“Elves and sleighs—how adorable!”
“Then, of course, you could tell everyone about the dance and the double-date plan and finally—announce the prizes.”
“That settles it, Abby. You don’t belong on the basketball team. We need you on our team. You’ve got fabulous ideas and you’re great at organizing. Please, promise me you won’t quit us. Even if you do decide to play basketball.”
“No, I’m not going to play basketball. I’ve made up my mind. That was Dad’s dream. Not mine. It was fun in middle school, and for the first year in high school. But after that, it got too serious. I told the coach that I quit last week and I’m sticking to it.” Abby grinned at Bryn. “Thanks for helping me to see I made the right decision.”
By noon, Abby had a couple more ideas for the assembly. “I think we should have some live music,” she told Bryn as they walked into the cafeteria. “You know how Kent has his band? I asked him if he’d be interested and he was jazzed. He said they could do some fun Christmas number. Maybe alter the lyrics to match the event. Like ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas.’ He’s going to talk to his band guys about it.”
“Well, they’ll have to get on it fast. I talked to Mr. Worthington and he’s scheduled the assembly for Friday afternoon.”
Abby pulled out her phone. “I’ll let Kent know.”
“Cool.”
“We need to talk,” Cassidy said urgently, tugging them both by the arm toward their usual table.
“Can we at least grab something to eat?” Abby asked.
Bryn held up her brown bag. “And I want a soda.”
“Just be quick,” Cassidy commanded.
“Don’t say a word about whatever it is until we get there,” Bryn told Cassidy. She and Abby hurried into the line, which fortunately was short. While Bryn headed for the soda machine and saved a place in line at the cashier, Abby grabbed a chef salad and some apple juice. She handed it to Bryn along with her money and within seconds they were back at the table.
“What’s up?” Abby asked breathlessly.
“Tell them,” Cassidy commanded Devon.
“I invited Amanda to join the DG,” Devon said with an expression that looked partly proud and partly sheepish.
“What?” Bryn slammed her soda cup onto the table. “That was my job.”
“Says who?”
“We voted on it,” Bryn reminded her.
“We voted to let Amanda into the club,” Devon argued. “Not about who could or could not ask her. Besides Amanda and I are good friends now. It was more natural for me to ask her. I was at her house and we got to talking. What’s the big deal?”
Abby shrugged. “I don’t think it’s a big deal.”
“Well, I feel kind of blindsided,” Bryn said.
Devon made a genuine-looking sympathetic expression. “I’m so sorry, Bryn. I actually thought you’d be glad about this. Isn’t it great? We have enough girls for the double date now. In fact, Amanda and I have decided that we’ll pair off. I figured no one here would mind.” She laughed. “Especially since I’m kinda the black sheep anyway.”
Bryn made a half smile. “Yeah, I guess it’s okay. But maybe you should’ve called me about it. You know?”
“Okay,” Cassidy announced loudly. “Now that you’ve heard about that, Em and I have another interesting news flash.”
“What?” Bryn asked.
“Go ahead,” Cassidy urged Emma. “It’s really your story.”
Emma set her fork down and looked from face to face, as if her news was fairly serious. “It’s about Felicia Ruez. Cass and I went to see her this weekend and it turns out that she had nothing to do with that disgusting MyPlace page.”
“That’s too bad,” Devon said. “But what does it have to do with us?”
“A lot,” Emma told her. “For starters, you shared that page with us, Devon, remember?”
“Yeah . . . ?”
“And it turns out that we’re partly to blame for the skanky makeover that Felicia gave herself,” Cassidy told them.
“That’s just plain ridiculous,” Bryn declared.
“Not really.” Emma explained Felicia’s flawed reasoning and how she dressed in the bathroom before school.
“Man, that is totally pathetic,” Devon said.
“I feel sorry for her,” Abby admitted.
“So do I,” Cassidy told them. “We want to help her.”
“How?” Bryn asked.
