“I can’t believe you kids are eating on the floor. You’re like a pack of wild animals,” she whispered. “Judi, are you sure I can’t get you a chair?”
“Shhh,” everyone hissed. Their ears were pressed against the tall wood doors.
“Todd, honey, please eat something.” Judi pushed the half-empty box toward her son. “Starving yourself isn’t going to change your father’s mind.”
Todd folded his arms across his chest and looked away. Judi probably thought he was being stubborn, but Claire could tell by the patch of grease on the front of his gray Briarwood sweatshirt that he had a slice or two tucked away for later.
“I have to go to the bathroom.” Todd turned his oily body away from his mother as he tried to stand.
When he came back ten minutes later, his lips were shiny and he was wearing a different sweatshirt. But the mothers didn’t notice. They were too busy trying to figure out how they were going to survive without each other.
“I can’t start over again,” Claire sniffled. “I can’t do it.” A tear rolled down her cheek and dangled off her chin. She shook her head and watched it land on her Strawberry Shortcake pajama bottoms.
“Don’t give up yet. My dad promised he would fix this.”
“But what if he can’t?” Claire whispered.
“I always get what I want,” Massie assured her.
Massie wants me, Claire thought. She felt the sudden urge to throw her arms around her friend and never let go. But she didn’t have to. Massie hugged her first.
Claire felt something sharp poking her in the back. She opened her eyes and lifted her head off the cold hard floor. The corner of the study door was pressing into her spine.
“Owww.” She pushed herself up and crossed her legs.
“Sorry,” Jay whispered as he stepped over her. “I had no idea I was walking into a stakeout.”
Claire started to smile. She stopped herself when she remembered she was mad at him.
Massie, Todd, and Judi were still asleep on the floor. Kendra’s head was leaning against the back of the chair. Her eyes were shut but her mouth was wide open.
William clapped his hands and everyone opened their eyes. “It’s two in the morning.”
Claire looked at his face for some indication of what had been said over the last five hours, but he just looked pale and tired. His blue eyes were bloodshot, and specks of stubble were sprouting up all over his face. She had never seen him look this messy. Jay looked just as disheveled, but Claire was used to seeing her father like that.
“So?” Massie jumped to her feet.
Claire rearranged her long bangs and smoothed the back of her hair. She wondered how Massie still managed to look pretty after sleeping on the floor.
“Why don’t we go into the kitchen?” William suggested. “I could use some dinner.”
“Just tell us now,” Massie begged. “Please.”
“The kitchen,” William insisted.
Everyone followed the fathers. Claire, Massie, and Todd hopped up on the three stools by the counter and the parents sat at the breakfast table. They immediately focused on the Ashanti video playing on the flat-screen TV that had been built into the Blocks’ refrigerator door until Kendra shut it off.
“Would you like me to fix you something to eat?” Kendra asked the dads.
They nodded, too exhausted to speak.
Kendra stood up and walked over to the microwave. She pushed it aside and spoke into the small white box behind it.
“Inez, could you please come to the kitchen?” Kendra had to ask three times before she got an answer.
“Certainly, Mrs. Block,” a groggy voice finally answered back.
Inez shuffled into the kitchen wearing fuzzy slippers and a bright floral-print robe. She washed her hands and started pulling out pots and pans.
“A simple sandwich will do.” William gave her an understanding smile.
“Of course.” Inez nodded
“Daaa-aaad,” Massie whined. “Tell us already.”
William rubbed his eyes. “I think Jay should be the one to tell you.”
Claire wished she could hit a button on a remote control and press Pause so she could live in this moment forever. The next few seconds held possibilities that were too scary to imagine.
Jay inhaled deeply and put his head in his hands. “We’re still moving.”
“What?” Claire shouted. “No!” The tears came immediately.
“Dad!” Massie wailed. “You said—”
“Let him finish,” William insisted.
“We’re moving out of the guesthouse for a couple of weeks so we can give it an extreme makeover.” He looked at his wife with a proud smile on his face.
“What?” Judi asked.
“William offered me a big raise and a promotion and told us we can renovate the guesthouse.”
