The Blind Date (5 page)

“You really won't tell me who the girl is? Which of your friends?”

“Only that it's not Devon.” She started for the door and paused. “I'll tell you this much, Darrell. You know her. And she's pretty. Is that enough?”

He grinned. “Enough for me.” Grasping her by the arm, he stopped her from going inside the classroom. “You're not jerking my chain, are you, Cassidy? Because if you are . . . well, trust me, I can get even. You don't want that. Not after the last time with Devon. I'm a tolerant guy, but there's a limit to my patience. This is a real date, isn't it?”

“It's a real date,” she told him. “I promise.”

He looked intently into her eyes. “Okay, I believe you. But be warned, if this is a scam or you're punking me, you
will
be sorry.”

She held her hand up like an oath. “Honest, Darrell. This is for real.” She glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone was watching this little spectacle. “I'll give you all the rest of the details later. But for now you just figure out how Jay Gatsby would dress. Okay?”

With a creased brow, as if he was giving this careful thought, he released her arm. “Okay.” A smile crept onto his lips. “This could be fun.”

As Cassidy took her seat in civics she felt a mixture of anxiety, relief, fear, and shock. She was glad that was over with, but at the same time she wondered if she'd gone too far by asking Darrell. Not only because of Bryn's possible reaction. But she hadn't expected Darrell to act quite like that. Then again, why wouldn't he, after what had happened with Devon? Darrell Zuckerman was hard to read about some things, but she got his message plain and clear. If the blind date turned out badly for him, he would seek revenge—
on her
.

She also knew that just because the DG had verbally agreed not to overreact in regard to their blind dates, it did not guarantee that Bryn wouldn't show some displeasure about being matched up with Darrell Zuckerman. Cassidy had seen Bryn turn her nose up before, and she could imagine her acting snooty and superior to Darrell.

Cassidy studied Darrell's back. He might not be tall, but he was solid. He had a square, rocklike appearance from behind. And she couldn't forget the steely look of resolve in those gray-blue eyes. What if Bryn really hurt his feelings? What might he do to get even with Cassidy? Was it too late
to undo this? Was there any way to get out of the situation gracefully? She bit the end of her pencil, trying to think of some convenient escape. Maybe she could come down with a mysterious case of the flu right before the dance.

Or maybe she could simply offer to trade blind dates with Bryn. She had no idea who her date would end up being or who was setting her up. At the moment, she didn't even care. How could Bryn complain if Cassidy was willing to sacrifice herself like that for Bryn's sake? Somehow Cassidy had to come up with a plan to erase the mess she'd just created.

As she opened her notebook, she made up her mind that the best plan would be to go out with Darrell herself. It might not be much fun, but it would be preferable to turning a slightly diabolical genius into a sworn enemy. Because she wasn't quite sure how he would do it, but she felt certain that Darrell Zuckerman could easily derail her life.

E
arlier in the week, Devon hadn't felt overly concerned about lining up a blind date for Cassidy. After all, it wasn't like she had to tell the guy who he'd be taking—especially since everyone knew that Cass wasn't exactly hot. But by Thursday morning, after Devon discovered that Lane Granger was going to be out of town the weekend of the dance and that Isaac McKinley already had a date—not to mention that Bryn, Abby, and even Cassidy had all secured blind dates—Devon was starting to feel desperate. She knew that unless she wanted to be the last girl to lock up a guy, it was time to scramble.

She'd briefly considered asking Harris Martin—mostly because he was such a hottie and any excuse to talk to him seemed like a good excuse. Except that, at the same time, she was actually hoping that someone in the DG might be setting her up with Harris. She didn't want to do anything to mess that up. She'd already hinted to her friends that he'd be her
first choice—more than once. For some reason she thought maybe Emma was arranging her blind date, and she'd spied Emma talking to Harris just yesterday. Naturally, Devon had dropped even more hints to Emma this morning. However, Emma had been pretty tight-lipped.

“I will tell you this much,” Emma had confided. “The guy I've been talking with has promised to give me his answer today.”

Naturally, that made Devon feel even more driven to get her assignment completed. She hated the idea of coming in last place in this. She knew it wasn't a contest—not really—but Devon was so competitive that she had a tendency to turn lots of things into contests.

Anyway, there was still Kent Renner, Devon reminded herself as she walked toward the gym that afternoon. Oh, she knew that Abby liked Kent and that she was probably secretly hoping to be set up with him, but like they'd all agreed, this blind date thing was supposed to be a surprise. Wouldn't Cassidy—and Abby—be surprised if Devon talked him into being Cass's blind date?

