by Linda Nelson
Then Karla would tell them a little bit about her new classes and teachers. She purposely left out any information about Carol. She was still not sure about telling them about her day at the mall.
But then again, she wasn’t even sure if Carol had actually stolen that outfit after all. It may have been just her imagination.
Forget about Carol, she told herself. Her true friends were here, and that should be all that mattered.
Chapter ~ 13
Karla woke with the sun blaring in her eyes. She rolled over in her bed to see her friends sound asleep on the floor, wrapped in blankets. Her TV displayed a screen filled with white noise. They must have fallen asleep while watching the movie.
Sarah opened her eyes and looked up at Karla.
“You awake,” she asked groggily.
“Yeah…Is Jody still asleep?”
Karla pushed herself up onto her elbow. She was trying to see if she could see any movement coming from Jody.
Sarah pulled herself with her blankets closer to Jody and poked her in the side.
“You awake?”
“Cut the crap.” Jody snarled.
Karla and Sarah giggled.
“You're not much of a morning person, are you?”
Karla sat up and scooted to the edge of her bed.
“At least I watched most of the movie. You guys were out not long after it started. To bad to, it was a real good movie.”
Jody sat up. Her blankets were in a pile about her waist.
“Mom made blueberry muffins yesterday, want some?”
Karla rifled through her dresser drawer for an outfit to wear. She found one to her liking and tossed it onto her bed.
“…that sounds good.”
Jody pushed her blankets into a pile in an empty corner of the room. She grabbed her bag and pulled out her clothes, changing into them.
“Yeah, I'll have some.”
Sarah picked up her bag and carried it into the bathroom.
When Sarah returned back to the room, her hair was pinned up on the back of her head again. This time she donned a bright purple t-shirt with a bright yellow star on the front of it. Karla thought it looked hideous, but she knew Sarah loved this shirt.
Jody wore an oversized blue top which hung way past her waist line. Her black pants matched the flip flops she was wearing. Karla smiled to herself. Jody was her friend; she was just big boned.
Karla led her friends to the kitchen. Sarah and Jody each took a seat at the breakfast nook. Mrs. Centon was in the living room reading a book.
“Mom, are there any muffins left?”
Karla opened the fridge to take out a small carton of juice.
“I put them in the fridge…Would you like me to heat them up for you?”
Mrs. Centon put her book down and came into the kitchen. She opened the fridge, pulling a plate of muffins out and set it down on the counter before the girls.
“No…they are good the way they are,” Sarah replied.
Mrs. Centon gave each of them a napkin for their muffins. Karla took the seat between her two friends. The muffins were good, even though they were cold and a day old.
“What are you girls planning on doing today,” asked Mrs. Centon while she stood in front of the breakfast nook, sipping her coffee.
“Mom, is it okay with you, that we walk to the mall?”
“I guess. Just make sure you stick together.”
Mrs. Centon took another sip of her coffee. She really wished it was something else even if it was early in the day. She couldn’t remember exactly how long it had been since she had had her last drink. Maybe she had made it a week, she wasn’t certain. She craved its relaxing effect it had on her. Kids always had the tendency to make her uptight. They never listened to a word she said. Just like Karla, and she hated it when her daughter rolled her eyes at her, as she was doing now.
“So, you're older now, and at the age when girls have no problem sticking together. Well, just make sure you take your cell phone with you, just in case I have to get a hold of you for some reason.”
Karla reached into her pocket to display her phone.
“Oh. I see that isn’t an issue, either.”
Karla did not wait for her mom to change her mind. She wrapped her muffin up in her napkin and gulped down her juice with Sarah and Jody following her lead, and they hurried to the door before she could change her mind.
“…you girls be careful, then. Watch out for traffic, and stay out of the alleyways and be home by 4:00 for supper,” Karla's Mom called after them as they exited out the door.
They had escaped into the street elated by the fact that the three of them were well on their way to the mall with no embarrassing parent accompanying them.
Chapter ~ 14
Sarah said, “I think your Mom is trying,” as they walked from the house to the driveway.
“I know. I just wish she wouldn't be so overprotective. It drives me nuts,” Karla complained.
She glanced over her shoulder to see if her mom was standing in the doorway watching her, and was relieved to see her gone from sight.
“How far is the mall from here,” Jody asked. She started at the sound of squealing tires. This was a sort of noise one usually did not hear in their neck of the woods. It made her look in the direction of the squeal, expecting to see a couple of cars crashing into one another.
A blue sports car pulled up quick to the sidewalk across the street. Karla spotted Carol walking toward them, but she was on the other side of the street. Stopping quick, Karla looked to see if any cars were coming. Now was her time to introduce Carol to her best friends.
“Oh, just another block, hey, that's Carol.” Karla pointed out her new friend to Sarah and Jody. “She goes to my school. She's the one who wanted me to try out for volleyball. Come on, let's go say hi. I'll introduce you to her.” Karla stepped off the sidewalk to cross the street. She hesitated, waiting for her friends to catch up.
