When OCD's brother school, Briarwood Academy, suffered from a flood, OCD turned into BOCD. And when BOCD took in so many students that there was no room left even in the overflow trailers, another school was built across town in Westchester, New York. They named it the Doyle School.
Well, it wasn't necessarily built – it used to be an old church that got shut down in the 1930s for obscure reasons. And now half of the students from BOCD would be transferred to Doyle.
The Block Estate
The Kitchen
Sunday, September 23rd
10:09 AM
One year ago, Massie had stood in the Block Kitchen, angry at her mother for making her miss Spa Day. Today was no different. Except this was worse than missing Spa Day.
Way worse.
"I cannawt be deported to Doyle!" Massie gasped, waving the Doyle newsletter in the air. "Mom! Can't you do something about this?"
Kendra Block tapped a finger against her chin. "But sweetie, BOCD is so crowded."
"But it's mine," Massie snapped. "It's my school!"
"Massie dear…" Kendra ran a hand over the polished granite countertop. "You can't always get what you want in life. Besides, Doyle is so much bigger than your old school, and I hear that the headmistress is all about decorum, which is what you n – "
Massie turned around and stormed away from her mother, her Ugg slippered-feet stomping against the glossy hardwood floor. She ran up the stairs to the iPad. She had just bought a new pillow pile for her lush purple bed, but the sight of lavender and white cushions sitting on the duvet didn't cheer her up. Still, Massie didn't want to upset the new additions to her bedroom, so she threw herself onto the white milano chaise and began to cry.
Three minutes later, Massie wiped her tears away and picked up her phone. In a few moments, her friends were on the line with her.
"If it makes you feel any better, we're going to Doyle too," Claire Lyons said.
"It does," Massie sniffed. "But still! Doyle is old and unfamiliar. What if – what if the ceiling crashes down on us during fifth period?" She wasn't really worried about this, but she was going to point out everything remotely horrible about Doyle to discourage her friends. If she wasn't happy, they couldn't be either.
"Well, it's a slim chance, and if it does happen we probably won't even be in that class," Kristen Gregory said.
Alicia Rivera sighed. "I'm just happy that some LBRs are staying behind. Ehmagawd, Carrie Randolph was so annoying – "
She was cut off by Dylan Marvil's loud belch. "Excusez moi," Dylan giggled.
The rest of the Pretty Committee laughed, but they were silenced by Massie. "Whatevs. Even if the soccer boys are coming along, there are going to be new students." Massie paused, waiting for the customary gasp from her friends. "You know…new LBRs!"
"Eww, guh-ross," Dylan whined. "Like we need more of those ah-nnoying wannabes."
"Toe-dally," Alicia said. "Point!"
Massie grinned. She was delighted that her friends would be there for her. But she had a bad feeling about their 8th grade year. She pushed it out of her mind. They were just butterflies. Massie didn't like change ah-bviously, but she could learn to adapt. She always did.
"Let's go shopping," Kristen suggested. "If we're going to a new school, I need a new wardrobe."
Shopping! Oh, how Massie adored shopping. She perked up. "Given! I'll pick you guys up, and then we'll head to the mall."
Massie hit End on her phone, snapped it shut, and tossed it onto her purple bed. She turned on the iHome and The Pussycat Doll's "When I Grow Up" began to play. Massie did a super speedy happy dance. She was so ready to take over Doyle.
The Westchester Mall
Juicy Couture – the fitting rooms
Sunday, September 23rd
11:13 AM
"Ehmagawd, that's ah-dorable-times-ten," Massie said to Kristen, who modeled a striped Juicy cardigan.
"You think? I luh-v the color." Kristen spun around and struck a dramatic pose in the three-way mirror.
Two blonde girls with painted toenails walked in, their arms loaded with clothes. They glanced at the huge pile of skirts, sweaters, and pants in the aisle.
"Sorry, but the dressing rooms are reserved for us," Dylan stated with a straight face. She pulled on a pair of skinny jeans and checked her butt in the mirror.
"But we have to – " the first girl started to say.
"Out!" Alicia pointed a silver-ringed finger at the exit.
The two girls hurried out the door. The Pretty Committee cracked up.
Massie sorted the clothes in the pile. "Come awn, time to hit the food court," she told her friends. They grabbed what they wanted to buy and headed out the door to pay.