Kendra looked shocked.
“You always said you wanted to remodel, dear.” William put his arm around his wife.
“Kendra, we can work on it together.” Judi’s eyes lit up.
Kendra smiled and clapped her hands. “Winter project!” she squealed with joy.
Massie, Claire, and Todd jumped off their stools and hugged each other. They were bouncing up and down screaming, “Yay!”
Claire immediately thought of Cam. She wished he were there too. A wave of relief washed through her entire body and she started crying even harder than before. But these were tears of joy.
Inez slid two multigrain BLTs in front of the dads and managed to sneak out of the kitchen without being noticed.
“Where are we going to live while we renovate?” Judi asked.
“In a nearby motel,” Jay put in.
William opened his mouth as wide as he could and prepared to take a bite of the triple-decker sandwich.
“Nonsense.” Kendra shook her head. “They will move in with us until construction is done.”
William froze, the sandwich inches away from his lips.
“Oh, relax, William. It will only be for a few weeks. No one works faster than the Daley brothers.”
“Yes!” Todd sounded like he’d just doubled his score in Underground 2. He leaned into Claire as he whispered in her ear, “I am finally going to see Massie Block in her underwear.”
“Shhh.” Claire didn’t want to miss a second of her parents’ conversation.
“I am so going online and ordering spy gear.”
“Don’t you dare,” Claire hissed. “I’ll tell Dad.”
“That’s fine.” Todd nodded. “We can tell him about your cell phone at the same time.”
Claire folded her arms across her chest and turned to face her parents.
“Todd, you can have the guest room next to Massie’s,” Kendra said.
“Awesome! Thanks, Kendra,” he said with a devious smile.
“Jay and Judi, you can take the upstairs room in the attic,” she continued. “And since Inez has the downstairs room, Claire will have to share with Massie.”
“Yayyy!” Claire cheered. “Thanks, everyone.” She ran around the kitchen hugging and kissing the parents. “This is going to be so much fun.” Things had turned out even better than she could have ever imagined. Sharing a room with Massie would be like Aspen all over again. They could stay up all night talking about Cam and Derrington, and they’d have even more inside jokes than they already did. This was definitely going to be a great year. She kissed her father twice on the forehead and hugged him as hard as she could.
“I love you.” Claire beamed.
“Sure, now you do.” Jay chuckled.
Claire turned to Massie and held out her arms. “How ah-mazing is this going to be?”
“Amazing,” Massie said calmly. And then her smile faded away completely.
THE RIVERA ESTATE
WELCOME TO WESTCHESTER PARTY
Sunday, January 25th 6:43 P.M.
“Is this really Alicia’s house?” Claire asked Massie as they climbed the stone steps
that led to the arched mahogany door. She froze when she saw the cast-iron gargoyle knocker. “This seems like the kind of place that would have a drawbridge and fire-breathing dragons.”
“Wait until you see the inside.”
A deeply tanned butler wrapped in a full-length brown fur coat was positioned outside in the cold, welcoming guests to the Rivera home.
“Names, please,” he said to a stack of papers on his clipboard.
“Hey, Alvie.” Massie pushed past him.
“Oh, hello, Miss Block.” He lifted his head. “And this is?”
“Claire Lyons. She’s with me.”
“Very well.” Alvie lowered his clipboard. He extended his white-gloved hand toward the brass knob and pushed the door open, giving way to what looked like the inside of a Manhattan art gallery. “Coat check is beside the restrooms.” He eyed the red distressed-leather sack Massie was dragging across the floor.
“Thanks, Al.”
A thin neat man with slicked-back gray hair hurried toward Massie, pinching a white plastic tag between his thumb and index finger.
“I’ll take that for you,” he insisted.
And just like that, her bag was gone.
The Riveras always had their parties in the front foyer because it was the only space on the estate that wasn’t packed with expensive antique furniture. But the room was hardly empty.
The ceilings were so high, Massie had to tilt her head all the way back if she wanted to admire the colorful stained-glass dome ceiling. Enormous walls peppered with hundreds of oil paintings in ornate gold frames never failed to impress parents, but Massie preferred the collection of freaky Oriental masks mounted between them. No matter where she moved, their hollow eyes seemed to follow her.
