The Miles Between by Mary E. Pearson

Author:Mary E. Pearson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780805088281
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

23

AIDAN AND SETH ARE WAITING on the sidewalk for us when we exit the store. Aidan peals out a loud, long whistle. Mira strikes a pose. I am still mystified by these two and how just a few hours away from Hedgebrook, their inhibitions have disappeared. Aidan, whistling?

“Nice,” Seth says.

“Yes, Mira,” I agree. “You were right all along. They are perfect.” And they really are. In the space of a few minutes, the shoes look entirely different to me. Maybe because Mira looks entirely different to me. Her perkiness has a layer beneath it I hadn’t noticed before. I’ve heard cafeteria talk that her parents are divorced and she was the center of a long, bitter custody battle. Is that when the smoothing over began? When she didn’t want to choose sides because she loved them both? Why didn’t I see this before?

“The shoes were there all along,” she says. “Just misshelved. Happens all the time with clearance shoes. Isn’t that right, Des?”

“Yes,” I confirm. “Only misshelved.”

She hands Aidan her oxfords, and he drops them in the store bag with our others. “You should have heard Des!”

“We did, Mira. We were in the store too.”

“But not close up like me. No sir! Wowee, she gave it to that clerk! You should have seen his eyes.”

Mira only heard the words I gave to the clerk. She didn’t see the hundred-dollar bill I slipped into his palm. Much better than a commission, and I knew he wouldn’t want to be caught in a lie. But for a hundred easy dollars anyone can muster some creative explanations. Besides, I contributed to Mira’s humiliation as much as he did. It should cost me something too. My tab of borrowed money is growing.

Mira models her shoes, turning one way, then the other, trying to catch all possible perspectives herself. “He said these were the last pair. Probably set aside for another customer, which is why they weren’t where they should be. But he said he was sure no one was coming for them.” She shoots me a quick sideways glance. I watch her, smoothing out the wrinkles, the way she does at Hedgebrook, so no one is wrong, everyone is right, so everyone is happy. Forgiving even me. In the space of twenty minutes, she has managed to turn her world around and move on. Shoes or not, she would have done the same. No grudges. No looking back. Or maybe looking back in a way the rest of us can’t see.

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