Categories > Cartoons > Daria > Daria's Party Addition
Daria's Party Addition – 11— To Utah
By Dr T
Daria spent the last week of school concentrating on her final exams and spending some time in the library doing research on plans she was half-hoping to pull off, depending on how the summer went. While she talked to Jack every evening, he and Daria would not be going out until Friday night, when they would have a last dinner followed by dancing at the country club. Instead, Daria and Jane, along with Quinn and sometimes Stacy, spent an hour tanning in the Morgendorffer backyard, with Daria entertaining the others with fifteen minutes of exercises for her upper body and wrists while they relaxed in the sun. Daria also spent some time Thursday evening making sure her boots were in great shape.
Friday's school day ended after what would normally have been the lunch period (lunch was cancelled, and the next period moved up in time, so it could be counted as a full school day). Unlike some students (like Kevin), Daria had no worries about her final grades. She was confident her academic classes would be between a 93 and 100, and in fact, other than a 99 from O'Neill, they would all be 100s when they were sent out. Daria would be satisfied with the 90 in gym. Other than cleaning out her locker and helping clean off the bulletin boards and such for Mr. DeMartino, as far as Daria was concerned, it was a wasted day. Granted, Daria was not one to offer her yearbook around to be signed, but even that had been mostly done by those students interested the Wednesday and Thursday of the week before, so that seniors could participate.
"Well, Amiga, it looks like this is it," Jane said as they trudged out of the building a little after 1:00.
"That's the one downside to this summer," Daria admitted. She gave Jane a sideways glance. "I'll miss you."
Jane smiled, glad Daria could admit that – she would have bet it would have been a lot tougher getting Daria to admit such a sentiment the previous September, even assuming she had felt that way for someone. The pair walked in silence to Daria's. Quinn wasn't there yet, but the pair went up to change into their bikinis, Daria in her room, Jane in the spare bedroom.
"Is Quinn sneaking in a forbidden date?" Jane asked when they emerged.
"Probably," Daria agreed. Daria suddenly looked indecisive, which made Jane wait in puzzlement. Daria then moved towards her friend and gave her a strong hug, which, considering how little fabric they were wearing, was a bit intimate. "I just wanted to do that before Quinn shows up," Daria told her best friend. "I just wanted you to know, you're one of the three most important people in my life, and if it wasn't for your already being my friend, I probably wouldn't have dared to open up to Jack. I certainly wouldn't have gone to Brittany's party without you."
"You're welcome. And you're just as important to me; plus, without you and Jack, I wouldn't have gotten laid this year." The two smirked at each other as they separated and then went down to lie out and wait for Quinn (who finally showed up around 4:20).
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Saturday June 13
Daria and Jack were flying together to Salt Lake City. The flight out of Washington was about five hours long, and was scheduled from 10:40 Eastern to 1:35 Mountain Time. Considering they were bringing two large suitcases, two under-stuffed backpacks, and two carry-ons, they could have stuffed everything into any of the family cars. Helen, however, insisted that she drive the pair in her SUV.
Looking in the rear-view mirror, Helen saw her daughter leaning against Jack, their arms intertwined. Daria had a tiny smile on her lips as she dozed – Daria, despite not acting at all excited that morning, had actually not slept well and had been up early. Jack nudged Daria awake when they were about fifteen minutes from the airport. "Sorry I dozed on the way, Mom," she apologized.
"That's fine, Sweetie," Helen said, feeling much as she had when Daria had first left for kindergarten or when she and Quinn had left for Camp Grizzley; plus with concerns about her and Jack piled atop of that feeling. All three were all fairly quiet when Helen finally pulled up to the unloading zone. As Jack unloaded their luggage from the back, Helen embraced her daughter for the first time in years. "I don't know what to say, so be safe, be happy."
Daria startled Helen by giving her a brief hug in return, and then the pair hoisted their backpacks, took hold of their rolling suitcases' handles, shouldered their carry-ons, and marched into the terminals in an unplanned lockstep, repeating lines from the announcement routine at the start of 'Airplane!' to each other. Helen shook her head, wiped a tear, and started the drive back to Lawndale, on the lookout for someplace to get some coffee and use the restroom.
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It didn't take the teen lovers too long to check their luggage, get their tickets (Jack's parents had upgraded their seats to first class without telling either beforehand), and make their way towards their flight's gate. They picked up milkshakes from one kiosk and bottles of water from another on the way. Daria was a bit surprised that Jack sat them rather out of the way – at a gate near theirs but one where there wasn't a scheduled flight for hours, so no one else was there – but that hardly bothered her.
After a few minutes of intermittently working on their shakes, Jack turned to Daria and said, "May I ask you something?"
Daria finished swallowing a slurp of her milkshake and asked, "Sure. What?"
Jack sat his shake on the floor and swung out of his chair and down on one knee. He took out a small box from his pocket and opened it, holding up for Daria to see. "I love you. No matter if we get married in July, or decide to wait until December of Two-thousand, will you marry me?"
Daria had of course known they were at least going to pose as engaged, and therefore a ring would almost certainly be involved at some point. She had not really expected it to occur this soon. Swallowing hard, she simply said, "Yes," in a small voice.
