Prom Date Read online

“What about the prom location?” Mazie Tucker asked. “Have you gotten anyone to donate that yet?”

  “I’m working on it. But I must admit that it’s been tricky.” Bryn sighed. “The venue that the school already reserved, the Renaldo, refuses to donate their ballroom. The best they can do is a small discount.”

  “Stingy Renaldo,” Cassidy said. “I’ll remind my parents to stop eating at their restaurant.”

  Some of the others laughed, agreeing to boycott the hotel too.

  “And the other hotels are already booked for our prom night,” Bryn explained.

  “Everything is booked?” Amanda asked.

  “So far it is. From mid-April on out I haven’t found a thing.” Bryn sighed.

  “Why can’t we have prom right here in our school?” Cassidy asked. “In the gym.”

  Naturally, this resulted in a lot of protests and complaints, not to mention just plain whining. Cassidy was about to tell them that they were a bunch of babies, but decided that wouldn’t help matters. “But what if we really decorated the gym up big time?” she suggested. “If we made it look like something completely different than a gym. Maybe go with a theme.”

  This was followed by more groaning, along with some snide comments.

  “But just think of the money we’d save,” she pressed. “Money that could go to Sofia.” She picked up one of the Sofia posters now, holding it up so that they could all look into the little girl’s big brown eyes.

  “We could probably make the gym work,” Emma said cautiously. “It would take a lot of work to make it look, uh, different. But it could probably be done.”

  “Prom in the gym?” Amanda sounded scandalized. “You gotta be kidding!” She pointed at Bryn. “Seriously, you’re saying out of all the hotels in town, there’s not one ballroom available for us?”

  “Not for free.” Bryn folded her arms in front of her. “Not on our date anyway.”

  “Well, how about a different date?” Amanda said. “A later date perhaps?”

  Bryn picked up her notes. “The next date that we can get—I mean, one that’s donated for free—isn’t until late May. And it’s not a very nice venue either.” She pointed to her paper. “Or else there’s this night at Le Chateau, but it’s—”

  “Le Chateau?” Amanda exclaimed. “They’ve offered us their ballroom for free?”

  “Le Chateau is gorgeous,” Mazie said.

  “Yeah,” Cassidy agreed. “I went to a wedding there. It’s really beautiful.”

  “Yes, I know,” Bryn said crisply. “The problem with Le Chateau is the date they’ve offered.”

  “When is it?” Emma asked.

  “The Saturday right after spring break,” Bryn told them. “And like I told the manager at Le Chateau, that’s just too soon.”

  “Who says it’s too soon?” Cassidy demanded.

  “I say it’s too soon,” Bryn replied.

  “Why?” Emma asked. “That’s, like, three weeks off, isn’t it?”

  “But we’re barely off the ground,” Bryn told her. “So far we haven’t sold a single ticket. I told you guys already that planning prom is a lot like planning a wedding. You do not rush it.”

  “But if Le Chateau gives us their ballroom for free,” Cassidy argued, “wouldn’t that be worth rushing for?”

  “But there’s so much to do. Not just for prom, but we all have to get our dresses and everything,” Bryn said. “It takes time.”

  Cassidy held up her iPad to where she’d pulled up a calendar. “But we actually have three and a half weeks. See. That’s plenty of time to find a dress and shoes.”

  “And we already got the promposal prize,” Emma reminded them. “I’ll get those posters designed and up in just a couple of days. I might even work on it at home tonight. We can do this, Bryn. I know we can.”

  Amanda looked doubtful. “I’m inclined to agree with Bryn on this. Seriously, three and a half weeks? And one of them is spring break? It feels too rushed to me.”

  “You want to lose out on Le Chateau?” Cassidy challenged. “A beautiful venue like that, and it’s totally free? Do you guys really need those extra weeks? Just to pick out your dress and shoes?” She pointed at Bryn. “You’re saying you would give up Le Chateau just to gain a few weeks of shopping time?”

  “Well, no . . . but I—”

  “No buts,” Emma declared. “I move we put this to a vote.”

  “I second the motion,” Cassidy said quickly.

