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Daria's Party Addition – 20 – to the End of the School Year

By Dr T

It was a rather haggard-looking Daria who showed up for lunch Wednesday morning. "Is your dad okay?" an anxious Jane asked. She rather liked Jake, and also worried about how any serious ill-health on his part might affect Daria.

"It was about as mild a heart attack as he could have had," Daria replied, somewhat playing with her food. "It turns out, he hasn't had a checkup in several years, despite what Mom thought." Helen had a twice-yearly checkup and made sure her daughters had one a year as well. She had thought Jake was going at least once a year. "He's really needed to have been treated for high blood pressure and high cholesterol for some time." She shook her head. "He's on meds for those now, as well as a few other meds for a few weeks. He'll have some tests in a few days, and then he'll have to go back in for some more tests in a few weeks. Hopefully there won't be a recurrence."

"I'm glad to hear it, but I think there must be something else," Jane said after a moment's thought to consider Daria's mood.

Daria made a slight face, not quite expressing disgust or displeasure, but certainly hinting a bit at both. "Dad's on bedrest until his second checkup next Monday. His mother is coming to stay at least until Sunday."

Jane now had a clue as to Daria's mood. "Is she as bad as you've hinted your maternal grandmother is?"

Daria snorted at that, "Not quite, or at least not in the same ways. She gets along with Mom about as well, though." Now Daria did look displeased. "She let her husband emotionally abuse Dad from the time Dad was a toddler until he died shortly after Mom and Dad got married, and now she tries to make up for it by treating him like a child."

"How do you feel about her visit?"

"I'm not sure," Daria admitted. "My other grandmother has radically changed her opinion and treatment of me, all because I am with someone who she considers more than socially acceptable, and because we've participated in those two high society affairs. Grandma Ruth isn't as concerned about what passes for high society, especially not Eastern Seaboard Southern society. In her own way, she's just as conservative as Grandmother Tess, but she expresses that very differently."

"Barefoot and pregnant versus sitting on the veranda, waving a fan – or having it waved for her?" Jane teased.

Daria snorted in amusement this time. "Neither is that bad, although you could be forgiven for thinking that about either, especially Grandmother, who does seem to worship the 'Gone with the Wind' delusions of history at times." She paused in thought. "For Grandmother, if she ever had any actual misconceptions about the 'colored help' and their 'place,' she seems to have at least modified those some time ago as far as I can tell, at least in public." She rolled her eyes, adding, "Of course, that might have just moved them up to being equals with 'white trash' and immigrants. I'm not sure; I might be doing her an injustice."

"And the upcoming visitor?"

Daria sought out a comparison, and came up with, "Not barefoot and pregnant, more like a Fifties' sitcom mom – doing the vacuuming and other housework in heels, pearls, and a dress that's classy enough for a formal luncheon, while perhaps wearing a petite white apron and/or a head scarf if doing anything particularly messy, like light dusting or baking brownies from scratch."

"And yet she doesn't get along with your Mom?" Jane shook her head. "Hard to believe. Does she at least like Quinn?"

"As in how Quinn dresses compared to me? Yes. Beyond that?" Daria shrugged her shoulders. "At the moment, Quinn wants to become a cardiologist. I doubt Grandma will approve."

"Quinn becoming any kind of medical profession, other than maybe a dental hygienist? About as likely as my becoming a mathematician," Jane snarked.

"I think you're both smart enough to pull those off, but neither is in your fields of talent – I'm convinced Quinn has some talent for something, I just can't figure out what it might be, and neither can she – not that she's ever tried. I'm hoping this sparks her interests enough to at least get her searching. She needs to use her brain, because she does have one."

"Really?"

"Really." Daria looked down at her half-eaten lunch and wrinkled her nose. "I gotta start bringing a sandwich or something if we get many more of these unidentifiable noodle dishes."

"May I?" Jane asked.

"Be my guest. I'll be right back." Daria went and bought a banana and an extra cup of chocolate pudding to partially make up for the lack of a main course she couldn't stomach. Jane didn't care for it either, but over the years had learned to rarely turn down food, no matter how unappetizing, especially now that she was training hard four afternoons a week. She was considering asking Daria to slip her some of Jake’s hot sauces if lunch continued to be this bad.

dp

Late the next morning, as she arrived at Lawndale High, Daria told off the DJ's, getting them off campus a day and a half early. "You're in rare form today," Jane commented at lunch.

"Left over aggression from last night," Daria nearly growled.