Jack took the ring out of the box. Daria slipped off his class ring, and Jack slipped the engagement ring onto her finger and the pair kissed. After a moment, Jack pocketed the box, now containing his class ring and went back to his seat, holding Daria's right hand. Daria looked down at her left, admiring the small diamond, offset by two tiny blue sapphires in a white gold setting. The happy pair smiled and kissed again. It would be a while before they went back to finish their milkshakes, but did so five minutes later when their flight's 'first boarding' was announced.
Daria and those who knew her would certainly describe her as 'independent' and her usual demeaner as 'private' or at least 'reserved,' and, often, sarcastic or at least sardonic when not stoic. While certainly female, she wouldn't be described as 'overly-feminine' let alone 'girlie.' Yet from the time the seatbelt sign went off until lunch was served on their flight, Daria sat curled sideways in her seat, snuggled as close into Jack as she could without crawling onto him. Jack's left arm was in turn cuddling her, her head on his muscular chest. Daria's eyes only really left the ring, a soft look on her normally stoic face, when she looked up to give Jack a kiss, which happened fairly often.
"New ring?" the stewardess asked when she came by, taking their meal preferences.
Daria glanced at Jack's wristwatch and said, "Eight-seven minutes!"
She smiled at the very happy young couple. "Congratulations!"
By the time they landed in Salt Lake City, Daria had calmed herself down at least a little; only those who had known her would have been surprised by the small smile which seemed to be etched on her face. By the time they arrived at the camp (which was over a two-hour drive, plus the time getting the rental truck, a rest stop, and getting groceries and supplies), Daria was closer to her usual self, although still prone to sporting a slighter smile.
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The small town nearest their campsite still had a moderate number of basic stores, so none of them had a complete monopoly, therefore prices were not too bad despite being somewhat off the beaten path. The pair stopped at the town's Wal-Mart and picked up pillows, blankets, a few basic cooking items, and a supply of plastic cups, disposable dishes and cutlery, and items like soap, shampoo, toilet paper, etc. as well as two inexpensive lawn chairs and a few other miscellaneous items. From the larger of the two grocery stores, they mostly bought soda, along with tea bags (although he preferred coffee, Jack did drink plain tea), and a large variety of snack foods. They also stopped at a drug store for lube and some other items, although Jack had brought plenty of condoms and Daria, of course, her Pills.
When they were finished shopping and after taking a brief look around town (unspoken, but both located the courthouse for future reference), it was only a further twenty miles to the campground. Jack pointed out the dirt road that would lead to his dig site; the turn-off to Daria's was a bit beyond the turn-off to the campground. The half mile of road from the highway to the campground itself was well-graveled, as were the main roads within it. Any significant amount of rain would turn parts of the trails to the digs into a muddy morass for at least half a day, but at least they wouldn't get stuck getting out to the main road.
While there were a few cabins associated with the campground, there was just one main building, which held an office, a snack shop, a small coin-operated laundry, and a large room with an attached kitchen, which the two digs and a third were jointly renting along with most of the campground itself. It turned out that Daria's digging party was not very large – twelve student diggers (including her, although the others were undergraduate or graduate students) and six running the dig. Jack's had twice the number of students and other volunteers. The third dig, another dino-hunting group, was the same size as Jack's. Only Daria was still in high school.
Jack and Daria signed in with their respective groups, and Jack got their trailer assignment from his friend. As Jack had said, it was small. Inside, it was hot, and they quickly opened all the screen windows (and left just the screen door closed) to let some of the heat dissipate. They also turned on the small fridge. Fortunately, three fans were included with the unit. They also opened and set up the awning that covered part of the entrance-side/southern side of the trailer. Only then did they unload, although their trunks and toolboxes had already been delivered. By then, it was just cooled down enough inside that they could stand stripping and changing into shorts and t-shirts, and also by then it was time to go up for supper.
After dinner, the three teams broke into separate 'meet-and-greet' introductory meetings. The groups introduced themselves, and the team leaders went over the basic schedule and goals. Each weekday would start at 6:15, with breakfast stopped being served at 7:00 and their packed lunches and drinks available to be picked up on the way out. The team trucks and other vehicles would leave by 7:30. Once the groups got started, most of any needed heavy digging would be done between around 8:00-12:15, followed by a 45 minute lunch break. By 1:00, the temperature would be anywhere from the high 80s to close to 110, usually in the mid-to-upper 90s by 3:00, although the location for Daria's group was the most sheltered and usually a few degrees less hot than the others. From 1:00-5:30, most days would involve toweling/brushing etc., exposing the actual fossils, or either stabilizing or covering them with plaster to make them safe for moving.
The crews would normally work Monday through Friday, and half days on Saturdays. Should they lose any workdays due to bad weather or run across anything that needed more-rapid than usual work, they might work Saturday afternoons or even Sundays. The meetings were kept fairly short, and the next day after breakfast, the site supervisors would be going over the students' tool chests to ensure they all at least had the minimum required equipment.
