Prom Date (5 page)

“Thank you,” Felicia said again.

“See you in school tomorrow,” Emma said as she helped
Felicia get her things out of the trunk. She paused to give her friend a quick hug. “It's going to be okay for Sofia. I just know it is.”

Felicia just nodded. “Yeah. I think so too.”

“Felicia!” Mr. Ruez emerged from the house, eagerly running toward his daughter and scooping her up. “You're home, mija!”

Emma waved, then got back into the car.

“I'm glad her dad was there to meet her,” Mom said as she backed up. “Their family is going through a difficult trial.”

“At least they're a family.” Emma instantly regretted her words and how they sounded. “I mean, it's good that they have each other, you know?”

Mom nodded somberly. “Yeah. I know.”

“We're a family too,” Emma said quickly. “You and me and Edward.”

“We definitely are. Just not the same as Felicia's family.”

“But I'm happy for the Ruez family,” Emma added. “I mean, it's actually kind of nice that some of my friends come from happy homes. Well, I know they're not all happy—just because their parents are still married. That would be assuming a lot. But I guess it's reassuring that some of my friends' parents seem happy . . . and are still married.”

Her mom smiled at her. “It's actually reassuring to me too, honey. Gives me hope.”

Emma sighed. “And as weird as it sounds, it's kind of reassuring to have Devon around too.”

“You mean because her home situation is similar to ours?” Mom's brow creased with concern.

“To be honest, I did feel like that at first. And there definitely are some similarities. But the stuff she and her mom
have gone through—although it's sad and I feel sorry for Devon—it's actually made me really thankful that you're not like that, Mom. I mean, like Lisa.”

Her mom smiled. “I'm thankful too. And although I still try to be friends with Lisa, it's not easy. I don't like some of the decisions she's been making. And I keep thinking she'll wake up one of these days and that she'll get back to her old self. But something happens to a woman, Emma, when the husband she loved and trusted dumps her for another woman. It really takes a toll on your self-esteem.”

“Yeah . . .” Emma nodded. “I know.”

“But it is possible to recover.”

“You have, Mom.”

Her mom laughed as she pulled into their driveway. “Well, I wouldn't go that far. I think it's an ongoing process. Maybe I should just say I'm in a
recovery
program.”

Emma laughed. “Hey, that works.” As she gathered her bags and stuff, she felt so glad to be home. The trip to LA had been amazing and it actually had some incredible moments. Plus they'd gotten some awesome photos on the red carpet last night. And she would have some great stories to tell her friends at school tomorrow. Even so, it wasn't the kind of thing Emma would ever want to do on a regular basis. Leave Beverly Hills and red carpets to girls like Bryn and Devon. As she followed Mom into their humble little house, Emma decided that she was—at heart—just a small-town girl. And that was just how she liked it.

S
ometimes Abby questioned why she was still a member of the DG. Not because she was overly confident about her ability to get dates—especially since Kent Renner's interest in her seemed to change like the weather—but more due to the increasing number of activities in her life. With track season officially beginning, the spring production from the drama department, and some of the more academic classes in her heavy schedule, Abby was a busy girl. And like her parents had pointed out just last night, Abby probably needed to prioritize her time better.

“It's okay to say no to some activities,” her dad had told her during what had felt like a mandatory parental lecture. “Part of growing up is knowing when it's time to prune something from your life.”

“Meaning?” she had pressed.

“Well, I'm sure there are some activities that have no bearing on your future.”

“What kinds of things?” she persisted.

“Take your dating club—or whatever you call it.” Dad frowned with disapproval, and Abby tossed her mother a warning look. Hadn't she sworn her mom to secrecy?

“Sorry, honey. It just slipped out.” Mom gave her a sheepish look.

“But my point is, you need to think about where you're going,” Dad continued. “If something is taking your valuable time but doing nothing to pave your way toward college, well then, maybe you should reconsider it.”

“But Abby can't spend all her high school years obsessing over college,” Mom responded. “She should be enjoying life now too.”

“Absolutely,” Dad agreed. “But part of the enjoyment should be partnered with what's coming up in your future. For instance, sports . . .” He turned to Abby. “You enjoy your sports, don't you? I mean, for the most part.”

She shrugged, remembering Dad's disappointment when she'd decided not to play basketball. “I guess.”

“Well, I'm just saying that you're growing up, Abby. That comes with more responsibilities to make wise choices. I just want to keep encouraging you . . . that's all.”

Abby thanked him, but still wasn't totally sure what he was getting at. Other than the fact that, as always, Dad was less than supportive when it came to her dating. Naturally, he would want her to give up the DG. But that in itself probably made her feel even more defensive and protective of her DG friends. If that meant she'd be über-busy this spring, well, so be it!

