The Blind Date (4 page)

Perhaps that was why Abby decided to approach Leonard in AP English—although that was not what she told herself as she watched him sit down in front of a computer. She was tired of fretting over this whole stupid blind date thing. She was also concerned that it was affecting her schoolwork, and if she didn't keep her grades up, Dad would make her pull out of the sports that she loved. She just didn't need this kind of distraction in her life.

Besides, as her mom had pointed out, it wasn't like Devon was going to have to marry the boy. Plus there was the possibility that Leonard would reject the whole thing. Because it was an independent study day, she had the freedom and opportunity to engage Leonard in a real conversation. This was her chance. Taking a deep breath, she wandered over to where Leonard was working and began to make small talk about the assignment. Leonard seemed genuinely happy to chat with her and after a couple minutes, she got up the nerve to mention the upcoming dance.

“You know we're supposed to dress up like literary characters.” She pointed at the computer screen where he was reading about Edgar Allen Poe. “Poe probably has some great characters to choose from.”

“That's for sure.” He nodded eagerly. “You know I was on the Honor Society planning committee for the dance this year—in
fact I was the one who suggested literary characters. Jessica Thistle wanted to go with characters from movies. She called it Hollywood Halloween. Thankfully that got voted down.”

“Oh yeah. Right.” Now Abby explained how she and her friends all wanted to go to the dance. “We've already figured out our characters and costumes and stuff.”

“That's cool.” He smoothed the front of his shirt. “I was thinking I'd like to go too.” He made a nervous laugh. “Not that I have a girl to go with me. Not yet anyway.”

“Really? So . . . what if I knew of a girl who'd like to go with you?”

His eyes lit up. “Could you? I mean,
would you
? Wow, Abby, I'd love to take you to the dance. I mean, that is, if you really wanted to go with—”

“Leonard, I'm so sorry,” she exclaimed. “I wasn't being very clear. What I meant to say is—”

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry, I misunderstood.” Clearly embarrassed, he turned his back to her, focusing his attention back on the computer screen.

“No, that's not what I mean, Leonard.” She put a hand on his shoulder and, lowering her voice, leaned over and quickly explained about the blind dates. “So, you see, we're all finding dates for each other. No one knows for sure who they're going with.”

“Huh?” He looked up with a bewildered expression.

She grabbed a chair and slid it next to him and sat down. “I mean, you'll have your date all set up. And you and your date would go with our group. But you wouldn't know who the girl was until the night of the dance. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah . . . I guess.” He frowned. “So you wouldn't be my date?”

She remembered how Bryn and Devon had said they might leave the guys hanging on this little piece of misinformation. But Abby didn't think that seemed ethical. She shook her head. “No, I wouldn't be your date. Sorry.” She smiled. “But I wouldn't have been disappointed if I had been your date. And we'll all be going together, so I might get to dance with you . . . that is, if you were interested in dancing with me.”

“Yeah, sure . . . I mean, if I decide to do this.” He peered curiously at her. “Do you think it's a good idea?”

Now she felt uncertain. He was such a nice guy. And to put him with Devon? Maybe that was just plain mean. What had she been thinking? She was getting ready to pull the plug and apologize all over again, but then his face brightened.

“I mean, I'd really like to do it,” he continued hopefully. “It sounds like it could be fun. And the whole part about dressing up in a costume . . . well, I'm down with that too. So, sure, I'm in. Thanks.”

“You'll have to dress up like Romeo,” she informed him, hoping that perhaps that might put him off and turn this thing around. Seriously, how many guys would be willing to wear tights? “You know, as in
Romeo and Juliet
. Shakespeare.”

“Absolutely.” He nodded firmly. “I can do that.”

She felt completely torn now. Part of her was thankful that her work here was done and she could get on with her own life, but the other part of her felt guilty, not to mention seriously worried for Leonard's sake. What if Devon ate him alive at the dance? And yet, he'd be in costume, wouldn't he? Maybe Devon wouldn't know who he was. Abby knew that everyone was expected to wear those funny eye masks like an old-fashioned masquerade ball. It was possible that Devon might not even figure out exactly who Leonard was for
quite some time. Maybe by the time everyone took off their masks, Devon would be okay with the whole thing. Besides that, with Leonard's dark, curly hair and intense brown eyes, he might make a fairly good-looking Romeo. Really, Abby could've done worse.

