As soon as we enter the mall, all of us runs in different directions. Hannah, to the food court. Hope, to the Limited Too store. Natalie and Kate, to the designer stores. And me, just standing there. I yelled their names to get back over here. They spun around and came back. ''Guys, we need to stay together. Remember, we are supposed to be a group. We have to show Brittany what we're made of.'' ''But Baylee, I don't care what she thinks. I don't know why she thinks she runs the school. She wears Maybelline!'' Natalie exclaimed. Like I mentioned earlier, Natalie loves animals. And Maybelline is a makeup brand that tests on animals. ''Yeah, but, we need to somehow show everyone she is a pure evil human being!'' I said. Everyone nodded in unison. We're not crazy at all.
''Quick question, how do you know Brittany is going to be here?'' Hannah asked. Everyone looked at me curiously. ''Well, since my mom owns the security company, I sort of kind of hacked into their cameras. Which records everything they are saying." I said, impressed with myself. "Attagirl! That's pretty cool. I know we all have a lot of questions about how you managed to do that, but we need to get going. My mom is at a yoga class and she expects me to be home by 8. Right now, it's 2 so we have 6 hours to shop- er, look- until we drop. Plus, Limited Too is about to close. Even though I can't fit anything there, I like looking at them. So let's go!" Hope said. We all got into a well practiced horizontal formation. Kate was first, dramatically applying a thick layer of pink lipgloss. Natalie was second, playing animal simulation games on her phone. Hannah, was third, pretending to rearrange her baseball cap. Hope, was fourth, digging in her purse. And I was last, smiling prettily. It was supposed to be a formation but it kind of looked silly.
We continued to walk like this, giggling. "Starbucks, first, right?", I asked still smiling. Kate nodded. Hannah spotted a crowded Starbucks just a little ways from where we were standing. "But it's such a long wait. Plus, do we really want to spend money on coffee in the eleventh grade?" Natalie asked skeptically. "You're right." Hope said. ''No, she's not. If we want to be all grown up and stuff, we need to practice acting like one.'' Kate said. We cautiously nodded in agreement. We walked to the Starbucks and all the tables were full. "Ugh, my feet hurt so bad, though. What are we going to do?", Natalie asked. "Watch and learn." Kate said and motioned for me to come. I shrugged at Hope and followed Kate to a table full of boys probably waiting for their moms in another store. "Hey boys, um, would you please get up for us? My friends are waiting for a table. But it's okay if you don't. We completely understand. By the way, I'm Kate. And this is Baylee. You're all looking nice today. Who are the lucky girls?", Kate fluttered her eyelashes and motioned for me to do so as well. "W-well I'm not taken at all, and you both look very pretty. And sure, you can take our seats." All the boys stumbled to push in their chairs.
"Thanks, boys!", Kate said and hugged the random boy. After she did that, I followed her actions and chose to hug a boy who was standing there at the very moment. At that moment, all the boys tried to offer us good deeds. "No thanks, but I appreciate each and every one of you!" Kate blew a kiss. The boys left and the table was cleared. Kate motioned for the rest of the girls to come sit. "OMG, Baylee! So scandalous. You hugged Brian?! He is like so cute. Every girl has a crush on him at school!" Natalie literally shouted. I looked over at Kate, confused. ''They go to our school?!'' Kate and I exclaimed. ''Yep. You didn't know?! You guys live under a rock, I swear.'' Hope said. Hannah giggled. Kate and I were oblivious to boys. Even though we were apparently gifted in looks, we were clueless about boys. Plus, I'm really unsure about dating fresh out of the tenth grade. That's one thing I can't argue about with my mom.
"Just one more thing. Natalie, come." Kate shoved everyone out the way in the line and managed to get in the front of the line. "Ahem, I'm Kate! May I have five soy lattes?", She asked. The barista said rudely, "Sorry, but you'll have to wait for your mom." Kate sighed dramatically. ''Oh, I don't have one.. She passed away a few weeks ago. Our dad wanted to cheer us up. He sent me and my little sister to get some drinks. Sorry to bother you.'' Kate said. ''Oh, so sorry, Natalie. Didn't mean to upset you, but this man doesn't understand. Let's go find Dad.'' Kate pretended to walk away but the barista insisted she'd stop. ''Sorry ma'am. I'll let you have free soy lattes as long as you're here. All on me.'' The barista smiled. ''You'd do that? Oh, thanks so much! I appreciate it.'' Kate smiled as the barista whose name tag read ''Matt'' handed her the five drinks in a cup holder.
