Free Careful What You Wish For by Maureen McCarthy Page B

Imagining her mother blabbing on to everyone about how her daughter was missing Mary Ellen so much made Ruth just want to curl up and die.
    ‘Not interested?’ Lou laughed. ‘But we’re your friends!’
    ‘I know, but … I didn’t want to carry on about it.’
    ‘You’ve got to be joking!’ Lou had on her deeply offended face. ‘You know I’m going to be a psychologist!’
    Ruth tried to look apologetic. In fact, she hadn’t known that. Last she knew Lou was going to be a pilot, and before that a vet. From Grade Two to Grade Five she had been going to be a top fashion model, but that got sidelined when she didn’t grow as tall as everyone else. Needless to say, Bonnie and Katy and Susie were looking on seriously, nodding and frowning, agreeing that Ruth had committed yet another incredible blunder.
    ‘Well, sorry,’ Ruth said. ‘I just didn’t think.’
    ‘Anyway, now we know,’ Lou said magnanimously. ‘We’re your friends and we’re here to help.’
    ‘Thanks. It’s great of you all to come.’
    They all smiled at this.
    ‘We want to cheer you up.’
    ‘Absolutely,’ Bonnie mumbled.
    ‘So what now?’ Lou said, looking around. ‘Shall we go check out the shops?’
    ‘That would be awesome,’ Susie answered for them all.
    * * *
    It was exciting at first. The shopping centre was very crowded, full of all kinds of people: gangs of teenage boys, families with little kids, buskers, businesspeople and ordinary shoppers, girls like themselves on the prowl. Although it was only a quick tram ride from the Craze house, Ruth had hardly ever been there, mainly because she’d never had any money to spend. There was so much to check out, and it was exciting to feel the vouchers in her pocket. She followed her friends around, staring at everything, not really listening too closely as they laughed and chattered and pointed things out to each other.
    Finally they came to the store that Mary Ellen had picked out. Lou threw an arm around Ruth’s neck and pointed at the big bright letters. Ruth stared in at the shining black and grey counters and strategically placed spotlights illuminating the racks of clothes. No way in the world would she have ever dared to enter this place on her own, but with her willing bevy of friends, why not?
    ‘Cool, huh?’ Lou shouted over the loud pumping music.
    ‘Yeah.’ Ruth smiled tentatively. ‘Cool.’
    Once inside, Lou, Bonnie, Susie and Katy split up and prowled about like experts, leaving Ruth floundering, not knowing where to start. Her friends called out loudly to each other, giggling and picking stuff out for praise or ridicule.
    ‘Can I help you girls?’ The young sales assistant was watching them warily.
    ‘Not yet, thanks,’ Lou called back breezily.
    ‘Hey, Ruth, you like this? What size are you? Is this the kind of thing you’re after?’
    Ruth nodded uneasily. She felt foolish that she had no clear idea what she was looking for or how to find it.
    Within minutes, they were all heading towards her with armfuls of clothes and shoes and pointing her towards the dressing-room.
    ‘Here you go.’
    ‘This goes with that,’ Katy said, holding out a pair of bright-red cut-offs and a tiny striped, frilly top. ‘And here are the shoes.’
    Ruth could see immediately that the things they were choosing were all wrong. Nice things, but not her style. They were trying to make her look like them!
    But she took the first pile of clothes and disappeared behind the curtain. Relax , she told herself. Her friends were helping her choose her new wardrobe, that was all. Maybe she did need to loosen up a bit with what she thought was right for her.
    Ruth looked at herself in the mirror and tried to get the glum expression off her face.
    The first outfit she tried on was a long black T-shirt dress with a red belt. The other girls insisted that it go with shiny, flecked tights that Ruth didn’t much like, but she hardly dared to say so because when she came out of the