Chapter 1
The Find
The teenager dug through the coats on the rack, trying to find the right one. Brushing her honey blond hair out of her face, she continued to look. She needed one that could keep her warm, room to move around in, and not worry about getting nasty. She was about to give up, when she noticed an oil stained box on the floor tucked under the rack. Pulling it out, she began digging through it. Her hands landed on coarse piece of material. She smiled. She knew it was khaki. She pulled it out of the box, holding it up for inspection.
It was a military jacket. Well worn. Some careful stitching had been done to the sleeves and the collar. She found a hole in shoulder that lacked repair. She held it up to the dim light. All in all, it was not in too bad of shape. She tried it on. It was quite large and the sleeves hung way below the wrists. Looking at herself in the mirror, she realized how silly she looked. But for some reason, she was drawn to it.
She flattened the name tag on the left side. The wear of the material made it difficult to read in the dim light of the shop. She was able to make out the first two and last letter on the tag. Putting her hands in the pockets, she found a piece of paper. Opening it, she saw some scrawl on it. She frowned. She couldn't make it out. Taking it off, she made a decision. She stuffed the note back into the pocket and carried it up to the counter.
"Lexa, you finally found one you could live with?" The older heavy set woman pulled her glasses down on her nose and peered at the 16 year old.
The girl smiled. "Yes Mrs. Cronwell, I have."
The woman smiled back at her. She held up the jacket and frowned. "This looks awfully big for you, are you sure?"
The girl nodded, hoping the woman wouldn't check the pockets. The woman pulled the price tag off of the jacket, folding it, she put it a bag. "Alright then."
Lexa pulled $5 out of her jean pockets and handed it to the woman. Mrs. Cronwell handed her the change and watched as she skipped out of the store.