Girl in the Shadows (Shadows 2)

he would teach her how to drive so she could be ready

for her driving test when she was of age. She showed

me some of the signing related to driving that he had

already taught her, such as the signs for right and left

turn, speeding up and slowing down. -Wasn't it wrong

to make such promises to her knowing he was

inevitably going to leave much sooner than she ever

imagined he would? I made a mental note to ask him

about that later.

By the time we arrived at the mall, school had

ended for the day and many of the students were

already gathering at their favorite mall stores, pizza

hangouts, and the arcade. I took Echo directly to the

shoe store first to buy myself a new pair of running

shoes. I remembered all the things Brenda had told me

about good running shoes and sought them out,

Afterward. I bought Echo a bread pretzel and a soda

and just had a diet soda myself. She was intrigued by the other girls her age and couldn't take her eyes off them while they flirted with boys and giggled. The worst wallflower wasn't as outside of teenage society as poor Echo was. I thought. I should know. I had

been one.

Once again, she was fascinated by the kids in

the music store listening to music and riffling through

CDs. To my surprise she wanted to go in. I had no

idea what we would do there. but I agreed. She went

to the racks and, watching how the others were doing

it, began to sift through them, picking one out and

reading about the artist or the band as if she was really

thinking of buying it. I stood by smiling to myself

until, imitating the others, she put a CD on a player

and then put a pair of earphones on herself, too. How

sad. I thought. If my heart were made of glass, it