A pack of young kids were chasing each other up and down the long spiral staircase that punctured the center of the room. The shape reminded Massie of a giant version of the corkscrew that Franco, the waiter at the club, used to open her father’s wine. The brass banister was wrapped in red and yellow streamers, probably meant to represent the Spanish flag, and a banner that spelled out CUMPLIMENTAR, NINA in silver glitter hung off of it.
Waitresses were offering guests silver trays filled with tapas while waiters doled out alcohol-free sangria. Hundreds of orange candles filled the room with a warm glow, their flames flickering to the beat of wild flamenco music.
“How come you never had a welcome party for me?” Claire asked Massie. She slipped off her baby blue ski jacket and handed it to a teenager dressed in a black-and-white maid’s outfit.
“Because you weren’t welcome.” Massie smiled.
Claire gave Massie a playful shove.
“Watch the outfit.” Massie adjusted the white faux-fur shrug that was tied around her shoulders and made sure her black cat rhinestone brooch was still positioned just below her neckline. “This is the first time I’m seeing Derrington in weeks. I have to be a ten.”
“You are,” Claire gushed. “That green satin dress looks ah-mazing on you.”
“It’s chiffon.” Massie checked for wrinkles that might have formed in the car. “Do you like my hair crimped? Or does it look like I got my head stuck in an accordion?”
“I told you, I love it.” Claire ran her fingers over the jagged chunks of hair that zigzagged around Massie’s face. “You’re going to start a new trend tonight, I can smell it.” She sniffed the air.
Massie giggled.
Before their trip to Aspen, Massie never would have shown Claire her insecure side. But these days, they spent more time together than real sisters, and it was exhausting trying to act confident 24/7. Besides, Massie knew Claire wasn’t the type to hold it against her.
“Do you think Derrington is going to like it?” Massie whispered as they inched their way into the crowd of seventh graders and parents.
“There’s only one way to find out.” Claire was pointing to the bottom of the staircase. “There they are.” She grabbed Massie’s arm and started pulling her toward the tight cluster of Briarwood boys that were hovering over Derrington and his silver Game Boy.
He was sitting on the third step of the corkscrew staircase, surrounded by his soccer buddies, Cam Fisher, Chris Plovert, and some preppy new kid Massie had never seen before. His elbows were resting on his bare kneecaps, but his thumbs and wrists were working overtime. Derrington was so involved in the game, he had to use his shoulder to brush the floppy blond strands away from his eyes. His outfit was the same as usual—cargo shorts and hiking boots. The only difference was the gray blazer and black tie he wore over his T-shirt. Overall, he looked even cuter than he had before break, like he had been exfoliated and spit-shined.
Suddenly, Massie felt weak and tingly, like all the cells in her body had turned into Diet Coke bubbles and were trapped just below the surface of her skin.
“Stop tugging on me.” She pulled her arm away from Claire and placed it firmly on her hip.
“What’s wrong?” Claire asked. The confident smile on her face seemed to mock Massie and her paralyzing fear. “Don’t you want to say hi?”
Of course that was what Massie wanted more than anything. She had been waiting three gruelingly long weeks to see Derrington again. But now was not the time. She was totally unprepared. What would she say to him, especially with all of his friends around? And more importantly, what was her hair doing?
“Be cool, Kuh-laire,” Massie whispered. “When it comes to boys, it’s better to act curious, not interested.” She instantly regretted wearing chiffon. When there was sweat on her body, chiffon always found it.
“But Cam already knows I’m interested. And Derrington knows you like him. You e-mail each other all the time.”
Massie shifted her shrug to make sure it covered the pit stains that were forming under her arms.
“That was last year.” Massie rubbed her newest Glossip Girl flavor across her lips. “It’s a new year now, and they may have found other girls.”
“Who’s eating a sugar doughnut?” Dylan asked as she forced herself between Claire and Massie.
