Jon wandered through the mall, heading toward the Food Court. He'd always meet Karyn there, and now that Melissa was his friend...
He waited there for her until he was surprised when a strong hand grabbed his arm. "You were supposed to be here half an hour ago...did you forget about the movie?" She asked.
He studied her. She was still a red-haired beauty, but her parentage was clearly Karyn's. "Movie?" She wore jeans and a t-shirt...but somehow made the gender neutral clothes look a lot less tomboyish than Karyn did.
"The one that starts in 15 minutes...What's wrong with you today?" She asked.
"Sorry..I've got something on my mind?"
"Your grandpa?" She asked, sympathetically. "I..I'm sorry, I didn't mean to give you a hard time. Just...seeing a movie on a weekday was your idea...you know my mom will freak if I don't come home after and get my homework done."
"No...I want to..." Jon said.
As they walked toward the theater, he looked at her, curious about who she was now. Like many of the girls in school, he'd known Melissa since freshman year, though they had gone to different middle schools. He knew she liked reading fashion magazines, or the original Melissa did. This one could have completely different interests.
The movie turned out to be a horror movie...a genre Jon hated...but apparently, Melissa loved. How many times could you see a teenager cut up by a chainsaw, after all? After 2 hours of gore, they headed toward the mall exit. "I'm glad we did this..I'm going to be so busy the next few weeks."
"With cheerleading?" Jon said, before thinking.
"Cheerleading...no...yuck. I meant with the school musical. I'm in charge of costumes, remember?"
Jon was intrigued...Melissa interested in theater arts and horror movies? This definitely wasn't the same girl who acted as Sarah's #2.
"Oh, god...speaking of cheerleaders...the brain dead squad is here," Melissa said.
Jon looked away to where she was gesturing.
