Free It's a Green Thing by Melody Carlson

my faded overalls and just shook her head. “Oh, I don't think Maya could possibly get hired at a place like Divine Diva or Jacqueline's or even Nolita's, Kim. They're way too exclusive for someone like…well, Maya.”
    And it was as if she'd thrown down the gauntlet. Oh, I kept my cool and acted like her words didn't sting a little. But suddenly I couldn't wait to get dressed up, get on the bus, and go get a job. Well, that's what I'm hoping. But that's probably my pride speaking, and that's not good. I'm definitely going to pray about this job thing. The truth is, I don't want to work anywhere that God isn't leading me.
    Naturally, after pointing out that I didn't have a chance of getting a job that had anything to do with fashion, Natalie went on to tell us that Brooke Marshall's lawsuit was becoming the talk of the town. I wanted to ask why that was. Don't people have better things to talk about? But instead I excused myself. For one thing I can't bear to think about Brooke. It's like she's the enemy and I hate her. I hate her moneygrubbing father and her snooty mother too. And I know it's not Christian to hate others—and thatmakes me feel guilty. But it's the truth. I just don't want to talk about it. Not to anyone. I can barely admit it to myself. But there, it's in my diary now. I hate Brooke and her family!
    Anyway, I don't want to think about Brooke right now. Instead I want to focus on getting a job. If I'm going to land a job in some chic shop, I have work to do, including a manicure, pedicure, exfoliating, and all the other little tricks I learned at Montgomery's Modeling Agency last summer. For Kim's sake (and perhaps for Natalie's too) and maybe even for my own, I plan to do all I can to land a job ASAP. When I go in with my résumé, I plan to look like a million bucks. Or at least a few thousand. Thankfully, one of Dad's friends went to our old house before it went into foreclosure and packed and shipped my things to me. (Okay, some of them were originally Shannon's, but she doesn't need them in the pen, and they'd have been thrown out anyway.) I actually have a fairly decent wardrobe to choose from. They might be “second season” in Beverly Hills, but my guess is that they're “cutting-edge cool” here. And I will work them.
June 20
    I know two wrongs don't make a right, but if two rights could fix a wrong, I'd be feeling good right now. As it is, although I'm somewhat encouraged, the black cloud (Brooke Marshall) is still hanging over me.
    Anyway, here are the two good things that happened to me today. (1) I was offered a job at Jacqueline's Boutique thismorning, and (2) my dad called Uncle Allen and told him that he wanted to buy me a car and asked if my uncle could help me find a good one. My dad wants to buy me a car!!! I'm stunned. Now I'm sure a lot of families out there would assume something like this was just normal. And maybe it is—for some kids. But remember me? I'm the girl who's been dying to try on normal. I'm the girl who wants to live in the Land of Boring. Like, hey, this is the life!
    And, okay, it's not like my dad is going to fly home from Frankfurt to go car shopping with me. But at least he wants to help out. I e-mailed him the day I'd gotten my driver's license to tell him the good news. And I hadn't hinted about wanting a car or looking for a job or emancipation or anything. It was just a “hey, how ya doing” kind of e-mail. I thought he'd appreciate hearing how I'd passed my driving test with no problem. Naturally, I didn't confess to the test dude that I'd been driving for quite some time now or that I'd chauffeured my addict mom around in order to be safe. I have a feeling that wouldn't have impressed him much.
    Anyway, you could've knocked me over when Uncle Allen told me about Dad's call. And Uncle Allen even offered to help me look. At first I thought it was because he was relieved that I would be more independent and that I wouldn't ask to use his car (which I would