Katie's voice became softer as she looked down and said, “I didn't exactly sell eight candy bars.”
Christy counted again. “There are only two left in here. With ten in a box, that means you sold eight, right? You've earned eight dollars.”
Looking up and biting her lower lip, Katie confessed, “Actually, I owe $16.”
Christy's blue-green eyes widened, and she said, “Katie Weldon, you didn't!”
“Well, see, I have this thing about chocolate. I can't be in the same room with it. It starts calling my name and says, 'Eat me! Eat me!' In the middle of the night, it wakes me up. When I'm trying to do my homework, it keeps bothering me. Really, Christy, I've tried ignoring it, I've tried telling myself that it's calling to some other Katie, not me. I've tried everything! The only way to shut it up is to eat it.”
By this time Christy was giggling at Katie's confession. “Eight jumbo chocolate bars in two days?”
“Three days,” Katie corrected. “We got them on Monday, remember?”
“Aren't you sick?”
“Actually, I feel pretty good,” Katie said, her mischievous smile returning. “I kind of feel like I'm in love. Isn't that what they said in science class last year? Chocolate releases some chemical in your brain and makes you think you're in love?”
“I don't know about that, but you'd better lay off the candy-bars tonight and tomorrow. Otherwise, when you see Glen tomorrow night, you won't know if it's true love or the chocolate double-crossing you!”
“I think you're right,” Katie said somberly. “What should I do about the fund-raiser, though? I mean, this is like the worst-case scenario. We're supposed to go on this trip together, and so far you have all your money, as well as new outfits, and I owe the ski club sixteen bucks. You wouldn't go skiing without me, would you?”
Christy laughed some more before offering her solution. “How about if you give me all your chocolate bars, and I'll see if we can sell them at the pet shop? Jon is cool about stuff like this. Then, instead of buying a new shirt for tomorrow night, why don't you borrow one of mine so you'll feel like you're wearing something new? Then give me sixteen of your twenty dollars so your fund-raiser account will be brought back up to zero.”
“I guess you're right. That only leaves me with four dollars, though.”
“So? That will get you through the weekend. The pizza feed costs three dollars, and you have a dollar left over for…for the offering on Sunday!”
“Good idea,” Katie said. “I was thinking of giving to a special church fund, anyway.”
“Let me guess. Could it be the missionary fund?”
Both girls started to laugh.
“You know, those missionaries need all the support they can get,” Katie said.
“And I'm sure you'll see to that by socially supporting your very own favorite missionary tomorrow night!” Christy teased.
“We all must try to do whatever we can,” Katie said with a mock straight face. “And this is my little way of helping out.
Katie and Christy set out to find a shirt of Christy's for Katie to borrow. Forty-five minutes into the project, Christy's bed was covered with clothes, and Katie still hadn't decided on one. She had tried on nearly everything Christy owned, but nothing seemed to suit her.
“I still like the green one on you.” Christy lowered herself to the floor and rested her back against her bed.
Katie held it up and gave her honest opinion. “It looks like old-fashioned long underwear.”
“I know. It's supposed to. It looks good on you.”
Katie slipped it back on and studied herself in the mirror. “But it's long-sleeved. What if it's really hot inside?”
“Push up the sleeves. Yeah, like that. It looks sporty on you.”
“I always look sporty. I don't want to look sporty; I want to look cute. No, take that back. I want to look attractive. No, change that to stunning. No, actually…” Katie spun around and spurted out, “I don't want to look like me. I want to look like you!”
“Like me?” Christy stammered. “Why? You're adorable, Katie. Look at you. You've got the total aerobic body, unique red, swishy hair, and wildly green eyes. I mean it, Katie. You're adorable.”
“I don't want green eyes. I want guys to call them 'killer eyes,' like they do yours. And unique red hair is great only when you're a groupie at a rock concert. I'd rather have shiny brown hair like yours.”
Christy was silent. She had never compared herself with Katie before, and she didn't know how to deny the things Katie was saying about her.
