The Blind Date (18 page)

Devon rolled her eyes, then shut them.

Abby took in a deep breath. “But I want to apologize to you,” she said quickly.

Devon's eyes flickered open. “Why?”

“For setting you up with Leonard. I know that was wrong. I know it ruined the dance for you. And I want you to know that I'm truly sorry.”

Devon let out a little sigh, then closed her eyes again.

“I hope you can forgive me . . . someday.”

Devon said nothing as Abby gathered the damp towels. Feeling guilty and sad, Abby carried the dirty laundry out through the living room. There, much to her surprise, she discovered the other girls were picking up the pieces of last night's party. “I thought you guys went home,” Abby said as she stared in wonder.

“Some of us wanted to,” Cassidy admitted as she carried a bag of trash into the kitchen.

“But it was too disgusting to leave like this.” Emma held up a dirty T-shirt with a wrinkled nose.

Abby added it to her towels and took them to the laundry room. Then she joined her friends and together they cleaned the trashed house. She took regular breaks to go check on Devon, coaxing her to drink some Sierra Mist.

After a couple of hours, the house was greatly improved and the other girls were ready to leave. But Abby insisted on staying.

“I already called my mom,” she explained. “She'll pick me up later.”

Emma frowned. “I should be the one who stays with Devon,” she told Abby. “But I'm still so furious at her . . . I can hardly stand to be in the same room with her.”

“It's okay,” Abby assured her. “I'm staying because I
want
to.”

“Call if you need help,” Cassidy told her.

After the others left, Abby continued to straighten and scrub. She started with the bathroom, which didn't appear to have been deeply cleaned for ages, then eventually moved on to the kitchen. It felt good to stay busy, and on some level, she felt she was making up for Devon's bad blind date, which might've been part of what led to Devon's bad choices. Sure, Abby knew that all this was not her personal fault. Like Emma and the others had so clearly pointed out, Devon had made her own decisions to mess up last night. But if it made Abby feel better to help Devon, well, what did that hurt?

It wasn't until later in the day that Devon felt well enough to get out of bed and eat some chicken noodle soup that Abby heated in the microwave for her.

“You don't have to stick around,” Devon said as she nibbled on a saltine cracker.

“I want to.”

“Because you feel guilty?” Devon's smudged eye makeup made her resemble a raccoon, and her skin looked pale and drawn.

“Maybe.” Abby rinsed the soup bowl in the sink, then set it in the dishwasher.

“For the record, I did
not
want you guys to clean up.” Devon scowled darkly.

“Why not?” Abby closed the dishwasher with a bang.

“Because I wanted my mom to come home to the mess.”

“Seriously?” Abby stared at her in disbelief.

“She deserved it.”

“Why?” Abby sat down across the table from her.

“Because she's abandoning me.” Devon's eyes were filling with tears. “Just like my dad did. My mom is going to marry Rodney.”

“Just because she marries Rodney doesn't mean she's abandoning you.”

“Yes, it does!” Devon slammed her fist onto the table. “Rodney hates me. And I hate him. Mom will choose him over me. I know it.”

“Oh . . .” Abby tried to wrap her head around this. She could not imagine her parents ever abandoning her, or divorcing each other, or falling in love with someone else who hated her. It was inconceivable. Sometimes she'd actually wished they didn't care so much. Like even when she'd told Mom why she was here—saying she was helping a sick friend without going into all the details—Mom had wanted to come over and help too.

“So I wanted to show her,” Devon continued. “I wanted her to see
this
is what happens when you treat your kids like this—when you abandon them.” Tears were streaming down her cheeks now.

“Is that why you got drunk?”

Devon nodded, wiping her tears with her hands. “I wanted to hurt her—like she hurt me.”

“Oh.”

“And I wanted to show her,” Devon sobbed, “that I still—I still need a mom.”

