“You mean because of Darrell?”

  Abby nodded as she chewed the last of her brownie.

  “The truth is I almost did the same thing as Devon.” Bryn held her thumb and forefinger close together. “I came this close to sending the poor boy home.”

  “Really?” Abby looked shocked.

  “Yeah. I’m embarrassed to admit it. Poor Darrell, I didn’t even give him a chance at first.”

  “What made you change your mind?”

  “Something Gram had said to me earlier.” Bryn thought back to that moment. “In fact, she said the exact same thing to Devon.”

  “Apparently Devon wasn’t listening.”

  “I guess not.” Bryn saw the guys waving at them. “I think it’s the last dance.” She tossed her punch cup into the trash. “Let’s go!”

  Poor Romeo had to sit by himself as the other four couples headed back for the last dance. Bryn felt sorry for him, but midway through the dance, Abby and Kent returned to the table to sit with him. Bryn suspected this was because Abby was still feeling guilty for setting him up. However, Leonard seemed like a pretty good sport. He probably wouldn’t hold it against her. If he wanted to be angry at anyone, he should target Devon. She was the one who messed up tonight.

  After the dance ended, they went back to their table and collected their stuff. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits. Well, everyone but Leonard.

  “The limo should be here by now,” Bryn told them.

  “Is Devon going home with us?” Leonard asked.

  “No one has seen her,” Abby told him.

  “I texted her,” Emma said, “but she’s giving me the silent treatment.”

  “I think she already went home,” Cassidy told Leonard.

  “Oh . . . okay.” Leonard looked slightly relieved.

  Before long, they were all loaded into the limo. Everyone except Devon, that is. As the limo pulled away, it got very quiet.

  “I hope you don’t blame yourself for Devon’s bad manners,” Bryn told Leonard.

  “Oh, well . . . uh, I guess not.”

  “Good,” Cassidy said. “Because you were great as Romeo, and there’s no excuse for how badly Devon treated you.”

  “Yeah,” Abby chimed in. “I hope you didn’t have too bad a time, Leonard.”

  His face broke into a smile. “I actually kinda had fun. I mean, uh, it wasn’t all fun. But some of it was fun. And you guys were nice to, uh, dance with me like you did.”

  “I’m sorry Devon wasn’t nicer to you,” Emma told him.

  “Well, uh, maybe if she hadn’t been drinking,” he said quietly.

  “Drinking?” Emma’s blue eyes grew wide. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, well, some people get mean when they drink. You know?” Leonard frowned. “I have an uncle like that.”

  “Are you saying that you think Devon was drinking?” Bryn asked him. “I mean, drinking alcohol?”

  He nodded, swallowing so hard that his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “Uh-huh.”

  “Are you certain about that?” Emma demanded. “I mean, how do you know?”

  “She, uh, she had this flask in her purse.” Leonard looked uneasy, like he’d said too much. “I guess I thought you guys, uh, that you knew about it. I wasn’t trying to rat her out.”

  “Seriously?” Abby leaned forward. “You saw Devon drinking alcohol? How do you know it was alcohol?”

  “I asked her what it was.”

  “And what did she say?” Kent pressed.

  “Vodka.” Leonard grimly shook his head. “I’ve never touched the stuff, but I think it’s pretty strong.”

  “Devon drinks vodka?” Bryn turned to Emma. “Did you know about this?”

  Emma slowly shook her head with a stunned expression. “I’ve known Devon my whole life. I realize she experimented with alcohol a little—at her other school. But she told me she didn’t like it. And I was pretty sure she didn’t do it anymore. Not since transferring to Northwood, anyway. I can’t believe she’d drink at a school dance. What if she’d been caught?”

  “Have you ever seen her drinking?” Cassidy asked Emma.

  “Never.”

  “Well, I saw her,” Leonard declared as if giving testimony in a court of law.

  “Are you going to tell on her?” Bryn asked him. “I mean, you could get her into some pretty serious trouble at school.”

  He looked uncertain. “Well, no, uh, I don’t see why I’d do that.”

  “Yeah, man, don’t go and do that,” Kent warned him. “It would make us all look bad. We’d all get called in.”