If there was one thing that made her want to stick with the DG, it was friendship. The friendships that she'd par
ticipated in this year had all become really important to her. For that reason—and that reason alone—she felt like she'd remain committed to the DG as long as the DG existed. And that was exactly why, when Bryn started talking about prom toward the end of their lunch break, Abby recommended a quick DG meeting that same afternoon.

“But I can't be there until after track practice,” she told them. “Not until after five.”

They agreed on 5:15 at Costello's, and her friends promised to wait for her. “And if you're late, we'll just spend our time making Emma and Felicia tell us more stories about their big Los Angeles trip,” Bryn told her.

Everyone was seated and chatting happily by the time Abby arrived. Bryn held out an iced mocha. “Welcome,” she said with a smile.

“Thanks,” Abby said breathlessly, taking the vacant seat next to Cassidy.

“So what's this big news in regard to prom?” Bryn asked curiously.

Abby took a drink, pausing to get her bearings. “Okay, first of all, you all have to swear to confidentiality on this.” She held up her right hand like she was taking an oath. “Promise?”

They all held up their hands and promised, and then she continued.

“Okay, I was talking to Kent in drama this morning and he said something that caught me by surprise.”

“About prom?” Bryn pressed.

“Sort of. Apparently Kent went to youth group on Saturday night.”

“Yeah, so did we.” Cassidy pointed to Devon.

“Devon went to youth group?” Bryn said in disbelief.

“It was a slow night,” Devon told her with a sly expression.

“Anyway,” Abby continued. “Apparently the guys and girls broke up—”

“
Who
broke up?” Bryn demanded. “I didn't even know that anyone was going together.”

“Abby means we broke into separate groups,” Cassidy clarified. “The guys went with the youth pastor and the girls stayed with Sam.”

“Huh?” Bryn looked confused. “Sam?”

“Sam's a woman,” Devon explained.

“Anyway.” Abby tried to get them back on track. “Kent let it slip that the youth pastor—I can't remember his name, but—”

“Jarrod,” Cassidy supplied.

“Right. Jarrod. Anyway, Jarrod gave the guys this little talk, and apparently a number of guys were there from Northwood.”

“Yeah,” Devon jumped in. “Isaac and Lane and Marcus and—”

“Marcus was there?” Felicia said with interest.

“Yeah,” Cassidy told her. “And I don't think I've ever seen him there before, but he—”

“Do you guys want to hear this or not?” Abby demanded.

“Yeah, sure.” Bryn patted Abby on the shoulder. “Just spit it out, okay?”

Abby rolled her eyes. “Okay. It sounds like that youth pastor, Jarrod what's-his-name, gave the guys the exact same speech that Worthington gave the guys last fall.” Of course, she couldn't admit to her friends that her own father was
a huge fan of the school's dean of boys. She'd even heard her dad telling her mom that Mr. Worthington was “the greatest thing since sliced bread.” Whatever that was supposed to mean.

“About not dating?” Bryn asked.

Abby just nodded as she paused to sip her drink.

“Seriously?” Devon frowned. “That's what Jarrod said to the guys?”

“Well, Kent didn't go into much detail. He just kind of let it slip that because of what the youth pastor said—which seemed to have echoes of Worthington—none of them will be asking girls to prom.”

“What?”
Bryn slapped her hand on the table.

“Then why even have prom?” Devon said with disgust.

“Exactly.” Abby nodded eagerly. “That's what Kent said they're going to do.”

“Huh?” Emma looked slightly lost.

“Kent said that some of the guys plan to circulate a petition. Starting this week.”

“A petition for what?” Cassidy asked.

“Not
for
anything,” Abby clarified. “The petition is
against
. The guys want to see prom
canceled
.”

“No prom?” Bryn looked truly horrified.

“Can they do that?” Devon asked with concern.

“I don't know,” Abby confessed. “But it sounds like they're going to try.”

“That's too bad,” Emma said. “I was pretty sure that Isaac was going to ask me too. He even hinted about it a few weeks ago.”

“Well, Isaac was at youth group that night,” Devon told her. “He might be on the anti-prom bandwagon too.”

“This is just wrong,” Bryn proclaimed. “How can we be the only school that doesn't have prom?”

“It makes me want to go back to my old high school,” Devon said sullenly.

“Who do they think they are?” Bryn asked. “Just because a handful of guys are anti-prom doesn't mean the whole school should give it up. I mean, fine, if they don't want to go to prom, let them stay home. Why do they want to spoil it for everyone?”

