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Daria's Party Addition – 15 – Paintball, Gummy Bears, and a Parade

By Dr T

Daria had hoped to skip out of the paintballing excursion, but in the end she had to acquiesce and go. For her, the second least uninteresting part of the experience had been the ride out to 'Jim's Paintball Jungle' – observing the other students had held a slight amount of interest. The students present on the bus she was riding had seemed fairly equally divided into thirds. One third, led by Brittany but otherwise mostly the football players, had been largely enthusiastic. Another third had been to some degree hostile to the whole concept. Granted, Quinn and the rest of her fashion crowd seemed against the trip because of their poorly fitted rented camouflage outfits and of course the overall unflattering outfits could also not be accessorized, plus their inability to deal with unflattering hairstyles in their attempts to avoid helmet hair. The remaining third seemed indifferent and/or uninterested.

Jane tried to pique Daria's interest in skipping out and seeing the great white shark exhibit, which drew the attention from a few of the indifferent and anti-trip students around them – there seemed to be a billboard advertising the 'attraction' at ever-decreasing distances as they progressed. Daria then had to explain what Jack had told her the year before about the attraction. That ended any discussions about skipping paintball to see the 'giant shark.'

Despite knowing the shark was a complete rip-off of a tourist trap, Daria was still tempted to make the trek up the highway to see it when she saw her parents had managed to come as chaperones. However, when she noted the gathering storm clouds, Daria decided a trek would be even worse than staying.

After wandering around in the woods for a bit, Daria managed to get herself hit, and so out of the games. She ran into Jane and shot her, so that the two could hide out together. They managed to find a covered dugout which seemed to have some drainage just as the rain hit. The students had each been issued with an MRE and a canteen when they had picked up their safety gear, and so the two had no reason to leave their position until the early afternoon, just after the sun had started to dry things out. As far as Daria was concerned, this made the trip worth the time, as Tom wasn't there to distract Jane; even though the conditions were uncomfortable.

One thing Daria brought up to Jane was a competitive show at the local art museum, with the entries due a week from the following Monday. Jane already knew about it, and already had plans for her entry. Granted, the competition was for any type of sculpture rather than Jane's preferred painting media, but she figured she still had a good shot. Most of the time, however, Daria and Jane discussed possibilities for their video project. They agreed that their objectives were 1) to do something at least fairly easy; and 2) earn a decent grade (as Daria was pushing Jane to up her GPA). While tempting because of point 1, simply filming a street for five minutes probably wouldn't even earn them a C, no matter how Daria tried to dress up their accompanying statement or how good their oral introductions. They also considered filming a Saturday in the life of either Quinn or Trent. They both decided that neither wanted to spend the day with Quinn, and that most of Trent's day would be his sleeping, which would probably be just as boring as filming a street. This led to the idea of filming Mystic Spiral's first set at the Zon and adding some 'in depth' interviews with the band.

Unsurprisingly, when Trent had heard the idea that evening, he thought it was 'excellent,' and Jesse, when told the following night, managed a 'cool.' The other two band members also seemed to think it was a good idea, or at least they would go along.

It took a little fast talking on Daria's part to pry Jake's almost-unused video camera from his protective guardianship. This was helped by the fact that he was watching some of the few videos he had actually shot (mostly when Daria and Quinn were toddlers, plus a few from the family's rare vacations) in preparation to watching some old home movies his mother had uncovered and sent along after transferring them to tape.

Daria made sure she left home with the camera before Jake screened the first video he had shot – Quinn's birth.

In the end, Daria knew she should not have been surprised that she had ended up doing nearly all the work on the video and with less than half of the usable footage she had anticipated. This was because Tom had shown up to 'help' – 'help' in this case meaning that he distracted Jane from in any way helping Daria with the camera and he spent most of the rest of the time making unhelpful suggestions, and ruining many of the shots or footage Daria was trying to capture. In the end, her temper driven to the extreme, Daria let loose with a diatribe against both of them that drove them out of the area, interrupted part of the Spiral's set, and nearly set the bouncers on Daria as well as Jane and Tom, who left shortly thereafter as fast as they could.

Daria spent a large portion of her Sunday trying to decide on edits – she couldn't actually edit the video without using some of the equipment Jane's father had or used the school's. Daria's mood was not improved Monday morning when, halfway to Jane's, Tom's car went by as Tom took Jane to school.

Jane avoided Daria before school, only slipping into her seat in homeroom during the announcements right before the Pledge of Allegiance. After, there was as usual about five minutes before the dismissal bell, and the homeroom teacher allowed the students to talk quietly. Jane leaned forward and asked, "Nothing to say this morning?"

