FicWad

The Silent Cynic
By Dr. T

Chapter 12—Summer Visit and a Wedding

Looking back, overall Daria was pleased at her first summer in Lawndale. While a bit more humid, the weather overall was a bit better than Highland had been. Neither Daria nor Quinn had been made to endure dance classes, defense classes, or similar activities this summer, and neither had been forced to go to summer camp for a few years. Jane had found, and Daria had then sold, the idea of, several ‘enrichment’ classes at Lawndale State for herself (painting and sketching classes), Daria (a writing class and one on researching genealogy – Daria’s maternal grandmother paid for that one and supplied much of the material for her granddaughter), and even Quinn (two craft courses). Daria would later learn that because of this, her grandmother had added a bit more to her college fund.

These classes took up the girls’ mornings. Quinn went golfing at least twice a week, once with a group of girls from the golf club and once with her father and Daria. Sometimes she went a third time with just a few of the best players from the golf team. By the end of summer, she had actually eliminated her handicap. The rest of the time she spent at one of the two malls with Tori, Stacy, and various other girls. Daria spent the rest of her week with Jane and/or Troy, although there was usually at least one double date per week, sometimes a triple with Jodie and Mack joining. Three times Brittany and Keven joined the other three couples. While Daria did not go to the major summer chess tournaments, she did join Troy in a number of local ones. Quinn of course went to more than a few pool parties and other gatherings over the summer, but the only large party Daria (as well as Jane, Troy, and Paul) had attended was a huge ‘do’ (cookout) the Landons had put on for Jodie and all her acquaintances on the evening of the 4th of July. Overall, Helen was content with both her daughters’ summers, largely because they had arranged the summer school programs without her prompting. That Daria and even Quinn had jumped at the chance Jane had come up with because they dreaded what their mother might have them do did not occur to Helen.

Helen, reflecting in a rare moment of quiet in mid-August, was also more than a bit pleased about the move to Lawndale. While Jake’s business was barely pulling in the low-end of the estimate they had figured when they moved, at least he was above the minimum estimates they had budgeted for. Helen had originally been dismayed that she had been assigned to Eric Schrecter once she had learned how high-strung (and occasionally strung out) and demanding he was. After the incident with Sandi, Vitale had forced Eric (one of the firm’s class action court room attorneys) to give up Helen to Abe Horowitz (the primary estate attorney, who with Vitale and Davis also oversaw the class action cases that the firm handled when they did not handle them themselves). It was a much more pleasant part of the firm to work in, and she had just been named a senior associate, which included directing cases of her own (which often led to bonuses), and a ten percent salary increase.

Quinn, who had been heading towards becoming a social butterfly at Highland, was still a bit too oriented towards casual dating and fashion for Helen’s taste. Still, she had to admit that Jake had been right overall to get Daria and Quinn involved in golf after the attack on the girls. Quinn’s grades for her actual academic classes had all been in the B/B- range for the year (well, mostly B-, not quite as high as she could have earned), and except for the ‘outlet shopping’ incident, she had been fairly well-behaved.

Thanks to Jane and Troy, Daria, although still a determined introvert overall, actually had a decent social life, something Helen was still coming to grips with, as her first instinct was to over-protect Daria (and her second was to always suspect Daria of trying to isolate herself, as she had been doing since she had been a toddler). Her friendships with Jodie, Mack, Paul, and Brittany alone were more than she had ever had in Highland, and she was maintaining decent acquaintanceships and perhaps even friendships with Quinn’s friends Tori and Stacy. If there were any Lawndale equivalents to the two extreme idiots Daria had sometimes hung around in Highland, she was avoiding them here.

On the other hand, while Quinn dated far too widely, Helen knew it was superficial. While that meant she wasn’t worried about Quinn going too far, it did worry Helen that it was so shallow. Sometimes, she also wondered about Quinn’s sexuality. While Helen believed she could accept either daughter coming out, she did know even near the turn of the millennium it wasn’t more than slightly tolerated in most places, and it was still treated hostilely in many sections of the country. Conversations with various therapists over the previous few years had them all acknowledging Quinn had potential intimacy problems, which seemed intensified but not caused by the attack which had so severely injured Daria and left a few superficial physical scars on Quinn’s upper arms. How these issues might resolve themselves was still an open question.

