Believe Like a Child by Paige Dearth

mother scolded her that if she hadn’t been so hard on things, she could have made them last longer. When Alessa reminded her mother she had worn the sneakers for two years, Caterina glared at her.
    “Just shut up!” she snapped. “You act like you’re so deprived. With all of you around, it isn’t easy to pay the bills, you know! What do you think money grows on—trees? You’re an ungrateful child; that’s what you are!”
    It was at times like these that Alessa was grateful to have Rhonda in her life. She was the only person on earth who never judged her or treated her badly. Rhonda was just as glad to have found a friend like Alessa. In her own way, Rhonda was just as much of an outcast as Alessa. The boys only liked her because she put out and the girls hated her precisely for that reason. Rhonda and Alessa were good for each other. Both knew their friendship would last forever. They would talk about getting married and having children. They planned their weddings together and decided how each would be the other’s maid of honor.
    Rhonda talked about going to cosmetology school and becoming a famous hairdresser, one that the movie stars would flock to. And Alessa believed her friend could do anything she set her mind on. Rhonda had certainly helped her with her hair and the little make-up she had taken to wearing. Unlike Rhonda, however, Alessa never dared to dream about what she would be, when she grew up. Without a clue as to what her options were—and they seemed pretty limited—and demoralized by her mother’s claim that she wasn’t good at anything except whining, she had no expectations of herself. Shackled by her circumstances, she had never set herself a goal and lacked the courage and motivation to develop new interests, learn new things or take up a hobby. Only once, when Alessa was feeling especially self-assured after a weekend with Rhonda and Zoe, had she declared to her mother, “When I grow up, I want to be an engineer.”
    Caterina had stopped in her tracks and put her hands on her hips combatively. “Do you know how smart you have to be to become an engineer?” she had sneered. “You’d be better off picking something else.” Killing any hope that Alessa might have had for a future, her mother had concluded, “All you need to worry about is graduating from high school and getting a job.”
    She had believed her mother. She had thought to herself: my mother is right. I’m not smart enough to be an engineer . She didn’t even know what an engineer was anyway. She had just overheard another kid in her math class say he wanted to be an engineer and the teacher had seemed very impressed. So she had used the same line to impress Caterina.
    Alessa looked forward to being at Rhonda’s house on the weekends. She loved to sleep there. Her friend had the greatest room ever, with posters of Led Zeppelin all over her pale green walls and white furniture, with silver accents. Her bed sheets felt satin-soft and sleeping under her comforter was like being under a cloud. Everything was so beautiful and well-maintained. Nothing was second-hand or mismatched. When Alessa slept there, she felt like a princess. She wanted all the things that Rhonda enjoyed, but for the time being, she was just grateful that Rhonda was generous enough to share them with her.
    One Saturday night, after getting back from a party at the Rope, the two girls were lying in Rhonda’s room, talking, when Zoe came in and sat on the edge of the bed. She didn’t have any of her men friends over that evening. To Alessa, that meant her night at Rhonda’s place would be that much more enjoyable.
    “Tonight, it’s just us, girls,” Zoe announced. “My date cancelled, but we’re going to meet for lunch tomorrow.”
    An hour later, they were all still lying on the bed, talking and laughing. Listening to Zoe describe her adventures with her newest male friend, the two girls giggled hard till their bellies ached. Alessa thought she