10
P A R I S O N R E P E AT
to crane my neck to look past the man. My stomach twisted—my
entire class was walking away. Our teacher was waving at us
from the ticket booth, her bright-yellow scarf visible from here.
Reggie was caught up talking with Sophia, and not one person
noticed I was being left behind
.
“Hey! I’m talking to you, little girl!”
Oh my God
. I stuffed the phone back in my pocket. He was
close enough for his body odor to reach me. Would he yell at
me if I refused to buy something from him, like that one guy in
Italy? I might cry if he did. I took two steps to catch up to my
class, but the man sidestepped in front of me, looming. Not for
the first time, I cursed my small stature. He totally blocked me.
My breathing sped up, which was unfortunate, given the smell.
“Take one look.” He shoved a palmful of plastic purple Eiffel
Towers at me. I shook my head, but he didn’t move. “Just two
euro,” he pressed, still in my way. He could definitely be a yeller.
My group was getting farther ahead. Our grade had seventy
kids, but we were only in groups of ten for the tours, not a big,
easy-to-see clump. Sweat coated my palms. If I lost them in this
crowd—
Stopping, I fumbled with the coins in my pocket and shoved
one at him, not even sure if it was the right amount. Two more
coins fell, landing with a tinkle. I didn’t look for them.
He dropped one of the trinkets in my hand and sauntered
away. Trembling, I crammed the stupid keychain in my pocket
and ran toward our group, dodging past clumps of people. I
would throw the tacky thing away the first chance I got.