“I’m not sure,” Emma said. “But we need everyone’s help. Remember how Devon and Cassidy went looking for evidence that Felicia wasn’t DG material? We all need to look for evidence of whoever made that bogus MyPlace page.”
“The tricky part is that no one seems to have downloaded it,” Cassidy explained. “Not even the school.”
“Mrs. Dorman was so outraged that she called up MyPlace, and they took it down so fast that no one ever thought to download it for evidence.” Emma shook her head. “I’ve asked Isaac to look into it, but so far he’s come up with nothing.”
“We want everyone to keep their ears and eyes wide open. If you hear anyone say anything about Felicia, pay attention.” Cassidy looked over her shoulder as if she was concerned someone was listening.
“And ask around,” Emma said. “Without sounding too suspicious, try to find out if anyone possibly saved a download.” She pointed to Devon. “It looks like you’ve got the inside track with Tristin and Amanda. Try to find out how they discovered the page. Who sent it to them? And why?”
“Okay, okay.” Bryn held up her hands. “I totally understand your concern, Emma. It’s really sad that this happened to Felicia. But we cannot let her little mess distract us. Don’t forget we have a big project ahead—a project that’s meant to benefit needy children in our town.” Bryn explained the plan for the assembly, eventually passing the conversation over to Abby.
“We’ll need to make a couple of really fun and flashy sleds.” Abby pointed to Emma. “You’re the artist of the group. Can you help to direct this?”
“Sure.” Emma nodded. “Sounds like fun.”
“And we need a couple of petite girls to dress up like elves.” Abby pointed at Emma again. “You’re an obvious choice, but I hate putting everything on you.”
“I’ll help you get costumes together,” Bryn told Emma. “We can hit up the drama department for something fun.”
“I’ll help with the sleighs,” Cassidy offered. “I’m not as artsy as Emma, but I know how to cut and glue stuff and follow directions.”
“I could put together some fake presents for the sleighs,” Abby said. “Wait—maybe it would be more effective to have the sleighs empty. The elves could be acting all sad, like the children aren’t going to get any presents.”
“Great idea.” Bryn patted Abby on the back. “See why you’re chairing that committee?”
“How about if we just have one sleigh for the assembly?” Emma suggested. “A really nice one. That might make it seem more dramatic—a big fancy sleigh with nothing in it.”
They all agreed. Then, continuing to toss around more ideas, they also made plans for some after-school work meetings. Just as the bell rang, Bryn reminded them that the assembly was on Friday.
“This is going to be the best Christmas ball ever,” she told everyone. “Go team!”
As Abby walked toward the science department, she felt glad for the decision she’d made. She would much rather be working together on something like this with her good friends than sweating on the basketball court. Even if her dad couldn’t understand it right now, perhaps he would get it when he saw all the good they were going to do—all the young lives they were going to touch with their generosity. At least she hoped he would.
11
Devon doesn’t want a ride home?” Cassidy asked Emma as they met in the locker bay after school. “I mean, uh, to your grandmother’s house.”
“It’s okay. Devon calls it home too,” Emma clarified. “And, no, she doesn’t need a ride. S
he’s with Amanda.”
“She and Amanda are getting to be pretty good friends, huh?”
“Apparently.” Emma sounded slightly aggravated.
“You don’t like that they’re friends?” Cassidy wondered if Emma was jealous. She and Devon used to be good friends, but that seemed to have deteriorated recently.
Emma slammed her locker shut. “I’m not sure.”
“You have a problem with Amanda?” Cassidy glanced around to make sure no one was listening.
“Maybe.”
The truth was, Cassidy wasn’t too keen on the news that Amanda Norton was a member of the DG. It had felt rather sudden and slightly underhanded. Sure, they needed an even number of members, but shouldn’t they have discussed it more? “What are you thinking in regard to Amanda?” Cassidy asked Emma after they were outside and nearly to her car.
“I’m thinking that it was Amanda and Tristin who first showed Devon that MyPlace page on Felicia. Remember?”
“Yeah.”
“And Felicia said that Tristin was one of the girls who’d teased her.”
