Part 5

Before the first class of the day, Ms. Morris went to the attendance/ infirmary/ storage room Coach Gibson used as his office most of the time. And stereotypical for a morning, a box from Do-me-a-Donut was found on the desk as he nursed on a coffee while reading ‘USA Today’.

“Morning, Gibson.”

“Morning. What’s the matter, Morris?”

He and the female coach got along, but preferred to stay clear of one another. Her visiting his office was unusual.

“I’d like to give you a heads-up. Unofficial, and just between the two of us.”

He put down his coffee and folded the ‘newpaper’. That seemed serious.

“What happened?”

“Nothing - for now. You remember those new girls Ms. Li told everyone about? The tall ones?”

“Yeah, but girls aren’t my problem.”

“Maybe they will be. At least one of them. Daria.”

“And how’s that supposed to happen, Morris?”

“She was in my ‘girls only’ gym time yesterday and wasn’t really happy with it. She’s thinking about attending the open gym time in the morning...”

“Ah, come on, that’s stupid. A girl among all the guys...”

“She said it wouldn’t matter to her. And take my word for it: Strength wise she’s likely on par with the guys.”

Coach Gibson was not pleased. A girl during the open time could cause trouble. Worse, a girl during the open time could require supervision and keep him from his breakfast.

“You’re talking nonsense, Morris.”

“I’ve seen her in the gym. But I guess that’s something you have to see with your own eyes.”

“I enjoy a good surprise!”

Ms. Morris left coach Gibson in his personal retreat and headed over to the teacher’s lounge.
«This may be an unpleasant surprise for you...»

*****

The school day on Friday was pleasantly dull. Everyone’s mind was already preparing for the weekend. Luckily there were no sport events right at the beginning of the school year, so no one bugged Daria to attend them.

Between two classes she found her locker blocked by Kevin and Brittany playing tonsil hockey. Daria cleared her throat noisily, twice, but to no avail.

“Excuse me.”

The couple showed no reaction but sloppy sounds.

«Brrr.»
Daria nudged Kevin - carefully, so that they would not bite each other’s tongues. Being disturbed during his fifth favourite occupation (after playing football, something else, watching football and drinking beer) did not please Kevin, and he turned quickly around.

“What’s your problem, man?!”

Kevin’s expression became less hostile once he recognized the intruder as Daria. However, Brittany was less amused once she noticed that another girl was talking to her man.

“You’re blocking my locker. Just step aside and continue ignoring me.”

“Hu?”

Brittany was a little quicker and nudged Kevin a yard down the lockers. Brittany was not sure what to make of Daria and hence was wary around her. That girl had two options to hit on her boyfriend.

“Come. And now Kevvie...”

The immediately resumed lip-locking, and Daria shook her head while switching books.

«At least they don’t shag in the open. Well. I’ve been here just four days. Maybe they do. *Brrr*. *Brrrrrr*.»

*****

After Thursday had provided Quinn with no occasion to meet this strange Jane Lane, she was set to talk to her today. The news about Daria’s lunch encounter on Wednesday - there was supposedly a sequel yesterday - had spread through school. Unfortunately, the rumours were off the facts. ‘She rejected a girl because she’s straight’ is not as interesting as ‘squishy lesbian lovers quarrel’.

Quinn made several attempts to catch her between classes. Lunch was not an option, as freshmen and sophomores were in different lunch periods. Quinn got her chance between Math and Home Ec. when she spotted a girl fitting the description given by Stacy in the hallway. A rather unobstructed field of view even in a crowd was one of the perks of her size. With limited time at hand, she sped up to catch up with the girl.

“Hey, you’re Jane Lane?”

Jane turned as she heard the voice behind her. She was not used to being talked to by other students, and she could not fit the voice to somebody she knew. The view was not as she expected. There wasn’t a face where she anticipated one - but a chest. She had to look up and realized that the tall freshman girl that had transferred in on Monday was addressing her.

“Yessss?”

“Jane Lane? You’re in self-esteem class?”

«Damn, bad news travels fast...»
“That’s me. Seventh time. I’m esteem-resistant.”

Jane watched with fascination how the girl’s expression changed once she had acknowledged her to be Jane Lane. It went from friendly and open to far more serious than the girl’s outward appearance had indicated possible. She looked her over thoroughly with a neutral expression, and Jane repaid the favour.

