First Date (2 page)

“What is it?” Bryn asked curiously.

“It’s something that could be pretty cool, and something we could do together.” She was about to add that it would bring real excitement to their blasé little lives, but she knew that would sound too demeaning, and she didn’t want to alienate any of them—particularly Cassidy, who would probably turn out to be a big wet blanket.

“What are you talking about?” Cassidy’s brow was already creased with suspicion. “What kind of game plan?”

Devon made what she hoped was an enticing smile. “First, let me ask all of you something.”

“Ask away,” Bryn said.

“It’s about guys,” Devon told her. “Before I tell you my game plan, I have a question for everyone—about dating.”

“What?” Abby’s eyes glimmered with interest.

“When was the last time you were on a date?” Devon scanned the girls. “I mean a
real
date.” She pointed at Emma. “You don’t even need to answer because I know you’ve never been on a date before.” The table got very quiet, and Devon could tell she’d made the others uncomfortable. But she didn’t care. At least she was stirring things up.

D
evon felt slightly guilty about her question when she noticed that Emma’s fair cheeks had turned pink with embarrassment. Of course, Devon knew that Emma had never dated. Everyone knew that. Poor Emma had never even had a boy look twice at her. She just looked down at her tray and said nothing.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Devon patted Emma’s shoulder. “I’m sure you’re not alone. Especially in this school. So, anyway, how about the rest of you? Who here has dated much? Or has ever dated at all?”

“I
don’t
date,” Cassidy proclaimed with what sounded like pride. “By choice.”

“Really?” Devon pressed her lips together and slowly shook her head. She wanted to challenge this by asking whose choice it was—Cassidy’s, or the guys who were uninterested in going out with such a boring-looking girl. Oh, Cass was okay looking with her long, dark hair, but she did absolutely nothing to enhance her appearance. Naturally, Devon kept her mouth
shut and her thoughts to herself. She needed Cassidy’s approval in order to make her game plan work. Whether it was said or not, Cassidy played a strong role as a leader in this group of girls. Perhaps that was just one more reason Cassidy resented Devon.

“The truth is, my parents wouldn’t let me date,” Bryn admitted. “Not until I turned sixteen, that is.”

“But you turned sixteen last summer,” Abby reminded her.

“Yeah.” Bryn narrowed her eyes. “And your point is?”

“Well . . . you haven’t gone out since your birthday and—”

“You’ve never had a real date either,” Bryn said hotly.

“At least I had a boyfriend and I—”

“If you call holding hands with Lewis Snipes ‘having a boyfriend,’ then—”

“Hey—hey!” Devon held up her hands. “It’s not like I’m trying to start a war here. I was just curious. Anyway, your answers have me convinced I was right.”

“Right about what?” Cassidy demanded.

“That some of you might want to play this game with me.” Devon waited.

“Huh?” Emma looked confused.

“What game?” Abby asked.

“Come on,” Bryn urged. “Enough of the mystique, Devon. Stop talking in circles and just tell us about your game or your plan or whatever it is.”

Devon took in a slow breath. It was actually something that had occurred to her in a split-second flash—and she wasn’t even sure she’d fully wrapped her head around it yet. But wasn’t brilliance like that sometimes? Straight out of the blue? “Okay, this is the deal. I want to create a secret club,” she declared, “for girls like us.”

“What do you mean,
girls like us
?” Cassidy asked.

“Girls who haven’t dated,” Devon clarified.

“A secret club?” Emma looked bewildered but interested.

“I’m calling it the Dating Games club,” Devon said quickly. She was making this up as she went along, but it seemed to make sense. Besides, this was the most fun she’d had since starting school here. And really, what harm could it do?

“Dating Games?” Abby tilted her head to one side. “How does it work?”

“For starters, we all have to agree to join the club and that we’ll keep it a secret. Because if the word got out, it would spoil everything.”

