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Finishing Lawndale, and a New Beginning
0 reviewsThe end of Daria's high school years come to a close; she and Jane prepare for college. Quinn asks for advice.
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The Silent Cynic
By Dr. T
Chapter 26—Finishing Lawndale, and a New Beginning
Erin’s divorce was scuttled that Friday when Mrs. Barksdale called to announce that the couple had reconciled and would be spending the next month in Europe on a second honeymoon. As disturbed as this made Helen, to her surprise Rita was even more upset (granted more because Brian would still be in her daughter’s life than the amount her mother was spending on the couple). When she left on Saturday morning, peace seemed to return to the house.
That afternoon, Daria took Quinn and Jane out to lunch at a new Mediterranean-style bistro that had opened a few weeks before. Afterwards, they went to Jane’s, so Quinn could reveal what was on her mind.
Quinn nervously looked at the two. Finally, she said, “How do you guys handle being in a threesome?”
Daria and Jane looked at each other, each trying to figure out an answer. After a long pause, Jane decided to answer, even as she took Daria hand. “Well, we aren’t in a threesome. That is, I have never been with Daria when Troy is with her, and she certainly has never been with me when Paul or Tom were with me. Troy and I like each other, and maybe someday we’ll gang up on your sister and drive her mad with ecstasy, but we have done it yet.”
Daria was blushing quite a lot at that while Jane was smiling at her lover’s embarrassment. Jane carried on, “I take it you, Tori, and Stacy are moving in that direction?” she asked directly.
Quinn was now blushing even more than her sister. “We…the three of us…well, you see, last Saturday….”
“I don’t think we need the details; I think we get the main idea!” Jane interrupted. Daria nodded a vigorous agreement.
Daria freed her hand. ‘Are Tori and Stacy really interested in each other, or are they interested in you and willing to be with you at the same time?’
Quinn almost instantly answered, but then thought about that for a bit. “I could be wrong, but I think they are both more into me than I am into them together….” She blushed again at her inadvertent inuendo.
‘Do you care for one more than the other?’ Seeing Quinn’s questioning look, Daria went on, ‘I love Jane and Troy both equally and differently. So, while I would certainly say I love them both, care for them both, like both, am passionate about both, they are not interchangeable in any way. I have thought about this often. It would crush me to lose either; I am so grateful that they are willing to share me. And that is how I think of it. They share me with the other; their friendship as well as how they feel about me allows this, and I know I am so lucky. I am the center, but neither Jane nor Troy is subordinate to the other, and neither are subordinate to me.’ She looked at Jane. ‘At least, I hope you both feel the same.’ Jane leaned over and kissed Daria’s cheek.
“H’mmm,” Quinn responded thoughtfully, ignoring Jane’s actions. “I’ll have to think about this.” She grimaced. “Of course, the fact that Troy will be less than a two-hour drive from you next year will help. Tori is off to Tulane, and will be staying with an aunt there instead of coming back here very often.”
To that, Daria and Jane could only wish Quinn good luck in sorting out her relationships. Daria was a bit more optimistic about any relationship between Stacy and Quinn than she would have been a year before. Stacy, while still shy and a bit submissive, had grown a bit more confident over the previous fifteen months. Quinn would be the dominant partner in any relationship, but not to the point she would have been.
*
‘Naming gazebo?’ Daria shook her head. ‘I swear, I do not know which of our parents did more drugs.’
“I know,” Jane agreed. It was Monday, May 1, and the pair was walking towards school. Daria had been busy at a chess tournament in Baltimore that weekend.
‘Were any of the band hurt?’ Mystic Spiral had recorded their first CD album, on a small but professional label. The band had been trying to get a set of publicity photos for the web site that Jane and Daria had largely put together, and which was managed by Jesse’s younger brother. Between the rundown gazebo itself and a faulty smoke machine, the attempts at the gazebo had ended early in disaster for the structure.
“Nah, not at all,” Jane answered. “One photo was even usable, if not quite what they were hoping for.”
‘Are you really going to rebuild it?’
Jane rolled her eyes. “Hell no. I have a contractor coming to give me an estimate this afternoon. I’ll send it on to Wind. If he wants it rebuilt, he can pay for it.”
‘Sounds like a solid plan.’