“Great,” she said as she shook his hand. “You have just won yourself a blind date with the beautiful Juliet.” Now she explained how he could probably land himself a costume from the drama department if he got right to it. “Don't let on to anyone else that you're playing Romeo, though,” she warned. “You don't want to spoil the surprise. Okay?”

He nodded. “Okay.” He gave her a grateful smile. “I wouldn't have agreed to something like this with just anyone. But I feel like I can trust you, Abby. Thanks.”

She swallowed hard. “Yes,” she said quietly. “You can trust me.” But as she went back to her desk, she realized that the pressure was on. She would have to do everything within her power to get the rest of the DG to back her on this, but her mind was made up—no DG members would be allowed to make their blind dates feel bad on the night of the dance. That would be just wrong. And if she had to get this in writing and change their bylaws, she was determined to do so. Because no way was she going to allow Devon to hurt Leonard's feelings.
No way
!

C
assidy was secretly glad to hear that Abby was the next one to secure a blind date. But when Abby started to lobby for a new rule, she was curious. “Why do we need this rule?” she asked as the girls ate lunch together.

“Because I don't want to be part of a mean girls' club,” Abby said.

“A mean girls' club?” Devon frowned. “What are you insinuating?”

“I'm saying that when I agreed to be part of the DG, I never thought we'd turn into a bunch of elitist snobs.”

“Elitist snobs?”
Bryn set her water bottle down with a clunk. “What's that supposed to mean?”

Abby looked Bryn squarely in the eyes. “The way you and Devon were talking the other day, acting like you were too good for someone . . . well, someone like, say, Leonard Mansfield. When I assured you that he's a perfectly nice guy.” Abby glanced over at Cassidy and Emma, as if she hoped to garner
some support from them. “Anyway, that kind of attitude puts a lot of pressure on some of us, you know?”

“That's true,” Emma chimed in. “I don't want to feel like someone in the DG is going to hate me if I don't land her the perfect blind date.”

“And I don't like giving others the impression that we're a snobby bunch of mean girls,” Abby declared. “That's not what I signed on for with our little club.”

“Me too,” Cassidy agreed. “But are you sure that we need to make a rule about it? I mean, we already have ten rules and—”

“Fine. Maybe we don't need another rule.” Abby turned to Devon and Bryn. “But I'd like to have some kind of assurance that no one in our club will throw a hissy fit if she doesn't wind up with Prince Charming for the masquerade ball.”

Bryn rolled her eyes. “Do you really think I'd do that?”

Abby shrugged. “I'd like to think you wouldn't. But to hear you talk . . . well, I'm not so sure.”

Bryn laughed sarcastically. “Well,
talk
—as they say—
is
cheap
. But if it will calm you down, Abs, I can assure you that I won't throw a hissy fit.”

“Really?” Abby looked unconvinced.

“You have my word. If my date turns out to be, well, less than fabulous, I will just grin and bear it. Okay?”

“I guess that's okay.” Abby frowned as she pushed a straw into her soda.

Cassidy actually felt a wave of relief—after all, she was the one responsible for Bryn's blind date. Hopefully Bryn meant what she'd said. She glanced at Abby, suddenly wondering if she might be handling Devon's date—and perhaps she'd made a bad choice. Poor Abby—
that
would be stress
ful. Okay, Cassidy decided, maybe it was time for some DG sisterly support here.

“You know,” Cassidy began slowly, “the more I think about it, the more I get what Abby is saying. Maybe we really do need a new rule.”

“I thought we were done with that,” Bryn said a bit sharply. “I told you guys I'd be civilized.” She shook a finger at Abby. “Just don't you go and set me up with a loser,
girlfriend
.”

“Who said I'm setting you up with
anyone
?” Abby said in a slightly hurt tone.

“Yeah . . . whatever. But I can read you like a book,
Abbykins
.” Bryn laughed as she pushed a long strand of blonde hair over her shoulder. “We've been friends too long. Anyway, I know you'd never do something like that to me.”

Abby focused on her lunch without responding and now Cassidy had to bite her tongue to keep from confessing she was the one who'd be setting up Bryn's blind date.

“Let's all make an agreement,” Emma said calmly. “I can totally see Abby's point. And I agree that I don't want the DG to become known as a mean girls' clique. Let's all promise to be understanding about our blind dates. Like my mom sometimes tells me when I can't have exactly what I want—
this is what you get, now don't throw
a fit
.”