Socially, Daria was still a concern because of the isolation she had always seemed to have chosen for herself even before the extra isolation her muteness sometimes placed her in. Granted, by mid-August she could produce a very slight, raspy whisper, socially she was still basically mute. Unlike the vivacious Quinn, with her ‘normal’ friendships with Tori and Stacy and ‘normal’ set of other (female) friends and very superficial relationships with multiple boys, Daria had a very intimate friendship with Jane, and, Helen suspected, at least a moderately physical and emotional relationship with Troy. She didn’t know how physical either relationship was (she correctly suspected that physically Daria was more involved with Troy than she was with Jane), but she (again correctly) suspected that Daria had stronger and deeper emotional connections with Jane. Again, it was an open question on how these issues might resolve themselves.

While Jane was not mostly Helen’s responsibility, Amanda’s occasional presence (and Vincent’s even more common absences) coupled with Jane’s semi-live in arrangement at the Morgendorffers and her relationship with Daria made Helen view her much more closely than she did any of her children’s other friends. Jane had seemed much more emotionally precarious when she had started coming over than she was now. Helen (correctly) believed that Jane and Paul were more physically involved than Daria and Troy (although Jane and Paul were not yet quite as physically involved as Helen feared and Daria and Troy just a bit more physical than she hoped). She also believed that, like Daria, Jane was more emotionally tied to Daria than she was to Paul.

Helen was unsure about what to do differently with her daughters and pseudo-daughter, therefore she decided that she should just continue to watch, and see what might come up.

After all, this next year couldn’t be as tumultuous as the last.

Then the phone rang.

*

Daria, having just arrived from watching ‘Sick, Sad, World’ at Jane’s, looked at her mother in confusion, as Helen was standing on a step ladder in front of the hall closet, muttering to herself, “It wasn’t in the attic; it wasn’t in the basement. Where can it be?”

Quinn came down the stairs, and Daria turned to Quinn. ‘What is up with her?’

Quinn shrugged. “Beats me. I just got back about half an hour ago. She was on the phone, and then tore up to the attic and then down to the cellar.” She gestured at the still-muttering Helen. “And here we are.”

“Found it!” Helen carefully extracted a box from the top shelf and made it down the ladder without incident.

“What is THAT?” Quinn demanded, hoping that the box contained something other than its original contents.

It did not. “A bread maker.” Seeing the look on her daughters’ faces, Helen explained. “Our best friends at the old commune were the Yeagers, and they’re coming for a visit. I can’t feed them store-bought bread!” She moved towards the kitchen, again muttering as she went. “I was famous for my multi-grains not to mention the oatmeal….”

Daria and Quinn looked at each other as their mother’s voice trailed off. ‘This is not going to be fun,’ Daria signed.

‘Mom, Dad, and their commune friends?’ Quinn signed back, unwilling to be overheard. ‘I think it will be worse.’


In the end, Daria had very little interaction with the Yeagers; neither they nor their son had any knowledge of sign language and Daria did not find any of them interesting. Both she and Quinn did try to listen to the interactions between their parents and Willow and Coyote just to see if there was any dirt available, but it seemed as if all four had spent much of their mutual commune time after graduating college either wrapped in their individual self-centered bubbles or in a haze of smoke that had nothing to do with tobacco. Granted, getting that last bit of information confirmed was gratifying to both sisters, but not of immediate use and, to Daria, not worth the rambling remanences that proved the point. She was therefore content to spend her afternoons ‘playing chess’ at Troy’s (some actual chess was played, but not all the time spent when his mother was not present was spent at the chess board) and evenings at Jane’s when neither she nor Jane were on a date with their respective boyfriends.

Quinn was somewhat distracted by young Ethan Yeager; she thought he was cute and couldn’t understand why he wasn’t interested in her in the slightest for some days. One evening, when she had enticed him to Pizza Prince and introduced him to the Three Js (all still determined to win Quinn’s heart rather than allow one of the other two to win) and she saw Ethan’s reaction, she understood his lack of interest in her (and lack of interest in Daria, Jane, Stacy, and Tori for that matter).

