Double Date (21 page)

Everyone cheered and he slowly opened the envelope. “The winning sleigh is number 37, and it was put together by Emma Parks and Isaac—” But that was all that Emma could hear because everyone was clapping and cheering. Isaac swooped her into a lifted hug, and then the four friends did a group hug. Finally they went up to the stage to claim their prize. Emma didn't think she'd ever had a happier moment.

The celebration got even better when, later on, she was congratulated by all her friends in the DG. Every single one of them seemed genuinely happy for her and for Felicia too. As they were all gathered around the table, chattering happily together, Emma realized that the DG had grown—not just in numbers but as people too.

1

I
'm so envious, I could spit,” Bryn declared.

“Just don't spit in here, okay?” Emma teased. The six Dating Games friends were seated at a big corner table in the airport restaurant, waiting for their pizza to be served. It was the last Friday in February, and the plan for the afternoon, arranged by Cassidy, was to give Emma and Felicia—the winners of the Project Santa Sleigh competition—a nice little send-off party before they boarded the nonstop jet to Los Angeles. Emma was so excited that she wasn't even sure she could eat a whole slice of pizza, but she would at least pretend to enjoy it. Mostly she was just happy to be here with her friends. “Honestly,” she told Bryn, “I wish you
could
go. I wish you all could go.”

“Well, I'd give anything to be in your shoes,” Bryn confessed.

“Really?” Felicia's dark eyes twinkled as she stuck out a foot. “You like these flip-flops, do you? Wanna trade?”

“Or maybe these?” Emma held up a foot. She knew that Bryn wouldn't be caught dead in her practical walking sandals.

Bryn gave them both a tolerant smile. “Well, I didn't mean
literally
. But I have been wondering why I didn't try harder to win the Project Santa Sleigh contest myself.”

“Like that was going to happen,” Abby taunted. “Get real.”

“But the red carpet! At only the biggest celebrity event of the year—
the Oscars
!” Bryn moaned dramatically as she pointed at Emma and Felicia. “And you two aren't even
into
fashion.”

“Thanks a lot.” Emma feigned offense.

“Sorry.” Bryn looked slightly contrite. “That was my jealousy talking.”

Emma gave her a sympathetic smile. It was ironic that someone like Bryn could be jealous of Emma and Felicia.

“It's okay,” Felicia told Bryn. “Everyone knows that I'm seriously fashion challenged. If you hadn't helped me pack yesterday, I'd probably look like a total loser down in LA this weekend.”

“I'm not trying to be mean.” Bryn sounded like she was backpedaling now. “But you guys know me—I'm the one who obsesses over fashion and style and all that ‘shallow' stuff.” She rolled her big blue eyes.

Emma chuckled, remembering Bryn's New Year's resolution less than two months ago. Bryn had resolved to stop being so superficial, but she obviously still had a long road ahead. Who could blame her for feeling bummed, though? Winning this amazing trip to Hollywood had pretty much blown Emma's mind. She still could barely believe they were really going.

“Excuse me, Bryn,” Abby interjected. “I might not be an obsessed fashionista like you, but I happen to care about style, thank you very much. I feel a little bummed about not going too.”

“What about me when it comes to appearances?” Devon demanded. “I'm not exactly slumming here.” She held her head higher, pausing to pat her auburn curls. “I care about my looks too.”

“Hey, ladies, we're not here to argue over fashion.” Cassidy picked up her soda, lifting it high for a toast. “We're here to
celebrate Emma and Felicia. Here's to them having a great trip to Los Angeles and a fabulous time at the red carpet event.” Everyone lifted their glasses, clinking them together and adding individual toasts, which went from serious to silly, until all six of them were giggling.

“You guys are so lucky.” Devon playfully punched Emma in the shoulder.

“Luck had nothing to do with it,” Cassidy defended. “Emma and Felicia worked hard to win the contest—fair and square.”

“That's true,” Abby agreed.

“But the kids we helped were the real winners,” Felicia said humbly. “Rosa and Roberta and Mindy and Jackson—the best part of that whole project was seeing their faces light up every time we did something with them. That in itself would've been enough of a reward for me.”

“Which reminds me, I promised to send the kids photos from the red carpet—just like Isaac and Marcus did from the Rose Bowl.” Emma double-checked to make sure her she'd put the Family Assistance Center's phone number in the iPhone that Isaac had insisted she borrow. So sweet of him!

