylon.

"It's easier setting up for three, isn't it, Bean?" Ma.s.sie said.

Bean barked twice.

At first Ma.s.sie set up a fourth place out of habit but immediately stuffed the bedding back in the closet when she remembered that Alicia wouldn't be joining them.

Ma.s.sie checked her cell phone. Kristen and Dylan were sixteen minutes late. She added a few more BBQ soy nuts into the white china bowl on the juice bar and restacked the chocolate-covered Rice Krispie squares so they made a perfect pyramid. The Sub-Zero fridge was stocked with Perrier, Red Bull, and Inez's virgin pina coladas, and the chilled pasta salad was the perfect temperature. Red licorice and big swirled lollipops jetted out of crystal Tiffany vases on the window ledges, and the thirty vanilla candles that had been placed around the room were already giving off a warm, sweet smell. Even the six-CD player was loaded with the perfect mix of pop and rap. Everything was in its proper place. Her guests were the only things missing.

Ma.s.sie quickly looked up when she heard the sliding gla.s.s door open.

"It's about time," she said.

"What, sweetie?" Kendra said. Bean ran over to her side and started nipping at the bottoms of her black satin pajamas.

"Mom, what are you doing here?"

"I brought a few extra cashmeres just in case you get cold." She pulled three cream-colored blankets out of an orange Hermes shopping bag.

"Thanks," Ma.s.sie said, looking at her naked wrist. She had taken off her red leather Coach watch while she was helping Inez ice the Rice Krispie squares and forgotten to put it back on. "What time is it?"

"I stopped wearing a watch three days ago," Kendra said, shaking out the blankets. "We just finished The Power of Now The Power of Now in my self-help book club and it's all about living in the present. So technically, the time is now." She smiled and looked at Ma.s.sie with raised eyebrows. in my self-help book club and it's all about living in the present. So technically, the time is now." She smiled and looked at Ma.s.sie with raised eyebrows.

Ma.s.sie rolled her eyes and grabbed her cell phone out of the pocket on her green Juicy hoodie. She flipped it open and saw that it was 8:19 PM PM ... almost twenty minutes late! She snapped it shut and heard another purple rhinestone land on the new light beige floors. ... almost twenty minutes late! She snapped it shut and heard another purple rhinestone land on the new light beige floors.

Kendra hung the blankets over the thigh adductor machine. "It's going to be great having a home gym, isn't it?" She walked toward Ma.s.sie, her kitten heel slippers clacking against the floors with every step she took. She put her thin, bony arm around Ma.s.sie's shoulders and pulled her close. "Isn't it?"

"I guess," Ma.s.sie said, looking around the barn that used to belong to her horse, Brownie.

When the horse was little, Ma.s.sie had covered the walls with posters of young fillies that she thought Brownie would find s.e.xy. She drew pictures of big gra.s.sy fields and rainbows for her horse and tacked them into the soft wood around his stall. She even buried her old shirts in the haystacks so Brownie would always know that Ma.s.sie was close by. But now the white stallion lived at the upscale stable Galwaugh Farms. And the only thing left from Ma.s.sie's past was the mural she had painted with Kristen, Dylan, and Claire.

"I can't wait for the mirrors to go up," Ma.s.sie said, turning her back to the wall.

"It's a shame we have to cover up your painting," Kendra said, admiring her daughter's mural. "It was such a neat art cla.s.s a.s.signment. We never did anything like that when I went to OCD."

"I already handed in photos of the mural, so I don't need it anymore."

"What did Mrs. Nish think of it?" Kendra asked.

Ma.s.sie walked over to the fridge, pulled a piece of ziti out of the pasta bowl, and dropped it in her mouth. She casually dropped one for Bean, hoping her mother wouldn't notice. "She said it was very effective. I think I got an A."

"That's great, sweetie," Kendra said in a relaxed tone.

Usually her mother's voice sounded strained and anxious. "What else are you doing in school these days?"

Ma.s.sie watched as her mother lowered herself onto an exercise bench. She crossed her legs and leaned forward, her chin resting in the palm of her hand. It was like she was about to watch one of her favorite Lifetime movies.

"We're learning all about J. C.'s campaigns and how he did everything because he wanted to be popular and famous," Ma.s.sie said.

