After the dance, the guys insisted on taking the girls out for ice cream. Naturally their formal attire garnered plenty of looks from the other customers. “Are you movie stars?” a young girl with wide eyes asked Abby as they were leaving.
Abby laughed. “I guess it’s kind of like we’re starring in our own movie,” she told the girl. “But we’re not really famous.”
They made it to Bryn’s house just before midnight—the curfew that Abby’s dad had embarrassingly insisted upon with all parents present. Abby knew her dad loved her. She just sometimes wished he could tone it down a little.
The guys, still acting in a gentlemanly fashion, got out of the limo and escorted their dates onto the front porch to say good night. Suddenly Abby felt nervous—what if Kent wanted to kiss her? She just wasn’t ready for that. She tried not to spy on her friends, scattered about in the shadows of the porch, although she was curious as to how they were handling it.
“Thanks for a great evening,” Kent said politely as he reached for her hand.
“Thank you,” she told him, relieved that he was simply shaking her hand. “I really had fun.”
“It’s been great getting to know you better,” he said a bit shyly. “Maybe dating’s not so bad, huh?”
She fiddled with her wilting wrist corsage. “Yeah, maybe not.”
Then, just like that, the good-nights were finished and the guys returned to the limo. The girls went into the house, where they immediately burst into nervous giggles.
“Well, that was awkward,” Bryn said as they tromped down to the family room in the basement. “Four couples on the same porch saying good night at the same time.”
“I happened to like it,” Abby told her as she kicked off her shoes. “It felt like there was safety in numbers.”
“Yeah, I guess so . . . if you want to be safe.” Bryn had a sly expression.
“Ooh,” Emma teased. “Sounds like someone wanted to be kissed.”
Bryn shrugged as she began peeling off her gown. “Maybe . . .”
As the girls got out of their dresses and into more comfortable clothes, they continued talking about the evening and what they’d liked or not liked about their first date.
“Maybe we should be putting this in the DG notebook,” Cassidy said suddenly.
“Yeah,” Emma agreed. “Especially since Devon is missing out.”
“Who knows,” Bryn added. “We might want it for future reference.”
Emma went over to Devon’s things and dug around until she found the DG notebook, then handed it to Cassidy. “Here, since you’re secretary.”
“I have an idea.” Cassidy opened the book. “How about if we rate our dates?”
“Rate our dates?” Abby made herself comfortable in a corner of the big sectional. “Interesting.”
“We’ll have categories,” Cassidy continued as she wrote. “Like for things like promptness and politeness.”
“Appearance too.” Bryn opened a bag of chips and set it on the coffee table. “There’s soda in the fridge.”
“How about a category for treating us with respect,” Emma added.
“And one for just plain fun,” Abby suggested.
“Okay, here’s what I have so far.” Cassidy read from the notebook:
“I think that’s plenty,” Abby said. “We don’t want to overcomplicate it.”
“How about if we give them stars?” Bryn suggested. “Five stars is tops—as good as it gets. One star is so-so.” Using the guys’ code names, they started to rank their dates. For the most part the guys were receiving four to five stars.
“But we have to give Kent and Lane just two stars on promptness since they were late for dinner,” Abby said.
“That’s because they took extra time getting ready,” Bryn interjected, “and for that they should both get five stars for appearance—because they looked hot.” On and on they went, arguing sometimes and changing the stars occasionally, until they’d rated all four boys.
“Not bad.” Cassidy held up the book. “On average, it looks like we had pretty good dates. Impressive for our first dates.”
“Yeah, but there’s still room for improvement,” Abby said.
“We haven’t gotten Devon’s report yet,” Cassidy pointed out.
“I wonder what’s keeping her.” Emma looked worried. “It’s almost 1:00 now.”
The room got quiet, and then Bryn wrinkled her nose. “Jason probably took her up to Arden Butte to ‘look at the stars.’” She laughed. Of course, they all knew why couples really went to Arden Butte.
“I hope she’s okay,” Emma said quietly.
“Of course she’s okay,” Bryn assured her. “Devon’s one tough cookie. If anyone could keep Jason in line, it’s her.”
Abby wondered if Devon would even want to keep Jason in line. So often Devon gave the impression that she wanted to have a wild time. Well, maybe she was having one tonight.
“You guys ready for the movie?” Bryn asked as she held up a DVD. “I got 50 First Dates. I thought it sounded apropos.”
The others laughed. Just as she slid it into the player, someone’s cell phone rang. “Who’s calling this late?” Cassidy asked.
“Maybe the guys are missing us already,” Bryn joked.
“I think it’s me.” Emma scrambled for her bag. Fumbling, she answered. Everyone got quiet, and it was obvious she was talking to Devon. “Where are you?” Emma said urgently. “Are you okay?” She listened. “Wait a second, let me ask.” She held the phone down and looked at the others. “Does anyone have a car? So we can go get her?”
