For Once

Written for the Light Up the Night Fic Exchange

This is for DarkElements10—thanks for making it so challenging. It made it even more fun to write. (:

Prompts Used:

Angst (well, I think I did)

Some Romance (or maybe a lot of romance)

Alicia being mad at Massie for something (yay, did that)

Kristen being on top (tried that)

Dylan finally being over her weight (woohoo)

Being a first time fic exchange participant, I thought I'd shoot for all of them. Did I succeed? I hope so (: Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Boom, I think it's pretty much disclaimed.

Once the whole group was seated comfortably underneath the small cabana in the Block's backyard, Massie cleared her throat to get ready to make an announcement. "Girls," Massie grinned, running a hand through her hair to further intensify its va-va-voomy straight but messy hair-do. "I planned the most perfect sleepover for tonight. It's going to be super special since today's the Fourth of July! But for some reason, I forgot why we even celebrate it…"

"Independence, Mass," Kristen stifled a giggle. But then she remembered what she had to tell Massie in the first place. She braced herself for some serious lecturing. "There's a little problem—"

"Problem?" Massie clucked her tongue against the back of her front teeth. "Tsk," She shook her head. "What problem?"

"Actually, I have a problem too," Alicia said hesitantly. "I don't think I can go to the sleepover."

"Me neither," Kristen quickly added. She was thankful that Alicia was the first one to break it to Massie. "I can't go either."

"Ehmagod, are your parents dragging you guys to lame parties?" Massie scoffed. "Kristen, if your dad thinks that socializing a bit is going to make him strike rich again, let me tell him a little something. If he's going to put your social life in jeopardy, I don't see—"

"It's not that," Kristen sighed.

"Massie, the thing is…" Alicia sighed too.

The two girls, unaware of how similar their problems were, looked down at their lap in unison. "We were invited to the boys' Fourth Of July party," the both admitted at the same time. Once registering in their minds that they were both going, they looked at each other from across their small circle.

"You got invited?" They both gasped.

Alicia smirked and twirled her hair between her index and middle finger. "Well ahb-viously. Josh invited me." She felt safe to say that since the boy-fast was officially over and she didn't have to hide it from her friends ever again.

"Well, the guys invited me since I am the captain of the girl's soccer team," Kristen said nervously. "Massie, please don't be mad."

"Mad… why should I be mad that no one mentioned any of this to me?" Massie said shakily, a fake smile plastered on her face. "Sorry guys," Massie continued with her fake smiling.

"Sorry for what?" Dylan asked. The three girls almost forgot that Claire and Dylan were sitting there quietly absorbing all the information that they also didn't get invited. Claire quickly shoved her thumb in front of her mouth and started gnawing at the nail nervously. She had yet to reply to Cam's text message or even acknowledge that she had received it and it already had been months since that.

"You can't go," Massie rolled her eyes. "You can't miss a sleepover for some stupid party hosted by some guys."

"But Mass…" Alicia whined.

"Look, do you want me to put all of us a on a boy-fast again?" Massie narrowed her eyes threateningly. She scanned the faces of all the girls. "Do you?" She echoed.

"No," Alicia sighed.

The others chorused in a defeated "no."

"Good, now let's keep it that way," Massie said, raising her chin up higher as she let out a relieved sigh that she was once more able to secure her alpha position.

———————————————

Kristen placed her tote bag onto the carpeted floor of her small room and lunged for her cell phone. She sat on her bed as she waited for the ringing to cease. "Alicia?" She asked hopefully.

"Here," Alicia said on the other line. "What's up? Should I call Dylan, Mass, and Kuh-laire and make this a five-way?"

"No!" Kristen said quickly. "Actually, it'd be great if you didn't tell any of them that I called you. This conversation is to be kept secret, 'kay, Leesh?"

"'Kay," Alicia answered. "So what's up?"

"You know the party?" Kristen started, nervously twisting the bottom hem of her Roxy shirt. She still didn't get out of her surfer girl phase.

"Yes, I know the party," Alicia made a tsk sound. "What about the party?"

"Well I was thinking of going," Kristen said slowly. "Did Josh say you can bring your friends? Because when Derrick invited me, he said I could. How about we just tell Massie that and then we can all go."

"Hmm," Alicia murmured. "I'm not sure I even want Massie to go anymore. She was so quick to say no once she found out that we were invited to a party and she wasn't. How jealous can you get?" Alicia fumed.

