Part 17 (1/2)
Her amber eyes were squinty, like she was considering the idea but wasn't completely sold.
”Then,” Claire said, as if there were more to her plan, even though there wasn't. ”Thennnn ...” She stalled until something came to her. ”Then we'll arrange to have the MUCK girls walk in on you and Derrington, so they can see for themselves how wrong they were.”
Ma.s.sie's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. A huge smile spread across her face when she finally closed her mouth. ”Love it.”
Of course she did. Ma.s.sie thought it was pointless to do anything unless an audience was there to witness it. And now that her first kiss could be considered ”entertainment,” it seemed worth doing.
”Cool.” Claire couldn't believe she had given Ma.s.sie good advice twice in one night. It filled her with the confidence she needed to face Cam, possibly for the last time. ”Okay.” Claire jumped up again. ”Let's go find Kristen and her boy clothes.”
Ma.s.sie sighed and stood up slowly. ”Let's.”
”Oh, I almost forgot.” Claire took the graham crackers and chocolate out of her pockets and held them out. ”I swiped these for you.”
Ma.s.sie rubbed her shrinking stomach. ”Give them to Kristen. I can't eat.” She grabbed the blankets in her arms and shook out her hair. When she straightened back up, the look behind her eyes had changed. She no longer looked like a frightened squirrel. She was queen of the forest again.
Claire followed Ma.s.sie to the front of the cabin, knocking branches and spiderwebs away from her face along the way.
”Ew,” Ma.s.sie squealed. ”Look.” She bent down and lifted a pair of white satin boy shorts off the ground with the end of a stick. ”How CSI CSI is this?” is this?”
”Those are mine!” Claire gasped.
”Double ew.” Ma.s.sie tossed the panties at Claire.
They flew through the air, straight toward Claire's cheek but she jumped out of the way before they touched her. ”I don't mean those are mine mine, mine. I mean those were were mine. I gave Layne and Alicia each a pair exactly like that.” mine. I gave Layne and Alicia each a pair exactly like that.”
”Well, one of them ditched them back here.” Ma.s.sie giggled.
”I have a feeling I know who it was.” Claire pinched the Victoria's Secret label on the inside and lifted them off the ground.
”What are you going to do with those?” Ma.s.sie covered her mouth with her hands as if she were about to puke.
”I'm going to remind Layne that tossing underwear in the woods is bad for the environment.” Claire held them out in front of her and marched up the porch steps. She kicked open the door of the cabin and headed straight for Layne's bunk. Layne was sitting cross-legged on her Indian blanket, pus.h.i.+ng her cuticles back with the bottom of her toothbrush. The minute she saw Claire coming toward her with the underwear, she slid off her bed and raced to the back of the cabin. Claire cornered her by the closets, leaving Ma.s.sie alone out front to face the MUCK girls.
”Layne, you can't just throw underwear in the woods,” Claire whisper-yelled. She swung the panties in front of her face. ”They're not biodegradable, for starters, and-”
”I'm sorry, okay?” Layne burst into tears. ”But what was I supposed to do? Give them back to you like that? that?” She ripped them away from Claire. ”Or maybe I should have tossed them in the trash so Ma.s.sie could find them and parade them around the boys' cabin.”
”Ma.s.sie would never do that.”
Layne rolled her eyes, then wiped her tears with the sleeve of her pink-and-white h.e.l.lo Kitty nightgown.
”She wouldn't!” Claire insisted. She didn't like that Ma.s.sie was getting blamed for this when it had nothing to do with her.
”How do you know?” Layne hissed. ”It's not like she's the most honest person in the world.”
Suddenly Claire realized she had left Ma.s.sie with the MUCK girls. If Layne felt this much resentment toward her, the others were probably tearing Ma.s.sie's hair out by now.
”Look, I have to go,” Claire said. She heard Layne sniffle and softened her tone. Maybe she was being a little too harsh. ”Don't worry about the underwear. Just don't leave it outside.”
”I'll wash it and give it back to you, I promise,” Layne said. ”I'll soak it in Lake Placid tomorrow morning before breakfast.”
”No.” Claire lifted her palm. ”Please don't. I don't want them back, really.”
”'Kay.” Layne sniffed. ”Sorry. I just don't want everyone to know I'm the first girl in the grade to get it. it.”
”Don't worry, no one will know.” Claire hugged Layne, then took off to rescue Ma.s.sie. But from the looks of it, Ma.s.sie didn't need any help.
She was standing by the fireplace with her hands on her hips, glaring down at Carrie, Livvy, and Alexandra, who were perched on a red beanbag like three bluebirds on a rock. Ma.s.sie shook her head slowly, squinted her eyes, and pursed her lips. How did she manage to turn the situation around and blame the MUCK girls? How did she manage to turn the situation around and blame the MUCK girls? Claire stood off to the side and watched while Ma.s.sie worked. Claire stood off to the side and watched while Ma.s.sie worked.