The girl was thin, but not as lanky as Jane herself and, Jane had to admit grudgingly, had a real figure. Her rather fashionable clothes brought it out well without being obtrusive. Her face was cute without much makeup, but her red hair was really spectacular in its bounciness and coloration. Her aura screamed ‘adore me’ and she would likely be able to reduce any male to a slobbering idiot with a simple smile. Straight males, that was. Most likely her picture was in the Wikipedia under ‘offensive cuteness’.

«Another potential model. But I doubt she’d be able to stand still long enough for more than a picture. »

“Nice to meet you, Jane Lane. Just don’t bother my sister. Bye.”

That said, the girl’s expression became friendly again, she turned on the spot and headed off withrapid strides. Jane was puzzled.

«What was that about? Who’s she? What business do I have with her sister? Or not. Who is her sister? Weird.»

This strange encounter was going to give her something to think about for at least the rest of the day.

*****

Home Ec. was the perfect class for Quinn to review her brief meeting with that girl. She dressed as alternative as Stacy had described, and her overall appearance seemed to scream ‘artist’ - as Stacy had hinted at. No makeup, just that incredible red lipstick, which worked for her and did not even clash with the hue of her equally red jacket. That told Quinn that this girl had a very keen sense for color - or incredible luck.

The amount of earrings she displayed was too much in Quinn’s eyes, but Quinn was relieved that she had not noticed any bad vibes coming from the girl. She may be an outsider, but seemed not to keep bad company.

«From her looks I’d bet ‘flexible’ wasn’t false advertising.»

Quinn smirked, stopped chopping veggies, and stretched her back.

«Damn, don’t they have any kitchen counters in an appropriate height for me at this school? Having to bend over the whole time sucks - especially after yesterday. My back aches. As least I’m going to get some service from Daria today.»

*****

“Hey Daria.”

Daria spotted the male black student walking up to her. She waited for him to catch up with her, after a week his name came easy to her.

“Hi Mack.”

“And? What’s your impression of LHS after your first week?”

“I will survive. Somehow.”

Mack laughed. “That’s what I tell myself every morning. But how’re you doing?”

«What do you want from me?»
Daria glanced sideways at her fellow student and shrugged.
“Beside that ‘self-esteem’ class there hasn’t been more trouble that I expected.”

“Ah, yes, Jodie told me about that. I’ve no clue what you’re doing there.”

“O’Neill has no clue what he’s doing there, either.”

“Yeah, his touchy-feelyness is really bad.”

“If I hadn’t seen him, I wouldn’t believe humans could survive a spine ablation.”

“For sure. That’s my stop. Later.”

That said, Mack entered the classroom they were just passing by. Daria continued her way alone and mused what that conversation was about. Nothing, really, just friendly chatter.

«Friendly chatter?!»

*****

The close encounter of the 2.5th kind had Jane’s mind busy during her lunch period. The tall girl, that hadn’t even bother to introduce herself, had given her a cryptic message. Jane knew that she had been evaluated, and obviously passed the test. She wasn’t even sure what exactly had been tested. She and the other girl were clearly from different social worlds. And the whole point of their conversation seemed to be about ‘my sister’. Who ever that was. Jane had no idea. She must be someone from LHS, as Jane hadn’t had any contact with people outside her class mates, her family and the band all week.

A little further into her lunch the pieces fell together. The tall girl had transferred in on Monday, so likely had ‘my sister’. And from the group Jane had seen on Monday, there was only one person that could be that sister. The other tall girl. From self-esteem class. Who she had made a pass on.

Given this information, things made more sense. Thinking about it, their faces told about their familiarity. Their size was another thing they had in common. However, why were their figures so different?

«I bet there’s an interesting story to this.»

The younger sister was taller among the two. Was there a still younger sibling at 7 foot? What were their parents like? Why did they behave and dress so differently? Their personalities seemed to be much more different from one another than Jane was used to among her siblings. Maybe that was all connected to a single cause.

*****

The last class of Daria’s week was the self-esteem class, which basically was identical to every lecture before except that Mr. O’Neill finished with a summary and an outlook for the next week. They would separate the boys and girls for two days for some ‘gender specific discussion’. Daria had a rather good idea what that would be about, and that could turn out to be fun. Not all girls in this class looked like stuck-up prudes, as that Lane girl had proved. The fact that Mrs. Manson would be leading that session invalidated all of Daria’s plans. That woman had it in for her, and upsetting her would be ... unwise, given her influence.