Moments later, they were strolling alongside the designer stores and on the way to the nearest Starbucks. Massie had almost forgotten about the Doyle School as they ordered cappuccinos and grabbed the nearest table.
"So tell me," Alicia said, cocking her head. A long waterfall of black hair spilled over her shoulder, almost dipping into her coffee. "Are you and Dempsey an item?"
Claire looked over at Massie, whose cheeks had turned red.
"Ugh, no! Why would you say that?" Massie was still blushing, but she managed to conceal it with a confident toss of her glossy brown hair. "He's such an LBR."
"Well, I'm, like, toe-dally sure you were flirting with him on Thursday," Alicia said, zipping her Marc Jacobs satchel open. "It's toe-dally fine if you like him – "
"Which I do nawt," Massie said, glaring at her beta. Alicia withered under her defiant stare and quickly shut up. "Even though the boyfast is ah-fficially over, I'm nawt ready for guys. Yet."
"Well, I am!" Dylan said, changing the subject. She dipped a piece of her banana bread into a cup of steaming caffe verona. "I saw Chris Plovert at AMC Theatres last week and we watched The Dark Knight together."
"Ehmagawd, he so likes you," Massie declared. She looked around the table. "Who agrees with me?"
"Eya!" Kristen giggled.
"Huh?" Claire asked, blowing on her espresso roast.
"Aye!" Kristen said, saluting. She lowered her hand. "Can you buh-lieve how ah-dorable Kemp gawt over the summer?"
"Ew, he's such a perv!" Alicia said with a sniff of her pert nose.
"An ah-mazingly hawt perv," Kristen giggled.
Massie took a deep breath. Why was everything changing so fast? First, there was that stupid new school. And now Kristen was throwing herself at Kemp Hurley? She abruptly gulped down the last of her cappuccino, tossed the cup into the trashcan, and stood up. "Time to hit the shops!" she said, her voice bursting with hope and new possibilities. If she couldn't stop everything from changing, she could at least look good while doing it.
The Monroe House
The Room With a Balcony
Sunday, September 23rd
8:12 PM
"No way," Jacqueline Monroe whispered under her breath. As she grabbed her LG and turned it on, she reread her the screen of her Dell laptop.
tessa: first kiss (:
"With who?" Jackie demanded as soon as Tessa picked up.
Tessa sounded as if she was eating rice. "It was this guy named Chris at soccer camp. Do you know what our song is? 'Thunder' by Boys Like Girls. Your voice was the soundtrack of my summer…"
Jackie twirled a thick lock of hair around her finger and waited for Tessa to finish singing. "Were his lips gooey? I hear that can spread the flu or something." Jackie had a thing for germs.
"Sorry, I don't kiss and tell," Tessa giggled.
"You just told me you kissed him!" Jackie laughed. "No, really."
Tessa sang, "Do you know you're unlike any other?"
Jackie sighed. Tessa wasn't going to say anything, but she didn't need to. Jackie peered at The Doyle School newsletter, which had come in the mail just today. She would be going to Doyle with Tessa and a few other of their friends from their old school, BOCD. The Doyle School just felt wrong. Not that it was a bad school; Jackie was sure it wasn't. But it didn't sound right. It seemed unfamiliar, new. BOCD had been filled with her friends' memories. Rapping with Tessa in the annual talent show, cracking up during lunchtime in the Café, logging onto Facebook during computer class with Aly, texting Skye in the middle of science…
Jackie stood up from her seat the desk. "Hey, Tessa, I'm leaving now," she said.
"Smell ya later," Tessa said jokingly as she hung up.
Jackie put on a jacket and boots and headed out the door of her home, a two-story beige house. It screamed boring. Or rather, it said it in monotone. She picked up her messenger bag along the way, slamming the door behind her.
It was dark outside, the air warm and slightly crisp. Jackie went out every once in a while on a walk with Tessa and their other friends Skye Brookfield and Aly Parker. They usually passed by Massie Block's house and dared each other to pull some flowers off a well-groomed shrubbery or throw some pebbles at her bedroom window. (But Massie never seemed to notice that three girls were tossing small rocks at the pane. Or maybe she ignored it.)