“Face it.” Katie let her true feelings out. “With your looks and your personality, you have guys like Rick and Todd clamoring for your attention. Not me. I've never had a guy be even slightly interested in me. Remember the disaster last year when I asked Lance to the prom? I can't believe I even went with him.”
Christy nodded in sympathy, remembering Katie's green carnation corsage and the way Lance had ignored her all night and then sent her home alone in his rented limo.
“Who am I kidding?” Katie slumped onto the floor next to Christy. 'Why do I think Glen would be interested in me?”
“Because you're you,” Christy said. “You're wonderful and God made you a peculiar treasure.”
“Awhat?”
“My grandma used to say that. She showed it to me in her Bible once. It's in the Old Testament somewhere. Exodus, I think. God called His people His 'peculiar treasure.' That's what you are, Katie. That's what we both are—God's peculiar treasures. So what if there isn't a guy in your life yet who appreciates you for who you are? Just keep being yourself, and hold out for a hero, okay?”
Tears brimmed in Katie's eyes as she leaned over and gave Christy a hug. “If I didn't have you as my closest friend, Christy, I would be totally miserable!”
“No, no, no,” Christy said. “It's the other way around. If I didn't havejou as my closest friend, I'd be totally miserable.”
“I guess we're just a pair of unmiserable peculiar treasures,” Katie said with a laugh.
“And this unmiserable peculiar treasure,” Christy said, pointing at Katie, “is going to look adorable tomorrow night in an old-fashioned, green long underwear shirt with the sleeves pushed up. And she is going to be herself, and she is going to have a wonderful time!”
“If you say so,” Katie said, her grin returning. Glancing at all the clothes on the bed, she teased, “Are you sure there's nothing else I can try on?”
“Oh, wait here. As a matter of fact, there is! I'll be right back.”
Christy scurried out of the room and returned a moment later with three big shopping bags. “The ski outfits from Aunt Marti,” she announced.
The two friends laughingly tore into the bags and were soon modeling the skiwear.
“Is this outfit wild or what?” Katie asked, checking out the black ski bibs with a matching black and dark pink jacket. A black turtleneck with bright pink squiggles on the neck and cuffs completed the outfit. “People actually wear this in public?”
“Here.” Christy lifted a pair of black snow pants from the last bag. “These are pretty basic. Why don't you try these instead?”
“Good idea. I'm sure these would look much better on you. I'm not exactly the hot-pink-super-heroine type.” Katie handed over the wild swirl pants and matching turtle-neck.
Christy tried them on. She felt flashy and daring. She decided that looking the part of an experienced skier might be half the battle in persuading herself to actually hit the slopes. Yes, she would definitely keep the hot pink outfit.
“That looks much better on you,” Katie said, pulling on the black ski pants. “These fit me pretty well. What do you think? Could I borrow them for the trip?”
“Of course. Here, try on this sweater.” Christy tossed Katie a white turtleneck sweater. “That looks great together. Very classy. Just like you.”
“Look at us,” Katie said, examining their reflections in the full-length mirror. “We look like we kn
ow how to ski already. Hand me those black gloves.”
Christy scooped up the new gloves off the floor and grabbed a pair of ski goggles from the bottom of the bag.
Katie put on the gloves and goggles, and striking a ski pose, she shouted, “Look out, Lake Tahoe! A couple of peculiar treasures are coming your way!”
Aunt Marti called later that night to see if Christy liked any of the new ski clothes.
“They're all great, and they fit. I'm going to let Katie borrow the black pants and white sweater if that's okay.”
“Well, then, will you still have enough outfits? You're going to be there an entire weekend,” Marti said.
“I'm sure I won't need anything else.”
“I'll pick up another pair of the black ski pants and a red sweater to go with them. I almost bought the red sweater the other day, but I remembered how you once told me that Rick liked you in red. I didn't want to make you feel bad since you broke up with the poor guy. But since you do need another outfit, I'll go ahead and get the red sweater. Just know, Christy dear, that I'm not buying it to remind you of Rick.”