"Um, so we invite Dyl and Claire?" Kristen furrowed her brows. "But Mass would totally find out if we invited Claire!"

"We'll see…" Alicia drifted off. "I'll call you back, okay?"

Being the good friend she was, Kristen could sense there was a little something extra in Alicia's tone. Did she sense a plan coming up?

———————————————

"We're going," Alicia whispered as soon as Kristen picked up the phone. "You tell Massie that Derrick specifically asked that she was also to go and I'll tell the rest that we are allowed to bring guests. Okay?"

"Wait, why do I have to tell Mass? You're the beta," Kristen protested.

"Just do it!" Alicia hissed.

Kristen rolled her eyes but reluctantly agreed. This was, after all, partly her fault that Massie found out about not being invited to the party anyways. "Fine, I'll call her now and then call you back with what happened, okay?"

"Just three-way her so I can hear what you say," Alicia suggested.

"But don't say a word," Kristen warned.

"'Kay," Alicia said with a sniff.

Kristen dialed Massie's number and clicked three-way. She waited for the quiet click. "K, what's up?" Massie answered. Her voice was sugary-sweet and it sounded like she forgot the whole party incident.

"Mass, there's something I left out when I told you about getting invited to the party," Kristen lied.

"Doesn't matter, you're not going," Massie commanded.

"But you see, you were invited too," Kristen said, clenching her jaw. She hated lying…almost as much as she hated no being able to go to a party.

"I was?" Massie's tone changed. She sounded relieved. "I mean, duh," She giggled. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I was wondering where the boys' heads went. But that doesn't mean I have to go. Neither do you and Leesh."

"Derrick specifically invited you and told me to tell you that you have to go," Kristen said. She feigned a gossip-y tone.

"Swear on Bean?" Massie asked.

Kristen bit her lip. Bean didn't exactly do anything wrong to her. But he was more spoiled than Kristen ever was. Plus, it seemed like Massie trusted Bean more than she trusted anyone. "Yeah, swear on Bean," Kristen said, feeling a bit guilty.

"I'll go. Tell Claire and Dylan to cancel their sleepover plans and go too. I need my whole crew to make a fab entrance. And Kristen?" Massie paused.

"Yeah?" Kristen asked, making a tight fist out of anxiety and freight that Massie figured something was up.

"Thanks for not mentioning this in front of all the other girls. We wouldn't want Claire and Dylan to be publicly humiliated since they were nawt invited, right?" Massie snickered. "You get ten gossip points."

"Cool," Kristen grinned. "I got to go. See you later tonight. Can Isaac pick me up?"

"Duh," Massie muttered. "Bye!"

After a faint click, Kristen let out a sigh of relief. "She fell for it," Kristen smiled. "She actually fell for it," She repeated.

"How come you got ten gossip points?" Alicia demanded. Kristen could tell that she was rolling her eyes. "So nawt fair!"

"Alicia, might I remind you that this was all your idea?" Kristen smirked.

Finally, things were going her way.

———————————————

"Pause," Massie snapped, turning around and checking everyone's outfit for flaws. "Alicia, you're an 8.7. I thought you finally realized that open-toed ankle boots from Spain are nawt and will never be cute."

"Sorry," Alicia mumbled under her breath.

"Too late to change now though," Massie rolled her eyes. "Kuh-laire, stop biting your nails or I'll never take you to get a manicure ever again. And tug at the bottom of your skirt a bit. Why does it seem shorter than it was when we picked it out? You're a 9.1 Dylan, stop sucking in your stomach. You're nawt fat. 9.3. And Kris?" Massie stopped for a minute and nodded appreciatively. "Love the dress, where'd you get it? You're a 9.7, by the way."

Kristen looked down at her pink and gray awning-striped Twenty8Twelve dress. "Um, it's yours."

Massie giggled. "I have such ah-mazing taste," she said before turning back around and pressing the doorbell. After a few seconds, the door was opened by Derrick himself. He squinted when he saw it was Massie standing there but then instantly smiled when he saw Kristen.

"Hey," He greeted Kristen, openly ignoring Massie's existence.

"Hi," Kristen bit her lip out of worry. Except Massie mistook it as a sign of flirting. She rolled her eyes and quickly stomped past Derrick and into the living room where most of the partying was going on.

This was going to be a very long night.

Claire and Dylan quickly followed after Massie while Alicia went into the house to look for Josh. Derrick quickly dragged Kristen in by her wrist and then shut the door before speed-walking to the nearest unoccupied guest room.