“What exactly does this ‘secret’ dating club do?” Cassidy demanded. “If you ask me, it sounds skanky. And I refuse to join a club that’s going to—”

“It will not be skanky,” Devon assured her. “It’ll be a way for us to ease ourselves into the dating game. To start with, we’ll help each other to better ourselves.” She glanced nervously at Emma. “Then we’ll help each other to get to know some guys. Don’t worry, I mean
nice
guys. The goal will be to help each other to get into the dating game too. We’ll do it as a group. But we must keep the club under wraps. And as members of this club, we must take care of each other—you know, watch each other’s backs.” She smiled in satisfaction. This was actually sounding pretty good. “Because you know what they say,” she said as if concluding a speech. “There’s safety in numbers.”

“I sort of get that.” Bryn nodded eagerly. “Cool idea, Devon.”

“I like that we help each other.” Abby held up her water bottle with enthusiasm. “Here’s to sisterhood and to dating. When do we start?”

“Hold on there.” Cassidy still looked doubtful.

Ignoring her, Emma started to ask questions. “But we’ll
all
date, right? And we’ll only date nice guys—is that what you’re saying, Devon?” She looked hopeful and slightly eager.

“Absolutely,” Devon assured her.

“But how can you promise—”

“We’ll make some rules.” Devon cut Cassidy off. “To make sure we do this in the best possible way. And I already know what the first rule will be. ‘No girl left behind.’”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cassidy demanded.

“No one goes out with a guy until all the girls in the club have a date lined up. It’s a group deal. We’re in this together.” Devon let out a satisfied sigh. This was even better than she’d initially imagined. She felt like a dating genius. Maybe she’d patent this thing or start a reality show.

“All right.” Bryn gave her a solid thumbs-up. “Count me in.”

“Me too.” Abby grinned.

“Okay . . .” Emma made a nervous smile. “Then I’m in too.”

“Just like that?” Cassidy frowned at them like they’d lost their senses. “You cannot possibly be serious.”

“You don’t want to join the club?” Devon feigned disappointment, but the truth was, she didn’t care whether Cassidy joined or not. If there was one girl who needed to be left behind, it had to be Miss Goody-Two-Shoes. She could be such a buzzkill.

“I don’t think so.” Cassidy looked perplexed.

Instead of cheering, Devon sadly shook her head. “Well, five girls seemed like a good number for the DG. But maybe four is better—”

“Hey, I’ll bet Felicia will want to join.” Bryn reached for
her phone. “She’s at the orthodontist right now, but I can send her a text and—”

“Wait.” Emma pointed back at Cassidy. “Are you absolutely positive you don’t want in, Cass? Because I think we could use someone sensible like you in this club.”

“I don’t know . . .” Cassidy looked slightly torn now.

“It’ll be fun,” Bryn said. “And Devon’s right. We do need to do something to liven things up around here. Besides, homecoming isn’t far off. What about the dance? Wouldn’t it be fun to go with a real date?”

The other girls began talking enthusiastically, encouraging Cassidy to give this club a try. Devon tried to appear supportive too, but the truth was, this whole thing would probably go much more smoothly without Cassidy’s constant whining and complaining.

“Seriously, Cass, do you plan to sit home by yourself while the rest of us are at the homecoming dance with our dates?” Bryn demanded.

Cassidy rolled her eyes with skepticism. “Like you will all have dates by then.”

“What if we do have dates?” Emma said quietly.

“Maybe I should just call Felicia?” Bryn held up her phone as if to threaten Cassidy.

“Come on, Cassidy,” Emma said. “If I’m willing to try this, you should be too.”

“It’s complicated.” Cassidy bit her lip. “I mean, like I already told you guys, I kind of decided not to date. I made a commitment last spring.”

“To who?” Bryn asked.

“To myself.”

“Well, undo the commitment,” Abby urged. “Live a little.”

“When you made this commitment”—Devon frowned—“I mean,
not
to date . . . who was asking you out? Was there a line of guys at your door or something?”

The others laughed, but Cassidy glared at Devon. “There were some possibilities.”

Devon forced a smile. “Yeah, of course. But what made you decide you didn’t want to date? I’m just curious.”

