One sunny, hot, dry, summer day Elise, Chelsea, and Elizabeth were walking down Holly Street.  It was the usual quiet peaceful place with blooming flowers and huge Maple trees.  All the houses were as big as mansions.  They walked along lost in thought, daydreaming of the many long lazy days left in their summer vacation.  Elise finally broke the silence.     

          

           “You guys want to go to Smoothie King?” she asked.

 

           “Sure,” the girls replied.

 

           Elise knew that Chelsea and Elizabeth loved Smoothie King.  Whenever they were looking for each other, the first place to look was Smoothie King.  They all had their favorites and rarely ordered anything different.  Once they walked in the door and got in the line, they heard a familiar voice.  They turned around and saw one of their friends from school, Karla.

 

           “Hey Karla, are you here by yourself?” Elise asked surprised.

 

           “Sure am,” Karla replied catching a glimpse of the other girls.

 

           “Want to hang with us?” Chelsea suggested.

 

           All the girls got their smoothies and decided to go to the mall for some shopping.  Of course the girls had the mall memorized and headed straight for the entrance that was closest to Hollister, their favorite store.

           Karla’s brown eyes twinkled as she saw the store.  Elise was always pushing her long brown hair away from her green eyes.  Chelsea had her blonde hair cut short around her face to show off her blue eyes.  Elizabeth, who was from Puerto Rico, had black straight hair and a beautiful face.  All the girls were the same age went to the same school. They had a few classes together but always met for lunch to share the latest gossip which was usually about Sara Menhaden.  She so was mean to everyone always talking nasty to them or spreading lies.

           The girls stopped short.  It couldn’t be!  What was Sara doing at the mall?  A perfectly good day ruined!

           “Oh it’s you little bits.  I hope I’m not ruining your posse.  Who would want to do that to you guys anyway?”  Sara looked at them sarcastically.

           “Oh stop Sara!  Your only making a fool of yourself not us; so shoo fly don’t bother me,” Elise replied meanly.

           “Why are you so mean all the time?”  Chelsea asked Sara.  “You know what they say; you catch more flies with honey!”

           Sara just didn’t have time for this and stomped away.

           With Sara out of the picture, they could enjoy and casual stroll through Hollister checking out the new clothes.  Chelsea saw a white camisole she just had to have.  It fit her perfect and after buying it, asked to wear it out of the store.

           Marble Slab was next on their list of places they had to visit.  After they all agreed on chocolate ice cream in a cone, they headed home. As they were walking Chelsea was laughing so hard that she didn’t notice the ice cream stain on her new white shirt.

           The girls all went home.  Chelsea met her mom in the kitchen when she walked in.  Her mom liked her new shirt and asked what the big brown spot was.  Chelsea gasped as she looked down.  Her new shirt ruined!  Frantic she rushed upstairs to change.

           “Mom, its chocolate ice cream!” she whined.  “How do I get it out?”

           Her mom chuckled, “Maybe you wish you had paid attention when I tried to teach you to do laundry.”

           “Mom, it’s not funny!  This is brand new.  What do I do?”

           “Give it here honey, I’ll show you”

           Chelsea and her mom went to the laundry room.  Her mom reached for the stain remover and showed the bottle to Chelsea.  Slowly she squeezed a small amount onto the stain and rubbed it in then threw the shirt into the washer.

           “That’s all?”  Chelsea asked unbelievingly.

           “That’s all,” her mother replied.

           Later that evening Chelsea, Elise, Karla and Elizabeth were IMing each other.  Chelsea told them about the stain and how she is going to really learn how to do her laundry.  The girls all thought that was a great idea...they would be going to college in a few years and would have to do it then!

CHELSEA’S PROBLEM SOLVED

Kendall F.