“Yeah?”
“Amanda and Tristin are really good friends. At least they used to be.”
“Uh-huh.” Cassidy unlocked her car. This wasn’t really news. “Your point is what?”
“Well, I know it’s not enough evidence to convict anyone, but it seems suspicious. Just a few minutes ago when I asked Devon if she’d found out anything—because remember how we asked her to do some sleuthing with Amanda and Tristin—she got all defensive.” Emma scowled as she slammed the door closed. “What’s up with that?”
“What do you mean defensive? Who’s she defending? Amanda? Tristin? Herself?”
“I’m not sure, but she got pretty irate. Like I had no business questioning any of them. She told me that just because Felicia claimed she hadn’t put up that page didn’t mean it was true.”
“So she still thinks Felicia is like that?” Cassidy started her car.
“Who knows what she thinks. She’s being awfully protective of her new friends, though.”
Suddenly Cassidy remembered something she’d seen in the math department earlier. “Speaking of Tristin . . . have you noticed that she seems to be in hot pursuit of Marcus Zimmerman?”
“No. Why do you mention it?”
“Because I remember seeing Marcus literally tripping over himself with his eyes on Felicia.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“I mean Felicia had caught Marcus’s eye. Then today I saw Tristin blatantly flirting with the boy. Do you think there’s any connection?”
Emma was pulling out her phone. “I’m texting Felicia now. Asking her about Marcus.”
“What are you asking?”
“If she thinks Marcus was into her.” Emma tapped away.
“It seems like a pretty wimpy theory,” Cassidy admitted.
“Well, at least you’re trying.” Emma held up her phone to show she was done. “Unlike Devon.”
“Devon is probably trying to protect her new friendship with Amanda,” Cassidy said as she came to a stop sign. She turned to Emma. “To be honest, I’m surprised that Amanda was into being Devon’s friend. What do you think that’s about?”
Emma shrugged. “I have no idea. Hey, Felicia texted back. In all caps she said YES.”
“Yes to Marcus?”
“Uh-huh. I think so.” Emma was texting again. “How about if we stop by her house since we’re so close anyway?”
“Okay.” Cassidy turned down the next street. “That way I can hear it too.”
“I’ll tell her we’re coming.”
Before long, they were back in Felicia’s bedroom and she was telling them about how she and Marcus had started a friendship about a month ago. “He was helping me with math and being really nice about it. I guess I kinda hoped it was more than just friendship. I had wanted him to ask me out.” Felicia gave an embarrassed smile. “He was one of the main reasons I wanted to step up my game in the fashion arena. Although I obviously just made a mess of everything.” Her smile faded.
“Remember the time Marcus fell down in Algebra II?” Cassidy said suddenly. “Everyone laughed and he made a bow?”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “I do.”
“Well, I saw the whole thing. Marcus had been looking at you and didn’t even see the chair right in front of him,” Cassidy explained. “The boy seemed somewhat smitten.”
Felicia giggled then grew serious. “Not that it does me any good now. I went back to public school today. I hate it.”
“I’m curious,” Emma said. “On what grounds did you get expelled from Northwood?”
“Because of MyPlace,” Felicia said with a “duh” expression. “Remember?”
“I know. But what do they have as evidence?”
Felicia frowned. “Good question.”
“It doesn’t seem fair that they can keep you out of school without a shred of evidence—especially considering it’s something you didn’t even do,” Emma declared.
“Yeah,” Cassidy agreed. “What happened to innocent until proven guilty? How can they prove you guilty of anything—well, besides bad taste in clothes—without any evidence?”
“I wish you guys were my lawyers,” Felicia said wistfully.
“Maybe we’ll do that,” Cassidy told her.
“Huh?” Emma looked curiously at Cassidy.
“What if we tried to present her case to Mr. Worthington and Mrs. Dorman?”
“What would we say?” Emma asked.
“We’d have to prepare some kind of statement. It would be nice if we had some kind of evidence.” Cassidy held a finger in the air. “So back to Tristin. You mentioned her as one of the girls who has harassed—or bullied —you, right?”