  Finally, after a bit more arguing and a couple of heartfelt reminders that the prom fund-raiser was meant to benefit Sofia Ruez, Emma’s motion was put to a vote. Scheduling prom a few weeks earlier than planned, at the lovely Le Chateau, won with better than a two-thirds majority. And when it was said and done, Cassidy felt surprisingly victorious over the results. Interesting, since she had never been much into prom in the first place. But the idea of helping little Sofia was motivating. And it seemed a worthwhile reason to hold prom a few weeks earlier than some people felt was convenient.

  Cassidy felt a tiny bit bad when, walking to their locker bay, Bryn continued to lament that there wasn’t sufficient time to find the right dress, acting like she truly believed that prom was the next best thing to a wedding. But Cass also felt fairly certain that her fashionista friend would show up at prom dressed to the nines. Yet one big question remained—would the guys get on board with prom? What if no one bought tickets?

  11

  Abby tried to be understanding to Bryn as they got into Bryn’s car. After all, Bryn had patiently waited for Abby to finish track practice, just to give her a ride home. Never mind that Abby had been hoping Kent might offer a ride. But it was obvious that Bryn’s nose was out of joint about something related to prom. And the more Abby listened, the muddier it seemed to get.

  “So let me get this clear,” Abby said finally. “You’re bummed because prom’s going to be held at Le Chateau?”

  “No, I’m glad it’ll be at Le Chateau. That’s a beautiful venue. They have the best ballroom in town, and their chandeliers are from France. I’m upset that we have to reschedule prom earlier just to get Le Chateau. What I’m trying to tell you is that our prom is just a little over three weeks off now! Can you believe it?”

  “What’s wrong with that?”

  “Are you kidding? It’s horrible news. Before, we had over six weeks to get ready. Now it’s more like three.”

  “Three weeks sounds fine. And if you’re excited about prom, wouldn’t you be glad that it’s coming quicker? Kinda like Christmas when we were kids?”

  “No, it’s not like that at all. Okay, sure it would be just fine if you were ready. Like if you already found the perfect gown and shoes and accessories and everything. And if you’d made your hair appointment, a mani-pedi appointment, and maybe a spray tan, and if your flowers were ordered and you’d—”

  “Seriously? You really believe everyone who goes to prom will do all of that, Bryn? Because I assure you, I won’t.”

  “Well, duh.” Bryn laughed. “Lucky for you, you don’t need a spray tan.”

  “Very funny.”

  “And, oh yeah, I left out one little detail. A date.”

  “Oh . . .” Abby smoothed her hair. The damp spring air had made it frizz up. Although just this afternoon, while waiting for the guys to finish up in the high-jump pit, Kent had told her he liked it that way.

  “Aren’t you listening to me?” Bryn demanded.

  “Sorry.” Abby smiled to herself. “Guess I was spacing a little.”

  “I was just saying that this means everyone has to get über-busy—we’ve got to work fast. That’s why I’m calling an emergency DG meeting for tomorrow evening.”

  “But I thought we were having that surprise party for Devon tomorrow night.”

  “We are, but it will have to be part surprise party and part DG meeting. Because we’ve got to get this thing with the guys off center. We need them to step up. I mean, it’s not impossible to shop for a dress without a d
ate lined up, but I personally think it’s easier to do it the other way.”

  Abby laughed. “I’ve seen you do it the other way.”

  “Maybe so, but I’d like to do it right for prom.”

  “So who are you hoping will ask you?” Abby glanced at Bryn’s profile. Even with her forehead creased and her mouth puckered up, Bryn was still very pretty. You’d think she’d have an easy time getting dates, although this past year had proved otherwise.

  “I honestly don’t know.”

  “Not Jason, I hope.”

  “No, definitely not Jason, although for a guy who acts like he’s boycotting prom, he’s dropped a couple of hints my way. At least I think they were hints.” She sighed. “Don’t tell anyone, but I’ve been wondering about Lane. I have this funny feeling that he’d like to ask me.”

  “Lane?” Abby tried not to sound too distressed. She knew that Cassidy was hoping for Lane to ask her. In fact, Cassidy had even suggested that she might ask him first. “What makes you think Lane might ask you?”

