Prom Date (6 page)

Suddenly every girl at the table gave Bryn her full attention.

“We'll turn prom into a fund-raiser,” Bryn began. “I'm not totally sure how, but I'm sure it can be done.” She twisted her mouth to one side. “For starters we'll raise the price of tickets—”

“But that will turn the guys totally against it,” Devon told her.

“Not if all the proceeds go to help someone in need.”

“But proms are expensive,” Abby pointed out. “Ticket proceeds help to cover the cost.”

“Unless we got some sponsors and some donations from businesses.” Bryn rubbed her chin. “Maybe I'll go to the Hartfords again. They're the richest people I know. And they really care about kids and our school. They might be willing to help again.”

“I still don't quite see what this has to do with Sofia,” Emma complained.

“Or how you plan to pull this off,” Cassidy said with skepticism.

“Okay, let's start at the beginning. We'll be on prom committee,” Bryn started to explain. “Cass and Emma and me to start with. By the way, the first meeting is tomorrow after school, which means we need to get busy before then. At tomorrow's meeting we'll vote to raise the price of prom tickets and to turn prom into a fund-raiser.” She held up a forefinger. “Hey, maybe we could even have some other fund-raising events related to prom. And then, when it's all said and done, all the proceeds will go to Sofia's cancer treatment.” She beamed at them. “How about that?”

Felicia's dark eyes lit up. “Really? You would do that? Donate all the proceeds to my little sister's treatment?”

Bryn nodded firmly. “You bet we would. We want to help your sister. And turning prom into a fund-raiser would be a great way to raise money.”

Abby was getting some mixed feelings right now. On one hand, she loved the idea of helping Felicia's little sister. On the other hand, was Bryn just being opportunistic? Was she using this little girl's very serious cancer diagnosis to garner enthusiasm for a prom that was in peril of perishing—and perhaps should be quietly buried?

But suddenly everyone was talking at once and it was clear
that they were enthusiastic and supportive of the fund-raising prom idea. And Bryn was so excited about the possibilities. Abby knew this wasn't the time and place to question her best friend's true motives. Besides, how would it look to sound so negative and suspicious with Felicia so obviously thrilled by this idea? Talk about being a wet blanket. Abby decided to just keep her mouth shut.

S
ometimes Bryn felt like she'd make a good general. Not in a real army, of course, but she was good at leading the troops. And by the time she got home from the DG meeting, she was already preparing her battle plan. First she texted Emma and Cassidy, reminding them of tomorrow's prom planning meeting, as well as assigning them tasks to have completed before the important meeting. After dinner, she called Mrs. Hartford, leaving a long message that explained her idea to turn prom into a fund-raiser for Sofia Ruez.

“Everyone knows how prom can be considered such a selfish and shallow sort of event,” she said finally. “And I know how much you and Mr. Hartford believe in Northwood Academy—how you respect the school's traditions and care about the students. I just think we could all do something really amazing this year. Similar to what we did with Project Santa Sleigh. Feel free to call me or text me or even use email to let me know if I can count on you for support. And, even if you
are unable to partner with us on this, I just want to thank you again for all your support in the past. We really appreciate you.” Then she said a cheerful good-bye and hung up.

First thing on Wednesday morning Bryn went to Mrs. Dorman's office, since she was the staff member overseeing prom. She signed up herself, Emma, and Cassidy for prom committee.

“I'm glad to see you taking interest in this,” Mrs. Dorman told her. “Last year it was like pulling teeth to get students to help with prom.”

“Well, I believe in keeping traditions like prom alive,” Bryn assured her. “And I've heard rumors that there are some kids in our school who don't feel the same.”

Mrs. Dorman's brows arched. “Really?”

Bryn nodded. “Yes. Some students would like to destroy our prom.”

Mrs. Dorman looked worried. “Have there been threats of some kind? Some sort of danger I should be aware of?”

“Well, it's not exactly dangerous. It's more of an anti-prom campaign.”

“Oh . . .” Mrs. Dorman nodded with a slightly concerned expression. “Perhaps I should attend this afternoon's meeting myself.”

“Yes,” Bryn agreed. “That's a good idea.”

By midday Wednesday, the guys had already gathered several pages worth of signatures on their anti-prom petitions. Enthusiasm for a prom boycott seemed to be spreading like wildfire—and Bryn was ready to break out a fire extinguisher. But she knew she needed to pace herself, to go about this carefully. And from what she could see, after sneaking a peek at Kent Renner's petition list outside of
the math department, it was mostly guys who were signing those stupid papers.

“This is brilliant, dude!” A boy who was only a freshman, and probably had no intention of attending prom this year, gave Kent a victorious fist bump. “I remember how much cash my brother dumped to go to his prom last year. I told him he should've just piled his money in a big heap in the backyard and lit a match to it.” The kid laughed like this was hilarious.

