Paper Hearts (boyxboy)

The Mall

"You sure you wanna do this?"

I nod my head. "No going back now."

"Ready?"

"Hell yes." I arch my neck way back, tilt my head, then lunge forward and launch my gum over the railing in unison with Sara. We turn around and book it, laughing maniacally while we run.

"That was so immature!" I squeal.

She's gleefully distracted. "I know right! What if it hit one of those people walking below!"

"It probably did!" I chuckle, slowing down as we turn a corner into the food court. "What is wrong with us?"

"I'm asking myself the same question," Denae says, standing up from the table she was occupying, waiting for us to return.

Usually Mama joins us on our Saturday morning mall-crawl, but she's out sick, so it's just me, Sara, and Denae today. Hannah would come, but she says she thinks the mall is dirty.

"You guys are gonna get taken out by the mall security. You can't just spit out your gum on random bystanders! It's unethical!"

Sara laughs again, obviously amused by her motherly tone. "Come on Dee, live a little. If you spend your life too 'grown up' to enjoy the little things, you miss out on all the fun!"

She rolls her eyes with a slight smile. "I'd expect more from you, Sara. And even more from you, Drewy. You guys are so immature."

"Am noootttt." Sara sings.

Denae picks up her stuff, "let's go do something really fun." She grabs me by the hand and pulls me off into the direction of the stores.

Sara trails behind, giggling. We duck into Spencer's and Denae releases me.

"Okay, so Spencer's is now considered 'really fun'?" I ask.

She leads us to the back of the store where all the dirty souvenirs are kept. "Yeah, duh."

Sara blushes at all the odd things on the shelves. "Why are we back here?"

"Becauseeee. Grab anything dirty you can find and put it in this bag. We're gonna buy it all and leave it in Mrs. Perry's room."

I laugh. "Okay, numero ono: that'd be like, everything on the shelves. Numero dos: why Mrs. Perry? She's annoying, but she's not that bad."

"Everyone has neglected to plan a senior prank, so I'm taking it upon myself. And you two." She starts shoving things into a bag. "Here, hold this shot glass with plastic boobs so it doesn't break."

Sara looks around uncomfortably as she takes it. "This is so...dirty. Hannah was right!"

"Haha, I don't think that's what she meant darling. Have you seen the floors?" She looks down. "See? Gross. Okay my bitches, I'll be right back, I'm gonna wander around the store."

I walk off towards the posters, passing a giant betty boop modeling her own swimsuit. There's a bunch of posters; with quotes, faces, drugs, half naked women, then finally, I stumble upon the most magical thing I've seen all day. I pull it out, admiring its beauty. For a full two minutes, I am utterly entranced by its majesty.

"Whatcha lookin' at Drewy?" I jump up in surprise and spin around to see Denae and Sara standing behind me.

I clasp my hand to my chest. "Damn it! Don't sneak up on people. I was deep in thought."

Sara smirks. "Uh huh. Thinking about what? That guy on the poster?"

"Ooo, I know that guy! He's the one from Top Gun." Denae grabs at it in my hands, almost dropping her bag of pranks.