”Well what did you think think he'd say?” She stomped her foot. The white pom-poms on her moccasin boot bounced. ”He probably felt betrayed because I told you about our most intimate moments. I'm not surprised he denied it. He was caught off guard and probably a little embarra.s.sed.” he'd say?” She stomped her foot. The white pom-poms on her moccasin boot bounced. ”He probably felt betrayed because I told you about our most intimate moments. I'm not surprised he denied it. He was caught off guard and probably a little embarra.s.sed.”
”Sorry,” Livvy squeaked.
”You should be.” Ma.s.sie kicked the side of their beanbag for effect.
”And now he won't even talk to me,” she pouted.
Claire felt a surge of warmth fill the s.p.a.ces between her ribs. She was in the presence of a true master.
”It just seemed a little weird that he completely denied everything everything,” Alexandra said softly.
”Ugh.” Ma.s.sie huffed. ”I give up.” She lowered her head for a second. When she lifted it she looked utterly bored. ”No wonder you three are lip virgins. You're way too immature for a relations.h.i.+p.”
The thumping sound of Mr. Myner's heavy steel-toed boots against porch steps got everyone's attention. The girls raced to their beds and s.h.i.+mmied under their covers. It was five minutes past lights out.
He knocked once and then barged in before anyone told him it was okay to enter.
”Why do I still hear talking?” He smiled as he spoke, even though he sounded kind of angry. His strong body stayed fixed under the deer head above the door frame, while his head swiveled from side to side, checking to make sure all the girls were accounted for. He wore a big cream-colored fisherman's sweater over a gray long john s.h.i.+rt and a pair of faded Levi's, no jacket or hat. Claire couldn't imagine why a mountain man of his proportions was teaching at a private school in Westchester. Why wasn't he living off the land and modeling on the side?
Mr. Myner's eyes stopped on Olivia. She was hanging over her bunk, whispering to Alicia but staring at Claire. When they noticed him staring, they both flopped back onto their beds. Claire's teeth started chattering. They were so onto her and Josh. She was dead.
Once the whispering stopped, Mr. Myner clasped his hands behind his back and paced across the floor. His boots left faint, muddy prints on the fluffy white sheepskin rugs, but he was too rugged to notice or care about staining the carpets. The girls, however, had been trained by their mothers and housekeepers never to wear boots in the house. And they couldn't help snickering at Mr. Myner's ignorance.
Ma.s.sie kicked the bottom of Dylan's mattress. Dylan casually leaned over and bit her lower lip to prove that she too was having a hard time restraining her laughter. Ma.s.sie sat up like she was doing a crunch and looked at Claire, who was in the bottom bunk beside her. Claire rolled her eyes so Ma.s.sie would know that she understood why they were laughing. Of course, she never would have been clued in if she hadn't lived on the Block estate and spent ample time with Kendra Block.
”Where's Kristen?” Claire mouthed while she had Ma.s.sie's attention.
Ma.s.sie pointed to her mattress.
Claire's mouth fell open. Was Kristen actually under Ma.s.sie's bed? She was about to lean forward and sneak a peek when Mr. Myner's booming voice broke the silence. He seemed so angry, Claire was afraid to move.
”There I was, walking the grounds, securing our site before retiring for the evening.” His words sounded like the beginning of another campfire story. ”When I noticed a pathetic heap of ice and snow. Funny, Funny, I thought I thought That's exactly where my igloo was.” That's exactly where my igloo was.” He paused and scanned then-faces for a reaction. But the girls gave him nothing. Claire desperately wanted to look at Ma.s.sie or the MUCK girls but kept her head on the pillow and focused on the sagging mattress above her, trying not to laugh. He paused and scanned then-faces for a reaction. But the girls gave him nothing. Claire desperately wanted to look at Ma.s.sie or the MUCK girls but kept her head on the pillow and focused on the sagging mattress above her, trying not to laugh.
”So I inched closer to investigate.” Mr. Myner marched over to the door and threw it open. He stepped outside, and when he returned, he was holding Doose by his antlers.
”Someone's horn-y horn-y,” Ma.s.sie whispered. Dylan, Alicia, and Claire cracked up. ”And that's when I found this.” this.” Mr. Myner practically spit his last words. ”He was buried under a pile of snow, his mouth covered in lip gloss.” Mr. Myner practically spit his last words. ”He was buried under a pile of snow, his mouth covered in lip gloss.”
Everyone's shoulders started to shake. And at the same time, every girl in the cabin erupted into a fit of explosive laughter, except Strawberry, who had no idea what was going on.