Spencer's

Of course the boy would get "weird crap" from Spencer's. Spencer's has always been a classic pre-teen boy store. As a young girl, though, I would go in just to giggle at all the inappropriate merchandise and feel rebellious, like I was somewhere I wasn't supposed to be. But I would never find anything to waste my money on... and even if I did, I was probably too embarassed and nervous to check out.

So in middle school, the girls mainly hung out at Bath & Body Works, Claire's, and the pet store. My friends and I would spend hours just walking around the mall and talking. Most times we wouldn't even buy anything. But it was fun to feel independent and walk around the mall without parents. There wasn't much else for kids our age to do.

And without supervision, of course we'd sneak to the back of Spencer's for the thrill of it... to gawk at the wide assortment of everything penis or boob related. Not that we knew anything about either of those things at the time, but we went because we could. And for the first time in our lives, there was no one to stop us.