Saturday
It was early Saturday morning and I was at the mall. I'd stopped by Starbucks where I'd bought chai tea which I'd sipped while waiting for the stores to open. They'd opened at 9. I'd finished my tea and had gone to Claire's where I'd gotten some earrings then the bookstore and music store. I was now sitting on one of the dark brown leather chairs by the department store, waiting for more people to go in.
The weather had turned cold, gray, cloudy and gloomy. It had snowed overnight.
My mom and stepdad had left Wednesday overnight to go see my mom's cousin, who'd moved to London. They were staying for at least a week. The only people at home were myself, David and our sisters Emily and Grace. Kristy was away at college and Sam was living in New York with his wife Stacey, who was Kristy's friend. Kristy's other friends Mary Anne, Claudia, Dawn, Mallory and Shannon were elsewhere. The only ones who'd stayed here were Abby and Logan. Logan and Mary Anne had been dating but were now broken up. Mary Anne was in Germany, Claudia was studying art in Japan, Dawn was in California, Mallory was at boarding school, Jessi was at a ballet school in London and Shannon was in France. I hadn't gotten a chance yet to ask Kristy if Stacey knew Cassandra.
About an hour later a bunch of people were in the department store. I stood up and went in. As soon as I got to the jewelry counter I started filling my boots and coat with jewelry, then disappeared to another section of the store where the clothes were. The clerk at the jewelry counter had been busy talking on the phone.
