Risky Business (7 page)

Kim scowled and stared her down.

Whoops. Better talk fast
. “But, actually, I have a better idea than sharing my discount. That was expressly forbidden in training. There’s no way I can pretend that I didn’t know. So, what about this …” Molly told Kim all about the Bounty Bucks plan.

At first Kim stared skeptically. “I don’t see how …”

“Just let me finish explaining.”

By the time Molly finished explaining, Kim looked like she understood. “So the ten-dollar Bounty Bucks are really just like gift certificates.” She looked puzzled. “Hmm. That’s way better than sharing the discount. How can you get away with that?”

“I don’t think it’s as bad as sharing my discount, because it was never mentioned as not being allowed,” Molly explained. “The coupons are there for us to pass out. How would it be wrong?”

Kim snorted, shaking her head. “Okay, it’s your call. So, you’re going to get me some of those Bounty Buck things then?”

“Yeah. I work tonight, so unless something has changed at work I’ll be able to get them tonight, and I’ll give them to you tomorrow. But Kim, you have to promise that this is it. You won’t bug me for other stuff from my work.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” Kim laughed as she sauntered away.

“Molly, I’ve got you on fitting rooms and cash register tonight. I really prefer to have you on the sales floor, because it’s where you do best. But I do need you to learn how to work the cash wrap.” Donna spoke fast. “Since it’s supposed to be pretty slow tonight, I figured it would be a good time. Amy will be close by if you need her. I’m leaving for the day. So, any questions before I head out of here?” Donna, already buttoning her jacket, was clearly in a hurry.

“Nope, no questions. I’m good. Have a great night.”

Amy looked annoyed as she approached with the clipboard in her hand. “Hey, Molly. How’s it going? Okay, your sales goal is only five hundred dollars, because you’ll be on register. You have a goal of two credit card sign-ups. Oh, and don’t forget to hand out the Bounty Bucks to everyone who comes through the line. They get one for every fifty dollars they spend. Any questions?”

Molly shook her head quizzically at Amy’s curt demeanor.

“Good. I’m going to take my dinner break. Amber will be here in about twenty minutes.” She rolled her eyes. “So just hold down the fort while I’m gone. I’ll just be in the back room. Come get me if someone needs to be rung up.”

Molly looked around the empty store.
No one in sight—perfect
. She walked over to the cash register and grabbed the next week’s schedule, pretending to look at it. She wasn’t doing anything wrong. Was she?
If it’s not wrong, why am I so nervous—and why do I have to hide it?
“It’s just like coupons in the paper,” she whispered.
Then why does it feel different?

She put the schedule back and busied herself straightening the bags. Molly looked around the store one more time and then grabbed a thick stack of the coupons and put them in the cargo pocket of her khaki pants.
Snap
. She secured the pocket, just in case. She took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to settle her stomach. She would give the coupons to Kim and then never do anything like this again. It wasn’t over yet, though. For the rest of her shift Mollybattled her inner voice.
Don’t do it. Don’t do it. Too late
.

“Here.” Molly slapped the Bounty Bucks on the table in front of Kim where she sat at the lunch table with Pam, Marcy, and Jade. “There are five of them here for each of you. I don’t ever want to hear of this again, though. Promise me you won’t hold this over my head or ask me for more. I can’t get more. Besides, the promotion ends in a few days, and that will be it anyway. Okay?” The four girls looked at Molly in surprise.

Molly wasn’t sure if they were surprised that she actually got the coupons or if they were surprised by her tone. She hoped it was both—and that they took her seriously. It could get bad if they didn’t.

“So, what exactly do we do with these?” Kim turned them over to read the instructions.

“You just take them to the store on one of these days,” Molly explained, pointing to the dates printed on the coupon. “You can use them just like cash. They are redeemable for merchandise, even if you don’t buy anything at all.”
Oops
. The light dawned as Molly realized exactly how these were different than coupons.

“But think about it. If you walk in there with five of these, since they are only given with a fifty-dollar purchase, that’s like saying you had spent two hundred fifty dollars to earn the coupons. There’s no way you guys spent that much. The manager would remember if you had. So, when you use them, just use one or two at a time and buy something else to go with it. Okay?”
What have I done?

“Okay. That makes sense,” Kim said, and the other girls nodded.

Kim motioned with her head for the other three to leave with her. She patted Molly on the shoulder. “Hey, thanks, Molly. You’re a cool kid.”

“This is only your third week of work, and you’re already asking if you can skip church tonight?” Dad didn’t like it at all. “This is where the rubber meets the road, Molly. It’s time to put your money where your mouth is.”

Molly rolled her eyes at her dad’s incessant use of clichés. Usually she found it charming—cute, even. But when she was being lectured, she couldn’t stand it.

“Hey, I don’t appreciate you rolling your eyes at me. You’re the one who promised to hold up your end of the bargain. But now you’re testing the waters to see what you can get away with. Sorry, Moll. I’m going to hold you to your word. You’re going to have to find out if it’s even possible for you to handle so many irons in the fire.”

