Massie and Alicia jumped back as quickly as they could.
“No, that’s okay,” Claire said. “We just wanted to know what they were for.”
Meena stepped forward. “They were my idea.” She tucked a thick black corkscrew curl behind her ear. “They’re meant to show people like Nina that you can still look beautiful in modest clothing.”
“I got them from my dad’s grocery store,” Heather announced proudly.
“They should never have allowed boys at this dance.” Layne shook her head. “They always bring out the worst in girls.”
“You guys should change your names to the Sad Sacks.” Massie’s moment of affection for Layne was officially over.
“Hilarious,” Layne mocked flatly. She stuffed the sacks back in her bag and walked away. Meena and Heather followed her.
Alicia cracked up. Massie joined her when she noticed Derrington wipe his sweaty bangs away from his forehead and leave the dance floor. She wanted him to see that she could have fun without him. But he never even looked her way.
“Uh, ’bye, Layne,” Claire called.
Layne lifted her hand over her head without turning around.
“Has anyone seen Kristen?” Mrs. Gregory said as she approached the girls. She was walking so quickly, Massie wondered if she’d be able to stop once she reached them or if she’d just smash into the wall.
“Uh, I think she’s in the bathroom,” Massie offered.
“As long as she’s not hanging around that vixen on the dance floor,” said Mrs. Gregory. “Where are that girl’s parents?”
“Spain,” Alicia replied.
Mrs. Gregory shook her head in disgust, then sat down with Dylan and Chris.
Massie felt a tingle in her stomach when she remembered that tonight was the night they were going to bring Nina down once and for all. She checked her diamond-encrusted Chanel watch. The big moment was only ten minutes away.
“Is everything set?” Massie asked Alicia.
“Given.” Alicia swiped a red spot off her turquoise dress.
When she brushed her hand against it, it moved to Massie’s shoulder.
“Ew, what is that?” Massie tried to wipe it off, but it moved to Claire’s cheek. She lifted her hand as if she were about to smack a mosquito. “Kuh-laire, it’s on your face.”
Claire grabbed Massie’s arm before she could do any damage. She turned her head and looked over her shoulder frantically, as if the mosquito had gotten away and she was trying to find it.
“There it is.” Alicia pointed to the floor. “It’s a laser light.”
“Todd, where are you?” Claire shouted. Instantly he appeared, crawling out from under the table Dylan and Chris were sitting at. His tiny friend, Nathan, came out after him. They were both dressed in black cat suits.
“Please tell me those aren’t my old dance clothes,” Claire begged.
Tiny Nathan laughed, but it sounded more like a squeak.
“Claire, we have no time for banter.” Todd lifted the rim of his black baseball cap, revealing a few strands of sweaty hair that had stuck to his forehead. “I am on a special mission. If we get caught at this dance, it could mean trouble for everyone.” He was speaking from the side of his mouth. “So try to be cool.”
He slipped Claire a CD case.
“What is this?” Claire said.
“Shhh,” Todd and Nathan said at the same time. Then they giggled.
“It’s a CD from you know who,” he said.
“No way,” Claire said. Her entire face lit up.
Massie felt her insides fill up with a heavy sadness. But she forced herself to half-smile, for Claire’s sake.
“And this is for you.” Todd reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold heart-shaped ring. It was oversized and made of plastic, but Massie didn’t care. It fit perfectly, like it had been made just for her. She could feel herself smiling. Maybe her luck was about to turn. “Is this from Derrington?” she asked coyly.
“No.” Todd sounded proud. “It’s from me.” He looked up at Massie with a loving smile.
Massie pulled off the ring and stuffed it down the collar of Todd’s tight cat suit.
“Ouch. You’re like a vicious animal!”
“Did you come all this way just to give me the CD?” Claire asked without taking her eyes off the front of the jewel case.
“Uh . . . ” Todd looked nervously at Massie.
“He came because I made him.” Massie grabbed him by the ear and pulled him toward her. “If you think he’s getting away with spying on me, you’re wrong.”
Claire finally looked up. “Huh?”
“I figured he could help us with our revenge plan,” Massie said. “And if he does a good job, I’ll consider us even.” She tugged his ear again and Todd moaned in pain.
“What does he have to do?” Claire’s ah-nnoying protective instincts were obviously starting to kick in.
“Nothing too bad.” Massie let go of Todd’s ear and turned to face him. “All you have to do is offer to give Nina a foot massage. And while you do, Nathan will creep up behind you like a tiny mouse and steal her shoes.”