Another interesting observation about that Lane kid was the way she had acted all week. After their first, and memorable, encounter, she had really shied away and had gone lengths to stay out of Daria’s way. That was, luckily, caused by embarrassment, and that seemed to fade away as Daria found her looking at her one time or another. She likely drew some pictures of Daria during self-esteem class, as Daria caught her looking over several times. But as the Lane girl painted everyone in said class, that was most likely not out of adoration, but out of availability. That was fine for Daria. She could have sworn that Jane, that was her name, had tried to talk to her several times, but Daria could not tell for sure.

*****

Ms. Morris entered Ms. Li’s office with a queasy feeling. Being called in here was usually a bad omen.
“You wanted to see me?”

“Ah, Ms. Morris. Yes, I have some questions about the two Morgendorffer sisters that joined LHS this Monday. You have both of them in P.E.?”

“Yes, but in different classes. Quinn’s a freshman, and...”

“...Daria a sophomore, I remember. How are they doing, especially Quinn?”

“Quinn’s doing ok. She’s not really into exercising, but she does as she’s told. Unless she sees an opportunity to skip out, but you know...”

“Does her size cause any problems in class? Even if I have a written OK from her mother for her to participate in P.E., I don’t want to provoke any problems.”

“Well. She’s just tall and lanky. For some exercises that’s a disadvantage, for others an advantage. Having her join a basketball game is almost unfair. It’s hard to fit her into exercises requiring a partner of similar build and weight, because most girls of her weight are a foot smaller. Ms. Li, is this about her requiring physiotherapy?”

“Yes, that’s my concern. But how do you know?”

“After school yesterday she was in the gym doing her exercises with her sister as coach. Believe me, P.E. class is not going to be a problem.”

“Well, OK then. As you mentioned her, what about Daria?”

“Daria is doing good, but not excellent. Don’t misunderstand me, she’s an outstanding sportsman. Sportswoman. It’s just that the girls P.E. exercises don’t fit her.”

“Does she participate or...”

“No, she doesn’t slack off. You can see that she is unhappy with the exercises, but she does as good as she can.”

«Darn. Can’t get her for that.»
“Well, seeing she’s an ‘outstanding sportswoman’, do you recommend her for any teams so that she could add to the glory of Lawndale High?”
«And we keep her occupied.»

“Unless we’re having a women’s wrestling team I don’t know about, no. Forget anything like gymnastics or cheerleading. She’s too bulky for volleyball and basketball, and even if we had a women’s soccer team, I’d not expect her to do any good.”

“Nothing else?” Ms. Li was not pleased.

“Really not. But I’m sure she’s going to be a regular at the gym and likely does some training outside of school, so I don’t see a problem.”

“I’d like to get her involved in school sports. My, aeh, our school’s sports.”

“Hmm. ‘Involved’ does not necessarily mean ‘on the team’? I may have an idea.”

“On a team would be better. On a team where she’d excel in public would be much better.”

“I’ve no idea what team could suit her. But give me another week, and I may have an idea to involve her in school sports.”

“Ms. Morris, I’m not pleased by your inability to recommend a suitable sport to push her on the team. However, ‘involving’ her in school sports would be better than nothing. I expect your answer a week from now. We must occupy her immediately after she tests out of the self-esteem class!”

«So that’s your real intention.»
“You’ll get my proposal next week, unless my initial assessment of her was wrong and my idea wouldn’t work out.”

“Well, then goodbye Ms. Morris.”

«What is it about Daria that irks her? I’ll have a closer look at the girl next week.»

*****

Daria put down the equipment she had with her and locked the door of Quinn’s room. There was no need for their parents to accidentally witness this event.

“Daria, I have sore muscles in places I didn’t even knew I had muscles. You nearly wrecked me and those pain killers didn’t work shit.” Quinn said as she removed her shirt and bra. Until two weeks ago they had shared a room, and there were few secrets between them in that way.

“You took them and should be lucky that you didn’t go without. The trousers need to go as well, they’ll get stained otherwise.”

Quinn removed her trousers as well and moved just clad in cotton panties and socks towards her bed.

“Daria, what’s the towel doing on the bedside carpet?”

“Your bed won’t work, Quinn. A massage requires a hard underground so I won’t just push you into the padding. Lie down.”

“Do I get a cushion?”

“No, that would give you a sore neck. But maybe you want to add that to your collection of sore...”

“Just shut up.” Quinn did as she was told and lay on her tummy on the towel. Daria sat across Quinn’s thighs who startled a little at this.