That evening, Helen asked Quinn and Daria to meet her at her office after school the next day, and that Jane should come along. Despite some prodding, neither could get any hint from their mother, and their father was at a business dinner and so could not be pumped.
The three teens gathered in Helen’s office that Tuesday a little after four. While still a bit worried, this was now because Daria and Quinn thought it likely that Helen would be doling out summer assignments, and they all doubted they would be as fun as the previous summer’s.
“Have you figured out what this might be about?” Helen asked them when they entered her office.
“This summer?” Quinn answered.
Helen nodded. “Have any of you three any solid plans at the moment?” Despite some quick brainstorming over the previous evening and morning, they had to admit they had not come up with anything.
“I thought not. Quinn, you hope to have some type of career in either the entertainment or fashion industries. Lawndale State is offering two summer classes I think you should take, and since you will be a rising senior you may take them for college credit – so that would be six credits you won’t have to take later on. One is an introduction to acting class, and the other is called ‘The Business of Entertainment Media.’ That will give you some background to both performance and the business end in that field. Each meets in the second summer session, that will give you two weeks in June between the end of school and the start of session two.”
Quinn was not thrilled by the second course, but had to admit it might be useful.
“Jane, I found a summer one ‘Intro to Math’ class for you. Ms Li has agreed to let you leave school for it, since it starts while school is still meeting. It does not overlap in time with your actual high school classes. Daria, hopefully you would tutor Jane?”
Daria nodded.
“Jane?”
Jane sighed. “I know, I will have to do a math class in college sooner or later. Better to get it over when I can concentrate on it, I guess. Thanks, Missus M.”
Helen then smirked. “I have something special planned for you two starting in July, but that will be a surprise then. I promise you, you will both love it. Daria, you will of course concentrate on your writing, as well as tutoring Jane in June.” She smiled slyly. “I’ll make you a deal.” She slid a file over. “Give me a short story to submit to one of these magazines by June twenty-third – that’s a Friday – and we’ll call it square.”
Daria could only agree to what appeared to be a bargain, even if she was very suspicious of what might be behind the offer.
Despite trying over the next month, neither Jane nor Daria could get more details out of Helen. There would be one surprise for Daria after graduation – Daria, who had tried a few different types in the past with unsatisfactory results, found a vocalizer (such as tracheostomy patients used) she felt comfortable with. While it would earn her some stares when she used it, and she preferred to use ASL when possible, she was grateful for the extra option.
*
Two Saturdays later, Daria and Troy were attending Daria’s senior Prom. ‘You are looking pensive,’ Daria commented as they sat down after a slow dance.
“I was just thinking, since you are as unlikely to join a sorority as I am to join a frat, this might be the last formal dance we attend.”
‘Very likely,’ Daria agreed. ‘If we find we miss it, as unlikely as that sounds, I am sure we can find somewhere to go.’ She smiled. ‘We can always waltz somewhere.’
“True.”
‘So, do you have all the routes down to Chesapeake planned?’ Daria teased.
Troy smiled. “Not yet – I don’t know where you’ll be living so the details will have to wait. Not to mention I still haven’t found a cheap enough car in good enough condition.”
Daria nodded. ‘I am not sure, but I think Mother will be taking me apartment hunting in August.’ She smiled very slightly. ‘I assure you, you will be among the first to get the address.’
The pair exchanged a brief kiss, broken up as the band took a short break. Jane was sitting out the Prom and Troy’s friend Paul was as well. Instead, they were sharing a table with Quinn, Stacy, and Tori along with their dates. Those three would be going to an after-Prom party, while planning on then all three going back to Stacy’s to spend the night afterwards.
Before anyone could say much, however, Jodie and Mack came over. “Daria, Tori, I hope you both will be at my after-graduation party?”
Both seniors agreed that they were certainly planning on it. Jodie had made it clear to Daria the day before (when the first round of invitations were given out) that Troy was invited. Since she was not certain of the status of Tori’s relationship with a senior from another area school, she did not mention bringing dates at the moment. Addressing the juniors, Jodie went on, “I think my parents will agree to my inviting a few juniors as well, I’ll let you know as soon as I can.”
*
A few days later, a not very happy Helen was busy trying to restock a new refrigerator. She had had to come home early to take delivery, not to mention unload the old fridge before the new one arrived. At that moment, Quinn wandered into the kitchen, having just gotten home.
“Oh, good! It arrived.” Quinn paused with a frown as she saw her mother staring out the window. “Is something wrong?”