  “He’s right,” Darrell agreed. “And it’s not that I have a problem having a beer now and then. But not at a school dance.” He chuckled. “Well, unless you want to get kicked out of this school.”

  “Do you still want to get kicked out of this school?” Cassidy asked him.

  He shrugged, giving them all a half smile. “Not so much now.”

  Bryn gently elbowed him. “Yeah, it helps when you have friends, huh?”

  He nodded.

  “I realize I don’t know you guys too well,” Russell said quietly. “But I had a good time tonight. And even though Devon messed up, I’m glad she asked me to be Cassidy’s blind date.” He turned to Cass. “I had fun. Thanks.”

  The group got more lively now, remembering fun moments from the dance and retelling how worried they’d felt about their blind dates earlier in the evening. When it was time to drop the girls off, Bryn felt sad to see this part of the evening come to an end.

  “The girls all get out here,” she announced.

  “Not the guys too?” Darrell teased.

  “Well, I suppose you can get out if you want,” she teased back. “But you can’t come inside with us. Not unless you want my dad to meet you at the door with his shotgun.”

  “No thanks.” Darrell held up his hands. “But is it okay if we walk you to the front door?”

  “Why, Jay Gatsby, I would be personally disappointed if you didn’t,” she said in her best Daisy imitation.

  Everyone except Leonard got out at Bryn’s house, and she put her forefinger to her lips, reminding them to keep it down since her parents had probably gone to bed by now.

  “So this is where the lovely Daisy Buchanan lives,” Darrell said quietly as he walked her up to the porch.

  “Yes, well, this little cottage is not quite as elegant as my mansion on the water,” she said with her southern accent. “But it will do in a pinch.”

  He chuckled. “I had fun tonight, Bryn. Thanks for being such a good sport.”

  “Good sport?” She frowned. “Don’t you think I had fun too?”

  “I was hoping you did.” He looked uncomfortable now.

  “Well, I most certainly did.” She held out her hand to him and said with the accent, “And since this was our first date, I will offer you my hand, Mr. Gatsby.”

  He grinned as he took it, giving it a firm shake.

  “And I will look forward to getting better acquainted with you in the future,” she said in a proper tone, trying to imitate Daisy.

  “As will I.” He released her hand, made a slight bow, and returned to the limo.

  Bryn knew that the others were saying goodnight too, and not wanting to ruin anyone’s special moment, she quietly unlocked the door and went inside to wait. It wasn’t long until Cassidy joined her.

  “Are Emma and Abby coming?” Bryn removed her shoes. “I want to get out of this dress and relax.”

  “They’re still out there with their beaus,” Cassidy whispered.

  “K-i-s-s-i-n-g?” Bryn said in a teasing tone.

  “Maybe.” Cassidy giggled. “I wasn’t looking.”

  “We’ll get their story later,” Bryn whispered.

  Emma and Abby eventually came into the house, both of them giggling.

  “Shhh,” Bryn warned. “I promised we’d keep it quiet until we got downstairs.”

  Now she ushered her three friends through the semi-dark house and down the stairs. “Okay,” she announced. “It’s safe.”

  “Wow, look at this food,” Cassidy declared as she stopped at the kitchenette counter that was loaded with snacks. She plucked up a brownie. “Those bunko ladies know how to eat.”

  “And that’s only part of it.” Bryn pointed at the fridge. “Mom said she’d put the perishable foods in there. But I’m getting out of this dress first.”

  Everyone agreed that they should get into something more comfortable, but before long they were all pigging out on the bunko leftovers. For the most part, Bryn decided, it had been a great night. Well, sure, there had been a few little bumps along the way, but all in all, Bryn felt the evening had been a success. Except for Devon. Bryn wasn’t even sure what to think about that. On one hand, she felt a tiny bit sorry for Devon. But on the other hand, Devon probably deserved whatever it was she had gotten—or was going to get.

  17

  The last thing Emma wanted to think about tonight was Devon Fremont. And yet she could hardly think of anything else. As the four girls lounged in Bryn’s cozy basement, wearing sweats and pajamas and picking at the yummy bunko leftovers, Emma was painfully aware that one member of the DG was MIA.

