First Date (13 page)

Just as Bryn reached her locker, she received a text from Harris. The soccer guys were on the bus heading across town, and it sounded like Harris had already gotten Kent to agree to take Abby to the dance. So it was all set. No time to look back. She didn’t want to anyway. She’d set out to accomplish certain goals today, and it appeared that she’d done exactly that. Instead of questioning herself and their club, she should be patting herself on the back!

I
could hardly believe it,” Abby told Bryn when she called on Saturday morning. “Just when I was about to give up on Kent last night—after you’d gotten my hopes up—he finally came through.”

“I told you he would.”

“Maybe . . . but to be honest it was a little disappointing.” Abby kicked off her Nikes and peeled off her sweaty socks. She’d run five miles with her dad this morning and was yearning for a good long shower right now.

“Disappointing? What do you mean?”

“I mean he texted me what felt like a really cautious invitation to the dance.”

“Cautious? How so?”

Abby tried to remember the exact message, but it was kind of muddled in her mind now. “Oh, I don’t know exactly. It just seemed like he was trying to make it perfectly clear that we were only going together as
friends
.”

“Well, that’s okay. Isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess. But after all we’ve been through with the DG and everyone putting so much effort into this thing . . . well, it was kind of anticlimactic.”

Bryn laughed. “Don’t be silly. At least you’re going to the dance, Abby. Isn’t that something to celebrate? I was so worried you’d be left out.”

“Speaking of left out . . . What about Devon?” Abby struggled out of her T-shirt as she held onto her phone.

“What about her?” Bryn’s voice turned flat.

“Well, she hasn’t been asked yet.”

“I know.”

“You got her text this morning, didn’t you? After I sent mine announcing that I was officially going?”

“Yeah, I got it.” Bryn sounded slightly agitated now.

Of course, this only stirred up Abby’s curiosity. Suddenly her urge to get into the shower was much less pressing. She sat down on her bed. “So what’s up with Devon? And why do you sound irritated at her?”

“Didn’t you
read
the text?” Bryn demanded.

“Yeah. Well, I read it pretty fast. I was just about ready to go running with Dad and—”

“Did you miss the part where Devon was pulling the plug on our homecoming dates?”

“Huh?” Abby held her phone out, wishing she could read the message more carefully this time.

“Yes, Devon snarkily reminded us of the ‘no girl left behind’ rule. Remember that rule?”

“Oh . . .” Abby flopped back on her bed and groaned. “So after everything we’ve gone through, Devon thinks we should all cancel just because she doesn’t have a date to homecoming?”

“Uh-huh. That pretty much describes it.”

“Man, that bites.”

“Tell me about it. I put a lot of work into this project.”

“It’s not our fault she hasn’t been asked out,” Abby said.

“Well, maybe. But I happen to know she’s blaming me.”

“Huh?” Abby sat up.

“Yeah. She called me a little while ago saying that if I hadn’t hit on Harris, she would be going with him.”

“Right . . . maybe in her dreams.” Abby sighed. “What are we going to do?”

“We’re getting her a date.” Bryn said this with such determination that it sounded like a done deal.

“Have you had any luck with Jason?”

“No, but she probably deserves him,” Bryn said sharply.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean, from what I hear, Jason isn’t exactly a nice guy.”

“What did you hear?” Abby didn’t really like gossip, at least not when it was about her friends. But when it was about someone else . . . well, her curiosity sometimes got the best of her. Abby was all ears as Bryn jumped right into a story about overhearing Amanda and her friends talking about Jason in the restroom.

“I don’t see any reason why Amanda would lie—at least not to her friends,” Bryn continued. “She made it sound like Jason would be the last guy at Northwood to take the Worthington challenge seriously. Like Jason was after one thing and one thing only when it came to girls. I think those were her exact words.”

“Did you tell Devon this?”

“Are you kidding?”

“But what about the DG rules?” Abby reminded her. “We’re supposed to be loyal to each other. Remember?”

“Yeah, but how loyal is it for Devon to tell us we can’t go to homecoming? Or to blame me for her failure to get a date?”

“Good point. But still . . .” Abby didn’t like Devon that much. Certainly not as much as she liked the other girls in the club. Even so, she’d always had a strong sense of fairness. In her mind, a commitment was a commitment.

“Anyway, it seems the only thing to do is find Devon a date,” Bryn said.

“Yes, obviously. But who can we get? The dance is less than a week away.”

“I know. And I found the perfect guy for her.” Bryn giggled.

“Who?”

“Darrell Zuckerman.”