Kendra jumped to her feet. Her inner-peace moment was over.

"They're teaching you that Jesus Christ did everything to be popular?" popular?" She sounded ready to sue. She sounded ready to sue.

"No." Ma.s.sie crinkled her nose and looked at her mother like she had gone mad. "Julius Caesar."

"Ohhh," Kendra said, sitting back down again. She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. "Go on."

"He wanted to be known for being a great leader," Ma.s.sie said. "He even wrote about all of his campaigns in a journal and sent his books to Rome so people would know his name throughout history."

"Sort of like you when you were younger," Kendra said, a soft smile forming on her tight face. "You used to keep those in-and-out lists. They were so so cute." cute."

"Ehmagawd, I still do that," Ma.s.sie said in a burst of uninhibited excitement. "Me and J. C. are so the same."

"And don't you love Caesar salads?"

Ma.s.sie rolled her eyes and looked at the door. "Thanks for the blankets, Mom. You probably want to get back to the house before the rain, right?"

"Rain?"

Ma.s.sie looked at her Steve Madden sheepskin slippers and nodded. With any luck, Kristen and Dylan would be arriving any minute. And she didn't want them to know her mother had been in GLU headquarters, even though technically Kendra was the owner.

Kendra hurried over to her daughter and kissed her on the forehead. "Have fun, my little Caesar. You too, Bean." She shook the dog's paw.

After her mother had left, Ma.s.sie lifted Bean onto her lap. "Bean, if I'm going to conquer Alicia, I have to create loyalty among my troops. It's the only way to keep them from leaving me and joining her army. Julius probably did the same thing."

Bean barked three times.

"What? What's wrong? I'm not hurting anybody this time. It's a nice nice plan," Ma.s.sie pleaded. plan," Ma.s.sie pleaded.

"Who are you talking to?" Kristen said as she pulled open the sliding gla.s.s door.

"No one." Ma.s.sie's face turned red.

"Heyyy." Dylan and Kristen scurried over to hug Ma.s.sie.

"Did we come to the right place?" Dylan said, looking around. "The barn looks totally different."

"How much did this whole thing cost?" Kristen looked at the free weights, exercise machines, b.a.l.l.s, ropes, and mats strategically placed around the room. She slowly moved toward the row of plasma TVs that hung above each of the four cardio machines as if she were in awe of their beauty. "Seriously, how much?"

"I dunno, like a million dollars or something; who cares?" Ma.s.sie said, waiting for them to apologize for keeping her waiting.

"Dylan told me to ask," Kristen said.

"I did not," Dylan snapped.

Kristen laughed her phlegmy laugh, then Ma.s.sie joined in. She forgot all about how late they were. Nothing made her happier than laughing with her friends and she didn't want to waste another minute of their sleepover being mad.

Ma.s.sie noticed Dylan staring at the mural. "Why were you talking to her in the halls the other day? It's like you miss her or something."

"Please." Dylan sat down on her sleeping bag and unwrapped the chocolate on her pillow. She popped it in her mouth and continued speaking. "I miss my retainer more than I miss her." her."

Kristen lay beside her. She pulled open her A&F overnight bag and took out a book of crossword puzzles, a Bic pen, and a mini-flashlight. She placed them on the floor beside her. "Yeah, and I miss the T. J. Maxx cardigan my mother makes me wear to school more than I miss her."

"So what were you talking about?" Ma.s.sie crouched down and stuck her thumbnail into her chocolate.

"We told you a billion times," Kristen said. "She was bragging about some date she had with Harris Fisher, like that was supposed to impress us."

"Yeah, try going out with a guy in our our grade," Dylan said, peeling the silver wrapper off a Hershey's Kiss. "Now, grade," Dylan said, peeling the silver wrapper off a Hershey's Kiss. "Now, that that would impress me." would impress me."

"Puh-lease. She's not really hanging out with Harris," Ma.s.sie said, pa.s.sing around a vase of licorice. "Is she?"

"She's going over there tonight," Dylan said. "Or at least that's what she said. We all know what a liar she is."

"Besides, if Harris is is hanging out with Alicia, it's probably because he knows he can't get hanging out with Alicia, it's probably because he knows he can't get you," you," Kristen said. Kristen said.

