17
I have some happy news,” Abby announced at lunch. “Kent officially asked me to the Christmas ball.” She beamed at her friends, pleased that she was the first girl in the DG to secure a date. After congratulations were shared, Abby turned to Bryn. “So how about you? You’re my double. Has a guy stepped up yet?”
“Jason keeps hinting.” Bryn shrugged. “I suppose I could do worse.”
“Jason?” Abby frowned in dismay. “Seriously?”
“I know we all thought the worst of him . . . before . . .” Bryn’s gaze flickered to Devon and back to Abby. “But I’ve gotten to know him some, working on the dance committee, and really he’s not so bad.”
“You honestly think you’d go out with Jason?” Cassidy looked worried.
“Don’t repeat this to anyone, but Amanda thinks Jason is going to ask her,” Devon divulged.
“Hmm . . .” Bryn tilted her head to one side as if the stakes had suddenly gotten higher—or more interesting. “Amanda might be in for a surprise.”
“Speaking of Amanda, is she still in the DG?” Abby quietly asked everyone. She didn’t want to sound gossipy, but she’d overheard Amanda and Tristin in the restroom this morning.
“She hasn’t said a word about it,” Bryn told her. “She’s been acting a little chilly.”
“I think I know why,” Abby confided. “It has to do with something I heard Tristin and Amanda talking about.”
“What was it?” Emma asked.
“I don’t like repeating it. What they said wasn’t very nice.” Abby made an apologetic grimace to Devon. “And your name was, uh, mentioned.”
“How did you happen to overhear them?” Bryn asked curiously.
“I was in a restroom stall and they were talking. Naturally I didn’t come out until they left.”
“What did they say about me?” Devon demanded.
“I can’t remember word for word, but the general insinuation was that you and Felicia were the same . . . that you were both, uh, skanks.” Abby gave Devon an apologetic half smile. “They both seemed really annoyed that Felicia had been allowed back in school, and Tristin seemed fairly certain that you, Devon, are on your way out. To be honest, I suspect that Amanda’s sort of in the dark as far as Tristin’s role in the MyPlace scandal. At the same time, the things Amanda said . . . the way she said them . . . well, it was more than just mean.”
“We don’t need someone like that in the DG,” Cassidy declared.
“What do we do?” Bryn asked. “It’s not like we can just vote to kick Amanda out and not expect any backlash. We’ll have to handle this really carefully.”
“Speaking of those two, what’s the latest on the Tristin situation?” Abby asked Devon. “Cassidy filled me in on the meeting with Mrs. Dorman. When will they get that all figured out?”
“I haven’t heard a thing yet,” Devon said a bit glumly.
“Back to Amanda and the DG,” Emma said. “I want to make a motion that we vote Amanda out and vote Felicia in.”
“Not so fast,” Bryn told her. “This is something we should really think about. Especially in light of the Christmas ball. Amanda is helping with that. I don’t want to alienate her. Especially not right before the assembly. No telling how she might sabotage that if she was in a snit. I suggest we don’t deal with this until the MyPlace bit with Tristin shakes down. I move that we all just keep our mouths shut for a while.”
“Bryn’s right,” Abby agreed. “We need to focus on the Christmas ball right now. Specifically Project Santa Sleigh. Kent and I were talking about this today. We’ve got lots of ideas. It’s such a great opportunity to do some real good with down-and-out kids. We need to get everyone in the school fired up about helping, and Friday’s assembly could do that. I’ve got a great program worked out. One that will knock everyone’s socks off if we do it right. But I need everyone’s full cooperation. Even Amanda’s.”
“Are you going to fill us in at this afternoon’s meeting?” Bryn asked.
“Yes. We need to organize and do some rehearsing, and we have to swear everyone to secrecy. Especially in regard to our prizes.”
“Good.” Bryn nodded. “Don’t let anyone steal our thunder. Save it until Friday.”
“Speaking of the assembly . . .” Emma made an impish smile. “I found the other elf. Unless anyone objects, it’s Felicia. She gladly agreed to help.”
“Felicia would be perfect,” Abby assured her.
