Even if she had tried to dress as an adult she wouldn't have looked older than sixteen, but she was wearing a blue-
She stood facing the pathway, between a clothing store and a Baja Somethingorother "sports bar" style restaurant, that led into the heart of a shopping mall, but she didn't take the path because she wasn't here to do any shopping. She turned to look one way, then turned to look the other way, and finally turned to face me.
I was sitting on a concrete bench, about ten feet away from her. Our eyes met, so it was too late for me to look away from her and pretend I hadn't been staring. Not without some effort, she managed a smile, and, after one or two seconds' hesitation, she approached me.
She was obviously embarrassed, and, until she spoke, I assumed this was simply
because I had been staring at her. She stood before me, and I remained seated,
looking up at her, and, after another couple of seconds' hesitation,
polka-