It took a few days for the Morgendorffer household to regain what equilibrium it usually had once the Yeagers had left, but finally Jake was fully shaven, Helen was again working 10-12 hour days (usually defending corporations), lasagna with meat was back on the menu at least twice a week, and the odd stink in the garage had cleared off. That Wednesday, Daria and Quinn entered the house together – they and all their friends had attended a late afternoon matinee viewing of ‘Les Misérables’. The pair hoped they had consumed enough popcorn (Daria’s with extra butter, Quinn’s without) that they wouldn’t want much of the lasagna – their mother had bought a number of trays of a new brand that had had a ’special introductory price’ and no one liked it – even Helen and Quinn were adding the dried Italian spices Daria had started using a few months before and as well as minute amounts of Jake’s hot sauces to the lasagna (Jane’s usage of the hot sauce, when she had sampled this particular lasagna, had equaled Jake’s), but Helen wanted to use up all she had purchased before switching again.

The pair’s wary mood on entering went to deep concern when they heard their mother on the phone, “Oh, Rita, I already agreed that it sounds lovely! I’m sure everything will be just wonderful!” They both recognized the tone – it was one that tried to show some form of positivity, but which actually meant she was holding her temper with difficulty.

The girls looked at their father, trying to hide behind his paper. Seeing the girls, he laid the paper on the table and signed, ‘Your cousin Erin is getting married in a few weeks.’ He shuddered slightly. ‘There is going to be hell to pay.’

The girls exchanged glances as they heard their mother finish the call. “Well,” Helen told the pair in an even more artificially bright voice as she turned to them, “your cousin Erin is getting married two weeks from Saturday – two days before Labor Day. Isn’t that lovely?”

‘That’s awfully short notice, even for a small wedding….” Daria signed. She then signed, ‘Is it so soon because she is….’

“Oh, no, she’s not pregnant.” Helen had asked. “And it’s certainly not going to be small!” A snarl entered Helen’s voice. “They’re having it at Windsor Hills Resort….”

“Wow, that’s going to set Rita back….” Jake thought about the resort – he had seen a number of golf tournaments set there on TV. It would be wonderful to play….

“Rita isn’t paying for it!” Helen snapped, interrupted Jake’s daydream. “Rita, Amy, and I together couldn’t pay for it! Mother is paying for it all, and they’re having then because there was a cancellation, otherwise they’d have to wait until November, and Mother doesn’t want an autumnal wedding. She’s rented the entire resort!” Helen glowered, and muttered, “At least Rita claims Erin isn’t pregnant.”

“Oo, can I get a nice dress, maybe something formal?” Quinn piped up.

“You both are; you’re both going to be bridesmaids,” Helen stated, then she growled again, “I made sure of that.” Actually, when Helen had brought it up Rita had claimed that their mother had already proposed the idea with Erin agreeing, but Helen wasn’t sure she believed it.


‘I can not wear that dress!’ Daria emphatically signed a few days later, when her ‘custom-fitted’ bridesmaid dress arrived. ‘I will not wear that dress.’

“Daria, it’s a perfectly lovely dress,” Helen insisted, exasperated at her elder daughter’s typical refusal to conform.

‘Wait here, and I will show you,’ Daria retorted. ‘Ask Quinn in, too.’

Helen decided the quickest way to solve the problem was to go along, and she had Quinn come into Daria’s room while Daria put on the bridesmaid dress in the bathroom.

When Daria entered her room, Helen was speechless; Quinn’s reaction was, “Eek!” followed by “How did they butcher that dress?” *

After a moment’s more silence, Daria signed, ‘Well?’

“You’re right,” Helen had to admit. “I wonder who we can get to fix it?”

“Stacy could help,” Quinn answered. “Daria and I did more than alright in the sewing parts of Home Ec.” They had both taken terms of Home Economics each year in Middle School. “Stacy’s even better. It might not look as well-tailored as my version, but it will look a lot better than this!”

‘Jane is good as well,’ Daria added.


