Too Cool for This School by Kristen Tracy Page A
Authors: Kristen Tracy
asked.
“Something is happening in my bedroom,” I explained. “I think my mom is taking Mint clothes shopping.”
“Maybe she can buy you a replacement shirt!” Rachel suggested.
But if that happened, I thought I also might have to buy Mint a replacement wolf shirt and I would rather get attacked by a pack of cats than do that.
“I know exactly where I want to go!” Mint said. “It’s the hippest shop in Santa Fe.”
I stared at Mint in disbelief. How would she know where the hippest store was?
“Skull Coast!” Mint cheered.
I almost dropped the phone. “Mint wants to go to Skull Coast to buy clothes,” I told Rachel in a horrified and stunned voice.
“The thrasher store with the giant spiders?” Rachel asked.
How did Mint already know the creepiest place to shop in Santa Fe? Supposedly, that place kept tarantulas inside plastic boxes throughout the store. Didn’t Mint have any impulses toward normal stuff?
“I don’t think we’ve ever shopped there,” my mom said. “Have we?”
“Rachel,” I said. “I’ve got to go.” There was no way I could send my mom and Mint to that place without my guidance. As much as I wanted to stay and talk to Rachel, I needed to make sure nothing insane happened.
As soon as my mom parked the car, I got a phone call from Ava. But I didn’t answer it. I stayed focus on my task. No insane things could happen.
“Wow,” my mom said as we walked through the glass front doors. “They sure have a lot of black apparel.”
This was an understatement. Skull Coast had zero variety. The T-shirts were black. The pants were black. The shorts were black. And they didn’t have a girl’s section. It was a total dude store.
“How did you hear about this place?” my mom asked as she walked past a metal pole showcasing a T-shirt that said I POOPED TODAY .
“A guy who sits near me mentioned it,” Mint said.
“Who?” I asked. Because I couldn’t think of a single person in my class who would enter this store.
“Tuma,” Mint said.
I felt sick to my stomach. Why was Mint talking to Tuma? He was trouble.
“Is that a tarantula?” my mom asked, lifting a shakyfinger toward a Plexiglas box holding the biggest fanged spider I’d ever seen.
My life didn’t even feel like my life. A week ago I never even knew where this strip mall was located, now I was standing inside its weirdest store next to a giant, hairy spider.
A pimply teenager with three lip rings approached us. “If you’ve got any questions, shoot them my way.”
“Where are your Damaged Earth shirts?” Mint asked.
“Back corner,” the teenager said. “Buy one, get one fifty percent off.”
“Cool!” Mint cheered.
My mom and I followed Mint to the back corner. And as if things couldn’t get any worse, I actually spotted Tuma in the store. Which was doubly tragic. Because it meant that Tuma would eventually spot me.
“You came,” Tuma said.
I watched as he approached my cousin. I couldn’t believe that she’d convinced my mom to drive her to this store. Was she planning to hang out with him? Did she like him? Did she
like
like him?
“This feels so wrong,” I told my mom as we stood back and let Tuma and Mint chat while they looked through a pile of T-shirts.
“Come here,” my mom said, pulling me behind a round rack of black jeans.
“She had a disappointing phone call with Aunt Betina the other day and I’m trying to cheer her up,” my mom said.
“We are in a store filled with tarantulas, gross clothes,and a lame kid rumored to have a violent streak from my school,” I snapped.
“Why are you making this harder than it needs to be?” my mom asked. “She’s making a friend.”
A friend? Mint flipped her hair several times while she and Tuma held up various T-shirts. I couldn’t believe it. Did Mint seriously like Tuma? The one positive outcome of Mint possibly
like
liking Tuma was that she’d stop flirting with Jagger.
“Mom, I am not making anything harder,” I
“Something is happening in my bedroom,” I explained. “I think my mom is taking Mint clothes shopping.”
“Maybe she can buy you a replacement shirt!” Rachel suggested.
But if that happened, I thought I also might have to buy Mint a replacement wolf shirt and I would rather get attacked by a pack of cats than do that.
“I know exactly where I want to go!” Mint said. “It’s the hippest shop in Santa Fe.”
I stared at Mint in disbelief. How would she know where the hippest store was?
“Skull Coast!” Mint cheered.
I almost dropped the phone. “Mint wants to go to Skull Coast to buy clothes,” I told Rachel in a horrified and stunned voice.
“The thrasher store with the giant spiders?” Rachel asked.
How did Mint already know the creepiest place to shop in Santa Fe? Supposedly, that place kept tarantulas inside plastic boxes throughout the store. Didn’t Mint have any impulses toward normal stuff?
“I don’t think we’ve ever shopped there,” my mom said. “Have we?”
“Rachel,” I said. “I’ve got to go.” There was no way I could send my mom and Mint to that place without my guidance. As much as I wanted to stay and talk to Rachel, I needed to make sure nothing insane happened.
As soon as my mom parked the car, I got a phone call from Ava. But I didn’t answer it. I stayed focus on my task. No insane things could happen.
“Wow,” my mom said as we walked through the glass front doors. “They sure have a lot of black apparel.”
This was an understatement. Skull Coast had zero variety. The T-shirts were black. The pants were black. The shorts were black. And they didn’t have a girl’s section. It was a total dude store.
“How did you hear about this place?” my mom asked as she walked past a metal pole showcasing a T-shirt that said I POOPED TODAY .
“A guy who sits near me mentioned it,” Mint said.
“Who?” I asked. Because I couldn’t think of a single person in my class who would enter this store.
“Tuma,” Mint said.
I felt sick to my stomach. Why was Mint talking to Tuma? He was trouble.
“Is that a tarantula?” my mom asked, lifting a shakyfinger toward a Plexiglas box holding the biggest fanged spider I’d ever seen.
My life didn’t even feel like my life. A week ago I never even knew where this strip mall was located, now I was standing inside its weirdest store next to a giant, hairy spider.
A pimply teenager with three lip rings approached us. “If you’ve got any questions, shoot them my way.”
“Where are your Damaged Earth shirts?” Mint asked.
“Back corner,” the teenager said. “Buy one, get one fifty percent off.”
“Cool!” Mint cheered.
My mom and I followed Mint to the back corner. And as if things couldn’t get any worse, I actually spotted Tuma in the store. Which was doubly tragic. Because it meant that Tuma would eventually spot me.
“You came,” Tuma said.
I watched as he approached my cousin. I couldn’t believe that she’d convinced my mom to drive her to this store. Was she planning to hang out with him? Did she like him? Did she
like
like him?
“This feels so wrong,” I told my mom as we stood back and let Tuma and Mint chat while they looked through a pile of T-shirts.
“Come here,” my mom said, pulling me behind a round rack of black jeans.
“She had a disappointing phone call with Aunt Betina the other day and I’m trying to cheer her up,” my mom said.
“We are in a store filled with tarantulas, gross clothes,and a lame kid rumored to have a violent streak from my school,” I snapped.
“Why are you making this harder than it needs to be?” my mom asked. “She’s making a friend.”
A friend? Mint flipped her hair several times while she and Tuma held up various T-shirts. I couldn’t believe it. Did Mint seriously like Tuma? The one positive outcome of Mint possibly
like
liking Tuma was that she’d stop flirting with Jagger.
“Mom, I am not making anything harder,” I