Like Betsey Johnson said, “Girls do not dress for boys. They dress for themselves and, of course, each other.”  It’s true.  You dress for yourself and to impress other girls.  This is why you change clothing.  You want to impress her.  She seems to be a pretty stylish chick, and she’s kind of cute.  Plus, she’s sort of your friend, so of course you want to impress her.  You’re so used to having to dress cool to impress everyone in school, anyway.  Your outfit: 

(skirt and heels if girly, sneakers and jeans if tomboy…hat and shirt are the same.  Choose what you want)

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kevin drops you off at the mall and tells you to be careful.  You go in and go to the carousel and stand there, waiting.  The carousel is in motion, happy kids riding on it, but your back is facing it.  You look around at all of the surrounding shops, but you don’t see anything.  Did she even get here yet?  Did she get lost?  Did she ditch me?  Wait, why would she ditch me…she was the one that wanted to meet? You wonder to yourself.

 That’s when you look at the one place you didn’t look before, the actual carousel, itself.  You were too busy looking all around the damn thing that you didn’t even notice that she is riding on it right now.  What is this crazy girl doing?  What a weirdo, you think.  When the ride stops, and she gets off, she finds you.

“Hi,” she greets cheerfully.

“Hey…what the heck were you doing on the carousel?”  You laugh.

“What?  It’s fun.  Come on,” she takes your hand and starts to drag you towards the line, “Let’s ride together.”

“Only kids ride it, Amber,” you tell her, not wanting to do it and risk looking like a fool.

“There are people on there older than us,” she points out.  She is right, there are a few grown-ups boarding on the thing.

“Those are parents riding with their children, Amber.”

“So?  Well then,” she gets behind you and wraps her arms around you, “I’ll be the mommy and you be the baby.”  You are just about to say “What?”  But, then she looks down at you and asks, “Wait, how old are you?”

“17,” you answer.

“Holy crap, you’re older than me.”  Wait, what?!  You are older than her?!  You could’ve sworn she was older.  She just looks more grown up to you. 

You notice that as ya’ll move up in line, her arms are still around you.  You clear your throat to try to give her the message to let go... No luck.  “Stop touching me,” you tell her, probably coming off a bit too mean.

She lets go of you.  “Sorry.  Geeze, you weren’t like this yesterday.”

“Yesterday was different.  I just met you.”

“Understood.  No touching ,” she says it like she is making a mental note.  However, she doesn’t pay said note any mind, because next thing you know, she pokes you.  You look back at her, and she has her hands behind her back, looking all innocent.  Psssht.  You know it was her.  You glare at her and turn around.  She does it again, and again tries to play it off all innocent.  Then, it happens a third time.

“Yeah, keep it up and see what happens,” you sound mad, but you’re just playing.

“What are you gonna do about it?” she responds in that voice of hers.  Oh. My. God. You love her voice.

“Poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke,” she keeps mumbling, poking you rapidly, like a child.  Oh, yeah, you’re definitely older than her.

Finally, it’s your turn to board the ride.  You don’t want to do this.  You are looking for a horse to ride on, when she suggests the two of you ride in the carriage that’s on the merry go round.  It sits two people and moves back and forth when the carousel starts spinning.  Won’t it look weird if you both were to sit in that thing together?  “No, that’s looks weird,” you tell her, “Come on, let’s just ride a horse.”

            The ride isn’t all that bad, and no one made fun of you.  I don’t mind doing it because once the ride starts, you start to enjoy yourself.  It reminds you of how you used to ride it when you were a kid.  It’s pretty fun.  You look to see her smiling.  Wow, she looks so adorable when she smiles, you think.  You furrow your eyebrows together in frustration.  Why are you thinking weird things like that?  She’s a girl, you’re a girl.  You aren’t like that.  You…don’t mean it like it that, though…do you?  It’s not weird for a girl to call another adorable, is it?  No, of course not.

“So, what do you want to do now?” she asks you once the ride ends.

“I guess look around,” you suggest, not knowing what else there was to do or say.

            And so, that’s what you do.  Wasn’t all that enjoyable, though, considering how run down the mall you are at is.

            You are walking through the less populated part of the mall, the part that leads outside to the theater.  You two don’t even bother going into any stores. She doesn’t suggest any to go to, so you just don’t mention it.  This mall only has a few good stores that you like, but you don’t bring it up.  What if you are to go into one and see some things that you like? You don’t know if she has any money or not.  If she is broke, watching you buy things for yourself will make her feel bad. 

Besides, you doubt that she even likes the same type of stores that you do.  Granted, you’re judging based off of her appearance, but still.  It doesn’t seem like the two of you have the same sense of style.  You’re more stylish and are into big name brands, and you like to wear what’s hot and trendy.  You have to; it’s part of your new, fake popular image that you’re trying to uphold.  She seems happier wearing whatever is comfortable.  Both of the times you have seen her, she has been decked out in loose-fitting clothing.  She seems to prefer function over fashion when it comes to clothing.  She’s wearing a lot of plain designs and none of it looks name brand or anything.  You dress more feminine, and she is androgynous; a lot of her clothing looks like it could be uni.  You doubt she’d like to look at sparkly jewelry, leggings, platform shoes, bralettes, and pink skirts with you.  Not to mention, if you took her to any of the preppy stores, she’d stick out like a sore thumb, which could make her feel awkward.

I’ll just let her suggest stores if she wants to, you decide, Maybe I should ask her where she wants to go.

You’re about to ask, when she says, “Hey, .”

“Yeah.”

“I’m kinda hungry,” she tells you while she rubs her stomach, “Can you show me where the food court is?”

“Yeah, sure,” you reply, “Um…it’s this way.”  You turn to go down a different wing of the mall, and she follows.

You walk for a while, and you’re about to turn down another wing that leads to it.  That’s when you see two figures heading your way.  You gulp.  It’s two girls from your old school.  Two POPULAR girls from your school that used to bully you.  Oh, damn it, you think to yourself.  They are getting closer, but you don’t think they’ve spotted you yet.  “Um…c-come on, Amber,” you say, taking her hand and leading her in another direction, “Let’s go in this store real quick.”

“I thought we were going to eat,” she protests.

“In a minute, I promise.  Just come on.”

She just goes with you and follows you into the store, which is called “Sweets and News.”  They sell magazines and candy there. 

“Why did you want to come in here so badly?” she asks, “There’s nothing cool here.” 

“I-I j-just, um…wanted to get the newest issue of InStyle,” you lie, picking up the magazine. 

“Uh…okay,” she responds, “Well, is that all you wanted?”

“Um…maybe some Almond Joys, too,” you say, picking up a couple of bars.  It’s your favorite candy.  “Okay, that’s it.  I’ll pay, and then we can go.” 

As soon as you start to think that a terrible situation has been avoided, you hear the shop owner say, “Oh, hello ladies.  How are you?”  Someone has just entered the shop.  You look to see them.  Ugh, it’s them.  Christie and Katie. 

Damn it, they’re probably going to see me, you think.  And, of course, they do.