It's a Mall World After All: It Is a Mall World After All - Tapa dura

It's too bad they don't give out diplomas for what you learn at the mall, because I could graduate with honors in that subject. No really. Since I've worked there, I've become an expert on all things shopping-related. For example, I can tell you right off who to distrust at the mall:

1) Skinny people who work at Cinnabon. I mean, if they're not eating the stuff they sell, how good can it be?

2) The salesladies at department store makeup counters. No matter what they tell you, buying all that lip gloss will not make you look like the pouty models in the store posters.

3) And most importantly—my best friend's boyfriend, Bryant, who showed up at the food court with a mysterious blonde draped on his arm.

Yeah, I saw it, and yeah, I told my best friend all about it.

You would think this would mean trouble for Bryant, but you would basically be wrong. Somehow, the evil boyfriend turned everything around, and now I'm the one who has to prove myself! But I will. Even if Bryant—and more importantly his best friend, Colton—keep trying to stop me.

Janette Rallison was never a perfume sprayer, but she still spent way more time and money at the mall than her parents thought prudent. She learned many important things during her years as a mall connoisseur. For example, even if a guy looks remarkably like a guy from your school, you should really check and make certain before you rush up and throw your arms around him. Also, even if your parents insist they want to see you in that swimsuit before they buy it for you, do not under any circumstance step out of the dressing room. The boy you want to impress will be passing by, as will your high school football team, your English teacher, a tour of seniors snapping photos at that exact moment and capturing your day-glow-white thighs for all their relatives to see in future slideshows. Not that any of these things every personally happened to Janette, but you can check out other embarrassing experiences on her Web site: JanetteRallison.com
Janette has written five books for Walker & Company, including Fame, Glory, and Other Things on My To Do List. Janette lives in Chandler, Arizona, with her husband and four out of five of their children. (The fifth is at college, not wandering around lost under a clothes rack.)