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“You do realize you did all the signs for those, right? You didn’t fingerspell a single one after the first two,” Luca signs with a little shock on his face.
I look around the room, especially at the other students to see if they are paying attention. Luckily, they aren’t, so they didn’t see what Luca signed.
“No, I didn’t realize I was doing that. I have been practicing signing since I was eight years old. No one knows except you, Atlas, and the teacher. Please don’t bring attention to it right now,”I sign with desperation.
Luca looks at me and then nods. I release the breath I didn’t know I was holding. The situation with the guys is getting more and more complicated, and it’s only the second day of school.
CHAPTER9
PAISLEY
After the final bell rings,I head to the strip mall. This is going to take forever. I have to carry all the groceries home. People don’t realize how heavy groceries are until they have to carry them for miles and miles.
I head to Thrifty Nifty for Less first, the thrift store in town, so I don’t have to lug the groceries in here. I go to the guys’ section first. Their clothes are always cheaper, made more durable, and I like the way they fit me better. I don’t like tight-fitting clothes.
As I’m perusing the guys’ section, I notice some of the girls from school start walking in my direction. I turn to walk away, not wanting a confrontation, especially since I won’t fight back. As I turn around, I run into a hard body. I don’t recognize this person, but that really isn’t saying much. I don’t keep up with who I go to school with. I could be going to school with a popular singer, and I truly wouldn’t know.
The guy shoves me back, pushing me toward the girls. I’ve already started to work on my deep breathing because I know I’m not going to be able to get out of this.
“Hey, slut.”
“Tramp.”
“Cum dumpster.”
“Whore.”
“Don’t you feel bad? You don’t deserve to get those guys’ attention. You are nothing but a liar and a disgrace. I can’t believe I was ever your best friend. You were always a mistake. I’ll make sure they see exactly what you are. A lying whore who says whatever she can to get attention,” Quinn says to me.
They brush past me, so I quickly head to the dressing room. When the door is safely closed behind me, I slide down the wall and let the tears fall.
I was only eight years old. How can an eight-year-old be a whore?
I sit there crying for what feels like hours, but eventually, someone knocks on the door saying I need to leave if I’m not going to try on anything. I swipe at my eyes to clear the stray tears and slap my cheeks a little.
I open the door and head back to the guys’ section, grab a few shirts that are less than a dollar each, and head to check out. I can’t buy too much because then Mom will know I’m not spending her money on groceries. I end up with seven shirts for less than five dollars. Now, don’t get me wrong, they aren’t at all pretty, but I just need to be able to wear them. I don’t need to look pretty.
Walking out of Thrifty Nifty, I head down to Meijers and get a cart. I pull out the list of things we need and start my shopping.
Eggs?Check.
Bread?Check.
Milk, cheese, butter, and yogurt.Check, check, check, check.
I get all the basic things, then I go and get all the produce that I’m going to need for the next week for dinners. Chicken breasts, hot dogs, and hamburger meat. I do try to meal plan, so that helps save time and has actually saved us a lot of money.
When I check out, it seems more things were on sale than I thought, and I end up with more change than I normally do. Now, I can do one of two things: I can give her the extra money and tell her. Or I can keep the change and put it with the rest of the money I find that I have put away from her.
Definitely keep the change.
I store the dollars in my shoe and put the change in one of the grocery bags. I’d put it in my shoes too if I didn’t have so far to walk and I didn’t think it would irritate my feet too much.
Grabbing all seven bags, I struggle to make it out of the store. With several miles to go, I steel myself for the possible hours I have to go, but before I can walk anywhere, I feel the bags being lifted out of my hands.
Panic fills me. I turn around and see the guy from the thrift store. He takes the eggs out of the carton one by one and drops them on the asphalt.
My heart plummets. I knew today was gonna be a bad day. Tears start to form in my eyes, but I blink them back. I refuse to give them any more power over me than they already have. Before this, they took my voice, but they won’t take my dignity.
