Chapter 5-4
378 Words
The next day she saw Zoe only briefly as the girl passed the storefront and rushed into the neighboring shop, Golden Arts.
“You should go check the rock shop,” Susan said, noticing Zoe dash inside.
Penny shrugged, then shook her head and went back to her book. She was bored, but not so desperately bored she was going to start stalking the locals.
On Friday morning, Zoe turned up about an hour after opening.
Penny watched with muted interest as Zoe approached Susan, her face pointed toward the floor and a cascade of long dark hair covering it.
Susan and Jenny noticed her too.
“Good morning,” Susan said, setting aside the order form she’d been filling out.
Jenny waved, then went back to facing and straightening a shelf of binders.
“Hi, Susan. Thanks for the book.” She glanced over at Penny, who quickly looked back down at her own book but couldn’t pick up the dropped thread of her story.
“I hope it’s one you like. I’ve seen you look at it a few times.”
“Yeah, it’s really good.” She stopped in front of Susan, finally looking up into her face. “I made this for you … to say thanks, you know.”
Penny snuck another surreptitious glance and saw Zoe holding out a small dreamcatcher. About the size of her outstretched hand, a dozen beaded strings crisscrossed a frame of slender willow. In the center, a clear crystal caught and reflected light from the overhead fluorescents.
“That’s beautiful,” Susan exclaimed, turning it back and forth in her hand to watch the reflected light dance in the crystal. “I’ll hang it over the door.”
“Thanks,” Zoe said, and Penny saw a blush creep into her cheeks.
She turned to Penny next, and instead of looking away again Penny forced a smile. “Hi Zoe.”
“Hi … I brought you this.” She held out an old and clearly well-read paperback book, a Year’s Best Horror Stories that was older than both of them put together. “I noticed you like scary stories, so …”
“It’s great,” Penny said, and meant it. Not the book—Penny thought this one looked especially cheesy, even for a book of horror stories—but that Zoe had brought it. Maybe what Penny had mistaken for snobbery was just shyness. “Thanks.”
Zoe looked up then, even smiled. “You wanna go hang out for a bit?”
- Writer