"Good morning, Jane," Daria replied in her most monotonal voice.

"That's it?"

"Yes. Why? Is there something you wish to know, or wish to add?"

Jane frowned. Upon reflection the afternoon before (she hadn't woken up until after noon), Jane knew she really didn't deserve any sort of apology for Daria's behavior directed against her and Tom at the Zon – for her tone, perhaps, but not behavior. Jane didn't feel she really owed Daria any apologies either, although Tom likely did. Therefore, Jane tried, "Are we good for something after classes?"

"I'll be doing the edits and voice overs for the video during study halls and after school today and tomorrow on the school equipment." Daria looked Jane straight in the eye, and she had a strong, no-nonsense look. "Have fun with Tom."

While Daria accompanied Jane around school and ate lunch with her as usual, she was more non-communicative than usual. In the end, Jane shrugged and decided to roll with Daria's pissy mood. Still, this meant that Jane was not in a good mood when Tom showed up and asked if Jane wanted to join him in looking at the wanted posters in the post office.

Semi-understanding Jane's mood, Tom asked, "I take it Daria's still angry over nothing?"

That surprised Jane. "Nothing? You did invite yourself along to watch us video our project, which was fine, but you kept talking while Daria was trying to film and distracting both of us. Yes, it's a stupid project, but it's still a quarter of this trimester's grade. Daria's future is set; mine isn't. Similarly, I need time this week to work on my entry for the sculpture contest – I have some money for college, but yes, even a three hundred a year scholarship will make a difference for me, even if it's pocket money for you. Still, any award will look good on college applications! I admit it, I'm a creative, and while I'm not stupid, I'm not great at the academic game like you and her. I need can't afford to blow this stuff off."

Tom Sloane was spoiled, and compared to most people he had an easy life, and he usually acknowledged that – when pressed. The scion of just about every privilege America had to offer, he chaffed at the few responsibilities that came with that privilege and often ignored the struggles those with fewer privileges had (never mind the struggles of those with none). Still, having a (very) vague sense of awareness when it came to these things, Tom sighed. "I get it," he said, not totally getting it but at least trying to understand a little. "Do you need to do something for the video or sculpture today, or, well, pizza?"

"Daria's using the school equipment to work on it," Jane replied, "and I need to stop at a hardware store for a few odds and ends. So, sure, lets take a quick look at the post office, and then a slice before going to the store."

"That's cool."

Tom didn't see Jane roll her eyes as she thought, "Sometimes Tom is only syllable smarter than Jesse."

dp

Daria did not really pay attention to anything outside of actual schoolwork for the rest of that week, other than a little towards Jane and of course her email exchanges with Jack. While Daria had completed their media project (due by the end of classes that Friday), Daria knew that Jane was spending more time working on her museum submission than she was with her or Tom together. Jane really needed to finish it by the upcoming weekend, and Daria knew the contest was important to Jane. Daria and Jane therefore snuck out of the pep rally held at the end of the school week and went their separate ways. Daria went home and wrote Jack a long email, while Jane worked on her piece for the museum in her room. Tom was not happy that no one answered the door when he stopped by, despite the fact he knew Jane needed to work on her sculpture – as far as Tom was concerned (having largely forgotten their conversation about the contest's importance to her), that just meant she should have been available to spend time with him, as he was ahead on his own work.

Lawndale's football game was away that evening, at the school with the weakest football team in Lawndale's division. Therefore, those who cared about Lawndale High football were (correctly, as it would turn out) anticipating a victory. Neither Daria nor Jane had paid any attention to any of this, and therefore neither knew anything about the huge party Kevin's parents had planned for Saturday afternoon, even though it was the biggest student-involved bash of the year so far. Quinn had plans however.

Late that Saturday morning, Daria half-sat/half-laid on the couch, dressed in a t-shirt, shorts, and her socks, studying a monograph on mammaliaform jaw evolution. She caught a movement over on the periphery of her vision. "Quinn, what are you doing to my boot?"

Quinn, who had been trying to sneak up on Daria's boots, located on the floor near the sofa, looked up, embarrassed at being caught on her hands and knees. "Err…I was going to get the lace to tie back my hair…."

Daria frowned, "Quinn, you have more scrunchies, barrettes, hair clips, and other doodads for your hair than some shops. Why would you want a used bootlace?"