“I’d read something about it.” Cassidy pushed a long strand of dark brown hair over her shoulder. She wasn’t the prettiest girl of the bunch, but some guys might find her attractive in that wholesome girl-next-door sort of way. “Anyway, it seemed like a sensible idea.”

“So you’ll never date? Not ever?” Bryn looked disappointed.

“I told my dad that I wasn’t going to start dating until I turned eighteen,” Cassidy confided. “He was really happy about it.”

“Of course he was happy.” Devon shook her head. “He’s your father. What did you expect? Most dads would like their daughters to put off dating until they’re thirty.”

“But how realistic is that?” Bryn challenged.

“Besides, like Devon said, a club will be a
safe
way for us to date,” Abby said encouragingly to Cassidy. “Your dad might even approve.”

“I’ve heard stories about overprotected girls who don’t date in high school and then go off to college and fall apart completely,” Abby pointed out. “Some of them get pregnant or worse—”

“What’s worse than getting pregnant?” Emma asked.

“Being slipped ecstasy, or date rape, or—”

“Okay, we’re getting sidetracked,” Bryn interjected.

“Not really,” Abby protested. “When girls are totally
clueless when it comes to guys, they probably set themselves up for trouble.”

“Which is precisely why I don’t date,” Cassidy said victoriously.

“Yes, but wouldn’t it be better to learn about guys
now
?” Devon asked her. “Right here in the safety of a friendly club and a Christian high school?”

“Yeah,” Emma said with more confidence. “I think so too. It makes perfect sense to me.”

“I agree,” Bryn said. “Count me in.”

“Me too,” Abby chimed in.

“Great.” Devon smiled triumphantly. “That makes four of us. That should be enough.”

“Unless we invite Felicia,” Bryn reminded her.

“You’re really not joining?” Emma looked at Cassidy with concerned eyes. “You won’t even try?”

Cassidy looked around the table with uncertainty. “You said there’d be rules,” she said cautiously to Devon. “What exactly
are
the rules?”

“We’ll have to make them,” Devon explained. “Together. After all, it’s a club. All the members would have to agree on the rules.”

“So I’d have a say in making the rules?” Cassidy looked slightly hopeful.

“Sure.” Devon made an uneasy smile. She couldn’t act like she didn’t want Cassidy to join, but she’d been relieved to think Cassidy was bowing out. “We’ll have to sit down and make the rules together.”

“But not right now.” Abby pointed to the oversized watch on her slender, cocoa brown wrist. “It’s almost time for class.”

As if to confirm this, the bell rang.

“How about if we meet again after school,” Cassidy suggested. “I have jazz choir until five, but we can meet at—”

Devon interrupted, saying she’d text the others with the location and coordinate the time. No way was she going to let Cassidy take the lead in this. After all, it was her idea. Cassidy hadn’t even been interested. Devon was not going to let that bossy girl get the upper hand. Fortunately, no one seemed to question her.

Devon felt triumphant as she walked to her next class—at least until she spotted Harris and Isaac standing by the trophy case outside of the administration center. As usual, the boys continued to act like she didn’t exist. Instead of looking her way, the two of them were joking around with some of their guy friends. However, as she got closer, she thought she observed a couple of quick glances tossed in her direction. It might have been her hopeful imagination, but just in case, she flipped her hair over her shoulder like an auburn flag, held her chin high, and strutted along with a flirty little bounce in her step. Might as well remind them of what they were missing out on.

As she whooshed past the group of boys, she had to suppress the urge to giggle at their naïve oblivion. Because, if she had her way, it wouldn’t be long until those very guys would be wondering what hit them. Let the Dating Games begin.

C
assidy still felt torn. On one hand, she was curious about Devon’s new idea, and although she didn’t want to admit it, especially not to Devon, it sounded kind of fun. On the other hand, a dating club could turn into a real train wreck. As she waited for the final bell to ring, having finished this week’s civics test with ample time to spare, she pondered all that had been said at lunch. The more she thought about it, the more she knew it made absolutely no sense to participate in Devon’s stupid scheme.

