text: The way it feels when you’re walking through the crowds and every overhead, florescent light feels like your own personal spotlight. The sickly sweet yet somehow comforting aroma from coming off the freshly baked buns and perfume samples drifting to my nose. Really what could be better. And the girls in tv shows and movies who go to the mall always look absolutely fantastic. They are always beautiful girls who know how to do their makeup, their blonde hair bouncing on their shoulders as they laugh with all their friends. And you can’t forget about the shopping bags. The bags upon bags upon bags upon bags! Coach. Juicy. Abercrombie. Guess. Vera Bradley. Its just endless. That’s what all the cool girls in my school did. Monday mornings they would all show off their new clothes, jewelry, bags, anything they’d bought over the weekend. Just waiting for someone to ask where it was from. “Oh this little thing?” they’d say, feigning surprise. “Oh, you know, just got it at Abercrombie this weekend. Super cute right?” And they were always right. “Super cute” their friends would have to agree. I never got to go to the mall, my lazy mom said it was too far, and she usually worked late nights on the weekends anyways. But that doesn’t mean I was a total loser or something. I did alright. Senior year I got to sit near the cool kids, and sometimes even asked them about the mall. Unlike Lacey. Lacey was such a dweeb. She was a whole year ahead in math, so she was always studying. And she'd do the lamest stuff like ask questions in class and bring her own lunch. One time she even asked the teacher what the homework was when he forgot to announce it. Un-freaking-believable. I was so embarrassed for her I had to put my head down on my desk for like 10 minutes. She eventually even joined the marching band. I mean, can you believe that! She played the tuba of course. I only know all of this because all the cool girls would make fun of her. And I sat with her at lunch sometimes because I felt so bad for her. I tried to teach her the ways of high school, the ways of life. I just wanted to show her how to be at least a little cooler. Well, until I decided she was a lost cause so she started sitting with all her marching band friends instead. After that, I realized helping people is too much trouble, and from then on I decided to sit on my own. My table was right next to the popular kids though, so I got to hear all about what was cool. Thank god I don’t have to hear it second hand anymore though. Now that I’m all grown up, and have a job, and a car, I can go to the mall anytime I want!! Life is just totally perfect. I go on Wednesday through Saturday nights, and sometimes on Sunday. And my routine is down solid. First I get fro-yo. Low-fat of course with just a couple blueberries on top. After I eat that I get a small pumpkin spice latte and head out to do some shopping. Some of my favorite stores aren’t in my mall anymore, but I make do with whats there. I can’t always buy everything I want because I come so often, so usually I keep a few extra shopping bags from the high end stores to walk around with. I can feel the eyes of young girls on me as I strut across the mall. Jealousy searing behind their ocean blue eyes as they look from me to their friends giggling. My velvet, Juicy jumpsuit combined with tan Uggs and pink tinted sunglasses are just too much to ignore. I know this is exactly how those girls from my high school must have felt. Except maybe even better because I’m older and can buy pretty much anything I want now that I’ve moved my mom to the cheaper nursing home. (she’s so old what does it even matter where she lives). But anyways, last week I was totally shocked at who I saw trying not to stare at me. Lacey. J. Michelson. From the marching band. She may not have had her tuba on hand, but she was still a totally square. She was dressed in boring jeans and a blouse and only had one shopping bag. Just one! I smiled to myself as I walked by, and I could see her looking at me from the corner of her eyes, her face colored by sadness. It totally made my day. God do I love the mall. god do I love myself.