By the time the meetings were over for both their groups, it was past 8:00 and dusk was starting to gather. Jack and Daria sat in their lawn chairs after each taking a quick shower, waving at the other pairs in trailers near them as they set out to do the same, enjoying the gathering night. There was very little light pollution, and the starry cloudless night was clearer than any Daria had seen in years.
Still, there was a two-hour time difference for the pair. Therefore, they were ready to go to bed if not to sleep a few minutes past 10:00. Daria stopped Jack from climbing up to the upper bunk, and the pair spent some time in foreplay. Eventually, Daria got atop Jack, and the two made love. Afterwards, for one of the two times that summer, they were tired enough to enable them to snuggle together in the tight space of the lower bunk and fall asleep.
Daria would wake up when Jack crawled over her as dawn was breaking to use the toilet. She stretched and did the same while Jack made them each a cup of Morning Breakfast Tea. They dressed casually and sat out in the cool dawn air until it was time to join the others making their way up to breakfast. In theory, most Sunday mornings many would sleep in, missing breakfast or making it in their trailers (or tents if they were able to). This morning, they would have the afternoon and evening off. Some would be heading to town, especially if they had not been able to stop the day before for supplies.
Of the first-time diggers, Daria had the most complete tool kit, thanks to advice from Jack. Neither had to make the trip to the town's hardware or other stores to add to their kits like a few had to. Since they had done enough shopping the day before, Daria and Jack stayed at the camp, basically getting to know some of the others, especially the team leaders.
Daria was nervous the next morning. So far, this had been something of a lark; almost a game of 'let's pretend' and 'what can we get away with.' Now, it was real. She had to make a decent impression – if she wanted to go into some sort of physical anthropology or paleontology, this was her chance to impress instructors from three institutions in Boston.
Her group's caravan of vehicles stopped at the entrance to a small gorge, closer to a defile, with a small arroyo running down one side. On the other side, the bank was nearly twenty feet high, with signs loose rocks had fallen periodically. A geologist had noted some semi-fossilized bones when mapping the area decades before, and a closer look a few years before had collected some for analysis, and had also found a broken Clovis point. The bones were from a species of North American horse, and carbon-dated to 11000 BCE, +/- 60 years, so it was a very early Clovis site, and rather late for the horses, at least in this part of North America.
Daria thought it a bit ironic that she was basically going to be digging 'a herd of wild ponies' which had once 'run free across the plain' until they had been stampeded over the top of the hill into the ravine. Still, at least the sides of the ravine gave them some semblance of shade through most of the day.
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Jack's group had arrived back at the campground that afternoon about twelve minutes before Daria's. He was just stepping out of the shower when she stepped up into the trailer. "Hey," he said. "You doing okay?"
Daria was covered in dust, her shirt and the headband of her bush hat drenched with sweat. "Yeah, I guess. Let me grab a shower."
Afterwards, and after changing into all fresh clothes, Daria shook and then brushed the dust off her denim overalls/shorts combo outside before adding it to their laundry bag, and the pair walked hand-in-hand to dinner. "How was your first day?"
"I'm glad I had those kneepads and gloves, not to mention that super-sunscreen Quinn got me," Daria replied. "We're mostly clearing some scrub, rock tumble, and such, so I didn't get to work near any of the few bones that are weathering away, let alone do any actual digging." She shrugged. "Could you give my shoulders a bit of massage later? Other than their feeling a bit tight, I think I'm okay – I could work from positions that didn't strain my back at all."
"Happy to," Jack answered.
"How about you?"
"Pretty much like you—we're mostly removing overburden and such. We have some femurs and some bone bits from some sort of hadrosaurid – too soon to even guess at the species, but at least three different specimens."
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And so the first two weeks and a bit went for the pair. Daria was surprised that she actually did not mind the physical parts of the dig nearly as much as she had thought she would. In fact, by the middle of the second week, she felt she was well into the rhythm of the work. She also found the whole experience much more intellectually stimulating than she had anticipated. She enjoyed the bits and pieces of knowledge she picked up during the digging itself from the others, and even more so she enjoyed the discussions at dinner and while sitting out with other diggers at night. She and Jack associated with members of all three digs, but tended towards his group slightly more than the others. By now, his group had recovered a few fossils from other, smaller, organisms, as well as uncovering more of the hadrosaurids – a nearly complete lizard, two small mammal jaws, some bones that may have been from a bird, etc. Her own group had only found multiple horse bones and one more broken Clovis point.
That Sunday afternoon, all the diggers met with the team leaders and heard their evaluations. Daria's was by far the shortest of the ones from her group. "So to sum up, excellent – meticulous without sacrificing a good pace," she concluded. "Now, we'd like to make you an offer."
"Oh?" Daria was pleased with the review, but surprised there was a follow up at this point.
Daria's site director nodded, and she gestured towards one of Jack's. Those two digs were run jointly via a number Boston-area universities, but these two professors were both from Raft. "The matrix you're digging through is pretty soft. We'd like to see how you deal with some hard rock matrix. If you're interested, you can join our dig for two days."
"That could be interesting," Daria agreed. "I'm more than willing."
"Excellent!"
When Daria left a few minutes later, the site directors looked at each other. "We need to get her into one of our programs."