"Too true." Ma.s.sie slapped her thigh with a Twizzler. "I'm over those Fisher boys, especially Cam."

"Whaddaya mean?" Kristen said, sitting up on her knees.

"Well, it's a secret." Ma.s.sie tore her licorice into tiny pieces.

"About who?" Dylan reached for the chocolate on Kristen's pillow. She unwrapped it without taking her eyes off Ma.s.sie.

"Me." Ma.s.sie lowered her eyes. So far, her plan was working perfectly.

"Ooohhh, tell us." Dylan's green eyes widened and her cheeks turned the color of her hair. Ma.s.sie thought her friend looked pretty and almost felt guilty for manipulating her. But she was in the middle of a war.

"I can't," Ma.s.sie said. "It's personal."

"Eight-letter swearword for bull c.r.a.p, bull c.r.a.p, please." Kristen pounded her fist on the floor. "I thought we told each other everything." please." Kristen pounded her fist on the floor. "I thought we told each other everything."

"Yeah, well, this is different."

"Why don't you trust us?" Dylan asked.

"Ever since Alicia betrayed me, I don't trust anyone," Ma.s.sie said. "And now that I know you're talking to her, I really can't trust you."

"We're not talking to her," Kristen insisted.

Ma.s.sie ignored her and continued. "Alicia is a gossip master. If anyone could get you to talk, it would be her. And if she knew my secret, I'd be so over." Ma.s.sie shook her head. "No. No way, I can't."

"Oh, please, we'll do anything," Dylan said.

"Hmmm." Ma.s.sie scratched her head. "Well, I guess if you told me your deepest, darkest secrets, I could trust you."

"Okay," Dylan said without even thinking about it. "Tell us everything-don't leave one thing out." She lay facedown on her sleeping bag and propped herself up on her elbows.

Kristen did the same.

"No way," said Ma.s.sie. "You first."

"I dunno, mine is really really top secret," Kristen said, twirling one of her blond braids around her finger. "What if you tell?" top secret," Kristen said, twirling one of her blond braids around her finger. "What if you tell?"

"You have my word that as long as we are friends, I will never tell." Ma.s.sie held out her pinky.

"But what if we stop being friends?" Dylan chimed in. "Are you going to tell then?"

"I guess this means we'll have to stay best friends forever," Ma.s.sie said.

"Done," Kristen said.

"Yeah, done," Dylan agreed.

"Okay," Ma.s.sie said, holding out her pinky. "I, Ma.s.sie Block, swear that as long as we are friends, I will never repeat what I am about to hear to any soul, living or dead. Not even for gossip points."

Kristen and Dylan repeated the pledge and the three girls locked pinkies. Ma.s.sie breathed a sign of relief. Now her friends would never leave her for Alicia or anyone else. Never.

Ma.s.sie leaned over and grabbed Kristen's pen and book of crossword puzzles. She tore a page out of the book and pulled off the blue pen cap with her teeth.

"Hey," Kristen snapped. "What are you doing?"

"We'll draw names to see who goes first," Ma.s.sie said. She wrote Kristen's name twice and Dylan's once. Ma.s.sie was willing to share her secret; she just didn't want to go first. She crumpled up the three pieces of paper and put them in her palm. She held it out for Kristen. "You pick."

Kristen reached out her fingers, plucked up a ball of paper, and quickly opened it. "Ugh, I got me!"

Ma.s.sie closed her fist and rolled onto her stomach. "Go ahead."

Kristen sat up and crossed her legs. "I don't really have anything."

"Forget it, then," Ma.s.sie said.

"Okay, wait, now that I think about it, there's this one thing. ..."

Kristen's aqua eyes searched their faces. "You swear you're not going to tell?"

"Swear," Ma.s.sie and Dylan said at the same time.

She sighed heavily, then began. "'Kay, well, you know how you pick me up every morning at the Montador for carpool?"

"Yeah," Ma.s.sie said. Her heart started to pick up speed.

"Well. I. Kinda. Don't. Really. Live. There." Kristen spoke slowly, checking their faces after each word.

"Huh?" Dylan said.

"I live next door in the Brickview Apartments."