"Grandma was that annoying already?"

"Very," Daria agreed. "Even Quinn was fed up by Eight, never mind Mom and myself. She'll likely be leaving tomorrow afternoon, since we had words. I'm dropping Dad off at the hospital before class tomorrow morning – Mom will pick him up whenever he's finished. If he checks out, he can go back for one more follow up on Monday and back to work Tuesday, and of course we'll be with him over the weekend. Grandma will only stay if he needs real care next week." She sighed. "Hopefully he won't, for a lot of reasons."

Jane looked at her friend. "What else is bugging you? I can tell something else is."

Daria looked very guilty, and looked around to make sure no one was close enough to listen. Not uncommonly, no one was too near and no one was paying attention to them either. "It's something Dad said yesterday," she muttered.

"And that was?" Jane asked in the same low tone.

Ashamed, Daria said, "Dad claimed that one of his greatest regrets if he died young would be not being able to walk me down the aisle. Not me and then Quinn, just me."

Jane winced a little, understanding why that would eat at Daria. "What did you say?"

"I told him that no matter what, even if Jack and I eloped, he would walk me down the aisle at a renewal ceremony as soon as one could be arranged."

"Sneaky. And what did he say to that?"

Daria, still looking guilty, looked up and said, "He thanked me, and said he hoped Mom wouldn't go that far, meaning her standing in my way and forcing me to elope. He then added he thought Jack and I would become a great couple."

Deciding to change the subject, Jane asked, "Are we going to try and sneak out of that assembly later?"

Daria shrugged. "You really can't, what with track practice. Besides, I have to behave to make sure Li doesn't pull any tricks on me." Daria was not about to risk her early graduation.

"Good points," Jane had to admit.

In any event, the assembly was a very odd one – in addition to Ms Li's usual rants about security, two otherwise unidentified 'government agents' gave a short talk on the dangers of 'you know who they are' and asking for undefined help by turning in 'the danger around us.' Even odder, the assembly ended with the two, aided by two other agents, dragging Mr. DeMartino away.

That gave Daria, whose nerves were already stretched a bit thin by that point, some moments of paranoia that evening when she walked over to Jane's. Apparently, the same was true for several other people, although the extent of that was only revealed over the next few days as stories were bandied about. As for the agents and Mr. DeMartino, apparently the agents had been talking and asking about illegal aliens, while numerous people (including, to their shame, Daria and Jane) had come to the conclusion they had meant E.T.s. Mr. DeMartino had falsely been turned in as an illegal alien and was back that next morning, in a fouler mood than usual.

Still, the events of the previous twenty-four hours had apparently disturbed many of the students' equilibrium. That afternoon at the track meet between Lawndale and three other schools, only Jane won her two solo events, and those just barely.

When Daria arrived home that evening right after the track meet (Jane was being treated to burgers by her teammates as their only bright spot), she was glad to learn that her father had received a clean bill of health. Still, he was going to be on several different medications for at least a few weeks, plus medications to treat his blood pressure and cholesterol, and both his wife and daughters would be keeping an eye out to make sure that he took his pills and, if he strayed from his somewhat restricted diet, he at least didn't do so at home.

On the one hand, Jake resented, as he said, 'being betrayed by my first major organ,' but grateful that those three cared enough to keep an eye out for him. His mother, who left still believing a diet higher in bacon fat and lard would be good for him, merely shook her head at his new diet. Jake was glad that at least he was still allowed his hot sauces. His final tests the next Monday gave him more reassurances.

That Monday at Lawndale High, Jodie sat down next to Jane and Daria as the two had just finished their lunches – Daria had indeed started bringing her own sandwiches (and chips) and now only bought dessert and a drink. "You have the look of someone who wants to get us on board with something," Daria teased. "What is it?"

"Two things," Jodie confessed. "First, are you and Jack going to be going to the Prom?"

Daria sighed. "I suppose. He'll be back a few days before hand, and I don't go to Boston until the next weekend."

"Has your mother been at you about it, or just Quinn?" Jane asked.

"Both, along with Grandma last week," Daria grumbled. "I emailed Jack, and he said he would be happy to escort me. Bastard."

The other two laughed, knowing that Daria was (mostly) kidding. They knew she wouldn't really care about going to the Prom in and of itself, but that Jack enjoyed such things. Daria would happily go because it would please Jack, not to mention their parents. Being herself, Daria reserved the right to complain about the idea, however.

