“Oh, that’s good.” Contracted jobs were steadier pay and better money.
I glanced to our right. Cade hadn’t seen me yet. Or at least I assumed he hadn’t, by the lack of rude comments. He was unloading some sort of flyers into a plastic stand. I’d never seen him dressed up before. He was wearing slacks, a buttondown, and even had a tie on. I felt more shabby than normal in my homemade short floral skirt and denim vest. I would not try to hide half my outfit by sitting down, even though I was very tempted to do just that. I did not care what Cade thought of me.
A man who looked nothing like Cade walked up to the front of his booth holding two lidded cups. He handed one to Cade.
Maybe Cade took after his mother. Or this man was his father’s business partner. He mumbled something to Cade, who then dumped the flyers he had just arranged out onto the table and refilled the plastic stand with different ones.
My mom began discussing the potential crowd today with the lady to our left. Cade met my eyes then, like he knew I’d been staring all along and a slow smile spread over his lips.
“Are you taking notes?” he asked me. “This is what success looks like.” His eyes swept over the jewelry on my table, pausing on the tray with all the feathered necklaces. He raised his eyebrows. “You’ll probably need more than notes.”
I pretended to write on a pad of paper. “First step, dress like a forty-year-old man. Second step, treat people badly. Third, act like the world revolves around me. Did I miss any?”
Cade smirked. “Actually, you missed quite a few. Don’t pretend like you know everything, don’t write and walk at the same time, and think about other people every once in a while.”
“What? Me think about other people? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“No hidden meaning there.”
I narrowed my eyes, about to say something I probably shouldn’t have, when my mom placed a hand on my shoulder. “Do you go to school with that boy?” she asked me. “How fun.” Then, much to my horror, she called out, “Hi. Nice to meet you.”
Cade brought out a smile that might’ve looked sincere to my mom, but actually was completely mocking her.
“Hi, booth neighbor,” he said, and my mom laughed like that was some super witty line.
“What a cutie,” my mom said under her breath. “Do you know my daughter?” This she said at a volume he could hear. I cringed.
Cade met my eyes, and a playful sparkle lit his up. “I do. We go to school together.”
“That’s great. If it’s slow today, you two won’t be so bored now.”
“Lily definitely keeps things interesting,” Cade said.
“We feel the same way,” my mom said as if he hadn’t just insulted me.
Today was going to be awful.
The day wasn’t going as badly as I originally anticipated. Cade minded his own business and I did mine. And now, he wasn’t even in his booth. He’d left about an hour ago and hadn’t returned. Maybe Isabel was right. Maybe I did start things more often than I realized.
A woman with a coin purse and several stripes of colored hair stood at our booth, checking the circle price tags on each item and then counting her change. Every time she’d come up short then move onto the next item. There had to be a song in this situation somewhere. If a penny can bring luck and a dime can grant a wish, how come my eleven cents hasn’t bought me what I need. I chuckled at the lame lyrics.
“What’s so funny?” my mom asked.
“Oh, nothing.”
“You ready for a lunch break?”
“Sure.”
She handed me a ten. “I want one of those big veggie burritos.”
“Okay, I’ll be back.”
I weaved my way through the crowd as I headed toward the food trucks at the end of the street. I had been standing in line for a few minutes when I saw Cade sitting off to the right at a long plastic table with one of his friends, Mike, from school. They were a stone’s throw away and even though I wasn’t trying to listen, I could hear their voices perfectly.
“Do you think Coach expects us to be at every club practice plus the games?” Mike was saying.
“Yeah,” Cade answered. “At least you don’t have mornings here and afternoons there.”
“True. How many more of these do you have to work?” Mike asked.
“As many as the company decides to do,” Cade answered.
“It’s not too bad. This is a good place to meet new girls. Unlike club baseball.”
“Really? Have you noticed the average age of the buyers here? Not really my age bracket.”
“I noticed that one chick from school in the booth next to yours … you know … what’s her name … Lily. That could be interesting. She’s weird, but cute.”
I tensed up.
“Lily Abbott?” Cade said. “You think Lily Abbott is cute?”
“You don’t?”
“No.”
“Then maybe I’ll go talk to her.”