A Tale of Two Pretties (10 page)

“Ten! Ten!” they all agreed.

“This is incredible!” Claire exclaimed, unwrapping a fresh pack of SweeTarts and bouncing on her toes.

“People must be freaking out over everything here,” Kristen added, surveying the masses.

All around them, girls were snatching up jackets and blouses and belts with faster hands than Winona Ryder in a department
store. Everyone had at least two full bags. “It’s all so ah-mazing. And ah-ffordable!” She glanced at the price tag Alicia
had hand-written into the romper. It was almost as cheap as the most expensive sweater she’d ever bought at H&M!

“Group hug!” Dylan shouted, and the PC crowded in together for a big squeeze. Kristen tried not to wince again.

“Okay, time’s up. We have a schedule to stick to!” Alicia clapped her hands twice.

“Sorry,” Dylan mumbled as her phone vibrated. “I have to take this.” She started punching into her keyboard.

“Let’s get suited up and start the runway show,” Alicia added.

Dylan’s phone buzzed again.

“Who is that?” Kristen asked. “All of your friends are here.”

“Mmm-hmm,” she nodded, thumbing away.

“So let’s go,” Alicia urged, pulling on Dylan’s arm.

“Two secs,” Dylan muttered. Her cheeks were slowly turning the color of her hair, and Kristen could see she was biting her
lip. Her eyes kept bouncing back and forth between the walkie-talkie she’d been assigned and her Evo, like she couldn’t decide
which piece of technology needed her more.

“Oh, I know why you’re stalling,” Massie said assuredly. She clucked her tongue. “Don’t worry, Dyl. Alicia’s old leather pants
will
toe
-dally fit you. I made sure of it!”

“That’s not it,” Dylan mumbled.

“
Ehma
-workload! You’re just trying to get out of the rest of the sale duties!” Alicia challenged. “Well, forget it. We all have
to help out. Even if
some
of us would rather be elsewhere!”

Kristen reddened. She could swear Alicia’s eyes were boring a hole directly through her tee and into her bruise.

“I promise, that’s not it,” Dylan begged. Her phone jingled again.

“Fine,” Alicia huffed. She snapped her fingers twice. “Change of plans! If Dylan’s too busy to take the runway right now,
she can go handle the registers.”

“Tiny Nathan needs a break, anyway,” Claire offered. “He and Todd have been complaining about child labor violations.”

“Kristen, since you were late, you can go help Dylan with the register,” Alicia commanded. Her walkie-talkie burst to life
in her hands.

A voice that sounded suspiciously like Layne’s rang out over the headset. “Alicia, we’ve got a style infraction in the dressing
rooms. Over.”

Alicia grabbed Massie’s arm like it was the last pair of Rag & Bone gloves in Westchester. “Uh oh. Someone must be having
a
What Not to Wear
moment. I need you! Girls, runway is happening in thirty minutes. No excuses!”

Dylan’s phone rang again, and Alicia glared at her one last time before pulling Massie and Claire along with her. Kristen
sighed and followed Dylan to their next task.

The runway show had been a total success, and Kristen and Dylan were back at the registers as Kristen, the math whiz, tried
desperately to remember how to subtract someone’s fifty-seven-dollar purchase from the one-hundred-dollar bill she’d been
handed.

“Excuse me, ma’am, but I should get forty-three dollars back, not twenty,” complained the girl.

“Ma’am!” Dylan burped.

“What?
Ehma
-I’m-so-sorry,” Kristen said, turning purple and quickly handing the girl the rest of her change. Maybe it was the lack of
food, or the temperature inside the heated tent, or the leftover nerves from the catwalk, but Kristen was suddenly feeling
like she’d just ridden a roller coaster
three times in a row. A feeling she hadn’t had since she was eight… when she rode a roller coaster three times in a row.

“You messed up my change, too,” the girl’s friend said. They were the last two customers in line, and Kristen was so woozy
that she couldn’t be sure if there were actually two of them, or if she was seeing double.

Dylan pulled out money from her own pocket and handed it to the girl. “Thanks for being green and buying our old clothes.
Now scram!”

Kristen was about to thank Dylan for saving her when Alicia’s voice screeched through their walkie-talkies. “Dylan! Kristen!
I heard that! If you can’t figure out how to make change, you may as well just give up now.”