“Don't forget to send us photos too,” Bryn reminded her.

“Yeah,” Devon agreed. “I want the whole trip documented, from beginning to end, so it feels like we're there with you.”

“We've already told you a dozen times that we'll keep you posted,” Emma reassured her.

“Emma and I have it all worked out,” Felicia added. “She'll be the photographer and I'll be the texter. Between the two of us, you should have pretty good coverage. Anything beyond that, and you better just turn on your televisions or watch a live stream.”

“Don't forget to snag some selfies,” Devon insisted. “We want to see you actually rubbing elbows with celebs—you know, to prove you were really there.”

Bryn set her drink down with a dreamy look in her eyes. “I wonder if you'll see Taylor Lautner.”

Emma wrinkled her nose. “Seriously? You're still into him? I thought he was, like,
so last year
.”

Cassidy laughed loudly as she gave Emma a high five. “Good one.”

“Anyway, we'll do our best,” Emma reassured Bryn. “And if I happen to see Taylor, I'll set my personal bias aside and grab a pic. Want me to blow him a kiss from you too?”

Bryn frowned at Emma. “Funny.”

They continued to laugh and joke until their pizza arrived, and as Emma looked around the table, she couldn't help but be thankful for this group of good friends. It seemed slightly ironic that the Dating Games, a club they'd created to improve their dating life, had brought them closer together as friends. During the past six months their friendships had become more important than dating. Not that Emma cared to admit this out loud.

“I'm so glad you guys came to the airport to see us off,” Emma told them as they were finishing up. “It's been great.”

Cassidy held up her arm, pointing to her watch. “Speaking of seeing you off, you promised your mom you'd meet her at security by 5:45. That's like right now.”

Emma nodded. “Yeah, but our flight's not until—”

“Boarding time is 6:10.” Felicia reached for her bag. “And our gate's in another terminal. Plus security might be busy since it's a Friday. We better go.”

Devon blinked. “You sound like you've done this before.”

“Lots of times,” Felicia told her. “We visit relatives in California about once a year.”

“Well, you guys better get moving,” Bryn said.

Emma opened her purse, reaching for some money.

“The pizza is on us,” Cassidy told her. “Save your money for LA.”

All the girls stood, and everyone took turns hugging Felicia and Emma good-bye—acting as if they were going around the world.

“How long are your friends going to be gone?” the waitress asked Cassidy with concerned eyes.

“Just until Monday,” Cassidy said brightly.

The waitress chuckled and walked away.

Emma and Felicia waved their last good-byes and hurried on down toward the security lines with their purses and carry-on bags in tow. Emma hadn't been overly thrilled that her mother was going with them as an escort, but because Felicia's parents refused to let their daughter take this trip without an adult along, Emma had agreed. Even though it meant she and Felicia had to exchange their first-class tickets for coach to cover Emma's mom's airfare, everyone had agreed it was well worth it in the end.

Really, it was better than having Felicia's overprotective mom along with them. Fortunately, she had to stay home with her other two children. The upside of this arrangement was that Emma's mom was a lot more laid-back than Felicia's parents.

“There's my mom up there.” Emma pointed to where her mom was standing near the end of the security line—a cup of coffee in one hand and her phone in the other.

“I was just about to call you,” Mom told Emma as they all got into line together.

“Sorry, we lost track of the time,” Emma told her.

“Luckily the line hasn't been very long.” Mom tossed the remains of her coffee in the trash container and sighed. “So, girls,
are we having fun yet
?”

Emma made a face, and Felicia just laughed.

“I feel a tiny bit bad that my ticket ousted you two from your first-class seats.” Emma's mom made a slight smirk. “Or not.”

“You're so funny,” Felicia told her. “I'm glad you're going with us, Mrs. Parks.”

“I'm glad too.” Emma's mom nodded eagerly. “I'd be even more glad if I got to go to the red carpet event with you as well. But I guess you can't have everything.” She patted Felicia on the back. “Just to make this trip more fun for all of us, you can't keep calling me Mrs. Parks. Okay?”

Felicia looked slightly uneasy.

“Please, just call me Susan.”

Felicia nodded. “Okay. Susan.”

