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Authors: Marta Acosta
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lot of unhappiness if you accept and enjoy what you have. Neat little breasts are
very chic.”
I thought she was completely wrong, but soon I was trying on a sweet little
white bra that made me look as if I actually had a feminine shape.
Mrs. Monroe popped her head through the curtain. She said to the clerk,
“That’s quite nice. We’ll take three white, two beige, and one black.” When the
clerk left the dressing room, Mrs. Monroe continued to look, and I felt selfconscious.
I knew what she was looking at, the pale scar above my left breast, and then
her eyes shifted downward and she said, “Jane, no more tattoos, please. They are
unseemly and unhealthy. You can get a blood-born infection, and we wouldn’t
want that.”
It wasn’t her business to tell me what to do with my body. “I was careful
and I’m fine.”
“Still, we don’t want you catching anything. We want you as healthy as
can be.”
When she’d left the dressing room, I ran my finger across the black H and
wondered what Hosea would think if he could see me in this expensive little
town, about to start an exclusive school. Hosea wouldn’t be impressed by the
money. He wanted me to be a kinder person, not a richer person.
Our last stop was the grocery store. “You can make an easy spaghetti
sauce with crushed tomatoes and herbs,” Mrs. Monroe said. “Oatmeal is
economical and much healthier for you than any packaged cereal. I like mine
with dried cranberries and brown sugar.”
Since groceries came out of my stipend, I followed her suggestions,
choosing the cheaper store brands of items that would fill me up and last the
longest.
-51- The Shadow Girl of Birch Grove – Marta Acosta
Mrs. Monroe waited at the entrance while I took out my bank card to pay
from my groceries. The clerk was a Latina, about 20, pretty and wearing a bright
pink shirt under her Greenwood Grocery apron. She said, “You’re not from
around here, are you?”
“It’s that obvious? I’ll be starting Birch Grove.”
She handed me a receipt. “Really? That school is way expensive.”
“I got a scholarship.”
“Good on you. See you around.”
“Okay, see you. Thanks.” I took the receipt and folded it into my new
checkbook.
As Mrs. Monroe drove back to the school, I recognized houses on the hill
and turns on the road, and I thought, I can do this .
-52- The Shadow Girl of Birch Grove – Marta Acosta
Chapter 4
“ Birch Grove alumna become productive, moral, and ethical citizens and
understand their responsibilities as leaders in our community.”
Birch Grove Student Handbook
After saying good-bye to Mrs. Monroe, I walked along the path to my
cottage. The birch leaves fluttered in a faint breeze, revealing the light green on
the reverse side.
Once inside, I took my new clothes out of their shopping bags and spread
them on the sofa and chairs I put them in different combinations, so I would know
what went with what. Then I eliminated the four most unnecessary items, two tshirts and one pair of jeans, and put them back in a shopping bag so I could return
them for a refund.
I put the other clothes in the closet, but kept their tags on. Mrs. Monroe had
her idea of rainy day money, and I had mine.
After turning on the television for noise, I moved things around the cottage,
just because I could. I discovered a flashlight in a cupboard in the laundry room
and put them on the table by my bed in case of emergencies.
I studied a chapter of my SAT vocabulary book. I wrote out the words in
sentences and then said them aloud until they came naturally. Now that I had
privacy, I practiced the words while standing in front of the mirror, making up
sentences like, “He has an avuncular mien,” and “We were habituated to the
pedagogue’s acerbity.” Well, some things never sounded natural.
It felt like a long day, but when I looked at the clock, it was only six.
I wished I had a computer so I could write to some of my
lot of unhappiness if you accept and enjoy what you have. Neat little breasts are
very chic.”
I thought she was completely wrong, but soon I was trying on a sweet little
white bra that made me look as if I actually had a feminine shape.
Mrs. Monroe popped her head through the curtain. She said to the clerk,
“That’s quite nice. We’ll take three white, two beige, and one black.” When the
clerk left the dressing room, Mrs. Monroe continued to look, and I felt selfconscious.
I knew what she was looking at, the pale scar above my left breast, and then
her eyes shifted downward and she said, “Jane, no more tattoos, please. They are
unseemly and unhealthy. You can get a blood-born infection, and we wouldn’t
want that.”
It wasn’t her business to tell me what to do with my body. “I was careful
and I’m fine.”
“Still, we don’t want you catching anything. We want you as healthy as
can be.”
When she’d left the dressing room, I ran my finger across the black H and
wondered what Hosea would think if he could see me in this expensive little
town, about to start an exclusive school. Hosea wouldn’t be impressed by the
money. He wanted me to be a kinder person, not a richer person.
Our last stop was the grocery store. “You can make an easy spaghetti
sauce with crushed tomatoes and herbs,” Mrs. Monroe said. “Oatmeal is
economical and much healthier for you than any packaged cereal. I like mine
with dried cranberries and brown sugar.”
Since groceries came out of my stipend, I followed her suggestions,
choosing the cheaper store brands of items that would fill me up and last the
longest.
-51- The Shadow Girl of Birch Grove – Marta Acosta
Mrs. Monroe waited at the entrance while I took out my bank card to pay
from my groceries. The clerk was a Latina, about 20, pretty and wearing a bright
pink shirt under her Greenwood Grocery apron. She said, “You’re not from
around here, are you?”
“It’s that obvious? I’ll be starting Birch Grove.”
She handed me a receipt. “Really? That school is way expensive.”
“I got a scholarship.”
“Good on you. See you around.”
“Okay, see you. Thanks.” I took the receipt and folded it into my new
checkbook.
As Mrs. Monroe drove back to the school, I recognized houses on the hill
and turns on the road, and I thought, I can do this .
-52- The Shadow Girl of Birch Grove – Marta Acosta
Chapter 4
“ Birch Grove alumna become productive, moral, and ethical citizens and
understand their responsibilities as leaders in our community.”
Birch Grove Student Handbook
After saying good-bye to Mrs. Monroe, I walked along the path to my
cottage. The birch leaves fluttered in a faint breeze, revealing the light green on
the reverse side.
Once inside, I took my new clothes out of their shopping bags and spread
them on the sofa and chairs I put them in different combinations, so I would know
what went with what. Then I eliminated the four most unnecessary items, two tshirts and one pair of jeans, and put them back in a shopping bag so I could return
them for a refund.
I put the other clothes in the closet, but kept their tags on. Mrs. Monroe had
her idea of rainy day money, and I had mine.
After turning on the television for noise, I moved things around the cottage,
just because I could. I discovered a flashlight in a cupboard in the laundry room
and put them on the table by my bed in case of emergencies.
I studied a chapter of my SAT vocabulary book. I wrote out the words in
sentences and then said them aloud until they came naturally. Now that I had
privacy, I practiced the words while standing in front of the mirror, making up
sentences like, “He has an avuncular mien,” and “We were habituated to the
pedagogue’s acerbity.” Well, some things never sounded natural.
It felt like a long day, but when I looked at the clock, it was only six.
I wished I had a computer so I could write to some of my
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