By the time the prom meeting was over, Cassidy was glad she’d agreed to help out. And she felt genuinely proud of Bryn. It was amazing to think that Bryn had gotten the Hartfords to offer matching funds for whatever was raised at prom. If they could just get prom attendance up, it could end up being a significant chunk of change for the Ruez family. Cassidy had actually played with the numbers a bit, and even if it wasn’t enough by itself to keep Sofia in the best pediatric cancer center, it would make a difference. And if Bryn hadn’t made such a great argument today, prom could’ve easily gone down without a fight.
“Once again, I have to admit I was wrong,” Cassidy told Emma as she drove them home from school.
“Wrong about what?”
“Bryn. I misjudged her again. When she started putting together that plan to turn prom into a fund-raiser, I was worried it was just her way to get herself into the limelight so that she could run for prom queen. But it seems like she really invested herself today . . . like she really cares about Sofia.”
“Yeah, I think she does.” Emma poked Cassidy in the arm. “And you were pretty great today too, Cass.”
“Huh?”
“Your idea to text our friends and get them into the meeting like that. Those extra votes made a difference.”
“Yeah, and it was nice that Mrs. Dorman didn’t dismiss them for not being student council representatives.”
“I think Mrs. Dorman secretly wanted to make sure prom happened,” Emma said.
“Well, like Bryn pointed out, everyone is a member of the student body. Everyone should have a vote and a say about it. Besides, we could’ve appointed them to the prom committee if we’d wanted to. If they want to help.”
“Bryn’s going to need lots of help,” Emma said as Cassidy pulled into her driveway. “I mean, if she really thinks she can get kids to dole out that much money to go to prom. I know that it would stop me from going if I had to pay my own way.”
“Yeah, but what about Bryn’s idea that prom tickets include dinner? That saves some money,” Cassidy reminded her. “If you think about it, that makes it kind of a bargain.”
“That’s assuming people were going out to dinner.” Emma grabbed her stuff. “Some people just do their own meals at home. You know, like we’ve done for other dances.”
“That’s true.” Cassidy frowned. “But that’s a lot of work too. It might be kind of fun to have dinner catered by someone else.”
Emma gave Cass a sly look. “Meaning you’re already planning on going?”
Cassidy shrugged. “Hey, if I got asked . . . I might want to go . . . if it was the right guy anyway.”
“You mean like Lane?” Emma teased.
Cass frowned. “Except didn’t you notice that Lane was in Jason’s anti-prom group? And he didn’t even stick around for the meeting after Bryn won the vote.”
“Neither did Isaac.” Emma sighed as she opened the car door. “And I honestly thought that, of all the guys, Isaac might be the first one to break the guy code and ask me to prom.”
“Well, if things work out how Bryn hopes, maybe he will.”
Emma climbed out and waved. “See ya.”
As Cassidy drove away, she wondered why she suddenly cared about going to prom anyway. Really, did it matter? Oh, sure, it would be fun if Lane asked her. But she had no intention of asking him. And she didn’t want anyone in the DG to try to set her up either. Hadn’t they all agreed that this time—it was up to the boys to do the asking? Well, she didn’t know about the rest of the DG, but Cassidy was determined to stick to her guns. If Lane didn’t invite her, she was content to stay home.
When she got home, Cassidy went online to see if her article had been uploaded onto the school’s website yet. Not only was it posted, but there were a number of comments as well. Most of them were positive and supportive, but there were a few from some of the disgruntled guys. Including, she was surprised to see, one from Lane.
It’s nice to see the prom committee cares about helping others and I have to agree that Sofia Ruez’s leukemia treatments are a worthwhile cause. But I want to challenge the prom committee. What if you just held a plain old fund-raiser—something we could all get behind? Why do you have to attach the fund-raising to an event that most of the student body doesn’t even want to attend? What if you created a more inclusive event that invited everyone to participate? Wouldn’t you raise more money to help Sofia? Just saying.
My Two Cents,
Lane Granger
Cassidy read Lane’s post a couple of times and, despite herself, she thought it made real sense. In fact, she totally agreed with him. At the same time, she realized that she was on the prom committee. She was supposed to be supportive of prom. And if she told Bryn her concerns, she might be considered the enemy.
