Free The Shadow Girl of Birch Grove by Marta Acosta Page B

return these
    things,” I said to a clerk in a pale blue sweater and skirt.
    I took the clothes out of the bag and she said, “Certainly. Do you have the
    receipt?”
    “No, the clothes were a gift. I’d like a refund.”
    “We can give you store credit,” she said. “But we can’t give refunds
    without a receipt.”
    -59- The Shadow Girl of Birch Grove – Marta Acosta
    “I just got them two days ago,” I said. I wished I was one of those girls
    who could talk their way into anything, and I tried smiling.
    “Hello, there, young lady,” someone said.
    The clerk and I both turned to look at the older clerk who worked in the
    lingerie section.
    “Hi,” I said.
    She looked me up and down and said, “Yes, good undergarments make a
    very nice difference. How are you?”
    “I’m trying to return some things I don’t need.”
    The woman at the counter said to her, “Oh, you two know each other?”
    “Yes, Mrs. Monroe brought her shopping the other day. She’s a new Birch
    Grove student.”
    “Then I think we can make an exception to the refund policy,” said the
    clerk in blue.
    Now that I had cash in my pocket, I stopped into the chic beauty shop next
    door to the boutique. Mirrors reflecting gleaming glass display cases, and a subtle
    floral scent hung in the air. I went to the counter with rows of eye products, eye
    shadows in a kaleidoscope of colors, trays of crayons from thin to thick…
    I picked up a tube of mascara and turned it to see the price, which was on a
    tiny tab. It cost as much as a bag of groceries.
    A pretty clerk came over and said, “May I help you find something?”
    “No thanks. Just looking,” I said. I picked up an eye crayon and it cost
    even more. “Thanks.”
    I walked toward the bus stop, feeling the comfort of the folded bills and
    coins in my pocket, when I saw the shuttle pulling away from the stop. I ran, my
    heavy book bag clunking against me, but the shuttle chugged off.
    I read the chemistry tutoring guide while waiting for the next shuttle. I was
    thinking about Lucky and money, money and Lucky, when I realized that a car
    had stopped in front of me and then someone called out, “Hey! Hey!”
    It was the girl from the grocery store. She was leaning across the front seat
    of the older black Nissan so she could yell out the open passenger window.
    -60- The Shadow Girl of Birch Grove – Marta Acosta
    “Hi,” I said.
    “Where ya going?”
    “Up to Birch Grove. I just missed the shuttle.”
    “It’ll be another hour ‘cause it’s still on the summer schedule. I’ll give you
    a lift. Hop in.”
    “Thanks.” I got in the car, which had fuzzy pink seat covers and smelled
    like strawberry jam. “I’m Jane.”
    “Hey, Jane. My friends call me Ornery, but my real name is Orneta.”
    “Which do you want to be called?” I asked. There was something very
    easy-going about her and I felt more relaxed than I had in weeks.
    “Call me Orneta around the store and Ornery when I’m not. I’m taking
    nursing classes at the CC.”
    “Is that nearby?”
    “It’s about twenty minutes away.” She said she lived in an apartment with
    two roommates and asked where I was from. When I told her and mentioned City
    Central she let out a hoot. “That place has a terrible rep,” she said. “I dated a guy
    who went there and he told crazy stories.”
    “They’re true,” I said.
    “Of course, my high school in Aurora, I’m from Illinois, was like that, too.”
    “Do you like Greenwood?”
    “ Chica , this town gives me the creeps, but I get paid real good and just got
    a bonus. But the people are all so aren’t-we-special.”
    She shuddered dramatically, and I laughed and said, “It’s pretty though. I
    didn’t know there really were places like this.”
    “Compared to the hood, for sure. But everyone here is all up in everyone
    else’s business and everything is so damn old. Greenwood’s like being in a time
    warp.”
    “Are there any stores that have things