I patted her on the arm. “I get it. Let’s do it.” I could tell that whatever brought Ellie to this town, she wasn’t happy about it. I didn’t mean to sound like the moral police anyway. I was just curious as to whether it was something she actually needed or something she was doing for kicks. From the grave look her eyes suddenly took on, it seemed to be something she needed.
We walked into the store and she veered off to my right, walking purposefully down the aisle while I took in a deep breath and approached Mr. Sirk. The minute he looked up from his tattered paperback novel—Tom Clancy—and saw me, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“May I help you?” he asked. He licked his lips nervously. Sometimes I wondered just how scary I looked to people. I mean, sure I was in all black and kinda weird, but still, I was obviously just thirteen. I wasn’t a threat. Then again, people had said that before the Columbine incident, too.
Of course, now I had to distract him long enough for Ellie to steal whatever she was stealing.
I leaned on the counter, noticing him inch back slightly, and said, “Got any comic books?”
He looked slightly relieved. I bet he thought I was going to ask him for hard drugs or something.
“Did you check the magazine rack?” he asked.
“No,” I answered. “Thought I’d ask you first. So do you?”
“No,” he said. He brought his book out and was about to resume reading when I said, “Could you order some in for me?”
Okay, it was lame, and I was seconds from being thrown out of his store, I could tell.
He sighed angrily and said, “Look, kid, this ain’t a library. If you want to buy comic books, I suggest…”
I know he kept talking, but I stopped listening the minute I caught Ellie leaving the store out of the corner of my eye. I tapped the counter with my fist, making the man jump, told him “thank you”, and quickly walked out of the store after Ellie.
She hadn’t looked behind her or stopped until she was well clear of the building. Though she was still limping, she looked casual and carefree, like she hadn’t stolen anything at all. In fact, I couldn’t be sure of it until I was right beside her in the insufferable heat looking down at her jean pocket, which bulged at the front.
“Is that it?” I asked.
She kept her eyes to the road. “Yep. Thanks for that.”
“No problem.” I really, really wanted to ask again about what it was she stole, but from the clipped way she finished her sentences, I knew she wouldn’t tell me. Maybe it was something as simple as makeup.
I chewed on my lip for a second, trying to think of what else to say. My father hadn’t come by yet, but I felt like time was running out.
“You were really good,” I told her.
She shot me a funny look.
I swallowed uneasily. “I mean, you looked natural. Not that I think you always steal shit, it’s just…um, well it was kind of fun. More fun than what I normally do.”
“And what do you normally do? Aside from go to the shrink?”
She was a smart-ass, too. I liked that.
I smiled and brushed my hair behind my ears. “You know. Play guitar, draw, paint, listen to music. Annoy my stepsisters. You?”
She shrugged. “I’ve been learning a lot about harvesting dates.”
“I think you need to get out more,” I joked. “Maybe…”
Ellie looked at me expectantly. It was ridiculous, what I was about to say, but my mouth was moving and the words were coming out before I could stop them.
My eyes dropped to the hot asphalt as a gum wrapper blew past on a stiff breeze. “Maybe…if you wanted…I could show you around town. I mean, if you wanted. Might be nice to know the area before school starts. I could tell you all the kids to avoid…though they’d all say to start with me.”
She was silent for so long that I finally had to look up at her. She was staring off into the distance, at the dry, crackled mountains. Either she was ignoring me or she was lost in her own thoughts.
I opened my mouth to tell her to forget it when she said, “I guess you get bullied a lot, huh?”
I snorted. “Well, yeah. Last year they started calling me The Dark Queen. I’ve been shoved into more lockers than backpacks have. My lips get most of their action from other dude’s fists.”
She looked at me, her gaze leveled. “You sound proud of it.”
I shrugged with one shoulder. “It’s life. Gotta make something of it. I’m not going to stop being me.”
“Is that what you told the shrink?”
I nodded. “Pretty much.”
“But what’s the real answer? Who is the real Camden?”
“Wow. You’re all deep and shit, for a shoplifter.” I expected her to smile at that but she just looked back to the road, just in time to see my dad’s van come down into the parking lot. I took in a steadying breath. “Well, that’s my ride.”
I must have sounded odd to her because her head whipped toward me and she studied my face. “Is that your family?”
“My dad and stepmom,” I said quickly. “They’ll have a heart attack when they see me talking to a girl. Think the shrink scared me straight.”
Her mouth formed an “oh” and I figured she was probably assuming I was gay. I was tired of correcting people though, so I didn’t add anything to that. Besides, maybe she’d think I was less threatening if I was.
The van came to a sudden stop beside me, Raquel getting mild whiplash in the front seat. I was surprised to see my father hopping out and coming around the front of it.
“Dad,” I said nervously.
Only he was smiling faintly, like he was really impressed that I was talking to a member of the female species, and
