"Betty Miles - The Trouble With Thirteen" - читать интересную книгу автора (Miles Betty)

She looked so miserable that my anger melted away. "They'll like you, don't worry," I said.
Rachel wadded her napkin and pressed it into the mustard on her plate. "Yeah."
"Oh, Rach," I said, "I'm going to miss you so much!"
"Me, too," said Rachel.
I felt awfully sorry for us both.
"Guess what, you guys!" Kate said, setting her tray on the table and climbing over the bench, with Sue and Angela and Janie crowding over after her.
"What?" Rachel sat up straighter. I could see she didn't want them to notice anything.
"Mom's letting me get my ears pierced, for my birthday!" Kate said.
"She's having it done at Silversmiths' Saturday afternoon," Angela told us. "I might, too, if I can talk Mom into it. Want to come? Sue's asking her mom."
"I don't know, though," Sue said. "I'm sort of scared of it."
"They say it doesn't hurt at all," Kate said, unsurely.
"I'm just coming to watch," Janie said, unloading her tray. "I know Mom wouldn't let me do it. She thinks it looks cheap."
"Cheap!" Kate laughed. "It's costing me a whole ten dollars!"
"Since when did you want your ears pierced?" I asked her. I was surprised to know she'd even been thinking of it. Compared with Rachel moving it was such a little thing, but it bothered me. I wondered whether Kate turning thirteen would make all the kids start acting different. Sooner or later, they probably would. I wasn't sure if I could keep up. Everything was changing so fast! I felt miserable.
"Kate wants her ears pierced so she'll look sexy for Alan Shay!" Janie teased.
"Shut up, Janie!" Kate poked her, looking embarrassed.
Kate's had a crush on Alan Shay since we were in sixth grade. We always kid her about it. Alan's nice. He's awfully serious, though. He probably wouldn't even notice if Kate got her ears pierced. At least, I don't think he would. But the boys in our class are changing, too. Tony Albrecht invited Sue to be his date at his Bar Mitzvah, and she went. I would have been shy, but Sue said it was fun, except that Mrs. Albrecht kept introducing her as "Tony's little girl friend." She's at least two inches taller than he is.
Sue's a person who doesn't try to show off or act sophisticated. I hoped she wasn't going to get her ears pierced. I wanted her to stay the same so I'd feel more comfortable with her. Especially with Rachel gone. I glanced across the table at Rachel. It seemed disloyal to even think of her being gone, when she was sitting right there. She was twirling her paper plate with one
finger. For once, I couldn't tell what she was thinking about-pierced ears, or her parents, or moving away, or what. I reached out and touched her finger, and she looked up at me and smiled. But I felt awfully lonely already.
If you're feeling bad for any reason, going to the Mall always makes you feel worse. It's so glarey and noisy. The stores are full of things you think you might like until you get up close and see how stupid they are. I went there with Mom on Friday night. She took me so I could look for a present for Kate and maybe get pajamas. "Just look at them," she said. "You don't have to buy anything you don't like."
Mom had been very sympathetic when she found out about Rachel moving. It must be hard for mothers when their kids are sad about something and they can't make it better. But Mom's quite sensitive. If you feel bad, she lets you. She doesn't keep pointing out the bright side.
She went to look at shoes, and I wandered through the Mall trying to find a present. I looked through racks of posters, but the best ones, the nature photographs, all had dumb philosophical sayings printed over them. I love Snoopy posters, but I was afraid that might be too babyish for thirteen. The smell in the candle shop got me down before I could find a good candle, and nothing in the drugstore seemed right. We've all been giving each other bubble bath for
birthdays since we were about six years old. And the names are so sappy. Rachel and I always laugh at them. It's ridiculous to sit in a bathtub in Madison, New York, and wash your knees with a soap called Tropic Passion%
I was beginning to feel desperate. I wished I could just give a present without worrying about the impression it would make. I worry about stuff like that too much. Kate wouldn't care. She's not the kind of person who puts you down. But I wanted to get her something really good. Finally in the Indian store I saw a blue enamel bracelet that looked quite elegant and only cost four dollars. After I bought it I felt much better. I knew Kate would like it.