Oh brother! Did my aunt ditch school the days they taught tact or what? “I appreciate the outfits, Aunt Marti. You don't have to get me anything else, though. Really.”
“Nonsense! I'll send the pants and sweater tomorrow, and I'll send an extra pair of goggles for your friend.”
“Thank you, Aunt Marti. And tell Uncle Bob thanks for buying all the candy bars.”
“Oh, he's sitting here at the kitchen table right now, sticking orange pumpkin labels on them. You know your uncle. He likes to have a special treat for the kids around here on Halloween. Are you going to dress up this year?”
“I don't think so.”
“We really should throw a costume party for you next year. Wouldn't that be fun? When I was your age, your mother and I had a costume party, and I dressed up like a flapper.”
“You dressed up like Flipper the dolphin?”
“No, dear, I said a flapper. You know, a dancer from the Roaring Twenties. I probably still have the costume. Well, you think about it, and decide when we should have that party for you. It could be a fun welcome-ho me party for Todd. You don't know when he's coming back yet, do your
Christy swallowed hard. “No, I don't know.”
“I see. Well, all in good time. I want you to know I'm very proud of you for joining this ski club. It'll give you a chance to meet other young people, and as stylish as you're going to look, who knows what might happen!”
Right! Who knows? I might break every bone in my body. But thanks to you, Aunt Marti, I'll look stylish doing it.
The next day at work, Christy asked Jon about selling the candy bars for Katie.
“Fine with me. Put a sign on the box, and don't leave them where a kid could walk off with one,” Jon suggested. “How much do they cost?”
“Two dollars each. There are ten in each box,” Christy explained.
“Really?” Jon's expression brightened. “I'll take a box.”
“A whole box? For yourself?”
“No, for my sister. She's a chocoholic. I'll send her a box for her birthday. Saves me having to decide what to get for her. And it's already boxed. This will be easier than trying to mail the vase or the perfume.”
Jon lifted one of the boxes of chocolate from Christy's shopping bag and pulled a twenty-dollar-bill out of his pocket. “Thanks, Christy. You made my life a little easier today!”
Christy looked at the easy twenty and then back at Jon. “It was nothing, really. Glad to help out.” She pulled an envelope from her purse and stuck the twenty-dollar-bill in along with the sixteen dollars Katie had given her for the eight bars she had eaten. Katie, we just might end up going on this ski trip, after all. Only 132 more bars to go!
Finding some marking pens on a shelf in the back, Christy made a sign for the box of candy bars and took them out front to the register. Beverly was standing there, handing change back to a customer.
“Hi,” Christy said. “I'm going to put this up here. Jon said it was okay.”
“Smells like chocolate,” Beverly said. “A very welcome change of fragrance from the usual pet store smells. They should sell well here. Jon left for a few minutes. He said he was going to mail his sister's birthday present. I forgot to ask if he ended up deciding on the perfume or the vase.”
“Neither,” Christy said. “He's sending her a box of chocolate bars.”
Beverly laughed and shook her head. Her long braid wiggled down her back like a little girl's jump rope. “You never can tell with that guy. What did I tell you? The king of returns. Watch, he'll take back the vase and the perfume, and he'll buy something else. What do you think it'll be?”
“A tie maybe?” Christy guessed.
“No, I've never seen him wear a tie. Maybe he'll get a leather belt or something wild, like one of those new Billings Cycle Machines. It's an exercise bike and stair-step machine in one. He's been talking about keeping one in the back so he could exercise in his spare time.”
“What spare time?” Christy asked. “The guy never stops!”
“Oh, there's the phone. I'll get it. Are you ready to take over the register?”
“Sure.” Christy watched Beverly hotfoot it to the back room and thought of how little she knew about Beverly and Jon. They both seemed like nice, low-stress people. But where did they stand with the Lord? After Luke's talk at the Wednesday night Bible study and Lisa's “hit list,” Christy felt concerned about finding ways to be a missionary to those around her.
