The Torment Trilogy part 2: Sleepover at Brittany's by Mitch wells17@gte.net with much thanks to suggestions from C.E. Forman "What do you -mean- you can't come?" "Sorry Brittany, but I have an emergency Student Council meeting on Saturday night." "But," Brittany stammered, "what about our monthly sleepover? I was going to show you my new nailpolish collection!" "Well," said Jodie, "what about your fellow cheerleaders?" "They're all busy Saturday night!" "Wait," asked Jodie, "how can they -all- be busy on the same night?" "Well, they're...all dating the team." "Oh, well, you could ask someone else." "Hmmm..." ----- "I -can't- come?" "I'm sorry, okay, the doctor said he had some tests he wanted me to be present for," said Jane. "But...", then Daria stopped herself, "Alright. You're immediate family to him, Jane. I just...don't want to be home Saturday night. I'd be hearing nothing but my mom trying to console me and, well, the support is actually making me feel worse." Just then, Brittany showed up. "Daria, you busy Saturday night." "I'm not this month, Brittany, why?" "I was wondering if you could sleep over at my house that night." "Hm. Well, okay. Uh, it's just us, isn't it. I mean, it's not that you've invited a dozen of your friends over that night for a slumber party right?" "Uh, no. Sorry." Actually, Daria was -hoping- it would be just them. Brittany would be enough to handle. There was something else she needed to know, however. "None of your -male- friends will be there either, right?" "Uh, no." "Okay, Saturday at seven?" "'Kay!" ----- As Daria left, Brittany wondered what Daria was implying to in that last question. ----- Daria packed her sleeping shirt that she used as pajamas when she traveled into a small bag. She also packed a book in order to distract her from Brittany and her family. She remembered how, back in Highland, she was always at slumber parties and was the only girl who would bring a book to one. She wasn't sure if she really -liked- slumber parties. She probably just went to get away from her family and to shock the other girls who thought she was "normal" when they invited her. In this case, she was hoping that by entering the world of Brittany Taylor one night, she would be distracted not just from her family, but from a major crisis that had entered her life almost a month ago. With her toothbrush as the last thing in the bag, Daria was all set. She went to the living room, hoping to get to the door before her family noticed. "Sweetie, where are you going?" Of course. Sometimes, when Helen -was- aware of what her kids were doing, it was at the worst times. "I'm sleeping over at Brittany Taylor's tonight, Mom." "Brittany? She's the head cheer leader,isn't she?" "Last I checked," said Daria. Helen hugged Daria, much to the latter's dismay. "Oh, sweetie, I'm so glad to see you expanding your social life!" "Uh, Mom," Daria corrected, "this is because I can't stay at Jane's tonight and...-sigh- to get my mind off my problem." Helen's eyes widened. Daria's problem was well-known to Helen and she was genuinely concerned by it. However, she was a little -too- concerned with it had been "supporting" Daria ever since. Daria knew Helen had the best intentions in mind, but her support was bothersome, to put it mildly. Also, Helen's many activities had begun to bother her and she was getting more and more under pressure and less and less stable. "Uh, have fun, dear." Fortunately, this was one of those recent times where Helen ran out of things to say rather fast. ----- Jesse found time to drive Daria to Brittany's house. Fortunately, the rent-a-cop of Crew Neck was off duty, so Daria had no trouble getting past him. Brittany's younger brother Brian opened the door. An evil smirk was on his face. "Uh, hi," said Daria, "is Brittany home?" "Yeah, heh heh heh, you Daria?" "Yeah." "Heh heh heh, keep an eye on your jammies!" Daria did -not- like the sound of that! Good thing Brian was only eleven. If he was a little older, it would be frightening. She shuddered at the thought of Brian with hormones. Then she thought of his sister as example, brrrr. Steve Taylor, Brittany's dad was on the living room couch making out with Ashley-Amber, Brittany's stepmom. The public display bothered Daria. It probably wasn't very healthy to do that with a pre-adolecent Brian around. Daria was rather bothered of how this reminded her that her own parents hadn't been so close lately. Of course, they were rarely as close as the couple she was seeing here. "Excuse me?" Steve and Ashley looked up. "Oh," said Steve, "Daria, right, Britt's friend. Glad to see you." "Uh, yeah. Sorry if I was interrupting you." "Oh," said Ashley, "that's okay. We have some, plans, to make up for it tonight. Sorry that I can't join you and Brittany." Daria shuddered at the thought of a night with Brittany -and- her stepmother. "That's...okay. I'm sure we'll...have fun without you." Brittany was in her bedroom putting on her lipstick when Daria came in. "Oh, hi Daria!" "Hey, uh, what's with the lipstick?" "What do you mean?" "Well, this is a sleepover. There's no one to impress." "Oh, well, I feel naked without my lipstick." "Well, I admit I feel the same about my glasses but...never mind." Brittany was about to undo her top when..."Uh, Brittany, "Daria interrupted, "Much as I 'hate' to deject the male readers, could we change in different rooms?" "Why? You don't worry about it during gym class." "I don't think anyone notices during gym class. Does Jodie ever mind?" "I don't think so. I don't pay too much attention then." "Well, I'll change in the bathroom," said Daria. Daria, in the bathroom, had put on her nightshirt when Ashley-Amber came in without announcement. "Aaah! Please don't do that, Mrs. Taylor. If you were in here a second earlier, it would embarrassing for one