Bamberger's pajama department is called Night Life. They had racks and racks of nylon pajamas with bikini pants and smock tops. I would never wear something like that in my own house, much less where other people could see me. They were ridiculous. Way in back of them I found a rack of pretty good "flannel pajamas. They were on sale, I guess because they were left over from winter. But I didn't care about that. The problem was that every single pair was marked L. They were gigantic. Shopping is so frustrating!
Everything else in the department was nightgowns. I found one rack of them that looked sort of interesting. They were made out of T-shirt material in really neat colors-purple and emerald green and a bright
blue. One whole section of the rack was size S. The only thing was that the tops were cut very low and they had just little string ties over the shoulders. They were meant for people with real breasts. I couldn't picture how I would look in one. I wondered if I might look good. It would be funny to go to Kate's party with a nightgown like that and surprise everyone. Especially since Rachel wouldn't be there to make jokes about it. I wasn't sure which color would be the most flattering. Probably the purple. I pulled a purple gown off its hanger and held it up in front of me and went to the mirror. It felt nice the way the gown hung around my ankles. Even with my jacket and my jeans sticking out I could see it would look good.
The only problem was, I wasn't sure what Mom would say. I looked up and saw her coming into the department.
"I found something!" I called, carrying the gown up to her.
Mom looked surprised. "A nightgown! And isn't that style a little bit, well, old for you?" she asked. "Did you try it on?"
"It'll fit," I told her. "It's size S. It's the right length."
"I wasn't thinking about the length," Mom said carefully. "It was the front I was wondering about."
I wish she wouldn't always question my taste, as though I'm a baby or something.
"It only costs eight dollars." I showed her the price tag. All of a sudden I really wanted that nightgown. It
would be neat to go to the party with something different and impress the other kids. "Isn't the color terrific?" I asked. "Don't you just love it?"
"It's nice and bright, anyway." Mom sounded as though she was trying hard to be tactful. "Have you looked at everything here?"
"Yeah. Everything else is sappy, or else too big."
Mom smiled. "Well, if you're really sure-"
"Oh, I am!"
"O.K., then," she said. "Let's go pay for it."
The woman behind the counter seemed to approve. "Isn't that a gorgeous color," she said. "And very fashionable this season." She tore off the price tag and tapped out the amount on her cash register. "You'll get a lot of wear out of this," she told Mom. "You can throw it right into the machine."
"Oh, good. But it's not for me," Mom said. "It's for my daughter."
The saleswoman looked me up and down. "Well, I don't know," she said. "On her it might not hang so good. It's cut for someone with a little bit more in the bust department." She smiled knowingly at Mom. "These kids-they just can't wait to grow up."
I grabbed the bag from her and ran out of the department. Mom hurried after me. Shoppers pushed around us in the aisle.
"Why can't people mind their own business!" I said furiously.
Mom put her arm around me. "She didn't mean
anything, Annie." She gave me a squeeze. "Look-I'm glad you found something you like. That's going to make you feel good about the party. I know you're going to have a nice time." I really hoped that she was right.
When the night of the party came, I wasn't sure at all. I nearly changed my mind about the nightgown. What if everyone else brought pajamas? I thought of packing my old ones along with it, just in case, but then I decided that was ridiculous. Why have the nightgown if I was going to be too shy to wear it? I folded it into the Saks Fifth Avenue shopping bag I use for overnight parties, on top of my toothbrush and jacket and Kate's present, and started downstairs. As usual, just when it was time for me to go somewhere, I began to wish I didn't have to. Right that minute I would have been perfectly glad to stay home and read and watch TV, even though I knew that if I had to stay home I'd wish I was going to a party.
Mom and Dad and Kenny all looked up at me when I walked in. I had the feeling they were inspecting me.
"All set, Coke?" Dad asked.