I woke up to the sound of pounding against my door.
"Yo! Charlie! Get up! It's been three hours! Come on! Let's go!" Came Mari's voice from the other side of the door. I rubbed my eyes and rolled out of my bed, as Mari burst into my room. She leaped onto my bed and began to bounce on it, excitedly. Karen appeared at the doorway.
"Mars, I know you are excited, but you need to keep it down. Laura is still asleep. And I was too." She glared playfully at Mari.
"Sorry. I just want to get going." She said, putting on her puppy dog face. Karen sighed.
"I don't know..." She said. Mari pouted.
"Mooom! I'm turning 16 in September, and Charlie's already 16! We can drive! We can take care of ourselves." Karen looked torn. She knew that the girls were old enough, but she also knew that her daughter had a face and body that drew a lot of attention. She also knew that Charlie couldn't call for help if something happened to her.
"Tell you what. You girls promise to be safe, and carry your cellphone, or IPod," She added, looking at Charlie, "at all times. You will stay together at all times, and won't go far." She looked very serious. "Understand?" She asked. Mari squealed.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! I understand!" She cried. I saluted in response, showing that I understood as well. Karen opened her wallet and handed her daughter some money.
"Spend that carefully. I want all change." She said. Mari nodded and stuffed the money in her wallet. She grabbed my hand and pulled me down the stairs of our suite. We raced down the huge, marble staircase that stood grandly in the center of the main hall of the hotel, and into the world outside.
Ten minutes later, I found myself sitting on a bench in the dressing room of a small French boutique.
"How about this one?" Mari asked me, twirling around for me to see the dress she was wearing. It was a short, tight dress, decorated with small, pink flowers. It hugged her curvy figure and, like usual, she looked like a supermodel.
I keep telling you. You look good in everything. I signed with difficulty, as my arms were loaded with clothes of all types.
"I don't know..." She said, looking at herself in the mirror. "It's just...no." She shook her head and stripped off the dress. She tossed it into her "no" pile, which was about the size of a small mountain. She turned back to the mirror and adjusted her lace bra. She smiled.
"Damn! I look good!" She laughed, admiring her figure. I rolled my eyes. She did look good, too good.
"Okay. I think I'm done." Mari said, finally. She pulled back on her tank top and shorts and walked out of the dressing room, leaving me with the clothes. I staggered out of the room, swaying back and forth, as I made my slow and dangerous way to the counter. I dropped the pile on the counter, and the woman behind it started to laugh.
"I tink you need a whole suruck [truck] for zat!" She exclaimed in a heavy french accent. Mari walked up behind me, looking horrified.
"I'm so sorry! I forgot that you were carrying all the clothes!" She cried.
No harm done. I signed, grateful to have set down the clothes. She handed the woman behind the counter some money.
The woman rang up the clothes and put them into bags. By the end, there were at least 10 bags filled with clothes.
"Uhh..." Mari said, assessing the situation.
"You know what? I keep ze cloze. Zey say wiz me uzill you come back. Zat way you don's carry zem all over Pariz." The woman said kindly.
"Oh, thank you! We'll be back to pick them up later then." Mari said.
"You're welcome." Said the woman. Mari gave her the best smile she could muster and walked out of the store, me trailing gratefully behind. I was the one who was going to have to carry all those bags in the end.
The streets of Paris were full of life. There seemed to be people everywhere I looked. In the stores, walking on the sidewalk, it was like New York City! Mari lead me through the crowd. I grasped her hand, determined not to lose her. Despite the mass of bodies, the thrill of Paris hadn't worn off, and I was buzzing.
"Voulez-vous un chapeau?" Called out a man, holding out some sort of beret-like hat. "Solo quinze euros." Mari shook her head politely.
"Non, merci." She said. I frowned at Mari, confused.
What? I signed, scrunching up my eyebrows. She laughed.
"He asked me if I wanted a hat for only fifteen euros." She shook her head. "Anyone who would pay 15 euros for that...hat thing is either brain dead or absolutely insane. These people think tourists are really stupid." I smiled.
"Now, I don't know about you, but I'm starving." She said. "Let's go stuff ourselves with yummy pastries." Mari lead me out of the mass of the crowd and into a small alley. I sighed, grateful to be out of the busy street. She pulled out her map and tour book of Paris.
"It says here that there's some award winning café just a couple blocks from here." She looked at her map. "We have to turn left back the way we came. It looks like we missed it." She folded up the map and put it into her pocket along with the book. "We just have to go-" She stopped mid-sentence. I looked up to see where she was looking and gasped.
The entrance to the ally was gone!
Author's Note:
So, I don't know any french. I take Spanish in school, so if any native French speakers read this book, please tell me if the French in this book is correct or not.
(I am relying completely on Google translate, so....) :D
Thank you again for your support in reading my book. It means a lot when you leave a comment or a like on my book.
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Mute (Completed)
Teen FictionCharlotte Sterling can't speak. Ever since the accident that took her voice, she has been left with nothing but her hands to communicate. As she struggles to understand the loud world around her, she must try to find the voice inside. This lighthear...
