T R U T H is overrated, January 21 [open]

[Nicholai Dusan]

Being at the mall alone was a degrading experience. The chatter of girls on their cell phones, chattering away like disgruntled chipmunks about the latest gossip, the racious laughter of small groups of boys and girls who were simply dying to date one another, and the general materialism and artificial nature of it all set him off.

There wasn't much he could do about being there, though. His father had insisted on bringing him here to meet his friends. The alibi normally worked, despite the fact that Nic wasn't known for being the more social one of the family. He had friends, and a few very close ones, but he certainly wasn't known for going to malls to hang out with them.

Regardless, the parent was following him, probably realizing that his son hadn't been completely honest. He stood a few inches taller than Nicholai, but looked rather similar to the boy. A bit more aged, but it was clear where the boy had inherited most of his looks from, regardless of what he might say.

"So, where are your friends?" the man asked, eyebrow arching. It was a clear shot at his son's dishonesty, and he glowered in response.

"Chantico Mall is a large place, father. It sometimes takes a while to find others if you don't have a meeting place," he said icily, thoroughly disgruntled about the fact that his trip to the beach had been thwarted.

His senior was quick to retort, his voice lilted with a pleasant accent, "Funny. Most people would make it a point to know where their peers were, so that the meeting could actually happen."

"Teenagers, Father. We're teenagers. Meetings aren't as formal as you'd like to think."

With that said, his father smiled, content about the fact that he had won, and would be taking his son home soon. The young man kept a sharp eye out, however, for any familiar face.

[Amanda Baranuchi]

The mall. One word pretty much sums it up…Hell. Between the pimpled preteens and the crowded hallways, it’s amazing Amanda didn’t just leave. She would have, but she came for cleaning supplies. Of course she could have gone to a regular store, but she for some reason she wanted to check the mall, since it had been awhile.

She must have went insane for a second because now all she wanted to do was run the people over with a hummer, though that would be a tad too much. She looked at the different stores, each one looking similar to the one beside it. Almost like no matter how far you walked, you still were in the same god damn place.

She sighed, this was a waste of time, but since she didn’t feel like going home yet, she decided to brace herself and wander deeper into the hell hole. She suddenly stopped when a teeny bopper girl stepped in front of her.

“Like, um, excuse me…you’re kind of in my way. Oh, can you like tell me where I can find like the restroom?” She asked, not even bothering to look up from the text she seemed so enthused in. Amanda just let out a small growl, “Get away from me.” She said, her voice hard and deep.

The girl looked at her and walked away. She was about to turn around when she saw someone that looked like…no…Nick. She figured he’d rather be at the beach, then she saw an older man by him, one that looked so closely related and she guessed what was happening.

She walked over, just entering from the side of him. She draped an arm around his shoulders and stared at him. “Nice to find you…here…” She said, looking at his dad. “Who is this?” She asked, “I’m Amanda, Nick’s friend.” She said, extending her other hand for him to shake. Unfortunately, with her arm draped around Nick she literally had to go across him to shake hands, talk about disrupting one’s personal space.

[Nicholai Dusan]

Nic was stunned by his luck, but smiled at Amanda, taking the situation in stride quickly. "Hey, Amanda. I thought I was never going to find you!"

His father stared at the girl suspiciously, but accepted her hand without much thought. "Ian Dusan," he said, his grip firm. "Pleasure to meet you... Amanda. I'm Nic's father."

Nicholai himself frowned at the set-up. He was trapped on all sides by the two, and he felt the slightest bit claustrophobic. His father seemed content, though, and he supposed he had enough of a wrong idea about his relationship with Amanda.

Damian let go of her hand, and pulled a pair of car keys from his green, canvas jacket. It was funny; the man had a good sense of style, despite his age. That, or he was borrowing clothes from his other son.

"See you soon, Nicholai," he said with a smile, sufficiently convinced that his son was going to be spending a day at the mall. He stepped away, rubbing his rough chin as he walked. His son stared after him with distaste, and turned to Amanda. "Thanks," he muttered, taking a few steps in the opposite direction.

"My parents are onto me, I think. Or he just wanted to make sure that I was going to the mall, and had no reason to be suspicious. Either way. Thanks for saving me- what brings you here, though?"

[Amanda Baranuchi]

Amanda smiled, a little surprised but she smiled, "Uh, ya, it was really, uh, hard to find you in such a large, uh, place." She managed to stammer out, looking at Nick's dad and smiling.

"Nice to meet you too, I can see where Nick gets all his handsome qualities." She said, looking at Nick and hitting his cheek. "Such a dashing man." She joked, looking back at his father.

She smiled as his dad took his cars keys out and smiled, "I'll have him back in one peice, don't worry." She said smiling and turned to Nick when his dad left.

"So, you got trapped did you? Did your parents finally catch on to your oh-so-mastered plan?" She asked, nudging him, "Oh, and you're welcome. You looked like you were drowning for a second so I figured I'd come save you." She joked.

"Oh, I, um, need cleaning supplies..." She said, scratching her head, "The devil possessed me and took me here, evil fucker he is." She joked, smiling at him.

[Nicholai Dusan]

"Oh, shush," he sighed irritably, rolling his eyes at the girl. "Though, if it makes you feel better to know, they almost did. I was about to run to the bushes to change, and Dad popped out offering me a ride. He's not stupid; just strict. Of course, I'm starting to have my doubts about your intelligence. Cleaning supplies, at a mall?" he said, ending with an obvious tease.

He was pretty confident that there was a drug store somewhere near the base of the mall. The great thing about Chantico was that they had almost everything imaginable, if one was to look hard enough.

"What do you have to clean, anyways, though?" he asked, disregarding his previous statement. He ignored the path to the most effective store, deciding to wander, instead. After all, one redeeming quality of the complexes was their ability to constantly change, and provide hours of dull entertainment.

His father was probably waiting outside the mall, looking for any sign of the boy to leave. There wasn't much place to hide, when the only path to a destination of interest (oh, say, the beach!) was through the front. Every other path would lead him through miles of suburbs. Not exactly worth it, for the beach.

[Amanda Baranuchi]

Amanda smiled, "Well, it was all..." she racked her brain trying to think of someone to blame it on, coming up with nothing she just kind of looked at Nick, "I was possessed and they brought me here...to hell. I lost sanity for a moment and came here because I thought it would be fun. I got lost. Take your pick at which excuse you want to believe." She said, sticking her tongue out at him.

"I see why parents and crap hate the mall, this place is horrible. Sure, nice stores, but I'm starting to think that teenagers work for the devil. I mean look at them all, one wrong word and they'd attack and possible kill you. Then you'd go to hell..." She smiled at him, "Oh, look, here we are." she joked.

Amanda looked at Nick, her eyes literally smiling as he asked whatshe was cleaning," she cocked one eyebrow and looked at him, "I need cleaning supplies to clean my super secret hideout. You know, get the batcave or fortress of solitude or whatever up to code." She joked, laughing. "No, not to code, but I need to be able to see what color the floor actually is." She remarked, smiling at Nick.