Free Prom Date by Melody Carlson Page A

Bryn won easily. Not only did all the girls vote for her, but a couple of the guys did as well. However, the disagreement did not appear to be over as Jason and several of his buddies quietly exited the conference room and the real planning meeting began. Bryn suspected by Jason’s expression that he wasn’t ready to give up yet. But for the moment, she was pleased.

7
    B y the time the prom meeting was over, Cassidy was glad she’d agreed to help out. And she felt genuinely proud of Bryn. It was amazing to think that Bryn had gotten the Hartfords to offer matching funds for whatever was raised at prom. If they could just get prom attendance up, it could end up being a significant chunk of change for the Ruez family. Cassidy had actually played with the numbers a bit, and even if it wasn’t enough by itself to keep Sofia in the best pediatric cancer center, it would make a difference. And if Bryn hadn’t made such a great argument today, prom could’ve easily gone down without a fight.
    â€œOnce again, I have to admit I was wrong,” Cassidy told Emma as she drove them home from school.
    â€œWrong about what?”
    â€œBryn. I misjudged her again. When she started putting together that plan to turn prom into a fund-raiser, I was worried it was just her way to get herself into the limelight sothat she could run for prom queen. But it seems like she really invested herself today . . . like she really cares about Sofia.”
    â€œYeah, I think she does.” Emma poked Cassidy in the arm. “And you were pretty great today too, Cass.”
    â€œHuh?”
    â€œYour idea to text our friends and get them into the meeting like that. Those extra votes made a difference.”
    â€œYeah, and it was nice that Mrs. Dorman didn’t dismiss them for not being student council representatives.”
    â€œI think Mrs. Dorman secretly wanted to make sure prom happened,” Emma said.
    â€œWell, like Bryn pointed out, everyone is a member of the student body. Everyone should have a vote and a say about it. Besides, we could’ve appointed them to the prom committee if we’d wanted to. If they want to help.”
    â€œBryn’s going to need lots of help,” Emma said as Cassidy pulled into her driveway. “I mean, if she really thinks she can get kids to dole out that much money to go to prom. I know that it would stop me from going if I had to pay my own way.”
    â€œYeah, but what about Bryn’s idea that prom tickets include dinner? That saves some money,” Cassidy reminded her. “If you think about it, that makes it kind of a bargain.”
    â€œThat’s assuming people were going out to dinner.” Emma grabbed her stuff. “Some people just do their own meals at home. You know, like we’ve done for other dances.”
    â€œThat’s true.” Cassidy frowned. “But that’s a lot of work too. It might be kind of fun to have dinner catered by someone else.”
    Emma gave Cass a sly look. “Meaning you’re already planning on going?”
    Cassidy shrugged. “Hey, if I got asked . . . I might want to go . . . if it was the right guy anyway.”
    â€œYou mean like Lane?” Emma teased.
    Cass frowned. “Except didn’t you notice that Lane was in Jason’s anti-prom group? And he didn’t even stick around for the meeting after Bryn won the vote.”
    â€œNeither did Isaac.” Emma sighed as she opened the car door. “And I honestly thought that, of all the guys, Isaac might be the first one to break the guy code and ask me to prom.”
    â€œWell, if things work out how Bryn hopes, maybe he will.”
    Emma climbed out and waved. “See ya.”
    As Cassidy drove away, she wondered why she suddenly cared about going to prom anyway. Really, did it matter? Oh, sure, it would be fun if Lane asked her. But she had no intention of asking him. And she