"Agreed."
Things became even more interesting for Daria and Jack that evening after dinner. The directors pointed out that there was an 80% chance of a rare storm passing through Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning. If so, some of the digging on Wednesday might need to be cancelled, as the trails to the sites might be impassable. Daria didn't think much on this until she and Jack got back to their trailer.
"We need to talk," Jack said.
"About?" Daria was curious about how serious Jack had sounded.
"Wednesday. It might be the only time we can get into the county seat on a weekday – if we want to go through with it, we can arrange things for Saturday. If so, well, we do need to get the license ahead of time."
Daria sat down hard on the built-in sofa at the front of the trailer. After a moment's thought, she had to say, "You're right."
"If we don't get it, well, that means we likely won't be able to get a license unless there're more storms fairly soon. If we decide not to go through with it Saturday, well, at most we'll be out a few dollars if we don't go through with it later."
"You're still willing?" Daria asked softly.
"Willing, able, and eager to marry you," Jack answered confidently.
"No doubts or worries?"
Jack snorted. "I think there will always be a few of those, but not many, and I'm willing to risk it."
Daria thought a bit more and then said, "Then let's plan on it, but make the final decision when we learn Tuesday night if we can go to town."
"Agreed."
While both wondered if it might not be best for the rain not to fall, they both anticipated going through with the idea, at least through Wednesday.
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Monday through early Tuesday afternoon, the weather was sunny and hot, with not a hint of a cloud until after 2:30 that Tuesday. Daria was a bit concerned as she rode with Jack and some others out to the Cretaceous site that Monday, in part because she would be working with a different group under different supervisors (plus Jack, and she didn't want to embarrass him by making any errors), and because it would be a very different site. The matrix they were digging through was harder, some of the fossilized bones were (much) larger, but not all were, and most were even more fragile.
Still, Daria had listened to Jack's descriptions of the dig site and what his team was doing. While Daria did not have the utter fascination with dinosaurs as Jack and most of the rest of the dig team did (with the others opting for Cretaceous plants, pterosaurs, etc.), she had studied them in the past, and her eidetic memory helped her along, plus the archeological dig was not as totally different as she had guessed it might be from this one.
One of the supervisors had kept a close eye on her work both days. Daria had made it clear in her application for the dig that she was interested in attending Raft University, even if she had not mentioned Jack's being in Boston as major factor. The supervisors from Raft were therefore very interested in seeing if Daria had potential – they had each felt that they were taking a big chance on recruiting her for the summer. The archeologist and evolutionary studies biologist working the archaeological dig had been impressed by her skills (rating them excellent for a first-time excavator), knowledge, and work ethic. Considering the eccentrics their and associated fields sometimes drew, they felt her sardonic nature fit in quite nicely.
The dinosaur paleontologist from Raft who kept an eye on her at the Cretaceous dig saw her adapt to the new digging conditions in about an hour. The expert from MIT, who regarded Jack as a potential protégé having worked with him the summer before, watched Daria more surreptitiously, having picked up that she and Jack were connected. Talking with her over lunch on Tuesday, he had been impressed by her knowledge and intelligence, especially when told that so far she had been thinking more about physical anthropology than paleontology. All the supervisors had several years of directing field digs with students, and knew that undergraduates (and of course even more so high school students) were often of limited use, other than for grunt work – and that some were not even cut out for that. Granted, some became excellent scientists, working in labs and such, but their biases favored those who were at least good at field work.
All thought Daria had potential. If their colleague ended up wanting to recruit her, they were all starting to become inclined to back her up.
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That Tuesday, by the time they got back to their trailer it was starting to rain, and the next day's digging was already cancelled. By the time they had showered, eaten dinner, and returned, it was raining fairly hard. Daria again sat on the sofa and had Jack sit next to her. She took a deep breath, and then took off her engagement ring and handed it to a startled Jack. "Ask me again the first parts of the question you asked me at the airport," she told him softly.
Jack thought about that, and then again went down on one knee. "Daria, I love you. Will you marry me this Saturday?"
"I love you, and we're both totally insane. Yes, yes I will." Both hoped they were doing the right thing; both were willing to take the chance despite knowing the odds against them. Both teens were certain they would beat the odds against them.
At least, they hoped so.
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Daria, Jack, and the other two couples drove to the county seat the next morning. To Daria's surprise, there was no problem in their getting the marriage licenses. Making the arrangements for the three couples to get married on the Fourth of July, which was a Saturday, was equally easy. This was the one Saturday when not even a half day of work had been scheduled – for the Fourth, the groups were taking a break despite losing Wednesday to rain, and they were putting together a picnic for that late afternoon and evening.
Fortunately, the tracks to the two dig sites were dried out enough Thursday morning that Daria and Jack's teams were able to make it to their sites with only minimal difficulties that morning and none returning that evening. The third team ran into more mud, but not enough to cause any major problems, just a few moderate ones.
Friday when they returned to the trailer, Daria and Jack made sure everything was ready, their 'dress' outfits and shoes examined and passed as satisfactory. Their lovemaking was a bit more intense than usual, and neither dared asked the other if they were sure they knew what they were doing.