The three girls squealed when they saw each other. Dylan held out her arms in preparation for a giant hug. But Massie stood tall and stayed stiff, her hands pressed against her thighs. If anyone saw her sweaty pits, she’d have to transfer schools. Dylan must have sensed Massie’s hesitation, because she turned and hugged Claire instead.
When she released Claire, Dylan leaned in and sniffed Massie’s face. “Are those your lips I smell?”
“It’s my new gloss.” Massie took the shiny mirrored tube out of her clutch and waved it in front of Dylan. “It’s called Krispy Kreme. It arrived yesterday.”
“It’s strong.” Dylan tucked a bright red curl behind her ear. “I can actually smell it through my stuffed-up nose.” She coughed.
“Ew, cover your mouth.” Massie laughed and fanned the air.
“Admit it.” Dylan took a step back. “You’re just embarrassed to be seen with me because I’m fat.”
“Fat?” Claire gasped. “We’re, like, the exact same size.”
“I wish.” Dylan inspected Claire’s small round butt.
“Dylan, are you full of garbage?” Massie asked.
Dylan tugged on her dark green silk caftan. “No.”
“Then why are you acting like a Hefty?”
Claire threw her head back and laughed louder than she needed to. Massie crinkled her eyebrows. She knew her joke was clever, but she didn’t think it was LOL-worthy.
Massie shot Claire a What’s-so-funny? look. But Claire was too busy slapping her thigh and peeking at Cam out of the corner of her eye to notice.
“Brilliant!” Massie was instantly impressed by Claire’s I’m-gonna-show-Cam-how-much-fun-I-am strategy and joined in the laughter. Derrington pushed his shaggy blond hair away from his eyes and looked straight at them. Mission accomplished. Claire seemed to know more about attracting boys than J.Lo.
“Are you two laughing at me?” Dylan sniffled. “Weight prob
lems are not something to make light of.”
“Literally.” Massie and Claire broke into another fit of exaggerated laughter.
“What’s so funny?” They were too busy fake-laughing to notice someone had joined their circle.
Massie was just about to tell the strange boy in the black fedora to mind his own business when she heard his phlegmy laugh. He was Kristen.
Massie slapped her hand against her heart. “Ehmagod.”
“I know,” Kristen groaned.
“Lemme see.” Massie lifted the fedora. “I’m sure it’s not that bad.” But Kristen slapped her hand away.
“Ouch,” Massie snapped.
Dylan giggled into her palm, and Claire exploded into another fit of hysterical laughter.
“It’s not funny, okay?” Kristen whined. “I look like a yob!”
Dylan and Claire looked at each other in utter confusion.
“Boy,” Massie mouthed to them.
“Oh,” they mouthed back.
“I had to steal this hat from my grandfather,” Kristen confessed. “He spent twenty minutes looking for it after dinner last night, and now my grandmother is making him go to the doctor because she’s convinced he’s losing his mind.”
“What about that lace dress?” Massie asked. “Did you steal it from your grandmother?”
“No.” Kristen stomped her foot. “I’m just trying to look like a girl.”
“Well, I brought the hats you asked for,” Massie assured her. “They’re in coat check.”
“Thanks.” Kristen’s hardened expression softened.
Massie caught a whiff of Angel perfume and whipped her head around.
“I thought I smelled you.” She turned toward Alicia.
The raven-haired beauty was standing just outside their tight cluster, holding a silver tray covered in name tags and markers. The chunky turquoise necklace around her neck and her cream-colored satin dress popped against her deep tan.
“You look ah-mazing,” Dylan gushed.
“I love your hair. It’s so gnol.”
“Long,” Massie translated.
“You think?” Alicia widened her dark brown eyes and ran her manicured fingers through the top of her shiny blowout. Her hair seemed to sway back and forth in slow motion before it settled back in position, and Massie felt like she was watching a Pantene commercial. If only Alicia would get a zit or braces or something, she’d be a little easier to look at. As it stood, her face was so perfect, it hurt to focus on it for more than a few seconds at a time. It was like looking straight into one of the UV bulbs at Sun of a Beach tanning salon.
Invasion of the Boy Snatchers Page 3