Really, what would her parents think if she suddenly announced that she wanted to date guys? Dad had been so proud of her for being “such a sensible girl.” And the
sensible
thing would be to simply nip this nonsense in the bud. She would tell her friends in no uncertain terms that the Dating Games club was a bad idea, that she had no intention of being involved, and that if they were smart, they wouldn’t either. The end.

Cassidy had been nurturing doubts about Devon Fremont
from the get-go. She’d only met Devon once before the school year—through Emma—but based on some of the stories Emma had shared, Devon was trouble. When Cassidy learned that Devon was transferring to Northwood, she’d felt her guard going up. She hadn’t wanted to step away from her friendship with Emma, but it seemed clear that Devon had already staked her claim there. At the time Cassidy simply told herself that she didn’t need a best friend. She was used to being something of a loner. She called it independence. Plus she had God. If Devon needed Emma by her side, why should Cassidy try to stop her?

Yet she was unsure. Perhaps she was being disloyal to Emma, but something about Devon definitely bugged Cassidy. It wasn’t that she was jealous either. Something about the fast-talking, fun-seeking, showy redhead had roused her suspicions right from the start. If Devon hadn’t been such good friends with Emma, Cassidy never would’ve befriended her at all. Not that they were exactly friends, but she’d tried to be civil to Devon. It was the Christian thing to do.

But then Devon tossed out this stupid Dating Games idea.
Seriously?
No, Cassidy’s mind was made up—she was definitely out. The sooner she told her friends, the better. She let out a sigh of relief and looked at the clock—and that was when she noticed Lane Granger sitting two seats ahead of her. Lane was jiggling his number 2 pencil between his fingers and watching the clock too. Like her, he’d finished the test early. But then she always knew he was smart.

Cassidy stared at the back of Lane’s blue plaid shirt, admiring how perfectly it fit over his broad squared shoulders. She also liked the way his dark brown hair waved so attractively around his perfectly shaped ears. She sighed inwardly. She’d
been secretly crushing on this guy since the beginning of her sophomore year. Unfortunately, Lane didn’t even know she existed. Okay, that was an overstatement. They’d been on various committees together last year. They’d even had some brief conversations. Still, it was like they lived on different planets.

And yet . . . maybe not. After all, they did share some commonalities. Like her, Lane was comfortable in taking on roles that involved leadership. The interesting thing was that when Lane was in charge of a committee, Cassidy was suddenly able to follow. With Lane at the helm, she was content to take a backseat. Even if she wound up flipping pancakes or filling balloons with helium, if Lane was giving the orders, she would gladly take them. The problem was, once the project ended, she never got more than a polite nod or a friendly “hey” from the attractive senior.

Cassidy pressed her lips together, thinking carefully now. Had she missed something? What if Devon’s weird Dating Games club could somehow secure Cassidy a date with Lane Granger? Wouldn’t that be enough to change her opinion on dating . . . and Devon? Cassidy knew that Lane attended a church. Not hers, unfortunately. But she’d been watching him long enough and closely enough to know that he was one of the good guys. And as far as she could tell, and to her huge relief, he wasn’t dating anyone in particular. Maybe she’d made up her mind about Devon too quickly. She knew she had a tendency to be overly judgmental. What if the DG club could actually work?

Cassidy watched as Lane leaned over to reach for his backpack, and as he turned in his seat, their eyes met and a warm rush ran through her. Instead of looking away, like Cassidy
was tempted to do, Lane kept his eyes steadily on her—almost as if he was actually seeing her! Was it really possible? When he finally turned away, she could feel her face flushing and a strange fluttery feeling inside of her chest. She took a deep breath to steady herself. Wow!

Okay, maybe she needed to rethink her ideas about dating. She wondered how long Lane’s single status would last. Especially since he was often surrounded by girls. Plus, as a senior, he probably could have his pick of the girls in the school. She’d always assumed his female buddies were from his church because they all seemed like solid friends who had known each other for years. But it seemed likely that some of those girls, just like Cassidy, were hoping to be more than just friends.