  “For starters, he’s been pretty friendly lately. And just today he asked me what we were doing in response to the guys’ boycott efforts.”

  “Maybe he was just being congenial. Lane’s a nice guy. He talks to lots of people. Doesn’t mean he’s going to ask them out.”

  “I don’t know . . . I think there’s more to it.” Bryn stopped for the red light. “And you have to admit, he’s good-looking. I mean, sure, he’s not as hot as Jason, but he’s a lot nicer. I think I’ve reached the point in life where I’d take a good guy over a hot guy. You know what I mean?” She looked earnestly at Abby.

  “Yeah. Fortunately, Kent is both.” Abby laughed.

  “Unfortunately, we’re not all as lucky as you.” Bryn rolled her eyes.

  Abby still wasn’t ready to drop the Lane question yet. “But what about Cassidy?” she said gently. “I thought she still liked Lane . . .”

  “Really?” Bryn frowned as she pulled into the intersection. “It’s so hard to tell with her. She runs hot and cold. I mean, she acts kind of like she could take him or leave him, you know? I figured if she was going to leave him, maybe I’d just scoop him up.”

  “Meaning you’re going to ask him?” Abby tried to disguise her concern.

  Bryn just shrugged, but her expression suggested she was considering this.

  “But I thought we all agreed that we were going to wait, to step back and let the guys do the asking this time.”

  “That seemed like a good idea back when we thought we had more time. But with less than four weeks and one of them being spring break—and we really must have our dates nailed down before spring break—well, the rules might have to change.”

  “So when does the promposal contest officially begin?”

  “Cass took Emma over to the sporting goods store to take some photos of the bike and other prizes, and Emma promised to start working on the poster tonight. It might be a rush job, but our hope is to start getting posters up by the end of the week. In the meantime, Cass is writing something for the school website and we prepared announcements to start playing on the school radio station. Everyone should pretty much know by the end of the day tomorrow.”

  “So we could start seeing promposals any day now?” Suddenly Abby was toying with the idea of springing a promposal on Kent this week. She wondered what he’d say. Maybe she could have a pizza delivered to him at the end of track practice. That would be sure to score points since everyone was always famished by then. She could glue a note into the top of the pizza box, inviting him to prom. Maybe she could make up some kind of pizza pun.

  “Earth to Abby.” Bryn’s voice was laced with irritation.

  “Huh?” Abby turned to look at her. “Did you say something?”

  “I was just telling you what the theme for prom is going to be, but you were totally spaced out again.”

  “Sorry.”

  “What’s on your mind anyway? Some big test? The track meet? College applications?”

  “Actually, I was just imagining doing a promposal for Kent.”

  “Seriously?” Bryn laughed. “You’d really do that? I thought you were pretty sure that Kent was going to ask you.”

  “He’s hinted . . . but you never know. And, hey, I agree with Emma, I wouldn’t mind winning a bike myself. Why let the guys have all the fun?”

  “Then you’d have to come up with a really good promposal,” Bryn pointed out. “Anything particular in mind?”

  “Not really. I was thinking a pizza delivery. Maybe I could have them spell out PROM in pepperoni. With a question mark.”

  Bryn laughed. “That’s not bad, but I don’t think it’ll win you anything.”

  “Probably not. Maybe I better noodle on this some more.”

  “Anyway, I was telling you that Emma suggested a theme for prom. The red carpet. Well, we all know where that’s coming from. And it’s not a bad idea really, but it’s just so cliché, you know? I pointed out that probably half the proms in this country use the red carpet for their theme. But then Mazie Tucker jumps in and starts going on about a Hawaiian prom with grass skirts and coconuts. And then this other girl suggests a DIY prom.”

  “DIY?”

  “Do it yourself.” Bryn groaned.

  “Huh?”

  “This whack-a-doodle girl starts talking about making prom dresses out of duct tape and aluminum foil and Kleenex boxes and garden hoses. And Emma was actually getting into it. Naturally, because it would be cheap. Anyway, as you can imagine, I got pretty worried. A dress out of garden hoses, can you imagine?”

  “Might be interesting. Maybe we could have a contest for most creative DIY dress.”

  “Oh, Abby, I didn’t expect you to go to the dark side.”