“Even though they took away the old refrigerator, they left the box this one came in,” Helen told her. “I asked Daria to drag it out the curb since tomorrow is recycling, but she’s just staring at it. Could you go see what’s wrong?”
“Sure,” Quinn agreed.
Helen kept looking out the window as she tried to put everything she could salvage away. She saw the two girls signing, but since they were in profile she was uncertain of what they were saying. After nearly ten minutes, Quinn gave Daria a hug and the two dragged the box to the curb together.
Finished with the fridge, Helen sat at the breakfast table as the two came back. Quinn simply passed through with a nod while Daria came and sat across from her mother. “What is it, Sweetie?” Helen asked.
‘The box reminded me of something, well, caused a couple of flashbacks to things we went over in therapy,’ Daria admitted.
“And those were?” Helen asked carefully.
‘That argument you and Dad had over me back when I started school, the one where he stormed out and spent the night in a hotel.’
Helen nodded; there had been more than one session, both in Highland and that first spring in Lawndale, where that incident and the events leading up to it had been worked on. “And the box?”
‘I had a similar box at the time, remember?’
Helen thought hard, and then nodded. “I had forgotten that, but you’re right.”
‘I hid in it that night; I felt safe there.’ Daria stared off into the distance.
Helen smiled. “I remember now. Your father came back early the next morning. He looked in on you and was startled when he didn’t find you in bed. Fortunately, he looked in your box before he panicked. He pulled you out and put you in bed. It seemed to make things better for both of you at the time.”
‘It probably made me feel wanted, and even a bit safer.’ Daria sighed. ‘I rarely felt safe in Highland, even before the attack.’
“Do you feel safe, or at least safer, now?” Helen’s tone was still tentative.
Daria sighed. ‘When I am alone out in the world, especially when crowded, not so much. When I am with Jane, Troy, Quinn, and a few others, much more so.’ She gave her mother a slightly sad look. ‘I have been lucky here in town. Going away to college worries me almost as much as I am…enthused about it.’
Helen smiled and briefly held Daria’s hand before saying, “I understand. That’s one reason I’m glad Jane will be with you.”
Daria briefly returned the smile.
*
Daria and her friends’ actual graduation went smoothly. To the shock of some, Kevin actually graduated with them – it was close, but while Daria had done some tutoring with Brittany (although nearly as much as she had Jane), Brittany had tried to do the same with Kevin. He had just managed to squeak through, barely passing his Social Science and Language Arts classes, and only slightly better in many of his other classes. He would be attending a junior college that had a football program, although he would only make it through his first semester there. That would be enough to get him a short career in semi-professional football. He did try a few walk-ons, but was never picked up for even an NFL practice squad.
Brittany and the other cheerleaders would be attending a Division II college noted for both its football and cheerleading squads. Other than appearing in a Playboy lay out of ‘Girls of…,’ Brittany would never have a career in any media. She would marry one of the football players, one that did go on to a brief NFL career, and he actually ended up owning a small chain of auto dealerships.
Mack was off to a different but similar Division II college (Vance). Like Brittany’s future husband, he also had a brief NFL career (three seasons, in each case). Rather than auto dealerships, Mack invested his money in a chain of fast oil-change shops. Jodie managed to talk her parents into allowing her to go to the HBCU she wanted, so long as she went to get her MBA at the university her father had longed to go to. She made a small fortune in investment banking, getting out just before the big scandal and crash of the industry – she found a more comfortable lifestyle in helping Netflix develop programming. She and Mack broke up during their Sophomore year of college, but both had found spouses well before they were thirty. The pair remained friends, as well as friends with Daria, Jane, and Brittany.
All this was in the future that June of course. Jodie gave a nice, basic speech as the valedictorian (her only competition would have been Daria, who was disqualified as she had not attended all four years at Lawndale High). Daria did win the Dian Fossey Award for Outstanding Academics, but was not allowed to try and make a speech. She had therefore just raised the trophy and smiled at the crowd.
Jodie’s party was very well-attended, nearly every senior was there, as well as their dates and about half of the junior class. Jane pointed out when Upchuck left early, surprisingly with Andrea of all people. Daria however went to speak to Quinn when Tori left early, leaving the younger teen looking a bit distraught.
