Caught Shoplifting at Macy's

[grr123]

Age: 18

State: California

Amount Stolen: $155 pair of jeans.

My first offense

A group of 3 of my friends decided to shoplift at a local macy's. One of my friend decides to shoplift $375 worth of clothing, another comes out with $195, and myself $155. The 4th friend has already a misdemeanor under his belt so hes staying away from trouble. We meet up and begin to exit together and LP's rush out and grab us and take us to the room where we get our pictures taken, paperwork, etc. The cops came soon after, they read the report and also cited us for petty theft. They told us we were lucky for not being charged burglary(which i am glad of). The 4th friend is still charged a civil demand notice from macy's for acting as an accessory but isn't cited by the police. He already had a misdemeanor on his record for petty theft and they also said he was lucky he wasn't going to jail. Thats basically the story. My questions are:

Is there anyway to clear the misdemeanor by taking any classes?

If it was possible to clear the misdeameanor would i have to fight my case and hire an attorney?

Would community service be an option for me instead of paying a fine to the superior court?

On job applications, when they ask if i have been convicted for a felony, is it proper to check no considering that it was cited as a misdemeanor?

[grr123]

to add, i was cited with a court date but they told me to only appear in court if the notice from the court does not come in. but i'm pretty sure i'm still going to court right?