Brittany - Cafe of Contention - Part 3

 

Brittany thought about what DeMartino said as they moved on. That Ms. Li was lining her own pockets wasn’t surprising. But why were his funds meagre?

 

 

Brittany, Daria, Andrea and Donna were far from the only students doing fundraising for the Coffee House. They saw another group of students in the distance as they left DeMartino’s neighborhood.

 

“Is that Quinn and her friends?” Andrea asked.

 

“Probably,” Daria answered.

 

“Then we could go a different way?” Donna asked.

 

“We could,” Brittany said.

 

“Let’s do so,” Daria said.

 

“Certainly,” Andrea said.

 

“We can take up De Martino’s offer and find Mr. O’Neill,” Daria suggested.

 

“But do we know where he lives?” Andrea asked.

 

“Yes,” Donna answered.

 

 

They headed in that direction.

 

“Good afternoon,” O’Neill said. “I suppose you’re here for the Coffee House fundraising?”

 

“Yes,” Brittany answered.

 

“Excellent.”

 

“We’re selling holiday wrapping paper and chocolates,” Donna said.

 

“How wonderful!” O’Neill said. “But of course, I knew that.”

 

“Are you interested in buying something?” Brittany asked.

 

“Of course!” O’Neill said.

 

“Great!” Brittany responded.

 

“I’ll have some of the wrapping paper,” O’Neill decided.

 

“Sure!” Brittany said.

 

“How much?” O’Neill said.

 

“I’m sure you know,” Daria said.

 

“Um…”

 

“You forgot?”

 

“Um…” The teacher dissembled.

 

“You did, didn’t you?”

 

“Yes. But I have a lot to do.”

 

 

Daria wasn’t sure what to make of that interaction. But then she had figured that there were things wrong with O’Neill from her first Language Arts class in Lawndale.

 

“Something on your mind?” Andrea asked.

 

“Oh, just wondering what might be up with O’Neill,” Daria answered.

 

“All of us do from time to time,” Donna added.

 

Daria nodded.

 

 

Most of the afternoon went by without further incident.

 

 

“How did it go?” Quinn asked when they arrived back at the Morgendorffers.

 

“Better than I expected,” Daria answered.

 

“That’s great!” Quinn said.

 

“Except that we ran into Mr. O’Neill,” Donna said.

 

“What happened there?”

 

“Mr. O’Neill forgot how much the wrapping papers were,” Brittany answered.

 

“Oh,” Quinn said.

 

“That might mean something,” Daria said.

 

“That he’s forgetful?” Quinn asked.

 

“Yes” Daria answered. “But could be something deeper.”

 

“We also ran into DeMartino,” Donna added.

 

“How did he react?” Quinn asked.

 

“How do you think he reacted?” Daria asked.

 

“In his usual way, ranting about students being more into things other than their classes?” Quinn asked rhetorically.

 

Daria nodded.

 

“But otherwise, it was a good afternoon,” Brittany said.

 

“That’s good,” Quinn said.

 

“And we achieved something,” Donna added with a smile.

 

“I didn’t think Daria would make friends here,” Quinn said.

 

“I was patient and she was willing to take a chance,” Brittany responded.

 

 

They went up to Daria’s room.

 

“This is cool,” Andrea said.

 

“The previous owners had a psychotic aunt up here,” Daria explained.

 

“That explains it,” Brittany said.

 

“I didn’t want a normal room after I saw how this was,” Daria added.

 

“It does look unique,” Donna said. “It suits you.”

 

“Thanks,” Daria said.

 

“It does look cool, now that I think about it,” Brittany said.

 

Daria smirked.

 

“But how do you think we’ll use the coffee house?” Andrea asked.

 

“I’m not sure,” Daria answered.

 

“A hangout spot?” Brittany asked.

 

“Obviously,” Donna said.

 

“With you three, I would,” Daria said. “I might share some of my writing.”

 

“Cool!” Donna and Brittany said.