“I wonder how many signatures they need to get,” Cassidy mused.

“Even if they got all the guys to sign, that would only be about 50 percent,” Abby pointed out.

“Why would all the guys even sign it?” Bryn asked.

“Because guys always like to complain about events like prom,” Emma told her. “I remember how my brother, Edward, would go on about how expensive it was, how it wasn't fair that the guy got stuck with the bill, but it was mostly for the girl.”

“Kind of like a wedding.” Abby nodded toward Bryn.

“Well, you can't have a wedding—just like you can't have a prom—without guys,” Bryn said wryly.

“This is so lame,” Devon grumbled.

Emma shook her head. “Is there any way to stop it? What if we circulate our own petition? Mrs. Dorman is our faculty advisor. Maybe we could ask her to put a stop to the boys' petition.”

“Isn't that kind of undemocratic?” Cassidy asked.

“Circulating a petition might be like freedom of speech,” Abby added.

“Just the same, someone needs to put the kibosh on those
boys,” Devon declared. “Before they gain any more momentum.”

“You're right.” Bryn nodded. “It's time to get really proactive.”

“Do you have a plan?” Devon asked.

Bryn's brow creased. “I'm working on it. The most important thing is to act fast. That means some of us need to get onto prom committee ASAP.”

“To get onto prom committee, you have to be a student council representative or else appointed by one,” Abby pointed out.

“You're a representative,” Bryn said back. “You could be on prom committee.”

“No way.” Abby firmly shook her head. “With track and the play coming up, I don't have time.”

“I'm a student council rep too,” Cassidy admitted.

“Great,” Bryn told her. “You and I will both volunteer for prom committee and then we'll appoint one or two DG members.”

“But what if I don't want—”

“Cassidy,” Bryn said sharply. “Are you going to let your fellow DG members down?”

“But I really don't want to be on prom committee.”

“It'll look good on your college application,” Abby told her.

Cassidy seemed to consider this. “Who would I appoint—I mean, if I was on the committee?”

“Not me,” Devon told her. “I'm auditioning for the play too. And I expect to snag a big part.”

Cass looked hopefully at Emma. “What about you?”

Emma just shrugged.

“You're artistic,” Bryn reminded Emma. “You'd be a real
asset on the decorations committee. Maybe you could head it up. That would look good on your college app too.”

“I guess if Cass does it, I could too.” But Emma looked less than enthused.

Bryn turned to Felicia, who was looking down at her phone with a furrowed brow. “What about you, Felicia? You could help Emma with—”

“What's wrong?” Emma suddenly asked Felicia.

Felicia looked up with tears in her eyes, but said nothing.

“Is it about Sofia?” Emma pressed.

Felicia just nodded with a trembling chin, like she was on the verge of tears.

“What happened? Is she okay?” Emma's eyes grew wide.

“Yes . . . it's just a problem . . . with her treatment.” Felicia looked back down at her phone. “Something unexpected.”

“I already told most of you that Felicia's little sister Sofia was just diagnosed with leukemia,” Emma said. “She's only eight years old. She's at the pediatric cancer center with her mom right now.” Emma turned to Felicia. “But what's wrong?” she asked gently. “What's the problem with her treatment—the unexpected thing?”

“It's just that our insurance—it doesn't cover the cancer center where Mom took Sofia for treatment. And it's the best treatment center in the state and for miles around. They said she has to—to leave.” Felicia really did start to cry.

“Well, that's just wrong,” Emma proclaimed.

“That is totally wrong,” Bryn agreed. “How can they do that?”

“Where will Sofia get her treatment then?” Emma quietly asked Felicia.

“My mom has some names of other places . . . places that
are farther away . . . where our insurance will cover it. But none of them are as good as where Sofia is now.”

“Why can't she just stay there?” Cassidy demanded. “Why should your insurance get to decide what's best for her? Why can't your parents decide?”

Felicia sighed. “That's the way it is.”

“But they have no right to turn her away,” Emma argued. “This is a free country, isn't it? Why can't people get treatment from the place they believe is best?”

“Because . . . without insurance . . . it's too expensive.” Felicia wiped her tears with a napkin. “We can't afford it.”

The table got very quiet now. Abby felt seriously indignant for Felicia's sake. How was it fair that good medical treatment could be denied to a child—just because her family had the wrong insurance provider, or simply didn't have enough money? It was so unjust.

“I have an idea to save our prom,” Bryn said suddenly.

“Seriously? Are you still obsessing over prom?” Abby could feel the irritation in her tone. “What about Sofia?”

“This is for Sofia too.” Bryn's brows arched mysteriously. “A way to help her.”