Prologue April 22nd, 1999. Head of scholarship board. To Daria Morgendorffer. Dear Ms. Morgendorffer, we are pleased to announce your acceptance for the following scholarship: English, General. Thank you. We feel your intelligence will be an asset to this school. (Daria is property of MTV. Don't sue me. I'm just borrowing her. I'll give her back. I promise!) Daria, in "Changes, Secrets, and Other Disturbing Parts of Growing Up." Int. LHS, morning. Daria(we only see her back) is walking down the hall to 1st period. Jane is nowhere to be seen. The camera does a slow pan around to the front. We see Daria's face. It looks sad, depressed, and defeated, only this time we actually can notice the expression. She walks into Mr. DeMartino's room. A few minutes later, we see Mr. DeM. come in and take one look at her. He drops his study plans in shock. DeM: DARIA! You look... Daria: Defeated? DeM: The ONLY other time I saw that look was on the LEAder of my millitary party. (beat) Right before a MISILE tore him apart. Tell me, Daria, what's wrong? Daria: Well... okay. My parents forgot my 18th birthday. (beat) This was the tenth time they've forgotten a birthday. The last one was my sixteenth, when they bought me a computer, and then gave it to Quinn for reporting that I was on drugs. I was not on drugs and Quinn admitted to lying. I never got that computer back. DeM: WHAT!!! Ms. Barch heard the whole thing and came in. Barch: Oh, DARIA! You must be devastated! What did your parents say when you reminded them? Daria: I didn't. Mom didn't get home from the office 'til after I went to bed, and each time I tried to talk to Dad he started ranting about millitary school. Quinn spent the evening in the bathroom, in front of the mirror looking for imaginary pimple that I informed her of to keep her out of my face. As far as I know, she's still there. DeM: Daria, *I'VE* got an idea... Int. Daria's room, that evening. Musical montage to "I Will Buy You a New Life," by Everclear. We see the following: -Daria walking into her house, scheming look on her face. -Daria in her room, pulling a duffel bag out from under her bed. -Daria opening her closet and putting all the clothes there in her duffel. -Daria pulling all of her clothes out of her dresser. -Daria emptying her desk and shelves. -Daria and Jane putting stuff in boxes. -Daria and Jane exiting the house. End montage. We see her room. All of her stuff is gone, even the fruniture. Daria and Jane walk over to Jane's, each holding a suitcase. In Daria's spare hand is the new computer Quinn just got to replace Daria's old one. It was a month old, yet hadn't been unwrapped. The two enter Jane's house. Ent. A room in Jane's house (presumably one of her older siblings' rooms). Daria and Jane have been painting the room medium gray. It's dry, and they're putting her fruniture in. When they're done, Daria sits back and reads. When Trent walks by her open door and curiously peeks in, she shrugs. Trent: What are you doing in here? Daria: I moved in. I'm 18, so Jane and I are "roomates" of a kind. Trent: Whoa, cool... Why? Daria: Because this was the tenth birthday mom and dad forgot, and I wasn't about to sit there and watch them be a bunch of ass holes for another school year, so Jane offered to put me up in here. Trent: Cool. So, you're eighteen? Daria: Yeah, why? Trent: Oh, nothing. Trent walks away with a pondering look on his face. Daria lays on her bed and goes to sleep. Int. Daria's old house. Helen, Jake, and Quinn are there, eating. Helen: I wonder where Daria is... Jake: (paying attention for once) I'll go check her room. Helen: Okay. Jake walks upstairs. POV from inside the door as Jake gets a horrified look on his face. Downstairs, we see Helen and Quinn looking calm, then... Jake: (off screen) GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! Helen: Jakey! Int. Daria's room. Jake is curled up in a ball crying. Helen and Quinn run in, freak, and call the police. Int. Jane's room. The phone rings. Jane: Hello? Helen: Jane, oh god, have you seen Daria?! Jane: Of course I have. She's right here. Helen: But all her fruniture.. Let me talk to her. Daria: (Now on phone) Hello. Helen: DARIA! What happened to your fruniture? Daria: All right here. Helen: We called the police! Daria: And let me guess, they smirked and left? Helen: How did you...? Daria: Think REALLY hard, and you may figure it out. Helen: Well, where's Quinn's new laptop. Daria: Think really hard, and you may figure out where and why. Don't bother calling here again. Helen: Huh? What do y- Click. Daria hangs up