Cassidy wrestled with this for a bit and finally decided she didn’t care if she offended Bryn. The truth was the truth and what was right was right. In this case, even if it meant sacrificing prom, she felt that Lane really was right. So she shot off a comment to the school’s blog, admitting that she agreed with Lane. Then, to avoid feeling two-faced, she sent Bryn a quick text, suggesting she check out the prom comments on the school’s website. Okay, she felt a little guilty when she hit Send. But, hey, she was just being honest . . . and true to herself. And the sooner Bryn knew it, the better it would be for everyone.
Cassidy felt a sense of relief as she helped her mom to get dinner ready. She’d never been that enthused about being on prom committee in the first place. But she was glad to help with a fund-raiser for Sofia.
“Is that your phone?” Mom asked as Cassidy was chopping a tomato.
Cass paused to hear her phone beeping, and a quick check revealed that the text was from Bryn. She did not sound happy.
What do u mean? Answer phone. Now.
Suddenly Cass’s phone was jingling. Of course, it was Bryn. “Hey, Bryn.” Cassidy made an apologetic smile to her mom, stepping into the laundry room. “What’s up?” she asked innocently.
“That’s what I want to know. I feel like I just got stabbed in the back. By a friend too.”
“Sorry, but when I read Lane’s—”
“You’re on prom committee,” Bryn said sharply. “We’re supposed to be on the same team. I was counting on you, Cass. What about Sofia?”
“I’m still on board for a fund-raiser, but—”
“You betrayed us when you wrote that comment on the school’s blog, Cass. Everything we worked for today—you just blew it all off. And you were there, you saw how hard we worked to gain what little ground we got. I can’t believe you’re undermining prom like this.”
“Am I not allowed to have my own opinion?” Cassidy demanded.
“Of course. As long as you agree with me.”
Cass laughed. “Yeah . . . right.”
“So you don’t want to help Sofia?”
“You know I do. But I think Lane is right. I think we can help her more if we hold an event that everyone in the school can come to—something they’ll all want to attend.”
“That’s your opinion, Cass. That doesn’t mean it will happen.”
“Why not? We’ve had successful fund-raisers before. Why not with this? We could come up with something to sell tickets for. Maybe a concert or—”
“Even if you came up with another idea, do you honestly believe you could charge as much as we could do with prom tickets? Everyone expects prom to be expensive. That’s the guys’ biggest gripe. Remember?”
“Yeah, and their gripe is getting more legit, Bryn. We just voted to raise the price of tickets. Remember?”
“Yeah, but we’re offering them dinner too. Remember? And I already found some possible sponsors to donate food items too.”
Cassidy frowned at the washing machine. How did she get involved in this in the first place? Arguing over a prom she really didn’t care if she attended? Really?
“I was so proud of you today, Cass. The way you texted the other girls—that was so brilliant. Getting everyone into the meeting to hold off Jason. I felt like I could really count on you.”
“You can count on me. But not to be your puppet. I do have my own opinions, Bryn. And the whole idea of prom has always felt kind of exclusive to me. Remember when we were freshmen and sophomores—didn’t you feel a little left out when you overheard everyone talking about prom like they were going off to some secret society? You see all the posters and stuff, but you know you’re not allowed to go. I mean, really, that was one reason we agreed to start the DG last fall. To ensure we didn’t miss out on stuff like this.”
“Exactly. Isn’t that what we’re doing?”
“But I feel bad for other people. What if they still feel like we did? Left out, sitting on the sidelines.”
“They just have to wait until they’re older. And besides, sometimes the younger girls get asked. Remember when Ashley Marsh—”
“Hey, I’ve got an idea,” Cass said suddenly. “Something that might make everyone happy.”
“What?” Bryn’s voice sounded flat.
“We said we wanted prom to be different this year, right?”
“Yeah. And a fund-raiser is different.”
“But what if we opened prom up to everyone?”
“Everyone?”
“Yeah. All the classes would be welcome.”
“Oh . . . I don’t know . . .”
“We want to make lots of money for Sofia, don’t we?” Cassidy remembered the numbers she’d been playing with this afternoon. “If it was open to everyone, we’d probably make a lot more money. Besides that, it might be good for school spirit. Everyone behind the same thing. And it would give the guys—especially guys like Lane—one less thing to argue about.”
“Hmm . . . maybe.”
“So think about it, okay?” Cass went back to the kitchen. “I gotta go help my mom with dinner, but just think about it, Bryn. It could be pretty cool. An all-inclusive prom.”
Bryn agreed to consider this suggestion and, feeling a bit more hopeful, Cassidy hung up. Really, what did they have to lose by opening up the prom to everyone?