"What are you doing?" Ava asks as she makes her way out behind me. "You loved all this stuff."

"I know, but it's more than I should spend." I hold up the beloved Scoop ballet flats and frown.

Ava coughs. "Hello? If you don't treat yourself well, who will?"

I stare again at the pile. Part of me feels guilty, but the other part of me agrees. I do deserve this stuff. I pull my credit card from my Chanel wallet and bang it hard on the counter. Ha! That feels good.

I feel so free spending like this. No one is here to stop me, or question my color choice (green) for that Alice and Olivia dress. I made every decision on my own. I have the power!

The clerk hands me the credit card slip to sign and smiles politely.

My total is $1,584.58.

GULP.

That is a bit more than I thought it would be. When I added the items up in my head it was only around a thousand dollars. I guess I added one or two things, or maybe four, but ... I start to hyperventilate. Larry and Gary keep taking my picture and I'm so annoyed I put my hand up in front of Larry's camera.

"Trust me." Lauren pulls my hand down. "When your mom sees the great loot you got, she's not going to care what it cost. Tell her she can borrow some. Your mom has a good body. She can pull it off."

Lauren's bill is way over two thousand dollars. Ava is next and her bill is equally steep. Neither of them seems worried. Maybe I shouldn't be either. How often do I splurge like this?

"Okay," says Ava, pulling out her keys. "Let's get you back to work."

Outside the store, a crowd has grown. A girl our own age taps Ava on her shoulder. Her friends are standing behind her. They all look nervous. "Hi," the girl says. Her hands are shaking. "You're Ava Hayden, right? And Lauren Cobb and Kaitlin Burke? Could we get your autographs?"

I smile and put my hand out to take her piece of paper. Ava pushes it away. "Can't you see we're busy?" she barks at the girl. "God." Ava looks at me and rolls her eyes. "It's like these people don't appreciate that we have our own lives and we don't want to be bothered every second of the day! Can't we just shop in peace?"

I want to tell Ava that she just spent an hour posing for the paparazzi while she shopped and she didn't consider that an invasion of privacy. "I'll sign it for you," I tell the girl kindly. Her friends file behind her.

"You're such a pushover." Lauren giggles. "We'll meet you at the car." The two of them walk away and I can see them whispering to each other.

"Is she always like that?" one of the girls asks me.