Page 31 of Girl Lost
The teen folded her arms and leaned against the counter. “New transfer?”
Luna capped the mascara tube. “I’m sorry?”
“Clearly you’re a cop, but I ain’t seen you around here before. Figure you just got a transfer.”
No one ever pegged Luna as a cop, and neither did this girl. She obviously just assumed any adult in the gym was law enforcement. The challenge in the girl’s sharp gaze said she was exerting power. Showing Luna she wasn’t afraid of her, or any authority figure for that matter.
Luna recognized that defiant light. That desperate need to prove she didn’t need anyone’s help or approval. Because she’d worn that same impenetrable armor herself, all those years ago. Still wore it, if she was honest.
“No. No transfer. Honestly? I can’t get out of here fast enough.” She dug around in her makeup bag and pulled out an unopened tube of shimmery lip gloss and offered it to the girl. “This looks like your shade. I never wear it. Want it?”
The teen eyed the makeup. Probably weighing the desire to own it against the debt she might owe for taking it. “So, what? You tryna buy me as a narc?”
Luna chuckled. “Not even a little bit, believe me. Here.” Sherolled the tube across the counter. “I’ve had it for a while and never even opened it.”
After a second of hesitation, she took the tube. “Thanks.”
“What’s your name?”
“Liv. You?”
“Luna.” She rummaged through her bag. Without looking up, she said, “First time I owned makeup of any kind, I was twenty-three.” She hadn’t planned on wearing eye shadow but found a palette with enough colors to stay talking to Liv. “I told myself I didn’t like makeup. Didn’t want to wear it. Truth was ... it was a luxury I couldn’t afford.” She dabbed a brush into a shimmery cream base layer and took her time brushing it on a lid. “I mean, every penny counts when you’re in this place, am I right?”
Liv’s eyes snapped to Luna’s in the mirror. “No way. You were—”
“A student here. Yeah. One of the first.” Luna nudged her makeup bag to Liv. “Take whatever you want. I don’t use 90 percent of what’s in there. Actually, how about this...”
She dug out a few things—mascara, the lip gloss she’d worn today, two hair ties she slipped on her wrist, and that one very special contouring brush, a CIA special issue with a core of hardened steel disguised as soft bristles, because this girl didnotneed a concealed weapon. She slid the bag over to Liv. “All yours.”
Liv’s mouth fell open. Eyes glued to the designer bag and brain probably calculating how much she could get for it. “How do you know I won’t sell it?”
“So sell it.” Luna shrugged. “It’s yours. What do I care?”
The makeup rattled as Liv dug around with a finger. She pulled out a blue eyeliner pencil. “Why?”
“That color? I know. Someone talked me into it—”
“No, I mean why would you give this to me.”
Luna leaned her rear against the counter to face Liv. This was the moment she so often worked to reach with her assets. The moment she earned their trust.
But Liv wasn’t an asset. She was a teenager court ordered to livehere or go to a juvenile detention center. Same as Luna nearly ... wow, was it really almost twenty years ago? “Look, I don’t know your story, but if you’re a student here, I can imagine. I’ve been where you are. Someone did something nice for me, and I’d like to do the same.”
Liv closed the lid and zipped the bag with a delicate touch. “I won’t sell it.” She scooped it up. Two protective hands held it to her stomach like a mother protecting her unborn baby. “It’s the nicest thing I’ve ever owned. Probably the nicest thing I’ll ever own.”
“That depends.”
“Yeah? On what?”
“Where your focus is.”
“My focus is on getting outta here ASAP.”
“See, that’s the problem. This place will give you everything you need to survive. Out there...” She lifted her chin in the general direction of the outside world. “You learn to survive on the streets. In here you learn to survive beyond the streets. You get an education that you won’t get out there.”
“I get that. But my friends—”
“True friends want what’s best for you. They’ll wait while you do your thing. If not, they aren’t your friends.” Luna nudged Liv with a soft elbow. “Meanwhile, follow the rules. Finish high school and read your Bible. Make friends with the LEOs working out here. Stay out of the streets, and most of all ... stay away from boys.”
