Prom Date

by Melody Carlson

“No prom?” Bryn looked truly horrified.

  “Can they do that?” Devon asked with concern.

  “I don’t know,” Abby confessed. “But it sounds like they’re going to try.”

  “That’s too bad,” Emma said. “I was pretty sure that Isaac was going to ask me too. He even hinted about it a few weeks ago.”

  “Well, Isaac was at youth group that night,” Devon told her. “He might be on the anti-prom bandwagon too.”

  “This is just wrong,” Bryn proclaimed. “How can we be the only school that doesn’t have prom?”

  “It makes me want to go back to my old high school,” Devon said sullenly.

  “Who do they think they are?” Bryn asked. “Just because a handful of guys are anti-prom doesn’t mean the whole school should give it up. I mean, fine, if they don’t want to go to prom, let them stay home. Why do they want to spoil it for everyone?”

  “I wonder how many signatures they need to get,” Cassidy mused.

  “Even if they got all the guys to sign, that would only be about 50 percent,” Abby pointed out.

  “Why would all the guys even sign it?” Bryn asked.

  “Because guys always like to complain about events like prom,” Emma told her. “I remember how my brother, Edward, would go on about how expensive it was, how it wasn’t fair that the guy got stuck with the bill, but it was mostly for the girl.”

  “Kind of like a wedding.” Abby nodded toward Bryn.

  “Well, you can’t have a wedding—just like you can’t have a prom—without guys,” Bryn said wryly.

  “This is so lame,” Devon grumbled.

  Emma shook her head. “Is there any way to stop it? What if we circulate our own petition? Mrs. Dorman is our faculty advisor. Maybe we could ask her to put a stop to the boys’ petition.”

  “Isn’t that kind of undemocratic?” Cassidy asked.

  “Circulating a petition might be like freedom of speech,” Abby added.

  “Just the same, someone needs to put the kibosh on those boys,” Devon declared. “Before they gain any more momentum.”

  “You’re right.” Bryn nodded. “It’s time to get really proactive.”

  “Do you have a plan?” Devon asked.

  Bryn’s brow creased. “I’m working on it. The most important thing is to act fast. That means some of us need to get onto prom committee ASAP.”

  “To get onto prom committee, you have to be a student council representative or else appointed by one,” Abby pointed out.

  “You’re a representative,” Bryn said back. “You could be on prom committee.”

  “No way.” Abby firmly shook her head. “With track and the play coming up, I don’t have time.”

  “I’m a student council rep too,” Cassidy admitted.

  “Great,” Bryn told her. “You and I will both volunteer for prom committee and then we’ll appoint one or two DG members.”

  “But what if I don’t want—”

  “Cassidy,” Bryn said sharply. “Are you going to let your fellow DG members down?”

  “But I really don’t want to be on prom committee.”

  “It’ll look good on your college application,” Abby told her.

  Cassidy seemed to consider this. “Who would I appoint—I mean, if I was on the committee?”

  “Not me,” Devon told her. “I’m auditioning for the play too. And I expect to snag a big part.”

  Cass looked hopefully at Emma. “What about you?”

  Emma just shrugged.

  “You’re artistic,” Bryn reminded Emma. “You’d be a real asset on the decorations committee. Maybe you could head it up. That would look good on your college app too.”

  “I guess if Cass does it, I could too.” But Emma looked less than enthused.

  Bryn turned to Felicia, who was looking down at her phone with a furrowed brow. “What about you, Felicia? You could help Emma with—”

  “What’s wrong?” Emma suddenly asked Felicia.

  Felicia looked up with tears in her eyes, but said nothing.

  “Is it about Sofia?” Emma pressed.

  Felicia just nodded with a trembling chin, like she was on the verge of tears.

  “What happened? Is she okay?” Emma’s eyes grew wide.

  “Yes . . . it’s just a problem . . . with her treatment.” Felicia looked back down at her phone. “Something unexpected.”

  “I already told most of you that Felicia’s little sister Sofia was just diagnosed with leukemia,” Emma said. “She’s only eight years old. She’s at the pediatric cancer center with her mom right now.” Emma turned to Felicia. “But what’s wrong?” she asked gently. “What’s the problem with her treatment—the unexpected thing?”