Some of them laughed, but Bryn still looked slightly aggravated. “Fine,” she said a bit grumpily. “I already said that I agree to this. But I'd like it to go on record that I will be severely disappointed if my date turns out to be a total loser. Especially since I did my very best to get
someone else
their dream date.”

“I don't know if I will agree . . .” Devon gave the rest of them a skeptical look. “I'm not sure I like the sound of this.
I don't want to get stuck with a jerk again. I'm barely over the homecoming dance. If I ended up with someone like Jason, I'd—”

“We already agreed to no jerks like Jason,” Emma reminded her. “Remember?”

Devon still looked doubtful.

“Maybe we should vote on whether this should become a DG rule,” Cassidy suggested. Suddenly she felt the need to nail this thing down. Abby was making a very valid point here. “Everyone in favor of—”

“What if we all just agree to give our word,” Bryn suggested. “Then we won't need a new law.”

“That works for me,” Abby said.

“Okay then . . . all in favor?” Cassidy looked around the table to see Bryn barely lifting a forefinger while Abby and Emma discreetly raised a hand. But Devon had not budged. Her arms were folded across her front.

“Devon?” Abby pointed at her. “Are you saying you don't agree with this?”

“Excuse me, but we've kicked this around so much that I'm not entirely sure what I'm agreeing to.” Devon had a slightly sour expression. “Am I swearing that I won't grumble if I draw a dud for the dance?”

Cassidy couldn't help but smile. “We're all agreeing that we will conduct ourselves with good manners, no matter who our dates are.” She glanced around the table. “Right?”

“Yeah,” Emma said. “This is what you get, now don't throw a fit. Remember?”

“Okay . . .” Devon made an exasperated sigh. And Cassidy asked them to vote again. This time they all agreed—even
if Bryn and Devon acted reluctant—but Cassidy recorded it into the minutes and considered it done.

“Okay, now that we've taken care of that stupid business, I want you guys to see this.” Bryn pulled her iPad from her purse and started showing them photos of dresses. “These are all from the flapper era,” she explained. “I found this great site that sells authentic reproduction dresses. Look at this coral one and all that long fringe and beads. Isn't it awesome?”

“Yeah, that looks like it would be fun to dance in,” Abby said.

“And check out this gold one with all the beadwork. I really love it—and since Daisy was the golden girl, it seems perfect.”

“Is that the price?” Emma asked in horror. “$1,650?”

“Wowzers.” Cassidy shook her head. “You wouldn't actually pay that much for a dress, would you?”

“I wish.” Bryn sighed dreamily. “It's so gorgeous. But I already talked to my grandma about sewing me something, and she's really into it. I'll have to buy some shoes. Here, let me show you the ones I found last night.” She flipped over to photos of shoes now, explaining which ones would be perfect and why.

“I wonder what kind of shoes Emma Woodhouse would wear,” Emma mused as they all watched Bryn sliding through the shoe pictures.

“Slippers,” Bryn told her. “Maybe something like a ballet flat.” She typed in some words and new photos appeared. “Like these,” she held the iPad up for Emma to see better.

“But I can't afford those.” Emma pointed to the prices.

“Oh, you can find them for a fraction of that,” Bryn told her. “I'll help you.”

“How about Cass's ruby slippers?” Abby asked. “Can you find them on there too?”

“I already have that covered,” Cassidy told them, explaining how her mom had an old pair of shoes with the right shape. “I'm going to spray paint them red and then I'll glue red glitter all over them.”

“Sounds like fun,” Abby said.

“Well, at least your shoes will be hot,” Bryn teased.

“But that little-girl gingham dress that Dorothy wears . . .” Devon smirked. “Well, good luck with that, Cass.”

Cassidy tried not to show that Bryn and Devon's teasing words stung. She knew this was just Devon being Devon, but she didn't appreciate how Bryn seemed to be changing—as if Devon was having too much influence over her. And it was hard not to feel offended by these girls who were supposed to be Cassidy's friends. Maybe instead of making a new rule to prevent meanness toward the blind dates they should've made a rule to prevent meanness toward fellow DG members. Still, Cassidy reminded herself of her recent resolve about Devon. She was not going to get mad at Devon, and she was not going to let Devon get the best of her. As for Bryn, well, maybe Cassidy needed to start thinking of Bryn along the same lines.

