Page 23

I work on the mock-up sketches for the proposal in the art room at lunch with Ms. Carothers’s help. When I send them to Miles, he texts back that they’re great, and he’ll put it all together and email the whole proposal to the city councillor’s office that afternoon.

After school I go straight to Kozlaks’ since I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Ina Kozlak struggling with her little store since Mom told me about it.

The store has been here forever, long before Mom and I moved to Love Street.

The white sign with KOZLAKS’ painted in black block letters is such a landmark in this area.

Inside, it’s a small space with a few shelves of Polish grocery items on one side, a deli counter for cured meats on the other, and a few fridges and freezers with cheeses and frozen pierogies at the back.

I go straight to their cookie section and grab a blue bag of heart-shaped chocolate-covered gingerbread.

When Miles mentioned chocolate-covered gingerbread at Riverdale Park, I immediately knew exactly where to get some.

I smile at Mrs. Kozlak at the counter, but she doesn’t smile back.

She looks… worried. “Mrs. Kozlak,” I say after paying for the cookies, “I don’t know if you know about it, but a bunch of us are trying to put on a street festival here on Love Street.

Can you think of something your store can feature for the festival?

Like something love and romance themed. Mrs. Kotch is doing desserts.

Mom’s going to do little love bouquets. LoveBug is—”

“When is festival?”

“It hasn’t been confirmed yet, but we’re aiming for the third weekend of July.”

“We closed,” Mrs. Kozlak says.

“What?”

“The store closed by then. For good.”

My shoulders slump. “Oh no! You can’t close Kozlaks’!”

She shakes her head. “We can’t stay open. No one comes in anymore. Rent goes up every year, and sales go down.”

“But this store is so great.” She doesn’t say anything to that. “When are you closing?” I ask.

“End of the month. I sell all this to Zensky’s in Scarborough. Nothing can survive here.” She sighs. “I have to find a new job now. Maybe Rossi’s will hire me. Maybe I’ll go live with my daughter in Calgary. This city is too expensive… I could have a palace back home.”

I exhale. I really don’t know what to say. “We’ll miss you on Love Street.”

“Here.” Mrs. Kozlak hands me a second bag of heart-shaped gingerbread. “You’re a good girl, Sana, and so young. You should be having fun. This? This is kicking dead horse deader.”

I slip the cookies into my bag and head straight to LoveBug to get a tea before my shift at Cosmic.

I feel terrible and need the pick-me-up.

Before now, all this low-level worry and dread for the street was just that.

Low level. But now… this feels so much more real.

This is the first small business that I know is closing because of the nearby gentrification and the rising rents. And it sucks.

If Ina Kozlak can’t keep her store open because Rossi’s is selling cured sausages and pierogies, then what will happen to Morgan Ashton Flowers if Rossi’s opens a flower department?

How will Mrs. Kotch compete with cheaper grocery store cakes?

What will happen to Cosmic if more trendy stores open in the mall on Gerrard?

While Ajit is making my masala chai latte, Julie asks me what’s wrong, clearly noticing my terrible mood.

“Did you hear about Kozlaks’?” I ask.

Julie nods. “That it’s closing? Yeah. Heartbreaking. The landlord apparently wanted to increase the rent by twenty-five percent. I don’t even know how that’s allowed.”

“Commercial rent doesn’t have rent control like residential,” Ajit explains. “Hopefully the same thing doesn’t happen to us next year.”

“Residential rent control isn’t really helping anymore, either,” Julie says. “And if those developers sniffing around Love Street build their new condos, the area will get even more expensive. Vultures. I don’t blame her for leaving.” We all sigh because what can we say?

“Let’s not focus on negatives,” I finally say, forcing a smile. “Miles and I finished the festival proposal yesterday, and it’s amazing. I know things will turn around. You’ll see.”

“I hope you’re right,” Ajit says. “I’m so impressed with Miles. That kid is going to go places. And he loves Bollywood action movies! Kindred spirit, that one.”

I laugh but then remember something I’d wanted to ask Ajit and Julie. “By the way, why is your part-time barista obsessed with rodents?”

Ajit snorts a laugh, while Julie shakes her head.

“I have no idea. I had to ask her to stop wearing clothes with rats on them while working. I’d rather the customers not even think about rodents while in our café.