“Karla, I don't know…Who are the dudes with her?” Jody asked.
Karla turned back to see if Carol was looking her way yet. She still was only one step off the sidewalk. Hearing an approaching car, she nervously stepped back onto the sidewalk with her friends.
“Oh…I've never met them.” Karla watched while Carol climbed into the strange car. She felt unsure of what to tell her friends about Carol. The shoplifting incident in the mall still sat in the back of her mind. She was not sure Jody would approve of her new friend. “Rats, we missed her. I wonder where she is headed. I guess we will have to catch up with her another time.”
Karla felt an inward relief to have been able to put off introducing her old friends to her new friend. She pondered over whether she should get to know Carol a bit more before she introduced them all to each other.
She pushed this thought out of her mind and continued leading her friends to the mall. Maybe she would do it next time. She would see…
There seemed to be even more traffic today than Karla remembered seeing yesterday. She began to walk faster as the mall grew larger, excited to bring her friends along without having parental supervision. She never thought this day would come.
“Cool…the movie theater is next to the mall.”
Sarah pointed to the movie theater outside the mall parking lot.
“Let's see what is playing,” Jody said as she turned to follow Sarah to the theater.
“Maybe we can hit the food court afterwards. I'm starving, that muffin just did not do the trick for me,” suggested Karla.
“Look. ‘To the Max’ is playing. I really want to see that,” said Jody as she pointed at the movie poster.
Sarah stated, “Well then, let's go get something to eat, and afterwards go to the matinee. It's cheaper.”
“Awesome. I didn’t know this movie was playing. Did everyone bring enough money to get in,” asked Karla.
“Yeah… I got enough,” Jody said. “I just won't buy that new outfit I was gonna get.”
“I can
lend you some Jody, if you need it,” Sarah offered.
“Na I'll be all right,” replied Jody. “I can get it some other time.”
Karla almost let it slip. She almost told them she had been here the day before with Carol. They stopped at the mall map center to locate the food court. Karla pretended to study the map. She hoped they would not be going anywhere near Abercrombie, she feared she would be recognized from the day before when she had been there with Carol.
She would die if she was accused of stealing from the store in front of her friends, even if she had not had anything to do with what Carol had taken. She still felt guilty about the whole thing.
The store loomed off to their right. She had never been so happy before to have been able to avoid Abercrombie. She made certain to keep her eyes from looking in its direction, lest her friends mistake her casual glance at the store to be a need to enter it to window shop. That could prove to be disastrous.
Chapter ~ 15
The mall was packed. Karla stopped short. She almost walked into a young mother pushing a stroller who happened to stop suddenly to pick up a lost bottle.
The pet shop window caught her attention. She waved to Sarah and Jody to come look in the Shop's window with her.
“Ah... Look, kitties. Aren't they cute? I wish my folks would let me get one,” groaned Karla.
"Hey there, cutie…,” Sarah waved at a kitten, “Oh, look ... That one seems like a runt. Isn’t it cute?” Sarah pointed to the fluffy white kitten.
Karla spotted Gerry across the way. He was walking with his friends as they went past the pet store and came to stop at the store across from the pet store. It was an electronics store.
She saw him laughing at something Heath had just said. Her throat suddenly felt tight, and butterflies flopped around in her stomach.
“Yup,” Karla grabbed Sarah by the arm. She looked behind her to see if Jody was following. Satisfied with the spot they now stood in, she allowed her eyes to rest on Gerry again. They were now out of direct line of sight and had to peer over a tall planter with a fake palm tree.
“Look, but don't stare,” Karla instructed her friends, “That's the guy I was telling you about.”
She pointed out Gerry to Jody and Sarah.
“Isn’t he cute? Oh God, here he comes,” she giggled nervously, “Let's go in here and look at the rest of the animals.”
She latched onto Sarah’s arm and dragged her into the pet store.
“He might look good – to you, but he looks kind of like a jerk to me.” Sarah stopped just inside the shop and looked in Gerry's direction. She then turned back to admire the rabbits in the cage before her so it would not appear to him or his friends that she was obviously watching him.
“I heard at lunch the other day that he's the football captain. He just looks rough 'cause he has to,” Karla said defensively.
“I don't know…” Jody said. “He kind of gives me the willies too. My folks taught me to trust my instincts about people, and I have to say he really gives me the willies.
Looks don't always show what a person is like on the inside.”
“You're just saying that. How 'bout when you went out with Dave last year,” Karla demanded.
“Dave was a mistake, and I learned from that,” Jody retorted.
“Don't get her wrong; she still talks to Dave. They just don't see each other anymore,” Sarah blurted. She was afraid to choose sides between her two friends. So she always tried to keep to the middle ground.
Karla sneered, “You still talk to that jerk, and you talk about me?”
“Yeah…I talk to him…. Just talk…We are not even really friends anymore,” Jody defended.
“He went out with Carrie last month, and she said he tried to rape her, too,” Sarah said as she picked up a dog toy and began to squeak it.
