First Date (8 page)

“Well, Cass doesn’t need to worry about
that
,” Callie said a bit glibly. “She has never been overly focused on her appearance.”

“Unlike some people who will go unmentioned, Callie Marie.” Cassidy gave her sister a slightly accusing look.

The comment must’ve gone right over her head, because Callie simply smiled as she tossed her shiny chestnut hair (which was similar to Cassidy’s except that it was sleekly
brushed and shimmered in the light). “Hey, I can’t help it that I’m just naturally pretty.”

“And not a bit conceited about it either,” Cassidy said.

Mom gave Cassidy a warning look but said nothing.

“Just being honest,” Cassidy mimicked her little sister as she rinsed her bowl in the sink.

“It’s okay,” Callie said lightly. “I’m used to girls being jealous.”

Cassidy rolled her eyes as she set the bowl in the dishwasher.

“I hope you’re more gracious to those girls than you are to your sister,” Mom said. “A kind and gentle heart is much more attractive than a pretty face, Callie.”

Callie gave Mom a look that said she’d heard that a million times before but didn’t really believe it.

“She’s fourteen,” Cassidy said to Mom. “She’ll grow out of this.”

Callie made a sneering look now.

“Ooh, now that’s really pretty,” Cassidy said as she reached for her bag.

“Yes, and you’re such an expert on pretty,” Callie shot back.

“Girls!” Mom’s voice had the edge of warning in it. She would tolerate only so much sibling bickering.

“I’ll be gone most of the day,” Cassidy told her.

“You did your chores?”

Cassidy nodded. “Callie still hasn’t cleaned our bathroom. It’s her turn today.”

“Tattletale,” Callie called out as Cassidy exited through the laundry room.

“Have fun,” Mom called out, almost as if she wanted to cancel out Callie’s bad manners.

“Thanks.” As Cassidy went out to her car, she wondered if doing this makeover really was a good idea. What if she ended up as superficial and shallow as her little sister? Although that seemed ridiculous. It wasn’t like her friends could turn back the clock and turn her into a snotty fourteen-year-old. Even so, as she drove over to Bryn’s house, she promised herself that she would continue to focus on her inner self more than her outer self. No matter what her friends said or did.

S
ince Bryn had been only partially involved in Emma’s fabulous makeover last weekend, she was even more determined to play an important role in Cassidy’s. This was too much fun to miss out on. She’d known Cassidy for a few years now, and while she liked and respected her, she also knew that Cass could be pretty stubborn, not to mention negative sometimes. Cassidy liked to make fun of fashion and trends, acting like it was shallow for anyone to follow the fads. Maybe it was shallow, but Bryn liked it. She didn’t need Cass to lecture her on why it was stupid.

As she flipped through her latest issue of
Teen Vogue
magazine, Bryn reminded herself that everyone was different—and that was okay. Besides, she actually respected that Cass took her Christian beliefs seriously, even if Bryn didn’t. Oh, Bryn would go to church when her parents pressured her, but she didn’t really embrace faith. Not like Cass did. She didn’t quite get it either. What was the big deal? Even so, it was reassuring
to know that Cass was like that—solid and dependable. Kind of like having an anchor. Except that an anchor dragged you down sometimes. Bryn tore out a couple pages of fashion dos and don’ts that she thought might be helpful for Cassidy. If she wouldn’t listen to Bryn, maybe she’d listen to the experts.

It really bugged Bryn that Cass didn’t seem to care about her appearance. Something was wrong with that. Even if Cassidy was just pretending not to care—although Bryn didn’t know how that was possible—it was still pretty strange. What girl didn’t want to look good? But sometimes Cassidy would come to school wearing the exact same outfit that she’d worn just a few days before. Was she that oblivious? Anyway, as far as Bryn was concerned, a makeover was long overdue. It would probably be therapeutic.

As Bryn did a quick straightening of her room, since this was to be the location of the makeover, she took a quick inventory of Cassidy in her head. It wasn’t like Cass was unattractive. To be fair, she had a wholesome sort of attractiveness. Kind of like a farm girl. Despite Cassidy’s blasé clothes, sloppy ponytails, and face always devoid of makeup, Bryn felt certain a pretty girl was lurking beneath. As she folded a pair of jeans—nicely fitting jeans, unlike the sloppy ones her frumpy friend usually wore—she imagined everything they would do to change Cassidy’s image today.

Since Abby was about the same height as Cassidy, she was bringing over some clothes, so they could probably put together some fairly cool outfits. Abby and Bryn were the fashionistas of the group, and they had the closets to prove it. But Abby’s hand-me-downs would only do so much. Cassidy would have to be willing to invest some too. Bryn had already told Cass to plan on spending a few bucks when they went
shopping (beyond buying her dress for homecoming). Cass was reluctant to tap into her summer job earnings, but she had agreed. Devon had provided some hair product samples from her aunt, so that would save some money. And when it came to makeup, Bryn felt like she could handle it—at least she hoped so.

“Hey, sis.” Tara stuck her head in Bryn’s room. “What’cha got going today?”

