“It matters a great deal il stupido, now clear off and leave me alone.”
“Hey,” said Will as he got off Mum’s bed. “If it’s a charity ball, why don’t you go to a charity shop? You might find something. You never know.”
With that he trudged off to his room and after I’d exhausted Mum’s wardrobe, I began to think that his idea wasn’t half bad. Sometimes people gave away really nice stuff to charity shops. I wouldn’t go to our local shop though. They wouldn’t have anything decent. I knew what was in there as all our family were regulars. Mum gets most of our clothes in there, she jokes that she and I are discount divas. Andrea gets books, Will gets DVDs, Dan gets great games and I get some good CDs. But clothes fit for a ball? No chance. The stuff in our local shop was the sort that even the jumble sales didn’t want. But there were other charity shops in other areas. Areas where rich people lived. Suddenly I remembered the leaflet that had blown towards me on Friday. For shops in Osbury. It was the village nearest our school. A few new shops had opened there lately and I was sure that one of them was a charity shop.
After leaving a note for Mum, I legged it as fast as I could to the bus stop and took the bus into Osbury. It was the most upmarket village in our area. If there were going to be designer giveaways anywhere then that would be the place.
Half an hour later, I got off the bus and scanned the row of shops opposite the bus stop. Result! I thought, there’s the charity shop.
I was about to make my way over the road when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned to find the most stunning-looking woman I had ever seen. She didn’t look like a local, in fact she looked like a celebrity and in her early twenties although I was never very good at judging people’s ages. I couldn’t help but stare at her as she looked like she’d just stepped out of the pages of Vogue magazine. She had blue eyes, like the sky on the clearest day in summer, a perfect heart shaped face, long blonde hair, whiter than white teeth and she was wearing the most fabulicious white T-shirt and jeans with studs down the seams. I could tell that they cost mega bucks. And she smells amazing, I thought as her perfume wafted towards me on the breeze. It was sweet but delicate like the scent of white roses after the rain.
She handed me a piece of paper and said in an Essex accent, “I think this is yours darlin’.”
I glanced down at it. Omigod! It was the same as the paper that had blown my way at school yesterday.
“Oh! But… this… I… er…” I began.
But the lady had already turned and was heading in the opposite direction. “Don’t lose it this time,” she called over her shoulder then gave me a wave as she walked away.
I looked at the paper again. Weird, I thought. Why did she give it to me? Did she think I had dropped it? Whatever the reason, it seemed like I really was meant to have it. This was the third time it had come to me. I decided to take a closer look later so stuffed it into my pocket and crossed the road to the shop.
As soon as I got inside, I started rummaging through the racks. There were a few things that looked promising and after fifteen minutes I had a bunch of outfits to try on. Even if they didn’t fit perfectly, I could probably alter them as I’m good at adapting clothes. Art is one of the subjects that I come top in at school and being creative seems to come easy. Feeling more positive than I had all day, I went into the changing room.
The first outfit was a mid-length black dress in a floaty voile-type material. I slipped it over my head and looked in the mirror.
Waaaay too big. And the colour drained me. Even if I raced home and altered it on Mum’s sewing machine, it wasn’t going to work.
The second was a pink satin dress.
Bleurgh. I looked like a bridesmaid and the material was totally too shiny. Not flattering at all.
The third one was a pale mushroom colour but looked sophisticated.
Until I got it on that it is. It was waaaay too long. I looked like a kid in her mum’s dress. And once again, the colour made me look washed out.
The fourth looked like it might be perfect. Short with a halter neck line. Peacock blue. I read somewhere that it’s a good colour for people with green eyes like me.
I held my breath and squeezed into it. Much too tight. Only a nine year-old would get into it.
Ah well, I thought as I reached for the fifth one, a white short lycra dress, this looks like it might fit.
It did. It was perfect. I did a twirl. And then I saw the back. It had a huge nasty stain like someone had split red wine down the back. No wonder its previous owner had given it away.