“We’re going to work on our costumes tonight,” Emma told them. She described the sleigh she was working on. “It’s not a typical Santa sleigh at all. It’s really bright and fun and crazy. A real rockin’ out kinda sleigh.”
“Sounds great.” Abby said. “Maybe we could have you come out with some music. Something jazzy and fun . . . like ‘Jingle Bell Rock.’”
“Awesome!” Bryn proclaimed.
Abby told them some of her other ideas for the assembly. She also told them about how she and Kent wanted to get a jump start on their project. “We plan to select our kids this weekend. Kent’s already been helping at the FAC. That’s the Family Assistance Center downtown. It’s associated with the homeless shelter. Anyway, Kent volunteers on Saturdays. He just hangs in the gym, organizing sports and games with the kids. He says it’s really fun.” Abby beamed at them. “I’m going to help him on Saturday. We’re hoping to pick out a kid or two—or three or four—that we can help.”
“Very cool,” Cassidy said.
“And we’re putting together a list of resources,” Abby continued, “different local organizations that assist children. We’ll have them available for everyone who decides to participate in the contest.”
“Which will be the only way they can get into the dance.” Bryn grinned.
“This is so awesome,” Emma said. “That motivates me even more to get my date with Isaac set in stone.”
“Me too,” Cassidy said.
“Is Lane getting warmer?” Emma asked her.
Cassidy shrugged. “He’s friendly . . . like usual. But he hasn’t mentioned the Christmas ball.”
“Well, just wait until Friday,” Bryn told them. “When everyone hears about our fabulous prizes—it’ll change everything. People will be scrambling for dates and for double dates.”
As chair of the Project Santa Sleigh committee, Abby knew there was a lot riding on her shoulders. In some ways it was more pressure than playing varsity basketball. At the same time, she knew she was naturally good at organizing. For the next couple of days, she carefully went over everything, crossing every t and dotting every i. Besides doing her regular schoolwork and making plans, with Kent’s help, for Project Santa Sleigh, Friday’s assembly was all she thought about.
By Friday morning, she felt fairly confident they were ready. But by that afternoon, as they waited backstage, she had to take several long, deep breaths to calm her frazzled nerves—and she prayed a silent prayer that nothing major would go wrong. There were so many ways this thing could flop and they could end up looking like total fools. If that happened, it wouldn’t just ruin the success of the dance, but it might put the kibosh on what could possibly turn out to be one of the best Christmases for a lot of needy children. That was what was motivating her.
First Abby checked on Felicia and Emma. They looked adorable in their elf outfits, which had been repurposed from Midsummer Night’s Dream costumes. Abby had helped them with some final details via Skype last night, and these two were the stylingest elves ever. Not only that, but the sleigh that Emma had created this week was totally awesome. As it turned out, since Cass was busy, Felicia had jumped in to help with it. The sled was painted with a shiny hot-pink base coat and embellished with a colorful design of swirling glitter and glitzy rhinestones. Plus it had battery-operated neon-colored Christmas lights that flashed off and on. It was like Barbie meets Santa on steroids.
“You guys ready?” Abby asked them.
Emma nodded eagerly, making the oversized bell on her purple pointed cap jingle merrily.
“This is so fun,” Felicia exclaimed. “I’m so glad I got to help.”
Abby went over to check on Jason. Even if she wasn’t that fond of this guy, she appreciated his willingness to help out, and she had to admit he looked pretty swanky in his 1960s retro black tuxedo. Jason’s role was to help kick this thing off with his “persona”—Amanda’s idea since she claimed the whole school respected Jason. Abby thought that was debatable, but she’d had the good sense to keep her mouth shut on the matter. “Ready to rock and roll?” she asked him.
“Just as soon as my Christmas babes are ready.” He pointed over to where Bryn and Amanda were just finishing up their primping. Both girls were dressed to the nines in glittery gowns that Formal Rental Wear had freely loaned them just for the day—with the promise that the dance committee would post some advertisements for the shop in gratitude.
