As the sun rose on March 21st, the residents of Brinesville could never have prepared for the events that would happen at 4PM that afternoon. Karmen awoke to the normal sounds of her neighborhood. Waves crashing, her little brother’s screams at his video games, her mother and father bickering in the kitchen, seagulls, and crowds of people skipping down the wooden dock that was just off to the left of the property. Sitting up in bed, she yawned loudly and stretched her back. She rubbed her eyes and glanced out of her open windows to the bright reflection of the sun on the sparkling water. She grabbed her phone and looked to see that it was 9:34am.

“Shit!” She whisper yelled and threw the covers back, jumping out of bed and rushing to the bathroom to get ready for the day. Karmen had totally forgotten that she needed to meet her best friend at the mall at 10 for the 30% off sale at Victoria Secret. You can’t go wrong with 30% off.

Brushing her silky brown hair into a long ponytail, and washing her face- she ran over to her closet and flung open the sliding doors.

“What the-“ She yelped and stepped back as Grimy jumped out and meowed.

“Holy mother Mary, Grim how long have you been in there?” She asked the blonde haired cat as it stretched and fell over into the rays of sun coming in through the widows and glass sliding doors that led to her small wooden balcony.

“The rays of death hast struck again.” She laughed as she slid on her blue jean shorts and The Office shirt. Quickly putting her socks and vans on, she skipped out of her room and down the couple steps into the Kitchen.

“Good morning Karmen, hungry? I just made your father an egg sandwich.” Her mother smiled as she cracked another egg into the piping hot pan.

“Yeah and drowned it in hot sauce!” Her dad grumbled from the table.

“Keep it up Lou, and you’ll be swimming with the sharks later!” Her mother spat back. Karmen just rolled her eyes and chuckled a bit.

“It’s alright mom, I think me and Sarah are getting brunch after shopping at the mall.” She grabbed her small, light blue purse and tossed her phone in it and grabbed the keys to her Jeep.

“Alright dear, be careful! Let me know about what time you’ll be home when you get there.” Her mother hollered from the kitchen as she walked out the door.

“Yes ma’am, love you!” She hollered back before shutting the door behind her and hopping down the steps to her car.

“Morning K! Where you headed to?” The familiar deep voice came from the same direction as always. She looked across the street to see her neighbor and close friend Matthew, shirtless and holding a surf board walking over to her. She smiled and opened the car door, tossing her purse in and resting her arm in the open window.

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“Morning Matt- just to the mall. Meeting Sarah for the sales that’s going on. You going surfing already? The tide’s still low.” She tilted her head as he finally met her by the car. His hair was a messy blonde cut and his skin was tan- cheeks grazed with freckles here and there. Karmen honestly had a huge crush on him from the moment she moved to Brinesville in 2nd grade. They didn’t become friends until 6th grade, then best friends just a year later. She went to every football game he had, always front and center of the student section. Sarah was also always by her side, cheering on their #53.

“Oh, yeah I know. Just thought I’d get warmed up for the crazy waves this afternoon,” He looked out to the beach and squinted from the bright sun. “but the mall? Sounds fun. Mind if I join you and Sarah?” He have a boyish grin and Karmen couldn’t help but laugh.

“As long as you put a shirt on. No shoes, no shirt, no riding in my Jeep.” She smiled as he shook his head and bolted back across the street to his house, laying his board against the wall in the garage before jogging inside. She climbed in and cranked it- turning the radio on to the local pop station and buckling up. Just then, the passenger door swung open and Matthew hopped in.

“I found a random shirt on the floor and had to do the smell test.” He said out of breath causing Karmen to laugh as she backed out of the driveway and headed to the mall.

-

“There you are! I was wondering when you’d get here. Oh Matt! I’m glad you’re here- hold these.” Sarah dropped 5 pairs of underwear and bras into Matt’s arms and he blushed- chuckling.

“Sarah! I didn’t bring Matt for you to make him your shopping cart.” Karmen laughed and took the lingerie out of his arms- tossing them into a cart and giving it back to Sarah.

“I might not have minded if it hadn’t have been fucking thongs.” He laughed and caught up to where the girls were looking.

“Oh calm down, they aren’t thongs- do I look like a hoe?” Sarah snapped back jokingly and laughed at his remarks. Karmen looked at a shelf of lotions and picked out her favorite scent, placing it in her cart before going over to look at underwear with Sarah.

“K, you didn’t tell me we’d be in a lady’s store!” Matt whined as he got strange looks from other women.

“Oh please, where else did you think we’d be?” Karmen laughed when he rolled his eyes.

-

Almost 30 minutes later, Sarah and Karmen finally checked out and walked with Matt out into the open common area of the mall.

“God, I’m starving. And the smell from the Chinese place at the food court isn’t helping.” Karmen groaned and looked over to the strip of the mall filled with different small businesses.

“God you’re so right. All this shopping has tired me out.” Sarah nodded and followed Karmen.

“Man I haven’t had Chinese since last week. I’m deprived.” Matt groaned causing both girls to giggle. Sarah found a table while Matt and Karmen went through the line.

“I’ve got this one.” Matthew smiles and hands the cashier his card.

“No! Matt I swear I didn’t give you permission to pay for me!” Karmen sighed and looked up at him.

“Permission would have changed nothing anyway.” He grinned and shoved his card and recite in his back pocket as they wove through crowds of people to sit down. Karmen immediately dug in and closed her eyes.

“I’m mad at you for paying but I love this food so much.” She patted her chest near her heart and pointed to the full plate of noodles and spicy chicken. Matt chuckled and nodded- his mouth stuffed full of rice. Sarah came back with her plate and they all fell silent as they ate.

“Hey- hey turn up the TV!” A passing shopper yelled to the Chinese worker behind the counter. He nodded and hit it up a few, catching all of our attention.

“...Massive shifts detected near the New Madrid fault line- scientists worry a major earthquake could result to billions of dollars in damage, along with thousands of lives at stake. Upgraded technology may provide evidence of major movement, but predicting when an earthquake could occur is still impossible. Not to mention scientists claiming that this fault line is over 400 years late of predicted activation. Local News at 12- we’ll keep you updated. Now on to sports with...”

The entire section of the mall became quiet before erupting into absolute chaos.