nose. “Are you all right? I’m so sorry!”
“She’s fine.” The other girl set down her box next to the cash register with a grunt, then took the box out of my hands and set it next to hers. When they were both secure, she wiped her hands off on her jeans and held one out to me to shake. She was tall and dark-skinned, with short curly hair and big hoop earrings, and she grinned at me before she rolled her eyes at Becky. “I’m Lisa. Tell Becky you’re fine. You’re fine, right?”
“I’m fine.” I smiled back and shook Lisa’s hand. Her denim jacket had at least a dozen buttons pinned on. I read SAVE THE WHALES, TRUST IN GOD—SHE WILL PROVIDE, and ABOLISH APARTHEID before I realized I was being rude and lifted my eyes back to her face. “I’m Sharon.”
“Rad to meet you. Sorry my roommate almost killed you. Want a beer? It’s the least we can do.”
I thought she was joking until I noticed the six-pack behind the cash register. “No, thanks. I only came in to see if Evelyn was around.”
Lisa didn’t miss a beat. “Evie!” she shouted, without turning her head. “A woman’s here to see you!”
“You sure you’re okay?” Becky grabbed my elbow and looked me up and down as if checking for wounds. “I’m so sorry. The right wheel’s quirky on that thing.”
“The wheel is fine.” Lisa waved a dismissive hand. “Becky’s just trying to get out of loading-dock duty next time, but it’s not gonna work.”
“Sharon! You came!” Evelyn was striding toward us from a door behind the cash register. “That’s great. Did you already introduce yourselves?”
“Yeah,” Lisa said. “Becky nearly killed her, but Sharon saved your box of Camera Obscuras.”
“I try to be useful,” I said, hoping it sounded funny. I guess I succeeded, because Evelyn laughed. She was wearing a T-shirt and jeans, and she looked different, more relaxed, than she had when I’d seen her at the club. Her knee collar was nowhere in sight.
The bookstore was smaller than I’d expected, and except for a single narrow aisle and a nook to one side that held a paper-strewn table and a few chairs, every inch of space was crammed with bookshelves. A couple of girls with long, loose hair were studying the shelves to my right, and low voices murmured behind the door Evelyn had emerged from.
I doubted Becky was much older than me, and the others might’ve been in their early twenties. None of them looked like real adults. They were all a lot younger than my teachers.
Becky finished lifting the boxes off the dolly and steered it toward the room at the back. Evelyn stepped forward, still beaming. “I’ll show you around. You want a drink?”
“Already offered.” Lisa hopped up onto the counter next to the register and ripped open a box. “She said no. Whoa—did someone mean to order an entire box of Adrienne Rich?”
“We can send them back if they don’t sell, but they will.” Evelyn nodded confidently.
“Okay, well, I’m ordering a box of Audre Lorde on Monday, then.” Lisa reached for the next box.
“Your timing is great, Sharon.” Evelyn waved for me to follow her toward the table and chairs. “We’ve got a volunteer meeting starting in a few minutes. Want to help us fold some flyers on Prop 6?”
“Heck, yes.”
I blushed as soon as I’d said it, highly conscious of how young I must’ve sounded, and Evelyn laughed. It was another friendly laugh, though. Everything about this place was friendly.
“I should start setting up.” Evelyn reached for a jar of pens on the counter. “Could you help me bring things out from the back?”
“Sure.”
I followed her into what turned out to be a tiny storeroom full of boxes and supplies. Two other girls were somehow crammed into the back, going through an inventory list, when Evelyn and I squeezed inside. At first I could barely breathe in the tight space, but soon I was carting boxes of envelopes and Xeroxed flyers and rolls of stamps out to the table. More girls had arrived, and they were gathering