"It would go with this!" Quinn stood, showing that she was uncharacteristically dressed mostly in brown and tan – a blue shirt over a yellow t-shirt (school colors), but leather moccasins, brown trousers, and a pleather jacket. "My outfit for the big party at Kevin's!"

"Fine." Daria rolled her eyes and swung her legs off the sofa. "Come upstairs with me," she told her sister. She knew how obsessive Quinn could be when she had an idea lodge in her head. Daria dug around in one of the drawers of her desk, the one where she kept odds and ends she might someday find a use for and then handed Quinn a broken leather bootlace. "This should work."

"Thanks!" Quinn bounced out of the room.

Shaking her head, Daria headed back down the stairs. Just as she was about to sit back down, the phone rang. "Morgendorffer central, drone three speaking." Daria winced as Jane's somewhat incoherent ranting came over the phone. "Tom ate your art supplies?" Daria sighed as Jane continued. "Fine, I'll go with you to that stupid store. Just because I went there for you once doesn't mean I know my way around. It's almost the size of Cranberry Commons by itself…. Yes, give me fifteen minutes and I'll leave and pick you up." Grumbling slightly, and still confused about what kind of art supplies Tom might have eaten, Daria went to get dressed.

dp

"These aren't what I need," Jane stated.

"This is the arts and crafts aisle," Daria pointed out. "Exactly what art supplies do you need?"

"…ummy …ers," Jane mumbled.

"What?"

Jane sighed. "Well, you see, I have the sculpture done, but when you nuke Gummy Bears, you can create this neat stained glass-like finish…."

Daria gave Jane a disbelieving look. "Your art supplies were Gummy Bears?"

"Yes," Jane nearly hissed, "they were."

"And Tom…?"

"Tom ate my Gummy Bears!" Jane exclaimed with real anguish. Daria just looked at her. "I've been separating the colors for days! I was about to nuke the first batch when I remembered I had to bring the sculpture down to the kitchen."

"So, the Gummy Bears were what? In bowls in the kitchen?"

"Yes." Jane suddenly seemed a bit uncertain.

Rolling her eyes but trying to be fair, even about Tom, Daria asked, "Did Tom know what you were trying to do?"

"Well…no, I suppose not…." Jane frowned. "Poop. I don't really have a leg to stand on, do I?"

"Well, Stumpy, you're down at least one, since Tom ate things without asking." 'Especially at the Lanes, where food, even junk food, is sometimes in very short supply.' "Come on, let's see if we can find your 'art supplies'." As the pair walked away and scanned the aisle signs, Daria frowned and looked back at Jane. "You don't think the museum might object to sculptures that could draw ants or roaches?"

That gave Jane pause. "I didn't think of that," she admitted. "I guess we can look around and see if we find something non-edible that I can melt down that gives a similar effect."

Daria rolled her eyes again, even if she was glad to be working with Jane once more.

The two took a break to sample some questionable food offerings as a free lunch, but those particular employees weren't at all helpful in Jane's quest. They also saw Kevin and Brittany wandering about even more aimlessly, pushing a cart filled with odds and ends which Kevin seemed to be buying for Brittany.

Then, in the distance, Daria saw Tom with Trent and Jessie of all people. Feeling just a tad guilty, Daria made certain Jane was looking the other way, had an idea, and asked, "Do you have a blow torch?"

"Of course I do," Jane responded, slightly offended.

"Come on, then, I just thought of something." Daria led her back to the arts and crafts aisle and pointed at some small vials. Daria picked one up. "These are glass crystals – people suspend them in clear acrylics and such to make patterns, but you could melt them into the spaces you want for a similar effect to the Gummy Bears, without attracting any critters."

Jane studied the three different brands and the different shades available. Making her selection, the two were lucky to exit just a few minutes before the electricity was shorted out, trapping the remaining customers who were in the store. By the time Trent, Tom, and Jesse made it back to the Lanes, Jane had finished her sculpture with some help from Daria. The result did not impress Tom (who disliked all abstract art), but it would win first prize.

Daria felt satisfied that she had helped her friend; Jane was happy with her finished piece of sculpture, and Trent and Jesse had enjoyed teasing Tom most of the afternoon.

The next day, as Daria sat in her room trying to finish her first read-through of the monograph she had been studying the day before, she slowly became aware of a growing murmur of voices coming from Quinn's room. As she was getting a slight tension headache from trying to discern tiny variations of jaw structures from rather grainy photos and diagrams, Daria decided to take a break and investigate.

In Quinn's room, Daria saw not only her sister, Stacy, Tory, and Brooke, but two other Sophomore girls she didn't really know.

