The Girls I've Been: Chapters 16–27

by Tess Sharpe
A seventeen-year-old girl must use all the skills she has learned as the daughter of a con artist in order to survive being held hostage by two men trying to rob the bank of a small town in California.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–15, Chapters 16–27, Chapters 28–41, Chapters 42–52, Chapters 53–69
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. heed
    pay close attention to
    A warning I don’t heed.
  2. yield
    give or supply
    His filing cabinets don’t yield anything either.
  3. scrawl
    write carelessly
    Scrawling two words on it, I stick it to the stapler.
  4. flair
    distinctive and stylish elegance
    Gray Cap slaps the sticky note on the wall in front of us, my You’re welcome adorned with a little star instead of an apostrophe for extra flair.
  5. dainty
    delicately beautiful
    Samantha has to be perfect. Dainty, delicate, and demure.
  6. demure
    suggestive of modesty or reserve
    Samantha has to be perfect. Dainty, delicate, and demure.
  7. prim
    affectedly dainty or refined
    I walk into the house for the first playdate, and by the time I walk out, I understand why Mom dressed me in patent leather shoes and lace socks and a neat, prim dress that goes with the double French braids hanging down my back, tied with ribbons.
  8. frilly
    having decorative ruffles or similar ornamentation
    Diana wants a daughter like Samantha: frilly and lacy and very, very pink.
  9. delicate
    exquisitely fine and subtle and pleasing
    I sink into the role of the delicate little doll-daughter that Diana wants easily.
  10. stoke
    increase or intensify an emotion or response
    Back then, I didn’t know enough about it—or myself—to see the coded worry in her, but Mom does. Mom creates Samantha to stoke it.
  11. casually
    not methodically or according to plan
    Mom wiggles her way into Diana’s life so neatly; they have coffee together most mornings, dropping Victoria and me off at school while they go off to yoga and then errands, and then one day Mom is casually mentioning this business idea she has, a knitting store, and Diana is falling, hook, line, and sinker.
  12. contemplate
    reflect deeply on a subject
    “Are you happy with me?”
    Most mothers would rush to reassure. They wouldn’t pause and contemplate.
  13. hone
    refine or make more perfect or effective
    It’s not an answer, and she’s honed me enough, even this young, to see that.
  14. naive
    marked by or showing unaffected simplicity
    I’ve survived worse. I’m not naive enough to think just because of that, I’ll survive this.
  15. inevitable
    incapable of being avoided or prevented
    There’s a choice, when you know your fate’s to be hunted and gobbled up and used.
    You can give in like it’s inevitable or you can turn the tables.
  16. archaic
    so extremely old as seeming to belong to an earlier period
    “There’s a price on your head,” he says finally.
    “You can just say he put out a hit on me.” I shrug. “You don’t need to get all archaic and Sheriff of Nottingham about it.”
  17. quip
    make jokes or witty remarks
    “Is the quipping a nervous tic or something, kid?”
  18. derision
    the act of treating with contempt
    “Please, do you think that money I brought in was really for an animal shelter?” I ask, the derision heavy in my voice. “Do I seem like the kind of girl who would spend her summer raising money for Mr. Mittens?”
  19. patriarchal
    relating to a man who is older or higher in rank
    He’s like Raymond. The patriarchal type. He likes brats. He likes smart mouths.
    He likes to shut them. He likes to make them bleed and break.
  20. incredulous
    not disposed or willing to believe; unbelieving
    “Keeping track of local law enforcement?”
    “Aren’t you?” Another incredulous, snotty look. He’s going to want to put me in my place.
  21. goad
    provoke as by constant criticism
    But before I can goad him any more, his eyes flick over my shoulder and I tense up.
  22. falter
    move hesitatingly, as if about to give way
    I don’t blink or falter even though my skin’s crawling and my heart clamors run like a bell.
  23. clamor
    utter or proclaim insistently and noisily
    I don’t blink or falter even though my skin’s crawling and my heart clamors run like a bell.
  24. transfixed
    having your attention fixated as though witchcraft
    My smile, when it comes, is slow. Sweet at first, and then on the edge of creepy, because it sharpens into something that shouldn’t belong on such a pretty girl’s face. He’s transfixed, and his fingers tighten on my arm involuntarily.
  25. elude
    escape, either physically or mentally
    Ashley Keane has a price on her head—and dear old stepdad will pay practically anything for that head. I’m not even sure he cares if it’s attached to my body at this point. I know he’d prefer it, but so far—and for a lot longer than Raymond imagined—I’ve eluded the men who search for Ashley.
  26. doublespeak
    language that conceals or misrepresents the truth
    “Can you two please stop the best-friend doublespeak and tell me what’s going on?”
  27. embroil
    force into some kind of situation or course of action
    Because Lee and I made him family in a way we were never supposed to. Because I didn’t just tell him the truth, I embroiled him in it.
  28. prompt
    urge, encourage, or motivate someone to act
    “Tell me,” she prompts gently.
  29. ministry
    the work of a person authorized to conduct religious worship
    Started out as a youth pastor in a small ministry in Colorado, built it up into a million-dollar business.
  30. genuinely
    in accordance with truth or fact or reality
    She hardly ever laughs genuinely. I’m used to the fake laugh: light and husky and practiced, a sound of temptation, not joy.
  31. bestow
    present
    She bestows another smile on me; she likes it when I ask questions.
  32. impart
    transmit, as knowledge or a skill
    She likes imparting her knowledge to me.
  33. meek
    evidencing little spirit or courage
    He doesn’t notice me immediately. Haley is supposed to be kind of meek, with her golden fall of hair and her modest dresses and the little white-gold cross she wears around her neck.
  34. modest
    following standards of propriety in conduct or appearance
    Haley is supposed to be kind of meek, with her golden fall of hair and her modest dresses and the little white-gold cross she wears around her neck.
  35. unfurl
    unroll, unfold, or spread out
    But I haven’t been small this whole time. I’ve just been waiting to unfurl.
  36. wrangle
    herd or round up
    Mom has it figured out beat by beat: The service starts at 2:00 p.m., and some of the women go to cook the food in the church kitchen after, and others scatter to wrangle the kids.
  37. unobtrusive
    not undesirably noticeable
    Haley is unobtrusive. No one really pays her any mind in the crowd.
  38. secular
    not concerned with or devoted to religion
    And the only thing standing in our way is Adrian, who is sweet and the kind of naive that comes from your parents sheltering you from the scary secular world and you never poking a toe out, even once.
  39. brandish
    exhibit aggressively
    I run down the hall, exaggerating my breathlessness as I push the bathroom door open, brandishing the blanket. “I found this! To soak up the water!”
  40. pristine
    completely free from dirt or contamination
    Adrian is standing in the middle of three inches of toilet water, his normally pristine button-down stained and his eyes a little wild.
Created on Thu Feb 01 10:16:04 EST 2024 (updated Fri Feb 02 10:10:42 EST 2024)

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