Invasion of the Boy Snatchers (11 page)

“Of course
you
do,” Massie hissed.

“It looks so good on you, Mrs. Block.” Nina oozed charm. “How do you stay so fit?”

“Nina, you are so sweet.” Kendra blushed. Her smile was wide and sincere, despite her recent injection of Botox. “We converted our horse shed into a gym, so I’ve been working out a lot lately. I have a trainer coming over in ten minutes to teach a Pilates-cardio-kickboxing-Ashtanga-yoga class. You can join us if you like.”

Massie shot Alicia a desperate glance.

“Uh, thanks, Mrs. Block, but Nina—”

Alicia was cut off.

“I would love to.” Nina clapped her hands together. Then her expression changed to one of regret. “But I don’t have any workout clothes here.”

“Oh, that’s no big deal.” Kendra bounced over to Massie’s closet and tugged on her feather boa to turn on the light. “Borrow anything you’d like.”

Massie couldn’t stand it when her mother treated strangers like family.

“That would be great. Thanks, Mrs. B.” Nina stood up and walked over to the closet.

“Oh, please sit down,” Massie offered in her sweetest voice. “Let me get something for you.”

Massie stepped into her closet and pulled out an old sweat-stained wife-beater and a pair of tight Adidas sweats. They were blue with white stripes running up the sides. She quietly reached for a Prada shoe box off one of her shelves and pulled out a pair of squeaky scissors and quickly cut a hole in the butt.

“Here you go.” Massie held out the clothes for Nina. “Sorry I can’t give you any sneakers—I’m a size five and you’re a six.”

“That’s okay, I’ll wear my boots. It’s good for my calves.” Nina stepped out of her black slip in front of everyone and slid on the pants.

Dylan, Kristen, and Alicia saw Nina’s butt cheek sticking out and started laughing. Massie lifted her index finger to her mouth and slowly shook her head.

Kendra didn’t notice. She was crouched down beside Claire, examining her face.

“Claire, we have to get you to a doctor.” Kendra sounded alarmed. “Your face is all puffy and red. You’re having a reaction. Do you have any allergies?”

Claire hesitated and avoided Massie’s eyes. “Uh, sometimes I can be allergic to dogs but—”

“Bean!” Kendra said.

The dog shot out from under Massie’s bed like a hairy bullet and ran out of the room.

“I’m sure I’m just catching Dylan’s cold,” Claire promised.

“Uh, no offense, Claire, but I don’t look like a Sharpe. You have something else.”

Massie elbowed her in the ribs. “It’s not Bean. That’s impossible.”

“Is my mom here?” Claire asked Kendra.

“She went to some crafts fair down at the church. Why? Are you having trouble breathing? Is your throat locked? Can you swallow?”

“I’m okay,” Claire whispered softly. “Just a little hot and itchy.”

“Then we’ll deal with this after my class. Ready, Nina?”

“
Sí.
” Nina doused her neck in musky perfume and skipped out of the room behind Kendra.

Massie could feel the weight of her hanging jaw.

“Sorry.” Alicia threw her red Coach weekend bag over her shoulder and shrugged. “I won’t bring her again. I promise.”

You better not,
Massie wanted to say, but she couldn’t speak. She felt like someone had filled her entire body with gooey Marshmallow Fluff. It was hard enough to watch Nina and her mother bonding, but Claire’s Bean allergy? Massie couldn’t believe her luck. Now Claire would have to leave.

Massie paced around her room, tidying. She placed three crystal bowls filled with pretzel crumbs and melted Junior Mints outside her bedroom door so Inez could take them to the kitchen. While she straightened her bed, Massie tried to think of something positive about Claire leaving to keep herself from crying. At least her room would be tidy again. And that was positive, right?

Claire was rolling up the sleeping bags, sniffling, probably thinking about the same thing. But Massie had no comforting words. If she had, she would have used them on herself.

“Where’s my hair crimper?” Massie checked the night table, looked between her sheets, felt under her bed, and lifted up her pillows. It was gone.

“I dunno,” Claire mumbled from behind the stack of pillows she was holding in her arms.

