Alicia White

Weekends were made for the Mall. Especially in a small town like this where there really wasn't much else to do. It was also one of the few places Alicia could tell her mother she was going and not guarantee a huge argument. For some reason, she'd decided Alicia couldn't get in trouble at the Mall.

Showed a real lack of imagination, honestly.

She sat in the food court, picking absently at a plate of cheese fries and contemplating her next move. There wasn't a whole lot of cash in her wallet, but she needed a new memory card for her camera at least. Too bad, though. There were some really cute pajama sets in the Victoria's Secret window display. A few that were guaranteed to make her mother pitch a fit if she ever saw them, which really only made them that much more appealing.

Maybe she'd do some window shopping next. It couldn't hurt to look, right?

It is another dull Wednesday. Right about now, Alicia is supposed to be in history class listening to yet another droning lecture about the American Civil War or whatever. Even when the subject is interesting her teacher manages to make it sound boring. Instead of suffering through another torturous day of classes, she decided to skip out and hit the mall.

And yeah, okay, it's also because she and her mom had yet another fight this morning. Something about grades and her attitude, as usual. Her mom is never happy; she's always yelling. Of course, it's always Alicia's fault, too. Not like Mom ever screws up, oh no. Just her. Val even manages to fly under the radar, although Alicia has no idea how he does it. It's like her brother isn't even there sometimes. That just makes her even more frustrated.

The Mall is a great place to walk off frustration, although it doesn't always end up putting her in a better mood. She's already hit her favorite spots in the mall: the pet store, the electronics store with the awesome camera selection, and the food court. The first two are just depressing; there are so many things she wants that she just can't have and it grinds on her. A giant twisty pretzel and a slushie from the food court helps a little, until she sees a display in the window of the ladies clothes store that catches her eye. Their new selection of swimsuits is out and they're awesome.

Which means she can't afford them, naturally. If her mother were here this would be the moment she gets annoying reminded that she'd have an allowance, a small one, if her grades were better. Whatever.

Alicia flops down on the bench outside the clothing store, sipping at the slushie through the wide, brightly colored straw, and eyeing those suits wistfully. She stretches her legs out and looks down at them in the skirt that was down to her knees this morning, but has since been rolled at the waist to shorten it. She would look great in those suits, too. It's just not fair.