Invasion of the Boy Snatchers (12 page)

Kendra slammed on the brakes and Claire’s head knocked against the window. Massie chuckled, then reached into her midnight blue feather clutch and pulled out what must have been her most recent Glossip Girl delivery, because Claire didn’t recognize the spicy scent. She watched though the corner of her eye as Massie smeared the stinky gloss across her lips. For the past week, Claire has been very careful not to show any interest in anything Massie did. Not until she apologized for accusing Claire of destroying her life. In fact, she was only riding with Massie because they’d promised Cam and Derrington they’d go to the game if the boys would stand still during the Love Struck dash. And Claire had every intention of honoring her deal with Cam, even if it meant sitting with Massie, driving with Kendra, and listening to Todd’s tuba.

“Ew, this smells like butt!” Massie pulled a road atlas out of the seat-back pocket and wiped her lips on Ohio. “I knew Taco Belle would be gross!”

Claire’s body shook as she tried to suppress her laughter.

“Why didn’t you steal this one instead?” Massie hissed.

Claire was tired of denying Massie’s accusations. She had been doing it all week. It was time to try a different approach.

“I don’t like Mexican food. But if you get mac ’n cheese, I’ll take it.”

“Just like you took my cotton candy?”

“Exactly.” Claire turned to the window.

Kendra stepped on the brake and looked at Massie through the rearview mirror. “Why are you two so dressed up for a silly soccer game? We’re only here to see Todd play his flute in the marching band.”

“Tuba,” Judi corrected. “Todd plays the tuba.”

Massie looked down at her blue tights, black leather miniskirt, and her matching knee-high boots as if she were noticing her outfit for the first time. “I would hardly call this ‘dressed up.’” She made air quotes around
dressed up
. “These boots are almost three months old.”

“Well, Claire is certainly looking a little more formal than usual.” Judi turned around and examined her daughter. “What’s the occasion?”

For the first time in seven days, Claire looked Massie in the eye. She was silently begging her not to tell the mothers that they were really dressed up for Cam and Derrington. Claire knew her mother would want to take pictures of her chasing Cam with a bow and arrow after the game. And she had already been humiliated enough over the last few months.

“Since when did it become a sin to wear my green lace Christmas dress to a soccer game? What’s the point of buying something if you’re only going to wear it once a year?”

“Oh, I can think of a million reasons.” Kendra smiled and slapped Judi playfully on the arm.

“Besides, I’m wearing it over jeans, which gives it a casual look,” Claire shouted over Todd’s tuba.

Massie reached behind her and pinched Todd’s thigh until he stopped playing. “If by
casual
you mean
homeless
, then yes, it does.” After she finished speaking she let go.

“Outfits aside, I think it’s nice that you’re all here to support Todd.” Judi sounded pleased. Claire couldn’t help looking at Massie after her mother said that. And to her surprise, Massie looked back at her with a wink and friendly half-smile. Claire smiled back.

“I know he appreciates it. Don’t you sweetie?” This time Judi twisted her neck so she could see her son’s grateful expression.

Todd blew two long, moaning blasts that sounded like a foghorn. Claire and Massie turned around and slapped his legs at the same time, then giggled.

Kendra finally parked the car and everyone jumped out. Claire was tempted to kiss the ground but took five deep breaths instead and asked her mother for ginger ale money. Judi handed her three dollars and made the girls promise to meet back at the car after the game.

“Uh, we have this thing for school after the game,” Claire called back over her shoulder. She looked to Massie for help. The last thing she wanted was her mother watching her run around a soccer field chasing boys on a Friday night. Luckily, Massie felt the same way.

“Yeah,” she shouted. “Dean, Alicia’s driver, will take us home. We’ll be back before dinner. Good luck, Todd!”

“Thanks,” he said into his tuba.

“Have fun,” the moms called as they waved goodbye to their daughters.

Massie led Claire straight to Kristen, who was sitting in the first row of bleachers behind the home bench. She was dressed in head-to-toe orange-and-blue Briarwood Tomahawks gear, waving a pennant in the air, and jumping up and down.

“I can’t wait to see what you do when the players actually get on the field.” Massie smirked.

Kristen laughed. “Hey, I love that you’re here,” she said. “I hate coming to these things alone.

“You’d never know it.” Claire craned her neck, looking for a soda cart.

A father with a beer belly in a black leather jacket smacked Kristen on the back. “Hey, good luck today, buddy.” He turned sideways and stepped into the opposite row of bleachers.