“Then what?” Nathan squeaked.
“Then you will bring her shoes to me. I will make a few adjustments, and you will sneak them back to her.”
“But her feet are all sweaty,” Todd whined. “Look at her: she’s dancing like a maniac.”
“I never said this was going to be easy.” Massie grinned. “Now go!” She slapped Todd on the butt and he took off toward the dance floor with Nathan trailing close behind.
Alicia started clapping, and Massie waited for Claire’s reaction with an expectant smile on her face. She couldn’t wait for Claire to jump up and down and congratulate her on thinking of another way to get Nina.
But all Claire said was, “I can’t believe Cam didn’t include a note.”
“It looks like his playlist is the message,” Alicia offered.
Claire looked at the CD cover one more time. “You’re right.”
“What does it say?” Massie figured that if she sounded interested, they’d never know how hurt she was that Claire wasn’t excited about her latest revenge plan. And, more importantly, that Derrington hadn’t sent anything for her.
Claire held the CD case in front of her face and read out loud.
“Sorry” Foxy Brown
“More Than Meets the Eye” The Bangles
“Don’t Judge Me Bad” Monsieur Jeffrey Evans & the ’68
Comeback
“Trouble Will Soon Be Over” Blind Willie Johnson
“True” Ryan Cabrera
“Great Big Kiss” New York Dolls
“Happy Valentine’s Day” Outkast
“I have to find him. He totally wants to kiss tonight. The candy was right—it said
‘Whatever Your Heart Desires,’
remember? I knew he’d send me a sign. I knew it.” Claire hugged the CD and ran off to find Cam.
“It looks like she’s chasing a little puppy.” Alicia watched Claire zigzag frantically around the room, pushing innocent victims out of her way as she bobbed and weaved through clusters of people.
“She kind of is,” Massie said.
Alicia giggled.
Massie felt bad insulting Cam, because she genuinely liked him. But acting mean helped her get rid of her pent-up Derrington anger. And she had a lot to get rid of.
“I’ve been waiting for like ten binutes for you to save us,” Dylan whispered in Massie’s ear.
“Huh?”
“Bissus Gregory has been sitting with us for the last twenty binutes. If she doesn’t leave us alone, I’ll never win dis bet.” She blew her nose in a pink cocktail napkin, then casually dropped it on the floor.
“Is he really going to kiss you with that cold?” Massie asked.
“How are you going to breathe?” Alicia wondered.
Chris Plovert walked up and stood beside them.
“Uh, yeah, so I think I did okay on that bath test,” Dylan said louder than she needed to. But she obviously didn’t want him to know what they were talking about.
“Uh, when you’re done talking about math, we could check out my brother’s new car,” he said to Dylan.
“Uh, sure.” Dylan twirled her hair and rocked back and forth on the heels of her gold wedge sandals. She looked casually over her shoulder. “But let’s wait until Kristen’s buther stops staring at us. She’s giving me the creeps.”
Chris rolled his eyes but agreed.
Massie was relieved. Obviously, Dylan was too nervous to be alone with Chris. Maybe she wasn’t the only one with a kissing phobia after all.
“Let’s go get some hot cider and cake,” Dylan suggested, while biting her thumbnail, something she rarely did. “Then we can go to your brother’s car.” Dylan stared at Massie and Alicia with wide eyes, silently begging them to join her.
The four of them strolled over to the buffet table, but Dylan was the only one who grabbed a red, heart-shaped plastic plate. She tapped her finger against her chin while she scanned the selection, then she reached for a pink cupcake and six chocolate-covered strawberries. Massie, Alicia, and Chris waited patiently while she searched for something salty to complement her sweets.
Josh Hotz was at the table, filling a plate with sprinkle cookies. When Alicia saw him, she applied a fresh coat of lip gloss and fluffed up her hair. Then she went back to acting like he didn’t exist.
“Forget about the food.” Chris’s squinty eyes were fixed on Dylan. “Let’s just go now.”
Dylan twirled a lock of red hair around her finger and bit her bottom lip. She looked worried.
Alicia turned her back to Chris so he couldn’t hear what she was saying. “Maybe you should go,” she told Dylan. “Kristen has been gone for a while. You may want to pick up the pace.” She gave her hair another quick fluff because Josh was now inches away.