  Emma had discreetly checked her phone a couple of times since they got back. She figured that Devon would text her before the night was over, but so far there was nothing—not a word. As much as part of Emma wanted to totally ignore her spoiled friend, she went ahead and sent Devon a short text asking how she was doing.

  Emma knew Devon well enough to know that even if she was seriously ticked, she would still text. In fact, some of Devon’s longest messages were the result of extreme angst. Either that or she would simply send a blunt demand that Emma call her ASAP, because Devon was a talker. She always needed to talk through her troubles, and Emma was always her best listener. But so far Devon appeared to be giving Emma the silent treatment tonight.

  “Okay, it’s your turn,” Bryn said, pointing to Emma. “Time to rate your date.”

  Bryn had led off in the rate your date portion of their evening. She confessed how she’d nearly made the same mistake Devon had made and blown Darrell off earlier in the evening but how she had controlled herself and been pleasantly surprised that Darrell had turned out to be a sweet guy and a great date. After considering all the rating categories they’d come up with, Bryn had finally awarded Darrell with a total of twenty-two stars. Not bad considering that twenty-five was comparable to a handsome knight on a white horse.

  Emma leaned over to see Cassidy’s iPad to go over their checklist again. She was tempted to rate Isaac with top honors by giving him twenty-five stars simply because he had been such a great date. But to be fair to her friends, she wanted to do this right. “Hmm . . .” She carefully studied the list.

  Promptness

  Politeness

  Respectfulness

  Appearance

  Fun

  “Let’s see . . . Well, I guess all the guys should get five stars for promptness,” she said. “Since they all arrived together and on time.”

  “Yes, but were they always prompt?” Bryn countered. “Coming from the refreshment table, bathroom breaks, and whatever, did Isaac ever keep you waiting?”

  Emma thought about it. “No, I’d still have to give him five stars. And I’ll give him four stars for politeness. That’s because I caught him gaping at Devon’s cleavage once. So I guess I can only give him four stars for respectfulness too—since that was disrespectful to me. And I’ll only give him four stars for appearance since his pants really were all wrong for Mr. Knightley. But he tried. I will give him five stars for fun.”

  “That’s a total of twenty-two,” Cassidy told her.

  Emma shrugged. “How about you, Cass? How would you rate your date with Mr. Scarecrow?”

  Cassidy grinned. “That’s easy. Russell gets twenty-five.”

  “Five stars all across?” Bryn looked skeptical.

  “It’s true,” Cassidy argued. “Russell was the perfect date.”

  “What about all that sneezing and wheezing?” Bryn asked.

  “He couldn’t help that. And you could say he suffered like that for me since I needed a scarecrow to go with my Dorothy. Besides, the pill your grandmother gave him cleared it all up before the dance.” Cassidy nodded. “Yes, I’d say my scarecrow was just about perfect.”

  “So are you in love?” Abby asked in a teasing tone.

  “No way.” Cass laughed. “Not yet anyway. How about you, Abby? I thought I saw stars in your eyes tonight. Are you in love?”

  Abby giggled. “Kent is awesome, and I would venture to say that I’m in serious like.”

  “And how would you rate your date?” Bryn asked curiously.

  “Well, I can’t think of a single thing Kent did wrong.” Abby sighed. “Seriously, he was so supportive when Devon acted like she wanted to kill me. And he made her meanness almost seem like it was part of The Hunger Games. Like she was one of the competitors who was out to get us. Really, it was kinda fun. Anyway, I have to give him a twenty-five too.”

  “Too bad we don’t have kissing on the list,” Bryn teased. “How would you and Emma rate your dates in that category?” She pointed to Abby first.

  “Hmm . . .” Abby closed her eyes and sighed dreamily. “I’d have to give him a five there too.” She opened her eyes. “Just don’t tell my dad.”

  They all laughed.

  “How about you, Em?” Bryn pointed at Emma now.

  “I don’t kiss and tell.”

  “You’re no fun,” Bryn told her.

  Emma shrugged. “Well, I suppose he’d get a five there. Does that bring him up to twenty-seven points now? Second place to Kent since he’d now have thirty?”

