Devon felt slightly guilty about her question when she noticed that Emma’s fair cheeks had turned pink with embarrassment. Of course, Devon knew that Emma had never dated. Everyone knew that. Poor Emma had never even had a boy look twice at her. She just looked down at her tray and said nothing.
“Hey, it’s okay.” Devon patted Emma’s shoulder. “I’m sure you’re not alone. Especially in this school. So, anyway, how about the rest of you? Who here has dated much? Or has ever dated at all?”
“I don’t date,” Cassidy proclaimed with what sounded like pride. “By choice.”
“Really?” Devon pressed her lips together and slowly shook her head. She wanted to challenge this by asking whose choice it was—Cassidy’s, or the guys who were uninterested in going out with such a boring-looking girl. Oh, Cass was okay looking with her long, dark hair, but she did absolutely nothing to enhance her appearance. Naturally, Devon kept her mouth shut and her thoughts to herself. She needed Cassidy’s approval in order to make her game plan work. Whether it was said or not, Cassidy played a strong role as a leader in this group of girls. Perhaps that was just one more reason Cassidy resented Devon.
“The truth is, my parents wouldn’t let me date,” Bryn admitted. “Not until I turned sixteen, that is.”
“But you turned sixteen last summer,” Abby reminded her.
“Yeah.” Bryn narrowed her eyes. “And your point is?”
“Well . . . you haven’t gone out since your birthday and—”
“You’ve never had a real date either,” Bryn said hotly.
“At least I had a boyfriend and I—”
“If you call holding hands with Lewis Snipes ‘having a boyfriend,’ then—”
“Hey—hey!” Devon held up her hands. “It’s not like I’m trying to start a war here. I was just curious. Anyway, your answers have me convinced I was right.”
“Right about what?” Cassidy demanded.
“That some of you might want to play this game with me.” Devon waited.
“Huh?” Emma looked confused.
“What game?” Abby asked.
“Come on,” Bryn urged. “Enough of the mystique, Devon. Stop talking in circles and just tell us about your game or your plan or whatever it is.”
Devon took in a slow breath. It was actually something that had occurred to her in a split-second flash—and she wasn’t even sure she’d fully wrapped her head around it yet. But wasn’t brilliance like that sometimes? Straight out of the blue? “Okay, this is the deal. I want to create a secret club,” she declared, “for girls like us.”
“What do you mean, girls like us?” Cassidy asked.
“Girls who haven’t dated,” Devon clarified.
“A secret club?” Emma looked bewildered but interested.
“I’m calling it the Dating Games club,” Devon said quickly. She was making this up as she went along, but it seemed to make sense. Besides, this was the most fun she’d had since starting school here. And really, what harm could it do?
“Dating Games?” Abby tilted her head to one side. “How does it work?”
“For starters, we all have to agree to join the club and that we’ll keep it a secret. Because if the word got out, it would spoil everything.”
“What exactly does this ‘secret’ dating club do?” Cassidy demanded. “If you ask me, it sounds skanky. And I refuse to join a club that’s going to—”
“It will not be skanky,” Devon assured her. “It’ll be a way for us to ease ourselves into the dating game. To start with, we’ll help each other to better ourselves.” She glanced nervously at Emma. “Then we’ll help each other to get to know some guys. Don’t worry, I mean nice guys. The goal will be to help each other to get into the dating game too. We’ll do it as a group. But we must keep the club under wraps. And as members of this club, we must take care of each other—you know, watch each other’s backs.” She smiled in satisfaction. This was actually sounding pretty good. “Because you know what they say,” she said as if concluding a speech. “There’s safety in numbers.”
“I sort of get that.” Bryn nodded eagerly. “Cool idea, Devon.”
“I like that we help each other.” Abby held up her water bottle with enthusiasm. “Here’s to sisterhood and to dating. When do we start?”
“Hold on there.” Cassidy still looked doubtful.
Ignoring her, Emma started to ask questions. “But we’ll all date, right? And we’ll only date nice guys—is that what you’re saying, Devon?” She looked hopeful and slightly eager.
“Absolutely,” Devon assured her.
“But how can you promise—”
“We’ll make some rules.” Devon cut Cassidy off. “To make sure we do this in the best possible way. And I already know what the first rule will be. ‘No girl left behind.’”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cassidy demanded.
“No one goes out with a guy until all the girls in the club have a date lined up. It’s a group deal. We’re in this together.” Devon let out a satisfied sigh. This was even better than she’d initially imagined. She felt like a dating genius. Maybe she’d patent this thing or start a reality show.
“All right.” Bryn gave her a solid thumbs-up. “Count me in.”
“Me too.” Abby grinned.
“Okay . . .” Emma made a nervous smile. “Then I’m in too.”
“Just like that?” Cassidy frowned at them like they’d lost their senses. “You cannot possibly be serious.”
“You don’t want to join the club?” Devon feigned disappointment, but the truth was, she didn’t care whether Cassidy joined or not. If there was one girl who needed to be left behind, it had to be Miss Goody-Two-Shoes. She could be such a buzzkill.
“I don’t think so.” Cassidy looked perplexed.
