it? Something that seems so horrible one minute, is like a drop in the ocean the next.
“Because you always look so put out and sad,” she says, gritting her teeth in a way that reminds me of Raz. My heart jumps in my chest, and I try really hard not to think about the day at the spring, and how his hand felt wrapped around mine. “And you have no right to be.” My mouth drops open as Pearl says to me what I almost verbatim said to Calix. “You have two parents who love you, two sisters, two best friends. Nobody took your baby away, nobody shipped you off to live in another state because they're embarrassed of you. Your family lets you—no encourages you—to do whatever you want, dye your hair however you want, paint whatever the fuck you want. And then you have the audacity to act like life is so hard?” She shrugs again and shakes her head. “Look, I'll give the dress back, in light of this bullshit with Calix, but you need to get your shit together.”
I just stare at her, the girl who I caught cutting herself in the train car, the one who shot herself during a Devils' Day Party days prior. And here she is, telling me to get my shit together.
Fuck, maybe she's right?
No, no, she is right.
I spent day one of this mess acting like a spoiled brat, and I ended up off the edge of a cliff for it. Closing my eyes, I exhale and then open them when our waitress sets the coffees down on the table and takes our order. Pearl gets a spinach and mushroom omelet while I order a croissant sandwich and three different kinds of muffins. Why not? I may as well binge today. There are some bakeries and candy stores here in Eureka Springs I'm going to load up on while I have the chance.
“Okay, deal,” I say, and Pearl pauses with her straw halfway to her lips. I pull my own iced coffee close and take a drink. “You're right. And you can keep the dress if you want.”
She just stares at me for a moment before her cheeks turn pink and she looks back down at her drink.
“Well, you said you'd buy me a new one. I'd rather have that. You can keep your homemade rag.” She starts sucking on her coffee drink and I burst out laughing, letting my head fall back and not caring if anyone stops to stare. If you can't find time to laugh loud enough to piss somebody else off, then you're not really living, now are you?
“Deal. Let's eat and then get you a new dress. And maybe a hat from the haberdashery.” I grin and take a sip of my own drink, groaning loudly enough that I could play Sally in When Harry Met Sally.
Pearl looks at me like I'm crazy, but some of the ire leaves her expression.
After breakfast, we make our way up Spring Street, using the emergency credit card the moms gave me to buy dresses, shoes, jewelry, fresh taffy, and even two stuffy hats that cost a pretty penny.
“Your moms are okay with you spending all this money?” Pearl asks when we take a break at the Eureka Daily Roast for some chai tea. The answer to that question is a resounding fuck no, but before they ever find out I've blown every cent of credit they have, the day will start over and this little shopping spree will be nothing but a distant memory.
“They'll be mad,” I say, thinking about how they'd actually act if tomorrow really did come. “Likely they'll make me work in the store to pay it all back.” My lips twist into a smile as I look up from my heaping plate of pastries. Pretty sure Pearl thinks I've got an eating disorder at this point, but that's okay. “Want to see their store after we're done here?”
“Sure,” she says, her cheeks coloring pink again. I've noticed she does that every time I compliment her, like when I said her hair was pretty, or that she looked good in the emerald green dress she picked out. “Why not?”
We head up the sloping hill toward the moms' store—A Little Slice of Karma.
“They named their store after you?” Pearl asks, and I shake my head.
“They named me after their store.” We step inside to the musky smell of incense and the gentle tinkling of an antique