S1 Week 19 Bonus Story: Girl's Day

A Trip to the Mall

Welcome to Trainwrecks, a free-to-read fiction serial that follows a group of six Seattle-adjacent friends from the year 2004 to the year 2015. Join Luna Cruz, Sebastian Velasquez, Dimitri and Victoria Hale, Duke Kingston, and Jasmine Nolan as they stumble their way from adolescence to adulthood, falling in love, making mistakes, overcoming their pasts, and staying together through it all.

Friday posts are for paid subscribers. For $5 a month or a discounted rate of $50 a year, readers will get four bonus stories that delve deeper into each individual character’s history or the narrative’s current events. You do not need this content to understand the main story.

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Luna sat cross-legged on a cushioned seat, surrounded by dressing rooms. The mall was slammed with teenagers out of school for the summer. At every store they’d gone to so far, there had been a line to try clothes on, even the plus-sized stores where she usually shopped. Nevertheless, they persisted. Victoria’s love life was at stake.

Jasmine grabbed a sleeveless halter-top with a deep v-line off a nearby rack. “Ugh, this would look so cute on me.”

Luna scraped at her front tooth with her pinkie nail. “Then get it!”

“No… it’s fine. I try not to show cleavage these days.” She put it back, but not before running her fingers down the fabric longingly. “Victoria, you’ve been in there for five years,” she said to the curtain behind which their friend had disappeared.

“I’m almost done! The straps on this garment are so… complicated.”

Luna, a fashion enthusiast, had secured her swimsuit and accessories before the summer even began. She’d lost a bit of weight since she’d cut back on sugar, which had caused her old swimsuit to sag in unfortunate places. Swimming had been one of her favorite activities since she was a kid. The fact that it was too cold to be outdoors most of the year only increased its specialness.

Jasmine plopped down beside her. “You’re awfully quiet. Any boys coming to this party that you’d like to impress?”

Luna wrinkled her nose. “Nah.”

“Any boys at Remington you’d like to impress?”

“I’ve decided I have more important things to think about. With all the homework they give us, who has time for guys?”