Party at Silver Spires by Ann Bryant Read Free Book Online Page B

to the door, sighing inside because I had to leave Topshop now, even though I hadn’t anywhere near finished my search. Otherwise, the other two might go off and leave Antonia and me stuck trailing around together, which would be terrible.
    â€œAntonia, you shouldn’t talk to strangers, you know,” Izzy said to her the moment we were out of the shop.
    â€œHe was nice. And also friendly,” Antonia replied.
    â€œYes, but you never know…” said Izzy.
    â€œHe was like my uncle Stefano.”
    â€œAll the same…” said Sasha.
    â€œYes, you are right.” Antonia sighed.
    â€œOh look, Primark!” said Izzy, and my heart leaped at the thought of my favourite shop. There was a strong chance I might be able to afford something from Primark.
    So we all rushed towards it. Well, we three rushed and Antonia wandered behind, looking in every single window that we passed. In the end I stopped to wait for her so we wouldn’t lose each other.
    â€œAfter, I would like to go in the bookshop,” she said, when she caught me up.
    â€œYes, I’d like to go in there too,” I said. “We can do it straight after this, yes?”
    She nodded and I felt suddenly sorry for her. This whole English world must seem so different to her Italian world and I wondered how I’d be feeling if I’d come to a boarding school in a foreign country and everything was strange. In a way, it was no wonder she’d decided to talk to someone who reminded her of her uncle. I was determined that the moment I’d found something for the party I’d concentrate all my attention on doing the things that Antonia wanted to do.
    At first I didn’t see anything in Primark that would be suitable, but then when we went upstairs everything looked a bit more glitzy and glam.
    I ran my hand along rail after rail and finally stopped when I came to a pink and silver tunic that flared out a bit at the bottom. I remembered Sasha’s outfit laid out on her bed, and thought that if I bought a pair of leggings to go with this tunic, it would be perfect for the party.
    â€œThat’s nice,” said Sasha, as I held it up against me. Then she was off looking at shoes at the other end of the shop. Antonia was examining the belts, I noticed. I saw her holding two of them up to compare the lengths and then she frowned at the labels on each for ages.
    I looked round the whole shop for some suitable leggings, but none of them seemed fancy enough. They were all plain, apart from the ones that were thin and more like ordinary tights than leggings. I knew I couldn’t afford to go to another shop that was more expensive than this where they might have cooler leggings. And anyway, what if I bought the tunic here and then couldn’t find any leggings at all? I sighed a deep sigh as I put the tunic back on the rail. Then I glanced at my watch. There was still plenty of time, though. I mustn’t despair yet.
    The next shop we went into was much more expensive but it was full of lovely, lovely clothes. Sasha had already bought some totally fashionable shoes and Izzy had bought a bag, and I thought how lucky they were that they didn’t seem to have to worry about how much money they spent. Antonia hadn’t bought anything, which was no wonder because I guessed she didn’t really like anything she’d seen so far. But at least she’d looked as though she was interested in the clothes, studying all the tickets and labels. Maybe she was storing up information so she could tell her mum about English fashion.
    For a while she stuck quite close to me as I went from dresses to trousers to tops to skirts, just like she’d done in Topshop. I so loved everything in this amazing shop, and there were masses of things that would be perfect for the party. I knew in my heart though that there was really no way I could afford anything and that I ought to stop looking. In the end, Sasha