“Go get her?” Bryn frowned. “Why doesn’t Jason just bring her here?”
“Because Jason deserted her over by Henson Reservoir,” Emma whispered.
“Henson Reservoir?” Abby was shocked. “What were they doing over there?”
“What do you think?” Bryn said in a slightly snarky tone.
“She sounds hysterical,” Emma hissed. “We’ve got to help her.”
“I’ve got my car here,” Cassidy said quickly. “I can go get her. Find out where she is exactly. I’m guessing it’ll take us about fifteen or twenty minutes.”
Emma asked and then promised they were on their way. “But stay on the phone,” she insisted. “We’ll keep talking to you until we get there.”
“Just like 911,” Bryn said in a teasing tone.
“Be nice,” Abby told her. “It sounds like Devon really needs us.”
Bryn nodded. “Sorry.”
“Let’s go,” Cassidy said. “I mean, whoever wants to—not everyone has to come.” They all insisted on coming anyway.
“Do you need to tell your parents?” Abby asked Bryn.
Bryn just shrugged. “Wake them up?”
Abby knew that if this was her house, her dad would expect to be informed. However, it was not. She would leave it up to Bryn.
“Let’s be quiet,” Bryn said as she led the way up the stairs. “No sense in waking everyone.”
Soon they were in Cassidy’s car and on their way to the lake. Emma continued to keep Devon on the line, but it sounded like Emma was doing all the talking, rambling on and on about their dates and the dance and even about how they’d made a rating system for the guys.
Finally, Cassidy turned into a picnicking area, and there waving her arms at them was Devon. In the headlights, they could see that Devon’s hair was messed up. Her gown looked rumpled and dirty, and one of the straps was torn.
“Looks like she’s had a rough time,” Bryn said quietly as Emma leaped out of the car and ran to her. The others got out too and huddled protectively around Devon. She burst into loud sobbing.
“It’s going to be okay,” Emma said soothingly as they guided her back to the car. Emma, Devon, and Abby got into the backseat, with Devon in the middle.
Abby handed Devon her bottle of water. “Here, maybe this will help.”
“What happened?” Bryn asked from the front. “Should we take you to the police station?”
“The police station?” Abby was shocked and then scared—what would her dad say about this? “What for?”
Bryn turned around, giving Abby a serious look. “Haven’t you ever heard of date rape?”
Abby cringed. “Is that what happened, Devon?”
Devon made a growling sound. “No,” she said sharply. “He did not rape me.”
Emma sighed. “Oh, that’s a relief.”
“But you look so messed up,” Abby said. “Like you were in a fight or an accident or something.”
“It was a fight,” Devon conceded.
“With Jason?” Emma asked.
“Yes.” Devon took a drink of the water.
“Why did you come way out here?” Cassidy asked as she drove toward town.
“Jason wanted to come out here to see the moon on the lake. I’ll admit that sounded romantic and exciting and fun—at first. But then all he wanted to do was make out, and, well, you know how that can go.” She sniffed, using the back of her hand to wipe her nose. “Anyway, he started getting pretty pushy. Naturally, I pushed back. He acted like it was a game then. And he acted like I owed him something.”
“Just like what I overheard from Amanda,” Bryn said.
“I guess.” Devon took in a deep breath. “He wouldn’t take no for an answer. Finally I just let him have it.”
“Let him have it?” Abby asked.
“I kicked him,” Devon told her. “Right where it hurts. You know?”
Abby nodded slowly. “Oh . . . yeah.”
“Well, I got him good,” Devon said. “He was so mad he started swinging at me, but he was in so much pain, it was pretty pointless. Then he walked off and I thought he was just going to cool off, but he got in the car and drove away.” She started crying again. “He just dumped me out here in the middle of nowhere. Can you believe it?”
“Hey, that’s better than what might’ve happened,” Bryn said.
“At least you had your phone,” Abby pointed out.
“And your friends,” Emma added.
Devon was crying hard again, so Abby and Emma wrapped their arms around her, both of them promising that she’d feel better when they got home. “Bryn has a fun movie for us to watch,” Emma said softly. “And junk food.”
Devon took in a jagged breath. “You guys are really the best,” she said in a choked voice. “I don’t know what I’d have done without you tonight.”
“Hey, that’s what friends are for,” Abby said gently. Although she felt bad for Devon’s sake since she’d had such a lousy evening, part of Abby was grateful. Somehow coming out here like this in the middle of the night and rescuing Devon had brought them all closer. This whole night had been kind of a bonding experience for them. She realized that if they hadn’t created the DG, none of this would’ve happened.