Wednesday, April 22, 2009

back to work

Evidently, Charlotte could hardly contain herself. Or at least Rachel thought as she watched Charlotte twirl about in this old dress she was wearing with those ghastly chunky yellow beads flinging about. Here Charlotte was dancing about at the library like a loon.

"Are you on something?" Rachel came right out with the words biting her anger. They had work to do. None if this silly stuff. Didn't she know the summer reading program was coming? Rachel had to make it the best ever.

"Yeah, life, what of it?" Charlotte stopped in her tracks then and gave Rachel a hard stare. "You take the breath right out of it, don't you?"

"We have so much to get done, Charlotte." Rachel was serious as she flung the folder on her desk at Charlotte. "Why are you like this?"

"Why are you such a bitch?" Charlotte huffed back.

"You can't talk that way around here, you know."

"I know." The library was closed at the moment. "I do what you ask of me, all the time. And I have school to finish too."

"Just, just stop being so," she wanted to open up her potty vocabulary too, but she wouldn't. "Happy. Will you?"

"What do you want?"

"Where did you get the dress?" It was so vintage, with the tiny yellow flowers on black. Rachel had never seen anything so bright yet nostalgic.

"Archie's grandmother. She had a closet full of things. I took a big box of it. I don't have to alter it or anything." Charlotte smiled at her find.

"Lucky you," Rachel fumed. "Look, you are still up to take care of the plushies class, aren't you?"

"Yeah." Charlotte nodded.

"You'll be doing crafts everyday, you know."

"I know, its just two hours. And I've set up plushies and sock dolls once a week. Anime drawing classes. You did get someone for the poetry and writing club, didn't you?" Charlotte went on to plunge into a meeting with her.

"I think so. Maybe you should do the plushies twice a week."

"OK."

Rachel dug into her desk then and pulled out some T-shirts for Charlotte, who smiled when she found the "banned book tour" one.

"I love it." She smiled as if Rachel had given her Christmas at her finger tips.

"I thought you would."

"So is this kind of like a uniform?" Charlotte wanted to know.

"Yeah, I suppose." Rachel guessed she'd get through this this summer, but she was counting on Charlotte more than she knew she should.

4 comments:

ellie said...

that rachel is a slave driver!

simon n josh said...

I'm wondering what else Rachel will be on Charlotte's case about next.

diane said...

Charlotte should give Rachel one of her vintage treasures. Rachel is kind of b*tchy, but that was nice the way she gave Charlotte the t-shirt. She may have wanted to give it to her, and then Charlotte "stole her thunder" by being so happy with her new old dress.

Cait said...

thanks Diane..good to hear from you.