The woman stared blankly into Alicia's eyes and it was clear she had no idea what "kidding" even meant.

"But that was my my dress," Alicia said, not aware that she was whining to a complete stranger. She felt two hands grab the back of her shoulders. dress," Alicia said, not aware that she was whining to a complete stranger. She felt two hands grab the back of her shoulders.

"Let's go, gorgeous," Lucinda said to Alicia. "The limo is waiting. We have to be camera ready by four or else we lose our Santa."

Alicia felt her mouth go dry. She felt like she was going to pa.s.s out.

"But I didn't get to buy one thing," she said.

"What were you doing for the last two hours?" Lucinda asked her BlackBerry.

"I was trying trying to be a good friend." Alicia watched her ex-friends file out of the store, swinging their bags and comparing purchases. Paolo was right behind them, capturing it all. to be a good friend." Alicia watched her ex-friends file out of the store, swinging their bags and comparing purchases. Paolo was right behind them, capturing it all.

"So does this mean you still have the three hundred dollars?" Lucinda held out her palm.

Alicia froze. "Uhhh-"

"Just kidding." Lucinda cackled. "Keep it. It's not my money. I'll give you something from The Closet. So what if it's all from the spring collections; at least you'll stand out."

"Thanks," Alicia said, trying to hide her intense disappointment. It wasn't easy. Even Kori and Strawberry had two new belts to show off.

The radio was blasting a JoJo song and Kristen, Dylan, Ma.s.sie, Claire, and even Faux-livia were giving each other ideas on how they should wear their hair.

"What did you get?" Faux-livia asked Alicia.

"Lucinda said I could wear something from The Closet," Alicia piped up, like it was a special privilege.

"You're so lucky," Faux said, bouncing up and down on her hands.

"I know, I can't wait," Alicia said, eyeing Ma.s.sie's shopping bags.

"Well, I can't wait to wear this baby." Ma.s.sie pulled out the Greek G.o.ddess dress. A sheet of white tissue paper landed by Alicia's feet. "I loved it the minute I saw it in CosmoGIRL! CosmoGIRL!"

Alicia crossed her legs, then uncrossed them. She shifted her weight from one b.u.t.t cheek to the other. No matter how much she squirmed, she couldn't squash the urge that was building inside her. She even tried biting her tongue to keep herself from saying anything, but that just hurt hurt.

"Admit you saw me pull it off the rack first," Alicia said.

Ma.s.sie laughed through her nose and shook her head. "You're the wannabe, not me."

Kristen and Dylan broke into a round of high fives. Claire fidgeted with the automatic door lock b.u.t.ton. Strawberry and Kori looked at Alicia to see how she would react. But it was Faux-livia who spoke first.

"Ma.s.sie, I know you bought the dress to bother Alicia," she said. "I heard you talking about it with Dylan." Faux looked at Dylan and smirked.

"How can you hear anything with all of that dry hair covering your ears?" Dylan said.

"Well, at least her hair isn't the same color as Ronald McDonald's," Alicia said.

"Heyyy," Strawberry said. "I take offense to that."

"Heyyy is for horses," Kristen said.

"Yeah, like Dylan," said Kori.

"And sails are for boats," Alicia said. "Unless you're Kristen."

"At least I have a job," Kristen said. "What are you going to do when old man Rivers Rivers dries up?" dries up?"

"His last name is RIVERA!"

"Are you related to Joan and Melissa?" Strawberry asked.

"Shut up," Alicia snapped. "Why can't you be cool for one second? Gawd, how hard is it?"

Strawberry's mouth opened wide and she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Sorry," Alicia said, protecting her face with her hands. "Remember, my father's a lawyer."

Strawberry stuffed her fists in her coat pockets.

The middle part.i.tion rolled down and Lucinda popped her head into the backseat.

"We're here," she sang.

"Now that we've stopped, lemme get one fun shot in the limo," Paolo said. "Say 'Merry Christmas.'"

"Merry Christmas," Claire said flatly, just before the flash went off. No one else uttered a single word.

FRESH P PONY S STUDIOS C CHELSEA, NYC.

3:00 PM PM.