By Dr T
Daria spent the last week of school concentrating on her final exams and spending some time in the library doing research on plans she was half-hoping to pull off, depending on how the summer went. While she talked to Jack every evening, he and Daria would not be going out until Friday night, when they would have a last dinner followed by dancing at the country club. Instead, Daria and Jane, along with Quinn and sometimes Stacy, spent an hour tanning in the Morgendorffer backyard, with Daria entertaining the others with fifteen minutes of exercises for her upper body and wrists while they relaxed in the sun. Daria also spent some time Thursday evening making sure her boots were in great shape.
Friday's school day ended after what would normally have been the lunch period (lunch was cancelled, and the next period moved up in time, so it could be counted as a full school day). Unlike some students (like Kevin), Daria had no worries about her final grades. She was confident her academic classes would be between a 93 and 100, and in fact, other than a 99 from O'Neill, they would all be 100s when they were sent out. Daria would be satisfied with the 90 in gym. Other than cleaning out her locker and helping clean off the bulletin boards and such for Mr. DeMartino, as far as Daria was concerned, it was a wasted day. Granted, Daria was not one to offer her yearbook around to be signed, but even that had been mostly done by those students interested the Wednesday and Thursday of the week before, so that seniors could participate.
"Well, Amiga, it looks like this is it," Jane said as they trudged out of the building a little after 1:00.
"That's the one downside to this summer," Daria admitted. She gave Jane a sideways glance. "I'll miss you."
Jane smiled, glad Daria could admit that – she would have bet it would have been a lot tougher getting Daria to admit such a sentiment the previous September, even assuming she had felt that way for someone. The pair walked in silence to Daria's. Quinn wasn't there yet, but the pair went up to change into their bikinis, Daria in her room, Jane in the spare bedroom.
"Is Quinn sneaking in a forbidden date?" Jane asked when they emerged.
"Probably," Daria agreed. Daria suddenly looked indecisive, which made Jane wait in puzzlement. Daria then moved towards her friend and gave her a strong hug, which, considering how little fabric they were wearing, was a bit intimate. "I just wanted to do that before Quinn shows up," Daria told her best friend. "I just wanted you to know, you're one of the three most important people in my life, and if it wasn't for your already being my friend, I probably wouldn't have dared to open up to Jack. I certainly wouldn't have gone to Brittany's party without you."
"You're welcome. And you're just as important to me; plus, without you and Jack, I wouldn't have gotten laid this year." The two smirked at each other as they separated and then went down to lie out and wait for Quinn (who finally showed up around 4:20).
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Saturday June 13
Daria and Jack were flying together to Salt Lake City. The flight out of Washington was about five hours long, and was scheduled from 10:40 Eastern to 1:35 Mountain Time. Considering they were bringing two large suitcases, two under-stuffed backpacks, and two carry-ons, they could have stuffed everything into any of the family cars. Helen, however, insisted that she drive the pair in her SUV.
Looking in the rear-view mirror, Helen saw her daughter leaning against Jack, their arms intertwined. Daria had a tiny smile on her lips as she dozed – Daria, despite not acting at all excited that morning, had actually not slept well and had been up early. Jack nudged Daria awake when they were about fifteen minutes from the airport. "Sorry I dozed on the way, Mom," she apologized.
"That's fine, Sweetie," Helen said, feeling much as she had when Daria had first left for kindergarten or when she and Quinn had left for Camp Grizzley; plus with concerns about her and Jack piled atop of that feeling. All three were all fairly quiet when Helen finally pulled up to the unloading zone. As Jack unloaded their luggage from the back, Helen embraced her daughter for the first time in years. "I don't know what to say, so be safe, be happy."
Daria startled Helen by giving her a brief hug in return, and then the pair hoisted their backpacks, took hold of their rolling suitcases' handles, shouldered their carry-ons, and marched into the terminals in an unplanned lockstep, repeating lines from the announcement routine at the start of 'Airplane!' to each other. Helen shook her head, wiped a tear, and started the drive back to Lawndale, on the lookout for someplace to get some coffee and use the restroom.
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It didn't take the teen lovers too long to check their luggage, get their tickets (Jack's parents had upgraded their seats to first class without telling either beforehand), and make their way towards their flight's gate. They picked up milkshakes from one kiosk and bottles of water from another on the way. Daria was a bit surprised that Jack sat them rather out of the way – at a gate near theirs but one where there wasn't a scheduled flight for hours, so no one else was there – but that hardly bothered her.
After a few minutes of intermittently working on their shakes, Jack turned to Daria and said, "May I ask you something?"
Daria finished swallowing a slurp of her milkshake and asked, "Sure. What?"
Jack sat his shake on the floor and swung out of his chair and down on one knee. He took out a small box from his pocket and opened it, holding up for Daria to see. "I love you. No matter if we get married in July, or decide to wait until December of Two-thousand, will you marry me?"
Daria had of course known they were at least going to pose as engaged, and therefore a ring would almost certainly be involved at some point. She had not really expected it to occur this soon. Swallowing hard, she simply said, "Yes," in a small voice.