  “It’s not a competition,” Bryn reminded her.

  “If it was, we could all guess who would come in last place,” Abby said. “If Devon was here anyway. She’d give poor Leonard straight zeroes.”

  “No, she’d probably give him minuses,” Bryn corrected.

  “Speaking of Devon, what do you think happened to her?” Cassidy looked genuinely concerned. “I mean, we know she kind of disappeared at the dance, but we all assumed she’d gone home. But at the time, we didn’t know she’d been drinking.”

  “I wonder how much she’d been drinking,” Abby said.

  “Do you think we should check on her?” Cassidy asked.

  “She probably went home and passed out,” Bryn suggested.

  “I checked my phone already,” Emma admitted as she reached for her phone again. “I thought she might’ve sent a message.”

  “Did she?”

  “No.” Emma looked at her phone. “Still nothing.”

  “Does she usually text you a lot?” Abby asked. “I mean, at times like this when she’s, well, so ticked at everyone?”

  “I actually kinda expected to hear from her hours ago,” Emma confessed. “But maybe Bryn’s right. Devon might’ve gone home and passed out.” Emma didn’t like thinking of Devon like that—it was so bizarre. But hearing about her drinking vodka at the dance was pretty strange too. What was wrong with Devon?

  “Since we’re on the subject of Devon.” Bryn pursed her lips. “I think we should make a decision about her membership in the DG. I want to go on record as saying that I like Devon. But she’s broken a lot of rules. And this whole sneaking vodka into the dance biz—and during our limo ride too—well, that is unacceptable.”

  “Northwood has a zero tolerance policy for alcohol and drugs,” Cassidy reminded everyone. “Does everyone agree that the DG has the same?”

  They all agreed.

  “I feel bad.” Abby’s voice broke. “Like this is partly my fault. If I hadn’t set Devon up with Leonard, maybe she wouldn’t have—”

  “Are you blaming yourself for Devon having vodka in her purse at the dance?” Bryn asked her. “Because—think about it—she had to have brought that with her before she even knew Leonard was her blind date. Where else could she have gotten it?”

  They kicked this around for a while but were never quite able to agree on where and how Devon could have acquired the vodka. But they did agree it was stupid and wrong. “And not only wrong,” Cassidy clarified. “Underage drinking is illegal and grounds for expulsion from Northwood.”

  “There’s just one thing,” Emma said. “We don’t know for absolute certain that Devon had vodka or that she was drinking vodka. That’s just what Leonard said. Not that I think he lied. But knowing Devon, well, it’s possible she had a flask in her purse. It’s also possible that it was filled with water and that she was just jerking his chain.”

  “I can imagine Devon doing that,” Abby said. “She likes to jerk people around sometimes.”

  “Even so,” Bryn argued, “Devon broke DG rules tonight. You guys know that. Do we just let her off? And if we let her off, how do we know it won’t happen again? Or maybe she’ll do something even worse.”

  “Or she might bring the whole DG down,” Cassidy said sadly.

  “I don’t like playing the heavy,” Bryn said, “but I think we should take a vote as to whether or not Devon can remain a member.”

  “I understand that we need to do this,” Emma said, “but I feel like we need to talk to Devon first. It’s not like this is a court of law or anything, but it seems only fair that she should get to defend herself.”

  “That seems fair,” Cassidy said. “Like the point Emma made about the vodka. What if it was only water?”

  “I agree,” Abby told them. “I want to hear Devon’s side before we vote.”

  Bryn sighed. “Fine. Let’s wait then.”

  “Good.” Emma let out a relieved sigh. Now she wanted to change the subject. Talking about Devon was too depressing. “Okay, is it just me, or did anyone else really feel like they could relate to their literary character tonight? I mean, I was going around and trying to make everyone happy. Arranging for a guy to dance with Devon—and then finding someone for Leonard. I was even sacrificing my time with Isaac to pacify Devon. Especially when she started hitting on him. Anyway, I really felt like I was Emma Woodhouse. I could relate to how she gets so busy trying to figure out everyone else’s life that she completely neglects her own.”