Free Taken (Book #2 of the Vampire Legends) by Emma Knight

got them for each other last year as a Christmas/Hanukkah
present. Rachel was surprised, but then realized she was in a much different
town than the one she came from in Pennsylvania. She couldn’t believe that
these girls would spend $300 dollars on each other for a Christmas gift. 
    Liv walked over to the
counter and called over one of the sales ladies. “Can I see this?” she pointed
to a mesh ring in the case.
    “Yes, you may,” the sales
lady said in a professional voice as she pulled the ring out of the case.
    Liv tried on the ring and
looked down at the price. Rachel saw the tag, and could not believe it: $895.
    “I’m going to ask my mom for
this, for my birthday!”
    Rachel watched as the girls “ood”
and “ahhd” over the ring she put on her finger. Liv handed the ring back, and
the lady handed Liv her business card
    “Please give this to your
parents, and have them call me when they’re ready to purchase the ring.”
    “Will do!” Liv said with a
smile.
    The girls walked out of the
store and headed up the escalator into Neiman Marcus. They walked over to the
shoe department and began looking around at all the different pumps, sneakers
and flats. Rachel picked up one shoe and flipped it over to see the price. This
particular shoe had a bright red bottom with a small sticker, which read $795!
Rachel thought she had read it wrong. Seven hundred and ninety five dollars for
a simple pair of black patent pumps? She looked at the label on the inside of
the shoe, which read Christian Louboutin. She’d never heard of this brand, but
knew she was better off. She could never afford those shoes—or any of the shoes
in that whole shoe department. She picked up a few others Prada, Gucci, Fendi,
Manolo Blahnik, each one more expensive than the next. She couldn’t imagine who
would spend $2,500 on a pair of tan suede and fur trimmed boots, but apparently
they sold them, so someone must want them.
    Rachel was in shock. This
was the opposite of any mall she’d ever been in and she felt a little ashamed.
She couldn’t afford anything in the entire store. She wished she were back in
Pennsylvania shopping at Aeropostale, JC Penney’s and Wal Mart. At least there
she didn’t feel like she was being judged by the amount of money she could
spend.
    The girls walked out of
Neiman Marcus and upstairs to the Louis Vuitton store.
    “Guys, I’ve been wanting the
LV Neverfull so badly,” Taryn said as they walked into the store.
    “What’s that?” Rachel
asked.  She instantly felt like a moron. She figured she should have kept her
mouth shut and just watched.
    “That’s it!” Taryn said, as
she pointed to a bag high on the shelf.
    “Can I see that?” Taryn
asked the sales man.
    “Sure you may, young lady.
What size? GM, MM or PM?”
    “PM, please,” Taryn
responded.
    The man pulled open a
sliding drawer underneath a glass case full of wallets, belts, sunglasses and
other LV accessories. He unwrapped the tan dust bag and handed her the
canvas-monogrammed bag.
    “OMG! Is this not the most
amazing bag you’ve ever seen?” Taryn said, looking at the girls.
    “Love that bag!” Jen said with
a smile. “I want the Speedy 35 though.”
    “I think I’m going to get
it!” Taryn said whimsically to the girls, then looked back at the salesman. “How
much is it again?”
    “The PM bag sells for $770,”
he replied.
    Rachel watched as Taryn
looked at the girls for encouragement.
    “Get it— you’ve been wanting
it for a while,” Emily said.
    “If you love it buy it. It’s
a classic!” Jen said.
    “You’re right guys,” Taryn
said.
    “OK, I’ll take it,” Taryn
said to the salesman, as she handed him back the bag to wrap.
    Rachel couldn’t believe her
eyes. Taryn was taking out her parent’s credit card to charge seven hundred and
seventy dollars. This was insane. She thought for a moment about what would
happen if she’d spent that kind of money on her parent’s credit card. She would
be