  “It’s just that our insurance—it doesn’t cover the cancer center where Mom took Sofia for treatment. And it’s the best treatment center in the state and for miles around. They said she has to—to leave.” Felicia really did start to cry.

  “Well, that’s just wrong,” Emma proclaimed.

  “That is totally wrong,” Bryn agreed. “How can they do that?”

  “Where will Sofia get her treatment then?” Emma quietly asked Felicia.

  “My mom has some names of other places . . . places that are farther away . . . where our insurance will cover it. But none of them are as good as where Sofia is now.”

  “Why can’t she just stay there?” Cassidy demanded. “Why should your insurance get to decide what’s best for her? Why can’t your parents decide?”

  Felicia sighed. “That’s the way it is.”

  “But they have no right to turn her away,” Emma argued. “This is a free country, isn’t it? Why can’t people get treatment from the place they believe is best?”

  “Because . . . without insurance . . . it’s too expensive.” Felicia wiped her tears with a napkin. “We can’t afford it.”

  The table got very quiet now. Abby felt seriously indignant for Felicia’s sake. How was it fair that good medical treatment could be denied to a child—just because her family had the wrong insurance provider, or simply didn’t have enough money? It was so unjust.

  “I have an idea to save our prom,” Bryn said suddenly.

  “Seriously? Are you still obsessing over prom?” Abby could feel the irritation in her tone. “What about Sofia?”

  “This is for Sofia too.” Bryn’s brows arched mysteriously. “A way to help her.”

  Suddenly every girl at the table gave Bryn her full attention.

  “We’ll turn prom into a fund-raiser,” Bryn began. “I’m not totally sure how, but I’m sure it can be done.” She twisted her mouth to one side. “For starters we’ll raise the price of tickets—”

  “But that will turn the guys totally against it,” Devon told her.

  “Not if all the proceeds go to help someone in need.”

  “But proms are expensive,” Abby pointed out. “Ticket proceeds help to cover the cost.”

  “Unless we got some sponsors and some donations from businesses.” Bryn rubbed her chin. “Maybe I’ll go to the Hartfords again. They’re the richest people I know. And they really care about kids and our school. They might be willing to help again.”

  “I still don’t quite see what this has to do with Sofia,” Emma complained.

  “Or how you plan to pull this off,” Cassidy said with skepticism.

  “Okay, let’s start at the beginning. We’ll be on prom committee,” Bryn started to explain. “Cass and Emma and me to start with. By the way, the first meeting is tomorrow after school, which means we need to get busy before then. At tomorrow’s meeting we’ll vote to raise the price of prom tickets and to turn prom into a fund-raiser.” She held up a forefinger. “Hey, maybe we could even have some other fund-raising events related to prom. And then, when it’s all said and done, all the proceeds will go to Sofia’s cancer treatment.” She beamed at them. “How about that?”

  Felicia’s dark eyes lit up. “Really? You would do that? Donate all the procee
ds to my little sister’s treatment?”

  Bryn nodded firmly. “You bet we would. We want to help your sister. And turning prom into a fund-raiser would be a great way to raise money.”

  Abby was getting some mixed feelings right now. On one hand, she loved the idea of helping Felicia’s little sister. On the other hand, was Bryn just being opportunistic? Was she using this little girl’s very serious cancer diagnosis to garner enthusiasm for a prom that was in peril of perishing—and perhaps should be quietly buried?

  But suddenly everyone was talking at once and it was clear that they were enthusiastic and supportive of the fund-raising prom idea. And Bryn was so excited about the possibilities. Abby knew this wasn’t the time and place to question her best friend’s true motives. Besides, how would it look to sound so negative and suspicious with Felicia so obviously thrilled by this idea? Talk about being a wet blanket. Abby decided to just keep her mouth shut.