Kristen crinkled up her blue eyes, stuck her tongue out at the man, and shouted, “Ttub leoh!”

Claire and Massie covered their mouths with their gloved hands and laughed.

Kristen reached into the pocket of her Tomahawks windbreaker and pulled out a tube of red lipstick.

“When did you start wearing
that
?” Massie asked.

“When people started thinking I was on the boys’ soccer team,” Kristen snapped.

The girls giggled as she overdosed on Revlon’s Paint the Town Red.

Once the game finally started, Kristen seemed to forget her anger. She screamed for the Tomahawks every time they had the ball, while Claire mostly just shouted for Cam. She hit Massie every time Derrington made a good save so she’d know to cheer for him. But aside from those Derrington moments, Claire and Kristen were on their feet rooting, while Massie sat bundled up in her sheepskin coat and two scarves, playing Breakout on her cell phone.

“Virgins!” A voice shouted. “Get your virgins here.”

Sage Redwood was balancing a tray of her signature juice drinks while another girl walked beside her collecting money.

“I’ll take one.” Claire waved, giving up on her ginger ale.

“Do you have any Perrier?” Massie looked at Kristen and then said, “Make that two.”

Ever since Massie had found out Kristen was poor, she bought everything for her—lunches, movie tickets, snacks, accessories, and glittery school supplies.

“How about one of our Virgins for Life T-shirts?” Sage’s helper opened her jacket and showed Massie that she was actually wearing one herself. The edges of Massie’s mouth start to curl up and Claire knew that a clever cut-down was on its way out.

“I’d buy one, but I can’t stand false advertising,” a voice announced. It wasn’t Massie’s.

Nina and Alicia were behind Sage, waiting to squeeze past her and sit down. They were both wearing their hair in Pocahontas braids. But the similarities stopped there. Alicia was dressed like she always was, crisp dark jeans, a cute cami, a Ralph Lauren blazer, and her long gray coat, while Nina was wearing a J.Lo version of a soccer uniform: denim short shorts and thigh-high platform sneaker boots. A thin white long-sleeved T-shirt with the number 69 written on the back in rhinestones completed the outfit. Throughout the game guys kept offering her their coats, but she swore that she was a hot-blooded animal and didn’t need them. Then she would growl.

“Oh, by the way.” Nina turned to Massie. “Thanks for the air-conditioned exercise pants. Being exposed like that gave me such a thrill.”

“I’m sorry, I’m having a hard time understanding what you’re saying,” Massie snapped. “I don’t speak Slut.”

Nina ignored Massie and turned to Kristen. “You look so pretty today. I love the lipstick.”

“Really?” Kristen beamed. “Thanks so much.” She reapplied her lipstick and turned to Nina. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Claire felt like she was going to puke all over again. Nina was more nauseating than Kendra’s driving. She turned and focused on Cam, who had just taken the ball away from one of the Grayson guys. “Yeah, Cam!” she shouted. But just as quickly, the ball was taken from him. Number 37 kicked it across the field and passed it to number 20, who kicked it toward the net. Derrington stuck out his arm and managed to block the goal. Then he turned to the crowd, pulled down his shorts, and wiggled his bare butt.

Everyone jumped out of their seats and cheered for the star goalie.

“Massie!” Claire shouted. “Get up—Derrington just made a great save.”

Massie stood up on her bench and started bouncing up and down. Cam and Derrington waved at them from the field and Claire felt her heart leap. Massie looked over at Claire and smiled with her eyes.

“You’re welcome,” Claire said.

“The better he plays, the easier it will be for us to win the Cupid Award.” Massie turned to Claire. “Don’t you think?”

“Let’s see.” Claire pulled the bag of candy hearts out of her coat pocket. “Hearts, will Derrington win the Cupid Award?”

“Let me do it.” Massie stuck her hand in the bag and pulled out a blue heart.
“Destiny.”
Her face lit up and she smiled brightly. “Yes!” She popped the candy in her mouth and hugged Claire. “I love these things. Why didn’t I think of doing this?”

Claire figured that was Massie’s way of apologizing and decided to accept.

“Isn’t this stupid game over yet?” a dark figure asked as she pushed her way in between Claire and Massie. She was wearing a black poncho, black sunglasses, and a black pashmina wrapped around her flaming red hair.

Massie leaned over and lifted the sunglasses off the mysterious stranger’s face. “Dylan?”