I felt so disappointed as I got dressed. Will’s great idea wasn’t going to work. I put the clothes back on the rail then had another rummage through but nothing, only way old-fashioned stuff that I wouldn’t be seen dead in. I had picked all the best pieces out already.
I checked my watch. Two o’clock. The party started at six thirty and I still had nothing to wear but no way could I go in my tatty old clothes from last year. I’d have to think up some excuse to tell Georgie as to why I couldn’t go.
I left the shop, crossed the road to the bus stop where I got out the leaflet I’d been given earlier. I took a closer look to try and fathom out why it had come to me. I scanned both sides. It advertised a deli. Yes, I could see that across the street. A beauty salon. Pentangles. Yes, I could see that too. A cyber café. Hmm. Hadn’t noticed that before. It also gave a website address for a site about astrology. I liked reading about stuff like that. All us Crazy Maisies did. We regularly read our horoscope in our girlie mags. Maybe my horoscope this month had something special to tell me. Maybe something about my predicament – a dance to go to but nothing to wear.
I decided that I’d take a look at the site when I got home if Dan and Will weren’t hogging the computer, that is if it was even working, (it was an old one that Uncle Ernie had given us when he bought a new model for his own use. If it wasn’t for him we’d be totally in the last century, because as well as donating the PC to us as a special Christmas present for all the family, he said he’d pay for our internet connection.)
Then I had a flash of inspiration. A cyber café was right opposite me. That meant computers. A computer that I could actually use without having to wait until the Brothers Grimm, Dan and Will, got off it. Bliss. And I could look up the astrology website right now and find out what my destiny for the month was.
I looked again at the cyber café. It was up at the end of the row and it looked like it was open as I could see people moving about inside. The shop front was painted in bright blue, silver and turquoise. I crossed the road and peered in the window. Woah. Space age city, I thought as I took in the futuristic décor inside. The front half seemed to be a shop selling party stuff and novelty items but at the back, I could see several geeky-type people sitting at computers and at the very back was a counter selling drinks in bright fluorescent beakers. It looked like a cool place so I opened the door and ventured inside.
Gentle music floated out through loudspeakers in the corners. Choirs of angels singing. Looking around, I felt like I’d entered some kind of space ship. Jeez, I thought, I’ve walked onto the set of a freaking Star Trek movie. To the left of the door was a chrome counter behind which was the most extraordinary looking person. He had silver spiked-up hair and was dressed in an electric blue lycra jumpsuit and high silver platform boots. Very space age meets punk.
“Hey,” he said as soon as he saw me. “Computers at the back. Use the one on the right.”
“But…” I was about to ask how he knew that I wanted to use one of the computers but then rationalized that probably most people who went in there did so because like me, they hadn’t ready access to one at home.
“Thanks,” I said and made my way to the back of the shop.
I sat down in front of the screen and the space punk man came over and stood behind me. “Know how to use it?”
I glanced at the screen. “Think so.”
“Internet you want, right?”
&nbs
p; I nodded. “How much?”
“Free to you.”
“Free?”
“Special promotion,” he said as he leant over and moved the mouse so that the internet opened up. “Just type in the site you want.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“I’m Uri,” he said. “Just give me a shout if you need anything.” Then he winked and drifted off to help a new customer, a lady in her twenties, who had sat down a few feet away. I couldn’t help but notice that when she asked how much to use the internet, Uri said, “pound an hour,” and took her money! Strange, I thought, then decided that maybe it was a promotion for under fifteens or something.
I got the leaflet out, typed in the website address from the leaflet and waited for it to download. After a few moments, the screen appeared like a dark night sky. Fitting for an astrology site, I thought as soft tinkling music accompanied the picture unfolding.
A scroll floated down from the right hand corner of the screen and uncurled itself to reveal a form asking for my name, my date of birth, place of birth and time of birth. Freaking fairy farts, I thought. I don’t know the time I was born. I got out my mobile and called Mum. Luckily she picked up.
“Hey, what time was I born, Mum?”