Abby glanced out to the auditorium, seeing that it was nearly full now and spotting Mr. Worthington making his way up to the stage. The crowd quieted some as he adjusted the mike and started to make the usual announcements in his slightly monotone voice, which some swore was more effective than a sleeping pill. Finally he finished up and, using the same monotone, introduced Abby.
Abby was dressed just like any normal day at school. She slowly sauntered up to the mike, acting like there was no big deal, like she wasn’t really into this—which was all just part of the act.
“Hey, everyone,” she began in a ho-hum sort of tone that was strangely similar to Worthington’s. “As you know it’s that time of year again. Time to start thinking about this year’s Christmas ball.” She feigned a bored yawn. “I know, I know, this has been the least attended event in Northwood history and it will probably be even—”
Suddenly some lively, upbeat music started to play, drowning out Abby’s boring monologue. She turned in alarm, pretending to be surprised and confused as Jason danced onto the stage with Bryn on one arm and Amanda on the other. All three of them were doing a fabulous job of rocking out—they’d obviously worked on some dance moves. The crowd responded with clapping and cheering, obviously relieved to be rescued from Abby’s boring announcement.
The dance continued for about thirty seconds, and between Jason’s suave tux, Bryn’s shimmering scarlet dress, and Amanda’s emerald-green sequins, the threesome looked really festive. Abby just frowned, holding up her hands like it was useless as she exited the stage.
As the music died down, the threesome took over the mike and started up some scripted bantering over which girl Jason would escort to the dance. This skit had been Abby’s idea and was actually pretty apropos, not to mention amusing—since Jason wanted to take Bryn, but Amanda actually wanted to go with Jason. The plan was to use this situation to announce that the Christmas ball was going to be for double dates.
“Come on,” Jason pleaded with the audience. “There’s gotta be a guy out there who’d like to get in on this. Look—I’ve got two gorgeous girls and as much as I’d like to take them both, I need a guy to step up and—”
“I’ll take Bryn,” a male voice yelled from the audience.
Bryn waved and smiled. “Thank you!”
“That’s wonderful,” Amanda said into the mike now. “So it looks like there will be at least one double date for the dance.” She did a quick head count. “That makes four.”
Bryn stepped up now. “But four doesn’t make much of a party. Hopefully some others out there will want to join us. To sweeten the deal a bit, we’ve got an exciting announcement.” She poked Jason in the chest. “We girls know what cheapskates most of you guys are.”
Jason gave her a shocked, innocent look then pulled out his pockets to show they were empty. “Hey, I can’t help it if I’m broke.”
“Well, the good news for you guys is that the dance is free!” Bryn exclaimed.
This elicited some cheers, mostly from the girls by the sounds of it.
“So no one has the ticket price for an excuse,” Amanda told them as the music started up again—and now the threesome danced their way off the stage. This was Abby’s cue to come back.
She knew this was the serious part of the assembly and she’d just been praying it would go off without a hitch. At least the audience seemed a little more attentive now. She could tell they were curious. Kent and Isaac had used their TV and video class to help her produce a short video—kind of like a PSA. “Now that we have your attention,” she told the audience, “we want to share this with you.” She nodded to the screen behind her and just like that, the video began to play, showing photos of children in less than desirable living situations. They had sad faces, and combined with the narrative that Abby had recorded earlier, their lives sounded rather bleak and hopeless. The auditorium was silent when the video ended.
“I know this video seems like a shocking contrast when we’re talking about something like a slightly decadent Christmas ball,” she began somberly. “I doubt that anyone in this room can truly relate to the kind of poverty these children experience every single day of their lives—or the disappointment they will feel when Santa seems to have forgotten them . . . again. So I want to take a moment to ask every single one of you to consider this question: What can you do to help a needy child during the upcoming Christmas season?”
As planned, the stage went dark for a few seconds. The auditorium was silent—as if the crowd was actually considering her challenge. Then suddenly the lights came on and, with “Jingle Bell Rock” playing, the two stylish elves danced out towing their flashy sleigh. Emma and Felicia were boogying and jumping around—until they stopped center stage and bent over to peer into the sleigh. Exclaiming that it was empty, the two girls collapsed into loud sobs and the cheery music dwindled, replaced by an old Elvis tune about having a blue, blue Christmas.
