Mega Mall Mega Problems - Part 3

 

Part 3

Ronnie wasn’t that surprised when the teacher called her to her desk. “Yes, Miss Lane?”

 

“Do you know why Sam Griffin isn’t here today?”

 

“No.”

 

“I know you two have become fast friends since you started.”

 

“She didn’t say anything the last time I saw her.” Technically true, but also an omission.

 

“I’ll just mark her as absent then.”

 

 

Xander had quickly gotten bored. Mostly due to the ‘Three Js’ (as most in his grade called them) talking endlessly, but also due to the Interstate being an almost perfect driving surface. They were about halfway when he heard Quinn say something to him. “What was that?” he asked.

 

“I said, what are you going to buy at the Mall of the Millennium?” she asked.

 

“Um, I haven’t really thought about it,” he lied.

 

“Really?” Sam asked.

 

“I haven’t!” he said defensively. He didn’t want her, and Quinn, to know what he was going to buy. ‘I hope there is going to be enough space in the trunk.’

 

 

Xander’s perception of the Interstate’s smoothness was biased by the far superior suspension in his father’s car. Daria’s motion sickness only got worse the further they got from Lawndale. ‘I’ll have to find another way back,’ she decided. Maybe if she found Quinn and her friends, they would take her with them. ‘But there wouldn’t be enough room in the car.’

 

 

Quinn saw the Mall of the Millennium first, as they passed a small hill. It towered over the nearby warehouses, and the suburbia that could be seen in the distance. “There it is!” she said.

 

“It’s bigger than I expected,” Sam said.

 

“At least four times bigger than either of Lawndale’s Malls,” Xander said. “Maybe I can get some things too.”

 

“Of course, you can,” Quinn said.

 

“But first, we need to find a space,” Xander pointed out.

 

Quinn could see that there was a sea of cars in front of the Megamall. ‘Can’t be helped now,’ she thought.

 

 

The sophomore Economics class wasn’t far behind. Daria was still queasy. ‘I can’t be the only one!’ she thought, not for the first time.

 

“There it is!” Brittany cried out. Daria winced; the motion sickness had made her oversensitive to Brittany’s squeak.

 

She looked out at it. It looked like the monstrosity of capitalism it was.

 

 

The bus soon pulled up at the edge of the parking lot, where there was a light rail station. “There aren’t any Bus stops next to the entrances,” Mrs. Bennett said.

 

“I wonder why,” Daria groaned.

 

The ride on the light rail was better than the Bus, that that still wasn’t good. Daria finally threw up as the tram started on its way.

 

“Welcome to the Mall of the Millennium,” Jennifer murmured as she patted Daria’s back.

 

 

Once inside the class quickly became confused. The inside of the complex was, well, complex. Mrs. Bennett was trying to figure out where they were. “We're in area B, section Pink, and we need to get to area C, section Orange. So, if we just bear right at area L, section Blue... oh, wait, sorry. Wrong level.”

 

Jennifer looked around. “It’s very easy to get lost here,” she said to Daria.

 

“That’s true,” Daria responded. She was looking around at the various stores. ‘Books by the Ton must be somewhere else,’ she thought.

 

“Everyone, we'll walk down R Moss, and turn right at Q Canary,” Mrs. Bennett. “Please keep the flow, people, please keep the flow.”

 

“Who would ever guess there'd be so many colors? The person who thought them all up must be a genius,” Brittany said.

 

“Certainly,” Jodie said.

 

“Left at N Cranberry,” Mrs. Bennett said with some confusion. “Or is it Magenta?”

 

Daria looked at the map. “It may be Cranapple, but I’m not sure.”

 

“If we can’t find our way, we’re going to be late to our meeting with the Mall executives!” Mrs. Bennett groused. “I had to work very hard to arrange this. These are very important, very busy...” She was then distracted as she noticed… “The Fuzzy Wuzzy Wee-Bit Shop!” and ran over to the storefront in question and went on about how she and her husband were avid collectors of Fuzzy Wuzzy Wee-Bits.

 

Daria sighed.

 

 

Xander and the others entered the Mega Mall through one of the main entrances. “Where are we going first?” he asked.

 

“I’m not sure,” Quinn said. She spotted an information booth. “Over there,” she said. They found pamphlets with maps of the complex in them, but were soon as confused as the Economics class was.

 

“We have to navigate by ear, I guess,” Quinn said.

 

“Just remember where we were before?” Josie asked.

 

“Yes,” Quinn answered.

 

“How hard could it be?” Xander groused.

 

“Did you have to say that?” Sam asked.

 

“It’ll be fine, don’t worry!” Quinn said. She took a closer look at the map. “There’s a large food court in the centre. We could start there.”

 

“But is there a straight corridor?” Jessie asked.

 

“I think so,” Quinn said as she scrutinised the map.

 

 

“Maybe not,” she admitted a minute later. “We have to go around, or through a department store.”

 

“So, we’re going through there?” Xander asked.

 

Quinn looked to Josie, Jessie and Jamie.

 

Jamie shrugged.

 

“I’m not sure,” Jessie said.

 

“Why not?” Josie asked.

 

“We’ll go through it,” Quinn decided.