Brittany saw Daria and Jennifer come out and bounced over
to them. “You got something?” she asked.
“Yes,” Jennifer answered.
Daria took out a book.
“Sarum,” Brittany read with a twirl of one of her
pigtails.
“It sounds quite interesting,” Daria replied with a hint
of nervousness.
“Maybe when you’re finished you can tell me about it,”
Brittany suggested.
“Sure.”
Quinn and the others finished their snacks. “Let’s go,”
she said.
“Sure,” Xavier said.
“But where?” Sam asked.
Quinn took out the map she had grabbed earlier. “Let’s
see. There are several department stores.”
“But we can’t look in all of them,” Xavier complained.
“Of course not!” Quinn said.
“So, which ones?” Sam asked.
Quinn looked at the map closer. “This one,” she said
pointing at the closest.
“Sure,” Jessie said.
Jennifer looked at Daria and Brittany as they walked next
to each other. She could that Daria was blushing occasionally. Brittany was
sure to notice. ‘Let’s see what happens.’
They soon got to the food court.
“So, what should we get?” Brittany asked. “I’m not sure.”
“Maybe some chips,” Jennifer suggested.
“Pizza?” Daria asked.
“If it’s cheeseless,” Brittany said.
“That will be fine,” Daria said.
“Cool,” Brittany said.
Quinn and the others emerged from the department store.
“Not sure why you bought those clothes,” Xander said.
Quinn shrugged. “What can I say. I saw what I liked,” she
said with a giggle.
Xander sighed. “Where are we going now?”
“The food court,” Quinn answered.
“Sure,” Xander said.
They soon arrived at the food court. “Let’s see…” Quinn
began as she looked around. She saw a salad bar. “Over there.”
“There’s a Pizza store,” Xander pointed out.
“You can get one,” Quinn said. “I’ll get a salad.”
“Sure,” Xander said.
“I’ll get a salad too,” Sam said.
“We’ll get a Pizza,” Jamie said, looking at Josie.
“Yes,” Josie responded.
“Cool.”
However, as they stood in line, Quinn found that some of
the others ahead of them looked rather familiar. ‘That girl with short auburn
hair, next to the one with the blonde pigtails…’ She stepped closer. “Daria?”
“Quinn?”
“You knew this would happen?” Quinn asked.
“It doesn’t surprise me,” Daria responded.
Quinn sighed. “Now what?”
“I have no problem with you skipping school,” Daria
stated.
“Really?” Quinn asked.
“As long as you don’t do it too often!” Daria said. “You
know that I have my work cut out for me.”
“So, do I, Daria,” Quinn said.
“Huh?” Brittany asked.
“You don’t need to know,” Quinn answered.
Brittany turned to Jen.
“It’s up to them to say,” Jen said.
“Right,” Brittany said.
“Some time, Brittany, not here,” Daria said quietly.
“OK,” Brittany said.
Quinn noticed her sister blushing as she talked to
Brittany. ‘Oh, Daria,’ she thought as she realised she would be giving her
sister some advice in that area. ‘But not right now,’ she added to herself.
“You want to join us for lunch?” Brittany asked Quinn
after a few moments.
“Sure,” Quinn decided.
“Are you sure?” Josie asked.
Quinn nodded.
As they had lunch, Quinn wasn’t the only one who noticed
Daria’s blushes. Sam did too. So she decided that she wasn’t just going to
encourage Xander and Quinn. But Daria and Brittany as well.
“So, what are you doing now?” Quinn asked.
“I’m going to find out what a Doo Dad is,” Brittany said,
looking at her coupon.
“I’m not sure what those are,” Quinn responded after a
look at the coupon. “Probably just some kind of collectible that otherwise just
takes up space.”
“I agree,” Daria said.
“Are we going there first?” Brittany asked.
“Of course. We already went to the bookstore,” Daria
answered.
“Sure,” Brittany responded.
Daria, Jen and Brittany soon found the Doo Dad shop. “A
lot of cute things?” Brittany asked.
“Yes,” Daria said with a sigh. “You can get some if you
want.”
“Maybe,” Brittany said as she twirled a pigtail. “They do
look cute.”
“There is that,” Daria said.
“So, what now?” Sam asked as they left the food court
some time after Daria and the others.
“We’ll do more shopping,” Quinn answered.
“Of course,” Xander said.
Brittany chose three Doo Dads. One for her, one for
Daria, and one for Jen. She wasn’t sure that Daria would appreciate hers, but
she did try.
Daria had to admit, the Doo Dad Brittany got her was
cute. ‘Much like Brittany herself.’ That thought brought Daria to a stop. ‘Why
did I think that?’
“Something wrong?” Jen asked.
“Nothing,” Daria said, although she was sure she was
blushing. “Let’s keep going.”
“Sure.”
“I think all this might be getting to her,” Brittany
said.
“Yes, the Mega Mall is overwhelming,” Jen sad.
Daria nodded. “Another thing against Mrs. Bennet,” she
said.
“Huh?” Brittany asked.
“Along with the Market Research thing,” Daria said.
“That’s right. So, you think she should have considered
that some of her students don’t like crowds to the point that they trigger
anxiety?” Brittany asked.
Daria nodded again, considering that Brittany was smarter
than she expected.
Brittany smiled brighter.