She couldn’t take even one more trite saying. “Okay, Dad. You’re right. I’ll be fine. I just thought it might be easier to have a catch-up night than to have to stay up late.”

“I’ll tell you when you can catch up—after school tomorrow instead of going shopping with the girls.” Molly’s mom teased her, knowing that the last thing she’d want to give up would be a trip to the mall with her friends. “No? Okay, well then I guess it’s not all bad. Now, go get your things. It’s time to leave for church.”

After the short drive, Molly entered the gymnasium at church and immediately heard someone call her name. She looked across the crowded dodgeball game to locate the source of the voice.
Sara!
She had come without any prodding from Molly.
Weird
. Just as she pondered Sara’s reasons for coming,
SMACK!
The ball slapped across the side of Molly’s face. Her head snapped back, and her cheek flamed where the ball had struck.

For a second she was stunned and felt nothing. Then the sting set in, and it felt like a mild burn. Like a bee sting it continued to get worse until it felt like it was on fire.
Don’t

cry!
Trying not to look angry or start crying from the shock and the embarrassment—not to mention the pain—she hurried across the gym, past the openmouthed onlookers, to the kitchen. Sara followed her.

Sue, one of the youth leaders, jogged into the kitchen behind them. “You okay, hon?”

Molly nodded. Afraid she was going to lose her grip on her composure, she didn’t trust herself to speak just yet.

In silence, Sue put together a makeshift ice pack. Molly hopped up onto the kitchen counter and held the ice on her cheek and sipped a soda that Sara had poured for her.

After a few minutes, Molly gained more control of her emotions. Sue looked right into her eyes and asked, “So, you okay?”

“Oh yeah, I’m fine. It’s just that things are so physical all the time. I want to be a girl, and these boys are always splashing, throwing, shoving, pushing … It just gets tiring. I want to be treated like a girl, you know? And then when something like this happens, I have a hard time not getting really angry, and I wind up looking like a blubbering idiot. It’s just not fair.”

“No, it’s not fair, Molly. Sorry to say, it’s part of life, though. Boys are more physical, and theyplay that way—sometimes their whole lives.” Sue laughed and shook her head. “Girls who are becoming women want different things. And, sometimes, that transition from being a girl to being a woman doesn’t have a clear line dividing it, and the boys get mixed signals.” She cocked her head and gave Molly a pointed look. “Like when you guys cannonballed the other day. From where I sat, it looked like you got pretty physical.” She peered intently at both of them.

“Yeah, but only because we were slammed in the face with water the minute we got there. And that was another time I nearly lost my temper.”

“Moll, you’re changing. Your hormones are changing. It’s going to take you some time to learn how to deal with the different thoughts and emotions you’re having. The best advice I can give you is to just be honest.” Sue hopped up to sit on the counter beside her. “When something happens, like when you got slammed in the face with water, instead of jumping in and fighting back, say something like, ‘I really wish you’d treat me with respect, like a lady.’ “

She lifted the ice pack to peek at Molly’s cheek and pressed it back down. “You have to let them know what you want and not sendmixed signals and then wonder why they haven’t caught on. Do you know what I’m saying?”

Molly repositioned her ice pack. “I do. I hadn’t thought of it that way before, though. I don’t mean to send mixed signals—that’s for sure. I’m going to have to try to remember that.”

“You know, what you said really makes sense,” Sara chimed in. “I guess we’re the ones changing—not them, really. How are they to know things are different?”

“Honesty. Hmm. Worth a try.” Molly smiled and jumped off the counter. “My face feels better now. Maybe we could go join the group?”

“Take out a No. 2 pencil, and put all of your books and belongings under your desk. You’ll have fifty minutes to complete this test …,” Molly’s biology teacher’s voice droned.

Molly stared with her mouth wide open, horrified that she’d forgotten about the test. Would it have mattered if she had remembered? When could she have studied? Molly surveyed the classroom. All the other students sat with their pencils poised, ready to begin the test. She fumbled in her bag to get what she needed. Saying a little prayer, she started to read.

Uh-oh
. By the third question, Molly knew she was in trouble. She’d never be able to just wing this test. It was all new information she could only have learned by studying—but she hadn’t.

Even if she bombed the test, she could eventually bring her grade up, and she planned to talk to Donna about scheduling her either Monday or Tuesday, instead of both nights in a row. But, in the meantime, her parents would see this grade, and she’d been warned that if her grades slipped, her job would have to go. So Molly knew she’d better do some of her best guessing. She grimaced at the paper in her hands.
How do you guess when you don’t even know what the words mean?

Sure that she’d bombed her test, Molly slumped into the hallway. How had she let that happen? She dragged her way through the school and out the front door toward the waiting bus where Sara and Jess were probably already saving her a seat. At that thought she immediately brightened.
Time to go shopping!
She climbed aboard the bus and saw Jess and Sara in the middle. She maneuvered between the seats to get to the open seat beside Sara.