“Someone needs to turn him in to the police,” Karla replied as she too picked up a toy. It was a cat toy with little bells. After giving it a shake, she put it back on the shelf.
“Problem is that it is our word against his, and we have no way of proving any of it.” Jody picked up a book on how to train dogs. She slowly flipped through the pages.
“There has to be some way to stop him,” demanded Karla.
“Yeah….When she finally gets a new boyfriend who is not a wimp. She'll get him to beat the crap out of him,” Sarah giggled.
“No…” Jody giggled, “I'll just warn any girl that decides to go out with him to be on guard against him…just in case he tries anything with them.”
“Someday, just warning the girl is not gonna be enough,” Karla complained. “He's gonna hurt someone, someday, and you're gonna wish you had stepped forward and said something to the authorities.”
“Well, if that day comes, then I will step forward and tell the authorities. Until then, I just keep my distance from him,” Jody retorted.
Karla glanced out the shop door. “Hey, he is gone now. Let's get something to eat and then go see our movie.”
As they walked to the food court, Karla thought back to the end of their school year. Back when Jody went out on her very first date with a guy she had met while picking up a few things for her mom at the store. His name was Dave.
At first Dave seemed to be a kind of nice guy. He and Jody would take walks around her neighborhood or just stop by for quick visits.
He even met her parents before asking her out on the date. They even seemed to like him.
Dave had dinner and a movie planned for their date. At least that is what he had told Jody.
In fact, Jody never really suspected anything was off with him even when they pulled up in front of his place and he let her know they were at their destination. She just though he had to run inside to get something, assuming they then would be right back out and on their way to the restaurant.
She never even noticed him locking the door behind him.
The meal was already prepared and set up romantically on the table with roses in a vase and nice place settings. Almost like a professional designer had set the room up for the occasion.
All went well with the meal and lots of small talk. Jody still did not suspect anything.
After they ate he took their empty plates to the kitchen, and told Jody to make herself comfortable in the living room.
It was decorated with fine furniture. It was almost too fine and made Jody wonder what Dave did for work in order to be able to pay for such things for a guy his age.
When he was done in the kitchen, which did not take him long to do, he came into the living room holding a video camera. Jody asked him what he planned on doing with it and she wanted to know when, where and what movie they were going to go see.
That was when he informed her that they were not going to see a movie, but were going to make the movie instead. Jody was horrified…
She never told her friends the rest of the details to the evening, nor how she had escaped him. They only knew that she had and that she was so glad her dad had made her take that karate class last year. Even though she had never gotten past the green belt, all that she had learned may have saved her life.
Obviously she must have kicked his ass and kicked it good. Why else would she still talk to him?
At the food court, Karla sat across from Jody and though more about the whole incident. All she could do was admire Jody for having sheer guts. That’s what Jody had – guts and more guts.
Chapter ~ 16
The action packed movie was one of the longest movies the girls had been to. But, the leading actor was awfully handsome, flamboyant, and such a smooth talker. And, to top it off, the movie was also funny at times. So funny, that Karla choked on her soda during one moment in the movie. Her nose still burned.
“That movie was great,” Sarah slung her purse strap over her shoulder.
“Yeah…Want the rest of my popcorn?”
Jody offered the popcorn container to Karla.
“Na…you can chuck it.”
Ka
rla nodded toward the closest trash bin. She glanced out the window. It was beginning to get dark out. Opening her cell phone, she checked the time. She couldn't believe it was already that late. The movie was long, but she didn't think it was that long.
“Oh, look at the time…We better get back, or Mom will ground me for sure.”
“Why don't you call her and let her know the movie just got out,” Sarah suggested.
“Oh, yeah…I guess I can do that.”
Karla flipped the phone back open. She imagined her mom yelling at her over the phone in front of her friends. Nervously, she punched in the number. Two rings, then her mom answered the phone.
“Mom, the movie just got out. We are heading home now,” Karla winced, bracing for the coming lecture.
“Karla, I'm glad you used your head and called,” her mom praised.
“Oh.” Karla did not know what to say. Stunned, she waited for her mom to speak.
“Well …You'll have to heat up your meals when you get home because we went ahead and ate without you.”
“…We’ll be home soon,” Karla felt the shakiness in her voice. She hoped none of her friends noticed how she sounded. Surprised with her mom's response, she snapped her phone closed. “Wow she didn't even sound angry…”
“Cool,” Jody remarked. “Let's go… it's starting to get dark out.” She led the way out of the theater.
The parking lot was full of cars. The next showing would be starting in fifteen minutes. Karla could not believe how many people there was at the movie theater. They must all have been there waiting to see the movie the girls had just gone to see. Apparently it was a lot more popular than she had thought.
It had been that good. She even bet it would get an award this year, for best supporting actor. Or, at least she hoped.
Karla walked between her two friends. Walking in silence, she really hated to see her friends go. Her mood dulled, while the street lights came on lighting their way home. A car passed them like the one she saw Carol climb into. She began to think about Carol, wondering if she was home yet. Maybe she would call her later, after Sarah and Jody went home.