3 Buried Leads Read Online Free PDF Page A

could badmouth me all she wanted, but if anyone else did it they should be ready to have their eyes clawed out.
    Harriet pursed her lips. “I wasn’t saying anything bad,” she countered. “She’s just a little hippy. She can’t help it. It was the way she was born.”
    I think Harriet thought she was being nice. Carly disagreed. “She’s not hippy. She’s perfectly healthy.”
    Harriet looked me up and down dubiously. I could tell she wanted to argue the point, but she wasn’t going to fight in public. Harriet was all about outward appearances.
    Despite the fighting stance she had taken, Carly decided to let it go – for now. I had no doubt this was going to become a “thing” later that night. Carly pushed me towards the changing room, shoving the lilac monstrosity in my hand as I went. “Don’t dawdle in there,” she warned me. “Let’s just get this over with. If you draw this out longer than you need to, I’m not going to be happy.”
    I couldn’t agree more. I slipped into the dress, glancing at myself in the mirror and grimacing. Now that Harriet had called me hippy, that was all I could focus on. Great. Something new to obsess about.
    I stepped out of the dressing room and found Carly sitting in a chair outside. She was randomly shooting a series of patented glares in Harriet’s direction when she was sure the older woman wasn’t looking.
    Harriet turned when she heard the sound of the curtain being pulled back. “It fits,” she sighed in relief.
    “Why wouldn’t it?”
    “Well, Carly says you like to eat, so I was a little worried they would have to let the dress out.”
    It’s not like I eat a cow everyday. The first dress fitting had been a month ago. It’s not like I’d ballooned into a beach ball in the intervening weeks. Carly got to her feet and regarded me with a genuine smile. “You look great,” she exhaled in relief.
    I narrowed my eyes as I regarded her. “Did you think it wouldn’t fit, too?”
    “No,” Carly hastily responded. “I just wanted to make sure the dress looked as good in person as it did in my mind.”
    What a liar.
    “You look really good,” she repeated.
    “Yes,” Harriet agreed. “The color really suits your skin tone. You look so much better now that your garish tan is fading.”
    I hadn’t been insulted this much since my mother had seen my new “Fuck you, you fucking fuck” shirt from The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo .
    “Can I take this off now?” I couldn’t get out of this shop quick enough at this point.
    “Of course, dear,” Harriet waved me off. I saw her glance slip to my Goonies socks and the slight, almost imperceptible shake of her head.
    I quickly slipped back into my jeans, T-shirt and hoodie and exited the store with the dress in my hand. I had already paid for it -- $250 that I would have much rather spent on new Converse and video games – and I was ready to get out of this hellish situation.
    I froze when I heard Harriet start talking to Carly a few feet away. “What are you going to do for shoes?”
    “We’re having heels dyed,” Carly said.
    This was the first I had heard of that. “Those ugly satiny ones you showed me? I didn’t agree to that.”
    “You’ll be fine,” Carly shushed me.
    “How do you even know what size shoes I wear?”
    “You have huge feet. You’re always complaining about how huge your feet are. You’ve got seventy pairs of shoes in your laundry room – and they’re all the same size – stop being ridiculous.”
    “I’m changing into something comfortable at the reception,” I grumbled under my breath.
    “I’m sure the dress will look great with canvas high tops,” Harriet clucked sarcastically.
    If I had a hammer, I’d totally throw it at her right now.

Five
    Harriet left the store before Carly. I could tell Carly wanted to talk to me – but I wasn’t all that happy with her right now. Dyed lilac shoes? Would I ever live down the shame?
    Carly knew I was agitated. She led me