"Hi, Daria!" As usual, Tori was polite. Her greeting drew an echo from Stacy and looks from the other four.

"Hi, all," Daria replied. "I was just curious what was up."

"We've reformed the Fashion Club," Quinn chirped brightly.

"We're trying to decide on outfits for the Homecoming Parade next Saturday," Brooke put in. "Formal or semi-formal."

"I understand the desire to do one or the other," Daria replied. 'Granted, I wouldn't want to do either, but I can see it from their point of view.' "If the weather permits, maybe you should do two formal, two semi-formal, and two fashionably informal, showing off whichever style you look best in individually."

"That, or three formal and three semi, might work out the best," Tori mused.

"You're both right," Quinn agreed. "Mixing and matching would make us all look good."

"Well, good luck deciding who wears what."

Daria had just turned when Tori asked, "Would you like to join us? I mean, we saw you in some nice outfits for the Snow Ball and Prom last year."

"No thank you," Daria retorted, holding back any sarcasm, since Tori was always polite when she wasn't being nice, "I'll leave the public displays to you gals."

As she was leaving, the girls started debating on who they could get to pull their float. 'I hope they mean whose car or truck,' Daria thought. 'It doesn't sound like they do!' A vision of the Three J's hauling a float while in harness floated through Daria's mind. 'No, even they aren't that pathetic.'

Daria managed to forget all about Homecoming, despite the displays of 'school spirit' throughout the week, ads for the Homecoming Dance, and groups of students planning on what to do for the parade. It intruded slightly into her consciousness twice again that Friday afternoon. The first time was in the art class, as Ms Defoe was asking for volunteers to make some last-minute banners for the stadium – Ms Li had apparently got a 'good deal' on the extra supplies needed, but they had only arrived the previous afternoon. While Daria was a bit surprised that Jane was ducking out of that, as she was usually willing to help the art teacher with these sorts of projects, Daria herself had no interest.

The second time Homecoming intruded was during the last period of the day, as there was a pep rally. Other than the fact that there was one for every home football game and any away game against so-called 'major rivals,' Daria never saw a rationale for these rallies. Yes, it gave a majority of the students a chance to get worked up and to expend some excess energy, but as far as Daria could see, the few students who kept up their enthusiasm after the pep rallies were the same students who were excited about the games in the first place – probably best exemplified by Brittany. If these pep rallies were supposed to inspire the players in some way, Daria could really see little difference in observing their behavior as compared to the rest of the student population.

On the whole, while the process seemed largely meaningless, other than objecting to the 'group think' mentally of the whole concept (and knowing how that sort of thing had been misused politically throughout history), Daria acknowledged it was mostly harmless in Lawndale. Back in Highland, while tried every few years, when the school had managed to hold a pep rally, it invariably turned into at least a minor riot.

The next morning, Helen was gone by the time Daria came down for breakfast, monograph in hand. She was determined to finish her own notes and drawings from the book that day. She remembered that her mother had some social event with the rest of her law firm and that Quinn had spent the night at Stacy's, although the connection to Homecoming activities (the law firm was having a brunch meeting and then attending the game, and Helen had been the senior associate in charge of organizing it) did not occur to her – she had work to do.

A little after 10:00, Daria was going to her room to get a new notebook to add details from her study of monograph's information when she was stopped by her father's voice coming out of the bathroom she shared with Quinn. Apparently, the 'five alarm' chili he (and only he) had eaten the night before was having an adverse effect on his digestion. He had made it to this bathroom after using up what little toilet paper there was in the downstairs powder room, and had run out of TP here as well.

Taking pity on her father, Daria checked her parents' bathroom first – that roll was almost gone, and there were no spares under the sink. Despite her father's assurances that there were none in the pantry closet downstairs, Daria went there to check, 1) because her father had likely been in a great hurry when he had checked, and 2) there was a fair chance he would have missed seeing the toilet paper in any case.

In fact, there was one lone roll stuck in the back of the closet which even Daria had almost missed. Leaving that for her father (the nearly empty roll from her parents’ bathroom had already been retrieved), Daria was sent off to buy more. Knowing that if she didn't, her father was likely to relocate whatever was left of that last roll to the master bath (leaving the bathroom she shared with Quinn bereft as well as the powder room downstairs), Daria reluctantly ventured out. It was only when she saw the crowds on Main Street that 1) she remembered it was Homecoming and 2) was glad she had decided to stretch her legs and hadn't tried to drive the short distance.

