Invasion of the Boy Snatchers (19 page)

“You’re right.” Massie half-smiled. She could feel her friends’ eyes on her.

“She is?” Alicia asked.

“Yup.” Massie grabbed the milk carton away from Kristen’s thirsty lips and in one swift motion dumped the contents on Nina. “There’s no use crying over spilt milk.” It drenched her Virgins for Life shirt and soaked the ends of Cookie’s tangled black hair.

Everyone broke into a fit of laughter except Nina, Cookie, and her two friends. It was like they had been frozen solid with their mouths open.

Suddenly, a bony hand clamped down on Massie’s shoulder. A long, brittle fingernail dug into the back of her neck, and she wondered if a bird might have flown in through the window and landed on her. She turned her head slowly, just in case she was right.

“
Detention!
” Principal Burns squawked. She handed Massie a pink slip. “That makes three in one week, Miss Block.”

Massie opened her mouth to respond, but Principal Burns cut her off before she could manage to get out the first syllable.

“One more and you’ll be suspended.” She circled Massie’s chair, never taking her beady black eyes off Massie’s face.

Nina was leaning back in her chair wearing a cocky smile.

Principal Burns finally turned her attention to Alicia.

“What did I do?” Alicia’s brown eyes were wide with innocence.

“You didn’t do anything. I came to give you this breaking news report.” Principal Burns handed Alicia a white paper napkin covered in her ultra-tiny, all-caps handwriting. There was a small coffee stain in the lower left-hand corner. “Apparently, a miniature camera was found in the boys’ locker room at Briarwood. Coach Pierce is accusing Grayson Academy of espionage. He’s pressuring the athletics board to cancel the finals game until there has been a full investigation.”

Massie felt her heartbeat quicken.

“No!” Kristen shouted. “He can’t call off the finals. I’ve been waiting all year for this game.”

“Well, you may want to consider a class in time management, Miss Gregory,” Principal Burns said. “Now I suggest you hurry, Alicia. The public deserves to know what’s going on here.”

“I’m on it.” Alicia saluted the principal, then turned and walked away.

“I said hurry!” Principal Burns shouted.

“I am!” Alicia said.

Massie was so excited by the news, she could hardly sit still. As soon as Principal Burns left, she pulled out her cell phone and sent an urgent message to Claire and Alicia.

MASSIE
: Meet me on the library steps after detention. Wear dark clothes. Come alone. We’re going in.

B
RIARWOOD
A
CADEMY
T
HE
S
OCCER
F
IELD

Thursday, February 12th 5:43
P.M.

Claire, Massie, and Alicia were lying flat on their bellies with their arms around each other’s backs. It was all they could do to keep from freezing on the icy cold pavement beneath them. They were on the ground below the last row of bleachers in Briarwood’s soccer stadium, safely hidden from view while they waited patiently for the right time to make their move.

“Look,” Claire said when she saw Cam. He shuffled out of the locker room and onto the field. “He got a new gym bag.” He threw the brown-and-white Puma duffel over his shoulder and zipped up his worn leather jacket.

“Spying is awesome.” Massie paused for a second before continuing. “Except for what Todd did—that was pervy times ten.”

“This is a whole new way to get gossip,” suggested Alicia

“It sucks,” Claire groaned. “It’s just another bitter reminder of how much I miss Cam.” He waited by the goalie net for Derrington and Chris Plovert to catch up. It was obvious they were tired, because they had the posture of guys who’d lost the big game, not practiced for it. For a second, Claire caught herself feeling sorry for Cam and wished that she could bring him a Coke or a bag of Hot Cheetos. But then she remembered how he’d run away from her less than a week ago and decided that if anyone should be doling out the “feel better” gifts, it should be him.

Claire checked Massie’s face for signs of Derrington grief, but her expression gave away nothing. Her stare was hard and emotionless; it was the same expression she’d worn when Principal Burns was lecturing her about throwing milk at Nina.

When the boys disappeared into the distance, Massie sighed. “That’s the last of them.” She used purple nail polish to cross their three names off the team list Todd had slipped them after school. “The locker room should be empty now.”

“Do you think they miss us?” Claire buried her face in her hands as soon as the words came out of her mouth, as if she were protecting herself from an inevitable slap.