‘Tori’s leaving Tuesday,’ Quinn signed to her sister. ‘She has known for a while, but did not want to say until tonight.’
‘I am sorry,’ Daria told her sister.
‘I did not think it would last past this summer, but I had hoped it would last until then,’ Quinn admitted.
Daria gave her sister a gentle smile and then motioned Stacy over. Stacy gave Quinn a hug, and Daria suggested, ‘You two take my car, Jane and I will walk home.’
Quinn gave her sister a hug in thanks, and then Stacy did the same.
*
The first Monday of July was the third, and Helen had the day off. She had ordered Daria and Jane to be dressed and present at her SUV by 8:30. Daria was ready well before then, and Jane managed to arrive just in time. After about ten minutes it was clear where they were heading – towards Chesapeake College, even if it was closer to a two-hour drive than 90 minutes. They figured they were going apartment hunting.
Instead, Helen pulled up to the office of an apartment complex on the outskirts of the small town where the college was located, and about a twelve-minute drive from campus (which was on the opposite side of town). The complex consisted of twelve sets of twin buildings, each building with four units, for a total of 96. Helen quickly had them being led to one of the buildings. Each building had a second-level small one bedroom apartment over four parking spaces. The rest of the building had three narrow but two-level three-bedroom apartments (with a cellar). There was a sidewalk between it and a matching building, where the entrances were. There was a small fenced-in patio, then a small patch of grass before a matching patio to the next building and so forth around the semi-circle of the complex.
The top level of the apartments had a small front bedroom next to the stairs, a small full bath, a smaller middle bedroom with no window, and a longer, larger back bedroom overlooking the patio. The group went to the furthest apartment in the unit. “Your Aunt Rita must have really gone to bat for you,” Helen told Daria. “Basically, what Mother’s come up with for you will pay for this place for the next three years. You will have to pay for electricity, water, phone, and your internet, plus food, your car, and so forth. Do you two like it?”
On the one hand, there was a highway about sixty feet behind the building (separated from the complex by trees and hedges; on the other they would have neighbors on only one side of them. Daria and Jane therefore could only nod. “I will have to co-sign everything. Jane, be sure not to get paint everywhere! Now, you two look around while I go up and finish the paperwork. I’ll take you to get the water and so forth set up, so come up to the office when you’re done here – try not to take more than fifteen minutes. Oh, and your father and I will put a thousand into your account. Amy kicked in five hundred, and Jane, your parents will do the same for you. That will give you two thousand to furnish the place.” With that Helen walked down the stairs.
The two looked around a bit more, and then explored the ground floor and basement. The ground floor had the entrance, a closet on the left and the stairs on the right, a half-bath, the galley kitchen, and a large area as the living/dining room. The cellar was just cinder blocks and a concrete floor. There were hookups for a washer and dryer, and a utility sink.
Daria pointed at the sink. ‘Clean-up for your acrylic and watercolor brushes, nowhere else, and no oil painting!’
“Agreed, and I’ll get a tarp or something to lay down. We need to come back with a tape measure before we start buying stuff.”
‘Agreed.’
*
The two would not fully move into their apartment until towards the end of the month. Jane would use the large well-lit back bedroom as her room – she laid protection on the floor and nearby walls to prevent paint spills and splatter, and she had a narrow set of shelves for supplies, a small work desk, and a dresser for some of her clothes, and each bedroom had a small closet.
The small middle bedroom was their bedroom – there was just enough room for a queen-sized bed and a tall dresser (where they kept their underwear and nightclothes), while their few formal clothes went into the common closet. The front bedroom was Daria’s workspace, with bookshelves, computer/work desk, a dresser, plus it also had a small closet.
The living/dining room had a utilitarian dining table and four chairs. They also bought a sofa bed (for Daria and Troy when Troy would visit, or if Jane got a boyfriend), two armchairs, an end table and lamp, and a large TV. They also had to buy a fridge for the kitchen and a small washer and dryer. Other than that, most of the rest of the furnishings they brought with them, other than dishes etc. for the kitchen and a few odds and ends like a shower curtain.
When the pair had moved in, it was still rather spartan overall, but they were happy with the results. When Quinn had seen it, she had rolled her eyes, but as far as the pair was concerned, they had good sets of blinds, so why spend money on curtains? The armchairs didn’t match each other or the sofa bed, but they did not care. Each had picked a chair that they felt was the most comfortable. In the end, Quinn gave up.
