Revenge of the Homecoming Queen by Stephanie Hale

Author:Stephanie Hale
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Mystery, Contemporary Fiction, Young Adult, Humor, YA, High School, Homecoming
Published: 2012-05-07T21:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

We spent the rest of the day returning stuff. We were so not popular with the sales clerks. Hauling Mom’s addiction around all day made me realize that she truly does have a problem. I counted seventeen black turtlenecks alone. Even buying one turtleneck is a cry for help, but seventeen? Mom was screaming!

Dad isn’t coming home until tomorrow so we have made the dining-room table our headquarters.

I just finished tallying up all the returns from today. The total, disappointingly, only came to a little over $6,000.

“You said you spent $11,000. We returned everything in your closet. Where’s the rest?” I ask, agitated after such a long day.

“I don’t know,” Mom replies, hugging her knees and rocking back and forth in her chair. I keep forgetting how hard this must be for her. I’m expecting a “junkie” to go cold turkey.

“Why don’t you go take a nap?”

She nods her head in agreement and slowly climbs the steps to her room.

I add the receipts one more time in hopes that I made a mistake, even though I so know that isn’t likely, but they add up exactly the same. I tap the capped end of my ink pen against my temple willing myself to think where she could have spent the rest of the money.

I get up from my chair to get a drink. My left leg is asleep from sitting so long and I smash into Mom’s curio cabinet. Luckily, it’s bolted to the wall so it doesn’t move. I try to get my balance, then trip over one of her Longaberger baskets. Why is there so much crap everywhere?

A light goes on as I survey my surroundings with new eyes. Baskets, knickknacks, and pictures cover every free space of the dining room. I hobble into the kitchen and realize that it is also overflows with stuff. I guess Mom is an equal opportunity spender. I just assumed she was buying things only for herself, but she’s overaccessorized the house, too!

A twinge of guilt hits me when I realize how much she’s spent on me. I never questioned her bringing home new Dooneys or handing over Choo boxes. How could I not have realized we couldn’t afford all that stuff? I guess maybe I did, but I just didn’t care. Dad never noticed because he wouldn’t know a Jimmy Choo from a Payless pump.

I need to get Mom’s credit card statement to see how much of this junk can be returned. I remember her hiding it on a shelf in her closet. I tiptoe up the stairs. Even if we can’t return everything, we can still sell it on eBay and get some of the money back. God bless eBay!

I gently turn the knob to Mom’s room when I hear her whispering. I crack the door and peek in. Her back is facing me and she’s holding the cordless phone in one hand and a catalog in the other.

“Yeah, give me one in pink and one in blue,” she whispers.

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