Felicia nodded somberly. “Yeah. It took me by surprise too. Kinda out of nowhere. The other girls who were mean—well, they were just flat-out mean, and to be honest, it wasn’t that big of a deal. They don’t seem like they’re very happy with themselves or life in general, you know? It was easier to forgive them. But when Tristin jumped in . . . well, that felt more personal. You know?”
Cassidy remembered the other two girls Felicia had named. Both of them were kind of outsiders and not well liked by anyone. Not that it meant they should be bullies, but Felicia—since it was her first year at Northwood—had probably seemed an easy target.
“What did Tristin do exactly?” Emma asked.
“She went onto my MyPlace page—my real one—and said some mean, trashy stuff about me.”
“Really?” Cassidy asked eagerly. “Do you still have it?”
“They took that page down too,” Felicia explained. “They didn’t even ask me. Just took it down.”
“And you never downloaded it?”
Felicia got a thoughtful look. “Actually, I think I did, but I’m not sure if I still have it. I hadn’t actually given it much thought. I mean, it wasn’t like she’d done anything illegal or—”
“Can you pull it up?” Cassidy asked.
Felicia already had the laptop and was punching the keys. “I’ll see.”
“When did Tristin do this?” Emma asked her. “Can you remember?”
“It started about a month or so ago.” Felicia continued keyboarding.
“Did you know that Tristin likes Marcus?” Cassidy asked as she and Emma stood looking over Felicia’s shoulder.
Felicia turned around to stare at them. “No way.”
“It’s true,” Cassidy assured her. “I saw Tristin flirting with him today. I could tell she was pretty serious about it too. I’m guessing she’s trying to warm him up to take her to the Christmas ball.”
“I have Sienna in art,” Emma said, “and she said that she and Tristin are making a sleigh together. So they’re obviously planning to go to the dance as a double date.”
“A sleigh? Double date? Huh?” Felicia was confused.
“TMI.” Cassidy pointed at the laptop. “Just see if you can find the
MyPlace page, Felicia. That could be your ticket back into Northwood.”
“Really?” She turned back around and continued looking. “Aha!” she cried out. “Here it is.”
Emma and Cassidy leaned over to see better. “Do not delete this under any circumstances,” Cassidy told her. “In fact, why don’t you email it to me and Emma right now?”
Felicia’s fingers flew over the keys. “There. Done.” She turned looking hopefully up at them. “What next?”
“Good question.” Cassidy sat down on Felicia’s bed, pulling out her iPad to be sure the email had gone through.
“We need to do like you said,” Emma told her. “To present Felicia’s case to Worthington and Dorman.”
“And we need to do it in such a way that they take us seriously,” Cassidy added.
“You guys would really do that for me?” Felicia looked close to tears.
“You bet we would,” Cassidy assured her as she skimmed over the MyPlace page. “These comments from Tristin are proof of bullying. If she was after Marcus and jealous of his interest in you, well, it’s not looking good for that girl.”
“Hey, I just remembered something Isaac told me today,” Emma said suddenly. “If we found the computer that originated the MyPlace page, we might find evidence.”
“If we could figure out what Tristin used . . .” Cassidy was thinking out loud. “Whether it was an iPhone or iPad or laptop or whatever . . . and if we could get our hands on it . . . we might be able to prove she did it.”
“Do you really think you can?” Felicia asked eagerly. “If it’s possible, can you please do it soon? The sooner I get back to school, the better it will be for my grades and my classes.”
“We’ll do our best,” Emma promised as they told Felicia good-bye.
“And we’ll be in touch,” Cassidy told her.
“Interesting development,” Emma said as they got back into Cassidy’s car.
“Yeah. I think we’ve found our culprit.”
“The question is, can we get the evidence to take her down?”
“I’ve never liked Tristin that much,” Cassidy admitted, “but I never would’ve guessed she’d do something so despicable. Did you read the nasty, mean stuff Tristin wrote on Felicia’s page?”
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