"You brought Block?" Derrick asked, his brown eyes looking horrified. "Why would you do something like that? That's suicide." He shook his shaggy dirty-blonde hair out of his eyes and cleared his throat. "Is this payback or something?"

"Payback?" Kristen raised an eyebrow. "Is there something I should pay you back for?"

"No," Derrick faltered. "Look, do you want to know why I invited you?"

"Because if I didn't go, Alicia might have not and Josh paid you?" Kristen guessed.

"No," Derrick scrunched up his nose. "Does it seem like someone paid me to invite you?"

"Well, you don't really talk to me. Ever since you guys moved into the trailers, you haven't talked to any of the PC members," Kristen looked confused. "So why did you invite me anyways?"

"Well, because—"

Kristen felt her phone ring from a text message.

Dylan: where r u? massie is M-A-D. totally worried n stuffin down oreos. help asap.

"I got to go," Kristen said, cutting Derrick off from what he was about to say. "Find me later and tell me the rest of what you were about to say, okay? And if Massie says something, just play along."

And without looking back, she quickly ran out of the room before Derrick could even protest.

———————————————

"Why is he nawt even tawking to me?" Massie rolled her eyes, stuffing a piece of Stride gum into her mouth to stop herself from stuffing her face with Cheetos. The orange powder would definitely not look good with her purple skirt.

"Maybe he's shy," Claire said supportively, patting Massie on the back. She secretly looked around the room for a certain dark-haired boy but was instantly blocked by Kristen.

"Hey guys," Kristen let out a deep breath and looked across the table at Dylan to assure her that she got here in time. It was true. Dylan was stuffing her face with Oreos as she tried to evade any demanding questions from Massie.

"Dylan, why isn't he tawking to me? Do you think he only invited me to suffer?" Massie scowled, looking up at the ceiling to reverse the direction of the tears that were threatening to spill out.

"Maybe you should go talk to him," Kristen suggested, helping Dylan get Massie off of her hands.

"Well, only Gawd knows where he is. He's probably smacking on some girl right now just waiting for me to walk in and claw her eyes out while he does his giddy happy dance and then runs out to tell the guys he saw some girl-on-girl action," Massie scoffed. "Kristen, do you know where he is?"

"Um, I think he's in the guestroom that's across from the stairway," Kristen said, trying to act perfectly calm while flexing her right leg against a chair.

"See what I mean?" Massie rolled her flickering amber eyes. "He's in a bedroom for Gawd's sake. That boy is such a retard. I mean, if he likes me that much, can't he just tell me? Dylan, what do you think?"

Dylan looked up from her Oreo-stuffing-spree. "Wuh?" She said with her mouthful. She quickly gulped it down and made an embarrassed face. "What?"

"I said," Massie snickered, flicking an Oreo crumb that was in front of her across the table. "Don't you think Derrick's being a little ridiculous and that if he likes me so much, he should just tell me?"

Dylan curled her upper lip around her lower one. It was pretty obvious that Derrick didn't like Massie but she had no choice but to sound like a good friend. "Yeah, I agree with Kristen, you should go talk to him and set things straight."

"I will," Massie grinned, standing up and pushing back her chair. "Thanks for the pep talk, guys."

"No problem," Dylan exhaled.

Massie slinked away as she made her way through the crowded halls. Loud music was blaring as everyone casually checked at the clock to see when the fireworks were finally going to start.

"Dylan, she's gone. You don't have to keep eating like they do in those Twix commercials when they don't know what to say," Kristen made a face.

Dylan laughed. "Yeah, but I missed eating Oreos. Remember when the boy-fast was still going on, I made a promise that no boy was ever worth ten pounds?"

"Yeah," Kristen said, still standing and waiting for Dylan to finish talking so she could run to the guest room and eavesdrop on Massie and Derrick's conversation.

"Well, a boy might not be worth gaining pounds," Dylan shook her head. "But happiness is. Whatever," Dylan shrugged. "If I eat ten Oreos today, I'll just work out tomorrow or run a mile."

"That sounds like a good idea," Kristen grinned.

"Yeah," Dylan sighed dreamily. "I'm so glad I'm over the whole weight problem."

"I'm really happy for you," Kristen said, reaching over to pat Dylan's forearm. "Super happy," Kristen smiled but then realized she had to be somewhere. "I'll be back later, okay? See you guys."