Totally surprised to see her older sister, Bryn ran and hugged her. “Tara! What are you doing here?”

“I came home for the weekend.”

Bryn looked into Tara’s big blue eyes. They were almost the same color as Bryn’s, and sometimes the two girls had even been confused as twins. “I’m so happy to see you. How’s college?”

Tara let out a tired little groan. “It’s mostly pretty cool. But I plan to catch up on some sleep this weekend. My roommate is the worst.” She looked around the tidy room and at the bundle of clothes and hangers Bryn had dropped. “Cleaning house, are we?”

Bryn laughed. “Not really. Just picking up a little. I have some friends coming over.” She proceeded to tell about today’s makeover plans.

“You’re redoing plain Jane Cassidy Banks?” Tara asked.

Bryn nodded. She was tempted to tell Tara about the DG but remembered their vow of secrecy. “We’re all going to the homecoming dance, and we thought Cass could use a little help. After the makeover we’re going dress shopping.”

“Wow. Sounds like fun.” She sighed. “And exhausting.”

“I hope we don’t disturb you.”

“If it gets too loud, I’ll go down to the family room to
sleep.” Tara peered curiously at Bryn. “Who’s taking you to homecoming? I didn’t even know you had a boyfriend. And I just talked to Mom a couple days ago.”

Bryn made a stiff smile. “He’s not exactly a boyfriend . . . yet.”

“Who?”

“Do you remember Jason Levine?”

Tara’s eyes lit up. “Oh, yeah. That guy was a hottie. Even though he was a junior last year, he caught my eye. But I thought he had a girlfriend.”

“He did. Amanda Norton. But they broke up. This year he’s even hotter.”

Tara gave Bryn a sly look. “Good going, girl. You’re making your older sister proud.”

Bryn tried to act natural, like this date with Jason was really a done deal. “It’s all still pretty new,” she said nervously. “No one really knows about it yet.”

Tara laughed. “Well, don’t worry about me. There’s no one I talk to who hangs around Northwood anyway.” She started to go, then paused. “Hey, if you need any help with your makeover, just yell.”

“Seriously?” Bryn was surprised. “I thought you were tired.”

“I am. But who can resist a good makeover? Remember the first time I started helping you?”

Bryn smiled. “Yeah. I still appreciate it.”

“If you need my expertise, just let me know.”

Bryn nodded and said she appreciated the offer, but she hoped she wouldn’t have to call on her older sister for help. This was something she really wanted to accomplish on her own. Well, with a little help from Abby too. She looked at her watch. Abby should be here by now.

To Bryn’s dismay, Cassidy arrived first. It didn’t help matters that Cassidy seemed to be digging in her heels. “I’m not sure this is such a great idea,” Cass said when they were in Bryn’s room.

“But you agreed to—”

“I know. But I’ve never been the superficial type. All this focus on looks is kinda creeping me out. I was thinking on my way over here that if I have to change my appearance just to get Lane to look my way . . . well, it seems wrong. I mean, if he’s going to like me, he’s going to like me for who I am. Right?”

Bryn nodded hopelessly. “Right, but—”

“So I really don’t see the point.”

Just then Bryn’s phone rang. It was Abby, informing her that she was going to be at least an hour late. “My mom’s car is in the shop and—”

“Yeah, yeah. Never mind,” Bryn said impatiently. “Just get here as soon as you can, okay?” She hung up feeling aggravated.

“Sounds like it’s not going to work out.” Cassidy was reaching for her bag.

“Don’t leave yet,” Bryn insisted. She remembered Tara’s offer. “Let me get my sister and—”

“Tara’s here?”

“Yeah. She just popped in. She actually offered to help with the makeover, but I didn’t think I’d need her.”

Cassidy’s eyes lit up a little, and Bryn suddenly remembered that Tara had worked as a junior counselor at church camp one year and how Cassidy had really admired her. Maybe Tara would be just the ticket. “I’ll be right back.”

She hurried down to Tara’s room, knocking lightly in case
she’d already gone to sleep. When she opened the door, it looked like Tara was just sorting her laundry. “What’s up?” Tara asked.

Bryn quickly explained her dilemma. “Cassidy had been on board before,” she said finally. “But now she’s threatening to walk.”

“Hmm . . .” Tara’s brow creased.

“So if your offer was genuine . . . ?”

Tara sighed, then glanced down at her piles of clothes. “I really need to get this done before I go back.” She smiled. “But if you’re willing to work on my laundry, I’d be happy to work on Cassidy.”

Bryn wasn’t sure she liked this deal, but at the same time she didn’t want Cassidy to slip away without her makeover. If the DG was going to work and if all the girls were going to get dates to homecoming, it seemed obvious that Cass would have to clean up her act. “Okay. I’ll do it.”

“Great.” Tara went over to her dresser and picked up a bag. “Cassidy is in luck because I just got some new skin care stuff. I haven’t even tried it yet. Maybe Cass and I can both have facials.” She pointed to the mess of clothes. “You get started on this, and I’ll get started on Cassidy.”

