All That Glitters by J. Minter Page A

mouthful of straight pins.
    â€œStand still,” she commanded, “or we’ll be here all night.”
    SBB gritted her teeth and stared down at Shay. “I have an idea. How about don’t jab your pins of death into my multimillion dollar–insured skin? Then I won’t
have
to squirm, will I? Anyway, Flan,” she said, sucking in her breath and turning to me, “how much longer do I have to wait to hear aboutyour date with the Prince? If I have to think about Gloria for one more second, I swear I’m going to explode.”
    I smiled. And blushed. “Oh … it was good,” I said. “It was really good.”
    â€œBoring!” she cried. “I still have images of my mother in my head! Give me details! Give me hot moments! Give me something to work with here! I’m practically pinned down on a platform and all you can offer me is ‘good?’”
    Shay shook her head. “Do you want to be permanently pinned to this platform?” she asked. “Because you can take your attitude and—”
    â€œAnd what?” SBB said, hands on her waist. “And go out and hire your nemesis to be my next personal shopper? Don’t think I don’t know you’ve been working with Ashleigh Ann on the side.”
    Shay looked up and pointed a finger at SBB, like she was going to come back and tell her off. But instead of saying anything, she just held out her finger and her death stare until, miraculously, SBB sniffed and looked away.
    â€œThat’s what I thought,” Shay muttered. I’d never seen anything like it.
    â€œWell, it was just a first date,” I butted in, trying to break some of the tension. “I think he likes me, buthe’s a little edgier than the other guys I’ve been out with, so …”
    I trailed off when I realized they were still too busy with their power struggle to listen. Maybe SBB and Shay would be better off if I scooted out of the way. And didn’t I have something else I needed to do tonight? Oh yeah … that little thing called homework. And that’s when I realized that it was already nine o’clock and the store would’ve been closed except that the poor shopgirl was still stuck behind her curtain. I went to check on her and there she was, leaned against the wall with her arms folded, half asleep.
    â€œYou can come out now,” I said. “It’s okay.”
    The girl smiled at me and immediately darted past SBB, who didn’t even notice her.
    â€œHey, SBB,” I said, standing up to gather my things. “I should probably get going. I’ve got a quiz tomorrow morning. You’re going to look incredible in that dress next week.”
    A look of panic washed over SBB’s face.
    â€œBut this is only Option One. What about Option Two?” she said. Then, looking down at Shay and dropping her voice to a whisper, she added, “Just in case of … you know … WS.”
    I felt the weight of my school books in my bag andthe weight of SBB’s puppy dog eyes full of Wardrobe Sabotage worry pulling me in opposite directions. I didn’t know what to do.
    â€œWell, what if I come over on Friday and check out what you come up with for Option Two? That will still give you enough time to make adjustments if you need to, right?”
    SBB exhaled gratefully. “That sounds great. Good luck on your quiz.” Her hand went to her neck where she fiddled with the clasp of a necklace.
    â€œYou’re still fidgeting!” Shay shouted from below.
    â€œSilence or I’ll step on you with these heels!” SBB said. She turned to me: “Flan, I can’t believe I almost forgot!”
    â€œForgot what?” I asked.
    She handed me the gold necklace she’d been wearing. “It’s for you. Penn DiMontagne gave it to me when we were shooting
Loan Shark of Venice Beach
. I thought it might give you good luck in class.”
    I opened the