Never Wear Red Lipstick on Picture Day: (And Other Lessons I've Learned) by Allison Gutknecht Read Free Book Online

try them on, that’s it. No other new shoes and nothing else for your Picture Day outfit. You’ll wear your periwinkle dress from the Presidential ­Pageant. Understood?”
    â€œYes.” I nod my head ferociously. “These shoes are worth it.”
    â€œWell, see how you like them once they’re on your feet,” Mom says. “If they hurt, we’re not getting them.” The salesgirl with the whole ear of earrings comes back then, and she straps the shoes onto my feet. I stand up and take one step, and I hear the heel click-clack against the floor. My face spreads into an enormous grin, and I prance around the store happily.
    â€œI will take these,” I say to Mom.
    â€œSo that’s it,” Mom confirms. “No other shoes.”
    â€œRight,” I answer.
    â€œAnd you’ll wear your periwinkle dress on ­Picture Day? With no complaints?”
    â€œYes,” I agree. “No complaints.”
    â€œAre you sure?” Mom asks. “How about this adorable pair?” She points to a plaid shoe that does not even have a heel on the bottom. “I think they’re really sharp.”
    â€œThese are sharper,” I say, pointing to my feet, and then I throw my arms around Mom’s waist so that she knows that I mean it.
    â€œAll right, then,” Mom says.
    â€œWahoo!” I call out, pumping my fist in the air. “Thank you! These are the best shoes ever!”
    â€œWe’ll take them,” Mom tells the earring girl, who smiles at me like we are sharing a secret.
    â€œA girl always needs a good pair of fancy shoes, huh?” she says to me.
    â€œFancy-dancy ones,” I agree. “They’re even better than my sunglasses.”

CHAPTER 7
    Glittery Disaster

    I SPEND ALL DAY ON SUNDAY TRAIPSING around my house in my new shoes. Dad says I need to stop clumping my heels so loudly against the tile floor in the kitchen, but I like the way they sound, so I do not listen. And Mom says I need to go outside and scrape the bottom of the shoes against the sidewalk so they are not so slippery, but I don’t want to give them even one scratch, so I do not listen.
    Then Grandmom comes over and says to me, “My, those are just about the most beautiful shoes I have ever seen,” and this is why I love Grandmom.
    Plus, Grandmom likes to give me presents, and I love presents. So I am very happy when she starts digging in her handbag with a smile on her face.
    â€œIt’s not new, I found it in my room,” ­Grandmom tells me. “Just goes to show that you can find some wonderful items in your own closet.” She pulls out a scarf that glitters and shimmers and shines in the light.
    â€œThank you!” I take the scarf from Grandmom and reach up so I can hug her tightly around the neck. “This is the best scarf ever.”
    â€œNot bad for a leftover, huh?” Grandmom asks.
    â€œNo, because it is not a leftover to me,” I explain. “It is new.” I run my fingers up and down the scarf and practice wrapping it around my neck, and then around my hair, and then around my wrist. I love it so much that I do not know what to keep my eyes on more: the scarf or the shoes. So I wrap the scarf around my ankles so that I can see both at the same time.
    â€œMandy, you’re going to fall down. Untie that,” Dad instructs me. “We don’t need any more broken toes around here.”
    â€œBut I like to look at both of them at the same time,” I explain.
    â€œI’m so glad you like your new accessory,” Grandmom tells me. “But how about, if you want to look at your shoes and scarf together, you sit down to do so?” And I think this is not the greatest idea, because then I cannot make click-clack sounds with my heels, but I do not argue with Grandmom because she just gave me this glittery scarf, so she is pretty much my most favorite person in the world right now.
    â€œI am