Part 3

Daria had not slept well. Sleeping in a shirt really annoyed her. That thing was contorted all around her and pinched her in inappropriate places.

As she got ready for the day, she packed some fruits to have a backup in case of ‘surprisingly’ bad cafeteria food. Anything else was routine, and she did things on auto pilot, but remembered that there was neither PE nor training that day, so there were more options for undergarments. Her mother left the house as she went down for breakfast, and so she quickly shared the paper with her dad. After finishing off her meal and drinks, she cleaned her place. Her sister came downstairs and did not even bother to sit down as she ate some fruits. Daria considered the upcoming evening.

“Dad, you’re preparing dinner again?”

“Ah, no kiddo. I’ve a tightly packed schedule today. But I was planning to pick up some take-out on the way home. How does Chinese sound?”

«Kiddo my ass.»
“Chinese isn’t bad. If you find a restaurant that does not serve dog as pork and rat as chicken.”

“Ewww, Daria. That’s so gross.”

Jake grinned and shook his head at his older daughter’s humor.
“There’s a restaurant with take-out near the office park. They have a lunch buffet, and I saw several of the people from the park walk over there to have lunch. It can’t be that bad. And they have a cheery name: ‘Good times’. That has such a nice upbeat ring to it.”

“Could be the name of a roadhouse with an inter dimensional portal on the backside that serves you dragon for beef. Real dragon.”

“Haha, very funny, Daria. Maybe they have an opening as dragon slayer you could do as a part time job. Ah, no, I forgot, you can’t. You have to get out of the self-esteem class first.”

“Thank you for reminding me, Quinn.”

“Girls, please. I’ll get Chinese, and I’ll get your usual, unless you want something else.”

Daria and Quinn shook their heads. Daria wondered whether there was a real Texas style BBQ around. A place where you got decent meat, with a sauce that contained the owners pride, sweat and blood, no cutlery but a bib, and paid your meal by the pound. Beside the temperature, that was one of the things Daria was going to miss.

Daria walked the shortcut to school through the park and the residential areas. That should save her some minutes and embarrassing moments with irritated female convertible drivers. But it did not save her from the need for a warmer jacket for the winter.

*****

Charles’ week sucked big time so far. He had arrived early at the school, not to gawk at the girls, as usual, - these three freshman girls that hung around every morning were some real eye candy - but to make sure to steer clear of her. He had had some business at the office after school yesterday and had used the opportunity to ask about the other tall girl that had arrived. After some flirting with the secretary, she had spilled the name, Quinn, and that her sister had transferred in as well.

He hadn’t had all the facts clear at that time, so he did not immediately make the connection. When he did, he didn’t like the outcome. Quinn was her sister. And Quinn was befriending those three cute freshman girls. High school had become a very hostile environment for the Ladies’ man Charles Ruttheimer III.

*****

The carrot-top next to Daria in home room was decidedly early, pale and nervous today. Daria didn’t know of any upcoming tests that early into the year, so this was most likely for a different reason. She shortly contemplated offering him a mechanical valium, but he seemed in no condition to appreciate that joke. Luckily, he calmed down once Mr. DeMartino entered the room. Poor sap, whatever his problem was.

*****

Classes were uneventful. Kevin asked her again to try out for football, and she was not sure whether he was really that stupid or if he was trying to make fun of her. Latter was unlikely, as this would require higher brain functions. At least that Brittany girl was civil and just greeted her, which Daria politely returned.

The black girl, ‘Jodie’ she recalled, approached her between classes.

“Daria, I know you have not completely settled in, but may I interest you in some of our clubs? Beside the sport clubs, there are the usual ones like yearbook and the school paper. We also have a mathletics and debate team, and the drama club does plays. Or maybe you’d rather work in the student council?”

“Look Jodie, you said yourself that I haven’t settled in properly. Beside that I have the honour to take this fine institution’s ‘self-esteem’ class for the next three and a half weeks. Between that, my other activities, and school work I do not see any time to join a club. At least right now.”

“The frea...aeh, self-esteem class? How did you end up there?”

Daria just shrugged.

“You don’t have low self-esteem.”

“Tell that to the school shrink. Gotta get going. See you.”