As Cassidy walked through the math department, she was still feeling a little out of sorts toward Bryn. But at the same time she could see the irony of her situation. Bryn, who'd been acting like such a spoiled brat and treating Cassidy like she was inferior, had no idea that her date fate was in Cassidy's hands at the moment. For whatever reason, Bryn seemed to assume that Abby was setting her up. But Cassidy had drawn Bryn's name—and she was in complete control of who would be Bryn's blind date.

Cassidy chuckled to herself. Okay then, if Bryn was going
to start acting like an entitled snob . . . well, maybe it was time to test their little agreement. Would Bryn throw a hissy fit if her date turned out to be, say,
Darrell Zuckerman
?

To be fair, Darrell Zuckerman wasn't so bad. Cassidy had known him for years. In fact, unless her memory was failing her, Bryn was already well acquainted with Darrell. Cassidy was pretty sure he was Bryn's lab partner. And Bryn had even recommended Darrell for someone else's date for homecoming. Sure, maybe she was teasing at the time. Or else it might've been a Freudian way for Bryn to suggest that she wanted a date with Zuckerman herself.

Cassidy had Darrell in her next class. And just like that, she decided—
why not?
After all, everyone knew that Darrell Zuckerman was brilliant—he supposedly had a genius IQ—so Bryn couldn't complain about that. Okay, it was no secret that besides being an academic nerd, Darrell was also a rather outspoken atheist. A bit of an oddity at a Christian school. But rumor had it that he was only enrolled at Northwood because his devout parents had hoped that the experience would transform him. And perhaps a date with the beautiful Bryn Jacobs might hasten that transformation. Or not. Cassidy giggled to herself as she spotted Darrell leaning against a column outside of the civics classroom.

Okay, Cassidy knew that, despite being in a churchgoing family, Bryn did not take her faith seriously. Perhaps that was a good thing—what would she care if her date didn't believe in God? If nothing else, it might give Bryn something to think about. Maybe she would take a better look at her own spiritual state of affairs. Or maybe she would start learning how to treat her friends better.

“Hey, Darrell,” Cassidy said casually as she went over to
him. His shaggy brown hair was hanging over one eye, but his face lit up with a grin.

“Hey, Cass.” He stood a little straighter. “What's up?”

“Not much.” She decided to get right to the point. “So are you going to the masquerade ball?”

He laughed. “Oh, yeah, sure. I plan to dress up like Satan and crash the festive little soiree. How about you?”

“Satan?” She frowned. “We're supposed to go as literary characters.”

“What about that big book you all believe in? Wasn't Satan in the Bible? And what about
Paradise
Lost
? He was in there.”

Cassidy forced a smile. “Well, that's interesting. So I guess you wouldn't be into going to the dance with a girl.”

“A girl?” His dark brows arched. “What
kind
of girl?”

“One of my friends,” she said enticingly.

“Your friends?” He sounded suspicious. “Kind of like last time, when you chicks tried to set me up with Devon?”

Cassidy slowly shook her head. “Yeah, that was a big mistake, Darrell. And I've already told you I'm sorry about how that went down.” She made a sincere smile. “I like to think that we're friends.”

He studied her closely. “And a friend doesn't mess with a friend, right?”

Suddenly she questioned herself. What on earth was she doing? Maybe it was time to back out. But what could she say?

“Well, I guess I might be open to taking one of your friends to the ball,” he said slowly. “As long as this isn't some kind of trick.” He scowled at her. “You wouldn't do that to me, would you? Set me up with Devon again?”

“No way.”

“Who is it then?” Darrell was still frowning, but she could hear the distinct tone of interest in his tone.

“I can't tell you who.” She bit her lip, wondering how she could get out of this gracefully. “I get why that might be a problem for you, Darrell. I would totally understand if you're not interested.” She nervously explained the whole blind date idea and how they would all go together. The whole time he listened with what seemed to be growing and genuine interest. “So you won't find out who your date is until the big night.”

“Really?” He nodded with approval. “Very cool.”

“Yeah?” She tried not to look too shocked . . . or worried.

“So am I supposed to dress in costume too?”

“That's right. You would actually come as Jay Gatsby.”

“From
The Great Gatsby
?” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “A rather tragic character. Hmm . . . I'm liking this more and more.”

The warning bell was ringing, which meant they had one minute. “So are you in?” she asked nervously, almost hoping he'd change his mind.