Cross My Heart and Hope You Cry | The Clique Fanfiction

23

She knows that if it was the four of them in the Pretty Committee, and not her, that her name wouldn't be third rank on the Blacklist—that they never would've needed to blackmail Claire, that Kristen wouldn't have betrayed them.

"Massie?" Alicia said worryingly.

Dylan turned from where she had been watching Kristen and Claire through the large front window of the shop to face the Alpha of their group which had just been deemed socially bankrupt. Massie was as white as a sheet; her face was completely devoid of all color which made the tones of her blush and bronzer stand out starkly against her skin. Her expression was blank however, as if she didn't know what to feel so instead she just felt nothing. Suddenly she took in a deep (almost choking) breath, and the red that had been missing flooded up her neck to her cheeks. Massie looked for a moment as if she were about to stagger backwards (Alicia even started lifting an arm to steady her) before she straightened her back as quick as the snap of a rubber band, abruptly turned on her heel and walked briskly out of the shop. Dylan and Alicia scrambled to follow her, too worried about their current social status to try and maintain any sort of dignified walk while they did so.

They clambered into the car after Massie and Isaac gave them a knowing look through the front mirror.

"I told you-"

"Don't!" Massie snapped. Isaac's mouth quickly shut in surprise at the vehemence in her tone. "Say one more word and I'll tell my parents that you molested me and have you locked up for life," she hissed. "And we've all heard what they do to child predators in prison so I doubt that life will be very long. Turn around, we're going home."

Dylan didn't say it, but she surely thought it, and by the way Alicia's eyes widened to the size of tennis balls and how she lifted a hand to cover her gaping mouth they were having the same thought—Ehmagawd . . .

Isaac promptly turned back around, eyes dark and guarded as he twisted the key into the ignition and the engine rumbled to life. Alicia must've been just as afraid to speak as she was (she surely wasn't trying to get threatened like poor Isaac), because she was also silent for the entire ride back to Massie's mansion. Nonetheless, neither of them could help darting —curious, concerned, frightened— looks towards Massie who steadfastly stared straight out her window with pursed lips. Dylan's sure that if she could, Massie would be claiming bad sushi, but that would all be for nought.

The car coasted to a stop directly in front of the Block mansion's front doors, and Massie barely waited for it to stall completely before she was jumping out of the car and racing up the front stairs. Alicia and Dylan gave each other worried looks, then followed. As soon as they were on the front steps Isaac was driving off, not that she blamed him. She wondered if he'd be quitting that day, or if he'd stick it out, but would no longer give them lighthearted banter as he usually did. She prepared herself for that loss as she followed Alicia up the stairs and into Massie's room (cursing as she hit her knee on the doorway, like always).

Massie was sitting on the floor in front of her bed, cuddling a confused-looking Bean in her lap.

"Massie?" Alicia started quietly, her voice breaking the silence. Massie didn't reply. "Massie what do we do?"

What could they do? Dylan had been racking her brain, and while she knew that she was no Massie in the way that her alpha was able to come up with solutions and plans on the fly, she couldn't see how anything would make their situation better. Cassia wasn't likely to forgive them anytime soon (if ever), Vanessa was even worse about holding grudges, so they couldn't appeal to her better nature either separate from the rest of her clique, and there was no sudden plan that could do to pass the blame onto someone else. It was clear that Kristen and Claire had banded together and told Cassia exactly what happened, and for Cassia to have believed it they must've shown her undeniable proof. There was nothing they could fake, play off, blackmail, to get them out of the situation they had found themselves in. Dylan gulped, suddenly wanting to cry. Why did they have to try to get on up on Cassia? Look at the state it had gotten them into . . .

Massie snorted, her voice sarcastic as she spoke. "Do you mean with Kristen, or with the Blacklist, because I don't know for either of them."

"Y-You have to know," Alicia insisted, her voice as desperate as Dylan felt.

"Well I don't," Massie said, her tone very matter-of-fact. "At least not here at Octavian Country Day- or Briarwood Octavian Country Day, whatever, it doesn't matter."

"What are you even talking about!?"

"I'm talking about leaving!" Massie snapped. Bean hopped out of her lap as she stood up. "I'm talking about looking up a really nice boarding school, convincing my parents to let me go, then starting over there where Vanessa's stupid blog doesn't reach!"

"W-What about us?" Dylan asked, her voice soft.

Massie's fierce gaze moved from Alicia to Dylan, and at her question her face softened. "You both can come with me," she said, her shoulders straightening and a look of determination coming onto her face. "None of us have a life here anymore, but we can start a new one together." A small smile tilted the right corner of her lips. "Get back to the top together wherever we end up."

Alicia still looked a little hesitant, but certainly wasn't as harried as before. "How would we convince our parents?"

"We choose a great school and have a whole presentation about it. If we can find a school with a great Spanish program, maybe your parents would like it more. And, Dylan, we can get something with an ah-mazing nutrition course."

"Maybe we can go somewhere overseas, like Paris," Dylan gasped.

"Or like London," Massie continued.

"Or Spain," Alicia piped.

The three of them grinned at each other and Massie lifted up her right hand, bracelet shining in the afternoon light, and shaking her wrist so that the charms clinked against one another with a chiming sound. The two of them followed her actions as Massie cried, "The Pretty Committee lives on!"

I gladly welcome constructive criticism and comments - I'd love to hear what you have to say! Follow me for sneak peeks that I post in my conversations tab and check me out on Pinterest @EddaValkyrie for real-life Instagram pages of the characters. Thanks for reading! Vote if you liked it!