Chapter Seven: Plans

"What do you think?" Waluigi asked Daisy as they sat at their spot. Daisy had snuck away from Peach's castle (that's where she'd been staying lately), and she agreed to meet him here so they could talk. The last thing she expect was a proposition to go golfing at Bowser's Badlands course.

"Well, I'm not sure," Daisy said. "When is it again?"

"Two days from now," Waluigi told her.

"I don't know if I can get away," Daisy said honestly. "Peach might keep me in there or the Mario brothers will come over."

"If Mario comes over then Peach should be occupied," Waluigi said.

"And if Luigi comes..." she asked slowly.

"Say you have to go to the bathroom, and then disappear," Waluigi told her. She wasn't so sure about that one. It make create a search for her if Luigi couldn't find her. Instead, she thought of her own plan to get out of the castle.

"Hey Daisy!" Peach called from the first floor the next morning. "Mario's coming over tomorrow. Luigi might come too."

Daisy had just come out of her room on the second floor of the castle and she was greeted by the bright sunlight shining through every window on the first and second floor. She preferred to keep her room dark and wake up gradually. It seemed Peach was already bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

"Great," Daisy replied, yawning. "So, what are you doing today?"

"I'm going to play the greens with Birdo today," she told her. "Yoshi's off somewhere else today and had to cancel. It's too bad. I was hoping to play that little tennis champion later. Did you want to come along?"

"No thanks, you go ahead," Daisy told her. "I'll just do...a few things here and there today. You go ahead."

"Okay, well...see you later!" Peach said as she picked up her golf equipment and went out the door.

Well this is great, Daisy thought to herself as she made her way into the kitchen for breakfast. Mario and maybe Luigi. If he is, then I have to sneak away. If not, then I have nothing to worry about.

She checked the clock and realized Peach must've been up early. It took that girl an hour to get ready and that's if she didn't take a shower in the morning. Otherwise, it was almost two hours. Right now, the clock said it was eight am. Daisy was still in her pajamas for crying out loud!

"Ah, good morning Daisy," Toadsworth greeted as he came into the kitchen.

"Hey Toadsworth," she replied as she pulled some frozen waffles out of the freezer.

"Oh, that looks pretty delicious. Would mind popping me down three of them?" he asked. The castle had more than one toaster for occasions like this and she popped down four for her and three for the old toad.

Toadsworth sat at the table, reading a newspaper. The toads that served Peach weren't at the castle until 9 am, so they were pretty much on their own until then. Toadsworth was the only toad that stayed at the castle itself, and Daisy didn't mind making breakfast for the two of them.

As they ate breakfast, Toadsworth set down the newspaper and asked what was new with Daisy. She didn't say much, except that she'd been doing some writing lately. She didn't dare mention Waluigi, but Toadsworth was wiser than that. He didn't know what was up with Daisy, though he never brought this up directly at the table. He just thought she seemed a little off for the past few days.

"Why didn't you sign up for the tournament last week?" he asked, thinking he could get some clue out of her. "You might have won."

"I don't know, I guess I figured I'd just skip this one. I've been in many of tournaments before. I suppose I just didn't want to," she told him. "Besides, made Yoshi's day didn't it?"

"What did you do instead? I couldn't help but overhear Luigi and Mario talking about you," Toadsworth told her.

"I went to the park and wrote some more," she told him honestly. It just wasn't the whole truth.

"Hmm, alright. I suppose that's a fair reason," he said before taking another few bites of breakfast. "You know, that Luigi...I think he fancies you."

"You think?" she asked, though she didn't sound as if she were too interested to Toadsworth. Either way, he continued.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I think I might know it. I stood up there on that chair all day during that tennis tournament, and on the breaks, I could see Luigi looking around. It was like he was trying to find someone, and Mario was trying to cheer him up it seemed," Toadsworth said. "If he does like you...that way, would you even be interested in him?"

This was a weird set of questions coming from Toadsworth. If Daisy didn't know better, she'd say he were trying to snoop around and see what she'd been up to lately.

"I...I'm not sure," she told him after eating and taking her dishes to the sink. "I mean, he seems like a nice guy, I just don't know him well enough. But people can surprise you." She picked up his dishes and put them in the sink next.

"That's true...so very very true," Toadsworth said as she walked off.

The next day, Waluigi received a text from Daisy about the possibility that Luigi would be at the castle today. She seemed unsure, but she then told him she had her own plan. He trusted her to get away, so he'd already told Boo he'd be coming to the Badlands at about 10 this morning, and he'd have his partner. He told Daisy this information, and she took it all into consideration.

She was up at 7 am to get ready. Apparently Peach was up too. Daisy could hear her from down the hall. She put her normal top and shorts on, but she didn't even bother to do her hair or wear the crown. She put her golf clubs where she could have quick access to them. She was to meet Waluigi at 9:30 in the park, and Daisy always made her deadlines. Always.

Mario came over around 9, but there was no sign of Luigi.

"Where's Luigi?" Daisy asked after Peach greeted Mario at the door.

"He'll be here later," Mario said. "He had a few errands to run. He should be joining us in about an hour."

Perfect, Daisy thought as she went back upstairs. She waited until the two of them went onto the volleyball court. Mario had an entire athletic bag with him today, so apparently they had plans. Well, so did she.

She grabbed her things and was about to head out the door...

"And where are you going?" that familiar voice asked. Toadsworth.

"Out," Daisy answered, and then tried to get out again.

"Ah ah ah!" Toadsworth stopped her again. "Where? It appears you're golfing, but where are you going golfing?"

Daisy didn't answer him.

"Come on," Toadsworth said. "Just tell old Toadsworth where you're off to."

"Only if you promise not to tell Peach, Mario, and Luigi, and you don't ask me anymore questions," Daisy said, turning around. He'd caught her, and she'd never get out if Toadsworth was around and knowing about it.

"Hmm, you drive a hard bargain," the old toad said as he adjusted his glasses, making Daisy wait in suspense. "But alright. I promise not to tell any of them."

"I'm going...I'm going golfing at the Badlands today," Daisy said, and Toadsworth gasped, catching his glasses before they fell off his nose completely. He coughed.

"Daisy, I..." he began, shaking his head.

"YOU PROMISED!" she said, looking at him as if she were warning him to not break this promise.

"...Yes, I suppose I did," he said, putting his head down for a few seconds. She was heading out the door. "But Daisy..." he looked back up at her.

She turned back around, wondering what in world he wanted to say now.

"As much as I want to scold you and make you come back in here immediately, I know I cannot do such a thing to you. You're not my princess to look after, but please...just be careful."

"I will," she said.

"Promise me," he said sternly. He still had to hold his ground with her.

"Okay, I promise you I'll be careful...I'll be home after dinner, maybe," she said, and then she was off to the park to meet Waluigi.