“Kuh-laire!” Alicia and Massie shouted.

“Are you a midget?” Massie asked.

“No.”

“Then get over him!”

Alicia laughed, then high-fived Massie.

“Can you?” Claire asked. “Are you honestly over Derrington?” Then she turned to Alicia. “And are you over the fact that Josh is going to the dance with someone else, namely your cousin? Because if you are, tell me how you did it.”

Claire felt the tears coming. She was so upset with herself for getting emotional; she sat up and punched herself in the thigh.

Massie grabbed Claire’s fist. “What difference does it make if I’m over Derrington or not?” she said in a soft, soothing voice. “The point is, I have to act like I am. If I didn’t, I’d be a mess, like you.”

“I don’t want to be a mess anymore,” Claire sniffled. But she couldn’t help herself. It was like picking a scab. She was incapable of letting herself heal.

“Let’s do this.” Alicia lifted the hood on her black cashmere sweater and covered her head. “Let’s catch the girl who’s responsible for our grief. It’s the only way we’ll ever recover.”

“She’s right,” Massie agreed.

“Okay.” Claire took a deep breath and forced herself to smile.

“How much do we love your Nurse Adele connection?” Massie covered her face with a black pashmina. “Why didn’t I ever think of becoming friends with the nurse? After all, she
is
the keeper of the lost and found. I should have seen the potential in that way before Claire did.”

“Like you would ever wear lost clothes,” Alicia said.

“True.” Massie sniffed the black pashmina and winced. “This smells like grandmother.”

“Well, I actually
like
Nurse Adele.” Claire slipped on a black ski cap and tucked her white-blond hair inside.

“You just like her because she lets you take whatever you want from her office,” Alicia added.

“That’s not true!” Claire snapped. “She was my first friend at OCD.”

“Ew, she’s the nurse.” Alicia rolled her eyes.

“So?”

“Focus.” Massie clapped her hands and lifted a doctor’s mask over her face. Claire and Alicia did the same. Massie started humming the theme song to
Mission Impossible
as the girls made their way down from the bleachers to the field. It wasn’t long before Claire and Alicia started singing along. When they reached the outside of the locker room, they pressed their backs up against the yellow brick walls, like cops on the verge of busting into a drug dealer’s apartment.

“Okay, so what exactly are we looking for?” Claire whispered.

“I dunno,” Massie said. “Proof that Nina is stealing, I guess.”

“Just because her camera was here doesn’t mean we’re going to find any clues,” Alicia said.

“I know, but it’s the only lead we have,” Massie snapped. “Come on.” She pressed her shoulder into the blue door outside the locker room and pushed it open quietly.

“Ew.” Alicia fanned the air the second they stepped inside.

“It smells like sweat and duct tape.” Massie winced. “And jockstraps.”

Claire covered her nose with the collar of her black windbreaker.

“How do you know what jockstraps smell like?” Alicia giggled.

“I heard Nina describe it in her sleep,” Massie said.

Alicia cracked up. Claire meant to laugh, but she was too busy examining the rows of green lockers, wondering which one belonged to Cam.

The sound of dripping water echoed from the showers.

Plip. Plip. Plip.

“Hullo,” Massie called. “Anyone in here?”

No one answered back.

“Look,” Alicia whispered. She was pointing at a locker with a bright pink lock.

“What kind of guy would have a pink lock?” Claire asked.

“Eli.” Massie giggled.

“Yeah, but he never made the team,” Claire reminded her.

They walked closer.

“It kinda looks like Kristen’s.”

“Try her combo,” Claire suggested. “It’s Beckham’s birthday, 0502.”

“She’s right!”

Massie looked around for possible intruders one last time, and then she grabbed the lock. She turned the dial right, left, all the way around to the right, and then a quick left. She took a deep breath and tugged. The lock snapped open.

The girls gasped.

Massie put the lock in her pocket, then lifted the metal hinge. “We’re in,” she said. She pulled back the squeaky green door and immediately covered her nose. The spicy smell of men’s cologne was everywhere.

“That’s Polo,” Alicia said. She pushed Massie and Claire out of the way and practically stepped inside the locker. After a few deep inhales, Alicia ran her fingers over the blue blazer that was hanging on the back hook, took one more sniff, and then declared, “This locker belongs to Josh Hotz.”

