new DG members only by unanimous vote.
As soon as Cass set down her iPad, Devon eagerly started to explain her âbig idea.â
âI suppose it couldâve waited until tomorrow,â she admitted as she picked up her slice of cheese pizza, âbut itâs such a fabulous idea, I couldnât wait to tell you guys.â
âSo tell us,â Abby urged.
Devon nodded eagerly. âOkay . . . So I was in the drama department talking to Mr. Ramsay about trying out for the spring play. He hasnât announced what itâs going to be yet, but I wanted him to know that I played the lead at my old schoolâalthough it wasnât a musical and I heard Northwoodâs spring play might be a musical andââ
âWhat does this have to do withââ
âHey!â Devon shook her finger at Cassidy. â I was talking.â
âSorry.â Cassidy looked down at the iPad where she was taking notes and, unless Bryn was mistaken, looked slightly contriteâwhich was unusual.
âAnyway,â Devon continued, âI noticed someone pushing this rack of costumes past the stage and I went over to check them out and found the most gorgeous gown ever. The guy told me it was from a Shakespeare production from a year or two ago. And it turns out it was for Julietâand let me tell you the dress is absolutely beautiful. Itâs purple velvet and magenta satin and this luscious brocade skirtâitâs amazing!â
âThatâs the dress my sister Tara wore,â Bryn exclaimed. âShe played Juliet in her junior year.â
âOh, yeah, I remember,â Abby said. âShe made such a beautiful Juliet.â
âYeah, except for that horrid black wig that Mr. Ramsay insisted she wear.â
âWell, a blonde Juliet wouldâve beenââ
â Excuse me ,â Devon said loudly. âI was trying to explain my plan.â
âGo ahead,â Bryn said a bit indignantly. âI only wanted to point out that my sister wore that dress and my grandmother sewed that dress. Just in case anyone cares to know.â
âOh.â Devon nodded. âWell, itâs a very nice gown and it looked well madeâa lot more substantial than a lot of costumes. So anyway, I took it over to Mr. Ramsay and asked him if the drama department ever loans out costumes.â
âLoans out costumes?â Bryn frowned. âYou mean to just anyone?â
âMr. Ramsay said that there was not any kind of loan policy,â Devon continued. âSo I asked him, what about renting out costumes? I mean, couldnât the drama department use a little extra money to put toward the next production or to buy new costumes? I reminded him about how weâre always hearing about budget cuts and how something has got to go. So what if they rented costumes and made some money for the drama department? You know, to use for future costumes.â Devon beamed at them. âAnd Mr. Ramsay liked my idea. In fact, he liked it so much that he agreed to let me rent the Juliet costume.â
âBut I thought weâre supposed to go as book charactersâisnât Romeo and Juliet a play?â Abby asked.
âThat doesnât matter,â Devon told her.
âWeâre supposed to dress up like literary characters,â Cassidy explained. âAnyone from literatureâwell, as long as theyâre not evil Halloween monsters. Thatâs the whole point, to keep kids from dressing like vampires and werewolves and witches and things.â
âBut all those are literary characters,â Devon protested.
âYes,â Cassidy agreed. âBut itâs still not allowed.â
For a while they argued over what defined a literarycharacterâfinally deciding that literature could be in the form of a play or a book or a poem or a fairy tale. âEven Dr. Seuss books could be literary,â Emma claimed. âAnyone want