Page 7 of The Forever After Bet

She arches an eyebrow at me. “Do I need to?”

“Well, no, I guess not.” I want to roll my eyes. No wonder the fundraiser has been an epic failure over the past couple of years. It’s because the student advisor doesn’t care.

“Okay, then.” Mrs. Landry spins on her heel, leaving. I open the folder to go over the names on the list. It’s not very long. Landon and Chanel volunteered along with Edison Wilson and Cory Davidson, who are friends with Landon. June signed up but can’t come this week because of the musical. Tonight and tomorrow is the dress rehearsal, and opening night is Wednesday. I’m not sure why Melissa and Missy are here. They didn’t sign up to volunteer. The last three names on the list are Jack, Ty, and Ford. Landon.

Chanel, Edison, and Cory all come into the room together.

“Hey, Clark, how are you?” Chanel asks, hugging me.

“I’m good. How are you?”

“Yeah, really good. Hey, I never got a chance to talk to you about Sadie Hawkins. I’m sorry your mom found out.”

“It’s okay. It actually helped my relationship with my dad. My...Beth is struggling lately, but she’ll figure it out.” I have no idea if that’s true. I hope it is, but I have my doubts. I glance at Landon, who is talking to his buddies. “Did Landon get in trouble?”

“No, your stepmom never called Mrs. Phillips.”

“Oh, that’s good. I hope you two had fun. I need to return your costume.”

“Yeah, we had a great time, and I’m not worried about the dress.” Chanel shrugs.

Leah and Aubrey come in carrying soda and chocolate. She hands me a Coke and holds out a bag of M&M’s and a Dove bar. I snatch the dove bar. “Thanks, you’re a lifesaver.”

My phone dings with a text, and I pull it out of my backpack. It’s from Jack. We’re not going to make the fundraiser meeting tonight.

I blow out a breath, feeling relieved and tired. Okay, thanks for letting me know. I text back. It’s after five-thirty, but Bree is still whispering with her friends in the corner. Let’s get this meeting over with already. I talk to Landon and his friends and thank them for wanting to help. They’re good guys, but my guess is they are helping as a last-ditch attempt to add service to their college applications. Leah glances at me, tapping on her watch, and I shrug.

“We should get started,” I say to the room. Bree glances at her phone, pursing her lips.

“We’re still waiting for three people,” she says.

“We’re actually missing four people. June can’t come because she’s in the musical, and Jack texted and said he, Ty, and Ford aren’t going to make it.”

“Ford told me last week that he’d be here. So, we’re waiting. He wouldn’t lie to me.” Bree puts her hands on her hips, scrunching her face at me.

I rub my hand across my forehead as I turn back to everyone that’s here. I sit down next to Chanel and turn, so I’m looking at everyone. “Our biggest priority is having help at the Winter craft fair. It’s the first weekend in December. The school has given us space for a booth, and we need volunteers to help hand out flyers and take donations for the day. It starts at nine and goes until six. How about if I email a sign-up time sheet? I think two people are plenty per shift, and there are enough people to do two-hour shifts. How does that sound to everyone?”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Landon says, and everyone else nods.

“The next weekend will be when people can drop off their donations. So, we’ll need everyone on hand for that. I was also thinking we could do a giving tree and put it in the front entryway of the school.”

“Oh, I like that idea,” Aubrey says.

“What would you put on it?” Edison asks.

“I’ve seen others where the name and age of a child are written on a paper hanging from the tree, and people take the paper off and buy an age and gender appropriate toy,” I say.

“What do they do with the presents they buy?” Landon asks.

“Well, normally, they’d put it back under the tree, but I think kids at school would steal them. I’m sure the office would hold on to them for us. We can put a sign up next to the tree and put a note on the paper that they take the gifts to the office.”

“What kind of donations are we asking for and what happens after we get all the donations?” Chanel asks.

I look at the notes I’d written when I met with Mrs. Landry on Friday. “We’re asking for coats of any size. They can be hand-me-downs, but they can’t have any rips or holes. We’re also asking for warm clothing, hats, gloves, scarves, and snow pants. Those will all go to kids in the district who need them. We’re also asking for nonperishable food items for the local food bank. We’re trying to help them stock up so they won’t run out after the holiday’s. And Mrs. Landry says the district finds a couple of families that are in need. We have a list of things they need, and those would be some of the names we could put on the giving tree. If people want to donate money, we’ll use that to buy the items we don’t get from our donations. All this stuff we’re asking for will be on the flyers we hand out at the craft fair. Mrs. Landry said she’ll email parents with the information as well.”

“It sounds like you’ve got it figured out,” Cory says.

“Yeah, it shouldn’t be too hard. We just need to get the word out.” I shrug.

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