Watching Daria’s retreating form, Jodie contemplated that information. Daria was different, all right, that was clear to see. She seemed smart, was generally polite but terse, and she mainly kept to herself. Weird kid. Jodie wondered shortly if Daria had any friends at all, but dismissed the thought quickly. Jodie had too many problems of her own to get involved with other peoples’ lives.

*****

After the initial shock, Stacy was rather comfortable around Quinn. She seemed a rather nice person. She didn’t flaunt herself. Well, she did, but not intentionally and not into the other girls’ faces. She was so superior in that department that she did not need to compete. At least at LHS. And Quinn did not scold her if she’d start to ramble, or to talk nonsense, as Sandi always did. She just told her to focus.

Quinn’s fashion sense was superb. Stacy started to understand that once Quinn had told her about the content of her closet. She had to work with very little clothing because getting more was difficult, expensive, and pointless. Quinn did not buy new clothes to accommodate fashion, but her growth. Under those circumstances dressing the way Quinn did was a special feat.

Quinn and Stacy used the time before their class to talk. Without Sandi’s presence, Quinn was able to have a normal conversation with Stacy and learned about the trio’s history. Sandi obviously had had her good sides before, and Quinn contemplated how good Sandi’s good side must have been that Stacy was willing to put up with the abuse from Sandi’s bad side. She came to no conclusion and decided to change the topic.

Getting a description of that ‘Jane Lane’ out of Stacy was not difficult, but it was a little vague. Neither popular nor a jock. A sophomore wearing a red jacket most of the time. But that would likely be good enough to locate her, and then that gal would be given the talk she deserved.

Stacy became suspicious. Why was one of the top tier students interested in a student of the anonymous masses? Did she know something about that Lane girl that nobody else did?

“What’s your concern with her?”

Quinn just shrugged.

“She’s hanging around with my sister and I want to see what she’s like.”

«Daria has already found somebody? That’s news.»
“Hmm. Lanky. Black hair. And I remember her wearing some chunky boots. I think she considers herself an artist.”

“I guess that’s enough to find her.”

“What is it with your sister anyway? I mean, you’re both tall, but besides that...”

«Careful, Quinn. That’s likely going to be all over school in a jiffy.»
“Daria was ill, and that is a long term adverse reaction to the meds she got.”
«If you consider being very small an illness, growth hormones meds, and a permanently screwed up hormone system an adverse reaction. And omit the changes the uranium in Highland’s drinking water caused in both of us.»

Stacy’s mind was immediately busy building worst case scenarios and her eyes welled up. Quinn noticed the onset of sobs - Stacy was quite emotional - and started to comfort her.

“Stacy, calm down. Besides being the way she is, Daria is all healthy. All we can do is deal with it, and we can talk about this topic. Ignoring it would make things worse.”

Quinn looked into Stacy’s eyes to give her the opportunity to look for a lie. There was none, and thus Stacy found no betrayal and calmed down quick enough to enter the classroom on time.

*****

Ms. Barch anticipated her sophomore science class with the other Morgendorffer girl. From the rumors that billowed through the faculty lounge, she was even more impressive than her younger sister. At least on second sight. And Mr. DeMartino attested her ‘deceiving looks’, whatever that meant for that weirdo.

Considering the looks of her sister, seating this girl in the back of the classroom would be very necessary, as all those lechers would be thinking of was how to use her, abuse her, and drop her like hot coals after sweeping her accounts. She used the silence of the empty classroom to review the new seating chart when she noted an unfamiliar male silhouette at the door.

“You!”

“Ms. Barch, I presume?”

Ms. Barch took a closer look and found her suspicion refuted.

“Yes, that’s me. You’re Daria Morgendorffer?”

Ms. Barch barely kept her composure as this Morgendorffer stepped up to her. Besides the glasses, the facial features clearly indicated the relationship between the sisters. Their size was another indicator. However, in terms of figure the girls could hardly be more different. While Quinn was dainty Daria was simply massive. She looked mature enough to be a college freshman. Now Ms. Barch had an idea what Mr. DeMartino meant. He may be male, but he was right on that point.
«Female on all accounts. And what a fine specimen of the supreme gender! I can hardly wait for her to show up in my ‘Take Back the Night’ class.»

