Abby’s dad pulled up to the the food court entrance of the mall and Mr. Jenkins finally said something about how quiet we had been on the drive over. Normally we were chatterboxes in the car, so I think that he knew that something was up.

“Girls, have fun,” He said. “Sharon, Nicole, Rachel and I will meet you here around four. If we are going to be late or early, I’ll call you.”

“Ok daddy.” Abby said.

“Thanks for the ride, Mr. Jenkins.” I said, opening the door to slide out. As soon as my feet hit the ground, Abby was standing there, ready to guide the way into the mall. Once we were inside, Abby led me to a smoothie shop that was generally quiet so that we could sit down and talk. Abby led me to a chair and sat me down.

“Sit.” She said, not sitting down her self “I’ll be right back.”

I nodded and watched her go. Her only stop was the counter to order us both a smoothie. She was smiling as she came back over, offering a smoothie.

“Thanks.” I said, taking the proffered smoothie. I took a sip, noting that the flavor was strawberry banana. I didn’t recall telling Abby what my favorite flavor of smoothie was, but hey, the girl knew things… Abby sat across from me and took my left hand in her right hand, which was cold from carrying the smoothies.

“So you think that Jacob Westfield has the hots for you?” She asked. Her tone wasn’t condescending or jeering; but I think she could tell how shaken up I was by his ogling.

“Well, he certainly looked at me like I was a piece of meat that he was about to go try and hunt. Do you ever get used to that feeling?”

Abby glanced around the small shop, which other than us contained two other customers, both in their mid thirties, if one were to guess. “I’ve not gotten used to it, and I don’t think that genetic girls get used to it either. I know that there have been times when Shane had given me looks up and down and that made me uncomfortable. We’ve gotten a few looks from people passing by and some of them have left me feeling uncomfortable.” She sipped her smoothie. “I think that our genetic couterparts just learn to deal with it.”

“I wonder how many of them feel uncomfortable at times?” I sipped my smoothie, savoring the strawberry banana flavor.

“Probably quite a few. I know that I tend to feel more uncomfortable when I’m wearing a skirt and the shorter it is, the worse that feeling is for me.” Abby said. “Even wearing some of the tight pants that I have makes me uncomfortable. It seems like girls clothes are designed to show off their bodies… Have you talked to your mom about pants yet?”

I shook my head and spun so my back was to the wall and I could look out into the concourse and watch people go by. “Not yet,” my attention was diverted to a gaggle of girls that was coming into the smoothie shop. The six girls that made up the gaggle were all in shorts and tank tops. “Maybe I should get some shorts for now when it’s still warm out.”

“Probably,” Abby said. “Did your mom give you any money?”

“Yeah,” I sipped my smoothie as I watched the group of girls. “She gave me forty dollars. Why, What’d you have in mind?”

Abby finished her smoothie. “We should get you some shorts or capris or something… Skirts are nice, but sometimes a little bit of variety is good.” Abby stood and I followed her lead as we walked into the concourse. Abby made a quick stop by a map of the mall and then turned to her right. When we finally stopped again, we were standing outside of a shop that catered to tweens. I took the last drink of my smoothie and dropped the cup in a trash can we passed on our way into the store. Hanging just inside the entrance was a display of pants that looked like they would stop at the shin. Abby saw my expression and leaned over to whisper in my ear. “These are capris. They are shorter than pants, and usually a little thinner. I think they are comfortable.”

I nodded and picked up a pair of denim capris. We browsed around some more before we finally decided to check out and go look at some other stores. Not seeing anything that piqued our interest, we called for Abby’s dad to come pick us up..

“You know that white short sleeved shirt that has the eyelet trim around the neckline that Rachel has?” Abby said suddenly.

“Huh?” I responded. I had been watching a pair of girls walk into the mall, amazed at how much I acted like them before I even came clean abut my dressing habits.

“There is a shirt that your mom got for Rachel near the middle of the school year that is white and has an eyelet trim around the neckline.” Abby said, watching the girls go past. “That shirt, the capris we bought and the sandals you have on now would look cute.”

“Maybe I’ll wear that for my appointment with Dr. Williams tomorrow…” I said. “Speaking of Dr. Williams, I asked her about going to school.”

Abby’s eyes lit up. Her bright green eyes had a brilliant sparkle when she was happy. “And?”