Abby went over to Devon, and leaning over, she wrapped her arms around Devon's shoulders and hugged her tightly
as she cried. “I'm so sorry.” Abby choked back her own tears. “I'm really, really sorry.”

Eventually the two girls made their way to the living room, sitting across from each other on the couch in silence. Abby felt sorry for Devon but didn't know what more to say or what more to do. However, she did have some questions. “Do you mind if I ask how all this happened, Devon?”

“All what?”

“The alcohol last night . . . How you got home from the dance . . . How Brandon wound up asleep on your couch . . . How the place got trashed . . .” Abby grimaced to remember the mess that had been here. “I mean, I'm just curious how something like that happens.”

Devon made a crooked smile. “Truthfully?”

Abby nodded. “Yeah. What happened?”

“The truth is I can't remember everything. But I do remember finding my mom's stash of booze, and I remember setting this place up for a party.”

“Why?” Abby frowned. “Who did you think you'd party with? The DG?”

Devon shrugged. “I don't know. I guess I wasn't really thinking straight.”

“And you took alcohol to the dance. Why?”

“Because I was so mad at my mom.”

Abby tried to understand this. “Isn't that kind of like trying to hurt someone else by knocking yourself in the head with a hammer?”

Devon sighed as she reached up to her forehead. “Yeah, it kinda feels like that too.”

“So how did Brandon end up here?” Abby pressed on.

“He was Jennie Preston's date last night. He wasn't having
such a good time with her. We kinda met up outside . . . and we shared some drinks.”

“Okay . . .”

“Then he offered to take me home. Or maybe I asked him for a ride. It's kinda fuzzy. Anyway, after we got here he saw that I had this little party all laid out, and he called some of his friends from Jackson.” She held up her hands. “That's about all I remember specifically.”

Abby shook her head. “Do you realize how dangerous that could've been? You drink until you pass out, you leave your house wide open all night long. Anything could've happened to you.” Abby felt almost like her dad was doing the talking for her—and yet she knew they were words that needed to be spoken. “Do you even get that?”

Devon frowned. “Not so much last night . . . Maybe now I do.”

“You were totally wasted,” Abby continued. “Do you know that people can die from alcohol poisoning?”

“I kinda felt like I was dying this morning,” Devon admitted.

Seeing that Devon was on the verge of tears again, Abby controlled the urge to continue blasting her. “It's just that I care about you,” she said finally. “If you care about yourself, you won't pull something like this again.”

“Yeah . . . probably not.” But now she looked up with a mischievous twinkle in her bloodshot eyes. “But you never know.”

When Abby finally called her mom to pick her up, it was after 4:00. Naturally, Mom was concerned and curious as she drove home. At first Abby tried to play the whole thing
down. No way did she want her parents to know that Devon had nearly drunk herself to death. Because that's what Abby felt like Devon had been trying to do—whether it was conscious or not. But Abby did tell Mom about how messed up things were at Devon's house. “The truth is, I didn't really like Devon very much before,” she confessed. “I didn't care about what was going on in her life. I just wanted her to straighten up. You know?”

Mom nodded without speaking.

“But now I actually care about her. And if I can, I want to help her.”

“At the very least you proved yourself to be a good friend to her,” Mom said as they got home.

“I hope I can be a good influence on her,” Abby said as they got out of the car. “I know Dad's worried that my friends could influence me too much. But I really hope that I can influence Devon.”

“I'm sure that if anyone can, it would be you, sweetie.” Mom gave her a sideways hug as they went into the house.

Abby wished she felt as certain as Mom did. The truth was, she had her doubts. Seeing Devon like she'd seen her today was eye-opening on many levels. Yes, she felt genuinely sorry for Devon, and the situation with her mom was disturbing and sad. But at the same time, Abby felt seriously concerned. Devon was as unpredictable as a loaded gun, so filled with hurt and anger and confusion. Abby felt sure this girl could easily self-destruct. Sometimes it almost seemed as if Devon wanted to blow up her own life. And what if—in her carelessness—she took others along with her? Perhaps Bryn was right. Maybe it was time to remove Devon from the DG, to separate themselves from her. But what would happen to
Devon then? First her dad abandons her, then her mom, and now her friends. What might Devon do?