“Right.”

Ms Barch continued to hand the textbooks to Daria and showed the girl to her seat. Daria sat down and took a look at the textbooks. They were in a bad condition, well worn from many generations of students.

«I wonder if this biology book is current enough to mention DNA and genetics - or stops at Mendel.»

Daria watched as the students filed into the class and noted that Ms. Barch assigned several to different seats. She had obviously adjusted the seating to accommodate her, but the seating pattern was odd. There was a clear gender-segregation. Male and female students sat in distinct blocks, the male to the front and center, the female in the back and to the sides. Boys and girls never sat in adjacent seats - there was always at least one unoccupied seat between the groups.

«What’s that supposed to mean? We’re not in Talibanistan, or am I supposed to wear a burka?»

Daria noted the dull look on the face of her male classmates entering the class. Odd.

*****

Jane was dead tired. After her conversation with Trent in the evening she had thought what effects her actions would have on Daria. She didn’t like the conclusion she reached. Avoiding Daria was rather selfish. She would have to face the music and apologize. And better fast, since procrastinating wouldn’t do any good.

She had decided to do so after the self-esteem class, that would provide more privacy than any other time throughout the day that she and Daria met. And gave her some additional time to think about what to say. At least, it seemed, her attraction to Daria was declining. Certain facts were slowly arriving at her subconscious. Jane knew that she would not have been able to utter a single word to Daria if she was still crushing on her.

«I can’t remember if I was ever that disturbed before.»

She managed to look Daria in the eyes before science class without mad blushing and other suspicious behavior. That was some real progress.

*****

Walking towards the lunchroom Daria reflected on the progress of the science class. There was no doubt that Ms. Barch had some real gender issues. She had not missed a single opportunity to talk derogatory about everything male - even making some seriously far fetched associations. The boys sat there like statues. No chatter. No notes - taken or passed. No hands risen on questions. Petrified by the Medusa’s gaze. There was no chatter among the girls either, but Dariasaw a note or two being passed about. Ms. Barch would rant at any boy that she asked to answer a question, no matter whether the answer was correct or not. Girls answering the questions were praised - again regardless of the quality of the answer. Wrong answers would, however, be corrected in patience; as long as given by a girl.

Unless Ms. Barch was a rape victim - and she seemed much too aggressive for that - Daria could come up with just a single event that could have turned that woman into a psychopath: bitter divorcee.

«That with many added years of sexual frustration.»

*****

Dawn walked over to the pair of girls at the end of the lunch table. She moved her headphones down to her neck to have a real conversation. The girls looked up from their lunch at her approach and looked at her. Dawn saw recognition in the girls’ eyes, as she shared some classes with them.

“Hi. You’re Daria?”

The big girl nodded.

“I’m Dawn, and I’m the public relations officer of Lawndale High’s ‘Rainbow Society’, that’s the...”

“... local gay and lesbian association, right?”

Dawn was a little put back by the blunt interruption. The petite girl across from Daria seemed to perk up a little, but Daria’s expression was no-nonsense - at best. Dawn nodded.

“Ok then, Dawn, I have something I’d like you to publicly relate to all members of your ‘Rainbow society’. I won’t become a member because I’m not a lesbian. I’m not even bisexual. And I would really appreciate it if your members would take my word for it and save me and them the hassle of making passes at me. Got that?”

Sudden pain shot through Scarlett’s heart. Her well-developed crush turned out to be permanently unavailable. She started to understand why Daria had been so abrasive towards her. A straight girl with her looks would have been hit on by lesbians quite often, and thus have a sophisticated gaydar. Scarlett felt her eyes well up and shot towards the bathroom to save her dignity.

Daria watched her exit with an uneasy feeling.
«Ah, crap, exactly as I thought.»

“Uh, so you like guys.”

“Guys, and only guys. I’m positive on that. And I tell you my life would be easier if I didn’t.”

“You got hit on by a lot of girls?”

