166

Sudden weakness drained her ability to stand and Carly felt her ankles and knees and hips fold as if from a distance.  She wanted to stop her descent, but could only manage a slightly slower collapse by brushing her arm against the wall.  Her stomach considered heaving out and her bowels considered opening up, but neither body rebellion took complete hold.  The movies always made swooning seem clean and glamorous, but the truth was sickening, hideous inevitability and enduring embarrassment.

165

"It takes money to make money," and ain't that the truth?  To save, buy in bulk.  (Unless you can't afford the big pack.)  Eliminate service fees by paying in full.  (Unless you can only afford the minimum installment.)  Get regular car maintenance, regular doctor and dentist check-ups, and buy organic.  (Umm... nope.)  Invest!  ($1,000 in a CD for one year will yield you $5, and too bad if you need your original thousand for an emergency.)  Mortgage is cheaper than rent.  (Unless you can't get a loan, and you don't even make enough to qualify for Habitat for Humanity and decent houses at the city tax auction are snatched up by flippers and landlords.)

What can you do to make money without money?

164

Nobody ever called him "Slow John" to his face, but that's what they called him every other time.  He was, after all, just a boy, and it hurts to be labeled.  Miranda was sure he knew about the nickname, though, and, further, that he wasn't nearly as slow as he seemed.  He was, as her friend Rachel whispered, mysterious.