The Clique Read Online Free PDF

closer look at her, she understood why.
    Alicia was the most beautiful girl she’d ever seen. The kind no one ever gets mad at because they don’t want her looking unhappy. Her dark brown eyes sparkled brightly against her perfectly even tan, and her lips were full and cherry red.
    “She’s in vintage Ralph Lauren and has the new Prada messenger bag,” Massie said.
    “What?” Claire asked. She had no idea what Massie was talking about. She leaned forward and asked again, “What?”
    “’Kay, we’ll be at your house in five minutes,” Massie said into her phone. “Bye.” Massie snapped it shut and tossed it in a cup holder.
    Claire’s face turned red when she realized that Massie hadn’t been talking to her.
    Isaac opened the door and Alicia Rivera slid in beside Massie.
    “Heeeyyyyy,” Massie said, squeezing her friend.
    Alicia took a long look at Massie.
    “Ehmagod, you don’t look like you were sick at all,” Alicia gushed. “You look ah-mazing.”
    “Just wait for tomorrow,” Massie said.
    “Why?” Alicia asked with a sly grin.
    “Because I get better looking every day!” they shouted in unison at the top of their lungs. They cracked up and high-fived each other. Even Claire had to laugh at that one.
    Alicia whipped her head around to the back of the car to see where the extra sound came from.
    “Who’s the stowaway?” she asked.
    “Oh, we’re just giving her a ride today. Her family is staying in our Guesthouse until they can afford a place of their own,” Massie said.
    “Hi, I’m Claire,” she said, trying to ignore the sting of Massie’s comment.
    “Oh,” Alicia said.
    Claire unzipped her knapsack and took out a bag stuffed with gummy worms and sours.
    “Want some?” she asked. She used her teeth to untie the tight plastic knot she had made extra tight when she took them out of her lunch box. “I live on them.”
    “I stopped eating those around the same time I stopped breastfeeding,” Massie snapped.
    “Yeah, and I never started,” Alicia said.
    Claire dropped the bag back in her knapsack and tried not to think about how badly she wanted to chew on a sour foot. She leaned her head against the window and counted the trees as they passed by.
    The car slowed down in front of a tall white A-frame that sat on top of a small hill. It looked more like a church than someone’s home. This time Claire managed to snap a picture of the manse without getting busted by security or worse—Massie.
    Dylan Marvil was perched on the stone steps in front of her house reading
Us Weekly
and eating a nutrition bar. A thick mass of fiery red hair blew around her pale face, which she was fighting to keep away from her mouth so she could eat. When she saw the Range Rover, she stuffed the magazine in her Louis Vuitton backpack and ran down the remaining steps.
    Dylan was at least two inches taller and wider than the other two girls. Claire thought she looked like a girl who’d grown up milking cows or churning butter on a farm.
    Dylan’s entrance into the car was a lot less graceful than Alicia’s. The strap on her bag got tangled around the door handle and her left mule slid off her foot and under the car.
    “We missed you yesterday,” Dylan said as she hugged Massie. “How are you feeling?”
    Massie turned her head slightly toward the backseat. It was the second time she had looked at Claire all morning.
    “Better,” Massie said. “So whadja buy?”
    “Not much. Just three pairs of jeans, a cashmere sweater I’m not even sure I like, and a couple of Calvin dresses for bar mitzvah season.” She took a brush out of her backpack and worked it through her long hair.
    “You should have seen her try to walk in five-inch Manolos,” Alicia said. “Her entire body shook like she was in a giant earthquake.”
    Dylan cracked up.
    Massie opened the minifridge and looked inside. She seemed just as bored by berries and beverages as she was by her friends talking about their shopping