“How do you know?” Claire asked.

“Polo cologne, Ralph Lauren blazer, and these.” She opened the door as wide as it would go and pointed to the newspaper clippings that were taped to the inside. “These are the articles about him getting expelled from Hotchkiss for pulling the fire alarm.” Alicia lifted Josh’s blazer off the hook and tried it on. She lifted the sleeves to her nose and inhaled deeply.

“Mmmmm.” She made the same noise that Dylan made whenever she smelled a fresh batch of blueberry muffins in the Café. “Ralph, how
do
you do it?”

Claire and Massie pushed Alicia aside and took a closer look.

“Gross.” Massie lifted a dirty sweat sock off the bottom of the locker. “All the guys from the Tomahawks signed this to welcome him to the team,” Massie said.

Claire secretly looked for Cam’s signature. She felt her palms itch the instant she saw his slanted handwriting:
Hotchkiss sucks! Welcome to Briarwood.

“Why would Josh steal Kristen’s bike lock?” Alicia asked.

“He wouldn’t.” Claire pulled a piece of white monogrammed stationery off the top shelf. It said ALICIA RIVERA in silver block letters.

“That’s my personalized stationery,” Alicia gasped. “How did he get that?”

Claire cleared her throat and read the letter out loud.

Dear Josh,

I put a secret Spanish victory spell on this lock. Use it one week before the game and the Tummyhocks will win the finals. But if you tell anyone where you got it or why you’re using it, the spell will turn into a curse. You will lose the game and break an ankle.

Love,

Nina

“Ew, look!” Claire cried out. “She kissed the page with her red lipstick.”

“Alicia, is there such a thing as a Spanish victory spell?” Massie asked.

“Not that I know of.”

“Then why would she want Josh to have—?”

“Because of that.” Claire pointed to a gray Kenneth Cole shoe bag that was taped to the top shelf of Josh’s locker. She stretched her arms above her head. “I can’t reach it.”

Massie grabbed the end of one of the wooden benches. “Alicia, give me a hand.”

Alicia touched the other side of the bench while Massie tried her hardest to lift it.

“Grab it,” Massie grunted.

“I am,” Alicia whined.

Eventually Massie managed to slide the bench across the floor on her own. It was the first time Claire had ever seen her do anything remotely physical, and she couldn’t help giggling.

Once the bench was in place, Claire stepped up and pulled the Kenneth Cole bag down with little effort.

“Hey! That’s my shoe bag.”

“How do you know?” Massie asked. “Everyone in Westchester shops at Kenneth Cole.”

“Check out the bottom,” Alicia offered.

Claire lifted the bag, and sure enough, it read, “AR & RL” in gold metallic ink.

“Who is RL?” Claire asked

“Ralph Lauren.” Massie rolled her eyes.

Alicia giggled. “I didn’t want Ralph to be upset that I bought Kenneth Cole, so I gave him a little secret reassurance.”

“No comment.” Massie smirked.

“Ready?” Claire shook the bag. She opened it slowly. The girls were so anxious to see what was inside, they leaned closer and bumped heads.

“Give it to me.” Massie pulled the bag away from Claire and dumped everything onto the floor.

“No.” Alicia paused. “Way.”

“Wow,” Claire gasped

“Ehmagod,” Massie whispered.

Everyone’s stolen loot was lying on the cold gray floor of the boys’ locker room. Alicia’s argyle socks, Massie’s hair crimper, Natalie Nussbaum’s Chococat pencil case, Mrs. Beeline’s red Montblanc pen, Jessi Rowan’s Kipling monkey key chain, and at least a dozen tubes and jars of makeup.

“Hey, that’s the eyeliner Eli bought at the MAC counter,” Alicia said.

“How do you know it’s his?” Claire asked.

“Because no girl I know would ever buy hot pink eyeliner called Tender. I remember seeing him try it on when I bumped into him at the mall. Nina was with me.”

“Nina must have given Josh the lock so she would have a secret place to hide her stash.”

“How could he not know it was there?” Claire asked.

“Boys are idiots,” Alicia said with a nod.

“I agree.” Claire looked down at her high-tops.