We had different places we'd go, kind of an informal rotation. The mall, Denny's, different kids' houses, the local pizza place. The basement from That 70s Show was pretty authentic in my experience, one kid who had a rec room where parents didn't bother you was a solid place to hang out. We would also have some outdoors places too.

We'd get kicked out of one place and move to another. The kid with the rec room's parents would say it was time for dinner so we'd have to go. So we'd wander down the street to the park. The sun goes down there so we'd have to leave before the cops chased us off. If we had money we'd go to a movie or go get food. Or somebody else would volunteer their house. When it got late enough we'd start walking everybody home, lingering in driveways and sidewalks chatting until parents or neighbors came out or somebody else's curfew got close. My parents would start flashing the porch light on and off if we loitering too long in front of my house.

When we were old enough to drive more avenues opened up, and we would also spend more time at school, clubs and projects. I spent a lot of time in the Performing Arts building because I was a drama geek. The teacher stayed in her office unless we were doing serious rehearsals, and we often broke into groups and messed around. Yearbook too, that classroom stayed open late. There were always kids from yearbook and the newspaper in and out. Some kids coming in to work, some waiting for the kids working, and some just killing time.

The places we hung out also had to do with if the staff was dating one of the group, or in the group, or someone had a crush on them. My friend had a crush on a guy from another school who worked at his family's restaurant. We ate there a ton for two months until he broke her heart. Then, of course, we could never eat there again. I saw a bunch of movies when my other friend's boyfriend worked at a theater. That one was cool because he got us free popcorn.