Jack took the ring out of the box. Daria slipped off his class ring, and Jack slipped the engagement ring onto her finger and the pair kissed. After a moment, Jack pocketed the box, now containing his class ring and went back to his seat, holding Daria's right hand. Daria looked down at her left, admiring the small diamond, offset by two tiny blue sapphires in a white gold setting. The happy pair smiled and kissed again. It would be a while before they went back to finish their milkshakes, but did so five minutes later when their flight's 'first boarding' was announced.
Daria and those who knew her would certainly describe her as 'independent' and her usual demeaner as 'private' or at least 'reserved,' and, often, sarcastic or at least sardonic when not stoic. While certainly female, she wouldn't be described as 'overly-feminine' let alone 'girlie.' Yet from the time the seatbelt sign went off until lunch was served on their flight, Daria sat curled sideways in her seat, snuggled as close into Jack as she could without crawling onto him. Jack's left arm was in turn cuddling her, her head on his muscular chest. Daria's eyes only really left the ring, a soft look on her normally stoic face, when she looked up to give Jack a kiss, which happened fairly often.
"New ring?" the stewardess asked when she came by, taking their meal preferences.
Daria glanced at Jack's wristwatch and said, "Eight-seven minutes!"
She smiled at the very happy young couple. "Congratulations!"
By the time they landed in Salt Lake City, Daria had calmed herself down at least a little; only those who had known her would have been surprised by the small smile which seemed to be etched on her face. By the time they arrived at the camp (which was over a two-hour drive, plus the time getting the rental truck, a rest stop, and getting groceries and supplies), Daria was closer to her usual self, although still prone to sporting a slighter smile.
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The small town nearest their campsite still had a moderate number of basic stores, so none of them had a complete monopoly, therefore prices were not too bad despite being somewhat off the beaten path. The pair stopped at the town's Wal-Mart and picked up pillows, blankets, a few basic cooking items, and a supply of plastic cups, disposable dishes and cutlery, and items like soap, shampoo, toilet paper, etc. as well as two inexpensive lawn chairs and a few other miscellaneous items. From the larger of the two grocery stores, they mostly bought soda, along with tea bags (although he preferred coffee, Jack did drink plain tea), and a large variety of snack foods. They also stopped at a drug store for lube and some other items, although Jack had brought plenty of condoms and Daria, of course, her Pills.
When they were finished shopping and after taking a brief look around town (unspoken, but both located the courthouse for future reference), it was only a further twenty miles to the campground. Jack pointed out the dirt road that would lead to his dig site; the turn-off to Daria's was a bit beyond the turn-off to the campground. The half mile of road from the highway to the campground itself was well-graveled, as were the main roads within it. Any significant amount of rain would turn parts of the trails to the digs into a muddy morass for at least half a day, but at least they wouldn't get stuck getting out to the main road.
While there were a few cabins associated with the campground, there was just one main building, which held an office, a snack shop, a small coin-operated laundry, and a large room with an attached kitchen, which the two digs and a third were jointly renting along with most of the campground itself. It turned out that Daria's digging party was not very large – twelve student diggers (including her, although the others were undergraduate or graduate students) and six running the dig. Jack's had twice the number of students and other volunteers. The third dig, another dino-hunting group, was the same size as Jack's. Only Daria was still in high school.
Jack and Daria signed in with their respective groups, and Jack got their trailer assignment from his friend. As Jack had said, it was small. Inside, it was hot, and they quickly opened all the screen windows (and left just the screen door closed) to let some of the heat dissipate. They also turned on the small fridge. Fortunately, three fans were included with the unit. They also opened and set up the awning that covered part of the entrance-side/southern side of the trailer. Only then did they unload, although their trunks and toolboxes had already been delivered. By then, it was just cooled down enough inside that they could stand stripping and changing into shorts and t-shirts, and also by then it was time to go up for supper.
After dinner, the three teams broke into separate 'meet-and-greet' introductory meetings. The groups introduced themselves, and the team leaders went over the basic schedule and goals. Each weekday would start at 6:15, with breakfast stopped being served at 7:00 and their packed lunches and drinks available to be picked up on the way out. The team trucks and other vehicles would leave by 7:30. Once the groups got started, most of any needed heavy digging would be done between around 8:00-12:15, followed by a 45 minute lunch break. By 1:00, the temperature would be anywhere from the high 80s to close to 110, usually in the mid-to-upper 90s by 3:00, although the location for Daria's group was the most sheltered and usually a few degrees less hot than the others. From 1:00-5:30, most days would involve toweling/brushing etc., exposing the actual fossils, or either stabilizing or covering them with plaster to make them safe for moving.
The crews would normally work Monday through Friday, and half days on Saturdays. Should they lose any workdays due to bad weather or run across anything that needed more-rapid than usual work, they might work Saturday afternoons or even Sundays. The meetings were kept fairly short, and the next day after breakfast, the site supervisors would be going over the students' tool chests to ensure they all at least had the minimum required equipment.
