Prom Queen, The (Life at Kingston High Book #3) (5 page)

“Exhausted?” Chelsea shook her head. “Not really. In fact, I actually feel kind of invigorated. I mean, it was work, but I had fun.”

“Me too,” Lishia agreed. “That was very cool.”

Megan said nothing. Keeping her eyes on the road, she focused on her driving as she took her friends to their homes, but as she dropped them off, she pasted on her prom queen smile and tried to pretend she’d had as good a time as they claimed to have had. When she got home, she peeled off what looked like a completely ruined dress, collapsed into her bed, and fell asleep.

T
hat was so nice of you to help at the soup kitchen,” Mom said as they went to church the next morning.

Megan just nodded as she checked messages on her phone.

“I’ve considered doing it myself, but I’m usually so wiped out by the weekend that the idea of working isn’t too appealing,” Mom admitted. “So how was it?”

“Hard work,” Megan mumbled.

“How old do you have to be to do it?” Arianna asked from the backseat.

“I think you’re old enough,” Mom said as she pulled into the church lot. “Maybe you can go with Megan next time she—”

“There’s not going to be a next time.” Megan turned off her phone and slipped it into her bag.

“Why not?” Arianna asked as they got out of the car.

Megan shrugged. “It’s just not my kind of thing.”

“Too bad.” Mom closed the door. “It’s a nice way to help out the community.”

“Well, I came up with another idea for helping the homeless,” Megan said as they walked toward the church.

“Really?” Mom peered curiously at her.

“Yeah. I just decided last night that I’m going to do a fundraiser.” Megan’s plan was to make it part of her prom queen campaign. She hoped to raise enough money to get an article in the paper or maybe even a spot on the news.

“What kind of fundraiser?” Arianna asked. “What’re you going to do?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” Megan admitted.

Now they went their separate ways—Mom to the service, Arianna to the middle school group, and Megan joining her high school friends in the basement where the music was blasting loudly.

“How come you didn’t make it to youth group last night?” Lishia asked her. “I called and texted you.”

“I know. Sorry. I fell asleep and then it was too late,” Megan said as they went to find seats. The first part of youth group was always music and singing, and Megan usually enjoyed it, but today she was distracted. Although she mouthed the words, her brain was busily preparing a little speech she planned to give during the prayer and praise session.

“Okay, guys, that was great,” Raymond, the youth leader, said as he took the stage. “Let’s give a hand to our worship team. Great job!” Everyone clapped, and then the room slowly grew quiet.

“All right, it’s time for prayer and praise, and I have a good praise report to start us out.” Raymond shared about
a friend of his who they’d all been praying for and how his cancer had just gone into remission. Everyone clapped. Now Megan shot her hand up.

“Megan Bernard,” Raymond called out.

She stood with a nervous smile. “I want to ask everyone here to pray for me. I’ve decided to do something way outside of my comfort zone. Now, don’t laugh, you guys.” She paused, taking in a breath. “I have decided to run for prom queen at Kingston High.” There were a few snickers, and Raymond made a stern face. “The reason I’m asking for prayer is because I want to do this for God. I want God to be glorified in me while I campaign. Also, I’m going to do a fundraiser for the homeless people in our community. I’d really appreciate everyone’s prayers and support for that too.” She smiled. “Thank you!”

Megan sat down and realized her legs were actually trembling. Lishia patted her on the shoulder, and Megan let out a relieved sigh. Glad that was over, she tried to focus on the other prayer requests and praise reports, but she was distracted with her own thoughts now. Trying to decide what she should do for her fundraiser, she began running various ideas through her head. She’d found some good websites with suggestions for fundraising.

Her big question was which idea would cost the least and raise the most money. She needed to figure it out ASAP if she wanted it to wrap up just one week before the election in order to impress everyone. According to what she’d read, two weeks was about the perfect amount of time for a fundraiser when items were being sold. Not too long, not too short. However, she also needed to promote the fundraiser for at least a week
or two before it actually started. That meant she needed to decide what she planned to do by Monday!