Kent just nodded as he took back his pen. “Good point, bro. It's a lot of cash for just one night.”

Bryn had simply bitten her tongue. Of course, the cheapskate boys would be thrilled about a prom boycott. But there had to be some guys who appreciated tradition—the kind of fellow who could enjoy an unforgettable night with a pretty girl on his arm. Where were these boys?

By the end of the day, Bryn was ready to explode. If these guys thought they could undo years of Northwood tradition just by circulating a stupid petition—well, as her grandpa would say, they had another think coming! She knew she needed to reserve her opinions for the prom meeting after school today. But it wasn't easy keeping her mouth shut.

“Did you make the poster?” Bryn asked Emma as they met in the breezeway outside of the library. The meeting was scheduled in the library's conference room.

“Right here.” Emma patted the oversized folder. “I got a really good photo of Sofia from Felicia.”

“And I just sent the article to the school's website,” Cassidy told her. “Including a photo of Sofia. It should be up any minute now.”

“Great.” Bryn gave them a thumbs-up. “Ready for battle?”

“Battle?” Emma frowned.

“You've seen the petitions circulating,” Bryn reminded her. “The guys are thinking they've got this all wrapped up.”

“Lane admitted that they'll be represented at the meeting too,” Cassidy said as they walked through the library.

“I figured as much.” Bryn turned to face her friends. “And remember what I told you guys, don't just nominate me for committee chairperson, but say something about why I'd be a good chair, okay?”

“Something besides the fact that you'd like to be prom queen?” Cassidy said in a teasing tone.

“You know that's not true.” Bryn frowned.

“You're sure about that?” Cassidy questioned her.

“Absolutely.” Bryn firmly nodded. “I just happen to love traditions. You guys know that. And I love the idea of raising funds for Sofia's treatment.” She looked directly at Cassidy. “Don't you?”

“Of course.” Cass sounded defensive.

“And . . .” Bryn paused to see if anyone was near enough to eavesdrop. “I wasn't going to tell anyone until we were in the meeting, but I got a text back from Mrs. Hartford and their foundation is very interested in participating with our fund-raiser.”

“Seriously?” Emma's eyes grew wide. “That's awesome, Bryn.”

Even Cassidy looked impressed. “Nice work!”

“Thanks.” Bryn smiled as she pushed open the door to the library. “So I really need you two to step up at this meeting. Nominate me with real enthusiasm, okay?”

They both agreed and, feeling like she was leading her troops, Bryn headed for the library conference room. But, to her dismay, there were only a few students in the room.
All girls and all preoccupied with their phones or books and not looking as if they really cared much about this meeting. Maybe that wasn't even what they were there for. Plus Mrs. Dorman hadn't arrived.

“This is where the prom committee is meeting, isn't it?” she asked brightly.

“Uh-huh,” Mazie Tucker answered without looking up from her iPhone.

“Have a seat,” another girl said.

“Let's sit up here.” Bryn led her friends to the other side of the room, placing her hand on the chair at the head of the table. “We'll save this for Jason. I assume since he's student council president, he'll want to chair this meeting.” She lowered her voice, winking at them. “At least to start with anyway.”

It wasn't long until a few other girls straggled in, and eventually Mrs. Dorman slipped into the back of the room, taking a seat against the wall with her notepad in hand.

“It's past 3:30,” Bryn pointed out. “I wonder if we should go ahead and start the meeting since—”

“Here we are!” Jason announced like he was the star of the show. He had several of the guys with him—the same ones who'd been circulating the anti-prom petitions—and they ceremoniously entered the room. It was amazing how everything got noisier and busier when boys got involved. Not that Bryn was opposed to that. Not at all. The best-case scenario would be for lots of guys to get involved in prom committee. And she hoped she'd be able to entice them to consider that today.

“This chair for me?” Jason said as he made his way up front. Meanwhile the other guys remained clustered back
by the door. Jason grinned at Bryn with a devious twinkle in his eyes. “Thanks, Bryn.”

“No problem.” She smiled back. “Glad you could make it. We were about to start without you.”

Jason held up a stack of messy-looking papers—obviously the signed petitions. “Well, that's not necessary.” He looked around the room with a smug expression. “In fact, this whole meeting might be unnecessary.”

“And why is that?” Bryn asked innocently.

He waved the papers in the air. “Because this might just be the year when we finally put to death a silly and expensive tradition that has obviously outlived its usefulness.”

The other girls were watching him with quiet interest and what Bryn hoped might be concern. Surely they didn't want to see their prom kicked to the curb.

“So are you calling this meeting to order?” Bryn calmly asked Jason.

“This is not a student council meeting,” he reminded her.

“I know. It's a prom planning meeting. That's why we're here. To plan prom.” She forced a bright smile. “So why not get on with it?”