At times she’d imagined ways she could break into Lane’s social circle. She’d even considered visiting his church, but that felt a little like stalking, so she had simply admired him from afar. Really, it seemed that Lane Granger was meant to be only a pleasant fantasy for her. That is . . . unless . . . maybe this was the year that would change. Maybe she and Lane could finally—

Her daydream was smacked back to reality by the ringing of the release bell. As she scrambled to grab her test paper and gather her stuff, she made up her mind. Just like that, she knew she was in. As she followed Lane to the front of the room and dropped her test right on top of his, she couldn’t wait to go to Devon’s meeting today. If Devon could convince her (starting with a reasonable set of rules) that the Dating Games club was not going to be skanky or stupid or sleazy, Cassidy would join. Besides, she assured herself as she walked toward her locker, she could always drop out if she didn’t like
how it was headed. In the meantime, she could watch out for Emma and her other friends. Really, part of her reasoning was selfless and altruistic.

After she exchanged some books at her locker, she checked her phone and saw that Devon had already texted her. The plan was for everyone to meet at Costello’s Coffee at 5:00. As she walked toward the music department, she texted a confirmation back to Devon. Feeling like she was about to embark on an exciting adventure, she went into the choir room where the jazz choir was already gathered. They were expected to rehearse after school every day until the jazz concert in three weeks. Mr. Spencer was already at the piano, and Cassidy quickly found her place with the other sopranos. Singing in choir was the only nonacademic activity she truly excelled in. Being picked for jazz choir on the second day of school had been the highlight of her year so far. As a result, she always gave these practices 100 percent—and more, if that was possible.

However, she realized as they were wrapping up, she’d only given the music 90 percent of her energy today. The missing 10 percent was due to the distracting thoughts of Lane Granger that were still dancing through her head. That, combined with the hopes that this Dating Games club was going to change her life, had caused her to give less than her best effort in jazz choir. As she walked to her car, she felt sincerely embarrassed. Why was she turning into such a little fool? Wouldn’t she be totally humiliated if anyone knew what she’d been thinking about these last couple of hours? What had happened to the usual sensible Cassidy Banks? Maybe that was what boys did to a girl.

And yet . . . maybe it was because she was usually such a
practical, down-to-earth, and sensible girl, but it was surprisingly fun to entertain these unexpected ponderings about a boy. Even if this was just a brief interlude, it was still amusing. She reassured herself that she could still pull the plug on this Dating Games club—possibly for everyone’s sake. Perhaps that was the only reason she was going to meet them at Costello’s. At least that was what she told herself.

She unlocked her car, a white Toyota with nearly 150,000 miles on it. It was nearly as old as she was but as dependable as her father. Dad had surprised her with this car last spring, not long after she’d secured her driver’s license and not long after she’d told Dad about her plans to postpone dating and romance until she finished high school. Whether it was getting her license or her consistent good grades or that particular announcement that had landed her a car, she could never be sure. But she felt reasonably certain that Dad wouldn’t take the car away from her if she went on a date. That wasn’t his style.

Although her parents encouraged her to honor God with how she lived her life, they also allowed her to make her own decisions. Well, about most things. Sometimes they intervened, but they didn’t usually need to because Cassidy was normally as levelheaded as (sometimes even more than) most adults. That was exactly why, before she started her car, she called her mom and left a message that she would be home a little bit later because she was meeting friends for coffee at Costello’s. Naturally she didn’t go into the details of this coffee date. Perhaps she would tell Mom later, after she decided it was not a good idea, and they would laugh about it together.

Cassidy fastened her seat belt, checked her mirrors, and
carefully backed up. Dad had warned her more than once that it was the overconfident drivers who caused the most wrecks. “Pride comes before the crash,” he would jokingly tell her. She’d also signed a pact never to text while driving—and she took it as seriously as she took her pledge not to have sex until marriage. While a pledge like that might’ve been an oddity in schools like Brewster High, where Devon used to go, Cassidy believed it was probably the norm at Northwood Academy. It comforted her to know this. Their high school was like a safe zone, a haven in a wild and crazy world.