«I’m just in my panties! That must look so...»
“Oh, Daria, is that necessary, that’s a ...”

Daria carefully moved some stray strands of Quinn’s hair to the side and smirked as she saw the blush spread across Quinn’s shoulders. Redheads were really handicapped in that aspect.
“..little dominating. But without a massage bench I need that position to exert the proper force. Should I stop?”

“No, go on.” Daria was the only person Quinn was comfortable submitting to to that extent.

«Darn. But it was worth a try.»
“Caution, the oil could be a little cold, but off we go.”

Daria poured a little bit of the massage oil she had borrowed from her parents’ bedroom into her hands, warmed it a little and started to work on Quinn’s back. Its citric smell was rather pleasant and comforting.

“Hmm, Daria that is not too cold. Nice... That’s heavenly... Ouch! Daria stay clear of my spine!”

Quinn wiggled a little but noted that she would not be going anywhere. Accepting a massage required a lot more trust than she had expected.

«Following the ‘don’ts’ makes it easy to make sure Quinn will never ask for this again.»

Daria moved in three more times on Quinn’s spine right at the beginning, which seemed to be as uncomfortable as the book said. Then she started to run properly through the described motions. It was not that hard, and after a while she got the hang of it. That really required a lot of power in the arms.

The first three minutes Quinn was all ‘oh’ing and ‘ah’ing but then fell silent. After five minutes Quinn’s breathing became tell-tale slow. After seven minutes she started to snore slightly. After eight minutes Daria removed her hands from the putty called Quinn and cleaned them on the towel that her sister rested on. She put another towel on Quinn’s bed, lifted Quinn carefully enough not to wake her onto it and covered her with the towel from the floor. Finally she put the duvet over her sister.

«Good night sis. Friday evening, a little after 6 and you’re fast asleep. You can thank me later that I’m not telling mom and dad so that they can take pictures...hmm.»

Daria went silently to her room, retrieved an old insta-matic camera and returned to her sister’s room. After turning the bedside clock so the time would be visible, she shot a single picture. As she left the room for the second time, she switched the lights off. The picture came out really well, the dusk seen through the window underlined the unfashionable timeframe.

«Be grateful that we get along reasonably well. Otherwise prints of you lying half-naked on your bed would be going 20 bucks apiece come Monday. This just goes into my strategic reserve. Sadly I’m going to miss you freaking out once you notice that you slept in just your panties and socks. That’s almost nude. How unfashionable, how kinky.»

In her room Daria switched her underwear for something sensible and packed the few things she was going to need for her training, including a towel and an additional sweater for the way back.

*****

Downstairs, her dad was already waiting, eager to attend this ‘businessmen’s meeting’ the first time. 10:1 that this was a camouflaged poker round. Daria did not mind as long as she got a lift out of this. It would allow her dad to network in the new region, and he was smart enough to stop before he lost too much.

«I bet those boys mark the losses as some ‘club membership fee’ and deduct them from the taxes.»

The ride to Oakwood took about 20 minutes. Jake asked Daria about her first week in Lawndale, andshe told him a little. There was no need for many words among them, so periods of silence permeated the conversation.

Her dad had gotten settled in nicely. The new office was not posh, but nice and provided enough space. His initial contacts had paid off and his first client had signed a contract. Another job was pending, and even if it wasn’t along Jake’s favorite type of work he was excited as it seemed to promise more interesting business with a big client. ‘Getting in at the ground floor’ was his term. Finally, they arrived at the outskirts of Oakwood.

“We won’t be able to give you rides over here all the time.”

“I know, dad. Gonna try to carpool with someone.”

“You’ll get your license in the foreseeable future.”

“I’d still need to borrow a car. And pay the gas.”

Her father stopped the car at the roadside in front of an office building.

“There we are. Tellerman office building. My meeting is at a hotel lounge some blocks from here. Gonna pick you up here at 10. OK, kiddo?”

«Kiddo my ass. Hotel lounge? Believable location for a businessmen’s meeting. Brilliant cover for a poker round.»
“Thanks, dad. Take care.”

“Take care, too.”

Daria left the car, and headed for the parking lot behind the building.

*****

Daria got a cordial welcome from the local chapter. Raynolds had obviously told the other members about what to expect when ‘Tiny’ came along. They were the usual mixed bunch: some security types that trained for their job, some normal guys that wanted to be able to save their butts and some vets that wanted to stay in shape. Everyone introduced themselves, but she did not even bother with the names. They would be using the nicknames anyway. Here Daria was Tiny and just the second girl among about fifteen people.

