Hey guys! Just thought I would upload again. =) I'm having too much fun writing this to keep it to myself. =) Hope you enjoy. As a random side note... no. I have no idea why Diana is singing the song she is. It was kind of in my head when I wrote it, so... that is the only true explanation I can give you. lol Anyhow... I hope you enjoy it. =)

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Artemis had never been one to fret over what he was going to wear, but that particular morning, he was unsure what he was actually supposed to be wearing. He had never been to the mall before in his life, and he didn't know what to expect once he got there. All he knew was that it was a place typical teenagers went, and it was that that freaked him out the most. He eventually decided on a pair of dark wash jeans and a dark blue polo shirt. From there, Artemis quickly combed through his hair and slipped on his favorite loafers. After snatching a white jacket to layer over his shirt, the Irish teenager made his way downstairs to where he hoped someone would be willing to give him some sort of directions to the mall.

He certainly felt ridiculous in his outfit, but he figured it would do him best to blend in while he was there. Normal teenagers were something Artemis was not particularly fond of, and he always told himself he would never become one himself, yet here he was attempting to blend in with their society. He rolled his eyes at the thought. Artemis Fowl was not normal by any means.

He found his parents sitting by the fireplace in the living area, each sitting comfortably in a chair reading their own novels of choice. Artemis noticed how gently his parents held hands and he almost felt like he was intruding on their private time. His father glanced up at him and smiled.

"Well good afternoon son," he greeted. "What do you need?"

"I would like directions to the mall," Artemis requested. "I am meeting a friend there, and I am not exactly sure how to get to my destination."

Artemis Senior and Angeline exchanged glances, both a bit mystified as to the friend their son could be meeting at the mall of all places. "Well, son.... Once you get out of the subdivision, you'll take a left onto Miller Road. You're going to follow that all the way passed the highway and almost to Linden Road. It will be a huge beige building on your right," his father answered.

Artemis nodded before adding, "Thank you. I shall return in a few hours. Have a good day." He pushed some of his hair out of his face before making his way outside to the garage. Within in moments, he found himself on his way to the mall. Admittedly he was completely unsure about how this day was going to play out, what he was to expect once he got there. Artemis had never been to a mall before, and he was honestly a bit nervous about going there practically alone.

The boy dodged through traffic and he arrived to at the Genesee Valley Mall only a few minutes later. His eyes automatically began scanning the building for the store he was supposed to meet Diana at. When he didn't spot it right away, he assumed it was on the other side of the building he couldn't see. Sure enough upon driving around to the back, Artemis' suspicions were confirmed. The big, blue letters of Sears were emblemized across the top of the building, so he found a nearby parking spot for the car. After parking, he stepped out of the vehicle and made his way towards the door.

Upon getting closer, he noticed a brown haired girl standing just inside the glass doors. He presumed this was Diana, but he was unsure until he got a tad closer. She was looking at her feet, mouth moving as if she was talking to herself. Artemis opened the door, stepping inside the air conditioned building, seemingly unnoticed for a few moments.

"...in these promises broken, deep below... each word gets lost in the echo. So one last lie I can see through, this time I finally let you go..."

Artemis smirked. The girl was in fact Diana, and she was singing some song quietly to herself. She had had headphones in her ears and her eyes closed, making it only appear like she had been talking to herself. Artemis decided he should probably interrupt her before he started to look like a creep. The boy cleared his throat, startling the girl immediately.

"Oh, hi Artemis," she greeted nervously, in an 'I really hope you didn't hear that' kind of tone. She removed her headphones, stowing them in her pocket with her iPod. "Did you have any trouble finding the place?"

Artemis shrugged. "Not really. The hardest part was figuring out where this store was, and even that wasn't too challenging."

Diana smiled. "Well, this is the quieter part of the mall, not to mention the safer side as well. Less robbery, theft, and so on over here. Figured it would be safer for you to park your fancy car over here as opposed to say... the J.C. Penney's side of the parking lot."

Artemis chuckled lightly. "Well good thinking on your part I suppose. Now... shall we proceed?"

"Oh of course!" Diana answered, opening the next glass door before continuing into the store. Artemis followed behind her for a moment before finally walking side by side with her.

"So... err... what kind of store is this?" he asked, a bit miffed as to why there was an entire section of power tools and lawn mowers surrounding him.

"Well, Sears sells a little bit of everything. Power tools, lawn equipment, clothing, furniture," Diana explained. "Most of the larger stores in the mall carry a wide variety of items. They figure that way they can attract more people with different interests to the same place."

Artemis nodded. "Oh but of course. Anything to draw in profits."

"Yea, pretty much," Diana answered as they reached the huge hallway connecting Sears to the rest of the mall.

