How to Fall by Jane Casey Page A

twisted round to see Darcy standing behind me. Today her hair was in two fat plaits and she was wearing a pale pink dress with stripy leggings . Just to make sure she didn’t look too sweet, her eye make-up was pretty close to what the well-dressed panda was wearing this summer and her nails were painted black. She looked thrilled to see me and I found myself smiling back, wanting to like her in spite of Petra’s concerns and Will’s warning. In fact, given Will’s hostility to her I should really have been on her side. Instead of sleeping I’d spent quite a bit of the previous night deciding I didn’t trust him – not at all – so arguably I should do the opposite of whatever he suggested. Which meant being nice to Darcy. I pushed the doubt to the back of my mind where it could stay until I’d formed my own opinion.
    ‘Hey.’ She knelt down beside me. ‘I bumped into Hugo just now. He told me you were working here.’
    ‘Did he, indeed.’ I was surprised. I hadn’t thought Hugo was the gossipy type.
    ‘It’s a genius idea. Really. You’ll get to see everything first, before it even goes on the racks. You have your pick of everything.’ Darcy leaned across to root through the bag that was in front of me. ‘Oh my God. Are these shoes alligator-skin?’
    ‘I don’t know. I hope not.’ I took them out of her hands and slung them back in the bag. Sylvia was safely out of earshot, but I dropped my voice anyway, not wanting to hurt her feelings. ‘If this is such a great place to work, how come Sylvia couldn’t persuade anyone to help her?’
    Darcy rolled her eyes. ‘She’s mad. It’s too much trouble to keep her happy. Hello, Miss Burman.’ She waved at her and got a confused stare in return. ‘Besides, it’s more fun to shop here than to actually work.’
    ‘You shock me.’
    ‘It’s not that bad. You’ll make it fun. And you really will be able to dress well, you know. You’ll get a staff discount and everything.’
    ‘I’m not sure high fashion mixes that well with my current style.’ I looked down at my T-shirt and frayed jeans. ‘I don’t think heels and a Ralph Lauren blazer would work with this.’
    Darcy wrinkled her nose. ‘Maybe it’s time for an image change.’
    ‘Maybe it’s time I did some work.’ Sylvia wasn’t what you’d call scary but I didn’t want to disappoint Tilly by getting the sack on my first day. I went back to sorting through donations. ‘I still can’t believe how expensive all this stuff was when it was new.’
    ‘Welcome to Port Sentinel.’ She rummaged in the bag again, finding a strapless top. ‘Do you think this would fit me?’
    The truthful answer was no. ‘Maybe. But do you want it to?’
    ‘Not really.’
    ‘Do people in Port Sentinel really care about owls or something?’
    ‘Owls?’ Darcy looked bewildered. ‘Oh. You mean Sylvia’s charity?’
    ‘The reason for the shop’s existence.’
    ‘No need to be sarky. No, owls aren’t big around here. But fashion is. And you don’t want to be seen to get two years out of your designer clothes. Everyone makes it a mission to get rid of last season’s stuff.’
    ‘That’s so wasteful.’
    She shrugged. ‘Get used to it. Anyway, this is the only charity shop in town. The others couldn’t afford the rent and closed down. Sylvia is loaded so she was able to afford the overheads and now she gets everything that’s going.’
    ‘I’d have thought the shop would be packed. You’re the only customer we’ve had all morning.’
    ‘Not surprising, is it? Most of the locals wouldn’t buy anything here in case someone spotted them wearing out-of-date second-hand clothes. Imagine if the previous owner saw you in the boots she’d thrown away.’ She waggled a black suede ankle boot at me. The toecap was covered with gold studs. It was sort of luxury punk, and quite hideous.
    ‘Those would be hard to miss,’ I agreed.
    ‘And out-of-towners don’t always risk it. It’s not the most