That was more a statement than a question. Dawn knew that if Daria was into girls, she would have the free choice among most club members. And that did include the girls that were currently attached. With a strong, taut body and a nice soft face she had a killer appeal. One of the girls had eyed her in the shower after PE and used the word ‘spectacular’ to describe the view.

“Girls who are looking for a girl as well as girls who are looking for a boy. That gets old rather fast until it becomes just annoying.”

“And what is it with your friend?”

“My friend? Ah, her. She ain’t exactly a friend of mine. Likely a potential member for your society that just got some unpleasant facts shoved into her face.”

“Oh.”

“Go recruit her. And do me a favor and spread the word so that this won’t happen again. At least not as often.”

“Ah... ok, I’ll do that. See you.”

“Bye Dawn.”

The conversation had left Daria without any appetite. The way Scarlett had acted proved her suspicion about her motives right. Daria looked at her tray, the tray Scarlett had left, stacked them together and returned both before going into the school yard to get away from everything - at leastfor a while.

*****

Sandi left the toilet stall and headed for the sinks when she saw her. Her jacket was off, hanging over her backpack sitting on the floor while she was cleaning her hands. Her muscles shifted under the thin orange T-shirt she was wearing. Sandi was mesmerized and simply stared.

Daria finished her business and started to pick up her belongings as she saw the girl from the convertible staring at her. She stared back for a moment, but the girl did not react. Daria spoke up.

“Don’t forget to blink. That’s bad for the eyes.”

Her voice brought Sandi back to reality, and she realized that the girl, Daria was her name, Sandi remembered, was already done and had spotted her staring.

“I was just wat... uhm, waiting for you to leave. Like I would stand beside someone like you.”

«Complete nutcase.»
“Funny, the events of yesterday’s morning gave me a different impression.”

That said, Daria left the restroom without looking back.

*****

Jane walked into the class room for the self-esteem class at about the last minute before the class started. With her art class just before, she was always a little late. She spotted Daria in her ‘usual’ seat around the center of the room and set her plan in motion. Therefore, she chose a seat to Daria’s left, that gave her the option to intercept the other girl before she left the class. She would talk to her then.

Jane noticed Daria looking at her as she entered, and even if their eyes hardly locked, Jane again noticed some embarrassment. But she had her feelings sorted out - at least a little better than Monday evening. Daria was attractive, but she did not feel attracted to her. Well, at least not in that sense. The girl was an outcast like her, who merely reacted to people. Jane had never seen Daria interacted with anybody. She was brief, but always curt. She did not cut anybody down - at least not verbally, as far as Jane could tell - but would likely not put up with any crap.

«Maybe a kindred soul.»

The class passed, but at the end Jane’s courage left her and she could not bring herself to apologize to Daria. The memory was still too fresh, her inner thoughts were still too much in turmoil. She would talk to her tomorrow. For sure.

*****

The Fashion Club plus Quinn met up after school, but Quinn did not stay longer than necessary to exchange some basic pleasantries. This Sandi Griffin would take a while to get used to and she had still too much school work to do to make up for having missed the first two weeks of classes.

Once Quinn was out of earshot, Stacy relayed her latest information.
“I think that Daria girl has already met someone.”

“Gee, Stacy, that is obvious. If you haven’t heard about the lesbian lovers’ quarrel during the sophomores’ lunch period you must be completely out of the gossip network.”

“Yeaaah, the small girl was reaaaally cryyying.”

“I didn’t mean that, Sandi. I heard she’s with that Jane Lane, the art chick from sophomore class.”

“So she’s at LHS merely three days and already trading one girlfriend for the next. Like I said, she’s a total slut.”

Sandi found her assumption verified, but was unsure how to feel about it. Her head said something different than her gut.

“That is soooooo meaaaan.” Tiffany stated her disdain.

“But Sandi, we don’t know...”

“Stacy, would you please look at the facts and not let your admiration for that Quinn girl distort your thoughts. There was the incident at lunch and now you are saying she’s with Lane. Supposing your information is reliable, what do you make of it?”

“Well, it would seem as if that could have happened.”

Sandi was a little surprised that Stacy did not doubt her information on Daria being with that art chick. That was potentially dangerous, as Sandi hadn’t heard the slightest hint at that development.

“Where did you get that, anyway.”