“Darrell Zuckerman?” Abby didn’t like to label people, but anyone else in school would call Darrell Zuckerman a geek. Maybe even a super geek since he seemed to make the most of his status by dressing and acting as weird as possible. Besides being a geek, he was an atheist, which was ironic since Northwood Academy was considered a Christian school. But Darrell obviously wasn’t there by choice, and he never seemed to mind who knew this. He wasn’t just a geek, he was an obnoxious, outspoken, opinionated geek. Abby had him in trigonometry, and his attitude regarding his superior math skills got old quick.

“He’s my lab partner in chemistry,” Bryn explained. “I know most people don’t understand him, but we actually get along pretty well. He likes me. And I like him.”

“Maybe
you
should go to the dance with him,” Abby teased. “And leave Harris for Devon.”

“Abby!”

“Kidding.”

“Anyway, I took the liberty of texting him this morning—right after Devon texted me—and then he called and we talked it all through, and he is willing to take her.”

“He’s willing?” Abby laughed. “Like it’s a big imposition for someone like Darrell to take someone like Devon?”

“Hey, Darrell might be a geek, but he’s not stupid.”

“I wasn’t saying he was. I just thought he might appreciate having a pretty girl like Devon on his arm. You know? Might elevate his status in geekdom.”

“Well, as it turns out, you’re right.” Bryn laughed. “Once I convinced him this wasn’t a prank, he agreed. He wants to take her.”

“What did Devon say?”

“Devon doesn’t know yet.”

“Oh, I can’t wait to hear her reaction.” Suddenly Abby felt sorry for Darrell. “Does she even know Darrell?”

“I’m not sure. I think you’ll have the opportunity to hear her reaction, though. I’ve called a meeting for today. If you ever checked your phone, you’d know this. Anyway, can you be at Costello’s by 11:00? I already got confirmation from everyone else.”

“I guess so, but I still need to grab a shower. You could’ve given me more notice.”

“I tried. Tell me, once again, why you don’t take your phone with you when you go running?”

“When I’m with my dad? What for?” Abby was tugging off her shorts now.

“Never mind. See you at 11:00. I’ll order you a mocha.”

Abby hurried to shower and dress, then hopped on her bike and headed toward town. Fortunately, her house was
less than a mile from Costello’s, but by the time she went into the coffee shop, her friends were already seated.

“Sorry,” she said breathlessly as she took a chair. “Did you guys start without me?”

Bryn shook her head and passed a coffee mug toward Abby. “Nope. We wanted everyone here and accounted for.”

“I know why you called the meeting,” Devon said with an unhappy expression. “You’re mad at me for putting the kibosh on the dance, but if you remember, we all agreed to—”

“No, that’s not it,” Bryn interrupted. “I called this meeting because I have good news.”

“Good news?” Devon’s thin brows arched.

“You have a date for the dance.”

“Really?” Devon smiled. “Jason came through? But he hasn’t even—”

“Not Jason,” Bryn said quickly.

Devon’s smile faded. “Who then?”

“A good friend of mine,” Bryn began. “He’s my lab partner in chemistry. Very smart. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without him. And fortunately for us, he didn’t even go to Mr. Worthington’s little talk. He’s what you’d call an independent thinker.”

Devon looked interested. “I like that.”

“Who is it?” Emma asked, and Abby suppressed the urge to giggle.

“It’s Darrell Zuckerman.” Bryn seemed to be giving the other girls a warning look. “As we agreed on at our very first meeting, it doesn’t matter so much who we date since these are just the Dating Games and we’re all beginners. I think Darrell will be a perfect date for Devon.”

Cassidy looked like she was trying not to laugh as she
nodded eagerly. “Yeah, I think so too. Darrell should be a really interesting date for you, Devon.”

“What does he
look
like?” Devon asked with a worried expression. “Have I ever even met him?”

“Oh, you’ve probably seen him around,” Bryn assured her. “He’s got brown hair, average height—”

“Very solidly built,” Abby interjected. “I’m surprised he doesn’t go out for football.” Well, except that he probably didn’t have an athletic bone in his body and his “solidness” was probably the result of too many pizzas and video games, but she was not going there.

“What if I don’t like him?” Devon said with a creased brow.

Bryn shrugged. “I guess we can’t help that. But since we got you a date for the dance, you can’t claim that we left you out, right?”

“But what if I don’t want to—”

“Remember what you told us,” Emma said. “As long as we all had dates, it—”

“But that was when I thought Harris was taking me . . . or Jason.”

“Has Jason made any moves in your direction?” Cassidy asked pointedly.