Artemis took the momentary silence to get a good look at his surroundings. Huge throngs of teenagers swarmed the hallway, almost all of them with someone else, and carrying huge bags of who only knew what. Artemis was sure that most of the teens in Flint didn't have that much money, yet all of them had more bags than he knew what to do with. Part of him was wondering how they were able to afford all of the brand name clothing they were wearing but before he got too far into his own thought, another voice broke his concentration.

"I'm sure that the mall isn't really your thing," Diana interrupted his thoughts. "Would you rather be at the bookstore? It's better than here, that's for sure."

"The bookstore sounds lovely, actually," Artemis admitted, trying his hardest to keep up with the brunette girl. She was walking faster than most people he had ever met in his life, and he was honestly on the verge of sweating from his efforts to keep her pace. "I presume it's more... orderly than the rest of the mall?"

Diana nodded, slowing her walking pace just a bit to let Artemis catch up. "Most definitely. It's actually quiet enough to think in there. Only time I've seen it otherwise was the midnight releases of Harry Potter books; I'm sure you can imagine the chaos that ensued those nights."

Artemis smirked at the thought. Admittedly, he was glad that she brought up the bookstore. It was bound to make a far more valuable and worthwhile time than walking aimlessly through the mall and its intriguing occupants. He and Diana walked only for a few more minutes before they reached another door. Diana led him outside once again, where the weather had begun to change. It was supposed to rain later on that day; Artemis could only hope it held off until he made it back home.

As they approached the green and white building of Barnes and Noble's he heard Diana sigh angrily. "Of course you're at work you daft monster," she grumbled almost incoherently.

Naturally that piqued Artemis' interest. Who could have possibly ticked her off to the extent of referring to them as simply a 'monster?' He was curious to know as to who his newfound friend was talking about. "Who's at work, Diana?" he asked nonchalantly.

Diana sighed again. "Oh... just my boyfriend Brent. He works at the restaurant right there." She gestured at the building in the middle of the parking lot.

Boyfriend? For some reason Artemis felt himself tense up at the mention of the word. He felt his heart rate increase slightly as he asked the next question as he held open the door of the bookstore for Diana. "I'm taking it the two of you are not on exactly good terms judging by the fact you called him a daft monster?"

He followed her inside the building, almost immediately finding a table in the café. Artemis took a seat across from her, peering at her over steepled fingers. Diana took a deep breath before she answered Artemis' question. "Admittedly, Artemis, we're not. We haven't been in a long time now. We have this really... tense and stressful relationship. I honestly haven't spoken to him in a few days now. I'll get a text in the mid-afternoon saying he's awake and then after that I'll be lucky if I get another text. The end is near, that much I know."

Artemis frowned slightly. He was certainly not a relationship expert since he never truly had one, but even he knew that the lack of communication in Diana's relationship was worrying. "Have you tried talking to him about it?" he inquired.

"There's no talking to him about anything," Diana replied. "He blows everything out of proportion. It's why I don't say when I'm mad or upset anymore. Why bother, you know?"

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Pardon me if my next question comes off as rude, since I don't really know you or your situation all that well. But have you thought about perhaps leaving him?"

"You're fine, really. I value your opinion. And I thought about it... but I do care about him," Diana sighed again, resting her head on her hands. "We've been together for two years now, Artemis. It's not like I could just be like 'hey, this has been fun, but you're a jerk now,' and walk away like nothing happened."

"Touché," Artemis muttered, finding himself growing all the more annoyed with this Brent character. He didn't understand how you could be in a relationship with someone and treat them like absolute crap. Artemis knew he had treated some people bad in his lifetime, but he had never plain ignored someone, especially someone he cared about. "Unfortunately there's not much you can do about it for now. It's going to be a waiting game. Hopefully he changes his behavior before it causes a meltdown." For some reason Artemis found himself hoping that wouldn't be the case. He shook the feeling almost immediately.

"Somehow I see a meltdown in the future," Diana answered him quietly. "It's just going to be a matter of who breaks it off first. I can't keep it up, Arty."

Normally Artemis would've blown a gasket over someone calling him Arty, but for some reason he didn't seem to mind that much when Diana did. An unusual knot formed in his stomach upon hearing it, something he hadn't anticipated, nor explain. "Well... for your sake I sincerely hope you can be the one to end it first, if that's what the case may be," he eventually answered.

"Thanks Artemis," Diana smiled slightly. "You're the best. Unbiased advice was definitely what I needed. My friends aren't really good at that, considering the fact that they all either love him or hate him."

"Anything for a friend," Artemis said back, though now he was scaring himself. He had just referred to her as a friend. Was that right? Was Diana his friend now?

"Would you like something to drink? Tea, coffee, water?" Diana asked, as she stood, stretching briefly.

"Tea, Earl Grey if they have it," Artemis answered her. "If not, I'll be quite alright."

Diana smirked. "I know they have it. It's my absolute favorite." And that was when Artemis knew that he could deny it no longer: Diana was in fact his friend.