Daria and Jane would be quite happy with their apartment.
By Dr. T
Chapter 26—Finishing Lawndale, and a New Beginning
Erin’s divorce was scuttled that Friday when Mrs. Barksdale called to announce that the couple had reconciled and would be spending the next month in Europe on a second honeymoon. As disturbed as this made Helen, to her surprise Rita was even more upset (granted more because Brian would still be in her daughter’s life than the amount her mother was spending on the couple). When she left on Saturday morning, peace seemed to return to the house.
That afternoon, Daria took Quinn and Jane out to lunch at a new Mediterranean-style bistro that had opened a few weeks before. Afterwards, they went to Jane’s, so Quinn could reveal what was on her mind.
Quinn nervously looked at the two. Finally, she said, “How do you guys handle being in a threesome?”
Daria and Jane looked at each other, each trying to figure out an answer. After a long pause, Jane decided to answer, even as she took Daria hand. “Well, we aren’t in a threesome. That is, I have never been with Daria when Troy is with her, and she certainly has never been with me when Paul or Tom were with me. Troy and I like each other, and maybe someday we’ll gang up on your sister and drive her mad with ecstasy, but we have done it yet.”
Daria was blushing quite a lot at that while Jane was smiling at her lover’s embarrassment. Jane carried on, “I take it you, Tori, and Stacy are moving in that direction?” she asked directly.
Quinn was now blushing even more than her sister. “We…the three of us…well, you see, last Saturday….”
“I don’t think we need the details; I think we get the main idea!” Jane interrupted. Daria nodded a vigorous agreement.
Daria freed her hand. ‘Are Tori and Stacy really interested in each other, or are they interested in you and willing to be with you at the same time?’
Quinn almost instantly answered, but then thought about that for a bit. “I could be wrong, but I think they are both more into me than I am into them together….” She blushed again at her inadvertent inuendo.
‘Do you care for one more than the other?’ Seeing Quinn’s questioning look, Daria went on, ‘I love Jane and Troy both equally and differently. So, while I would certainly say I love them both, care for them both, like both, am passionate about both, they are not interchangeable in any way. I have thought about this often. It would crush me to lose either; I am so grateful that they are willing to share me. And that is how I think of it. They share me with the other; their friendship as well as how they feel about me allows this, and I know I am so lucky. I am the center, but neither Jane nor Troy is subordinate to the other, and neither are subordinate to me.’ She looked at Jane. ‘At least, I hope you both feel the same.’ Jane leaned over and kissed Daria’s cheek.
“H’mmm,” Quinn responded thoughtfully, ignoring Jane’s actions. “I’ll have to think about this.” She grimaced. “Of course, the fact that Troy will be less than a two-hour drive from you next year will help. Tori is off to Tulane, and will be staying with an aunt there instead of coming back here very often.”
To that, Daria and Jane could only wish Quinn good luck in sorting out her relationships. Daria was a bit more optimistic about any relationship between Stacy and Quinn than she would have been a year before. Stacy, while still shy and a bit submissive, had grown a bit more confident over the previous fifteen months. Quinn would be the dominant partner in any relationship, but not to the point she would have been.
*
‘Naming gazebo?’ Daria shook her head. ‘I swear, I do not know which of our parents did more drugs.’
“I know,” Jane agreed. It was Monday, May 1, and the pair was walking towards school. Daria had been busy at a chess tournament in Baltimore that weekend.
‘Were any of the band hurt?’ Mystic Spiral had recorded their first CD album, on a small but professional label. The band had been trying to get a set of publicity photos for the web site that Jane and Daria had largely put together, and which was managed by Jesse’s younger brother. Between the rundown gazebo itself and a faulty smoke machine, the attempts at the gazebo had ended early in disaster for the structure.
“Nah, not at all,” Jane answered. “One photo was even usable, if not quite what they were hoping for.”
‘Are you really going to rebuild it?’
Jane rolled her eyes. “Hell no. I have a contractor coming to give me an estimate this afternoon. I’ll send it on to Wind. If he wants it rebuilt, he can pay for it.”
‘Sounds like a solid plan.’
That evening, Helen asked Quinn and Daria to meet her at her office after school the next day, and that Jane should come along. Despite some prodding, neither could get any hint from their mother, and their father was at a business dinner and so could not be pumped.