In the end, Daria’s dress did not fit as well as Quinn’s, but it looked as nice as the other gowns. On reason for the fit was that the team of teens had left a bit more of the material than they would have if they had wanted a perfect fit – Daria was still far from a fan of things like formal gowns, and this would allow any slight alternations which might be needed for her to wear this to the Snow Ball in December, and perhaps even the Prom if things continued to work out well with Troy.

While Quinn was rather enthusiastic about the whole idea of participating in the wedding, Daria was not. It was not that she disliked her cousin in any way; what little contact the sisters had had with Erin over the years had made all three very modest allies against the incessant war their mothers fought, even if it was clear that Erin was their grandmother’s favorite. Daria had merely decided a few years before that Erin was the favorite because she was the eldest (as opposed to Helen’s belief that it was because Rita was their mother’s favorite), and that Quinn was a bit favored over Daria because she was the baby – Daria knew what ‘mid-child syndrome’ was.

The quickness of the marriage, it turned out the two had only met less than a year before, was still a mystery as Labor Day weekend approached. The fact that she was going to have to be on display (and be without the support of either Troy or Jane) had Daria slightly anxious. Daria had hoped that Troy might be allowed to accompany her, but in the end she would have to rely on Quinn, perhaps spelled by Amy, as her interpreter. To Daria’s slight surprise, Troy had been willing to give up a moderately large tournament to escort her. To her greater surprise, her mother had tried to get Troy an invitation, as Daria’s interpreter as well as escort, with Quinn’s support on top of it. However, the guest list was already at the resort’s capacity – Mrs. Barksdale had actually managed to rent the entire hotel complex despite the short time-scale and it being Labor Day Weekend – she had had to pay a huge premium. Still, Daria had been very pleased by the efforts of her mother and Quinn to accommodate her, and thankful to Troy as well. She made sure all three knew she appreciated their efforts.

While all this was working itself out and towards the actual wedding, Daria started her junior year of high school. While she was hoping for at least a different science teacher, all her instructors remained the same. The Thursday before the wedding, Daria went with Troy to his house. By this time, his mother trusted them enough not to insist they stay within her sight. They therefore went to the attic, and after a few moments of hugging and kissing, the pair sat down for a deep discussion. Daria had perfect scores from her PSATs the spring before, and so was receiving information from a number of universities. She was still unsure of a major, however. Troy on the other hand had decided to go for a degree in history (while sure it would be European history, he was uncertain if it would be ancient, medieval, or modern history), in hopes of becoming a college professor. He had also scored perfect PSATs in his sophomore year, and had scored 1500 (800 verbal, 700 math) on his SATs, and had already earned 800s in the French, English, and History achievement tests. He had been thinking of pursuing a similar path but in political science, musicology, or art history, but learning the amount of statistics he would need for graduate school in political science and the amount of work needed for musicology (and the even tougher academic job markets for musicology and art history than in history) helped him decide where to at least start.

Daria had written to a number of colleges and universities when she had arrived in Lawndale, and had sent follow-up letters based on the solicitations she had received, all inquiring about what accommodations would be available for her, considering her vocal limitations. By this point, she had widened her search through most of central and eastern Pennsylvania and New York, as well as southern New England. While none were fully accommodating, most of those which responded at least showed there would be help available for her, or accommodations made (several of the schools which had requirements for some sort of speech/public speaking class offered waivers or substitutes, for example). Troy, to Daria’s slight embarrassment as well as pleasure, was not going to apply to those few schools which had not responded to Daria, or which had not been encouraging or accommodating.

In addition, to apply to all the colleges and universities, an application fee was required, some fairly substantial. Troy was basically limited to applying to six institutions. Unlike Daria or Quinn, who could likely go to college almost anywhere if they really wanted to, Troy knew he was likely limited to mostly those places well under a three-hour drive away, and more likely under a two-hour drive. He would also either have to go to a Maryland state institution or earn substantial scholarships. Fortunately, given Lawndale’s location, the overall possibilities included a wide range of institutions not only in Maryland, but in parts of Pennsylvania, Virginia, southern New Jersey, Delaware, and even a bit of West Virginia, plus of course Washington DC. He knew he would apply to Lawndale State as his safety school and the University of Maryland itself, but that left four other choices.