And since Kent was in Devon's weight-training class, she decided this was her perfect opportunity. However, when she mentioned the dance to Kent, it sounded as if he was already planning to go. “Who are you taking?” she boldly asked.

“None of your business,” he retorted as he adjusted the weight amount on the bench press, then turned his back to her.

“Whatever.” She shrugged and walked away, pretending like she didn't care. However, she still was curious. Who was he taking? And how would Abby react when she found out about it? Well, that wasn't Devon's problem. As she got herself
a spot in the circuit-training group, she tried to think of another guy that she could ask for Cassidy. Before the day was done, she was determined to settle this.

“So . . . you're looking for someone to go to the masquerade ball?” a guy she hadn't met asked. She could tell he was trying to act casual, but he looked nervous and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed.

With her hands on her hips, she studied him. He was definitely nerdish looking with his bad haircut, pale skin, long nose, and less-than-stylish workout clothes. He was probably taking weight training in the hopes of building some muscles—which would be a major improvement. “I'm sorry,” she said, feigning ignorance. “Were you talking to me?”

“Yeah.” He smiled, revealing slightly crooked teeth as he continued to pump the dumbbells toward his scrawny chest. “I'm Russell Winslow. And I know your name is Devon. Anyway, I just started at Northwood last week. My dad got transferred here. So I don't really know anyone.”

“Oh, yeah, you didn't seem familiar.” She was trying not to sound too friendly. Why encourage him?

“I know . . . and it's not real easy making new friends.”

She softened a little. “I get that. I just started here this fall.”

“So we're both new. That's cool.” He nodded as he switched positions with the dumbbells. “But I'd think that, well, someone like you . . . I mean, you shouldn't have a hard time getting a date to the dance.”

“Thanks.” As she bent down to pick up the pair of five-pound dumbbells, she suddenly realized the opportunity knocking on her door. Sure, maybe Devon would never dream of going out with a geeky guy like this herself—but why not get him for Cassidy? Especially since Cassidy had been so
supportive of Abby's crazy idea to make a no-complaint rule. Devon suppressed the urge to laugh at this idea. It would be seriously entertaining to see how Cass would react to a guy like Russell. And so, as Devon pumped the weights, she explained the blind date plan, making it clear to Russell that he would not be Devon's date.

“I can assure you that the girl you'd go with is super nice. In fact, I'm certain you're gonna like her,” she huffed.

“Really?” He set down his dumbbells, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.

“She's a nice person,” Devon assured him breathlessly. “Very academic. On Honor Society.”

“That sounds good.” But he still looked slightly uncertain as he picked up the exercise bands, fumbling to loop them around his shoes.

“And she's pretty too.” Okay, that might be stretching it. Oh sure, Cass was good-looking in a girl-next-door sort of way. And she was rather attractive when she fixed herself up. But hot she was not. At least not in Devon's opinion.

“Great,” he told her. “It sounded a little strange at first. But I really think I'd like to do this.”

As she picked up a set of bands, she explained the group date plan and how the guys would coordinate their costumes with the girls. “You down with that?” she asked as she stretched against the bands' resistance.

“So what am I supposed to dress like?”

She shrugged. “I don't know. Something from
The Wizard of
Oz
. My friend plans to go as Dorothy.”

“Cool. I really like
Oz
.”

“So does she.” Devon felt amused. Maybe this was a match made in heaven.

“I think I'll go as the scarecrow.” Russell's smile grew wider. “Thanks, Devon. This is going to be fun.”

She promised to keep him informed of their plans as the dance date got nearer. “And you need to remember that this is all top secret,” she said finally. “None of the girls know who they're going with until the big night.”

“That works for me.”

As Devon continued her workout, she felt quite pleased with herself. Oh, she knew that Cassidy might not be so pleased when she discovered who was taking her to the dance, but that wouldn't happen until the night of the dance. And then Devon would simply remind her of what Emma had said. “This is what you get, now don't throw a fit!”

Devon threw her head back and laughed as she walked back to the locker room. This was going to be good!

“I got my blind date all set,” Emma announced as the five of them gathered in the locker bay after school. “Well, not
my
date . . .” She giggled. “But a date for some lucky girl.”

“Lucky girl?” Devon said with interest. Hopefully Emma meant her and hopefully Emma meant Harris. “Well, Little Miss Emma wasn't the only one to nail down a blind date today,” she told them.

