Emmy walked past him and down the stairs. I started to follow her when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and Ryan was smiling at me.
“I’m not going to fire you over that, by the way,” he whispered.
“Unfortunately,” I said, trotting down the staircase.
CHAPTERFIFTY-SEVEN
Poppy
“So, I’ll meet you guys later,” Ryan said awkwardly. “Here.” He pulled his wallet out and handed me his card. “It’s zero-eight-nine-zero. The code.”
I reached for the card, but as I did, our fingers touched briefly and a shock ran through me. It was a tingle at first, just in my fingertips, and then it moved into my wrist and snaked up my arm, pebbling my skin as it went. I shivered and pulled away quickly. My arm was full of goosebumps, despite the climate-controlled inside of the mall.
“Okay, we better . . . uh,” I said, taking a step backward.
He did too, and I wondered if he’d also felt it.
“I’ll wait here for you,” he said. “Take your time.”
I nodded at him and we walked off in the direction of the lingerie shop.
About an hour later, after trying on at least six different types of bra, we finally found the right type that fitted perfectly and felt comfortable. We got a few of them in different colors and headed to the counter to pay.
“Thanks for doing this,” Emmy said softly as I paid for everything.
“I hope I was helpful.”
She nodded. “I did kind of always imagine doing this with my mom, but . . .”
“Yeah,” I sighed. “I know. I always imagined that when I got married, if I got married, that my mom would help me choose my wedding dress, you know?”
We looked at each other and it was like looking into a mirror. All the thoughts and feelings that she had, I had them too. I got her. Understood what she was going through.
“Hey.” She shrugged playfully, lightening the mood somewhat. “When you get married I’ll come help you choose the dress,” she said.
“I’d love that.” We walked together in silence for a while. “How does it feel?” I asked, looking at her.
She tugged on the bra strap. “A bit weird, but it doesn’t hurt when I walk now like it did before. They were like, I don’t know, sensitive.”
“I know, it’s the worst. But don’t worry, it gets better.” I paused for a moment and thought carefully about how to word the next thing I was about to say. “Do you need some sanitary things yet, or not? Or do you have any questions about those kinds of things?” I said under my breath as we walked through the mall back to Ryan.
She looked at me and relief washed over her face. “Okay, so this girl at school says that when you get your period for the first time you don’t know. There’s no warning signs or anything. Like it just happens, whenever. Like in the middle of the night or at school even. And that there’s a lot of blood. Like way more than she imagined there would be.”
I nodded thoughtfully, trying to remember how I felt the first time I got my period. “The first time I got mine, I got such a fright. I went to the toilet and I thought I was dying. But just because there’s a lot of blood, it doesn’t mean you’re going to bleed to death or anything, even though sometimes it looks like it.”
She nodded, but I wasn’t sure I had waylaid her fears and concerns at all. “You know what?” I said. “Let’s go buy you some pads, and then you should start carrying one around in your school bag and have some at home. So you’re prepared for whenever it happens.”
She nodded and smiled at me. “Does it hurt?”
“Mmmm, sometimes. But it’s nothing a Tylenol or a hot-water bottle can’t fix. We’ll get some of those too. And I’ll give you my number and you can call me if that happens. I don’t mind.”
At that, out of the blue, she threw her arms around me and hugged me. It felt weird at first but then, slowly, it started to feel really nice. For some reason, I felt close to her, even though we hardly knew each other. I put my hand on her head and stroked her hair.
“This was pretty cool of my uncle to organize,” she said, pulling away.
“He loves you a lot,” I said.
“I know.” She sounded sad. “We haven’t really been getting on that well lately. We used to get on really well, even after Mom died, but now . . . I don’t know. I feel so irritated all the time and stuff.”