“’Kay.” Dylan pushed Alicia aside and spoke directly to Chris. She looked behind her and saw that Mrs. Gregory was busy talking to another one of the chaperones. “But we have to make a run for it so we can escape Kristen’s bomb.”
“I can’t run.” Chris knocked on his cast.
“Well, you better try,” Dylan said. “Because Kristen’s bomb is going to go off if she—”
Chris sighed and ran his fingers though his crunchy, overgelled hair.
Massie waved a pink cocktail napkin in front of Dylan’s face. “Blow your nose,” she instructed. “It looks moist.”
Dylan handed her plate of food to Alicia, then blew into the napkin. She tossed it back to Massie.
“Ew.” Massie jumped back and watched it land on the polished wood floor of the gym. She couldn’t help laughing as she watched Dylan run in heels as Chris limped beside her.
“Where did Josh go?” Alicia’s eyes searched the gym. “He was just here with a plateful of cookies.”
“Dunno,” Massie said. Derrington was chasing Nina around the dance floor, trying to lasso her with his red-and-blue-striped tie. He finally stopped when Todd and Tiny Nathan approached them. Derrington gave Todd a dirty look and then stumbled off the dance floor. Massie wished she had been standing closer so she could hear what Todd was saying, but whatever it was, it worked. Within seconds he had his hand on the small of Nina’s back and was leading her toward an empty table. Tiny Nathan grabbed a red cloth napkin off a cookie-covered plate and wiped the chair before Nina sat down. Nina smiled with delight and patted the top of Todd’s head. He giggled and then got down on his knees and pulled off her gold shoes, slowly, like a real Prince Charming would. Massie couldn’t help smiling to herself: for a dork, Todd could be really smooth when he wanted to be.
“Come on, Nathan,” Massie muttered to herself. “Grab the shoes and bring them to me. Come on. . . . Come on, little guy. . . . You can do it. . . . Yes!”
Nathan crept behind Nina’s chair, pinched the heels of her shoes, and stuffed them down the back of his black tights. Then he crawled across the gym floor on his hands and knees. He stopped at Massie’s heels.
“Gawd, you really took that whole Be-a-tiny-mouse thing seriously, didn’t you?” Massie said. He crinkled his nose and squeaked twice.
Massie reached into her handbag and pulled out a mini-saw.
“Ehmagod, where did you get that?” Alicia gasped.
“I kinda borrowed it from Claire’s father. He’s like, the only dad in Westchester who has his own toolbox.” Massie crouched down so she could make eye contact with Tiny Nathan, who was still in mouse mode.
“Now crawl under a table and saw the heel halfway off of one of her shoes, but just halfway. When you’re done, ditch the weapon and get the shoes back to Todd ASAP. Have him slip them back on Nina’s feet, but try not to let her stand until she’s called to the stage. Okay?”
Nathan squeaked and nodded. Then he quickly disappeared under a red tablecloth.
“Done,” Massie sighed.
“Done,” Alicia said.
“And done,” Massie said.
Suddenly, the DJ lowered the volume on Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone,” and Principal Burns began speaking from the small round stage they had built for the event.
“Is everyone having fun?” She was trying to sound enthusiastic, but it came out sounding more like she was making a statement than asking a question.
“I better go,” Alicia said. “It’s showtime.”
“Are you all set?” Massie asked.
“I’m ready,” Alicia replied. “But where’s Claire?”
“Here.” Claire ran up and stopped beside them. “Sorry ’bout that.” She was out of breath.
“Did you kiss Cam?” Massie was hoping the answer was no. The idea of Claire having more experience than her in anything other than Keds and candy was unbearable.
Claire shook her head.
“Sorry to hear that,” Massie lied.
“He ran away as soon as he saw me.” Claire turned her head and wiped her eyes. “I’m sure he’s laughing about all of this with Nina right now.”
“Cheer up.” Alicia patted Claire’s shoulder. “Revenge is on its way. Wish me luck. It’s time.” She waved goodbye and for the first time in their friendship, Massie saw Alicia run. Her feet shuffled along the ground like she was doing a forward moonwalk, but to her credit, she was picking up speed.
“Good luck!” Massie and Claire shouted after her. Once Alicia was out of sight, they began pushing their way to the front of the stage. A lot was riding on the next five minutes and they didn’t want to miss a thing. Massie’s palms were starting to sweat. This was the first time she wasn’t in complete control of a revenge plot, and she couldn’t help wondering if Alicia had the chops to pull it off. If she didn’t, they would probably face expulsion.