“Spare us your lecture,” Dylan hissed into the walkie-talkie. “You’re gonna be thrilled when you hear the day’s totals!”

Alicia, Massie, and Claire came running over to the registers. Everyone held their breath as Kristen finished counting out
the small stacks of bills that lined the now-empty table. Then she handed it to Dylan to recount it, just in case she was
SSD: still seeing double.

“Two thousand eight hundred and fifty-three dollars!” she announced. Massie’s eyes welled up and her face blanched like she’d
just seen the ghost of Christmas past—and it was carrying presents.

“Ah-mazing!” Alicia clapped.

“Great job, Alicia. Great job, everyone!” Kristen slurred.
Dylan gave her a questioning look, but thankfully no one else noticed.

But if she kept up this double life for much longer, eventually they would.

“
Killer sequins, Massie!
”

“
Best recycling sale ever!
”

“
You were born to be on the runway!
”

As Massie waved good-bye to New Isaac, she practically skipped up the steps to her front door as she remembered the compliments
her public had heaped on her back at Alicia’s. It was more official than Miley and Liam’s breakup: The day had been a total
success. And perhaps more important, everyone at OCD and the surrounding schools were sure to be talking about Massie’s ah-mazingly
styled outfits for weeks to come. Dozens of seventh graders would return after break with sequins on their old Gap tees just
so they could look like Massie had on the runway, glittering and sparkling. She couldn’t wait to text Landon the news.

All of the anxiety she’d been feeling about whether her financial status would affect her alpha status was gone. If today
proved anything—apart from her inevitable career as the next Anna Wintour—it was that her friends and classmates still ah-dored
her.

With a new spring in her step, Massie opened the front door, pulled off her Dior sunglasses, and greeted Bean with a humongous
kiss on the forehead.

She smiled at her reflection in the foyer mirror, and for the first time in weeks it smiled back. Her amber eyes were vibrant
and perfectly contoured from her Stila Jewel eyeshadow palette, and her hair was tousled just the right amount. So what if
she had to sell old clothes to raise money? She
looked
rich. And, thanks to her ah-mazing friends, she felt rich. Massie wouldn’t ever forget the way the PC kept her secret and
rallied around her today. It was like having her own personal glee club, without all the ah-nnoying singing.

“Ehmagawd,” she said to the mirror. “Those poor people were right!”

“Massie, is that you?” Kendra’s voice sang out from the kitchen.

Massie followed the scent of scorched chocolate. It smelled like someone had tried—and failed—to bake brownies. Massie pulled
open the sleek trash drawer beside the sink. Sure enough, an upside-down charred cake had been dumped on top. It closed with
a bang. Why did her parents insist on playing
Top Chef
when Inez wasn’t around? They inevitably turned the place into
Hell’s Kitchen
, without the kitchen. But like her, they were trying their best. Stopping at nothing to survive. Because that’s what alphas
do. No matter what. It was in their blood.

“I’ve been saving some money,” Massie said, channeling the stack of hundreds in her wallet. “Let’s go to the bakery and load
up. You drive, I buy.”

Hearing the words come from her mouth warmed Massie
more than an open oven ever could. After all these years of taking from her parents she was finally in the position to give
back. It bolstered her self-worth in a way that all the black diamonds at Barneys couldn’t. If she had to be the breadwinner,
so be it. As long as the word
winner
was involved, she was on board.

“Come sit with us.” William pulled out the bar stool in between him and Kendra.

They were seated at the breakfast bar, their mouths set in grim, straight lines. Massie’s stomach tightened and her good mood
deflated faster than a punctured yoga ball. Her parents suddenly looked very, very tired.

“Is everything okay?” Massie asked, her speeding heart already seeming to know.

Kendra took Massie’s hands in hers. If felt like being stuck in the ice cube maker.

“We know things have been really tough around here,” William said, smoothing the imaginary hair on his bald head. “So as a
token of our gratitude, we have something for you.”

Space heaters? Take-out? High-speed Internet?

Massie glanced back and forth between her parents. She didn’t know what to expect.

