“Awesome,” I say, watching as he installs and sets up the loyalty program. It appears as a little button we can click as we ring up a customer.
We set it up so that every ten purchases gives you a coupon for twenty percent off your next order. Then Jonah and I set up an announcement to let everyone know about our new loyally program on the store’s website, Facebook page, and mailing list.
When Mrs. Garza and her friends are done shopping, they each have a ton of items they can’t stop raving about. I ring them each up, putting them in the loyally program which really delights them. As I work, they talk to each other about the cute items we stock, and the books, and how they need to come back and with their other friends to show them around this store, which they all agree is “very cute.”
I’m beaming with pride as I swipe credit card after credit card while Jonah bags their items. I still don’t know if I can turn this place around in thirty days, but at least I’m not going down without a fight.
The moment the door closes behind the last one of Jonah’s mom’s friends, he turns to me. His eyes narrow slightly and he grabs onto my hips, pulling me closer to him. “You are really sexy,” he says, lowering his forehead to mine.
“In these clothes?” I say, pulling at the front of my Magpie polo shirt.
“In any clothes,” he whispers. My toes tingle at his nearness, the warmth of his hands on my sides. I lean up and finally let myself do what I’ve wanted to do all morning.
His kiss is slow and passionate, his tongue gliding over my lips slowly until I part them. And then we kiss harder, our tongues sliding across each other in ways that make my whole body light up. My hands wrap around his neck and his dig into my sides, tugging me so close our bodies are pressed against each other from shoulders to knees.
I can feel his bulge press against my leg and it turns me on knowing he’s turned on. His hands slide up my sides, his thumbs grazing under the cup of my bra. I gasp for air and then go in to kiss him again, wishing his lips were all over me, in every place that tingles with desire.
His thumbs slide across my breasts and then he glides down my sides until his thumbs find a resting place just inside the waistband of my jeans. I am warm and hot and tingling for his touch. I slide my fingers through the back of his hair, moaning when he kisses my neck. He chuckles at this, the sound soft and playful, before he kisses another trail from my collar bone back up to my mouth, his body slowly grinding against mine in ways that make me want to rip these stupid clothes off.
It’s hard to imagine that the boy with clean cut clothes and a dorky messenger bag at school would be so unbelievably great at making out. There are hidden treasures beneath guys who don’t flaunt themselves like a sex god on the football field. And I’ve just found one.
Jonah leans my back against the counter, his erection pressing against my belly button. I let out a sigh of pleasure as I pull him closer to me, sliding my hands under his shirt to feel the skin I’ve only seen once at the beach. I’m about to take it too far, but I don’t care, not one bit.
And then the phone rings.
I jump at the sudden high pitched sound and Jonah steps backward, blinking his eyes as if returning from a daze.
“Shit,” he says, breathing heavily. He reaches into his back pocket and takes out his phone. “We have to answer this.” He gives me a devilish grin and then leans forward and kisses me one slow, delicious time before answering the call.
I have to take several deep breaths before I can focus on the conversation, but the gist of it is that Sue Cho has chosen The Magpie as this year’s school fundraiser store. All we have to do is agree to donate ten percent of our profits to the school for everyone who comes in and turns in a Student Council fundraiser coupon.
Jonah describes it as a win/win deal because the school earns money, which we can call a tax deduction for the store, and more people come into the store because their kids bring home coupons encouraging them to.
We agree to get started right away, and Sue sends out an email to the elementary school administration, telling them we’re on board to sponsor every school in the district, not just the high school. One of the principals calls the store directly an hour later and asks if they can send out a code to parents via email instead of a coupon so that we can save paper and be environmentally friendly.
I think up a code word and by the end of the day, we’ve brought in eight hundred dollars of sales, one hundred of which we’re donating to the school.
It’s only day one, I think as we prepare to lock up the store after closing. And we’re already mostly there.
Chapter 27
Mom has slipped back into her depression again. She spends the whole weekend at home while I run the store with Jonah and April’s help. The Student Council fundraising thing is going really well so far and we close out Sunday night with two thousand extra dollars in sales. I’m thrilled to come home and tell my mom, but when I find her in her room, laid on her side and staring at the wall, I can’t think of anything to say.
Mom gets like this sometimes. It doesn’t happen often, but it’s happened mostly after she got divorced. She’ll go through a few days of silent contemplation and she won’t leave her room much or do anything. I know she’s upset right now because of her decision to sell the store, and I know it’s a battle I can’t win right now.
If we can do two thousand dollars in sales on a weekend, I can only imagine how much we’ll earn over the next twenty eight days. I make a BLT sandwich with chips and set it on a tray, then take it to Mom’s room. I set it on her nightstand and then turn to walk away.
“Thank you,” she says.
After a shower, I’m sitting in my room working on my extra credit papers and trying not to worry about Mom. With Jonah’s help, we might actually turn this place around. The weird thing is that I know we’ve earned around three thousand dollars a month for the last few months. Sure we have taxes and rent to pay, but besides the normal bills and food and stuff, we shouldn’t need any more money than that. We’re barely getting by here, but at least we’re getting by, right? Mom and I live without cable TV or high speed internet and we get by just fine. Why is she so quick to give this all up and get a job that she’ll hate?
Frustrated and feeling a little depressed myself, I shove my homework to the side and head down to the kitchen nook where Mom keeps all her bills and mail. I grab a notepad and smile when it makes me think of Jonah, and then I write Monthly Budget at the top.
I grab a stack of the latest bills and start writing down the electric company, water company, and cell phone provider, along with what last month’s bill amount was for each one. I’m going to figure out what it costs to survive each month and then see if I can tweak the budget to save money.
With money saved and more money coming into the store, Mom will have to reconsider the idea of selling the store. I’ll beg and plead. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep the store in my life and make sure Jack Brown doesn’t get his way.
I go through the bills and find Mom’s bank account statement for last month. I figure I’ll add up all the food and grocery expenses to see what we spend on food on average. Surely, we can budget better in that area by eating cheap food and cutting out smoothies and ice cream.