December 6th The girls entered the gray cement building in silence, but once they stepped inside the photo studio, they gasped. The s.p.a.cious room looked like the inside of a snow globe. Big fluffy chunks of fake snow fell lightly to the ground and gathered in heaps like mountains made of Sweet'N Low. A big red velvet throne surrounded by brightly wrapped presents was in the center of the room and cute little boys dressed as elves ran around playing tag. A jolly-looking Santa, holding his white glue-on beard, paced the floor, rubbing his fat belly like a pregnant woman. Camera a.s.sistants dressed in black T-shirts and jeans were adding the final decorations to the tall blue Christmas tree beside Santa's throne.

Alicia breathed in deeply, inhaling the sweet smell of pine.

"Is that real?" she asked, wondering how a fake blue tree could give off such a strong smell.

"Yeah, we dyed the needles," Lucinda said.

"Does that bother you?" Ma.s.sie asked.

"Huh?" Alicia said.

Ma.s.sie turned to Lucinda and said, "Alicia likes everything to be fake."

Alicia wanted to shout, "I hate fake things. The knockoff scarves were an act of desperation. So were Kori and Strawberry and the cheating and everything else I did."

But she didn't.

Instead she felt everything she'd gone through the past few days boiling up inside her. Then she took a big step back and charged Ma.s.sie, knocking her into one of the elves. They both caught their balance before either one of them fell.

"Excuse me, there's no hitting in fashion," Lucinda said.

"There is now!" Ma.s.sie said as she ran full speed into Alicia. This time they both landed in the "snow." Alicia could feel Ma.s.sie's bony b.u.t.t on top of her back as Ma.s.sie bit at her hair. Alicia turned around and tried to lick Ma.s.sie's cheek, hoping it would make her get up. But every time she stuck out her tongue, Ma.s.sie would grab it and pinch it.

"Et off eeee," Alicia screamed. It was the closest she could get to, "Get off me," without the use of her tongue. She wrapped her fingers around Ma.s.sie's charm bracelet and used it as a handle to pull Ma.s.sie's arm away. One of the charms fell off in Alicia's hand and she quickly dropped it in her boot.

Alicia saw a sudden flash of light and thought she might be dying until she heard Paolo say, "I love it. Give me more drama."

Big flakes of white powder fell from the ceiling while stagehands tested the snow machine. Alicia tried to wipe them away from her eyes, but Ma.s.sie's knees were digging into her arms.

"Stop it, you're hurting her," Faux-livia said as she jumped on Ma.s.sie's back and pulled her off Alicia.

"Get her, Faux," Alicia yelled.

"Stop calling me FAUX," Olivia wailed, then slapped Alicia on the thigh.

"Ouch," Alicia said before she pushed Olivia's nose.

"Not the nose!" Olivia pushed back hard just as Kristen was coming over to watch and Alicia fell against Kristen's shins.

"I need those for soccer, you know," Kristen said to Olivia before charging her. They fell against Santa's throne and squashed the prop presents that had been placed beside it.

"Did you wrap this one at work?" at work?" Olivia asked Kristen as she pulled a crushed box out from under her and smashed it over Kristen's head. Olivia asked Kristen as she pulled a crushed box out from under her and smashed it over Kristen's head.

"The only job you ever had was the one on your nose!" Kristen said as she whacked Olivia across the back with a satin ribbon.

"Stop it before you destroy my set," Lucinda said, racing to drag the fake presents out of the way.

"Move," Paolo shouted at Lucinda. "You're blocking my shot."

"How's this for a shot?" Lucinda said, snapping his leg with her coin-covered scarf.

Alicia rolled away from Ma.s.sie and quickly jumped to her feet. She caught her reflection in one of the round silver ornaments on the tree beside her. Her lip was swollen and her hair looked like a bird's nest. She looked around to see how the other girls were holding up.

Kristen and Olivia had each managed to squeeze one of their b.u.t.t cheeks on Santa's throne and were clawing at each other's necks, fighting for complete domination. Dylan was pulling Kori across the floor by the tips of her rubber snow boots, a big pile of fake snow gathered between her legs. The elves were chasing Strawberry and Claire, trying to pull their pants down, and Lucinda was shouting, "Security!" to no one in particular.