Basically there were several different categories of fundraisers. She could buy products and sell them, but that meant money up front, and what if she couldn’t sell them all? Or she could plan some kind of big one-night event. That could be anything from a spaghetti feed to a Mardi Gras party. Or there were the sponsoring kinds of events like bowl-athons or dance-athons. The question was—which one to do?

“That was a good message, huh?” Lishia said as the meeting came to an end.

Megan nodded and tried to remember, but she honestly couldn’t recall a single word that had been spoken. To cover this, she began to ask Lishia what she thought about her fundraiser ideas. “Right now I’m leaning toward a one-night event,” she explained. “Although some kind of a marathon event might be cheaper and easier. You know, like a walkathon.”

A pretty girl named Bethany Bridgewater shyly approached them. Megan didn’t know Bethany that well but thought she was a sweet girl. Besides that, Bethany was one more potential vote for her. “Hey, Bethany.” Megan greeted her like a long-lost friend. “It’s good to see you. What’s up?”

“I like what you’re doing to help the homeless people, and I just wanted to volunteer to help out. I mean, if you need any help.”

“That’s great,” Megan told her.

“We never refuse extra help,” Lishia added.

Bethany explained how she belonged to a show choir group called Joyful Sound. “It’s a song and dance group that sometimes
performs at nursing homes and places like that. We like to encourage people through music,” she told Megan. “Maybe we could do something for your fundraiser event.” Bethany waved to a blonde girl who was approaching. “This is my best friend Summer, and she’s in this group too.” Bethany told Summer her idea, and Summer agreed it would be a fun event.

“That’s great,” Megan told both of them. “I’m sure having you guys perform would make the fundraiser even more special.”

As Bethany and Summer went to talk to some of their friends, Chelsea and Nicholas, followed by Chase and Janelle, came over to join Megan and Lishia. The whole group started talking about Raymond’s message and their interpretations of it. Normally this was the kind of conversation Megan would enjoy and participate in, but all she could do was nod as she feigned interest, because her mind was on the fundraiser and how she wanted it to be a big success. Finally there was a lull, and she decided to jump in. “What do you guys think about bingo?” she blurted out.

“Bingo?”
Nicholas frowned. “What are you talking about?”

She giggled. “For a fundraiser. I was thinking about a bingo night. Maybe combined with a chili feed. Do you think that’s too hokey?”

“Bingo and chili?” Chase cocked his head to one side. “Sounds like something my great-aunt Lou-Lou might enjoy.”

Everyone laughed.

“How about a dance-athon?” Megan tried.

“What’s the money going to?” Nicholas asked.

“To the homeless,” she explained. “Weren’t you listening to me during the prayer and praise?”

“I was putting away my guitar,” he explained.

“Oh, yeah.” She’d forgotten that he was on the worship team this morning.

“How are you going to get the money to the homeless?” Nicholas persisted.

“Yeah, you can’t just hit the streets and start handing out twenties,” Chase teased. “Although I’m sure the homeless wouldn’t mind.”

“How about donating it to the soup kitchen?” Chelsea suggested. Then she started telling the guys and Janelle about how cool it had been to help out, and the next thing Megan knew, they were all traipsing over to the church foyer to find the sign-up sheet for soup kitchen volunteers.

“Aren’t you going to sign up?” Lishia asked Megan as she hung back.

“I think I’ll have enough on my plate with the fundraiser,” Megan said. “But maybe I will donate the funds to the soup kitchen. Do you think they’d like that?”

“I don’t see why they wouldn’t. I heard Bertie saying they were running out of some supplies, kind of like she was hoping that someone would bring something by. She said the soup kitchen was a faith-based ministry.”

“Does that mean you’ve decided to dedicate your fundraiser to the soup kitchen?” Chelsea asked as she joined them.

Megan nodded. “Yeah. I think that’s the plan.” She invited all of them to meet with her after school tomorrow to start planning for the fundraiser. “There’s really no time to waste,” she informed them. “Lishia said they’re running out of food.” Unfortunately, the guys were just starting spring soccer and had practice, but the girls promised to come.

“I have to say, a fundraiser for the soup kitchen is something I can really get behind,” Janelle told Megan. “That’s a really great idea.”