“‘Tiny’, hmm? Got that one by a blind man?” was the first question one of the guys asked her while stretching his arms.

“No, when I got that nickname I was less than DeeDee here.” Daria said, pointing at the other girl in the group. ‘DeeDee’ was a small blonde woman of about 120 pounds in her late twenties.
«No doubt how she got named ‘DD’.» Daria thought looking at her.

“That was, like, ten years ago?” asked another man of the group.

“No, just three. And listen, guys, so I don’t have to repeat myself a dozen times: I’m 6’3" and about 190 pounds.”

The guys gave her a measuring once-over; their practiced eyes evaluated her - as an opponent and sparring partner.
“No doubt about that. You’ve been practicing three years?”

“Yes; that’s part of the reason for that.” Daria answered pointing at herself.

Raynolds spoke up. “Enough small talk. Lets get going, people. You know what to do. Tiny, you’re with me. I need to see what you can do and what not.”

That said, the crowd scattered along the empty parking lot and they began warming up and doing basic exercises in smaller groups or on their own. Daria warmed up with Raynolds and he started testing her level. After about ten minutes and some painful levers they stopped and Daria found about half of the group watching them. Whoever she made eye contact with gave an approving nod and resumed training. In this group, Daria was welcome. Here she did fit in. Here she was average. There was no more gawking afterwards.

*****

The guys did not pay Daria more attention than they did to anybody else. DeeDee was a different story all together. Being the lightest person around, DeeDee had a hard time during training. Her well honed technique and her fast reflexes were her only weapons against her sparring partners. She was incredible happy to see another female in the group.

“Tiny, the guys are great and give me as much as I can take, but you should see how embarrassed they get when they happen to touch me in ‘inappropriate’ places during the training. They know as well as I do that it does just happen, but ... you know. Training new moves is going to be so much more fun with you!”

DeeDee was a chatterbox and told Daria about herself during their breaks. She was here to learn effective self defense, and unlike her older husband she didn’t like guns. He had brought a son and a daughter into the marriage. Daria did not really listen to her but focussed on the others training to get to know the other members of the chapter.

Given the guys frame, DeeDee had a real problem. When Daria asked about that, DeeDee stated she didn’t mind being in size-, weight, and strength-wise disadvantage all the time.
“I don’t expect any mugger to care about having an unfair advantage. This is the most realistic training I can get.”

The training was hard. Raynolds was right, this bunch were the enthusiasts. Daria’s skill was in the upper middle of the group, and she would surely be able to learn a thing or two. The guys initially handled her like they did DeeDee, but no one did so twice. Daria did not hesitate to take whatever advantage was presented to her and subdued her opponents. Once they realized that she might be a girl, but was on their level, even in strength, the guys sparred with her as an equal and the training was challenging.

Sparring in the parking lot was nasty. Once you fell, the tarmac was hard and rough. Her thick clothing did dampen the falls a little, but Daria was sure to have her share of bruises. Luckily, nothing tore open and she did not chafe her knees and hands. However she hit her head on the ground once causing her scalp to bleed a little. But if you were attacked, you had no choice in the location, so dealing with it in training was the right thing to do.

Amid the chatter DeeDee dropped that she was from Lawndale. While Dd did not seem to be the type of person that Daria would befriend, she was willing to compromise for a chance to carpool.

“I’m from Lawndale as well. You’re here by car?”

“Yes; you too? Maybe we can carpool. Riding together would be even more fun.”

«Must be my lucky day, I didn’t even have to bring it up.»
“No, I neither have a license nor a car. But riding together sounds good.”

“Which days are you going to attend? I’m training Monday and Friday.”

“I was planning Monday and Thursday. So we could ride together on Mondays.”

“Hmmm. Mondays is a done deal, but let me think about it...”

“There’s nothing to ... sorry, my turn again.”

Daria joined another sparring session, but managed to organize the ride with DeeDee. DeeDee lived at Crewe Neck, one of Lawndale’s upper class gated communities, and offered to pick Daria up. Daria declined as she did not want to impose and said she’d be at the community gate twenty to seven on the coming Monday. They exchanged phone numbers - Daria got DeeDee’s cell’s number - to stay in contact in case of last-minute changes.