By the time the meetings were over for both their groups, it was past 8:00 and dusk was starting to gather. Jack and Daria sat in their lawn chairs after each taking a quick shower, waving at the other pairs in trailers near them as they set out to do the same, enjoying the gathering night. There was very little light pollution, and the starry cloudless night was clearer than any Daria had seen in years.
Still, there was a two-hour time difference for the pair. Therefore, they were ready to go to bed if not to sleep a few minutes past 10:00. Daria stopped Jack from climbing up to the upper bunk, and the pair spent some time in foreplay. Eventually, Daria got atop Jack, and the two made love. Afterwards, for one of the two times that summer, they were tired enough to enable them to snuggle together in the tight space of the lower bunk and fall asleep.
Daria would wake up when Jack crawled over her as dawn was breaking to use the toilet. She stretched and did the same while Jack made them each a cup of Morning Breakfast Tea. They dressed casually and sat out in the cool dawn air until it was time to join the others making their way up to breakfast. In theory, most Sunday mornings many would sleep in, missing breakfast or making it in their trailers (or tents if they were able to). This morning, they would have the afternoon and evening off. Some would be heading to town, especially if they had not been able to stop the day before for supplies.
Of the first-time diggers, Daria had the most complete tool kit, thanks to advice from Jack. Neither had to make the trip to the town's hardware or other stores to add to their kits like a few had to. Since they had done enough shopping the day before, Daria and Jack stayed at the camp, basically getting to know some of the others, especially the team leaders.
Daria was nervous the next morning. So far, this had been something of a lark; almost a game of 'let's pretend' and 'what can we get away with.' Now, it was real. She had to make a decent impression – if she wanted to go into some sort of physical anthropology or paleontology, this was her chance to impress instructors from three institutions in Boston.
Her group's caravan of vehicles stopped at the entrance to a small gorge, closer to a defile, with a small arroyo running down one side. On the other side, the bank was nearly twenty feet high, with signs loose rocks had fallen periodically. A geologist had noted some semi-fossilized bones when mapping the area decades before, and a closer look a few years before had collected some for analysis, and had also found a broken Clovis point. The bones were from a species of North American horse, and carbon-dated to 11000 BCE, +/- 60 years, so it was a very early Clovis site, and rather late for the horses, at least in this part of North America.
Daria thought it a bit ironic that she was basically going to be digging 'a herd of wild ponies' which had once 'run free across the plain' until they had been stampeded over the top of the hill into the ravine. Still, at least the sides of the ravine gave them some semblance of shade through most of the day.
dp
Jack's group had arrived back at the campground that afternoon about twelve minutes before Daria's. He was just stepping out of the shower when she stepped up into the trailer. "Hey," he said. "You doing okay?"
Daria was covered in dust, her shirt and the headband of her bush hat drenched with sweat. "Yeah, I guess. Let me grab a shower."
Afterwards, and after changing into all fresh clothes, Daria shook and then brushed the dust off her denim overalls/shorts combo outside before adding it to their laundry bag, and the pair walked hand-in-hand to dinner. "How was your first day?"
"I'm glad I had those kneepads and gloves, not to mention that super-sunscreen Quinn got me," Daria replied. "We're mostly clearing some scrub, rock tumble, and such, so I didn't get to work near any of the few bones that are weathering away, let alone do any actual digging." She shrugged. "Could you give my shoulders a bit of massage later? Other than their feeling a bit tight, I think I'm okay – I could work from positions that didn't strain my back at all."
"Happy to," Jack answered.
"How about you?"
"Pretty much like you—we're mostly removing overburden and such. We have some femurs and some bone bits from some sort of hadrosaurid – too soon to even guess at the species, but at least three different specimens."
dp
And so the first two weeks and a bit went for the pair. Daria was surprised that she actually did not mind the physical parts of the dig nearly as much as she had thought she would. In fact, by the middle of the second week, she felt she was well into the rhythm of the work. She also found the whole experience much more intellectually stimulating than she had anticipated. She enjoyed the bits and pieces of knowledge she picked up during the digging itself from the others, and even more so she enjoyed the discussions at dinner and while sitting out with other diggers at night. She and Jack associated with members of all three digs, but tended towards his group slightly more than the others. By now, his group had recovered a few fossils from other, smaller, organisms, as well as uncovering more of the hadrosaurids – a nearly complete lizard, two small mammal jaws, some bones that may have been from a bird, etc. Her own group had only found multiple horse bones and one more broken Clovis point.
That Sunday afternoon, all the diggers met with the team leaders and heard their evaluations. Daria's was by far the shortest of the ones from her group. "So to sum up, excellent – meticulous without sacrificing a good pace," she concluded. "Now, we'd like to make you an offer."
"Oh?" Daria was pleased with the review, but surprised there was a follow up at this point.
Daria's site director nodded, and she gestured towards one of Jack's. Those two digs were run jointly via a number Boston-area universities, but these two professors were both from Raft. "The matrix you're digging through is pretty soft. We'd like to see how you deal with some hard rock matrix. If you're interested, you can join our dig for two days."
"That could be interesting," Daria agreed. "I'm more than willing."
"Excellent!"
When Daria left a few minutes later, the site directors looked at each other. "We need to get her into one of our programs."
"Agreed."
