The Adventures of Neil and Todd

Chapter Eight: Mall Madness

Oneshot Series

Disclaimer: I do not own the Dead Poets Society. If I did, would I be writing this? No, I'd be much too busy editing scenes to add in as much N/T as possible.

A/N: College classes start back up on Monday. I had wanted this summer to be used to write as much as possible. Sadly, I think I failed at that so I'm trying to at least do a few new updates before I go back. I'm surprised that this story has 1,050 views, but only 36 reviews. So if you're a lurker, even if you're not a FF member, can you please leave one? Thanks!

Neil had originally thought that this had been an amazing idea. Sure, the boys had to wear their uniforms when they had classes or were informed they had to by faculty members. That left the weekend, Friday afternoon and even some Mondays from holidays that they needed clothing for. That was why the clever idea of going to the shopping mall that was only a few miles away from the school had come to him. He had dragged Todd along so they could both get a few new items and so he wouldn't have to go alone. Neil had even managed to convince Keating to drive them there that weekend since they were allowed off campus. Their teacher, captain, was going to pick them up in just a few hours. That should've been more than enough time to just shop and not get into trouble. The only problem was, Neil had forgotten to calculate in the time it took for him to be himself. A very lost and confused self.

"So where do you want to go first?" Todd asked as they entered the mall for the few small towns that surrounded it. The boys were met with a blast of warm air to keep the shopping conditions comfortable since the fall was turning into a freezing winter.

Neil looked around at all of the brightly lit stores and cheery decorations. There were even some Christmas decorations out. That still seemed a bit early but at least they had it done. "Hm, well, we could check out the bookstore. We could see if there's anything we can use for the meetings," he decided.

Todd nodded his approval and the two were off to the large bookstore on the first level. It didn't take long to get there and they began to browse the poetry section. Todd grabbed a book for himself that caught his eye and Neil grabbed a large book of Walt Whitman's poems for all of the guys to use. As they were leaving to go to the cash register, the magazine rack caught Neil's eye. He stared for a moment before smirking. "Hey! Look at this!"

The poet turned around and his eyes settled on the row of magazines Neil was speaking of. His jaw dropped. "You're worse than Charlie!" he groaned. Somehow his best friend had managed to find the Playboy rack. "Come on, Neil. Let's go!" It wasn't like they were actually old enough to buy one. They'd just get in trouble.

Neil pouted briefly. "Not even a quick glance to brag to Charlie?"

"No, not even to brag to Charlie," Todd muttered and dragged him to the register.

After the two purchased their books they wandered out of the store and headed for a clothing one. It was only one out of a million it seemed since it was a chain store. However, they both tended to get clothes there so it made sense to just pick that one. As they passed the different sections to get to where the boy clothes were, they had to pass the women's. Neil suddenly came to a halt, causing Todd to nearly ram into him since Neil had been hurrying ahead in excitement. "What?" Todd asked in confusion.

A wide grin spread across Neil's face. "Lingerie!" he responded. His voice revealed that it was the most amazing sight in the world.

Todd paused. "Are you sure you aren't Charlie somehow?" Then again, they had been cooped up in a school with nothing but boys. It made sense for him to be this insane over girls and their girly items. Shaking his head in amusement as he started to blush from the sight of all the lace, he grabbed Neil's arm and dragged him off to their rightful section.

The pair wandered into the clothing racks and began to look around. Todd grabbed a couple t-shirts and a sweatshirt, while Neil grabbed about the same amount of things. They took their items to the dressing rooms and tried them on. Neil opened the door to his and stuck his head out. "Todd?" he called.

Moments later, Todd pushed open the door to his room in a brand new t-shirt. "Huh?" he answered.

"Does this make me look fat?" he jokingly asked.

Todd raised an eyebrow. "Nothing could ever make you look fat. You're basically fat free…" he laughed. At the look Neil gave him, he snickered and slunk back into the dressing room to finish with his own clothes. Todd decided to keep the sweatshirt and three of the t-shirts. He exited and waited for Neil, who had decided to keep all of his clothes.

"Ready?"

Neil nodded and they made their way to the register again. After exiting the store he checked his watch to see the time. "I'm getting hungry and it's about noon. Want to get something to eat at the food court?" It was agreed upon and they made their way to the second level.

They split up momentarily before meeting back up at the table they had decided on. Todd had gotten a Coke and a huge slice of pizza. Neil sat down across from him with a Coke as well, but with a huge ice cream sundae. Todd gaped at it. "That's not lunch!"

Neil smirked. "It is now…" he declared before shoveling in a huge spoonful.

About thirty minutes later, the two had finished and were bounding along the mall. Well, more like Todd was walking and Neil was racing around from his sugar high. "Neil, we only have about one hour left. Why don't you go to the last store you wanted and I'll go to mine? We can meet back at the fountain in forty minutes," he suggested.

Neil eagerly agreed and raced off to his last store while Todd easily plodded to his. Todd had no trouble shopping in his store. The only problem was, Neil had effectively gotten lost in the concrete jungle. He didn't panic at first. When the clock ticked closer to two in the afternoon however, he started to. He had circled the whole top floor before going to the bottom level. Why were there so many stores and ways you could go? That wasn't effective at all!

Running out of time, he sheepishly made his way to the security office to announce that no, he wasn't looking for someone. He was the one who was lost. Ignoring the amused look on the mall cop's face, he waited for him to make the announcement. The guy was a mall cop. He didn't have much room to tease.

That was where Neil found himself now, waiting impatiently for Todd to show up to the office. His sugar high was gone and he just wanted to see his friend. When Todd entered the room, he gasped and clung to him tightly. "Never leave me again!" he whined.

Grinning, Todd hugged his friend back. "Neil…this office is right across from that fountain."

Neil tensed and pulled away from him, staring him in the eye. "What?"

Todd nodded. "It's right outside."

The actor blushed and hugged the bags to his chest. "Well we're keeping Keating waiting…we should go."

Todd snorted. "You got lost like a little kid…"

"Todd!" he exclaimed as they walked by the fountain.

"A kid…"

Neil easily shut him up by pushing him into the fountain. He just hadn't counted on Todd bringing him down with him. When they arrived at the car and climbed inside, Keating just stared. "I don't need to know boys," he mumbled as he shook his head and began driving back for the school. What happened at the mall, stays at the mall. All in all, it had just been a bunch of mall madness.