During her break, she made a quick trip to the Bible bookstore at the other end of the mall. She bought two little booklets that told how to become a Christian and a card for Katie that said, Our God is an awesome God.
Back at the pet store, she tried to decide the best way to deliver the booklets to Beverly and Jon. She thought about casually leaving them at the back table. That seemed chicken. Maybe she should personally hand the booklets to them and say something like, “This is regarding life and death. Please read it.” No, that sounded too dramatic.
By the time she left work that night, she had worked herself into a frazzle trying to figure out how to deliver her urgent witnessing message. She had thought of at least twenty different ways to give them to Jon and Beverly, but she had said none of them, and the booklets were still in her backpack.
hope Katie had more success on her mission tonight than I did, Christy thought as she fell into bed. She smiled at the thought of Katie asking Glen if he ate bug larvae. She'd have to ask Katie what lines she'd come up with at the pizza feed to impress Glen.
Katie called the next morning at nine-thirty with a mixed report.
“He kind of talked to me. Sort of. It was weird. It was like neither of us knew what to talk about, so we just sat there. It was pretty noisy, so it was hard to have a conversation. But he sat by me for most of the time. Actually, he sat across from me. He didn't say anything about seeing me on Sunday or next Wednesday. I guess he was just being polite.”
“Or,” Christy suggested, “he was nervous and didn't know what to say. Did you ever think of that? Guys can get nervous too, you know.”
“I don't know,” Katie said. “I saw him talking to a bunch of guys in the parking lot before we went in, and he was real yakety-yak with them. Then he came in and sat across from me and hardly said anything.”
“Don't you see? He was talking to guys out front. Guys, Katie. That's different than trying to talk to a girl—especially a girl he's interested in. I'm sure Glen was nervous, and that's why he didn't talk much.”
“You think so?”
“Yes. Look at all the positive things that happened. He left a bunch of guys and came over and sat by you.”
“I hadn't thought of that.”
“Right there is proof, I think, that he's interested in you. And the second thing is that he stayed for a while. He could've left at any time. I think he stayed because he wanted to. He was being shy or nerv
ous or unsure of himself. I think in another setting, maybe where it's quieter, Glen will open up more.”
“I hope you're right, Christy. He seems like a nice guy with a really tender heart. I hope we have another chance to talk sometime.”
“You will. I'm sure you will. I think it went well for your first time together. You'll probably see him on Sunday. What are you going to wear?”
“Don't make any jokes, but I think I'll wear a dress,” Katie said. “I know it'll be the first time most of my friends have ever seen me in anything other than shorts or jeans. It could be a little mind-boggling for some. They'll probably think Katie's long-lost twin is visiting the youth department. But hey, sometimes you have to step out and be brave.”
“Speaking of being brave,” Christy said, “I was planning on witnessing to Jon and Beverly last night at work, only nothing happened. I guess Glen wasn't the only one who was too nervous and shy to speak up.”
“Wait until there's a natural opportunity to say something. It'll work out,” Katie said.
“And it'll work out for you too. With Glen, I mean. You wait for a natural opportunity to say something to him too.
“There's nothing in the rule book that says I can't wait in a dress, is there?”
Christy laughed. “Nope. I think the dress will be a nice touch.”
Later Christy wondered what might add a nice touch to her witnessing attempt. Maybe a card from the Bible bookstore with a verse on it. That way she. could slip the booklet inside the card and seal the envelope.
The morning at work went fast because they were busy doing a lot of restocking in the store. For the first hour, Christy ended up in the back, opening and pricing boxes of pet food.
During her lunch break, she made a quick trip to the Bible bookstore. For twenty minutes she scanned every card on the rack. None of them seemed to be just right for Jon and Beverly.
In the end, Christy bought two cards that had garden scenes on the front and were blank inside. She thought she would have better success thinking up her own message.