Annie had agreed to meet up with Connie and Sabine on the Monday of spring break and together visit the Morrison-Smith Megamall, or Miss Megamall as it was popularly called among the locals.
The mall's name had been so unwieldy that it had first been shortened to MS Megamall in everyday conversation. Soon everyone realized, much to the chagrin of the mall's public relations department, that MS could be short for Miss. Thus, the name struck.
Maybe the public relations department will come up with a mascot suited to the popular name.
Annie had thought that shopping on a Monday was a good idea. Monday was a weekday so they would avoid the weekend crowd. It should be easier to get service from the salespeople and move about with less people blocking the way.
It was when she set foot in the mall that Annie realized how wrong she was. The place was crowded with teenagers out on spring break. They were in the shops, in the corridors - they were everywhere. Annie should have realized it would be like this sooner. And she should keep a close watch on her pink handbag, in case some curious hand decided it wanted to get to know its contents closely.
The first shop that Connie dragged her friends to was a clothing outlet. "Sabine needs some better clothes," she had said.
"Sabine, what's your budget?" Annie asked.
It turned out that the plump girl did not have much to spend. She had even less after Annie recommended that she save some for the rest of the day.
"Annie!" Connie protested, "She can't buy anything with so little!"
"I'm sure we'll be able to find something both suitable and cheap," Annie said confidently.
"I don't know if that's even possible," the redhead slurred uncertainly. She picked a garishly orange T-shirt from a nearby rack.
"Stay away from branded goods," Annie advised. She jerked her thumb at the sign proclaiming the brand of the shirt Connie had picked. "One branded shirt will eat the whole budget."
Connie selected another shirt. "Not my budget." She pouted. "I came to shop for myself too."
"Fine." Annie grabbed her other friend's hand. "Sabine, let's go check the back."
The clothes at the back were priced cheaper. Sabine picked a trendy T-shirt with the word 'Love' within the shape of a large heart in the front. She held it in front of her for Annie to see.
Annie noticed her friend's slight frown. Sabine probably disliked a shirt that would boldly proclaim that particular word. So the little girl shook her head and said, "No."
Whenever her friend looked to her for an opinion, Annie would give an answer based on Sabine's expression and pose. Sabine lacked confidence in selecting her outfits. She did not trust her own sense of style. Annie merely supported her friend's opinion, reflecting in words and actions what Sabine already knew. She only voiced her true thought when the bespectacled girl liked something that was truly abominable.
Sabine finally settled on a thick blue skirt. "I like this skirt." Her expression was a smile of delight, though there was a hint of doubt.
"It does look good on you," Annie approved.
"But it's so expensive," Sabine said.
"It is," Annie agreed, "If you're not sure, don't buy. With that small a budget, you can't afford to get anything on impulse. There's still other shops to check. If you don't find anything else, you can still come back here and get the skirt."
Sabine carefully replaced the skirt in the rack. "You think it'll still be here?"
"There's always a chance someone else will get it," Annie said. She pointed at the rack of skirts. "But there are three blues, so it's likely at least one will be here if we return later."
"I guess you're right." Sabine pulled herself away from the rack.
"Let's find Connie and try another place," Annie suggested.
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