Things became even more interesting for Daria and Jack that evening after dinner. The directors pointed out that there was an 80% chance of a rare storm passing through Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning. If so, some of the digging on Wednesday might need to be cancelled, as the trails to the sites might be impassable. Daria didn't think much on this until she and Jack got back to their trailer.
"We need to talk," Jack said.
"About?" Daria was curious about how serious Jack had sounded.
"Wednesday. It might be the only time we can get into the county seat on a weekday – if we want to go through with it, we can arrange things for Saturday. If so, well, we do need to get the license ahead of time."
Daria sat down hard on the built-in sofa at the front of the trailer. After a moment's thought, she had to say, "You're right."
"If we don't get it, well, that means we likely won't be able to get a license unless there're more storms fairly soon. If we decide not to go through with it Saturday, well, at most we'll be out a few dollars if we don't go through with it later."
"You're still willing?" Daria asked softly.
"Willing, able, and eager to marry you," Jack answered confidently.
"No doubts or worries?"
Jack snorted. "I think there will always be a few of those, but not many, and I'm willing to risk it."
Daria thought a bit more and then said, "Then let's plan on it, but make the final decision when we learn Tuesday night if we can go to town."
"Agreed."
While both wondered if it might not be best for the rain not to fall, they both anticipated going through with the idea, at least through Wednesday.
dp
Monday through early Tuesday afternoon, the weather was sunny and hot, with not a hint of a cloud until after 2:30 that Tuesday. Daria was a bit concerned as she rode with Jack and some others out to the Cretaceous site that Monday, in part because she would be working with a different group under different supervisors (plus Jack, and she didn't want to embarrass him by making any errors), and because it would be a very different site. The matrix they were digging through was harder, some of the fossilized bones were (much) larger, but not all were, and most were even more fragile.
Still, Daria had listened to Jack's descriptions of the dig site and what his team was doing. While Daria did not have the utter fascination with dinosaurs as Jack and most of the rest of the dig team did (with the others opting for Cretaceous plants, pterosaurs, etc.), she had studied them in the past, and her eidetic memory helped her along, plus the archeological dig was not as totally different as she had guessed it might be from this one.
One of the supervisors had kept a close eye on her work both days. Daria had made it clear in her application for the dig that she was interested in attending Raft University, even if she had not mentioned Jack's being in Boston as major factor. The supervisors from Raft were therefore very interested in seeing if Daria had potential – they had each felt that they were taking a big chance on recruiting her for the summer. The archeologist and evolutionary studies biologist working the archaeological dig had been impressed by her skills (rating them excellent for a first-time excavator), knowledge, and work ethic. Considering the eccentrics their and associated fields sometimes drew, they felt her sardonic nature fit in quite nicely.
The dinosaur paleontologist from Raft who kept an eye on her at the Cretaceous dig saw her adapt to the new digging conditions in about an hour. The expert from MIT, who regarded Jack as a potential protégé having worked with him the summer before, watched Daria more surreptitiously, having picked up that she and Jack were connected. Talking with her over lunch on Tuesday, he had been impressed by her knowledge and intelligence, especially when told that so far she had been thinking more about physical anthropology than paleontology. All the supervisors had several years of directing field digs with students, and knew that undergraduates (and of course even more so high school students) were often of limited use, other than for grunt work – and that some were not even cut out for that. Granted, some became excellent scientists, working in labs and such, but their biases favored those who were at least good at field work.
All thought Daria had potential. If their colleague ended up wanting to recruit her, they were all starting to become inclined to back her up.
dp
That Tuesday, by the time they got back to their trailer it was starting to rain, and the next day's digging was already cancelled. By the time they had showered, eaten dinner, and returned, it was raining fairly hard. Daria again sat on the sofa and had Jack sit next to her. She took a deep breath, and then took off her engagement ring and handed it to a startled Jack. "Ask me again the first parts of the question you asked me at the airport," she told him softly.
Jack thought about that, and then again went down on one knee. "Daria, I love you. Will you marry me this Saturday?"
"I love you, and we're both totally insane. Yes, yes I will." Both hoped they were doing the right thing; both were willing to take the chance despite knowing the odds against them. Both teens were certain they would beat the odds against them.
At least, they hoped so.
dp
Daria, Jack, and the other two couples drove to the county seat the next morning. To Daria's surprise, there was no problem in their getting the marriage licenses. Making the arrangements for the three couples to get married on the Fourth of July, which was a Saturday, was equally easy. This was the one Saturday when not even a half day of work had been scheduled – for the Fourth, the groups were taking a break despite losing Wednesday to rain, and they were putting together a picnic for that late afternoon and evening.
Fortunately, the tracks to the two dig sites were dried out enough Thursday morning that Daria and Jack's teams were able to make it to their sites with only minimal difficulties that morning and none returning that evening. The third team ran into more mud, but not enough to cause any major problems, just a few moderate ones.
Friday when they returned to the trailer, Daria and Jack made sure everything was ready, their 'dress' outfits and shoes examined and passed as satisfactory. Their lovemaking was a bit more intense than usual, and neither dared asked the other if they were sure they knew what they were doing.
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