He handed her a $100 dollar bill. At first, she thought, this is a joke. Of course we all know it isn’t. The man simply walked away, not looking back. The girl took the $100 dollar bill and held it up to the light. It was real. But it couldn’t be. But it was. The girl was so excited, she couldn’t contain herself. Imagine all the things she could do with that piece of paper! She could go bowling, go to the movies, go shopping, anything! She thought for a while before it came to her. I will ask my friends to go to the mall. Then when I’m the one buying all the expensive stuff, they will all think of me as rich! Simple as that! I wonder what Janette will think of me though? Will she think I’m faking it? No, she wouldn’t. As long as I spend it. The girl called up some of her closest friends. Mari, Ava, Janette, and Lizzy. They all accepted her offer. She got in the car after dinner to pick them up. First she picked up Mari. Mari’s house looked Victorian and was medium sized. When Mari came out, she had this beautiful Lilly Pulitzer Clutch. Her UGGS were caramel colored all the way up to the middle of her calfs. She had black leggings on and a nice, blue North Face jacket, which looked new. Her hair was amazingly curly, brown, and long. She climbed in the car, and seemed extremely excited. The girls talked for a little bit while they were driving to Lizzy’s house. Suddenly, the girl asked Mari, “ How much money did you bring?”. Mari was kinda startled, for no one had asked her something like this before. Mari replied, “Not very much, but if you really want to know, I will show you.”. Mari unzipped her Lilly Pulitzer wallet, and pulled out 1 $20 bill, and one $5 bill. Mari had a total of $25 to spend that night. She was behind the girl $75. Good, she was in the led, so far. They slowly pulled up to Lizzy’s house. Lizzy was waiting right on the front steps of a very small house. It was cute and blue. It had flowers along the path, and it was completely lit up. She jumped into the car, dropping her purse on the ground. She picked it up, and the girl realized that it was a purse she’d seen at Vera Bradley the day before. I asked Lizzy, “Where did you get that purse?”. Lizzy replied, “VeraBradley. It was on sale.” The girls giggled in the car, talking about school and what they had done, when the girl asked “So, Lizzy, how much money did YOU bring?” Lizzy simply said, “ 10 bucks.” , and that was that. Next, was Janette’s house. The car pulled up to a very large house on the corner of a long street. Janette walked outside. Her hair pulled up into a high ponytail, wearing her juicy couture sweatshirt. She climbed into the car, greeting all of the girls. Lizzy asked if she had anymore juicy sweatshirts. Janette said “ Oh yes, I believe 5 or 6.” Lizzy went silent. You could tell by her expression that she was jealous. Janette opened her adorable clutch from coach. It didn’t look like there was any money in there. Or was there? The girl asked “Don’t you have any money?” Janette replied “Oh no, I thought it would be fun to just look at the stuff when we shop. I think I will help you guys pick out some fun stuff.” Wow. That was not what she was expecting. It would still be fun though. Alright, now we only had Ava left. Ava was one of four kids. She was the middle child and lived in a yellow house down the street from Janette. They pulled into her driveway. The two kids Ava’s family were outside running around. But where was Ava. We looked around and finally saw her standing in the window. She went to the door and yelled out to the two kids, “Guys, you have to come inside! Mom has muffins waiting on the table!” Ava held up her hand, signaling that she would be out in a second. A minute or so later, she came out the door and hopped in the car. Ava said “Sorry, my mom is going to book club tonight and needs them to have a snack.” Ava was wearing a white vest with her hair down. She had a white, glittery headband, and was wearing her white boots. A five dollar bill fell out of her pocket. The girl asked “What’s that?” , knowing she would get the response she was looking for. Ava replied “Oh, its just five bucks to get Valentine’s Day cards for my siblings and parents. I hope its enough!” The drive seemed like it took forever. The girl held her pocket, knowing that, fairly soon, she would be able to take it out and show it to her friends. They pulled into the crowded parking lot. It took about 5 minutes to find a spot. When the car came to a stop, the girl’s mom said “Okay girls, I want to meet you in the Rotunda at 8:00. Ok? Alright, have fun.” The girl and her friends walked into the mall. Which store should they go to first? Boston Store? Forever 21? Ooohhh, maybe they should go to the Sephora store just across from them. Sephora it was. They all walked in. Bam. Make up everywhere. Wow. The girl thought I should probably look for an expensive brand of make up, and when I buy something and I still have money, they will all be shocked. She went over to the NARS brand. Hhhhhmmmm what looks expensive? The girl picked out a blush, an eyeshadow, and two make up brushes. Perfect, she thought, to the check out. She jumped in line, and soon Mari was right behind. “Where are the others?” the girl asked. “They are waiting outside of the store.” Mari replied. Mari seemed to have a mascara. Looked cute and inexpensive. Well it was her turn to check out. The employee said “Will this be all?” The girl responded “Oh yeah thats it, thanks.” The woman handed her the bag. She was so proud. Now she could go show her friends! She ran outside and showed them what she had gotten. They all stared in amazement as she pulled one NARS product after another out of the bag. “How much did that all cost?” asked Ava. “Ooooohhhh, only $60.” she responded. No one seemed that impressed. Later on, Mari came out and they moved on. The girls went to many stores, but the girl didn’t spend one dollar on the cheap stuff, she was waiting until they got to coach, where she would buy a nice wristlet. Once they got there, she went right over to the exclusive collection of the coach wristlets. She knew which one she wanted instantly. She grabbed it off its stand and went over to the cashier. He got her all checked out and she brought her bag outside to her friends. They asked her what she got. She pulled out the wristlet. All of the girls looked annoyed. “What’s wrong?” she asked. Janette replied “It just seems like you are putting your money all up in our faces.” “Yeah.” said Ava. “Well, its just that today I was walking down the street and a man handed me a $100 bill. So I instantly thought it was fake. When I found out it was real, I knew what I wanted to do with it. So I called you guys and we ended up here. I guess I thought that you guys would be impressed because not many kids get that kind of money just like that. I’m sorry.” the girl said. “Mari explained “We all like you because of your personality, not because of the clothes you wear, or the size of your house, or the amount of money you have.” In the end, the girls had a great night, and realized that her friends liked her for who she was, and not for what she had.

The End