THE BLOCK ESTATE
MASSIE'S BEDROOM
7:42 AM
October 31st
Massie had just stepped out of the shower and was dripping wet when her phone rang.
The caller was unidentified.
“Hello? Oh … uh … hi, Jocelyn … uh-huh … Well, why are you RSVP'ing to me?”
Massie wiped the steam off the mirror so she could watch herself talk on the phone. She looked annoyed. “You're supposed to call Kuh-laire … not me.”
Jocelyn stammered while she rushed to explain that Massie's name had been on her invite, not Claire's. But Massie wasn't paying attention. She was replacing the damp towel around her body with a fresh warm one off the heated rack. She was finished in the bathroom and done with Jocelyn.
“Do you hear that buzzing?” Massie asked.
“No.”
“There must be something wrong with my phone,” Massie said. “I can't hear—”
She hung up and tossed the phone onto her bed.
“Why did she call me?” Massie said to Bean as she towel-dried her hair.
When she flipped her head back up, she noticed the five Dirty Devil costumes splayed across her purple duvet. Inez must have finished working on them late last night and dropped them off while she was in the shower.
Red pleated microminis (which were once frumpy knee-length skirts), with long arrow-tipped tails sewed onto the back, lined the foot of the bed. Above each one was a pair of gray boy shorts with Kiss It written across the butt in silver glitter. Tiny black Petit Bateau tanks with strategically placed rips and tears were splayed out like a fan. Massie checked the top left side of each one, the spot usually reserved for the designer's logo, to make sure her instructions were properly executed. They were. Red stitching personalized each girl's costume—Massie Devil, Kristen Devil, Alicia Devil, Dylan Devil, and Claire Devil. Massie could barely look at the last one. It just didn't belong. Right beside Bean's doggie bed was a tiny black shirt that said Bean Devil across the back, but Massie was too upset to smile.
“Bean, you are the fifth, not her,” Massie said.
Bean blinked.
She heard a familiar honk and knew that Isaac, her driver, was ready to take her to school. Massie, still in her towel, searched for something exciting to wear.
In the last week she had done ties for belts, earrings pinned to blazers, dresses over jeans. She'd even mismatched her boots and worn one black and one brown. But now that it was Friday, she was tapped.
The fashionably challenged would look to her for weekend outfit ideas, and they deserved to see something fabulous. If they didn't, they would find another style muse. And Massie couldn't let that happen.
The horn blasted one more time and Massie contemplated faking sick. She had to think fast. She quickly reached for her Halloween costume and slid it on, admiring the flattering fit. There was little left to the imagination, but, Hey, she thought, it's Halloween.
Massie grabbed Alicia, Kristen, and Dylan's costumes and bolted out the door. She was in such a hurry, she accidentally left Claire's behind.
At least that was what she'd tell her mother.