Read Online Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception by Maggie Stiefvater - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Maggie Stiefvater
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should answer her or chronicle the event in my scrapbook.
“About this application?”
Sara snorted. “Duh. No. About the hottie you brought in the other day. Are you two going out?”
“Yes,” I lied, without even pausing to think about it. I didn’t want her getting the idea he might be available. I’d hate to have to punch her like I did Luke last night. Swallowing a laugh at the mental image, I wrote my address on the application.
“Whoa. No offense, but I never thought, like, you’d be the type to get a guy, so …”
I turned around. It occurred to me, in a me-looking-at-my-own-life-from-outside-my-body way, that Sara was being condescending. I raised an eyebrow.
She said quickly, “Not that you’re ugly or anything. You’re just so … ordinary.”
I wasn’t ordinary. I was fascinating . “I guess he didn’t think so,” I said.
Sara tapped her shimmery pink nails on the counter and studied them as she did. “It was just a little surprising to see you come in here with this guy who was, like, wow.”
I had to turn around again to hide the smile that was forming. “Yeah, he is pretty nice to look at, huh?”
“Are you kidding?” Sara burst out. “He is out-of-this-world hot!”
I couldn’t keep from laughing this time. “Yeah, he is, isn’t he?” Which world was he from, I wondered?
The bell dinged as the door admitted two men, who ordered from Sara as she smiled encouragingly at them. Shaking my head, I told her, “I’ll get one of them.”
I took the opportunity to move to the other end of the counter and make the sundae. I hadn’t lied when I told Luke I liked working here. Really, scooping ice cream was quite satisfying. Every flavor was a different color, and the feeling of the scoop cutting through the perfectly cold ice cream was as appetizing as actually eating the ice cream. I’d tried to explain this to Sara before, but she didn’t get it. She just scooped ice cream into bowls and cones. I made ice-cold masterpieces.
“Whoa, that looks so good,” said Customer Number One as he watched Customer Number Two take a sundae out of my hands. Of course it does , I thought. Each scoop is perfectly round and I made the syrup and whipped cream perfectly symmetrical. The brownie is square and covered just so by ice cream. The nuts are sprinkled with enough creativity to look random and yet not patchy. It should be on the cover of Ice Cream Today. Most gorgeous sundae ever. Created by yours truly.
Customer Number One accepted a substandard, Sara-made sundae with a slightly disappointed look. His was not symmetrical and would never find its picture on the front of a magazine. Sara had even slimed some chocolate ice cream from the first scoop onto the second scoop, which was vanilla. Quite unsightly.
Customer Number Two smiled warmly at me and stuffed the tip jar in front of my register full of ones. He flashed another smile, and his flirtations rolled gently off my back like water off a duck.
“Better hurry,” I said. “The brownie will melt your ice cream.”
“Your brownie’s warm?” Customer Number One asked with dismay. They made their way out of the shop, with Number Two happily extolling the pleasures of his sundae. I returned to my application and Sara returned to my side.
“So, where did you meet?”
But I was staring at my tip jar. Stuffed in with all the ones and change that I’d acquired throughout the day was a leafy green edge that was out of place. I took the jar and tipped it out on the counter.
Sara jumped back as a few pennies bounced in her direction. “What are you doing? Are you mental?”
Sure enough, among the crumpled bills, half-crushed by a quarter, was a four-leaf clover. I picked it up and Sara stared at it, too.
“Whoa, aren’t those really rare?”
I frowned. “I thought they were.”
The bell dinged again, and both of us looked up. Sara made a soft noise and I grinned, because it was Luke.
He smiled back at me. “Hello,
“About this application?”
Sara snorted. “Duh. No. About the hottie you brought in the other day. Are you two going out?”
“Yes,” I lied, without even pausing to think about it. I didn’t want her getting the idea he might be available. I’d hate to have to punch her like I did Luke last night. Swallowing a laugh at the mental image, I wrote my address on the application.
“Whoa. No offense, but I never thought, like, you’d be the type to get a guy, so …”
I turned around. It occurred to me, in a me-looking-at-my-own-life-from-outside-my-body way, that Sara was being condescending. I raised an eyebrow.
She said quickly, “Not that you’re ugly or anything. You’re just so … ordinary.”
I wasn’t ordinary. I was fascinating . “I guess he didn’t think so,” I said.
Sara tapped her shimmery pink nails on the counter and studied them as she did. “It was just a little surprising to see you come in here with this guy who was, like, wow.”
I had to turn around again to hide the smile that was forming. “Yeah, he is pretty nice to look at, huh?”
“Are you kidding?” Sara burst out. “He is out-of-this-world hot!”
I couldn’t keep from laughing this time. “Yeah, he is, isn’t he?” Which world was he from, I wondered?
The bell dinged as the door admitted two men, who ordered from Sara as she smiled encouragingly at them. Shaking my head, I told her, “I’ll get one of them.”
I took the opportunity to move to the other end of the counter and make the sundae. I hadn’t lied when I told Luke I liked working here. Really, scooping ice cream was quite satisfying. Every flavor was a different color, and the feeling of the scoop cutting through the perfectly cold ice cream was as appetizing as actually eating the ice cream. I’d tried to explain this to Sara before, but she didn’t get it. She just scooped ice cream into bowls and cones. I made ice-cold masterpieces.
“Whoa, that looks so good,” said Customer Number One as he watched Customer Number Two take a sundae out of my hands. Of course it does , I thought. Each scoop is perfectly round and I made the syrup and whipped cream perfectly symmetrical. The brownie is square and covered just so by ice cream. The nuts are sprinkled with enough creativity to look random and yet not patchy. It should be on the cover of Ice Cream Today. Most gorgeous sundae ever. Created by yours truly.
Customer Number One accepted a substandard, Sara-made sundae with a slightly disappointed look. His was not symmetrical and would never find its picture on the front of a magazine. Sara had even slimed some chocolate ice cream from the first scoop onto the second scoop, which was vanilla. Quite unsightly.
Customer Number Two smiled warmly at me and stuffed the tip jar in front of my register full of ones. He flashed another smile, and his flirtations rolled gently off my back like water off a duck.
“Better hurry,” I said. “The brownie will melt your ice cream.”
“Your brownie’s warm?” Customer Number One asked with dismay. They made their way out of the shop, with Number Two happily extolling the pleasures of his sundae. I returned to my application and Sara returned to my side.
“So, where did you meet?”
But I was staring at my tip jar. Stuffed in with all the ones and change that I’d acquired throughout the day was a leafy green edge that was out of place. I took the jar and tipped it out on the counter.
Sara jumped back as a few pennies bounced in her direction. “What are you doing? Are you mental?”
Sure enough, among the crumpled bills, half-crushed by a quarter, was a four-leaf clover. I picked it up and Sara stared at it, too.
“Whoa, aren’t those really rare?”
I frowned. “I thought they were.”
The bell dinged again, and both of us looked up. Sara made a soft noise and I grinned, because it was Luke.
He smiled back at me. “Hello,
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