the phone and smirks. Jane smiles as well. Int. Daria's new room, night. Daria is sitting on the bed, reading. She is wearing plaid boxers and a grey tee-shirt. Her eyes go wide as Trent walks in, but she regains composure quickly. Trent: Hey, Daria. Daria: Um, hi Trent. Trent: You know, this used to be Penny's room. Back when she was into "pretty" things and lace and stuff. The grey would fit her better. Daria: (Looks kinda nervous; maybe Trent doesn't want her to stay in here.) Uh, okay. Trent: The grey works even better for you. Daria: (Relaxes) Thanks. Trent: Well, goodnight. (Leans over and hugs Daria, then leaves.) Daria smiles, puts the book down, lays back, and falls asleep right away. Int. Lane living room, the next afternoon. Daria and Jane walk in and put their school stuff in the hall closet. They walk into the kitchen and see Trent asleep, with his face pressed against the tabletop. Jane smirks. Jane: Watch this, Daria. (Goes and grabs a cup laying next to Trent, fills it with water, grabs a bowl and fills it with warm water, puts Trent's hand in the bowl and moves it by his face, and then pours the contents of the cup into the bowl, by his ear. Trent jolts awake and runs to the bathroom. Jane falls on the floor, giggling. Daria just kinda half-smirks and walks to her room. Int. Daria's new room. Daria is on her bed doing homework. She has reference materials spread out all around her. Several of the books are in foriegn languages, but she is having no trouble reading them and writing down stuff. Trent peeks in, and then walks up. He looks increduously at the book, and picks it up, startling her. Daria: Gah! Oh, Trent, you startled me. Can I have that back? Trent: What is this? Daria: Gunzxahing Do, by Xingh Lauo.* Trent: You can read this? What language is it? Daria: Um, Chinese. It's really not that hard for me to pick up languages. Takes about three weeks, tops. Trent: How many languages do you speak? Daria: About thirty, I think. This boggles Trents mind. He shakes his head, gives her the book, and gets up. Trent: Well, see ya, Daria. Daria: By, Trent. Int. Daria's OLD room. Helen and Jake are pulling the padding off the wall. Quinn is ripping off the carpet in places. The three work on the room in silence. Quinn opens up the closet, peers in, and shuts it quickly. Quinn: Ewww! You should SEE the poetry on the walls in there. If you write peotry on the walls, it should be CUTE poetry, about a guy falling for a girl. A really CUTE guy, with squarish teeth, and a corvet... Helen, meanwhile, has gone to the closet, peered in, and begun to scrape off the poetry. Int. LHS hallway. Daria and Jane walk to class. Daria: I dunno, Jane. I figured I'd MISS them more, is all, but I don't miss them. I actually LIKE independance. Oh, yeah. Um, I'm going to get another job. Jane: Need the cash to start you out? You know, expand your work wardrobe, get some stuff? Daria: Yeah. Why? Jane: Cool. My mom keeps blank checks around and she said that if Trent or I wanted to start out on a job, to fill one out for 5 thousand dollars. Daria: Cool. I'll take one. Jane: I knew you would. The two smirk and go on to class. Int. Daria's onld room. The carpet, walls, and ceiling are neutral colors. There is office fruniture, and it is plain to see that Helen is setting up a home office so she can do all her work here. In the driveway, we see Jake's car leave, and another car pull up. On closer look we see it is Eric. He walks up to the door and knocks. Helen lets him in. Int. Helen's new office. Helen and Eric walk in, and Helen starts to point things out. Helen: And you can see that I have all the equipment from the office, and even some little extras. Eric: (Who has a clip board and is checking things off) Well, I see you've done a FINE job setting up the office. Helen: (Quinn-esque) Thanks! All of the sudden, Eric pins Helen down and begins to kiss her passionetly. Helen doesn't resist, and in fact pushes him onto the floor, ripping his clothes off. A few hours later, Helen and Eric are sitting in the office on the floor, semi-clothed and smiling at each other. Jake comes in the house downstairs, and Helen quickly locks the office. She goes to her desk and pulls out a file. Out of it, she pulls a piece of paper, on whick the word "divorce" can be seen. She checks her appearance in the closet mirror, and then motions Eric inside. He complies, and Helen opens the door and goes downstairs. In the livingroom, Jake has sat down with a martini, and Helen walks in. She makes no small-talk. Helen: I want a divorce. Jake: What! Helen: I want a divorce. I'm just not in love with you anymore. Sign here. Jake does so, and then breaks into tears. Int. Lawndale county courthouse, that same day. Helen and Jake are standing by the bench. Helen, being a prosecutor, knows exactly what to say to win the judge over. Helen produces her daughters' birth certificates. Judge: Well, Helen, you are perfectly capable of caring for Quinn, and Daria of course is 18, so I see no reason not to grant you the house, one car, and custody of Quinn. Visitation is at your and Quinn's will. Jake, since you are unemployed and without a surplus of money, we'll be putting you up in a halfway house. This divorce will be finalized in about three weeks, so until then, Jake can stay in your house. Helen looks stricken. That's what Daria was talking about. She's 18, so she moved out. Int. Morgendorffer living room. Helen is there having a flashback. We see Daria on her 16th birthday. She is sitting in her bedroom in Highland, setting up her computer. She looks almost cheerfull. Quinn walks by and looks jealous. SHE never got a computer for her birthday, even though Helen had promised her one when she brought up her grades. Quinn wanted a computer now. She gets a scheming look on her face and walks downstairs. ("Can't Always Get What You Want" plays: Just that line over and over)She goes into the living room and starts quietly saying something to Helen, and makes smoking motions with her hands. Helen runs upstairs, looking infuriated, and grabs Daria's new laptop. Daria glares at Helen, and the two start shouting. Int. The next day (Still flashback). Quinn is sitting on the couch looking repentant, and Helen is asking her questions. Close up on her mouth as she mouths "smoking?" Quinn shakes her head no. Helen smacks Quinn, who goes to her room and fiddles with the laptop. Helen walks into Daria's room and explains that Quinn lied, and then runs out with the phone ringing before Daria can ask for the laptop back. Int. Morgendorffer living room. Flash back ends, and Helen cries. Another flash back. This one is in Lawndale, around the time Quinn was adamant to be a model. Quinn and Helen are talking, and Helen nods and goes to Daria's room, grabs an unopened box labeled "web page software," and takes it downstairs, giving it to Quinn. Quinn smiles, and takes it upstairs to her room, setting it by "Daria's" laptop. Daria walks in, and starts talking to Helen. Helen looks startled, then turns patheticly and points to Quinns room. Daria looks pissed, and goes upstairs, where Quinn is just hanging up the phone. Quinn looks over and then talks to Daria. Daria shuts the door and punches Quinn several times. Helen runs upstairs, sees this, and then grabs Daria, sending her in the general direction of her room. Int. Morgendorffer living room. Helen now begins to sob uncontrolably. Ext. Dega Street. Daria and Jane are at different stores. Daria has found a store with a "help wanted" sign in front of it. We see through the window that it carries her type of clothing. The boss takes one look at her, shakes her hand, and hands her a name tag, with her name spelled correctly, for once, and a work schedule. We now see Jane at an art store, displaying her skill in judgement to the owner, in order for her to get a job. He shakes her hand and hands HER a name tag and schedule, as well. She goes outside, where Daria is reading over her work schedule. Jane takes out hers, and the two compare. They are exactly alike, having them work a couple hours after school on the weekdays, and about six each day on the weekends. Int. Morgendorffer kitchen. Helen is sitting at the table with Quinn. Helen: Quinn, I found out why Daria went to Jane's to stay. She's... She's 18 now. We forgot about ten of her birthdays. I also found out why Daria took your computer. You took hers back when we were in Highland. Remember, the drug thing. I forgot to make you give it back. Then, the webpage software. It was bought for Daria, but we forgot and gave it to you. Quinn: WHAT! (She faints.) Helen picks up Quinn and takes her to her room. She writes a note about the divorce and sets it on the table next to Quinn. Int. Daria's new room. Daria is asleep. Trent walks in and stares at her for awhile. The screen blurs and we see his point of view. Daria now shows up with a perfectly hot body, and a tag on her wrist that says "Take me. I'm eighteen." Trent smiles, reaches down, and gives her a kiss on the forehead. He leaves. Int. Jane's room, the next day. She and Daria are putting there uniforms on (for work). The two