“Shhhh. If my buther knows I came here, she’ll kill be. She thinks I’m doo sick do be out in the cold, but there’s doh way I’b gonna let someone else shoot Chris Plovert.” She broke into a coughing fit.

“Wait, you don’t have a brother,” Kristen piped in.

“Buther, not brother.
Buther!
”

“Is that a jumble?” A hopeful smile spread across Kristen’s face.

“I think she’s trying to say ‘mother,’” Claire offered.

“I ham,” Dylan sighed. “I’m just doh duffed dup.”

“Dylan, did you lose weight?” Nina asked. “You look so slim.”

“Really?” Dylan smiled. “Maybe it’s because I’b wearing black.”

“I think it’s because you have a very sexy figure.” Nina smiled.

“Thanks, Deena. You look really good in those shorts.”

Claire looked at Massie and stuck her finger down her throat. Massie giggled.

“Is dis another inside joke between you two?” Dylan barked.

“
No!
” Claire and Massie shouted at the same time.

“Whatever.” Dylan rolled her eyes. “Does anyone have any gloss? By lips are chapped.”

“Here, you can keep this.” Massie gave Dylan her tube of Taco Belle.

Dylan spread the wand across her lips. “Ew!” She whipped the tube onto the soccer field. “Even I can smell dat! Dince when is Sweaty Butt a lip gloss flavor?”

Everyone burst out laughing.

“Here, try mine.” Nina passed a gold tube of gloss down the row. Then she blew a huge pink bubble with her gum and smiled when it popped all over her shiny lips.

Dylan sniffed it and smiled. “Better. I don’t dmell a thing. Dhanks.”

“Lemme take a whiff.” Dylan held the wand up to Claire’s nose. “Mmmm, Cotton Candy,” Claire said loud enough for Massie to hear. But Massie’s face was buried in her game of Breakout. “
Mmmm, Cotton Candy,
” Claire shouted again. “Massie, you’d love this—have a smell.”

“Huh?” Massie looked up. Her eyes were tearing, either from the wind or sheer boredom.

“Smell.”

Massie leaned forward. She positioned her tiny button nose over the wand and sniffed. Her face came to life like she had just inhaled a bag of smelling salts, then a second later she squinted.

“Nina, am I a used Band-Aid?”

“Uh, no.” Nina’s eyes were fixed on the soccer players.

“Then why did you rip me off?” Massie’s voice was flat and calm, but her teeth were showing, like an attack dog’s.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You stole my lip gloss!” Massie yelled.

“Ma’am, I found it!” a referee yelled back from the field.

He was holding up the tube of Taco Belle and waving it between his fingers. He fake-tossed it to let Massie know he was about to throw it. When he actually did, Massie made no effort to catch it, and the stinky gloss plopped down in a muddy puddle just below their feet.

“Where’s my crimper? Did you take that too?”

“And what about my bike lock?” Kristen chimed in.

A look of panic washed over Alicia’s face, as if she were the one being accused. “Nina, did you take Massie’s lip gloss?”

“No!” Nina pouted the way grown-ups do when they want you to think they’re offended. “That’s crazy talk.”

“Then where did you get this?” Massie was shaking the gold tube.

“I bought it at the duty-free shop in the airport.” Nina stood up and jumped off the bleacher. She bent down slowly in front of the puddle and picked up the tube of Taco Belle.

“Can we get an instant replay of that?” someone shouted at her from the stands.

Nina bent down again and wiggled her butt. When she straightened back up, the boys in their section applauded. She smiled and waved, then blew another bubble. She looked at Dylan. “Guys love it when you blow big bubbles. It reminds them of boobs.”

“Really?” Dylan said. “Lemme have a piece.”

“Me too.” Kristen forgot all about her missing bike lock.

Nina handed them each a piece of watermelon-flavored Bubblicious, then looked at Massie and scowled. She held the dirty tube over Massie’s face so the mud would drip on her face.

“Oops.” Nina put her hand over her mouth. “So sorry. I was just trying to show you that your tube is silver and mine is gold. I assumed a rich girl like you would know the difference between the two, but I guess I was wrong.”

A teardrop clump of mud slid down Massie’s cheek.

“Clean yourself up,” Nina instructed. “You’re a mess.”

Claire felt so uncomfortable for Massie, she could hardly look at her. No one had ever treated her like that before, and it must have been tearing her apart on the inside. But outside she was cool and calm.