As Bryn headed to the laundry room for baskets, she questioned her agreement. Was she a total fool to fall for this? Doing Tara’s laundry—which looked like about three weeks’ worth—was no small task. Still, if Cassidy came out looking good . . . maybe it would be worth it.

By the time Bryn got the clothes sorted and the first load in, then hurried back to her room, both Cassidy and Tara had green stuff on their faces. “Lovely,” she teased as she flopped down on the bed.

“Can you go find us some cucumber slices?” Tara asked Bryn.

“That’s okay, I’m not hungry,” Cassidy said.

“For our eyes,” Tara told her.

Bryn reluctantly agreed. Feeling a bit like Cinderella catering to the two green-faced stepsisters, she headed back downstairs and foraged through the fridge in search of a cucumber. After she found one, she cut four generous slices and took them back upstairs. Tara had taught her the cucumber trick years ago. It was supposed to reduce puffiness around the eyes. Not that Bryn had ever noticed any puffiness around her own eyes, but it always felt and smelled cool and fresh, and she almost wished she’d cut some pieces for herself.

“Here you go, ladies.” She handed them the cuke slices, watching as they placed them over their closed eyes. As they relaxed with their strange-looking masks, she decided to check Facebook. She was working on Kent for Abby now, and she suspected that when Abby arrived, she would question Bryn on her progress. Bryn just hoped to have something positive to say.

To her relief, Kent had responded to her last message, and judging by his response, he was interested in Abby for more than just friendship. He thought she was hot! Well, he hadn’t actually used the word
hot
, but Bryn could read between the lines. She shot back a quick playful response, trying to make it sound like he would be lucky to be with Abby. She also hinted that Abby wanted to go to the homecoming dance and if Kent just sat on his hands, he might miss out on this great opportunity. Then she crossed her fingers and hit Send.

With her portion of the work done, she would have no problem asking Abby how she was coming along with Jason
now. Of course, she couldn’t have this conversation in front of Tara since Tara assumed Bryn’s date with him was a done deal—it would be humiliating. But she could get Abby alone for this info exchange. Bryn tried to appear confident amongst her friends, but she felt insecure when it came to Jason. Maybe she was a fool to go after him like this.

However, she wasn’t blind. She had been noticing that she was getting more and more attention from other guys—including all the boys the other DG girls had set their sights on, which was admittedly fun. So why was it so difficult to get Jason to glance in her direction? Was it Worthington’s speech? Or was he just not into her? Worse yet, what if Jason was still into Amanda?

Bryn knew from books and movies that when a guy was stuck on his ex, she was tough competition. What if Amanda decided to get back with Jason? Then it would be utterly hopeless. How humiliating would it be for the hottest girl in their club (as her friends kept suggesting) to be the lonely girl on the sidelines? How would it feel to be sitting at home the night of the dance? It was almost too much pressure.

That meant she needed to pressure Abby. As much as she hated to push her best friend, she realized it was time to nail this thing. She didn’t want to be left out, so if it wasn’t going to work with Jason, she would have to start working on a different guy. However, that would be tricky with Tara around. She would wonder why Bryn didn’t go with Jason. And Bryn didn’t like to lie. Not to her sister or anyone else. She hated to admit it, but maybe this Dating Games club was a big, stupid mistake.

Hearing someone downstairs, Bryn suspected that Abby had arrived and decided to run down and head her off before
she said anything in front of Tara. Bryn’s mom had just let Abby in, and they were exchanging greetings.

“Sorry to be late,” Abby told Bryn. “Here are the clothes.”

“It’s okay.” Bryn took the bags, setting them down on the bench by the door. “We don’t need those yet.” She pulled Abby toward the basement stairs, explaining how Tara was helping. “I need to talk to you first anyway.” Leading Abby down to the family room where they could speak privately, Bryn said they needed to talk about Jason.

“Is something wrong?” Abby asked. “Have you decided to go with someone else?”

“No. I just need to know how it’s going.” Bryn sat down on the sectional. “I want an update. After my update, I’ll tell you how it’s going with Kent.”

Abby’s eyes lit up. “You’ve heard something new?”

“Sit down.” Bryn patted the seat. “And talk. Tell me what you’ve done.”

“Well, I contacted him on Facebook like you asked. He agreed to be friended. Then I sent him a message—just talking about sports in general, you know, so he won’t be suspicious. This morning I saw that he responded. Just polite, but I can tell he’s curious about why I friended him.” Abby frowned. “I’m not sure where to go with it now.”

“Just get to the point,” Bryn urged. “But do it in such a way that he doesn’t know you’re doing it.”

“That’s easier said than done.”

“Oh, I don’t know . . .” Bryn gave her a mysterious smile.

“Why? What?”

“Kent is coming around, Abby. If he invites you to the dance, you will owe me big-time.”

“Really?” Abby grinned. “You think he likes me?”

Bryn nodded. “I think you have a real chance with him.”

“Cool.”

“But I want you to get through to Jason too. I will be so humiliated if I’m the only one who doesn’t go—”

“That’s ridiculous. Of all the girls, you have the best chance of being asked, Bryn.”

“By Jason?”

Abby looked concerned. “I . . . I don’t know.”