“Hey, anybody home?” called a familiar voice.

“Yeah, we’re in the living room!” Jen called back.

Taylor walked in. “Hey, Mr. and Mrs. O, how are ya?”

“We’re good, Taylor. How are you?”

“Oh, I’m pretty good,” Taylor said, pushing her sunglasses back onto the top of her head. She turned to Jen. “Ready?”

“Ready for what?”

Taylor raised her eyebrows. “You don’t remember?”

“Uh, no.”

“You have a really bad memory! Yesterday you agreed to go to the mall with me today so we could pick out an outfit for the concert.”

“Oh, yeah! Hold on; let me grab my purse from upstairs. I’ll be right back.” Jen pushed herself up and ran up to her room. She pulled a brush through her hair before grabbing her purse and running back downstairs. “Okay, let’s go. Bye everyone,” Jen said, pulling Taylor behind her.

“Bye!” Taylor yelled as Jen yanked her out the door. “Geez, Jen, trying to pull my arm out its socket?” she asked.

“Shut up and get in the car. I gotta tell you something.”

Taylor slid into the car. “Okay, is this good news? Then we have to put on Hanson first,” she said when Jen nodded. “Okay, now tell me.”

“My mom’s gonna have a baby!”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes!”

“Oh, wow! When did you find out?”

“Yesterday. I was gonna tell you, but I was just so excited about going to the concert that I forgot.”

“That’s so awesome!” Taylor said, backing out of Jen’s driveway.

The girls talked about everything from the baby to the concert as they made the two-hour trip to the mall. They couldn’t get there fast enough.

“Hurry up, Taylor!” Jen said excitedly, running towards the mall entrance.

“Well, I’m sorry if I don’t have energy coming out of my ears like you do,” Taylor grumbled, taking her time.

Jen hugged herself, jumping up and down slightly. “I’m sorry; I’m just so excited about this concert! I want to find the perfect outfit! I don’t care if Hanson won’t see it; I still have to look absolutely stunning.”

Taylor shook her head, laughing. “Alright, let’s go,” she said, pulling open the door.

Jen took the lead, stopping at every store that she saw. They looked through racks and piles and more racks of clothes. They looked through boxes of shoes and countless stands of jewelry. One and an half hours and six stores later, they still hadn’t found the perfect outfit.

“We better find something here; this is the last store,” Taylor commented as they walked into Deb’s.

“Ooh, Tay, look at this,” Jen said, drawn to a pair of jeans almost immediately.

“Those are awesome! So you. Go try them on.”

The jeans were a dark, dark blue, and had red seams. On one of the back pockets it said “Kiss This” in flowing red lettering. They had exactly three belt loops, and a silver chain belt. The jeans were tight, and the belt rested on Jen’s hips.

“Those look great on you, Jen! You should get them.”

Jen surveyed herself in the mirror. “I don’t know…”

“Well, I do. And, look, I found this shirt to go with them. Go try it on and see what they look like together.” Taylor shoved the white shirt that said “I love bad boys” in simple, red writing over and over until it faded away into Jen’s hands and practically pushed her into the changing room.

Even though Taylor gushed over her, Jen was still skeptical. “I don’t know, Tay.”

“Well, you can hold on to it and decide while you help me chose something to wear.”

Jen agreed, and soon Taylor found a few things to try on. One was a shirt that tied around the neck. Taylor couldn’t get it herself, so she asked Jen to tie it.

Taylor looked at her reflection in the dressing room. “No, I don’t like it.”

“Yeah, me neither. Try something else.”

“Okay, untie me.”

“There you go.”

“Thanks.” Taylor pulled the shirt off.

“Taylor! Your back!”

“What?” Taylor spun around and backed up against the wall.

“Your back! You have a bruise on it that’s practically the size of Texas!”

“Don’t be so dramatic, Jen. You can hardly see it.”

“Oh, whatever! Even if you don’t notice the size, you’d notice the color. What’d you do?”

Taylor shrugged, still backed against the wall. “I, I backed into a door. It’s no big deal. Really.”

“You backed into a door?”

“Yes. I did. Now, will you please go away so I can finish getting dressed?”

Jen slipped out the door and sat down on a chair outside the dressing rooms. It did not look like Taylor had backed into a door. The bruise was too big and too dark. But, if she didn’t back into a door, then what happened? And why was Taylor lying about it?

Almost three hours later, Jen walked into her dark house. “Anybody home?” she yelled, sitting down her sacks in the hallway. Taylor had convinced her to buy the outfit and a pair of shoes.

Sighing, Jen walked into the kitchen. There was a note on the counter that said they had gone to a late movie and wouldn’t be back until 11 or so.

Almost out of habit, Jen turned on the computer and sat down as it booted up. After connecting to the Internet, she logged onto MSN Messenger, and was pleased to see Zach was on.

Jenni: hi

Cowboy: hi…are you one of my Zach’s friends?

Jenni: yeah, I’m Jen…who are you?

Cowboy: Jordan…I’ll go get Zach for ya, hold on a sec

Jenni: ok

Jen sighed, and waited for someone to get back on.

Cowboy: hi, sorry about that

Jenni: that’s ok

Cowboy: so, what’s up?

Jenni: n/m, as usual

Cowboy: same here

Jenni: I’m so lonely

Cowboy: why?

Jenni: everyone went to a movie…I was shopping with Taylor and didn’t get to go

Cowboy: well, come to my house – you won’t be lonely then! lol

Jenni: lol, I guess not

Jenni: so did you get found out last night?

Cowboy: nope, I amazingly didn’t wake anyone up. Guess what

Jenni: um…I dunno…

Cowboy: ok, I’ll tell you: I talked to Jordan about smoking, and he agreed to throw away the cigarettes and never smoke again

Jenni: that’s great!

Cowboy: yeah, I just hope he keeps his word

Jenni: I’m sure he will

Cowboy: ugh, I gotta go, sorry

Jenni: that’s ok…I’ll talk to you 2morrow?

Cowboy: no, we’re leaving for a few days and won’t be back until probably Fri.

Jenni: oh, where you going?

Cowboy: nowhere special

Jenni: sounds like fun

Cowboy: oh, it is

Jenni: well I’ll talk to you sometime then

Cowboy: yeah, of course…I’ll still have email, so email me if you want

Jenni: ok, I probably will

Cowboy: good

Cowboy: bye

Jenni: bye

Jen logged off and disconnected from the Internet. She yawned, realizing how tired she was. It had been a long day, and she had been up late last night.

Jen climbed the stairs to her room, carrying her sacks up. She flipped on the light in her bedroom and glanced longingly at her bed before putting her clothes away. The shoes could stay where they were. She was tempted to just sleep in her clothes, but decided she’d better change. And, since she was changing, she should take a shower.

By the time she got out of the shower, she was about ready to pass out. Jen climbed into her bed and snuggled beneath the covers. She sighed and closed her eyes. All thoughts of Taylor and her back disappeared as sleep washed over her.