“Mickey graduation ears?” Bryony asked, her face lighting up.
“Look!” Emma R. said cheerfully, pulling them out of her bag. “Also hi, Bryony! Hi, Cass.” She glanced over at the other two Emmas, who were huddled over Emma Z.’s phone, just like I’d expected them to be.
“Oh, that’s so cute! I might need to get them,” Bryony said.
“Not from him,” I said, nodding to Johnny.
“Nope. Like I said, I’m out,” he said. He raised an eyebrow at me. “How’s this night going, Cass?”
I blinked, wondering how he’d known who I was. But a second later, I remembered that Emma had just called me by name—not to mention the fact I was carrying a monogrammed bag.
“It’s good,” I said, giving Johnny a nod. “So I think we want to buy…a lot of stuff.”
“We do?” Bryony echoed, frowning. “Since when?”
“Well—I do,” I corrected. This was going to be a shopping spree withnoconsequences, and I couldn’t wait. I could buy whatever I wanted, and then it would be like it never happened. A second later, I realized that this also meant I wouldn’t be able tokeepany of it. But I didn’t want to focus on that right now.
“So I’ll get one of everything,” I said, with a decisive nod. “And whatever you want, Bryony. And then we can hit some of the other stores, too!”
“Uh…” I saw Bryony exchange a glance with Emma R. “I’ll get one souvenir, I guess? But you don’t need to pay for it.”
“Get whatever you want! It’s not like money matters!”
“Doesn’t it?” Emma R. asked, looking alarmed.
“Not to me,” I said blithely, already pulling sweatshirts and baseball caps and water bottles from the kiosk.
“Isn’t this going to be a lot to carry around?” Bryony asked, eyes wide as she took in my haul.
I just shook my head and started piling up as many things as I could grab. “It’ll be fine.”
“No, it’s a good point,” Emma R. agreed. “What if you want to go on rides? You won’t be able to.”
“It’s fine!” I snapped, hearing my voice get shrill. “This is supposed to be fun. So just go wild.”
The total came to an amount I had to blink at. It had acommain it. And even though I knew that this wasn’t real—and it would all be reset—my heart was still pounding as I handed over my credit card, the one that was linked to my dads’ account and was only supposed to be used in case of emergency.
“You sure about this?” Johnny asked, looking right at me.
“Yes!” I said, maybe a little louder than I needed to. Wasn’t he supposed to be encouraging me? What kind of salesman was he?
“Okay,” he said with a nod as he tapped my card. As I waited for it to go through, I felt my pulse race. What if it got declined? But a second later, a very long receipt printed out, and I scribbled my name on the line.
Everything I’d bought filled up five bulging bags, and even though Bryony took two, it still wasn’t easy to carry. But it wasfun. Right? Already, the thrill of picking things out was beginning to fade, and I wasn’t feeling any spark of joy as I looked down into the bags. I couldn’t even remember all the things I’d bought. And it wasnight—why had I gotten sunglasses and a misting fan?
Bryony and the Emmas headed to ride Soarin’, but I couldn’t with my bags, which was exactly what Emma had pointed out. But I told myself that it was fine, as I walked to a nearby bench and dropped all my bags. I had just started digging through them—I was thinking I might put on one of my new sweatshirts; I’d bought five—when my phone rang.
I pulled it out. SeeingOSCAR CELLon the phone screen, I answered immediately. “Hello?”
“Cass. You’re conferenced with both of us.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Why are you spending a small fortune at Disneyland?” Angelo asked, his voice angry.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, shaking my head. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Doesn’tmatter?” Oscar echoed, sounding furious. “Of course it matters. That’s our money you’re spending there.”