Tessa was sitting on the steps of her Spanish-style home when Jackie arrived. "Come on, time to torture Massive Blockhead," Jackie said. She shoved her hands deep in the pockets of her cashmere cardigan, knowing full well how lame they were to do this kind of stuff to Massie. But the girls didn't like her very much (obviously). What else were they going to do? Diss her in public? No way. They might as well commit social suicide.
Tessa jumped off the steps and emerged from the shadows like a villain in a mystery movie. Tessa had wavy, dark hair and a small frame. Her tiny build was emphasized in the glowing moonlight. Two white wires snaked out of her jacket pockets and into her ears. Her iPod. She was never without it.
The two girls began walking down the quiet street. Jackie pulled out a can of shaving cream from her messenger bag. "I'm thinking of what we should write on the lawn. But I'm worried her parents might see us home."
"Don't worry, I've got it covered." Tessa pulled four black ski beanies out of her pockets. "We can go incognito."
Jackie grinned. "Smooth. I like it. We're getting better at this." She dropped the shaving cream back into her bag and they continued walking toward Skye's place.
When they got there, Skye was sitting on the porch tying her shoes. "God. Stupid Foot Locker. Why did I buy these things anyway?" She jumped when she saw Jackie and Tessa. "Eek! You almost gave me a heart attack." Her curly brown hair fell in a curtain across her face as she stood upright.
"Too bad," Tessa said jokingly.
Skye pushed her. "Come on, let's go. Before the dog comes along and starts humping your leg." The three girls hurried down the driveway, the porch light dimming.
"So, what's new?" Skye asked, blowing a bubble with her Orbit gum.
"Tessa had a fling at soccer camp," Jackie said, making it sound as if it were the headlines for The Westchester Times.
"I did n – "
Tessa was cut off by Skye. "No way! With who?"
"His name is Chris," Tessa smiled. "Chris Plovert."
The Block Estate
The Front Lawn
Sunday, September 23rd
8:29 PM
Aly pulled the beanie over her dirty blonde hair. "I'm going to have hat-hair after this," she said, but was laughing as the four girls tiptoed onto the Blocks' front lawn.
"Shhh! We don't need her catching us! We might go to Juvie and have to get tattoos," Tessa whispered.
Skye giggled. "I want a ladybug tattoo on my pinky toe."
"Let's get down to business!" Jackie whisper-sang from the Mulan movie. But she was serious, too. "All right, Aly, what did you bring?"
"Old panties from Mrs. Yurtz," Aly replied, brandishing a black Hefty sack. "I told her I was donating undergarments to homeless children."
"We're so badass," Tessa said, taking out the shaving cream.
"I'm going to encumber them all over the lawn…" Aly paused to let the word 'encumber' sink in. "…and then when she wakes up in the morning and looks out her window, BAM!"
The others cracked up and got down to work. Aly reached into the Hefty sack with some barbecue tongs and laid them out on the finely-mowed green lawn. Tessa drew a circle around it with the shaving cream and made an arrow pointing to it that said: YOU JUST GOT PANTY'D!
The girls started laughing all over again, but they heard a rustling nearby and they all threw themselves into the bushes.
"I am hiding in the bushes of Massie Block's house," Jackie said. "I have officially sunk to the lowest level there is."
They waited, their breaths still, their hearts in their throats, until the coast seemed clear.
Tessa plucked a leaf off her shoulder as she rolled out. "I think there was a rat in there – "
"Eh. Ma. Gawd."
The air was still. Skye, Tessa, Jackie and Aly emerged from the shrubbery, frozen. They didn't dare turn their heads. There was only one person in the whole wide world who would say "Eh. Ma. Gawd" and have a tiny black pug wearing a jewel-encrusted collar.
(AN: -eyes dart back and forth nervously-
Okay, I'm super self-conscious about people looking at my work. And I did this at like 9 PM at night with Tessa badgering me on AIM – haha, just kidding Tessa! – which doesn't sound that bad since all you experienced writers wake up at 2 AM to post a thought-provoking oneshot on FFnet filled with emotions and depth. But, hey, I'm new. Sort of.
CREDIT GOES TO TESSA FOR EDITING! Ha. See? I wrote your credit in Caps Lock, bby! Okay, now I'm sounding like Aly.
This is turning out long…well, Skye, Aly, Tessa, and Jackie are real life people! Or, they were based off them anyways. :P R&R!)