He waved the pages again, but this time his eyes were focused on Mrs. Dorman. “Unless the majority of students at Northwood don't want a prom. Do we need a meeting then?”

“Why don't you explain?” Mrs. Dorman told him.

“What about nominations for prom committee chairperson?” Bryn stood up, facing Jason with defiance. “Shouldn't we do
that
first? Before we bring anything to the table—shouldn't we have an official prom chairperson appointed? To keep the meeting in order?”

“Unless we're
canceling
prom.” Jason gave her a sly grin.

“He can't just walk in here and cancel prom, can he?” She directed this to Mrs. Dorman. “Does a student council president have that kind of authority? Shouldn't it be put to the vote?” She shot a worried glance at Emma and Cass.

“This is no different than a vote.” He rattled his silly papers dramatically. “By the end of the week, we'll have the majority of students signed off on this. And, hey, the people have spoken.”

“But that's not fair,” Bryn protested. “The majority of students don't even
go
to prom.”

“One more reason it's becoming obsolete.”

“That's just your opinion.”

Jason shook the papers in her face now. “And the opinion of close to two hundred other Northwood students. And that was just one day's worth of signature gathering. At this rate we should have a majority by noon tomorrow.”

“But why should the
majority
decide?” Bryn demanded.

“Really?” Jason put his hand to his chest like he was appalled. “You oppose democracy now? You want to turn Northwood into a dictator state?”

“No, of course not! I just mean that the prom is for juniors and seniors and it doesn't make sense that everyone—”

“
All
students will be juniors and seniors—
eventually
.”

“It seems to me that you're the one who's opposing democracy, Jason.” Bryn shook her finger at him. “Otherwise, you'd allow the whole student body to vote on this.” Bryn looked at her friends, wishing for some help or support, but both of them were distracted with their phones. What was wrong with them?

“Signing a petition is the same as a vote!” he proclaimed.

“But it's not a valid vote—and it's not even fair!” Bryn slammed her palm down on the table with a loud bang.

“All right, all right.” Mrs. Dorman stood, holding up her hands. “As much as I appreciate your enthusiasm, this meeting is not meant to be a debate. As your faculty advisor I'm suggesting you conduct yourselves in an orderly fashion. Treat this like an official meeting.”

“How about if we begin with chairperson nominations?” Cassidy suggested.

“But why appoint a chair if there's not going to be a prom?” Jason asked her.

“Because we do not know for certain that prom is being canceled,” Bryn told him in a calm but firm voice. “And until we know that for sure, it seems reasonable to proceed with chairperson nominations.”

“I nominate Bryn Jacobs,” Emma said suddenly. And setting her cell phone aside, Emma stood up. “Bryn has shown that she's responsible. And we know she's experienced because of the good work she did on the Christmas ball. Bryn is the kind of girl who really cares about school traditions. Besides that, Bryn has come up with a really unique idea that could turn our prom into something that's much more than just a formal dance.” Emma locked eyes with Bryn then sat down.

“I second the nomination,” Cassidy declared. “Bryn is the best person to chair prom. Not only does she care about the quality of this event, but like Emma said, she's got a plan to make it into something really great.”

Bryn smiled at her friends. They didn't let her down after all.

“I nominate Jason for the chair,” one of the guys in back yelled out.

“But he doesn't even want prom,” Bryn pointed out.

“I second the nomination,” another guy called out.

Bryn did a quick head count. If this turned into guys against girls, Jason would win.

“Are there any other nominations?” Mrs. Dorman asked.

“I nominate Lane Granger,” Bryn said suddenly. Okay, it was a long shot, but it could work. “The reason I'm nominating Lane is because I honestly think he would be more supportive of prom than Jason.” She smiled at Lane and to her relief, he smiled back.

“I second the nomination,” Cassidy said.

If only this would split the guys' vote. In that case, Bryn would win.

“Are we ready to put this to a vote?” Mrs. Dorman asked.

Before anyone could answer, the doors to the conference room flew open and Felicia and Devon burst into the room, followed by several more girls. Bryn wasn't sure what was going on, but when she looked at Emma and Cass, they both held up their phones as if the answer lay there. Of course, they had texted more girls in the school, probably begging them to come to this meeting. Brilliant!

“I think we're almost ready to put it to a vote,” Bryn told Mrs. Dorman. But first she brought the latecomers up to speed, explaining how Jason had shown up with the intent of throwing their prom under the bus. Bryn pointed at the petition papers in his hands. “Jason feels that just because the guys have gathered a bunch of signatures, they have the authority to take prom away from us.” She looked at the girls clustered in the back of the room. “But I don't think that's fair. Prom is a time-honored tradition in this school. Something that we all look forward to. And, sure, there might be some outdated things in regard to prom, but let's not toss it all aside. I happen to have some ideas that could transform
prom into something truly amazing. But if Jason has his way, we'll never have the chance.”