Chapter Nine: An Unexpected Turn of Events (Grace)

“Right, shoes next,” said Jade, ticking off a list of things to do in her mind. “Let’s go to ‘Glitz and Glamour’!”
As the girls walked through the entrance to the shop, Jade headed straight to the shoe department.
“Wow!” said Annie, amazed at the endless choice of pumps, sandals, high heels, boots and wedges.
“Aren’t they beautiful,” said Jade, gently touching the different buckles, laces and straps as she wandered down the aisle.
“You should get these,” said Roxanne, holding up a pair of flat, sporty pumps.
All four girls looked at her with their mouths in perfect ‘o’ shapes.
“That’s Roxanne for you,” scoffed Jade, “thinking about sport and comfort, even on an occasion like this.”
Then Chelsea froze. “Oh! My! Word! Look at these!” she said. She walked towards the shelf and picked up a pair of baby pink peep-toe wedges. The others gathered around to look at the shoes when the sales assistant walked up to them. She was tall and looked as though she was in a very bad mood.
“May I help you?” she asked.
“Ah, yes please. How much is this pair of shoes?” asked Jade.
“This pair?” she asked smugly with a you-certainly-can’t-afford-them look on her face.
“They’re two hundred and fifty rand,” she answered matter-of-factly.
“Oh, then we’ll take them,” said Chelsea, breathing a sigh of relief. She was expecting them to cost a lot more than that.
They chose a matching necklace and a pair of earrings from the accessories department and then went to pay for the items at the front desk. They left the shop through the metal detectors and were so busy chatting and laughing that they didn’t hear the alarm beeping loudly as they exited the store.
“Stop!” cried the security guard, racing after the group of girls.
The Fabulous Five turned around in confusion and weren’t quite sure what to do. Suddenly Roxanne panicked and told them to run. They followed her lead until Annie felt a hand on her shoulder and the guard sent her flying off her feet. She hit the hard marble floor with a thump.
“You are under arrest for shoplifting,” he spat at her while pinning her tiny hands behind her back.
“And the rest of you are too, for aiding and abetting,” he added.
“What?” They looked at each other, completely flabbergasted.
The girls were carried away by the three guards that had arrived on the scene, back to ‘Glitz and Glamour’.
“But...but...b,” sobbed Charlotte, who couldn’t get a word out.
“We did NOT steal anything,” said Jade angrily. “You can check our bags. We have the receipt for all the items in the bag.”
“So if it wasn’t you, then who was it?” asked the burly guard still gripping Annie’s arm tightly.
“Um...maybe she did,” whimpered Annie, pointing to a girl in a thick black jacket running towards the escalator. As she was about to disappear from view, they all caught a glimpse of the girl, with a bundle of red clasped tightly in her hands.
“But that’s...Suzy,” gulped Roxanne. Suzy was also in Grade Ten at Fernwood High but she was in Willow House, the second of the two boarding houses. The girls knew that Suzy’s parents had a holiday house a few blocks away from Jade’s, but they didn’t realise she would also be there for the half-term break. Roxanne always thought that Suzy was the quietest girl she knew, she was the last person she would expect to steal something.
“No!” gasped Charlotte, “It can’t be Suzy.”