Inez tapped lightly on the door and then let herself in. She was carrying a wicker laundry basket filled with fresh linens. Like a robot programmed for efficiency, Inez dropped the basket on the floor and walked straight over to Massie’s bed. She tore the sheets off, rolled them into a tight ball, and stuffed them in the basket. In a matter of minutes the bed was dressed in a brand-new set of white sheets and pillowcases.

“I like my purple sheets. What are you doing?”

Inez bent down and lifted up the tiny puppy. She dropped her in the laundry basket and tucked Bean’s bed under her free arm.

“I have to get rid of all things that are covered in dog,” Inez announced.

“What?
Why?
” Massie screeched. She could hear Bean whimpering inside the basket.

“Mrs. Block said so.” Inez swiftly made her way to the door. “To fight the allergies.”

“Nooooo!” Massie shouted. “She can’t do that!”

Bean started barking.

“You think I like it?” Inez scowled. “Mrs. Block says now the puppy dog sleeps with me!” She slammed the door shut behind her.

Massie turned and looked at Claire’s puffy face. “How could you just stand there and let that happen? Why didn’t you tell them that it was just a cold?”

Claire scratched a welt that had formed on the side of her neck. “Because it’s not. But give me a chance to fix—”

“How can you fix this? They took my dog away!” Massie felt dizzy and leaned against the side of her desk. “How would you like it if someone came into your house and just took Todd away?”

“You can’t compare your dog to my brother.” Claire was rolling the bottle of blue nail polish between her palms.

“I just did!” Massie shouted.

Right on cue, Todd started blasting his tuba,
off key!

Massie pounded on the wall. “I wish someone
would
take him! Then you could have his room and I could get Bean back.”

His tuba suddenly got louder, as if he had moved closer to the wall on purpose.

“Your family is destroying my life!”

Claire’s blue eyes seemed to harden and turn a shade darker. She was obviously offended, but Massie was too upset about Bean to apologize.

“I’m destroying
your
life?” Claire’s body shook with anger, which must have loosened the tears behind her eyes and sent them spilling down her cheeks. “How can you say—?” She was rolling the nail polish bottle faster now, and the top accidentally came off in her hands. Metallic blue splattered across the burnt-orange pajamas Massie had lent her.

Claire looked up at Massie, her eyes wide and her mouth open, like someone had jumped out from behind the bed and soaked her with a water balloon

“How can I say that? How can I say that?” Massie asked. “You ruin everything of mine!” She marched into her bathroom and slammed the door shut. Before she burst out crying, Massie turned on the two swan-shaped faucets over her sink, then blasted the water in the shower. No one was allowed to hear her cry except Bean. And
she
was gone.

After ten minutes of sobbing, Massie’s anger had subsided and a weak, feverish feeling had taken its place. She was ready to negotiate with Claire. Perhaps they could come to some sort of Bean compromise. Maybe Claire could sleep under a mosquito net or wear a surgeon’s mask? And she could always get another pair of burnt-orange pajamas, right? Massie shut off the water and turned the shiny silver handle on her bathroom door. She stepped into her bedroom cautiously, not exactly sure what she was afraid of.

“Claire?” Massie asked meekly. “You in here?”

“Yup.” Claire’s voice sounded muffled, like she was inside a box.

“So am I,” another muffled voice chimed in.

Massie poked her head inside the closet and saw Claire standing with Layne.

“What are you doing here?”

“I told Claire I’d come over today and help her unpack.” Layne was wearing a pink rain hat similar to the one Kristen had been wearing at school the other day and a hot pink jumpsuit that was unzipped just enough to show a sliver of the black-and-yellow-striped sweater she was wearing underneath. She had a beige canvas backpack strapped to her shoulders.

“What are you wearing?” Massie asked. “Did you skydive here?”

“You know, you didn’t really give her much closet space to work with,” Layne said.

“It’s okay, Layne.” Claire pushed Layne out of the closet.

“No, it’s not, it’s totally unfair,” Layne insisted.

“Hey, Layne, knock knock.” Massie put her hands on her hips.

Claire sighed.

“Who’s there?” Layne asked, happy to help.

“Butt out.”

“Butt out who?”

“Butt out, Layne!” Massie turned on her heel and marched out of the closet. She slammed the door behind her and locked it, leaving Claire and Layne trapped inside. It was the first time she giggled all day.

“Let us out.” Layne pounded on the door. “Or I’ll wipe jalapeño salt all over your precious cashmere sweaters.”