As expected, Cassidy was the last one to arrive at Costello’s. “Did I miss anything?” she asked as she joined them with her mocha in hand.

“Nothing much,” Emma said quickly.

“Ha!” Bryn elbowed Emma. “Only that our little Emma has been crushing on a particular guy.”

“Really?” Cassidy found this hard to believe. Shy, quiet Emma had actually admitted to something like this? She sat down. “Who?”

“No one,” Emma snapped. “They’re delusional.”

“So if Isaac McKinley asked you to homecoming, you’d tell him to go take a hike?” Devon said in a teasing tone.

Emma rolled her eyes, but Cassidy could tell by her flushed cheeks that she was actually embarrassed. “Really?” Cassidy pressed. “You like Isaac?”

Emma just shrugged, then looked down at her drink.

“See,” Devon proclaimed. “This is exactly why we need the DG. Emma needs our help.” She patted Emma’s back. “That’s what friends are for.”

Emma gave her a meek smile. “Just don’t make fun of me, okay?”

“Okay.” Devon nodded. “In fact, we should probably have that in our rules. No making fun of each other when it comes to dating or anyone’s taste in guys.”

Everyone seemed to agree with Devon. In fact, the rest of them seemed surprisingly agreeable—and it was clear that Devon had taken the lead.

“So you started making rules without me?” Cassidy was trying not to feel too left out, but it wasn’t easy. She looked around the table, wondering how she really fit in with this mix of girls. First there was the gorgeous blonde Bryn, a way too fashion-driven but relatively nice girl who could sometimes act like an airhead. Then there was Abby with her flawless dark skin, sleek black hair, fabulous smile—smart and fun and witty. And even though the flashy Devon with her red hair and exuberant ways got to Cass, she knew that Devon was out of her league when it came to attracting boys. Really, Emma was the only one Cassidy felt truly comfortable with. She was fairly ordinary looking with her dishwater blonde hair and a plain gray hoodie. Until Devon came along, Cassidy and Emma had been best friends. “I thought we were all in this together,” Cassidy said quietly. Maybe they’d rather she hadn’t come.

“Don’t worry, we were waiting for you,” Bryn assured her.

“Did you bring your iPad?” Abby asked. “We voted unanimously for you to be our secretary.”

“Really?” Cassidy blinked as she reached for her bag.

“Do you mind?” Devon asked in a surprisingly polite way.

“No, that’s okay.” Caught off guard by their warmth, Cassidy pulled out her iPad. “So is that a real rule?” she asked. “No making fun of each other?” She started to type it out.

“Maybe we could say it in a more positive way,” Abby
suggested. “In speech class, we’ve been focusing on rephrasing ourselves to sound positive.”

“How would you say it?” Cassidy paused, ready to hit Delete.

Bryn got a thoughtful look. “How about we say something about loyalty instead?”

“How do we want to word this?” Cassidy asked. “I mean, you probably don’t want to say it like the Ten Commandments. ‘Thou shalt be loyal to thy friends’?”

They laughed.

“No, that’s a little stiff,” Abby told her.

“How about the Girl Scout Law,” Cassidy said. “I will do my best to be loyal to my—”

“No, no, no,” Bryn insisted. “I have bad memories of Girl Scouts.”

Cassidy wanted to argue this point but realized it wouldn’t get their rules written. Instead she focused on the keyboard, typing out a short simple sentence. “How about this? ‘We will be loyal to each other.’”

A few more suggestions and tweaks were made and finally, Cassidy read the first rule. “We will be loyal to our friends in the DG.” She looked at them. “Does that sound all right?”

They all agreed, and now Devon suggested the next rule. “We will help our friends in the DG to find dates.”

“Dates with good guys,” Emma added.

Cassidy typed this in. “We will help our friends in the DG to find dates with good guys,” she told them.

“How do we define
good
?” Abby asked. “Good looking? Good at sports? Good in—”

“Not that kind of good,” Emma said. “Good in character. We don’t want anyone in the DG to date a jerk. Right?”