Instead of cheering, Devon sadly shook her head. “Well, five girls seemed like a good number for the DG. But maybe four is better—”
“Hey, I’ll bet Felicia will want to join.” Bryn reached for her phone. “She’s at the orthodontist right now, but I can send her a text and—”
“Wait.” Emma pointed back at Cassidy. “Are you absolutely positive you don’t want in, Cass? Because I think we could use someone sensible like you in this club.”
“I don’t know . . .” Cassidy looked slightly torn now.
“It’ll be fun,” Bryn said. “And Devon’s right. We do need to do something to liven things up around here. Besides, homecoming isn’t far off. What about the dance? Wouldn’t it be fun to go with a real date?”
The other girls began talking enthusiastically, encouraging Cassidy to give this club a try. Devon tried to appear supportive too, but the truth was, this whole thing would probably go much more smoothly without Cassidy’s constant whining and complaining.
“Seriously, Cass, do you plan to sit home by yourself while the rest of us are at the homecoming dance with our dates?” Bryn demanded.
Cassidy rolled her eyes with skepticism. “Like you will all have dates by then.”
“What if we do have dates?” Emma said quietly.
“Maybe I should just call Felicia?” Bryn held up her phone as if to threaten Cassidy.
“Come on, Cassidy,” Emma said. “If I’m willing to try this, you should be too.”
“It’s complicated.” Cassidy bit her lip. “I mean, like I already told you guys, I kind of decided not to date. I made a commitment last spring.”
“To who?” Bryn asked.
“To myself.”
“Well, undo the commitment,” Abby urged. “Live a little.”
“When you made this commitment”—Devon frowned—“I mean, not to date . . . who was asking you out? Was there a line of guys at your door or something?”
The others laughed, but Cassidy glared at Devon. “There were some possibilities.”
Devon forced a smile. “Yeah, of course. But what made you decide you didn’t want to date? I’m just curious.”
“I’d read something about it.” Cassidy pushed a long strand of dark brown hair over her shoulder. She wasn’t the prettiest girl of the bunch, but some guys might find her attractive in that wholesome girl-next-door sort of way. “Anyway, it seemed like a sensible idea.”
“So you’ll never date? Not ever?” Bryn looked disappointed.
“I told my dad that I wasn’t going to start dating until I turned eighteen,” Cassidy confided. “He was really happy about it.”
“Of course he was happy.” Devon shook her head. “He’s your father. What did you expect? Most dads would like their daughters to put off dating until they’re thirty.”
“But how realistic is that?” Bryn challenged.
“Besides, like Devon said, a club will be a safe way for us to date,” Abby said encouragingly to Cassidy. “Your dad might even approve.”
“I’ve heard stories about overprotected girls who don’t date in high school and then go off to college and fall apart completely,” Abby pointed out. “Some of them get pregnant or worse—”
“What’s worse than getting pregnant?” Emma asked.
“Being slipped ecstasy, or date rape, or—”
“Okay, we’re getting sidetracked,” Bryn interjected.
“Not really,” Abby protested. “When girls are totally clueless when it comes to guys, they probably set themselves up for trouble.”
“Which is precisely why I don’t date,” Cassidy said victoriously.
“Yes, but wouldn’t it be better to learn about guys now?” Devon asked her. “Right here in the safety of a friendly club and a Christian high school?”
“Yeah,” Emma said with more confidence. “I think so too. It makes perfect sense to me.”
“I agree,” Bryn said. “Count me in.”
“Me too,” Abby chimed in.
“Great.” Devon smiled triumphantly. “That makes four of us. That should be enough.”
“Unless we invite Felicia,” Bryn reminded her.
“You’re really not joining?” Emma looked at Cassidy with concerned eyes. “You won’t even try?”
Cassidy looked around the table with uncertainty. “You said there’d be rules,” she said cautiously to Devon. “What exactly are the rules?”
“We’ll have to make them,” Devon explained. “Together. After all, it’s a club. All the members would have to agree on the rules.”
“So I’d have a say in making the rules?” Cassidy looked slightly hopeful.
“Sure.” Devon made an uneasy smile. She couldn’t act like she didn’t want Cassidy to join, but she’d been relieved to think Cassidy was bowing out. “We’ll have to sit down and make the rules together.”
“But not right now.” Abby pointed to the oversized watch on her slender, cocoa brown wrist. “It’s almost time for class.”
As if to confirm this, the bell rang.
“How about if we meet again after school,” Cassidy suggested. “I have jazz choir until five, but we can meet at—”
Devon interrupted, saying she’d text the others with the location and coordinate the time. No way was she going to let Cassidy take the lead in this. After all, it was her idea. Cassidy hadn’t even been interested. Devon was not going to let that bossy girl get the upper hand. Fortunately, no one seemed to question her.
Devon felt triumphant as she walked to her next class—at least until she spotted Harris and Isaac standing by the trophy case outside of the administration center. As usual, the boys continued to act like she didn’t exist. Instead of looking her way, the two of them were joking around with some of their guy friends. However, as she got closer, she thought she observed a couple of quick glances tossed in her direction. It might have been her hopeful imagination, but just in case, she flipped her hair over her shoulder like an auburn flag, held her chin high, and strutted along with a flirty little bounce in her step. Might as well remind them of what they were missing out on.
As she whooshed past the group of boys, she had to suppress the urge to giggle at their naïve oblivion. Because, if she had her way, it wouldn’t be long until those very guys would be wondering what hit them. Let the Dating Games begin.