of us and fatal for the other." "Oh, sorry Daria." "Ashley was wearing a low-cut and very loose looking nightgown. Apparently, she was going to have a long night with Steve. Ashley got into the medicine cabinet and got a perfume bottle and sprayed herself a few too many times. Daria tried her best not to breath in. "Well, have a nice night," said Ashley, "I'll...try not too make too much noise." "Well," said Daria, "try not to gasp but I'm really worried about the bedsprings." Ashley looked at Daria quizzically. "I'm 17," explained Daria, "I'm old enough." Ashley silently put the bottle back and left. Daria smiled. ----- Steve head toward the bathroom. He just saw Ashley in her, and his, favorite gown. He had been saving some special cologne for this occasion. He entered the bathroom...and saw Daria in a pajama shirt brushing her teeth. "Oh, sorry, Daria. I hope I'm not interrupting you." "That's okay," said Daria, "I was just going to condition my hair, redo my nails, wax my skin, and then consider getting cosmetic surgery." "Oh," said Steve, "I guess I should hurry then." He found his cologne and put it on. "Well," said Steve, "good luck with your lovelife or whatever." As he left, Daria said, "Yeah, that's the -only- thing on my mind." ----- Brittany, apparently after noticing that the bathroom was now open, entered and found her toothbrush. Daria got her's out. While they were brushing, Daria noticed that Brittany was wearing a tight shirt with sleeves but a -very- low cut collier and even tighter looking pajama pants. Daria didn't understand it, but she never really understood Brittany anyway. "Uh, Brittany, is that what you always wear?" "Only when Jodie's over. I usually sleep nude." Daria spit her toothpaste over the mirror. After the bathroom mirror was cleaned, Daria went back to Brittany's room. Brittany got out Jodie's reserved sleeping bag for Daria. Daria sat on it. "So," the guest asked, "what next?" "Well," said Brittany, twirling the end of one of her ponytails with one of her fingers, "this is where we usually look through our magazines. Jodie looks at 'Waif' while I look at 'Cheerleadership! The Enthusiast's Guide to School Spirit!'!" "Uh, I'm afraid I didn't bring one. How about I look through yours?" "Okay!" Daria didn't really want to look at it, but she was curious. She could not believe the articles she saw: "When your Top isn't Tight Enough," "Hairspray: A Critical Choice," "Cover your Abs to Cover your Abs," and "When your Not Bouncy Enough," "Coping With Stray Balls," When Your QB Boyfriend is a Complete Jerk," and "Exfoliate with Extreme Prejudice." "Got any tapes?" asked Daria. "Yeah," answered Brittany as she put it in her VCR. It was the recent Spider-Man movie (this is the future, remember?) Brittany was sighing over the guy they got to play Spidey. Daria, however, was not enjoying herself. She was thinking about her problem.She looked at Brittany. -Her- biggest problems included having bubble gum in her hair. Daria wasn't sure if she liked Brittany, but at least she was interesting in her own clueless way (a concept which appeared periodically in Daria's life. Daria would rather have her than a dozen Sandis. Brittany was never as shallow as she was clueless. Her entire world was based upon looking cheerful and getting a guy. Daria's view had a much wider focus, especially when she had her glasses on. In a way, she liked Brittany's pseudo-innocence, being more misdirected than malevolent. "Having fun, Daria?" Daria turned around. "Well, no. I...have a problem." "Oh. Bummer. Want to talk about it?" "No," said Daria, "it's kinda personal...and serious. Brittany, have you had a situation where you've been after something for a long time, but it looks more like your going to get something else, but then you realize that the 'something else' may mean more than what you were after before, you get that 'something else', but then, suddenly, it looks like you might have lost it forever and you don't know how you can move on." "Well," said Brittany, "there was the time I worked at a car wash, but I had more weight than the other girls, and I just couldn't lose it no matter -how- many diets I tried, so I started jogging every day to work it off, but my legs got into shape first, and I decided that I liked having better legs than the other girls -better- than I would've liked having less weight than the other girls even though I lost quite a bit of weight too and happen to think I look pretty darn -good- right now, so Kevin better start being -nicer- to me!" "Uh,...thanks," said Daria unsurely. They eventually went to sleep. Daria actually had a pleasant dream, as opposed to the nights where she had actually cried herself to sleep that month. She had a dream about that night last year she spent with Trent, except this time she was more awake to appreciate it. Strangely, so did Trent apparently. The next morning, Daria awoke to the sound of a honking horn. It was Jesse's car. It may have been strange for him to be up that early, but neither him nor Jane had been able to sleep since...the disaster. She was hoping to change while Brittany slept, but Brittany was awake, in a groggy since that reminded Daria of Jane. "Brittany," asked Daria, "you okay?" "Oh, it's my -parents-! I haven't heard that much moaning and spring squeaking since that time Brian was in there with one of our cats!" Daria didn't hear that, she -must- have had a good sleep. "By the way," said Brittany, "it was great having you over." "It...was?" "Yeah, just...don't tell anyone I said that." Daria was never quite sure if Brittany liked her or not. If she did, she didn't make a spectacle of it. In any case, she -did- owe Brittany for that night, in a way. "Okay," said Daria, "I won't spread word." Daria went back to the waiting world. To be continued...