As Abby considered the grim possibilities, she felt seriously guilty for even considering this. More than that, she felt responsible. There was no doubt that Devon needed friends right now. Good, dependable, stable, responsible friends. More than that,
Devon needed
God
. If there was any way Abby could convey this to Devon, it would be well worth the effort—and the risk.

S
o what
is
the point of the DG?” Cassidy asked. All the DG members except Devon had gotten together for an “emergency” meeting at Costello's on Saturday night. Abby had just made a statement about how the DG wasn't only about dating and guys. Sure, maybe that had been the motivation at the beginning—although not for Cassidy—but perhaps the other girls were seeing it differently now too.

“It's about friendship,” Emma said dismally.

“And about being a club,” Bryn added.

“All I'm saying,” Abby continued, “is that Devon
needs
us. She needs friends. Probably more now than ever. We can't just toss her aside.”

“But what about our rules?” Bryn demanded. “Do we bend and break them for Devon?”

Abby shrugged. “I don't know.”

“Does Devon even
want
to be in the DG anymore?” Emma asked. “I mean, she sure doesn't act like it.”

“I don't think Devon knows what she wants,” Abby told them. “I think she's hurting and confused. And I think if we dump her, we'll be partially responsible for Devon's . . .” She sighed, holding up her hands in a helpless gesture.

“For Devon's
what
?” Cassidy pressed. How serious was this for Devon?

“Crashing and burning,” Abby said quietly.

“That's a lot of responsibility to throw on our shoulders,” Bryn pointed out.

“Maybe we never should've started this club in the first place,” Abby declared.

“Maybe we should end it now,” Cassidy said sadly.

The table got quiet and the four of them looked at each other.

“But it's been fun.” Bryn's mouth twisted to one side.

“Yeah,” Emma added. “I've enjoyed getting to know you guys better.”

“I've liked it too,” Cassidy confessed.

“So what do we do?” Abby asked them. “Because I mean what I said—if you kick Devon out, I'm going too.”

“Back to my earlier question,” Emma said. “Does Devon even want to be part of the DG anymore? It seemed to me that she was trying to blow us all off when she came to the dance with vodka in her purse. She might've even wanted to get kicked out of the school.”

“I don't think that was why she did that,” Abby told them.

“Then why did she do it?” Cassidy asked.

Abby looked torn. “I don't know how much to say.”

“You'd better say something,” Cassidy encouraged. “Right now you're the only defense Devon has.”

“And she definitely needs it,” Bryn told her.

“Normally, I'd be the one defending her,” Emma said, “but I've just about had it with her.” Emma made an exaggerated sigh. “And I get to go home to her after this. She's staying at my house until her mom gets home.”

“How's she doing?” Cassidy asked.

“She's okay, I guess. But she's barricaded herself up in the guest room and isn't talking to anyone.” Emma shrugged. “Suits me fine.”

Cassidy pointed at Abby again. “Anyway, it's up to you. Either you shed some light on this mess with Devon or we're done here.”

“And then your club shrinks to three members,” Abby reminded her.

“We can get new members,” Bryn told her. “I already know of several girls who would love to be included.”

“Maybe that would be good,” Emma said eagerly.

“Fine.” Abby looked hurt as she stood. “If that's how you want it.”

“Wait.” Cassidy put a hand on Abby's arm. “You still haven't told us what's up with Devon or why she did what she did.”

“And don't try to take the blame again,” Bryn warned Abby. “We already told you that Devon makes her own choices. Just because she was ticked over her blind date is not an excuse to turn into a complete idiot.”

