- 8.
The saleswoman showed me the bag I’d
ordered.
Brittany pretended to want to touch it, but
she acted like she was afraid.
“That bag, does it cost a lot?”
I said, “Yep.”
Brittany looked at me, saying:
“There are many people who are starving and
can’t afford clothes.”
I asked: “So?”
She sounded a little annoyed: “Can you
donate the money instead?”
Chapter 2
Before I could even say anything, the sales
associate jumped in.
She was usually super sweet, but now she
was practically yelling.
く
“This lady isn’t one of our regular customers.
This bag is a limited edition, once it’s gone,
it’s gone. Besides, for Kayla, this is just a
bag.”
Brittany totally got the dig and her face
turned beet red.
I watched her squirm, without feeling a single
bit of sympathy.
I’d read stories about kids growing up in the
backwoods.
They lived in terrible conditions, barely got
any education.
If they were girls, they’d be married off young.
Back when my parents were still searching for
their real daughter, I’d stay up all night
thinking about those stories.
I kept having this dream about a faceless girl, getting beat up, getting bullied.
She was scrawny and weak, with a boy’s
haircut, always hunched over, head down.
<
I thought about my sister, whoever she was,
and I was terrified she was going through the
same thing.
So, I took all my allowance money and gave it
to my brother, asked him to set up a
foundation for me.
I wanted to help girls in poor, rural areas get
a leg up.
I hoped that even if we never found my sister,
she’d be better off because of it.
But Brittany showing up ruined all of that.
I could have accepted her being ordinary. I
would have spent my whole life protecting
her.
But I couldn’t stand someone who was so
calculating and greedy, with dollar signs in
her eyes.
