Who We Weren't

The Mall

Grace loved the mall. Going with others almost felt like a ritualistic bonding experience. A monument to consumerism in its greatest physical form, a brick and mortar reminder of the power of the dollar. And yet it wasn't like that at all not really. The mall was most important not for the transactions it held but for the interactions inside. Grace loved going to the mall because within there were other people, shopping and eating and interacting. When she was inside with a friend, usually Simon, she was a part of a tapestry of people.

Today she was at the mall but she wasn't there with Simon or Elisha as she usually was rather, she was there alone. Going to the mall alone, rather than being an aforementioned bonding experience it felt more like a test of patience. So many loud, obnoxious groups wasting time seemed more annoying than anything when you weren't a part of one. And one this early August afternoon before the start of her first year of high school, Grace was getting annoyed. So annoyed in fact that she didn't notice she was being followed.

That was until she felt someone touch her shoulder at least. At the sudden contact Grace jumped back and swung around, bracing herself to face who ever had done it. However she was surprised to find that the person who had grabbed her didn't seem particularly malicious or dangerous. In fact, he was a boy, seemingly around her own age. He held a tube of lip-gloss in his hand and took on a guarded, opened handed stance upon confrontation. Grace stared at the boy for a moment before confronting him.

"Are you following me?" she asked seriously. The boy still looked nervous but shook his head furiously.

"No! Well, not really." he said awkwardly. Grace narrowed her eyebrows at him, wondering about what he could possibly mean by that. Sensing the tension, the boy clarified. "You dropped this, and I wanted to give it back to you." he said, gesturing to the lip gloss. He handed it to her and examining it confirmed that it was indeed her lip gloss. "I swear that was all." he muttered. Now that Grace felt a bit more sure that he wasn't going to be a danger to her she actually took a good look at the buy and was embarrassed when she blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"You're cute." she said unconsciously and the two stared at each other for a while after that. Grace was mortified and honestly considered walking away as fast as her legs could carry her just so she wouldn't have to face the reality of the situation. She was as equally mortified by the response she got.

"You're cute too." he said and now both of them of them stood looking awkwardly at each other flustered and embarrassed in the way that only teenagers really can be. Finally Grace responded, still obviously flustered.

"What's your name?" she questioned and the boy gave his answer.

"Mark." he said in response.

"Grace," she offered. Mark smiled at that.

"Well Grace, can I have your number?" he questioned and Grace gave it to him. The rest of her trip to the mall was relatively uneventful besides the fact that it was spent in the company of another person. She learned that Mark was a year older than her, and was going to attend the same school. He played Lacrosse and had two older brothers. None of that mattered to Grace more than the fact that he seemed to like her however. When they parted, Grace wanted to call him right away to continue her conversation but convinced herself not to out of fear of appearing desperate.

Still, Grace was more excited than she ever had been. Getting a boyfriend had of course been on her plan of how to get the most out of her teenage years but she hadn't anticipated that it would come so soon. It's early arrival meant of course that she was ahead of schedule in terms of her plan to have the most amazing years of her life. And Mark really was everything you could ask for in a first boyfriend in Grace's opinion. Of course she had no expectation of it lasting forever, but that was never the point.