The three teens gathered in Helen’s office that Tuesday a little after four. While still a bit worried, this was now because Daria and Quinn thought it likely that Helen would be doling out summer assignments, and they all doubted they would be as fun as the previous summer’s.
“Have you figured out what this might be about?” Helen asked them when they entered her office.
“This summer?” Quinn answered.
Helen nodded. “Have any of you three any solid plans at the moment?” Despite some quick brainstorming over the previous evening and morning, they had to admit they had not come up with anything.
“I thought not. Quinn, you hope to have some type of career in either the entertainment or fashion industries. Lawndale State is offering two summer classes I think you should take, and since you will be a rising senior you may take them for college credit – so that would be six credits you won’t have to take later on. One is an introduction to acting class, and the other is called ‘The Business of Entertainment Media.’ That will give you some background to both performance and the business end in that field. Each meets in the second summer session, that will give you two weeks in June between the end of school and the start of session two.”
Quinn was not thrilled by the second course, but had to admit it might be useful.
“Jane, I found a summer one ‘Intro to Math’ class for you. Ms Li has agreed to let you leave school for it, since it starts while school is still meeting. It does not overlap in time with your actual high school classes. Daria, hopefully you would tutor Jane?”
Daria nodded.
“Jane?”
Jane sighed. “I know, I will have to do a math class in college sooner or later. Better to get it over when I can concentrate on it, I guess. Thanks, Missus M.”
Helen then smirked. “I have something special planned for you two starting in July, but that will be a surprise then. I promise you, you will both love it. Daria, you will of course concentrate on your writing, as well as tutoring Jane in June.” She smiled slyly. “I’ll make you a deal.” She slid a file over. “Give me a short story to submit to one of these magazines by June twenty-third – that’s a Friday – and we’ll call it square.”
Daria could only agree to what appeared to be a bargain, even if she was very suspicious of what might be behind the offer.
Despite trying over the next month, neither Jane nor Daria could get more details out of Helen. There would be one surprise for Daria after graduation – Daria, who had tried a few different types in the past with unsatisfactory results, found a vocalizer (such as tracheostomy patients used) she felt comfortable with. While it would earn her some stares when she used it, and she preferred to use ASL when possible, she was grateful for the extra option.
*
Two Saturdays later, Daria and Troy were attending Daria’s senior Prom. ‘You are looking pensive,’ Daria commented as they sat down after a slow dance.
“I was just thinking, since you are as unlikely to join a sorority as I am to join a frat, this might be the last formal dance we attend.”
‘Very likely,’ Daria agreed. ‘If we find we miss it, as unlikely as that sounds, I am sure we can find somewhere to go.’ She smiled. ‘We can always waltz somewhere.’
“True.”
‘So, do you have all the routes down to Chesapeake planned?’ Daria teased.
Troy smiled. “Not yet – I don’t know where you’ll be living so the details will have to wait. Not to mention I still haven’t found a cheap enough car in good enough condition.”
Daria nodded. ‘I am not sure, but I think Mother will be taking me apartment hunting in August.’ She smiled very slightly. ‘I assure you, you will be among the first to get the address.’
The pair exchanged a brief kiss, broken up as the band took a short break. Jane was sitting out the Prom and Troy’s friend Paul was as well. Instead, they were sharing a table with Quinn, Stacy, and Tori along with their dates. Those three would be going to an after-Prom party, while planning on then all three going back to Stacy’s to spend the night afterwards.
Before anyone could say much, however, Jodie and Mack came over. “Daria, Tori, I hope you both will be at my after-graduation party?”
Both seniors agreed that they were certainly planning on it. Jodie had made it clear to Daria the day before (when the first round of invitations were given out) that Troy was invited. Since she was not certain of the status of Tori’s relationship with a senior from another area school, she did not mention bringing dates at the moment. Addressing the juniors, Jodie went on, “I think my parents will agree to my inviting a few juniors as well, I’ll let you know as soon as I can.”
*
A few days later, a not very happy Helen was busy trying to restock a new refrigerator. She had had to come home early to take delivery, not to mention unload the old fridge before the new one arrived. At that moment, Quinn wandered into the kitchen, having just gotten home.
“Oh, good! It arrived.” Quinn paused with a frown as she saw her mother staring out the window. “Is something wrong?”