Kendra slid a rectangular, black Barneys box across the counter and into Massie’s hands. But she refused to get excited. The
boxes could be bought on eBay for under five dollars. For all she knew they’d put a key inside for some brand-new bike lock.
The bike, which was probably on layaway, would be all hers by senior prom.

“Open it,” William urged.

Massie managed to smile as she lifted the lid. “
What?
You’re kidding, right?”

Inside was the black diamond bracelet, the one she’d dreamed of hugging her wrist for weeks, and the matching black diamond
earrings. It was a post-Christmas miracle!

She snapped the lid shut. “Be honest. Did you do anything illegal to get this?”

“No, silly!” Kendra pulled Massie into a squishy hug while William laughed loudly.

“I got a new job!” her dad added. Bean barked.

Kendra clapped. “We’re in the black.”

“More like the green!” William said, high-fiving his wife.

The world spun as Massie tried to process the news—and the fact that her parents seemed to high-five now. She had just made
poor cool, and rich was already back? She couldn’t just spring this on the LBRs. Not after today. They trusted her when she
told them used clothes would be huge next semester. If she switched back to retail before spring, they’d revolt. Trends took
time to turn. It’s the cycle of life, even at Target. You can’t stock the shelves with skinny jeans one day and boot cut the
next. It’s confusing, even to the LBRs.

“Massie?”

“Are you okay?”

She heard her parents speaking but couldn’t respond. Echoes of their earlier words still reverberated in her head.
New job… in the green… black diamonds…

“
Ehmagawd!
” Massie cried, springing up from her stool as she realized exactly what the words meant. Who cared about the LBRs? The only
thing that mattered was that there was life after death! Like a beautiful butterfly emerging from a cold cocoon, she would
live to fly again. She hugged her mom and swung her around in a circle. “We’re rich again!” Bean yipped excitedly and started
licking William’s toes. This was the best news she’d ever heard, including the time Landon told her she had the most kissable
lips he’d ever seen. By the time he returned from Bali, everything would be back to normal. He’d never have to know how close
she had come to financial ruin.

“Is Inez coming back? What about Isaac? And the heat, can we turn it on now? Can I go shopping? No, maybe I’ll move my stuff
back from Claire’s. I was thinking of painting my room green. Not a forest green or a kelly, more like a spring green. Something
fresh and new. But I desperately need a manicure! Mom, let’s go together. Dad, you come, too. Then we’ll go for sushi and—”

“There’s more,” William said.

Massie bounced on her toes in anticipation. “Tell me, tell me, tell me!”
A trip to
Belize? Cabo? Bali to meet Landon?

“Well,” William said, disentangling himself from Massie. “We’re still moving…”

Huh?

“But to an even bigger house. In fact, it’s a castle!”

Massie gasped so hard she got an ice cream headache. Her Sweet Sixteen would be royal! She always knew she was
meant to live like a queen. “Wait, not White Castle, right?” she asked, suddenly in the mood for jokes.

Kendra and William exchanged a look. Massie’s stomach dipped. “What? You didn’t buy a White Castle franchise, did you? Because
I was kidding and that would not be okay and—”

“No.” William managed a smile. “This is a real castle.”

Massie sat back on the stool. Her weakening knees warned her that it might be a good idea. Or was that her internal compass,
telling her that there weren’t any castles in Westchester? “Where is it?” she dared.

“Just across the pond,” her father said.

“That brown duck pond?” Massie furrowed her brow, picturing the swampy pool that separated Westchester from the next county
over. “Oh. I suppose that would be okay… maybe we can turn it into a natural hot spring. And with Isaac back I—”

“No, Massie,” Kendra said quietly.

“ ‘The Pond’ is a nickname for the Atlantic,” William said.

“
Ocean?
”

Her parents nodded.

“We’re moving to England,” Kendra whispered.

Massie jumped to her feet. “The European England?” Suddenly her knees felt more wobbly than Claire in heels. Her breath coming
in shallow rasps. Besides the princes—one of whom was already spoken for—what was waiting for her in England? Some Harry Potter school? Fish
sticks?
More soccer? Excuse me,
football
. What about OCD? The Pretty Committee? Landon? High school? Brownie? Galwaugh Farms? The mall? “Can’t you commute?”

“To London?” William scoffed.

“England isn’t so different from Westchester,” Kendra tried.