*****

Quinn slowly drifted back into consciousness and was seriously confused. She felt great, relaxed, her muscles didn’t ache as bad as before anymore, she was warm and comfortable. But she had no idea where she was or how she got there. Slowly she started to get the facts straight. She was in her bed, under her comforter with some additional towels, hence the comfortable warmth. Then she noted that she was not appropriately dressed.
«I’d never get into bed without my PJs!»

The look at her bedside clock shocked her. It was nearly 10 o’clock. She wrapped one of the towels around her shoulders, got up and walked over to the bathroom. That late, she could just get ready for bed - properly, this time. The wheels in her mind started to turn. She got her massage from Daria, that made her relaxed and eased her sore muscles. And she likely had fallen asleep under her sister’s hands.

She felt embarrassed as she came to the conclusion that Daria must have put her into bed and covered her without her noticing.
«Falling asleep like that, being put to bed like that. Just like a baby.»

Suddenly she saw the connection between the deal with Daria, the hard training she had been given, and the massage. Daria had managed to steal her Friday evening. Daria had babied her in order to hammer her place as ‘baby sister’ really home. And to top everything, Daria had left her in an embarrasing state. Quinn had been had really good, and she was seriously displeased with her sister. She went downstairs to have a little snack while watching some TV.

*****

Once the training finished, the group dissolved under numerous goodbyes. Daria had gotten a nice workout and was sweaty, so she pulled over the additional sweater and put a towel on her head and shoulders. DeeDee bode farewell and vanished in her car while Daria approached the sidewalk along the main street. Daria walked up and down to stay warm, drinking from her water bottle. Her father arrived five minutes later, a little after ten.

“Hi kiddo, get in and let’s get home.”

«Kiddo my ass.»
“Hi dad. I need a shower and my bed.”

They rode a while in silence with only Jake’s country station softly playing on the radio.

“How was the training?”

“Good. It’s a nice group, and I’m going to make some progress with them. I think I managed to get a ride on Mondays with one of the other students. We’ll see how that works out.”

“That’s great!”

«Let’s have a look what you’ve been up to...»
“How was your poker round, dad?”

“Great, I came out hundred bucks ahe...” Jake stopped himself as he realized what he just blurted out. He looked sheepishly at his daughter who smirked at him.

«Gocha!»
“So the ‘businessmen’s meeting’ went well?”

“Yes. And I did network some. Really, things like that help business. Daria, please don’t tell your mother...”

“Well, I suppose there is no real need to tell her...” Daria still smirked at her father and had now a wicked gleam in her eyes. She had him really in the hot seat.
«Better me than mom.»

Jake knew that smile. It was the smile Helen had when she had someone cornered for good. He did not have to ask, a share of his prize would ensure Daria’s discretion.

“You’re so much like your mother, Daria.”

«No. She’d take all the money AND yell at you.»
“A gentleman does not compare a woman to hermother. But coming from you I take that as an honest compliment.”

They rode in silence until they reached Lawndale’s city limit.

“Are you going to attend the ‘meeting’ next week again, dad?”

“Maybe” was Jake’s meek answer.

“I still have to work out a second ride. Maybe I’ll ask you again.”

Jake parked the Lexus in the Morgendorffer’s driveway, counted three tenners from his wallet once he stopped the engine and gave them to Daria.

Daria was puzzled, she hadn’t even asked for ‘compensation’, but her father had a point, this would get him into serious trouble. A short internal struggle later, Daria handed, to Jake’s visible amazement, two bills back.

“Think of it as a fee for the ride. And I want you to win some more next week. Just remember not to let mom throw you off your guard.”

The smirk between Daria and him told Jake that everything was all right.

*****

Daria did not dawdle and got under the shower after a short “Hello” to her mother in the den. When she came back down to have a small snack and a soda, Quinn, in pajamas, sat on the sofa watching TV at low level. Her mother was still busy with her papers. Noticing her presence, Quinn shot Daria a nasty glance.

“Napped well, sis?” Daria smirked.

Quinn did not dignify that with an answer, but it was obvious that she was peeved. Daria would never understand what her problem with sleeping naked was. Their mother did not even look up from her files.

“I’m gonna go up to my room to catch some zzz’s as well. ’night”

A “Goodnight” from her mother accompanied Daria on her way to the staircase, and was joined by the “Goodnight” of her father, who was busy in the kitchen. Likely fixing himself a drink to celebrate his poker win - and not getting busted by Helen.