  6

  Sometimes Bryn felt like she’d make a good general. Not in a real army, of course, but she was good at leading the troops. And by the time she got home from the DG meeting, she was already preparing her battle plan. First she texted Emma and Cassidy, reminding them of tomorrow’s prom planning meeting, as well as assigning them tasks to have completed before the important meeting. After dinner, she called Mrs. Hartford, leaving a long message that explained her idea to turn prom into a fund-raiser for Sofia Ruez.

  “Everyone knows how prom can be considered such a selfish and shallow sort of event,” she said finally. “And I know how much you and Mr. Hartford believe in Northwood Academy—how you respect the school’s traditions and care about the students. I just think we could all do something really amazing this year. Similar to what we did with Project Santa Sleigh. Feel free to call me or text me or even use email to let me know if I can count on you for support. And, even if you are unable to partner with us on this, I just want to thank you again for all your support in the past. We really appreciate you.” Then she said a cheerful good-bye and hung up.

  First thing on Wednesday morning Bryn went to Mrs. Dorman’s office, since she was the staff member overseeing prom. She signed up herself, Emma, and Cassidy for prom committee.

  “I’m glad to see you taking interest in this,” Mrs. Dorman told her. “Last year it was like pulling teeth to get students to help with prom.”

  “Well, I believe in keeping traditions like prom alive,” Bryn assured her. “And I’ve heard rumors that there are some kids in our school who don’t feel the same.”

  Mrs. Dorman’s brows arched. “Really?”

  Bryn nodded. “Yes. Some students would like to destroy our prom.”

  Mrs. Dorman looked worried. “Have there been threats of some kind? Some sort of danger I should be aware of?”

  “Well, it’s not exactly dangerous. It’s more of an anti-prom campaign.”

  “Oh . . .” Mrs. Dorman nodded with a slightly concerned expression. “Perhaps I should attend this afternoon’s meeting myself.”

  “Yes,” Bryn agreed. “That’s a good idea.”

  By midday Wednesday, the guys had already gathered several pages worth of signatures on their anti-prom petitions. Enthusiasm for a prom boycott seemed to be spreading like wildfire—and Bryn was ready to break out a fire extinguisher. But she knew she needed to pace herself, to go about this carefully. And from what she could see, after sneaking a peek at Kent Renner’s petition list outside of the math department, it was mostly guys who were signing those stupid papers.

  “This is brilliant, dude!” A boy who was only a freshman, and probably had no intention of attending prom this year, gave Kent a victorious fist bump. “I remember how much cash my brother dumped to go to his prom last year. I told him he should’ve just piled his money in a big heap in the backyard and lit a match to it.” The kid laughed like this was hilarious.

  Kent just nodded as he took back his pen. “Good point, bro. It’s a lot of cash for just one night.”

  Bryn had simply bitten her tongue. Of course, the cheapskate boys would be thrilled about a prom boycott. But there had to be some guys who appreciated tradition—the kind of fellow who could enjoy an unforgettable night with a pretty girl on his arm. Where were these boys?

  By the end of the day, Bryn was ready to explode. If these guys thought they could undo years of Northwood tradition just by circulating a stupid petition—well, as her grandpa would say, they had another think coming! She knew she needed to reserve her opinions for the prom meeting after school today. But it wasn’t easy keeping her mouth shut.

  “Did you make the poster?” Bryn asked Emma as they met in the breezeway outside of the library. The meeting was scheduled in the library’s conference room.

  “Right here.” Emma patted the oversized folder. “I got a really good photo of Sofia from Felicia.”

  “And I just sent the article to the school’s website,” Cassidy told her. “Including a photo of Sofia. It should be up any minute now.”

  “Great.” Bryn gave them a thumbs-up. “Ready for battle?”

  “Battle?” Emma frowned.

  “You’ve seen the petitions circulating,” Bryn reminded her. “The guys are thinking they’ve got this all wrapped up.”

  “Lane admitted that they’ll be represented at the meeting too,” Cassidy said as they walked through the library.

  “I figured as much.” Bryn turned to face her friends. “And remember what I told you guys, don’t just nominate me for committee chairperson, but say something about why I’d be a good chair, okay?”

  “Something besides the fact that you’d like to be prom queen?” Cassidy said in a teasing tone.