“Two fifteen in the morning,” she said. “Why?”
“Tell you later,” I said and hung up.
I typed in the time and sat back to wait for it to give me my horoscope. I liked being in the café. It had a tranquil atmosphere, like it was a space station hovering just outside earth. Everyone working away quietly. The angelic music playing out of the loudspeakers. Very peacefu…
Suddenly a trumpet fanfare BLASTED out of the computer. Really LOUD. I almost jumped out of my seat and so did a number of the computer geeks sitting nearby.
“Shhh,” hushed one of them and gave me a filthy look.
“Not my fault,” I whispered back. “I didn’t know it was going to do that!”
But the noise was getting louder and louder.
“Congratulations,” said a neon type message flashing on the screen. “You are this month’s Zodiac Girl.”
And the trumpet got even louder like the person playing it was bursting their cheeks and their lungs, liver and kidneys to hit the highest note.
I glanced around. Everyone in the café was staring at me.
“Quiet,” shushed another geek.
“Sorry,” I called back to him. “It’s one of those pop up things. I’ll get rid of it.”
Desperately, I scanned the keyboard for some kind of volume control. There it was up at the top. I pressed it as fast as I could but the music continued to get even louder. Everyone was still staring at me including Uri who was grinning his head off.
“Help,” I mouthed to him.
He gave me the thumbs up and clapped his hands for attention. “Quiet everyone and let’s hear it for this month’s Zodiac Girl. Hip hip hoorah.”
As he led the cheers, a few of the geeks looked at him as if he was mad.
“What are you doing?” I asked when he came over. “I don’t want to disturb anyone any more than I already have. Please turn the noise off and get rid of that pop up thingy that’s flashing. I can’t get rid of it.”
“But you’re this month’s Zodiac Girl,” said Uri. “Why would you want to get rid of it? It’s fantastic. Don’t you realize what it means?”
“No I don’t,” I whispered. “Please, please turn the noise off. Everyone’s staring.”
Uri typed in a button and the sound went off. “There you are. So. How do you feel?”
“About what?”
“Being Zodiac Girl this month.”
“Feel? Zodiac Girl? Nothing. I don’t know what it means and anyway, isn’t everyone who goes to this site a Zodiac Girl? It’s some kind of promotion thing isn’t it?”
“Heavens no. There’s only one Zodiac Girl a month. Just you. And it means my dear,” he said as he read the screen and saw my name, “that you, Tori have a great month ahead of you. Well hopefully great. It can go either way depending what you make of it. But all sorts of surprises in store. Hmm. Let me see. So your Sun is in Taurus? Taureans are ruled by Venus so that means you get Nessa as your guardian. Lucky you. She’s faaaabulous. A goddess. You’ll love her.”
“Guardian? But… I don’t want a guardian. I have a mum and a dad too although he doesn’t live with us… what I mean to say is I don’t need anyone to look after me so you can tell this Nessa that she won’t be needed.”
Uri laughed. “Tell her yourself. She’ll be in touch, you can count on that.”
I was starting to feel spooked. Like someone was following me. First the paper blowing at me in the school playground. Then the beautiful lady handing the same paper to me and now this. Fairies, angels or not, Megan could keep them. I got up to go. “Right. Okay. Thanks. Got to go now.”
Uri leant over to look at the screen. “You can ignore it if you want. Some do. Some people are afraid of the unknown and what they don’t understand but…” he seemed to be scanning my birthchart. “No. Yours is not the chart of a coward.”
Well I’m feeling decidedly cowardly now, I thought as I legged it to the door. As I opened it to leave, Uri called out, “There’s a message on here for you, Zodiac Girl. Go back to where you have been and you will find what you seek.”
“Right. Yes. Thank you. Bye,” I stuttered as I shut the door behind me. Like, what in the world was that supposed to mean? Sometimes computer people could be way weird and this one took the biscuit. I want to be home, I thought. Safe. Planet earth. Sofa. Telly. Normal.
