"Quinn! Hey, Quinn!" The sound of sneaker heels slapping the hallway floor and unattractive panting breaths alerted her to Stacy's arrival, and Quinn rolled her eyes. Stacy had never been one for graceful entrances...or being graceful in general, sadly. Good thing Sandi's at the dentist this afternoon or she'd never let her hear the end of it.
"Hi, Stacy."
"Good, you're still here. I've been waiting to talk to you alone all day." Stacy's hair was coming loose from her pigtails and her face was all red and sweaty. It would have been a disgusting sight on anyone else, but Stacy was smiling too much for Quinn to be grossed out. Okay, she hated to see such a pretty face all gross looking, but...
"Well...here I am! Talk away!"
"Um..." Stacy paused, dug in her purse and pulled out something which she shoved into Quinn's hand. "Here. Do you like it?"
"A present?"
"Yeah, remember how I couldn't come to the meeting on your birthday because I was sick and I didn't have a present for you? Um, well, this isn't as expensive as the thing Sandi got you or as colorful as the thing Tiffany did or as big as what the boys-"
"Stacy." Quinn put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I'm sure it's lovely." It was obviously from Cashman's, and a tiny box had to be something expensive, like a brooch or earrings or a ring. She popped it open, and inside was a little green thing shaped like a plant. "Um...what is it?"
"It's a four-leaf clover! It's just a charm, you can put it on a necklace or a keychain or something...it's not real emeralds, just sparkly green paint on a pewter surface. That's what the lady at the counter said! But they're supposed to be good luck! Like, if you have it you'll pass a test or a cute guy will ask you out or you'll find a cute top on sale..."
She prattled on as Quinn just studied the little thing. The dots didn't even look like real emeralds, the metal obviously wasn't silver. On the plus side it wasn't tin or some other ugly fake metal that would turn her skin green.
Sandi had given her a set of expensive gold jewelry. Tiffany had given her a box of lip gloss. This little plant thingy wasn't as big or probably not as expensive as those things...she wanted to be disappointed, but the longer she looked at it the cuter it seemed. Just looking up at her, all bright and green.
"Quinn? Quinn, you haven't said anything...oh no, you hate it! The saleslady told me it was a great gift, but she wears glasses and her sweater didn't match her earrings, I knew I shouldn't have listened to her! I'm sorry, I'll exchange-"
"Stacy!" Quinn cut her off before she could go into total freakout mode. "I don't hate it. I was just...surprised. Yeah, surprised!"
"I wanted to give you a gold cashmere sweater, but the lady said this was more personal. It'd mean more. And...um, since you're my favorite person in the Fashion Club, I wanted it to mean something." Stacy folded her hands and looked down. "Are you sure it's okay?" Oh, Stacy. Pathetic, sniffly, geeky, nervous little Stacy. She'd probably spent all day looking for the little plant.
She couldn't hate it even if she wanted to. She closed the box and slipped it into her purse, vowing to find a chain for the little plant as soon as she got home.
"It's perfect," she finally said, and gave Stacy a hug. Sweaty, runny makeup and all. "Thank you. I'll never take it off as long as I live." The resulting squeal from Stacy could've broken a window, and Quinn didn't care. She didn't care if Stacy cried all the time, or said stupid things or didn't know how to make a graceful entrance. Her kind, caring nature more than made up for such silly little flaws.