  “You know that’s not true.” Bryn frowned.

  “You’re sure about that?” Cassidy questioned her.

  “Absolutely.” Bryn firmly nodded. “I just happen to love traditions. You guys know that. And I love the idea of raising funds for Sofia’s treatment.” She looked directly at Cassidy. “Don’t you?”

  “Of course.” Cass sounded defensive.

  “And . . .” Bryn paused to see if anyone was near enough to eavesdrop. “I wasn’t going to tell anyone until we were in the meeting, but I got a text back from Mrs. Hartford and their foundation is very interested in participating with our fund-raiser.”

  “Seriously?” Emma’s eyes grew wide. “That’s awesome, Bryn.”

  Even Cassidy looked impressed. “Nice work!”

  “Thanks.” Bryn smiled as she pushed open the door to the library. “So I really need you two to step up at this meeting. Nominate me with real enthusiasm, okay?”

  They both agreed and, feeling like she was leading her troops, Bryn headed for the library conference room. But, to her dismay, there were only a few students in the room. All girls and all preoccupied with their phones or books and not looking as if they really cared much about this meeting. Maybe that wasn’t even what they were there for. Plus Mrs. Dorman hadn’t arrived.

  “This is where the prom committee is meeting, isn’t it?” she asked brightly.

  “Uh-huh,” Mazie Tucker answered without looking up from her iPhone.

  “Have a seat,” another girl said.

  “Let’s sit up here.” Bryn led her friends to the other side of the room, placing her hand on the chair at the head of the table. “We’ll save this for Jason. I assume since he’s student council president, he’ll want to chair this meeting.” She lowered her voice, winking at them. “At least to start with anyway.”

  It wasn’t long until a few other girls straggled in, and eventually Mrs. Dorman slipped into the back of the room, taking a seat against the wall with her notepad in hand.

  “It’s past 3:30,” Bryn pointed out. “I wonder if we should go ahead and start the meeting since—”

  “Here we are!” Jason announced like he was the star of the show. He had several of the guys with him—the same ones who’d been circulating the anti-prom petitions—and they ceremoniously entered the room. It was am
azing how everything got noisier and busier when boys got involved. Not that Bryn was opposed to that. Not at all. The best-case scenario would be for lots of guys to get involved in prom committee. And she hoped she’d be able to entice them to consider that today.

  “This chair for me?” Jason said as he made his way up front. Meanwhile the other guys remained clustered back by the door. Jason grinned at Bryn with a devious twinkle in his eyes. “Thanks, Bryn.”

  “No problem.” She smiled back. “Glad you could make it. We were about to start without you.”

  Jason held up a stack of messy-looking papers—obviously the signed petitions. “Well, that’s not necessary.” He looked around the room with a smug expression. “In fact, this whole meeting might be unnecessary.”

  “And why is that?” Bryn asked innocently.

  He waved the papers in the air. “Because this might just be the year when we finally put to death a silly and expensive tradition that has obviously outlived its usefulness.”

  The other girls were watching him with quiet interest and what Bryn hoped might be concern. Surely they didn’t want to see their prom kicked to the curb.

  “So are you calling this meeting to order?” Bryn calmly asked Jason.

  “This is not a student council meeting,” he reminded her.

  “I know. It’s a prom planning meeting. That’s why we’re here. To plan prom.” She forced a bright smile. “So why not get on with it?”

  He waved the pages again, but this time his eyes were focused on Mrs. Dorman. “Unless the majority of students at Northwood don’t want a prom. Do we need a meeting then?”

  “Why don’t you explain?” Mrs. Dorman told him.

  “What about nominations for prom committee chairperson?” Bryn stood up, facing Jason with defiance. “Shouldn’t we do that first? Before we bring anything to the table—shouldn’t we have an official prom chairperson appointed? To keep the meeting in order?”

  “Unless we’re canceling prom.” Jason gave her a sly grin.

  “He can’t just walk in here and cancel prom, can he?” She directed this to Mrs. Dorman. “Does a student council president have that kind of authority? Shouldn’t it be put to the vote?” She shot a worried glance at Emma and Cass.