I bit my lip. Stay positive, Tahira.This might not be all bad. If these wholesalers really did have a large selection, maybe I could find things that had a bit more city cool and a bit less flowers?
“Do they have a catalog or something?”
“They’re online.” Shar stepped behind the counter and motioned me over. On the computer, she brought up a website—Brandon’s Apparel Wholesale. “I buy a lot from here, but I have two more that I also use. Ooh, these are new!” She opened to a page of long dresses, miraculously not floral. Still not what I was envisioning.
“I could see these working,” Gia said, leaning over me to see the screen. “Or wait, look at that one!” She pointed to a flowery thing on the sidebar. “So Coachella, right?”
“Oh my God, yes!” Juniper nodded vigorously. “I totally saw dresses like that from the footage from the Coachella music festival last year. I want to go to one of those big concerts one day.”
I gave Gia a look. She knew this wasn’t my aesthetic. She wasn’t really helping here.
“How about I look at these later,” I said. “I should start by making a plan for the store. Maybe make some sketches?”
“Sounds like a great idea,” Shar said. “I’ll show Juniper and Gia the computer system.” She switched to the point-of-sale program.
I grabbed my iPad from my bag and started at the back of the store, making notes on the things I would change. Definitely a coat of paint to start. Clean white walls would make a world of difference. Maybe new flooring, too. Ebony hardwood would look good. Or slate tile. I stood in the center of the space and looked toward the back, imagining a customer seeing the store for the first time. Maybe a feature wall there? Everything was so cluttered now, but that was an easy fix—reduce the stock on the floor so the key pieces would stand out more. And definitely hide at least half the florals.
After making copious notes and a few sketches, I connected to the store’s Wi-Fi and pulled up the website for the wholesaler. I took a closer look without any commentary from the others. Could I make any of this work? It sucked I wouldn’t be able to bring in anyrealdesigner lines, but after seeing Bakewell, I suspected Nilusha Bhatt would probably be wasted here. I found some solid high-waist twill skirts with buttons down the front that had potential. And the linen overalls Juniper had mentioned in many colors—I actually liked those. I might even be buying myself a pair.
I grinned. It wasn’t all bad. I could make this work.
Despite a few hours of training and a few minor rushes of customers (I figured five people in the store at once was a rush), I managed to make a long list of ideas and a few rough sketches for my proposal for the new Lilybuds. I was excited, but I kept my ideas to myself. This project was for my FIT application—I didn’t need it done by committee. I would compile it all tonight and present it to Shar tomorrow. Hopefully we could start implementing some of the changes by the end of the week.
Late afternoon, Juniper took me to the famed Hyacinth’s to pick up coffees for everyone. Gia stayed with Shar at the store in case there was another rush of customers. On our way there, Juniper said, “They make the best chai frappés.”
I wasn’t thirteen and didn’t live in suburbia. I didn’t drink frappés. “Do they have flat whites?”
Juniper shrugged. “Probably.”
Hyacinth’s was, of course, floral themed. But the outside patio had comfortable cushioned bench seats and chic black umbrellas. I could see a significant amount of time being spent here in my future. As we waited in line at the busy café, a few people came in after us and stood behind us. But two people, what appeared like a woman and her daughter, came in and looked right at Juniper, and then the girl headed straight for us instead of the back of the line with her mother. She was tall, about our age, and exactly what others would call an all-American girl, or all-Canadian, I supposed, which meant white, blonde, blue eyed, and nonthreatening. She had on a striped nineties-style T-shirt and white jeans and sneakers. Her hair was in long curling-iron waves and she had pink lips. Her mother was an even blonder, but older, version of the girl, wearing a blue and yellow floral sundress I recognized from Lilybuds.
“Ohgreat,” Juniper said quietly, clearly irritated that she had the attention of these two.
“Hey, Junebug,” the girl said, planting herself beside Juniper. “Love that skirt; the whole look is so unique!”
“Hey, Addison,” Juniper said uneasily. “This is Tahira. She’s working with me at Lilybuds. She’s Shar’s niece from Toronto. Tahira, this is Addison. She’s in my grade at school.”
Addison’s eyes traveled from my shoes up to my hair. Her expression made it clear that she wanted me to know exactly who was queen bee around here. “Nice shirt,” she said sarcastically.
I rolled my eyes.Just terrific.Bakewell had mean girls. “Um, thank you?”
Addison turned back to Juniper and flashed a smile that looked faker than her “Longchamp” bag. “So, Junebug, did you think about what I asked?”
Juniper’s jaw clenched. “Do you mindnotcalling me Junebug?”
“Everyone calls you Junebug!” Addison stepped closer. “I really hope you’ll agree to help us out—for old times’ sake. Our team needs you!”
Juniper glanced at me briefly, then at her feet. “I said before, I don’t think I’ll have the time. I’m working this summer. And you’re not even really asking me to be on your team, are you?”
“I’m asking you to be our coach! That’s more important than being on the team! Really, I would love to let you join, but with Sadie, Cameron, and Kelsey, there isn’t space. And Kelsey and Sadie are dying to go to New York. None of us have ever been, and you went last year. You wouldn’t want to go with us, anyway. You’re too awkward for the stuff we want to do. It’s totally not your scene. We’re going to go dancing and—”
“Excuse me,” I interrupted. I couldn’t figure out what exactly Addison wanted June to coach her for, but if she thoughtneggingwas the way to convince June, she’d be dealing with me first. “Juniper said she won’t have time. I’ve been hired to do a complete rebrand of Lilybuds, and she’ll be helping me.” I mirrored the once-over the girl had given me, making it clear I was as unimpressed by her fashionchoices as she was with mine. “This town could use a style makeover, to be honest. I’ve got my work cut out for me.”
That got me a death glare from the mean girl, which was fine. I’d rather her wrath was on me than on Juniper. Juniper may have been naive and a little too earnest, but that didn’t mean she deserved to be bullied or manipulated by a classmate.
“Tahira’s a designer,” Juniper said. “She has her own clothing line and everything. And twenty thousand Instagram followers.”
Addison’s posture changed instantly. She stood straighter and stopped glaring at me. “Oh, cool! I was on the fashion show committee at school!” She smiled at me. “Welcome to Bakewell. You meet Flower Power yet?”