She swears she’s never brought her pets into the store, but we’ve implemented employee bag checks. ”

“Smart move,” I say.

I’m working with Cara that night, and Cosmic is surprisingly pretty steadily busy. I’m helping a customer find jeans in her size, when an unfamiliar upbeat voice behind me says, “Hi, Sana!”

I turn… and am shocked to see that it’s Sarina. She looks cheerful, and friendly, and I’m not sure why I didn’t recognize her voice. Probably because it’s weird to see her at work. Or without her mother. Cara is next to her—also smiling.

“Look who’s here!” Cara says. “I totally didn’t realize this is your stepsister! I’ve seen her around school loads of times.”

I feel like the worlds I carefully keep separated are colliding. “Oh, hey, Sarina.” My customer comes out of the fitting room and stands in front of the big mirror. “Did you need me for something? I’m with a customer right now, but I’ll probably be done in ten minutes or so.”

She grins and shakes her head. Sarina is so pretty.

She’s tall and slim with enormous brown eyes, delicate features, and long straight hair.

She’s in jeans and a cream T-shirt today, and her hair is in a ponytail.

“Help your customer. Don’t worry about me.

I was just in the area and thought I’d say hi.

But now that I’m here… I kind of need summer clothes.

Maybe sundresses?” She glances around the store.

“I’ll help Sarina,” Cara says. “You finish with your customer.”

I give Cara a thankful smile. It would be strange to help my stepsister find clothes. Her mother’s voice would be in my head the whole time.

I end up with my customer for another twenty minutes, as she wants to try on every pair of pants in the store. It’s worth it, though, because she buys a ton. I can see Cara helping Sarina—Sarina tries on a few dresses, and Cara helps pin them so Sarina can take them to a seamstress.

My customer leaves right before Sarina is ready to pay. “So, you found stuff?” I ask while Cara is ringing up Sarina’s purchases.

“Yes! With Cara’s help. I never would have thought to try on a halter dress.”

Cara smiles. “You have the shoulders for it.”

After Sarina pays for her purchases, she gives me a big hug and thanks Cara again profusely before leaving the store. I watch her go, still a bit confused.

“That was weird,” I say.

“What? She looked great in that halter dress. Did you see it on her?”

“No, I mean it’s weird that she came in. And she was so nice.” I wonder if Noureen sent her to spy on me.

“She seems really sweet,” Cara says. “She’s very easy to talk to. Why don’t you ever hang out with her?”

I start putting the pants that my customer didn’t buy back on hangers. “Honestly, we’re not really friends. We never socialize without our parents.”

“Maybe she came here because she wants to change that.” Cara suddenly smiles huge. “You know what I just realized? Sarina would be perfect for Miles.”

I take a step back. “Seriously? Are you kidding?”

Cara nods vigorously. “Yes seriously . She’s so nice!”

I exhale. Why does everyone think Sarina is perfect ? “I don’t even know if she’s single.”

“She is. She mentioned it to me. She’s smart, too. And you know enough about her to know that she’s not obsessed with rodents, and she probably won’t throw a fish at Miles. Come on, don’t you think she’s totally the type to inspire love ballads? She’s stunning.”

Cara is right that Sarina is pretty. Plus, Miles mentioned how much he admired that violin player at his school, and Sarina plays the cello.

They’d both mentioned to me how damaging the clothing industry is and said we should be buying secondhand.

Honestly, on paper, Sarina is perfect for Miles. They have a lot in common.

But I don’t know. I logically know that Sarina isn’t her mother, but still.

Setting up Sarina with Miles would mean me spending time with her.

Which I know would make her mother happy, and I don’t really like doing things that could make Noureen happy.

Also? My self-esteem is usually fine, but spending time with my perfect stepsister could seriously test that.

Of course, the other issue with setting Miles up with my stepsister—actually, with setting him up with anyone at all—is that I unintentionally developed a little crush on the guy despite him frustrating me more than almost anyone else I know.

But that might be the best reason to try Sarina for Miles’s next setup.

Because I imagine the best way to turn me off someone is to connect them to my stepmother and stepsister.

I sigh. “Sure. Why not. I’ll call her tomorrow.”