On the way back to the bus stop, I passed the charity shop again. As I glanced in the window, I noticed that the old lady in there was getting some things out of a bin-bag and hanging them on the rack behind the counter. One of the items caught my eye.
Short. Floaty voile material. Halter neck. With tiny weeny coral, primrose and black flowers. Really pretty.
I had to go back in.
“Excuse me,” I said as I approached the lady behind the counter and pointed at the dress. “Er… is that for sale?”
She nodded and smiled. “It is. Looks like it’s never been worn and it’s just about your size too. It’s just come in. Want to try it on?”
She handed me the dress and I took a quick glance at the label. Suzie Tsang. Omigod! I had read about her in one of the glossies last week. (Dan gets them for me. He does a paper round in a posh area and on recycling day, he looks through their magazine throw out bins and because he knows I like reading them, he brings me back all the copies of Vogue and Harpers.) So I knew Susie Tsang was only the hottest new designer in the country.
“Er… how much is it?” I asked the lady.
“How much for this, Dora?” the lady called to someone in a back room. She held up the dress.
“Not much fabric is there?” said a second white-haired lady appearing at the door. “Oh give us a pound for it if it fits you.”
One pound for a Suzie Tsang dress! If only they knew. These dresses went for four or five hundred pounds in the shops in London. I couldn’t believe my luck. A dress like that and I’d have change left over from the four pounds fifty I had in my purse!
Please, please, please let it fit, I begged the patron saint of charity shops as I went back into the changing room.
The angels, fairies, saints and leprechauns were smiling upon me. The dress fitted like it had been specially made for me. It couldn’t have looked more perfect. I could go to the ball and I didn’t have to be a Nickynonames after all.
I got dressed, made my purchase and almost danced back to the bus stop. The sun was shining and I felt brilliant.
Only on the way bus did I remember the message for me that Uri had read from the astrology site. “Go back to where you have been and you will find what you seek.”
Could it have meant go back to the shop? Go and buy the dress? Whatever. Yahey! Something was going my way. I had a great new dress. Maybe it was in the stars that t
hings were looking up after all.
Chapter Four
Party time!
Back at home, I went into a frenzy of getting ready for the charity ball. I had a “steps to beauty” list that I’d cut out of my Star Girl magazine last year in case I ever got invited to an event like this but I never dreamt that it would happen so soon.
My list went:
Bathe: in my strawberry bubble bath that Mum got me for Christmas.
Exfoliate: with my mango scrub (pressie from Aunt Phoebe).
Moisturize: with apple body lotion.
Wash and condition my hair: with my blueberry shampoo and conditioner.
“Poo,” said Dan when I came out the bathroom. “You smell like a fruit salad.”
I didn’t react. I was having fun and neither the fact that the boys had left water in the soap dish so that it was slimy, nor the fact that they’d left wet towels on the bathroom floor after their football practice, could ruin my mood. My world was good.
Next on the list were my nails and make-up. Mum normally doesn’t let me wear make-up but as this was a special occasion, she allowed it and even lent me some of her rose-petal lipstick. While I was occupied beautifying myself, she was downstairs chatting to Aunt Pat and finishing off the cakes that she had made for the auction. Wonderful smells of baking and cinnamon and vanilla wafted up the stairs. As I got dressed and inhaled the gorgeous mixture of scents, a glow of happiness spread through me. It was going to be a good night. I could feel it in my bones.
By six thirty, I was dressed and ready to go. As I came down the stairs, I felt like I was in a movie. Even Andrea looked up from her book and raised her eyebrows when I went into the living room and did a Crazy Maisie model on the cat walk strut. Georgie, Megan, Hannah and I practised for hours in the school playground – hips thrust out, hand on hip, bottom lip out, cheeks sucked in.
“You look nice,” she said. That is praise indeed coming from Andrea as she’s not one to let much out about what’s going on in her head.
Will gave a loud wolf whistle. “You look great,” he said, “but cut the stupid walk.”
Discount Diva (Zodiac Girls) Page 3
