The Clique: Confessions of an Upperclassman

New York City Saturday, September 10th 10:45 AM

One by one, the Pretty Committee stepped out of the Range Rover and onto the streets of Manhattan. Armed with her dad’s American Express gold credit card, Massie led them through the bustling sidewalks from one luxury shopping center to the next. By the time she finished granting each of her friends’ fashion wishes, she had accumulated 8 bags herself, and her arms ached.

“Ugh, I am so giving myself a rest day tomorrow.” She complained to her friends. “No way I’m doing my Pilates arm workout after this.”

“Same!” Dylan and Alicia said in agreement as they all unloaded their bags onto Massie’s driver, Isaac, who carefully packed them away in the spacious trunk of the car.

“I’m jealous, at least you guys have a choice,” Kristen chimed in, “I have soccer practice right after our prep session!”

“Yeah, but that’s your legs?” Alicia countered.

“Still tired…” Kristen grumbled, climbing into the car with her friends.

Once they were all sat and buckled in, Massie rolled down the divider between the front and back seats, “Isaac, can we make a quick stop at Starbucks before the library? I think we all need a pick-me-up.” Massie said cheerily. The shopping spree had given her mind a much-needed break from education related stresses, and she felt ready to pick back up with her studying for the SAT.

“Of course, Madam.” Isaac nodded and set off for the nearest coffee shop.

The girls went over their various purchases and how they would style them while they rode, planning events they would wear them to and when they might go out of season. Before they knew it, they had arrived and quickly hopped out of the car, through the crisp autumn air, and into the cozy atmosphere of the café.

As they stood in line, contemplating which drink would give them the most caffeine for the least calories, they heard the door chime and other customers walked in. Massie was the first to glance over and her scoff made the other members of the clique look as well. Claire and her little brother Todd had pushed through the heavy glass entry, and while Todd rushed to get in line, Claire stood frozen, looking at Massie and her friends.

The door swung shut behind her and the blonde jumped. Massie stared her down as she rushed up to her brother and grabbed his arm.

“Probably begging to get out of here.” Dylan said under her breath and Alicia snickered.

Massie didn’t let any emotion pass her face. Rather, she just watched as Todd refused to leave and Claire took another glance at the group.

“I’ll be outside.” She overheard Claire whisper sharply, and before she knew it, the LBR was gone- leaving her brother to wait for his sugar-spiked drink alone.

Massie allowed herself to smile and turned to her friends, rolling her eyes, “She really has no one else to hang out with, huh?”

“I wouldn’t be caught dead with Todd, even if he WAS my brother.” Kristen smirked.

“She’s more afraid of us than I thought,” Massie noted, “Without Lay-me to back her up.”

“She’s not afraid of us, she’s afraid of you!” Alicia corrected. “Who wouldn’t be?”

Massie felt a small surge in her confidence levels and stepped up to the counter to order. “One double shot of espresso, please.”

30 minutes later, Massie felt the caffeine kick in. Mixed with her Adderall, she was over-prepared for the mock-exam they were taking that afternoon.

Over the past few weeks, the girls had been meeting regularly with the tutor Massie hired. Mrs. Kim, the strict Korean teacher, had PhD’s in math, English, psychology, and education from the nation’s top universities and was overqualified for the task at hand. Now, as they neared the halfway point of their studying, she changed the curriculum to be all mock exam based. “You will not achieve greatness in reality, if you can’t escape mediocrity in practice,” was the instructor’s motto, and Massie took it to heart.

She carefully read each question and marked her answers, blocking out every distraction while making sure to pace herself against her friends, who were now her competition. As the timer rang signaling the end of the hour, she circled her final answer and dropped her pencil with satisfaction.

Mrs. Kim walked around the large library table and collected their practice exam packets. “Very good. These will be graded, and I will review them at our next session. You’re dismissed.”

The girls lingered, packing up their stuff into their designer bags as their tutor left. Once the coast was clear Dylan spoke up. “You’re dismissed!” She said mockingly, “Jeez, she’s scary.”

Kristen laughed and held the door open, “So how do you guys think it went?” she asked.

Massie sighed and stretched. “Fine, but the science portion always takes me forever. Room for improvement I guess.”

“Same, the science section is so hard. And the match section. And English…” Alicia added.

They walked through the door together out into the fleeting early evening light. “Ugh, it gets so dark out already!” Dylan complained.

“Time to go run soccer drills in the dark!” Kristen said in sarcastic excitement, “I’ll see you guys Monday!”

“See ya!”

“Bye chicas!”

“Byeeee!”