Wishing for Someday Soon Read Online Free Page A

embarrassed. “I could put a word in for you if you would like?” he said, shooting me one of his knee-melting-palm-sweating-dimpled smiles.
    “Um, that’s okay.” I replied, not entirely crazy about being indebted to him.
    “You sure? It’s no prob, my dad’s a fair boss and such.”
    “That’s okay, but it’s cool you have a built-in job.”
    “Yeah, well, he kind of owns a bunch of stores, but we live close to this one so I’m pretty much slave labor since he’s actually just grooming me for the fu-”
    “How did you want to pay?” An impatient voice asked, interrupting him.
    “Oops, sorry,” I said, turning back to the slightly aggravated sales clerk. “Um, with this,” I said, trying not to let it show that I was bothered about paying with my mom’s food stamp card. I shifted my body to the side so I wasn’t facing the cute bag boy that was making my pulse act erratically.
    “Are you Lucinda Richards?” she asked, reading my mom’s name off the card.
    “No, that’s my mom,” I said, wishing that the floor would open up and swallow me whole so I could escape. Even a meteor crashing through the roof would have been preferred.
    “Then your mom will have to come in and sign for it,” she said almost gleefully, enjoying the fact that she was putting me on the spot.
    “I never had a problem before,” I said coolly in an effort to cover my embarrassment. Being poor was definitely not fun at times.
    “Marge, I’m sure it’s okay,” the bag boy said, coming to my rescue.
    “Maybe I should call the manager to check,” she said in a defiant voice.
    “Marge, my dad owns the store and I said it's okay,” he said in a voice that left no argument.
    “Fine, but if I get in any trouble, I’m telling your father you approved it,” she said, clearly aggravated at being trumped by a seventeen-year-old.
    I kept my head held high, trying to act like the entire confrontation hadn’t mortified me. Paying with the food stamp card was always embarrassing, but the majority of the time the stores were so busy no one paid much attention to you.
    I met my rescuer’s eyes dead-on, feeling completely vulnerable as he seemed to peer through my defenses.
    “These bags seem pretty heavy. Do you want me to carry them for you?” he asked, not quite releasing them completely to me as our hands touched.
    “No, I got 'em,” I said. “I’m tougher than I look,” I added, making it clear I didn’t need his help. I pulled on the handles until he reluctantly released them.
    “Are you sure?” he asked one last time.
    I nodded. “I’m used to it,” I said, feeling the mask that was hiding my embarrassment begin to slip as he studied me intently.
    “Okay,” he surrendered, sounding a little disappointed.
    I gripped the handles tightly making my knuckles turn white. His now sympathetic gaze was enough to wither the tough-girl front I was trying to portray, so I turned quickly, fleeing from the store before I completely crumbled.
    I didn’t slow my pace as I continued to berate myself all the way back to the entrance of the trailer park. Some master of illusion I was. We're not even here one day and in one fell swoop I’d allowed a swoon-worthy hunk a glimpse into my reality. The thought of facing him again the next day made my stomach flip. For a moment I wanted to be selfish as I contemplated using Lucinda’s spontaneity in my favor by harping on the smallness of the town. I knew if I worded it right I could convince her we should move on and leave the small town behind. Kevin’s face floated through my head and I imagined his disappointment if we packed it in and hit the road again. I had promised him I would try to keep us in this place as long as I could. Could I betray him by breaking my promise just because I was afraid that some cute guy had caught a small glimpse of the real me?
    I knew I couldn’t do that to him. After our last bout of homelessness, Kevin needed some semblance of stability, for