Author's Note: Sorry for the wait! I tried to get this up sooner, but my computer was being a butt. Thanks for all of the nice reviews! Enjoy.
Octavion Country Day School
Massie's Locker
November 2nd
8:45 a.m.
"That party was so much fun on Saturday, Dyl," Massie shouted across the hall to Dylan, who was at her locker.
"I know. High school guys are so much more mature than middle-school boys." Dylan smiled to herself.
As Dylan and Massie both hoped, Alicia walked up to Massie from her locker, three over.
"What LBRs would invite you to their party? They must be from the chess club or something and they were the only boys you could get in high school," Alicia sneered.
"Do these look like the kind of boys that would be in the chess club?" Massie shot back, pulling out a stack of pictures. She showed them to the crowd that had gathered, one by one.
"By the way, we so did not crash. The security was tighter than a jail cells'." Dylan struggled to make herself heard over the shouts of "he's hot" and "wow, you guys are so lucky".
Massie only smirked as she showed the pictures of all four of them dancing, talking, holding hands, and hugging.
"They asked for our numbers and e-mails and are totally going to ask us out soon," Massie said confidently. She sneered as she watched Alicia, Claire, Kristen, and Olivia walk away defeated.
The Chesterfield
Lobby
November 10th
11:15 a.m.
"This is so exciting," Claire squealed as she squeezed Kristen's arm.
"I know. I was so done with our old apartment yesterday," Kristen agreed, rolling her eyes.
"Girls, come on, apartments 3A and 3B. We're neighbors!" Judi's voice pierced the noisy lobby and reached the two girls' ears.
"Coming," they both replied at the same time, each grabbing two suitcases.
The Block Estate
Driveway
November 10th
11:15 a.m.
"Do we really have to move?" Massie whined.
"Yes, Massie. Grab your things and put them in the van." Kendra ran her hand through her bob. She was stressed and tired and was in no mood for Massie's complaining.
"Where are we moving to, anyways?" Massie lifted a box labeled CHINA BOX 2 into the van.
"Um," Kendra muttered. She rifled through her DKNY tote until she found a folded sheet of paper. "Kendallwood Apartments," she read.
"Ugh. That hick Lisa Gilbert lives there. She's a total N-O," Massie groaned.
"Don't worry, honey. Your father's letting us decorate the apartment. Everything we don't need goes to massive garage sale or donation center for the homeless." Kendra patted Massie's shoulder to let her know that she felt her pain.
"Garage sale? Donation center? My life totally sucks," Massie mumbled under her breath.
Kendallwood Apartments
Lobby
November 10th
1:53 p.m.
"This place smells like someone took a crap in the room next door," Massie commented as she walked in the door.
"Massie! Be nice," Kendra scolded.
Massie rolled her eyes, noticing that Kendra's nose was wrinkled as well.
"Where's dad?" Massie tried to change the subject.
"He's coming later to give us time to decorate. He's still looking for a job." Kendra examined her nails as she waited for the frumpy, bearded, 80-year-old lady behind the counter to notice them.
"Where's all of the paint and stuff?" Massie asked.
"We're going to go get that as soon as we check in." Kendra practically screamed the last two words in an attempt to get the blind and deaf old lady to hear them.
After about ten minutes, Massie marched behind the counter and tapped the woman on the shoulder urgently.
"What? Who is that? Burt, is that you?" She squinted behind her bottle-cap glasses.
"It's Massie and Kendra Block. We've been waiting for 20 minutes for you to notice us. We need to check into our new apartment." Massie tried to keep the venom out of her voice, but it was still noticeably there.
"I'm sorry, dearie. It's just that I have a hard time hearing things and seeing things."
"I could hardly notice," Massie muttered.
"Perhaps you would like to come over to my apartment, 2C, sometime and help me out a little bit." Her voice was hopeful and pleading.
"I don't know. I'm a really busy person, so I don-" Massie was cut off by a sharp jab from Kendra.
"She'd be happy to, Ms. – um," Kendra cut in smoothly.
"Halloway. Mrs. Halloway. And that's just great! It's hard to find such helpful young ones nowadays." Mrs. Halloway reached for Massie's cheek, but ended up with the thin shelf attached to the wall.
Massie stood behind Mrs. Halloway, trying to suppress her giggles as she watched her try to move her "cheek" back and forth.
"Who would want to marry that bag of bones?" she asked, expecting a scolding from Kendra.
To her surprise, Kendra replied, "I have no idea. It must be someone exactly like her – blind."
Massie smiled with her mother as they watched Mrs. Halloway continue to try and move Massie's cheek.
"Why, my dear, you have such strong cheek muscles," Mrs. Halloway said, grimacing as she used both hands to try and move the shelf.
"Which apartment are we in?" Kendra asked as Mrs. Halloway was struggling.
"2B. We're neighbors," Mrs. Halloway grunted.
"Lucky us." Massie rolled her eyes.
"Well, I'll just leave Massie here with you so you guys can get to know each other better," Kendra called before quickly clamping a hand over her mouth so her laughs wouldn't escape.
"Alrighty." Mrs. Halloway tossed Kendra a key before returning to the stubborn "cheek".
Kendallwood Apartments
Apartment 2B
November 10th
6:24 p.m.
"Wow! This place looks great," William commented as soon as he walked in the door. "Doesn't smell too good, though." He waved the toxic fumes away from his face.
The rooms each had a theme of colors. The kitchen was different shades of blue, the dining room was red, the living room was orange, the bathroom was green, the master bedroom was tan and brown, and Massie's room was her favorite, purple.
"Thanks, William. Did you find a job?" Kendra smiled at him.
"Actually, yes I did. It's definitely temporary, but I will be working at the bank as a teller. It's not that much, but it's middle class, which is better than nothing." William beamed at his family.
"Congratulations," Kendra squealed.
"Yeah, dad. Good job." Massie allowed him a hug before she stepped away. "I'm going to go get some fresh air. It stinks in here," Massie said, wanting to get away from the apartment before William and Kendra started to kiss.
On the way downstairs, Massie bumped into John from the Halloween party.
"Hey. I didn't expect to see you here," she said, smiling nervously.
"My grandmother works and lives here. I come here to help sometimes. She's in Apartment 2C," he replied, going slightly red.
"Aww, you're tho thweet," Massie fake-lisped. "Well, actually, I – uh- come here to visit my mom. She and my dad are divorced and I come here so she won't be lonely. I usually live with my dad, though." She fidgeted nervously, hoping that he wouldn't see through her lie.
"Aww, tho are you," John mocked, totally oblivious to Massie's anxiety.
"Well, do you want me to come with you? I'm just leaving my mom's and my dad said that I had to wait 30 minutes before my driver, Isaac, could pick me up. He's at the doctor's," Massie sweetly offered.
"Yeah, thanks. My grandmother is kind of deaf and blind and it can be kind of a bummer to go visit her. My parents pay me, but that's only because they don't want to help her." John held out his arm to Massie and they walked to apartment 2C and opened the door.
Author's Note: Read and Review!