walk downstairs, and out the door. Ext. Dega Street, outside Daria and Jane's work. They walk in, and begin working. Musical montage of Offspring's "Why Don't You Get a Job?" We see misc. shots of Daria and Jane working, as well as a few of Trent walking in to either work place and watching. The last shot is one of Trent going inside a music shop, showing his expertise, and getting a job. Ext. Helen's house, the day the divorce is finalized. Jake walks outside and puts a few boxes in a moving van and gets in his car. Int. Appartment building. Jake walks into an apartment that is furnished with inexpensive type fruniture. He arranges the contents of the boxes. Int. Wedding parlor, the same day. We see Helen and Eric, with a few witnesses we don't know. The two, dressed nicely, walk down the isle. The minister says a few things, and the two leave. Int. Shrechter home (Fromerly Morgendorffer home). We see Helen and Eric redecorating. They hang up new drapes, and put up new pictures. Helen is seated, changing the bills and titles and things from Morgendorffer to Shrechter. Quinn comes downstairs, glares at Eric, and then goes outside. Helen and Eric share worried glances. Helen: Oh my. Eric: Indeed! Int. Lane living room. Daria is sitting there, looking truely depressed. Jane: What's wrong, Daria? Daria: The problem is that I don't know what's going on. I can't seem to get over leaving my family. Why? Jane: Jesus, Daria, they're your family. Of course you're going to miss them. God, you have been feeling sorry for yourself too damn much, lately. Get out and come back when you've grown up. Int. Daria's room, two months later (End of November). Daria is counting her cash, from her jobs, babysitting, allowance, etc. She comes up with five thousand dollars. She goes outside. Int. Lawndale Bank. Daria walks up and deposits her money, then leaves. She walks down the street. We hear "walkin' along" types of music, as seasons fading show the passage of time. (I.E. leaves falling, snow, rain.) Daria grows up during this, and at the end of the time- passage, she looks 19 (she is). Int. Lane home. The now older Daria walks in and hangs up her rain coat. She is followed by an older Jane, an older Trent, and an older Tom. Daria, Jane, and Tom go up to Jane's room. Trent stays downstairs. He sits down on the couch. Trent: (To himself)Why the hell does she have to be so hot? God, she's beautifull. I just wish I could tell her. Oh well. I guess it's my own secret, to resent always. Unless... No. She'd hate me if I did it. Oh, what the hell. I gotta tell her. I'm going insane. Trent walks downstairs into the basement. He takes out his guitar and starts thumping out a fast beat. He adds words. Beautifull girl, she walked outside. God, does she know what she does to me? Beautifull girl, so alive. God, pretty girl, make love to me! She hides the beauty, 'hind a mask. Hides it quick, hides it fast. Doesn't think it's meant to be. Keep hidin' it, let no one see... Hidden beauty, I know it's there. I like the way she holds it. She takes it with her eveywhere. I like the way she molds it... She shapes it to her very will. Shapes it with amazing skill. It grows and changes every day. Different in every way. Satisfied, he lies down and goes to sleep. Upstairs, the group heard the beat, but not the words. They liked it. Int. The Zen. Mystik Spiral is up on stage. They just finished "Icebox Woman." Trent is visibly nervous. He wants to tell her, but doesn't want to lose her. Trent: Hey everyone. I have a song about a girl in this club. It's called "Hidden Beauty." He sings the aforementioned song, and then hops off stage and goes to Daria. Trent: Daria, will you be mine? Daria: (With tears in her eyes.) Yes. Come with me to California. Trent: Alright! The club is hopping with excitement. Trent, Jane, Daria, and Tom walk outside, get into the Tank, and leave. Int. Lawndale International Airport, July 6th, 2000. Daria and Trent are boarding a flight to San Jose Airport, in California. They wave to their friends and go. Trent: Well, what do you think about the last few months? Daria: Well, I learned that changes, secrets, and insecurities are all a part of the big, disturbing thing we call growing up. I guess that I can't avoid them, and shouldn't magnify them. I need to stop hurting people, and think about them instead of myself. It's hard to admit. I'm not as mature as I thought I was. But, I'm growing up, and that's what's important. Trent and Daria sit in their seats, knowing that whatever was ahead, they'd face it together. Sappy The^End.