Curse of the Fountain -5- by Melanie Brown

Melanie Brown

Copyright © 2024

Part 5

“I don’t want to get my ears pierced!”

The girl holding the ear-piercing gun thingy stood silently, unsure of what to do.

Looking very annoyed, Mom sternly said, “Just sit still and let her pierce your ears. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did. You won’t be able to borrow any of my earrings for starters if you don’t.”

I looked sideways at Mom from my chair. “I don’t plan to.”

Mom’s annoying offspring shook her head at me. “Don’t be such a scaredy-cat! I got my ears pierced years ago.”

I frowned at my niece-turned-mom. “You’re going to force this, aren’t you?”

Shaking her head, she said, “It’s not like I’m going to beat you.” The girl holding the earring gun eyed Mom suspiciously. “But it will help you join the bigger world we talked about earlier. I mean, look at these earrings!” Mom held up a pair of earrings she wanted to buy for me. “Aren’t they just the cutest?”

I stewed a few moments, frowning at Mom. Finally I heaved a big sigh and gave Mom a mock salute. “For king and country!” I closed my eyes and braced myself.

Riley laughed. “You’re silly.”

Letting out a yelp, I felt the stud penetrate my earlobe along with a snap. I stayed braced for the next one.

Mom chuckled. “You can open your eyes now. It’s all over and you’re still alive.”

I scowled at Mom. “I wasn’t afraid. I just didn’t see the necessity.”

The earring store girl said, “I know it’s hard to do, but keep your fingers off your ears. You don’t want them to get infected.”

“Great. Now I’ll die from some brain infection.”

As Mom paid, she said, “Now let’s go look at some skirts.”

Walking towards the dress store – well, one of many – I said, “I’m good with just pants. I don’t need a skirt.”

Mom glared at me. “Are you going to complain about every store we go to? You need to embrace being a girl. You’re in it for the long haul.”

“What does that mean, Mom?” asked Riley, who didn’t know that until a few weeks ago, I was a grouchy old man.

Still frowning, Mom said, “It means maybe I should have left your sister with that tribe of head hunters down in South America.”

“Okay, okay,” I said as I tried to put my hands into non-existent pockets. “I’ll be good. I honestly don’t see the point. Pants are more practical.”

As Mom opened the door to the dress store, she said, “It’s just fashion. You want to be pretty, right?”

I must have tried on fifteen different skirts that all seemed the same to me.  We bought five. I tried on six dresses. We bought two. We looked at a few of what Mom called formal dresses. She didn’t like any of them and thought they were too expensive. But she said we had time before homecoming.

As I took off a red sequined thigh-length formal to hand back to Mom, I said, “Save your money, Mom. No way in hell am I going to go to a dance.”

Mom smiled knowingly. “What if you meet a boy you like?”

I laughed. “Like that’s gonna happen.”

Mom just shook her head. “Hey, we’re right next to the food court. Want to grab some lunch?”

I frowned. “Here? You know I’ve dined at some of the finest restaurants in Paris?”

Mom smirked. “Well princess, Paris is far away. You’ll just have to join us commoners.”

We stepped into the food court and faced a wide range of poor choices. Mom sighed. “Okay, girls. We have our choice of tacos, pizza, corn dogs, hamburgers or chicken strips.”

Her face beaming, Riley shouted, “I want tacos!”

Mom looked down at me. “Are  you okay with tacos?”

I sighed. “Sure.”

Mom let us order our own while she paid for all of it. I got two tacos and a burrito. I don’t recall seeing these items on the menu at Pavillon Ledoyen in Paris.  C’est la vie, eh?

I picked up my tray with my food and backed up. I bumped into something. I turned around to see it was a boy who also had a tray of food. My cup fell over. Thankfully, I hadn’t filled it with soda yet.

“I’m sorry!” I said sincerely. “I didn’t see you.”

The boy, looking embarrassed, said, “Oh hey. My fault. I thought I had room to get past you.”

I smiled at him. “No harm done.”

I set my tray down on an empty table to wait for Riley and Mom. The boy studied me for a moment.

The boy asked, “Do you go to school here? I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

I waited before sitting down. “I start Monday. “ I laughed. “So you know everyone at school?”

With a wry grin, he said, “It’s hard to miss a pretty girl.” I smiled at his obvious line.

He set his tray down on my table. “I’m Jeff, by the way.” He held out his hand.

Finding this situation funny, I giggled and said, “Nice to meet you. I’m Nell.” I held his offered hand for a moment. His hand was warm.

Jeff grinned. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a Nell before.”

I giggled and said, “Well, you can’t say that anymore.”

Jeff chuckled. “True.” He looked at me curiously for a moment. “You’re not from around here, are you?”

I shook my head. “I’m adopted. My mom won me in a card game in South America.”

Jeff laughed. “You’re goofy. I like you. Hey, my friends are waiting on me.” He pointed at a table where several boys and girls were sitting. “Maybe I’ll see you at school.”

“Maybe.” I watched him walk over to the other table.

Mom set her tray down on the table and giggled. “Well, aren’t you little miss flirty-pants.”

I narrowed my eyes at Mom. “What are you talking about? I wasn’t flirting.”

Mom chuckled as she unwrapped her burrito. “I think I know flirting when I see it.”

“Mooomm!” I whined.

Riley leaned over to look at me. “You know who he is, right?” I shook my head. “He’s one of the top players at HMM.  Even I know who he is. I don’t blame you for liking him.”

Frowning, I said, “I never said I liked him.”

Riley grinned. “Uh-huh.”

The group at the other table were all starting to get up. I watched Jeff as he entered the restroom. One of the girls looked around then hurried to our table. She looked straight at me and said, “Hey, girl. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay away from Jeff. He’s mine!”

I raised my hands in a surrender gesture. “Be my guest. I’m new here.”

She pointed at me. “Stay away from Jeff.” She turned and walked away.

I turned to Mom and asked, “What the hell was all that about?”

Mom shook her head. “Welcome to high school.”

We did some more shopping after lunch. I got two purses, three more skirts, several blouses, some cute bracelets, a necklace, a dozen pairs of panties, two new bras, sandals and a pair of heels that look impossible to wear.

We stopped at a make-up store, and of course, I said, “You really are wasting money here. I have no desire to wear make-up.”

Mom just said, “You never know.” I wound up with foundation, several shades of eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara, blush and God knows what else.

We finished our expedition by going to see “The Covered Bridges of Westchester County.”  Mom and Riley cried during the movie, and I fell asleep.

Why did Jeff appear in my dreams?

                    *

End of Part 5