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After locking the doors, the group moved toward the sidewalk. Looking at the city, which she had just left a few days ago, Jenny truly wondered how she had ever gotten herself into coming back here. While the rest of her friends pointed out different sights, Jenny stayed to herself, bored with the scenery. All the other girls looked at her and laughed.
"Jennyfur, you really shouldn't have bothered to go back home for your spring break! The university is just over there. You could have stayed in your dorms and we could have picked you up there!" Holly said disgustingly cheerfully.
"Or I could have gone somewhere where you couldn't have found me so I wouldn't have had to be here," Jenny mumbled a reply. None of the girls were expecting that. They knew she wasn't excited about their outing, but her relentless complaints and the loss of her sense of humor had surprised them. Taken aback by her response, they shut up and walked in silence.
They couldn't be kept quiet long, however, and the girls started pointing here and there, looking around wide-eyed and giggling as they passed cute guys along the street. Jenny continued her moping and refused to find anything interesting in her surroundings. After long minutes of silent oblivion to the world around her, she decided to look up and question her friends about how far they still had to their destination. Sure she lived in Columbus, but wandering around among crowds of strangers--male strangers--along the streets and in stores wasn't her idea of fun. And going to the Virgin MegaStore? She would never go there anymore; it would only have more people! The only time she had ever been there was when she had only been fourteen years old. Things had happened and things had changed with her since then...
Glancing upward, she saw most of her friends were over the sights and now walking along casually. Alicia was still held by the images before her. That's odd, Jenny thought. Alicia had spent many of the younger years of her life living in the Columbus area, and had visited it since her move to Waterville, in Northern Ohio.
"Willis? You've been to Columbus plenty of times. Why are you so amazed by the place now?" Jenny inquired. Alicia looked over. Her face was puzzled until Jenny's question registered in her mind, and then it lightened and a smile appeared.
"Oh, well, the last time I was in Columbus was that shopping trip we made in 8th grade. You remember the one? It was for my fourteenth birthday and we went to the Virgin Megastore here."
"I still don't forgive you for not inviting me!" Laura commented to Alicia and then gave a smile to show that there were no real hard feelings. Jenny just nodded to show that she remembered the trip.
"Anyway, that was the last time I have been to Columbus. Do you realize how much this place has changed?" Jenny just shrugged. "Well, it has changed a lot. It is so amazing to come back here. I still love it, though."
"Guys! We're here!!!"
Rachael shouted that statement ecstatically. They all silenced and stared at the building with awe. I don't remember it being this big, Jenny thought. There sure are a lot of people here.
Holly and Rachael laughed about the massive crowd waiting to get into the mall. They had only come to the building moments ago, but already they weren't at the back of the line. The people just kept arriving. Jenny looked around, thinking that they just might not even make it to the autograph session after all.
"It's a good thing the mall has such a long sidewalk. Otherwise, people would be in the streets waiting in line. Someone could get hurt!" Colleen didn't speak that fact with worry, but rather with amusement. Jenny shook her head to herself. Colleen was always way too easily amused.
"IS the mall long? I can't even tell! Why did I have to be so short?!" Laura whined as she stretched up on her tiptoes, hoping for a glimpse of something, anything.
"You and me, both, Dudey," Alicia said casually. "Dudey" had been a word that each of them used to use overly much, in place of saying "man", since they were younger. It hadn't been used in the longest time, though. They all burst out in laughter, making a big scene in the line. People started staring, but none of the girls cared. Not even Jenny. She laughed right along.
About two hours passed, with each of the girls taking their own turns to tell their favorite jokes and stories. Soon they were in the mall. Before they knew it, they even reached the record store. Jenny became anxious but tried her best to stay serene and not let the others see her distress. After all, they were trying their best to stop her from getting too uncomfortable. Things were even starting to calm down.
"Hey! I can see Brian!" exclaimed Colleen.
Broken Promises