“So everyone got a blind date lined up?” Bryn said happily. “We're all set to go?”

“Except for our costumes,” Cassidy said.

“Some of us already have our costumes,” Devon bragged.

“And some of us don't,” Cassidy told her. “I looked through the drama department's collection and couldn't find anything that would work for Dorothy.”

“But I found this long Empire waist gown that's perfect for the eighteenth century,” Emma said. “It has blue-and-white stripes and is really similar to one of the costumes that Gwyneth Paltrow wore in the movie. I'm just going to add some ribbons. And then I want to figure out how to make a bonnet.”

“My outfit's coming together too,” Abby told them.

“Are you still planning to wear the Katniss hunter clothes?” Bryn asked with a wrinkled nose.

“Yeah. My mom's loaning me this leather jacket that's perfect, and I've got these boots that—”

“Can't we talk you into wearing one of the glamorous costumes?” Bryn begged. “The thing I liked best about that film was when Katniss and Peeta got all dressed up for the ceremonies. She looked so beautiful. And I know my grandma would help us make one. Don't you want to look elegant and feminine and alluring?”

Abby firmly shook her head. “I'm doing this
my
way, Bryn.” Now she smiled. “But thanks for the offer.”

“I wish I had a grandmother that knew how to sew,” Cassidy said glumly.

“My grandma can probably help you,” Bryn offered.

“Really?”

“Sure, why not? I'll bet your Dorothy costume would be easy to make.”

“Will you ask her?”

Bryn pulled out her phone. “Yeah.”

Soon she was talking to her grandma about the Dorothy costume. “Great, Gram, I'll let her know.” She hung up her phone and grinned at Cassidy. “She says to come on over to her house with me on Saturday. She actually adores
The Wizard of Oz
and thinks it's great that you want to be Dorothy.” Bryn shook her head like this was unbelievable. “And she said she might even have some gingham fabric that would work.”

“Seriously?” Cassidy looked stunned.

“Do you think your grandma can help me with the bonnet?” Emma asked.

“I'm sure she could.” Bryn nodded. “She's really creative with sewing. She doesn't even use patterns a lot of the time. She just knows how to do it.”

“I wonder if she could help me make my arrow quiver look like the one in the movie,” Abby said tentatively. “I think that might require some sewing.”

Bryn grinned. “I have an idea. Let's all storm Gram's house on Saturday. She'd love it. We can all help each other with our costumes. It'll be fun.”

Devon was feeling slightly left out. Her Juliet costume—which had been made by Bryn's grandmother—was perfect. It didn't need anything done to it. Besides that, it had already been a bone of contention as far as Bryn was concerned—she'd been so jealous when she'd heard that Devon had already snagged it from the drama department. No need to bring it up again.

But as the other girls discussed what time and what they might need to bring on Saturday morning, Devon was trying to think of a way to involve herself—without actually inviting herself. “I know,” she said suddenly. “We should all have a dress rehearsal with our costumes. You know, to make sure everyone looks good. Maybe on Saturday?”

Bryn gave her a slightly blank look. “Well, yeah . . . but I'm not sure that mine will be done by then. There's a lot
of beadwork, you know. Gram said it probably wouldn't be finished until right before the dance.”

“Oh.” Devon shrugged. “Well, it's no big deal. I'm sure we'll all look fine.”

Cassidy looked at Devon now. “I guess your costume doesn't need anything, huh?”

“Not really.”

“Maybe you should come on Saturday to help us,” Cassidy suggested. “With that much sewing to do, I'm sure any extra hands would be welcome.”

“That's true,” Bryn told her. “The beadwork on my dress alone is really time consuming. You could help me with that.”

“Okay.” Devon tried not to show how relieved she was to be included in this. The truth was, she had not been getting along with her mother all week—ever since Mom had returned from her unexpected trip to Vegas. The standoff had begun with the silent treatment from Devon. She thought her plan to punish Mom by not talking would teach her a lesson.

That worked the first day, but then Mom had turned the tables on Devon by ignoring her completely. Not only that, but the last couple of days she had gone out with Rodney after work, not coming home until well after midnight last night. Devon wondered how Mom would feel if Devon started to act like that. And if Devon's friends weren't such goody-two-shoes, maybe she would. As it was, Devon's most interesting social engagement this weekend appeared to be attending an all-female sewing circle. This was so wrong. Yet to be perfectly honest, Devon had felt grateful to be included.