Free Double Date by Melody Carlson Page B

Besides, she realized as she looked across the room, Abby already had a lot more people than Amanda. It seemed only fair.
    â€œI’m on your team,” Devon announced as she joined Amanda, Tristin, and Sienna.
    â€œYou picked the right one,” Amanda told her.
    Finally, after everyone had made their decisions, Bryn announced that she would continue to head up both committees. “So if anyone has any questions or suggestions or even a complaint—anything that needs special attention—feel free to come to me.”
    The room had gotten fairly noisy now and Amanda was having to raise her voice just to be heard. “I have an idea,” she said suddenly. “How about if we move this meeting to my house? And we’ll order pizza.”
    Naturally, everyone was on board. Devon felt even more special when Amanda offered her a ride. “Hurry,” she told Devon as they headed down the hall. “I want to get home before anyone else. Just to make sure everything’s in order.” She laughed. “Wouldn’t want to find a pair of my dad’s dirty boxer shorts on the kitchen floor.”
    Devon laughed. Was she serious? As they were getting into Amanda’s car—a sporty little blue Toyota—Devon asked about Amanda’s other friends. “Don’t they need a ride too?”
    â€œThey have their own cars,” Amanda explained as she slipped in the key.
    â€œOh . . . right.” Sometimes Devon forgot that most of the students at Northwood came from fairly well-off homes. Obviously Amanda and her friends did too. This became even more obvious when Amanda turned into a gated community where Devon knew some of the homes were in the million-dollar range.
    â€œYou haven’t been to my house before, have you?” Amanda asked as she pulled into a circular driveway in front of a light-colored brick house.
    â€œI don’t think so.” The truth was, Devon had never been here before. But she was trying to appear laid-back and unimpressed.
    â€œWell, here we are. My parents will still be at work for a couple hours.” Amanda led the way through a large covered area that reminded Devon of a hotel entrance.
    â€œYour house is really pretty,” Devon said as they went into a large foyer with stone floors and a sweeping staircase that looked like something out of a movie set.
    â€œHome sweet home.” Amanda looked around the large, immaculate room and smiled. “And no boxer shorts.”
    Devon laughed. “Yeah, I’ll bet that happens all the time.”
    â€œIf that ever happened, my mom would send the housekeeper packing.” Amanda pulled out her phone and threw her bag onto a chair. “Time to order pizza.”
    While Amanda placed an order, Devon stared freely at the beautiful home. Everything looked expensive and carefully chosen, and it all looked like it had been taken right out of the pages of a glossy interior design magazine. Before seeing this place, Devon had thought that Bryn’s house was pretty cool, but compared to this, Bryn’s house was rather ordinary. Ofcourse, Devon’s house—make that her mom’s house—would look like a shack next to this one. But Devon had quit thinking of her mom’s house as home. Thanks to Grandma Betty, those days were behind her. Not that Grandma Betty’s house was anything like this—although it was nothing to be ashamed of. Thankfully, someone like Amanda would never have to know where Devon used to live.
    â€œThere, that’s settled.” Amanda dropped her phone on her bag. “Want a soda or something?”
    â€œSure.” Devon nodded, following Amanda into the kitchen. It was enormous. Probably almost as big as Devon’s mom’s entire house. Not that Devon wanted to think about that. “This is pretty,” Devon said as she ran a hand over the sleek, cool granite countertop.
    â€œMy mom designed it,” Amanda