First Date by Melody Carlson Page B

care about her appearance. Something was wrong with that. Even if Cassidy was just pretending not to care—although Bryn didn’t know how that was possible—it was still pretty strange. What girl didn’t want to look good? But sometimes Cassidy would come to school wearing the exact same outfit that she’d worn just a few days before. Was she that oblivious? Anyway, as far as Bryn was concerned, a makeover was long overdue. It would probably be therapeutic.
    As Bryn did a quick straightening of her room, since this was to be the location of the makeover, she took a quick inventory of Cassidy in her head. It wasn’t like Cass was unattractive. To be fair, she had a wholesome sort of attractiveness. Kind of like a farm girl. Despite Cassidy’s blasé clothes, sloppy ponytails, and face always devoid of makeup, Bryn felt certain a pretty girl was lurking beneath. As she folded a pair of jeans—nicely fitting jeans, unlike the sloppy ones her frumpy friend usually wore—she imagined everything they would do to change Cassidy’s image today.
    Since Abby was about the same height as Cassidy, she was bringing over some clothes, so they could probably put together some fairly cool outfits. Abby and Bryn were the fashionistas of the group, and they had the closets to prove it. But Abby’s hand-me-downs would only do so much. Cassidy would have to be willing to invest some too. Bryn had already told Cass to plan on spending a few bucks when they wentshopping (beyond buying her dress for homecoming). Cass was reluctant to tap into her summer job earnings, but she had agreed. Devon had provided some hair product samples from her aunt, so that would save some money. And when it came to makeup, Bryn felt like she could handle it—at least she hoped so.
    “Hey, sis.” Tara stuck her head in Bryn’s room. “What’cha got going today?”
    Totally surprised to see her older sister, Bryn ran and hugged her. “Tara! What are you doing here?”
    “I came home for the weekend.”
    Bryn looked into Tara’s big blue eyes. They were almost the same color as Bryn’s, and sometimes the two girls had even been confused as twins. “I’m so happy to see you. How’s college?”
    Tara let out a tired little groan. “It’s mostly pretty cool. But I plan to catch up on some sleep this weekend. My roommate is the worst.” She looked around the tidy room and at the bundle of clothes and hangers Bryn had dropped. “Cleaning house, are we?”
    Bryn laughed. “Not really. Just picking up a little. I have some friends coming over.” She proceeded to tell about today’s makeover plans.
    “You’re redoing plain Jane Cassidy Banks?” Tara asked.
    Bryn nodded. She was tempted to tell Tara about the DG but remembered their vow of secrecy. “We’re all going to the homecoming dance, and we thought Cass could use a little help. After the makeover we’re going dress shopping.”
    “Wow. Sounds like fun.” She sighed. “And exhausting.”
    “I hope we don’t disturb you.”
    “If it gets too loud, I’ll go down to the family room tosleep.” Tara peered curiously at Bryn. “Who’s taking you to homecoming? I didn’t even know you had a boyfriend. And I just talked to Mom a couple days ago.”
    Bryn made a stiff smile. “He’s not exactly a boyfriend . . . yet.”
    “Who?”
    “Do you remember Jason Levine?”
    Tara’s eyes lit up. “Oh, yeah. That guy was a hottie. Even though he was a junior last year, he caught my eye. But I thought he had a girlfriend.”
    “He did. Amanda Norton. But they broke up. This year he’s even hotter.”
    Tara gave Bryn a sly look. “Good going, girl. You’re making your older sister proud.”
    Bryn tried to act natural, like this date with Jason was really a done deal. “It’s all still pretty new,” she said nervously. “No one really knows about it yet.”
    Tara laughed. “Well, don’t worry about me. There’s no one I talk to who hangs around Northwood anyway.” She started