“Even though they took away the old refrigerator, they left the box this one came in,” Helen told her. “I asked Daria to drag it out the curb since tomorrow is recycling, but she’s just staring at it. Could you go see what’s wrong?”
“Sure,” Quinn agreed.
Helen kept looking out the window as she tried to put everything she could salvage away. She saw the two girls signing, but since they were in profile she was uncertain of what they were saying. After nearly ten minutes, Quinn gave Daria a hug and the two dragged the box to the curb together.
Finished with the fridge, Helen sat at the breakfast table as the two came back. Quinn simply passed through with a nod while Daria came and sat across from her mother. “What is it, Sweetie?” Helen asked.
‘The box reminded me of something, well, caused a couple of flashbacks to things we went over in therapy,’ Daria admitted.
“And those were?” Helen asked carefully.
‘That argument you and Dad had over me back when I started school, the one where he stormed out and spent the night in a hotel.’
Helen nodded; there had been more than one session, both in Highland and that first spring in Lawndale, where that incident and the events leading up to it had been worked on. “And the box?”
‘I had a similar box at the time, remember?’
Helen thought hard, and then nodded. “I had forgotten that, but you’re right.”
‘I hid in it that night; I felt safe there.’ Daria stared off into the distance.
Helen smiled. “I remember now. Your father came back early the next morning. He looked in on you and was startled when he didn’t find you in bed. Fortunately, he looked in your box before he panicked. He pulled you out and put you in bed. It seemed to make things better for both of you at the time.”
‘It probably made me feel wanted, and even a bit safer.’ Daria sighed. ‘I rarely felt safe in Highland, even before the attack.’
“Do you feel safe, or at least safer, now?” Helen’s tone was still tentative.
Daria sighed. ‘When I am alone out in the world, especially when crowded, not so much. When I am with Jane, Troy, Quinn, and a few others, much more so.’ She gave her mother a slightly sad look. ‘I have been lucky here in town. Going away to college worries me almost as much as I am…enthused about it.’
Helen smiled and briefly held Daria’s hand before saying, “I understand. That’s one reason I’m glad Jane will be with you.”
Daria briefly returned the smile.
*
Daria and her friends’ actual graduation went smoothly. To the shock of some, Kevin actually graduated with them – it was close, but while Daria had done some tutoring with Brittany (although nearly as much as she had Jane), Brittany had tried to do the same with Kevin. He had just managed to squeak through, barely passing his Social Science and Language Arts classes, and only slightly better in many of his other classes. He would be attending a junior college that had a football program, although he would only make it through his first semester there. That would be enough to get him a short career in semi-professional football. He did try a few walk-ons, but was never picked up for even an NFL practice squad.
Brittany and the other cheerleaders would be attending a Division II college noted for both its football and cheerleading squads. Other than appearing in a Playboy lay out of ‘Girls of…,’ Brittany would never have a career in any media. She would marry one of the football players, one that did go on to a brief NFL career, and he actually ended up owning a small chain of auto dealerships.
Mack was off to a different but similar Division II college (Vance). Like Brittany’s future husband, he also had a brief NFL career (three seasons, in each case). Rather than auto dealerships, Mack invested his money in a chain of fast oil-change shops. Jodie managed to talk her parents into allowing her to go to the HBCU she wanted, so long as she went to get her MBA at the university her father had longed to go to. She made a small fortune in investment banking, getting out just before the big scandal and crash of the industry – she found a more comfortable lifestyle in helping Netflix develop programming. She and Mack broke up during their Sophomore year of college, but both had found spouses well before they were thirty. The pair remained friends, as well as friends with Daria, Jane, and Brittany.
All this was in the future that June of course. Jodie gave a nice, basic speech as the valedictorian (her only competition would have been Daria, who was disqualified as she had not attended all four years at Lawndale High). Daria did win the Dian Fossey Award for Outstanding Academics, but was not allowed to try and make a speech. She had therefore just raised the trophy and smiled at the crowd.
Jodie’s party was very well-attended, nearly every senior was there, as well as their dates and about half of the junior class. Jane pointed out when Upchuck left early, surprisingly with Andrea of all people. Daria however went to speak to Quinn when Tori left early, leaving the younger teen looking a bit distraught.
‘Tori’s leaving Tuesday,’ Quinn signed to her sister. ‘She has known for a while, but did not want to say until tonight.’