Daria was both a little pleased and uncomfortable to be involved, since Troy was going to eliminate those places Daria would not be applying to. After dinner, the pair continued to go over choices, and in the end they narrowed down the other choices to five. Troy would either have to come up with at least an extra $75 application fee or eliminate one. While the amount wasn’t much, that would be on top of all the other application fees, and he was paying for all the ones outside of Lawndale State out of his own pocket.

To Troy’s shock, Daria kissed him very sweetly and offered to pay the extra fee; after all, in a sense, he was doing this for her. Troy, knowing how Daria regarded money, was very touched.


As for the wedding, while Quinn had been impressed by the resort, Daria was shocked at the luxury. She was even more shocked when she saw how overpriced everything seemed to be when she looked up costs – the cost of the wedding and reception would have paid for multiple years’ tuition at any university in the US, even figuring in all the other costs of a university. That did not take into account the premium paid to reserve the resort facilities on short notice over Labor Day. While her escort Luhrman was understanding, Daria had a great deal of difficulty getting the rest of the bridal party to understand she was mute and to get most of the others to understand that she was not also deaf. Fortunately, with some help from Quinn and Amy, they were convinced to at least let Daria be. Luhrman was happy to fill in the silence with his droll sarcastic remarks, which Daria actually enjoyed. Since purses were not part of the bridesmaid outfits, Amy was more than willing to carry Daria’s little whiteboard during the ceremony and official photos.

Up until the midpoint of the reception, Daria had thought the experience nowhere nearly as bad as she had anticipated. Granted, there had been some tense moments between Helen and Rita upon their arrival, but Amy’s arrival had smoothed that over. Despite the threatening clouds, the rain held off until most of the guests were at the indoor reception; there had been no minor, let alone major, glitches at the ceremony itself, and the reception started off well.

It was at this point that events rather rapidly spiraled out of control in at least two directions. Although Daria hadn’t noticed at the time, Quinn was at her most flirtatious, attracting the attention of a groomsman, three other guests, and even the (much older) minister. While the would-be suitors’ posturing was occurring at the far side of the reception hall and in a corridor just off the room, Daria’s attention was drawn to her Aunt Rita, who swooped down on Helen, who was already on at least her third glass of sparkling wine.

Daria’s attention was temporarily diverted by Erin’s dragging Brian over to meet her. Daria was not impressed; he seemed rather full of himself, but Daria decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, despite the fact that Luhrman didn’t seem to think much of the groom either.

It was after Erin and Brian left that Daria noticed that there seemed to be a growing disturbance in the far corner, and that in addition to there being another empty glass in front of her mother, there was a nearly empty glass in her hand. Rita was standing in a rather confrontational manner in front of her sister.

Daria glanced up as Amy came up to her. “It looks like there are two battles about to erupt. Unless you really want to get involved in either, I suggest we get out of here.”

Glancing around, Daria frowned. ‘I do not see Quinn. Is she involved?’

“She is, at least peripherally, but she’s not going to get hurt.” She glanced at Luhrman. “You in?”

“I think I’m far enough away to avoid any damage, so I think I’ll stay and watch the carnage.” He held out his hand. “It was nice to meet you. Send me an email.”

Daria smiled slightly and shook his hand, glad they had exchanged emails. Then she wisely made her escape with Amy.

Daria was glad to have a chance to talk with Amy privately. Amy was curious about how Daria’s relationship with Troy was progressing, as she felt she probably had a good idea of how the rest of Daria’s life was going. Considering their ages – Daria would be seventeen in November, while Troy be eighteen the following June – she didn’t think the pair had yet been overly physical so far. Amy’s concerns were somewhat satisfied when she learned that while ‘second base’ had been well-covered (while still mostly clothed), the pair was still only on the verge of going further.

Signing, Amy gave Daria a series of ideas and tips for future use which made her niece blush furiously, but for which she was certainly grateful.



*In ‘I Don’t,’ Daria must have known the dress wouldn’t fit; granted it was played for comedy at the wedding, but I think Daria would have done something about fixing that dress somehow.