"Later," Dylan, Claire, and Alicia murmured.

Kristen sprinted through the halls and pressed her ear against the door of the guestroom. She could hear Massie pacing around the room, something she did when she was nervous.

"Why'd you invite me today and then totally ignore me?"

Kristen crossed her fingers. Please play along, Derrick.

"I don't know, maybe I'm hiding something?"

"Hiding what?"

"Just something."

"Is it a girl?"

"Maybe."

"Who? Tell me who it is."

"Someone."

"Is it me?"

"Maybe."

"I think it is."

"Possibly."

"I think you still like me but you're too shy to admit it. It's okay. You don't have to tell me that you like me. But if you do, tell one of my friends. That's the great thing about gossip."

"Tell one of your friends?"

"Yeah, like, Kristen or someone. She'll pass it on to me. I'll text her now."

Kristen jumped as her cell vibrated against her hand.

Massie: come 2 the guest room now

Kristen took a few deep breaths and walked around the entire house once before going back to the guestroom so it seemed like she wasn't just waiting outside the entire time. When she opened the door, Massie already left and Derrick was just standing against the wall scowling.

"At this rate, I'm going to spend my entire party inside the guestroom." Derrick rolled his eyes. "I played along, happy?"

Kristen nodded. "So what were you going to say before?"

Derrick's scowl faded and a softer expression took its place. "I was going to say…" He started to say but then chuckled. "Wow, why is it so hard to tell you?"

"Um, just say it slowly," Kristen suggested.

Derrick shook his head. "That wouldn't make a difference." He paused and then grinned. "Here," He said, reaching out his hand for Kristen to take. "How about I just show you?"

"Well, my mom always said I'm more of a visual learner," Kristen twirled a lock of her straight blonde hair as she eyed Derrick's hand. Should she take it and totally turn her back against Massie? Or should she ignore it and live her life wondering what could've happened? She placed her much smaller hand onto his and relaxed as he curled his fingers in between hers. "Okay, lead the way."

Derrick's face lit up like a little kid's in a toy store. Once they were out of the room, Josh shouted, "Fireworks are starting! Everyone go outside! DON'T PUSH!"

"I guess you'll have to show me another time," Kristen turned to give Derrick an apologetic smile. She was about to take her hand away when he gave it a squeeze.

"No I won't," Derrick shook his head and lead her to the backyard where everyone else at the party was.

Once outside, Kristen ducked her head when she thought she saw Massie looking at her. Her worst nightmares came true. Her cell phone vibrated for the third time that hour. She flipped it open with her free hand and read the text.

Massie: is that derrick's hand ur holding?? ehmagawd. tell me he's just using u to get me jealous.

Kristen looked up to realize that Derrick read the text too. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What? Why would she think that?"

"Is it true?" Kristen blurted out.

"It's not," Derrick said. Kristen couldn't help but believe him. The look in his eyes was just so promising. "Here," Derrick offered. He took her phone away without letting go of her other hand while he texted Massie back.

Kristen: He's not using me.

Derrick grinned as he handed Kristen her cell phone back. Massie replied in less than a few seconds.

Massie: ?? that's what U think!!

"Hey," Derrick nudged her. "Look up! It's starting."

Kristen snapped her head up just in time to see the first set of fireworks. Red, white, and blue sparks flew across the sky to make differently-shaped bundles. "I organized this."

"That's so cool!" Kristen gushed. "Is this what you wanted to tell me?"

"That's coming up at the very end," Derrick said, giving her cold hand another small squeeze.

At the very end, a huge boom got everyone to look up as fireworks spelled out a sentence in the night sky.

Kristen, will you be my girlfriend?

Massie crushed the paper cup she was holding in her hand, absentmindedly forgetting that there was fruit punch in it. No one even noticed her shrieking when red juice was sprayed all over her white Juicy Couture tank-top. Alicia's loud laughter however did attract tons of attention. Finally Massie got what she deserved. Claire scrambled back inside to gather up some tissue paper to dab the stains out. Dylan kept stuffing popcorn in her mouth as the drama was finally heating up and she needed some movie-snacks to occupy her from making any obliviously-rude comments. But the rest of the guests stared in awe at OCD's newest couple.

For once, Kristen was the lucky girl that everyone stared at jealously.

For once, Kristen was the one who felt like she was one in a million.

For once, Kristen could finally muster up the confidence to tell Massie that not everyone liked her.

Oh yes, what's more Fourth of July than new beginnings?