Free First Date by Melody Carlson Page A

Kent. That wasn’t really fair, though. Just because they were friends didn’t mean she could walk up and ask him to go to the dance. And if this club wasgoing to work the way Devon had described, she shouldn’t have to.
    Abby considered her friends, wondering which one would be best to get the wheels rolling with Kent. Devon would probably say too much. Emma wouldn’t say enough. Cassidy . . . well, she might end up giving him a lecture on morals and ethics. Finally Abby decided that it would probably have to be Bryn since she was Abby’s best friend. Plus she knew Kent well enough to have a somewhat natural conversation with him.
    With this in mind, she grabbed her phone again. Bryn had already texted her back, congratulating her on handling her parents. Abby texted again, asking Bryn to be the go-between with Kent. She even offered to help with Jason in exchange, if needed. However, as she hit Send, she doubted her assistance would be needed. Bryn was so pretty and smart and fun, Jason would probably leap at the chance to take her out. Especially since he wasn’t with Amanda now. Really, of all the girls, Bryn had it made. It was simply that she didn’t know it. For so many years Bryn had thought of herself as plain and ugly. Nothing could be further from the truth now. Not that Abby brought this up so much. Who wants their best friend to get a big head?
    As she slipped her phone back into her bag, she thought about Kent some more. The first question her parents would want to ask her—but knowing them, they wouldn’t—would have to do with his ethnicity. When she told them (and she would have to) that he was white, they would act like this was no big deal. After all, they were educated and open-minded. But she would see behind their eyes and know that they didn’t completely approve.
    At Aunt Rebecca’s wedding last night, she’d overheard Mom talking quietly to an aunt. “Hopefully, the third time’s the charm,” Aunt Betty had said regarding Rebecca’s third marriage. “Maybe this one’s going to last.”
    “I hope so.” Mom had frowned at the newlywed couple as they attempted an awkward version of salsa dancing for the crowd. “I just wish her taste hadn’t gone so vanilla on us.”
    Aunt Betty had just shaken her head, as if she felt the same.
    “But he does seem like a good man,” Mom had said with quick remorse. “Naturally I wish them the very best.”
    Abby had no doubt that Mom wished her sister the very best. She also knew that Mom secretly wished that Aunt Rebecca had married a black man. However, Mom would probably never admit this to Abby. She would probably bite her tongue where Kent was concerned too. Even so, she would not be pleased to see Abby bringing home a white guy. Neither would Dad.
    But what did they expect when they sent her to an almost all-white school? Northwood had just a handful of black students, including only two guys. One was a freshman. The other was a junior who was a jock and full of himself. He wasn’t the type who attracted her, and from what she could tell, he felt the same about her. However, Kent had always caught her eye, and not just because he was good looking, although he was. He was also a really good guy.
    She remembered the day when Kent had given her a sample of his true colors. She’d been heading to drama with an armload of costumes that she’d picked up at the cleaners. Hurrying too fast, her foot got tangled in the plastic, and she nearly fell flat on her face. In that same moment, Kent had reached out and caught her, saving her from pain andhumiliation. She gazed into his bluer than blue eyes as he steadied her. Then he helped carry the bulky costumes all the way to the drama department. That was true chivalry.
    Anyway, what difference did it make who she went to the dance with? It wasn’t like she was going to marry her first date. But even if they did fall madly in love and eventually (like after college) decided to tie the knot, what