“Not exactly.” Devon looked at Bryn. “But you were working on him for me. You said it looked hopeful.”

“I thought it did.” Bryn sighed. “But really, maybe it’s for the best, Devon. From what I hear Jason isn’t such a great catch. Personally, I’m glad not to be going to the dance with him.”

“What do you mean he’s not a good catch?” Devon demanded.

Bryn grimaced, and Abby decided to jump in, retelling what Bryn had told her. “It sounds like both of you dodged a bullet by not going out with him,” she said. “Be thankful.”

“I think you’re just making that up.” Devon glared at Bryn.

“I swear it’s true,” Bryn assured her. “Almost exactly like Abby just told you. I’m sure that’s why Amanda broke up with him. She sounded fed up.”

“Well, maybe Amanda was jerking you around because she wants Jason back.”

“Amanda had no idea I was listening.”

“Even so.” Devon glared at her and the others. “Whoever this Darrell person is, I’m almost certain that I’m not going to like him. This is just your way of making sure you all go to the dance even if I’m dateless. It’s just not fair.” She hit the table with her fist, making their coffee cups jitter.

Suddenly they were all talking at once, arguing over what was and wasn’t fair, who had done what and who hadn’t. Finally, after Abby noticed some of the other coffee patrons giving them looks of irritation, she made an attempt to bring the group to order. “I say we should vote on it,” she told everyone. “All in favor of Devon going to the dance with Darrell, raise their hands.” Four hands shot up, and Devon just rolled her eyes.

“You obviously have the right to refuse to go with him,” Bryn told Devon. “But you have to admit that we didn’t let you down by not getting you a date.”

“A loser date.” Devon narrowed her eyes at Bryn. “How would you like to be stuck with him?”

Bryn gave Devon the slightly superior look she could sometimes pull off. “I would make the best of it,” she declared, “for the sake of my friends—and for Darrell.”

“I believe that,” Abby confirmed. “I’ve known Bryn for years and that’s how she is.”

“Fine.” Devon stood up. “I’ll consider going with Darrell what’s-his-name. But not until I see him first. And just for the record, I am not happy about this.”

After she left, the four girls burst into giggles. “You know she’ll never go with him,” Cassidy said finally.

“Maybe she’d like him if she got to know him,” Bryn said wistfully. “I like him.”

“Enough to go to the dance with him?” Emma asked.

Bryn seemed to consider this. “Maybe . . . maybe I would.”

“Well, if Devon thinks she can switch dates on you, she probably will,” Abby warned. “You better be prepared for it.”

“Yeah, getting Darrell for Devon is kind of a low blow,” Emma said.

“I happen to like Darrell,” Cassidy interjected. “I mean, he’s weird, but he’s nice. And he’s über-smart.”

“Maybe you should go with him,” Emma told her. “Let Devon have Lane.”

Cassidy frowned. “I don’t know . . . I doubt Lane would be that into Devon.”

“Well, I’m sorry she’s not being more cooperative,” Bryn said. “I only set her up with Darrell for you guys. I know how much everyone was looking forward to the dance. I didn’t want Devon to ruin it for us.”

“I think you saved the day,” Abby told Bryn. She looked at the others. “Don’t you guys agree?” Emma and Cassidy nodded. “Speaking of the dance, my mom wants to go shoe shopping with me. I better get moving.”

“Before you leave,” Cassidy said quickly, “I wanted to say something. I’d meant to say it while Devon was here.”

“What’s wrong?” Emma asked.

“Nothing’s wrong,” Cassidy said. “I just wanted to apologize to you guys. I know I’ve been kind of grumpy and negative lately, and I don’t really like acting that way. I mean . . . it’s not very Christlike. And I’m sorry.”

Everyone at the table was quiet now, as if waiting for her to continue.

She smiled. “I just want to try to be more positive, you know. I want to work harder at being a better friend.”

“That’s cool,” Abby said, and the others echoed her, but it was obvious they were all a little uncomfortable with her unexpected declaration. Cassidy could be like that, and you never really knew where she was going with something.

“Don’t worry,” Cassidy said, “it’s not like I’m going to start preaching at you.” She laughed. “Well, I’ll try not to anyway. But I did have an idea for the homecoming dance. Actually, it was my mom’s idea, but I think it’s a good one.” She reminded them of how they’d kind of wrangled the guys into taking them and how there were expenses involved, including a nice meal somewhere. “How about if we provide dinner? I’m willing to host it at my house,” she told them. “I thought each of us could bring one dish. You know, like someone brings a salad and someone brings a—”