‘I am sorry,’ Daria told her sister.
‘I did not think it would last past this summer, but I had hoped it would last until then,’ Quinn admitted.
Daria gave her sister a gentle smile and then motioned Stacy over. Stacy gave Quinn a hug, and Daria suggested, ‘You two take my car, Jane and I will walk home.’
Quinn gave her sister a hug in thanks, and then Stacy did the same.
*
The first Monday of July was the third, and Helen had the day off. She had ordered Daria and Jane to be dressed and present at her SUV by 8:30. Daria was ready well before then, and Jane managed to arrive just in time. After about ten minutes it was clear where they were heading – towards Chesapeake College, even if it was closer to a two-hour drive than 90 minutes. They figured they were going apartment hunting.
Instead, Helen pulled up to the office of an apartment complex on the outskirts of the small town where the college was located, and about a twelve-minute drive from campus (which was on the opposite side of town). The complex consisted of twelve sets of twin buildings, each building with four units, for a total of 96. Helen quickly had them being led to one of the buildings. Each building had a second-level small one bedroom apartment over four parking spaces. The rest of the building had three narrow but two-level three-bedroom apartments (with a cellar). There was a sidewalk between it and a matching building, where the entrances were. There was a small fenced-in patio, then a small patch of grass before a matching patio to the next building and so forth around the semi-circle of the complex.
The top level of the apartments had a small front bedroom next to the stairs, a small full bath, a smaller middle bedroom with no window, and a longer, larger back bedroom overlooking the patio. The group went to the furthest apartment in the unit. “Your Aunt Rita must have really gone to bat for you,” Helen told Daria. “Basically, what Mother’s come up with for you will pay for this place for the next three years. You will have to pay for electricity, water, phone, and your internet, plus food, your car, and so forth. Do you two like it?”
On the one hand, there was a highway about sixty feet behind the building (separated from the complex by trees and hedges; on the other they would have neighbors on only one side of them. Daria and Jane therefore could only nod. “I will have to co-sign everything. Jane, be sure not to get paint everywhere! Now, you two look around while I go up and finish the paperwork. I’ll take you to get the water and so forth set up, so come up to the office when you’re done here – try not to take more than fifteen minutes. Oh, and your father and I will put a thousand into your account. Amy kicked in five hundred, and Jane, your parents will do the same for you. That will give you two thousand to furnish the place.” With that Helen walked down the stairs.
The two looked around a bit more, and then explored the ground floor and basement. The ground floor had the entrance, a closet on the left and the stairs on the right, a half-bath, the galley kitchen, and a large area as the living/dining room. The cellar was just cinder blocks and a concrete floor. There were hookups for a washer and dryer, and a utility sink.
Daria pointed at the sink. ‘Clean-up for your acrylic and watercolor brushes, nowhere else, and no oil painting!’
“Agreed, and I’ll get a tarp or something to lay down. We need to come back with a tape measure before we start buying stuff.”
‘Agreed.’
*
The two would not fully move into their apartment until towards the end of the month. Jane would use the large well-lit back bedroom as her room – she laid protection on the floor and nearby walls to prevent paint spills and splatter, and she had a narrow set of shelves for supplies, a small work desk, and a dresser for some of her clothes, and each bedroom had a small closet.
The small middle bedroom was their bedroom – there was just enough room for a queen-sized bed and a tall dresser (where they kept their underwear and nightclothes), while their few formal clothes went into the common closet. The front bedroom was Daria’s workspace, with bookshelves, computer/work desk, a dresser, plus it also had a small closet.
The living/dining room had a utilitarian dining table and four chairs. They also bought a sofa bed (for Daria and Troy when Troy would visit, or if Jane got a boyfriend), two armchairs, an end table and lamp, and a large TV. They also had to buy a fridge for the kitchen and a small washer and dryer. Other than that, most of the rest of the furnishings they brought with them, other than dishes etc. for the kitchen and a few odds and ends like a shower curtain.
When the pair had moved in, it was still rather spartan overall, but they were happy with the results. When Quinn had seen it, she had rolled her eyes, but as far as the pair was concerned, they had good sets of blinds, so why spend money on curtains? The armchairs didn’t match each other or the sofa bed, but they did not care. Each had picked a chair that they felt was the most comfortable. In the end, Quinn gave up.
Daria and Jane would be quite happy with their apartment.
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