“Right.” Abby sat down again. “Devon might get mad at me for telling you this.” She looked around the table. “But since you're all members of the DG, I think I can trust you. Right?”

They all seemed to agree, encouraging Abby to continue.

“Devon was really upset over her mom running off with her boyfriend again this weekend. She's certain they're going to get married. And she's equally certain they'll abandon her.
Just like her dad abandoned her. And I'm sure she thinks we'll abandon her too. So I'm guessing she just decided to blow up her own life before someone else did it for her.”

Emma nodded. “That sounds about right. Like how Devon thinks.”

“Wow, that's sad,” Cassidy admitted. “I didn't know she was so desperate.” Cassidy felt guilty now. She'd been determined to be a better friend to Devon, but she'd gotten so busy and caught up with their recent blind date stuff that she'd sort of forgotten.

“That is kinda rough,” Bryn said with a furrowed brow. “I didn't realize Devon's mom was thinking of remarrying.”

“Apparently she is,” Abby told them. “And she'd taken off without even letting Devon know. That hurt Devon's feelings.”

“That's true,” Emma confirmed. “My mom said pretty much the same thing. In fact, she's kinda ticked at Devon's mom now. It wasn't fair to Devon.”

“So Devon is hurt that her mom's taken off like that, worried that she's being abandoned . . .” Cassidy was putting the pieces together. “And then her date turns out to be a disappointment, and maybe she feels sabotaged—like we ganged up against her or something.”

“So she throws caution and common sense to the wind,” Bryn added, “and winds up in a big mess.”

“Which hurt her more than it hurt anyone else,” Abby finished for them. “Now the question is—do we want to hurt her even more?”

“I think it's time to put it to a vote,” Cassidy told them. “And remember rule number ten. It takes a unanimous vote to either admit or remove a member of the DG.” She looked around the table. “All in favor of removing Devon from the DG, raise your hand.”

No hands went up. All of them let out a relieved sigh.

“So it's settled.” Cassidy closed the cover on her iPad. “Who wants to let Devon know?”

“Did she even know that she was about to get kicked out?” Bryn asked.

“Yes,” Emma confessed with a sheepish expression. “I may have conveyed that bit of information to her before I left.”

“Really?” Cassidy was surprised. “How did she take it?”

“She acted like she didn't care . . . but I could tell.”

“What?”

Emma looked contrite. “That she was hurt.”

“Poor Devon.”

Emma held up her phone. “I can call her and let her know.”

“Why don't we all let her know?” Abby suggested.

“Yeah, that's a good idea.” Cassidy slid her iPad into her bag. “Let's go to Emma's right now.”

While Cassidy drove the three other girls to Emma's house, she thought more about Devon's situation. She hoped that Devon hadn't been hurt enough to pull some other stupid stunt. As she parked her car, she decided that she was going to try a lot harder to convince Devon that her friendship was genuine.

They all got out and Emma led the way into the house.

“What's going on?” Emma's mom looked up from her computer with concern.

“We're here to talk to Devon,” Emma explained in a no-nonsense tone.

Her mom smiled and nodded. “I haven't seen her. I assume she's still in the guest room.”

Emma led the way and then knocked on the closed door at
the end of the hall. When Devon didn't answer, she opened the door and they all walked into the darkened room. Emma turned on the overhead light.

“What the—
Emma
?” Devon sat up, blinking in the brightness. “Can't a person have any privacy in this house?” Now she seemed to realize that Emma wasn't alone. “What's up?”

“We want to talk to you,” Cassidy told her.

Devon shrugged. “Make yourselves at home.”

Soon they were all settled on the bed and Cassidy explained how they had met to vote on whether or not Devon could remain a member of the DG. “But then we decided to bring the meeting to you.” Cassidy pulled out her iPad as if she was going to take notes.

“It's because you broke so many rules,” Emma told Devon. “And in all fairness, we could've kicked you out.”

Devon shrugged again. “So?”

“Do you want to get kicked out?” Abby asked.