The nearest store with what she needed was a drug store across the street and it was crowded, with most people loading up on sodas, water, and snack foods. Daria bought one four-pack of a decent brand (since she would be using at least one roll from the package) and went to walk back home after waiting in the long line – she had managed to again forget about the homecoming parade, as her mind was still centered on jaw evolution. The problem was, by this time the start of the parade had already moved past the block the store was on, and she was on the wrong side of the street. Ms Li of all people stopped her from trying to cross, and although unhappy about that, while the parade was not terribly fast-moving, Daria quickly realized the floats and other parade participants were bunched close enough that while an unburdened Jane could easily sprint across, there was no way the booted Daria, awkwardly carrying even just a paper bag of toilet paper, could make it without some sort of problem.

By the time all this went through Daria's mind, she also realized that the beginning of the parade was far enough down the street that there was no way she could catch up and surpass it enough to cross. On the other hand, it was likely long enough to make her have a long wait.

She was stuck. Holding a bag of toilet paper.

Walking slowly and unhappily in the direction which would eventually allow her to cross towards home, Daria managed, with some difficulty, to dodge interacting very long with someone in a Lawndale lion mascot outfit. A few steps later, again outside the original drug store, Daria encountered someone almost as undesirable as the lion – Tom.

"Hi, Daria. Have you seen Jane? She said to meet her outside of the drug store," he said in his usual somewhat laidback tone.

"No, I haven't talk to her since yesterday," Daria retorted, full-blasé tone engaged. "Did she say which drug store, or just a drug store?" Seeing a slightly confused look on Tom's face, she reminded him, "There's a different one about four blocks down the street, remember? Opposite side of the road?" 'I wish I had gone there,' she added mentally. It was a few blocks further away from home, but it would have left her on the correct side of the street.

Tom nodded ruefully. "You're right. And no, she just said 'by the drug store.' I just assumed she meant the one closer to her place." Nodding at the bag, he asked, "I take it you got caught by the parade." Seeing what was in the bag, he added, "Hopefully nobody is being caught needing that right away."

"I hope not, but given the 'five alarm' chili Dad ate last night, I suppose it's possible he'll need some of this as well," Daria acknowledged.

"Since you're stuck, do you want to wander up the street and see if we can spot Jane?"

Daria considered her options, and finding Jane seemed to be the least worst one at the moment since she had intended to go in that direction, even if that meant going with Tom.

At that moment, the two heard a plaintive little cry from nearby. Daria quickly located and reacted to the call of distress. She handed the bag to Tom and looked down at the distressed child. "Hey. Aren't you Tad Gupty?"

The little boy looked up, trying to place who this person was.

"We met once," Daria told him. "My sister Quinn sits for you and your sister sometimes."

Tad's expression cleared. "That's right. You're…Dara?"

"Daria," she gently corrected, for once not taking offense at someone getting her name wrong. "This is an acquittance of mine; Tom. Tom, Tad Gupty; Tad, this is Tom."

"Do you know which way your parents might have gone?" Tom asked after they had exchanged greetings. Tad pointed up the street, where the pair had been planning on going in any event.

They managed to avoid interacting with the lion mascot, which had caught up with them, and then the parade came to a halt. A pink convertible (Upchuck's entry, for 'the Lawndale Swingers' Club') was backing up, looking for a side street to escape into, pursued by Barch and two baton-wielding female police officers. This caused a float dedicated to dismembering the mascot of the opposing team (a penguin of all things) to crash and the Fashion Club float to nearly tip over. To Daria's disgust, she saw that the Three J's actually were pulling it while dressed in togas, although they were pulling it via a rope rather than in harness. 'Wherever she is, I hope Jane got a shot of those idiots,' Daria thought. Jack would likely love a photo of his brother doing something this silly.

Fortunately, at that moment the Guptys arrived to reunite with Tad. Jane had also used the break in the parade's progress to cross the street and claim her boyfriend. After some back and forth, despite Jane and Tom's request she join them, Daria reclaimed her bag of toilet paper and crossed the street just before the parade restarted, after making sure Jane had indeed captured the Three J's acting as draft animals. Daria knew Jack would be amused by the image to say the least. When received later, Jack was in fact very bemused.

Jane then proceeded across the street as well, dragging Tom behind her.

Tom knew what that meant – a long bout of great sex. A bout which would not only involve great pleasure, but which would leave him exhausted and sore.

He really wondered if the mind-blowing sex with worth the beating his body and ego took from those sessions.

For the moment, however, he was going to go along.