Cheap Thrills

Story Submitted by Priscilla:

Back in high school, I was set up on a date with Jason, and we met at a mall. While we walked around, he pulled out his phone a couple of times to send texts, which I thought was pretty rude.

At one point, he was texting and nearly walked right into a little boy, keeping pace next to his father.

"Watch it," the father warned.

"Up yours," Jason muttered. Class.

We walked around a bit more and made it to the highest level of the mall, when Jason went over to a balcony that overlooked a large part of the space. Three floors below, there was a fountain.

Jason reached into his pocket for change and tossed it over the balcony, into the water.

There were little kids playing near it, and I warned Jason to be careful not to hit anyone.

He scanned the area and at once he and I saw the same thing: that same father with the little boy from before. The father was sitting with (who I guessed was) his wife on a bench. They had an occupied stroller with them, while the little boy from before ran up to the fountain and chased some other little kids around it.

Jason chucked a coin down towards the man. I yelled to stop him, but I was too late. The penny missed and hit the floor nearby, and before I could react, Jason threw another coin down.

"Hey!" someone yelled, and the man looked up and saw us. Jason took off for an exit, leaving me behind. I backed away and made for a nearby store, petrified that the man or whoever had yelled would be coming to find me.

No one came looking, and I left the mall, never to see Jason again.