“Quinn asked me who Jane is. Because Jane was hanging around with Daria, she said.”

Tiffany looked up from her compact as she contemplated Stacy’s statement, but remained silent. Sandi noted the implication as well, but was not sure if Stacy’s behaviour would justify a scolding for treachery.

“So, that seems to be a rather reliable source. Contributing to the conclusion’s reliability: She’s a slut. Even you should get that now, Stacy.”

“Yes, Sandi” was Stacy’s meek answer, the same she had given hundreds of times before.

*****

The evening was uneventful. Her dad brought the Chinese take-out, her mother was late, the homework dull. Catching up with the school work was not a problem either, and Quinn did not bother her. Daria tried to write a little, but her mind was not into it. The move and the situation at school gave her too much to think about. Too many people were staring at her, talking to and about her, and concentrating their attention on her.

Daria thought back to the time when she could just blend in. Unless she had wanted to, hardly anybody had noticed her. She had been able do as she pleased without being under constant scrutiny. Given, constantly being mistaken for a much younger girl had not pleased her at that time. And being small and brainy had made her the target of some mockery, but people had left her alone in general. Life had been simpler back then.

«It’s funny. Back then I wished I was taller, now I am - and now I wish I was smaller. Be careful what you wish for.»

Daria contemplated watching some TV, but remembered the defective cable connection. The remote in her hand, she sat on her bed and stared at the blank TV screen and replayed the day’s events. The conversation during lunch struck her most. Not the fact that the lesbians had tried to recruit her, that was kind of a given. But the way Scarlet had reacted. She had hurt somebody without even trying. Again.

«Goddamn, is it my fault that I do not like girls?»

No longer having to share a room with her her sister was the highlight of the move. Quinn was a busybody and just too noisy for Daria’s taste. Blocking her out was really hard from time to time. But the padding on the room’s walls topped it all. Initially installed to prevent the schizophrenic woman living in the room from injuring herself, it also provided excellent sound dampening. Daria had the suspicion that the latter had been more than a coincidental side effect. It was a pity that they had to replace the door, as now the sounds of the hallway were clearly audible.

«Well, the new door has a knob on the inside as well. Being able to get out of your room on your own has its perks.»

*****

“Daria. Daria.”

“Huh?”

Daria slowly drifted back into consciousness and adjusted her glasses. A quick glance at the clock told her that nearly two hours had passed since her last check. She looked over to her father standing at her door.

“You should change out of your street clothes and go back to bed.”

Daria’s brain had finished its boot up procedure and she started to realize that she had fallen asleep on her bed. She looked at her bedside clock again.

“Uh, yeah, it’s a little early, but I think you’re right.”

Daria sat up and expected her father to leave, but he didn’t.

“About Friday evening, the training’s two hours?”

“Three, but I suspect that includes some social event. I’ll cut things short so you’ll only have to wait for an hour. Driving back would be a waste.”

Jake chuckled.
“7 to 10 then. I’m gonna give you a ride, and there’s something for me to do in Oakwood around that time, so take your time.”

Daria rose an eyebrow and her father continued.

“A local weekly business men’s meeting. Just chat a little, exchange some hints and network. Starts at 8, but I can amuse myself at the mall until then.”

Daria rose her eyebrow further.
“That’s a ... pleasant coincidence.”

“For sure, so I can give you a ride and promote business! But please don’t tell your mom, she doesn’t need to know that I work late as well and hates those ‘old boys’ networks’.”

«A business men’s meeting Friday starting at 8 that mom should not know about? For sure. If it wasn’t you, I’d say you’re meeting with friends at a strip joint. Thank god you’re listed as ‘mostly harmless’.»
“I won’t dad - I get my ride out of it.”

Her father left with a nod, closing the door. She went through her evening hygiene on automatic as she would do in the morning and contemplated whether it was possible to go through three more years of high school that way. With a sufficient supply of booze and dope she could give herself a nice street lobotomy. But she neither had that kind of money, nor was that a long-term solution.

«Maybe not long-term, but final.» she chuckled to herself.

«I’ve hardly spoken to Quinn all day. Well, no news is good news.» were Daria’s last thoughts of that day.