“Go ahead. Claire has already destroyed half of my wardrobe. You might as well finish the job. See you later,” Massie shouted. “Good luck with your reorganizing.” She stomped on her wood floors, pretending to leave. After a few seconds, Massie quietly removed her diamond studs and pressed her ear against the door.

Layne was panting.

“She’ll let us out eventually. Don’t panic. So what’s up?” Claire was obviously trying to take Layne’s mind off the fact that they were trapped. “How’s Eli? Are you two still hot and heavy?”

“I dumped him last night on IM. I wrote, ‘U G2G 4Ever.’”

They giggled.

“Why?”

“He told me he bumped into Alicia and Nina at the MAC makeup counter,” Layne said.

“So you finally got tired of dating a guy who wears eyeliner?”

“No, he became obsessed with Nina. He wouldn’t stop talking about her. He loved her sexy boots, her wild outfits, and her exotic accent. I swear, Nina-mania is spreading faster than Dylan’s flu.”

“Let’s ask the hearts about her.”

“’Kay,” Layne agreed. “Hearts, should we lock up our crushes? Is Nina a boy-snatcher?”

Claire giggled. Massie pressed her head against the door a little harder. She heard the plastic bag rustle and the candy hearts clink together.

“
It says, ‘
She
-devil.
’”

Massie felt her stomach sink when she heard Claire and Layne gasp. She wanted to run in the closet and ask them to help her come up with a plan to get rid of Nina.

“That girl must be stopped,” Layne shouted. “It is our duty to put an end to Nina the Sex Machina.”

Just then, Massie’s cell phone rang. She fumbled to hit ignore, but it was too late.

“Massie, are you out there?” Claire shouted.

“Open the door.” Layne pounded.

“Come on, Massie, we have a movie to catch,” Claire pleaded.

Massie unlocked the door with one hand and answered her phone with the other.

Layne and Claire burst out of the closet and stormed out of the bedroom.

Massie ignored them.

“Hullo? . . . Hey, Kristen, what’s up? . . . Your bike lock is missing? What about your bike? . . . Who would take the lock and leave the bike? . . . Well, I can’t find my crimper. . . .” Massie searched her room to see if anything else was gone. That was when she noticed an empty space on her Glossip Girl shelf where her tube of Cotton Candy had been. “I think I know who did this.” She thought of the ten minutes she had spent in the bathroom while Claire was alone in her room. She could have called Layne and told her to swipe the lock on her way into the house. Massie had seen Little Miss Innocent do some pretty sneaky things when she was upset and knew that stealing was hardly beneath her.

“I’ll look into it. I have a few ideas. I’ll call you back in a bit.”

“’Kay,” Kristen said before she hung up.

Massie crept down to Inez’s room and dog-napped Bean. She raced upstairs and let the dog roll around and play in a pile of Claire’s clothes.

“Payback’s a bitch.” She patted Bean on the head. “Pun intended.”

B
RIARWOOD
A
CADEMY
S
OCCER
F
IELD

Friday, February 6th 4:15
P.M.

Claire was sitting in the backseat of the Blocks’ Range Rover with her forehead pressed against the cold window. It was all she could do to keep herself from barfing.

“Todd, could you stop playing that thing for one second?” Claire shouted toward the very backseat.

“I have to practice,” he said into his tuba. “I’m playing at halftime today.”

“Well, it’s making me nauseous.”

Todd lifted his swollen lips away from the mouthpiece. “I’m not the one driving.”

“Todd!” Judi shouted over her shoulder.

He responded with a short toot.

“Mom, ease up on the brakes a little,” Massie snapped after her head jerked forward.

Claire was relieved someone had finally spoken up about Kendra’s horrible driving.

“It’s not me, it’s my shoes,” Kendra promised. The car jerked three more times as she made the turn into the parking lot at Briarwood Academy. “These new Prada wedge heels have a bit of weight to them.”

Claire’s mother, Judi, laughed and sighed. “Oh, Kendra, you and your shoes. You are so funny!” But Claire knew her mother didn’t really see the humor in a grown woman who blamed her spastic driving on designer footwear. But lately everyone had been trying to act more tolerant of one another. “There’s a spot,” Judi shouted.