“Even though I'm here to make sure you two darlings don't get into any trouble, let's just pretend that we're three girls out to have a good time.”

Emma refrained from rolling her eyes.

“Hey, it could be worse,” her mom reminded her.

Emma smiled. That was actually true. What if Emma's mom was like Devon's mom—a wild and crazy partier who took up with strange men? Now that would be scary. Or her mom could be like Felicia's mom, fretting over everything and insisting that her little girl dress like an eight year old. “I'm glad you came too,” Emma quietly told her mom as they moved forward in the line.

Mom smiled at her, gently patting her on the back. “I'll try not to embarrass you . . . too much.”

“Hey, I just got a text from Marcus.” Felicia turned to Emma, holding up her phone. “He and Isaac are parked on the other side of the river, straight across from the airport. They want to watch as our plane takes off. Isn't that sweet?”

“Seriously?” Emma blinked in surprise. Although they'd gone out a few times and she did really like him, Isaac really wasn't her “boyfriend” per se. For him and Marcus to go to this much trouble . . . well, it really was sweet.

“Yeah. Marcus wants to know which side of the plane we're seated on. He wants us to look down while they wave at us from below.”

“I think I printed out the seating chart of the plane.” Mom
fished in her oversized travel bag, pulling out the packet she'd carefully prepared for them a few weeks ago, and sure enough, she had plane-shaped map. She pointed to a spot. “We're pretty far back. It looks like you girls are on the left, and I'm on the right.”

“Great.” Felicia nodded as she texted back to Marcus.

“We'll take a selfie to send them once we're seated,” Emma told Felicia as they moved forward in the security line. “Tell them to send us one of them down by the river too.”

“Good idea.” Felicia turned back to her phone. “This is so fun.”

“I know.” Emma grinned. “Remember how they sent photos and texts to us from their Rose Bowl trip? Acting like they were such superstars. Now we can do the same thing back to them. Cool.”

They had reached the first TSA agent, and although Mom and Felicia were ahead of her, Emma realized she needed to get out her ID and boarding pass. She found a rumpled boarding pass, but as she fumbled through her purse for her driver's license, the man in a dark uniform waited with a grim expression.

“I know I have it,” Emma nervously assured him as she tore through her previously organized purse, spilling a couple of items onto the floor. She knelt down, gathering up a hairbrush and lip gloss and continuing to dig through her now messy bag. “I'm sorry it's taking so long.”

The security guard said nothing, just bounced his pen up and down with what seemed aggravated impatience.

“Oh, here it is.” Emma held up her license with a nervous smile. “You don't have to send me back home after all.” Ignoring her attempt at humor, he simply studied her ID and boarding pass, frowning intently as if he thought she was carrying weapons of mass destruction in the soles of her sandals.

Suddenly Emma felt extremely uneasy. What if she blew this?
What if they did a complete body search and made her miss the plane? Because it was her first flight—and her first time through airport security—her friends had warned her to be careful. Okay, some of it was just good-natured teasing, but some of it was actual advice. Emma was well aware that things could turn ugly if you did something wrong. Like you weren't supposed to joke with the security dudes, particularly about having weapons or explosives. Not funny. You also didn't argue with them even if you thought they were being unreasonable or stupid. But as she waited for the grumpy-looking man to return her ID and boarding pass, she could feel herself literally starting to sweat.

Fortunately, she was allowed to move on, but now it was time to dig her Ziploc baggie of toiletries from her purse, load her stuff into a plastic tub, and hoist her carry-on onto the conveyor for the X-ray machine. As Emma fumbled with these tasks, not sure which one to do first, she felt a panic attack coming on. Mom was about to walk through the X-ray machine, but Felicia paused from preparing her own baggage, insisting that Emma go first. Felicia grabbed Emma's bag and stuff and set it ahead of her own things, coaching Emma as they went.

“It's her first time flying,” Felicia explained to a TSA agent. “She's kinda nervous.”

“Oh, well, it's not too painful.” The woman smiled at Emma. “Now just step up to that line there and wait until I wave you on through the X-ray. Don't worry, we don't bite.”

Emma's mouth felt dry as she followed the directions. She stood with her toes on the line, trying not to freak over the idea of being X-rayed—was it really like Devon had said? Did they actually see you naked? Eventually the woman waved her through.