"You're calling calling me me hearty?" yelled Dylan. Everyone stopped fighting and looked up. Before anyone could stop her, Dylan tackled Santa and they both smashed into the blue Christmas tree. hearty?" yelled Dylan. Everyone stopped fighting and looked up. Before anyone could stop her, Dylan tackled Santa and they both smashed into the blue Christmas tree.

"Tim-ber!" Kristen shouted when the tree started to sway. Kristen shouted when the tree started to sway.

Dylan and Santa looked up at the tipping tree and screamed. They rolled away one second before it came crashing down onto the studio floor.

Everyone raced over to Santa and Dylan's side, except Ma.s.sie. She stood across the room with a half smile on her face, watching the drama from afar. Alicia didn't want to get caught staring at her but found it hard to look away. It felt like there was some mysterious magnetic force at work, drawing her in. And then, as if Ma.s.sie had felt it too, she turned her head and looked right at Alicia with her fiery amber eyes. A sudden rush of p.r.i.c.kly heat shot up Alicia's spine and made her feel intensely alive, like a cell phone that just had its battery recharged.

Suddenly, for no reason and every reason, they both started laughing. And once they started, they couldn't stop. They held their stomachs, slapped their thighs, threw their heads back, and let the tears spill down their cheeks.

Until, without warning, Ma.s.sie's smile faded. Her eyes became wide with fear and her mouth hung open. She grabbed her wrist and dropped to her knees.

Was she having a heart attack?

Alicia raced across the studio and knelt by her side.

"What's wrong?"

"My crown is gone." Ma.s.sie ran her fingers along the studio floor, sifting through the fake snow, blue pine needles, and broken ornaments.

"When was the last time you saw it?" Alicia looked around the destroyed studio.

"I dunno." Ma.s.sie's eyes filled with tears.

"I'll go look on the other side." Alicia stood up. "Don't worry, we'll find it."

"'Kay." Ma.s.sie sniffed.

When Alicia got to the middle of the studio, she felt a sharp pain in her foot and dropped down to the floor. She unzipped her boot and ma.s.saged the sore area until the throbbing eased up. She quickly pulled up her sock and heard a faint ping ping sound. She looked down and there it was, right beside Alicia, in a tiny hill of fake snow. A piece of yellow sock fuzz was tangled around one of its points. sound. She looked down and there it was, right beside Alicia, in a tiny hill of fake snow. A piece of yellow sock fuzz was tangled around one of its points.

Alicia giggled to herself as the memory of her tugging on Ma.s.sie's bracelet and stuffing it in her boot popped back into her head. "I found it!" she shouted once she was back on her feet. "Ma.s.sie, I have it."

Ma.s.sie was crawling around on her hands and knees, occasionally wiping tears away with her shoulder.

"I found it," Alicia shouted again.

Ma.s.sie jumped to her feet.

"Where was it?" Ma.s.sie asked when Alicia put it in her hand.

"Uh, just sitting on the ground. I almost stepped right on it."

"You're the best," Ma.s.sie said, wrapping her arms around Alicia.

"Thanks, you are too." Alicia hugged her back.

"This shoot is over," Lucinda announced. She was kneeling on the floor, icing Santa's forehead, and he lay motionless beside her. The other girls were fanning him and looking concerned.

"Why?" Ma.s.sie let go of Alicia.

"Why?" Lucinda shrieked. She stood up and walked over to Ma.s.sie and Alicia, pointing at them as she spoke. "Because I have no set, no Santa, no presents, no tree, and very little holiday cheer." Lucinda shrieked. She stood up and walked over to Ma.s.sie and Alicia, pointing at them as she spoke. "Because I have no set, no Santa, no presents, no tree, and very little holiday cheer."

Alicia couldn't help feeling disappointed. She had been so looking forward to this day and it was ruined.

"Great idea!" Ma.s.sie said. "Lucinda, you're a genius."

"Huh?" Lucinda and Alicia said.

"No other magazine would have the guts to show how stressed out people get around the holidays, but it's something everyone can relate to."