  Abby laughed. “So, let me guess, you put the kibosh on the garden hose gowns and climbed onto the red carpet bandwagon?”

  “Absolutely. Besides, a red carpet theme means that shopping is pretty much wide open. We can have full-length gowns or cocktail dresses or whatever suits our fancy. I mean, we all watched the Oscars’ red carpet when Emma and Felicia were down there. Anything goes . . . as long as it’s elegant.”

  “At least more elegant than garden hoses.”

  “Right.”

  At dinner that night, Abby broached the prom topic with her parents. She knew that her dad would be opposed to her going to prom. He was opposed to pretty much anything involving boys and bare shoulders. But she felt certain that she could get Mom on her side. She started the conversation by telling them about the girl who wanted DIY dresses. Naturally, both her parents thought this was funny.

  “And it’s a great idea,” Dad said. “Forcing kids to use their creativity instead of their parents’ pockets.”

  “Well, that might be true, but the committee has decided to go with the red carpet for prom,” Abby informed them. She told them about how prom was meant to be another fund-raiser, explaining about Felicia’s little sister.

  “I really like how you kids are reaching out,” Mom told her. “I love the idea of prom not just being about prom.”

  “It’s a nice thought,” Dad agreed. “But I doubt you can really raise much money for the Ruez girl. Do you have any idea what medical treatment costs these days?”

  Mom frowned at him. “But every little bit helps.”

  Abby told them about the Hartfords’ generous matching funds offer and how many donations were being sought for prom itself. “That should make a difference. They raised the price of prom tickets too. That should help.”

  Dad had his phone on calculator mode and, after asking her some quick questions, he was doing some fast figuring. “Let’s be optimistic and say two hundred couples go.” He started spewing out numbers based on potential ticket sales, and despite his gloomy predictions, Abby thought the numbers sounded pretty good.

  “But do you realize that for every ticket purchased, the prom attendees are probably spending twice that much in preparation for the prom? And t
hat’s probably a conservative estimate.”

  “Well, I don’t know about that.”

  “Think about this, Abby. If everyone decided to cancel prom and simply donate what they would’ve spent, that little Ruez girl could have . . .” He paused to calculate, then tossed out a number that was about three times higher than his first estimate.

  “Wow.” Abby sighed. “That’s a lot of money. I mean, if it could happen like that—canceling prom and donating the money.”

  “But that’s no fun.” Mom scowled as she began to clear the table. “Kids need to have prom and girls need pretty dresses. It can’t all just be about the money. Good grief.”

  Abby stood to help her mom. “I know,” Abby conceded, “but I get what Dad’s saying too. That’s a lot of money. It could really help Sofia Ruez.”

  Mom put a hand on Abby’s shoulder. “You kids are already helping Sofia, just by turning your prom into a fund-raiser.”

  “But maybe we can do more,” Abby said as she carried the dishes into the kitchen.

  As Abby loaded the dishwasher, she thought about what her dad had said about how much money the average couple would be laying down for one night. Certainly not all the couples, because not everyone was as committed to fashion as Bryn. But she also knew that most of the kids at their school were fairly comfortable. Their parents wouldn’t think much of doling out the cash. Oh, sure, they’d complain—just like her dad would do—but in the end they would fork it over.

  After she finished in the kitchen, Abby went online to do some research on the average costs of prom dresses and tuxedoes. To her surprise, she found lots of great resources that offered used designer gowns for very low prices and even some online rental gown sites—far more options than she’d thought were out there. By the time she started in on her homework, she had a plan in place.

  She would call it the Prom Budget Challenge—aka the PBC. She wasn’t sure of all the details, but somehow she would kick off a campaign to encourage classmates to consider ways they could save rather than spend money on prom. And the saved money would be donated into the Sofia fund.

  Perhaps she’d create a blog where she’d list the websites she’d found. Or maybe work some kind of deal with the formal rental shop downtown. Perhaps some free advertising at school. But somehow she had to make the idea of spending less and giving more seem cool. Instead of kids going around bragging about how much they’d spent on prom, they could brag about how much money they saved—and donated toward a little girl’s fight with leukemia.