Abby could tell that the audience was both amused and confused. Perfect.
Feeling confident that her mission was nearly accomplished, Abby returned to the mike. This time she spoke with excited animation. “Okay, everyone, you heard that the Christmas ball is free this year. But now I’m going to tell you exactly how and why it’s free.” Abby explained Project Santa Sleigh and how every double date was expected to create some kind of sleigh and to fill it with gifts for needy children. “That will be considered your admission into the dance. But that’s not all.” She held up a finger. “You and your dates will be expected to adopt a child or two or even a family, and everything you put into your sleigh will be delivered to them—helping them to have a truly wonderful Christmas.”
As Abby finished, Amanda and Bryn and Jason danced back onto the stage and when the music faded, Bryn grabbed the mike. “Well, that’s all fine and good, but it sounds like a lot of work to me—making a sleigh, filling it with stuff, finding kids who need some help.” She turned to Amanda. “Doncha think?”
Amanda nodded as she took the mike, pointing at the audience. “The truth is, we were a little worried that some of you lazy people might think this way too. So we decided you might need a little motivation, ya know?” She handed the mike to Jason.
“That’s why we decided to turn Project Santa Sleigh into a contest!” He announced this like a contest in itself was fabulous motivation. “I can’t speak for you girls, but we guys tend to love competition. So everyone will be challenged to create the coolest sleigh, filled with the coolest stuff. Impartial judges will pick one double-date foursome as the winners.” He looked expectantly out to the crowd.
“Well, if it’s a contest, shouldn’t there be a prize?” Amanda asked.
“Yeah.” Bryn nodded. “We need a prize.”
“Is that right?” Jason called out to the crowd. “You guys think we need a prize?”
Everyone clapped and cheered.
“Well, it just so happens we’ve got some pretty cool prizes.” Jason continued building it up. “Since we knew you guys might be among the least motivated, we decided we needed something really off the hook to get you into this.” He made a dramatic pause. “You ready for this? Tell me, guys, have any of you ever been to the Rose Bowl before?” Naturally the crowd went wild. “That’s right. We just happen to have two expenses-paid trips to the Rose Bowl—that’s the prize for the male side of the winning double date.”
“Hey,” Amanda said, “what about the girls?”
“That’s right,” Bryn added. “What about the girls?”
“You think girls wanna go to the Rose Bowl?” Jason frowned.
“No,” Bryn told him. “The girls I know would much rather go to something like . . . well, something like the red carpet at the Oscars. Right, girls?” The girls in the audience cheered loudly.
“Well, how about that. I just happen to have—” Jason held up two fingers—“two tickets for an expenses-paid trip to the Oscars red carpet event—in Hollywood!”
Just as planned, confetti and streamers fell onto the stage as the music started to play loudly. The elves and the threesome danced happily about and everyone in the auditorium erupted in loud applause and enthusiastic cheers.
When it all died down, Bryn grabbed the mike again. “Okay, everyone, you know what this means. Get your double dates lined up and start working on Project Santa Sleigh. We’ll have lots more information about the rules of the contest as well as resources for finding your children to help on the school’s website.”
“Let the games begin!” Jason made a fist pump and the crowd continued to clap.
Abby couldn’t have been more pleased when she finally exited the auditorium. Everything had gone off perfectly. The response from the crowd was even better than expected. As she headed for her locker, noticing the Christmas ball and Project Santa Sleigh posters that had been hung by some of the committee members while the assembly took place, she felt certain this project was off to a great start.
“Nice job.”
Abby turned in surprise to see her dad coming from behind her. “What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Your mother told me about how hard you’ve been working to put this assembly together. I had some time so I thought I’d pop in to see what you were up to.” He put an arm around her shoulders, giving her a warm squeeze. “I’m proud of you, honey.”
“Even though I gave up basketball?”
He made a crooked grin then nodded. “I think you made the right choice. I can’t wait to see how Project Santa Sleigh turns out.”
Abby couldn’t remember a happier moment as her dad walked her toward her locker. Now if only this whole thing would go off as smoothly as the assembly.