Page 140 of Ice Mechanic

Even my little sister is aware of his family’s reputation.

How can I stand before them knowing I’m just a mechanic from a small town no one’s ever heard of?

“Chance’s stuff is his stuff. Mine is mine.” I lift a thin envelope from my purse. I visited the bank early this morning and drew out some cash for this shopping day.

It’s a hack I learned from my dad. “Plastic is too fake,”he used to say. “These cards don’t really tell you what you have and don’t have in your account, so it’s too tempting to swipe. With cash, when you’re out, you’re out. That’s the way to do it.”

“How much did you bring?” Rebel asks, leaning over May’s shoulder.

“Enough,” I say mysteriously.

May thumbs through the money in the envelope. “What is this supposed to buy? Socks?”

“I’m sure we can find something nice with that,” I argue. “It might take a lot of work, but if we go through the clearance racks…”

May meets Rebel’s eyes.

The two nod decisively.

I shriek when they pounce on me. Rebel grabs my left arm, May grabs my right and they both drag me into the fancy store.

“Can I help you ladies?” A sophisticated clerk with slicked-back hair and white gloves approaches us.

“Yes.” May gestures widely to me. “This is Chance McLanely’s girlfriend and she’s attending a fancy dinner with him. We need to make herfabulous.”

The man’s eyes glitter. “I know you. Your pictures with Chance are all over my feed. Someone even made a song for you two.”

“Oh… uh, thank you?” I shuffle awkwardly.

“Come. We just got in a new stock from our hottest designer. These dresses only come in threes. That means, it’s very unlikely that you’ll see anyone else wearing what you do.”

I look to Rebel for backup, but my best friend is grinning from ear to ear and skipping behind the clerk like she’s Dorothy on her way to the Wizard of Oz. May is keeping up with her, hanging on the man’s every word.

I force myself to tag along with them and try on every dress they thrust on me. Unfortunately, we end up leaving that store empty-handed because I don’t really love any of the outfits there.

As punishment, Rebel and May spend hours dragging me from one store to the next.

My feet are about to fall off by the time we enter the last boutique hidden all the way at the back of the mall. A tall, pretty woman with flaming red hair greets us.

“Oh my word!” she says in the sweetest accent. “You’re April Brooks!”

I give a stiff wave in response. I’m still not used to people recognizing me.

“Can I take a look over here?” Rebel asks.

“Of course.”

Rebel breaks away and flutters her fingers through the dresses on the rack.

“Are you a Chance McLanely fan?” May smiles proudly, as if she and Chance really are family members.

“Well, the truth is…” The clerk leans closer and points to me. “I’m more a fan of your friend.”

My jaw drops at her response. Usually, people recognize me from my pictures with Chance and ask me a million questions about what it’s like to be a famous hockey player’s girlfriend. I always feel like I have to perform for them so I don’t disappoint whatever expectations they have of me.

This woman doesn’t give me the same awe-filled look as the others. Instead, her smile is friendly and sincere.

“Why are you April’s fan?” May asks incredulously.

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