Firemen putting out a fire at theStaten Island Mall.

It was 4:27pm on a chilly Wednesday. Tons of students poured into the mall. The smell of the recently burnt trees, and the faint traces of smoke and ash flew in the door from the Macy’s parking lot. The mall was surprisingly vacant, but that could have been due to the day of the week. The escalator made faint creaking noises, and a mother with a toddler looked worriedly from the moving stairs, then to the elevator.

The air in Hot Topic was cold, courtesy of the air conditioning. Teenagers were milling about, with the occasional adult. A little girl with her mother was looking at hair dye in a clear glass case.

Adriana, the assistant manager, jingled her keys as she walked to open the dressing room door for two Catholic school girls. The one with pink hair started bouncing nervously with her future purchases in hand. Her friend walked around by the dressing room, holding up shirts and CDs for inspection.

Three girls walked past them, laughing loudly. One of their blue zebra backpacks swung back and forth, the keychain hitting the glass of the display that holds body jewelry. They went silent, and slowly backed away from the display.

“We get all kinds of people in here. Mostly girls come in for bows, or other accessories, and tu tus,” said Adriana. “Hot Topic is a pretty popular store among teenagers, and even adults. Because we’re known for our band tees, we get lots of punk kids in here.”

The store scene wasn’t that different from any other day. People were milling about everywhere, listening to the music while they browsed.

Laughter from the girl with the blue zebra backpack rang from the back of the store. To the left, the sound of hangers slid on metal bars, and friends held up shirts for inspection. A group of people walked past the door, their laughter and loud voices ringing in the air.

“Working here is fun. The people that come in are pretty chill, and we don’t have to wear stuffy suits or uniforms. We can wear whatever we want, and we get to have piercings or tattoos shown if we have them,” said Adriana.

Toward the front of the store, the girl with the striped zebra backpack and her two friends were looking at the wall of tutus.

“Oh my god, what is this?! Lady Gaga must’ve left it lying around here!” she yelled.

The fire outside couldn’t stop the search for the story inside.