Devon folded her arms across her front. “I don't care.”

“I think you
do
care,” Emma challenged her. “I think you care a lot, but you don't want to admit it. You don't want to ruin your tough-chick persona.”

Devon glared at her.

“Hey, if you don't want to be part of the DG, maybe we should just forget the whole thing,” Bryn said in a slightly snooty tone.

“Why doesn't everyone take a nice, deep breath,” Cassidy said quietly.

“Yeah.” Abby nodded. “We didn't come here to attack Devon.”

“Sure could've fooled me.” Devon pressed her lips tightly together. “Almost feels like you guys came here to lynch me
or something.” Now she barely smiled. “And to be honest, I wouldn't blame you a bit.”

“Really?” Emma looked shocked.

“Yeah.” Devon let out a long, sad sigh. “I'm sorry, okay? I really blew it. It was totally stupid to start drinking like that yesterday. I'm not sure you guys care, but I didn't do it to hurt any of you. I'm not totally sure why I did it. I mean, I was mad at my mom. But what I did hurt me a whole lot more than it hurt her. She'll probably never even know what an idiot I was or how sick I got.” Devon snickered. “Well, until she notices that her liquor stash has been raided.” Devon looked from girl to girl. “But I really am sorry. And I deserve to be kicked out of the DG. I figured you already voted to get rid of me.”

“We voted,” Cassidy told her.

“To keep you,” Abby added.

“Thanks to Abby's brilliant defense,” Bryn told Devon. “If you ever need an attorney, old Abs is the one to get.”

Devon smiled. “Thanks, you guys.”

“But you have to promise us you won't do that again,” Cassidy said suddenly. This wasn't something the DG had actually agreed upon, but she knew her friends would back her. “And you can't keep on breaking the rules either.”

“That's right,” Bryn said. “Just because we're giving you another chance doesn't mean we won't kick you out if you pull a stunt like that again.”

“Trust me.” Devon rubbed her head. “I never want to do anything like that again. I've never felt so sick in my life. I honestly thought I was going to die—I wanted to die!”

Cassidy started to giggle now.

“What's so funny?” Devon demanded.

“I just remembered something,” Cassidy said between giggles.

“What is it?” Devon looked mad.

“Last night we were all talking about the various funny ways we could relate to our literary characters—you know, the ones we'd dressed up as. And it just hit me that you must've really related to Juliet too—because you went home and
poisoned yourself
!” Cassidy laughed nervously. “But sheesh, Devon, that was taking it way too far. I'm so glad you didn't succeed.”

Pretty soon they were all laughing and joking about it—even Devon started to smile.

“But seriously,” Emma told Devon in a stern tone. “If you ever do that again—no matter what the DG says—I am going to walk away from you. I refuse to stand by and watch my friend poisoning herself like that.
Do you understand?
”

Devon nodded somberly.

“I'm with Emma on that,” Abby told her. “Our school has zero tolerance and I'm going to have to stick with them on it. Never again, Devon.”

The others backed Abby and Emma, and Devon promised them that she wouldn't do it again. “If I could turn back the clock I would. It was totally stupid.”

“And dangerous,” Cassidy reminded her.

“And I'm sorry,” Devon began slowly, “for how I acted last night at the dance too. I know I was kind of inebriated and I'm not completely sure of all that I said or did, but I realize that I might've spoiled the evening for some of you. And I'm really, really sorry.”

They talked about it a little more and everyone agreed that they had forgiven her.

“Hopefully our next date will be better,” Devon said.

“Speaking of that, what are our plans for our next date?” Bryn asked the others.

Several different ideas were tossed around, discussed, and argued over. Finally, Cassidy got a new idea. “What about a double date?”

“A double date?”

“You know, where two couples go out together,” Cassidy told them.

“But there are only five of us,” Abby pointed out. “That's not an even number. How can we each have a double date? Or does someone go out twice?”