Lishia told the others about Bethany Bridgewater’s offer to help and her suggestion to have their song and dance group perform. “It could be really fun.”

Megan just hoped she could come up with a doable fundraising idea that everyone could get excited about. To that end, she spent the afternoon surfing the internet and reading everything she could find about fundraising. But the more she read, the more discouraged she felt. It wasn’t until Sunday evening that she realized she still had homework. Finally, before going to bed, she texted her friends and asked each one of them to come to the meeting with a specific fundraiser idea, explaining that they would vote on the best one. “Diplomacy,” she said as she turned off her phone and plugged it into the charger.

On Monday afternoon, Megan was pleased to see that her friends actually did have some fundraising ideas. This time they met at the coffeehouse, Megan’s treat. First of all, Janelle suggested a golf tournament. “My dad even offered to invite a bunch of his friends,” she told them. “He’s good friends with the owner of Breckenridge and thinks it would be a great place for it.”

“Interesting.” Megan wrote this down but immediately crossed it off in her mind. A golf tournament? Really, what high school kid wants to be involved in that? The golf team?

“I think we should do a casino night,” Lishia suggested. “My mom knows where you can rent all the gambling equipment, and they set it all up in the gym or cafeteria, and everyone dresses up. It would be fun, and it sounds like you can make a boatload of money.”

“Gambling?” Megan frowned. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. Some people think gambling is wrong.”

“Gambling for a good cause,” Lishia pointed out. “People plunk down their money, play games, and then you have prizes for them to win.”

“What’s your idea?” Megan turned to Chelsea.

“Stone soup,” Chelsea said.

“Huh?” Megan frowned. “What’s stone soup?”

“You know,” Chelsea told her, “everyone brings one food item, and you put it all together to make a big pot of soup. Then you sell the soup for, say, ten bucks a bowl.”

“You think people would show up with a carrot or potato and pay ten dollars for a bowl of soup?” Megan was incredulous.

“It would be stone soup and a silent auction,” Chelsea explained. “People pay for their soup, drop off their items, and then while the soup is cooking, they walk around and make bids on the silent auction items.”

“And where do we get those items?” Megan asked.

“The few weeks before the auction, we invite people in the community to donate things.”

“That sounds pretty cool,” Lishia told her. “I’d go to an event like that.”

“Okay, now tell us your idea,” Janelle urged Megan.

“How about spaghetti karaoke?”

“Spaghetti karaoke?” Janelle frowned.

“People buy tickets to the spaghetti dinner, and then we have a karaoke contest with prizes that will entice people to buy a karaoke ticket. Not only do we make more money that way, but the karaoke will provide us with entertainment too.” Megan smiled happily. “Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

“Not so much.” Janelle wrinkled her nose. “It actually sounds kind of torturous, eating spaghetti and being forced to listen to bad karaoke. Do you sell them Tums as they’re leaving?”

Lishia and Chelsea laughed.

“I really like the stone soup idea,” Lishia said. “It’s kind of laid-back. And a stone soup fundraiser to benefit the soup kitchen—it kind of makes sense, you know?”

“How about my golf tournament idea?” Janelle asked. “It could bring in some big bucks.”

“But the only people involved would be golfers,” Megan pointed out. “Shouldn’t a fundraiser be something that everyone wants to participate in?”

“Like karaoke,” Janelle said sarcastically.

“You guys really don’t like the karaoke idea?” Megan peered at her friends’ faces, but it was obvious they hated it. So she put the four suggestions to a vote, and Chelsea’s idea won. Stone soup and a silent auction it would be. But the truth was, Megan thought it was rather unimpressive.

However, it did give her an idea for delegating. “Since your fundraiser won,” she said to Chelsea, “and since you probably have some specific thoughts on how to carry it out, why don’t you take the lead?”

“Sure,” Chelsea agreed. “Like Lishia said, the stone soup part is pretty simple. I think that’s the beauty of it. But we
might also want to get some cakes and pies donated so we could sell desserts and coffee too. Of course, we’ll need a place to host the event. Probably a place with a kitchen, although we might be able to cook the soup at another location and bring in disposable bowls and utensils.”