"Anyways, you might have missed the announcements the last two weeks, but the last fundraiser for the Prom and such is…."

"Casino night on the Princess Fairy – a test run by this converted fishing trawler, which will take people to just outside the limit starting in a few weeks and have overnight gambling. Lawndale students will be the guinea pigs, but since they won't be gambling for real money, the cruise will start later in the afternoon and return around midnight instead of being an overnight cruise," Daria rattled off.

"Okay, you heard the announcements, and did some additional research," Jodie admitted. "Still, we have extra tickets. Ten dollars each!"

"I have that meet this Friday over in Oakdale, and then we're going to watch the overnight 'Sick, Sad World' marathon," Jane stated firmly.

"Come on," Jodie pleaded. "The cruise goes from Four until Eleven-thirty – open buffet from Five-thirty to Six-thirty, endless cheese pizza from Six-thirty until Eight."

"With watered down, over-iced sodas just two dollars extra," Daria pointed out.

"Do either of you really have anything better to do Saturday afternoon and evening?" Jodie teased. "You only covered Friday into Saturday morning."

"Sleep," Jane stated firmly.

Jodie pulled out a publicity brochure. "I know the cabins won't be available, but it looks like there are plenty of deck chairs."

Daria looked at Jane. "We both know Quinn will be going. I guess I could score some points with the parents by letting them have a Saturday evening together where they know we're both under school supervision."

"And?" Jane asked. She made eyes at Daria and smiled wistfully. "Wanna take me on a sea cruise?" she asked, batting her eyes.

Daria rolled her eyes and gave Jodie a $20. "And you wonder why some people think we might be dating," Daria muttered.

"Thanks, Honey," Jane teased.

dp

The pair enjoyed as much of the 'Sick, Sad World' mini-marathon as they could stay awake for, and then dozed off and on until it ended. They then napped together until 1:00, when Helen roused them and fed them a light lunch. Still a bit drowsy, the pair presented themselves at the dock at 3:40.

The ship left the dock just a few minutes late. The casino would not open until 5:00 – the owner had a gift shop and two food kiosks open, and was trying to make a little extra cash before the free buffet opened. Jane and Daria ignored these and napped in two of the lounge chairs until Quinn woke them up around 5:45.

The pair snacked briefly, and Jane simply gave her chips to Daria (each student was given '$50' in chips, although they could only actually be redeemed towards Lawndale Lion merchandize at $.01 to the dollar value the following Monday afternoon only), uninterested in any of the games. Daria spent the next forty-five minutes, that was until the initial rush for pizza was over, playing poker and cleaning out a number of other players. When Jane scored them each two slices, Daria quit, put all her chips down on the roulette wheel, and immediately lost.

After eating, the two went back to the lounge chairs and napped.

That is, until the ship hit a garbage barge.

dp

As April drew to a close, something strange happened in both the Lane and Morgendorffer households, especially the Lanes'.

Daria's was the lesser oddity – she was buying clothes without pressure. Her two green field jackets, which had been loose when she had purchased them nearly two years before, were now a tad tight when buttoned – she was bustier and had a bit more upper body muscle. She still would wear her boots and, weather permitting, a skirt, but she now wore nice tops rather than T-shirts and polo shirts. Helen encouraged her when Daria asked if she could expand her wardrobe before college, and Daria added a variety of tops and jackets to her basic preferences. As far as Quinn was concerned, Daria was still dressing too informally, but Helen was pleased that Daria was again expanding her looks. In fact, Helen noticed that Daria had also bought a few decent bras, rather than the sports bras she had usually worn, and while her new panties were not revealing or overly-sexy like Quinn had been wearing for years, they were nicer than what she had always worn before.

Daria had also continued to let her hair grow, with just the ends trimmed a little to keep things neat, and it was now over halfway down her back, about where she had decided she wanted it for now. Most of the time, she still wore it loose, but she occasionally either wore a headband or braided it to keep it off her face, or had Quinn or Jane braid it for her – she refused to put it into a looser ponytail, despite Quinn's continued offer of scrunchies and other doodads for her hair. As for their teasing her about wearing it in conventional pigtails, Daria would just growl. Daria knew she would likely put her hair into a ponytail in the lab or whenever she next went into the field and couldn't bother with any sort of braid, but that was different than everyday wear. The bag of elastic bands she bought for that future purpose, she kept hidden from Quinn.

Meanwhile, at Casa Lane, something odd happened there that week as well. Granted, Jane's mother being home wasn't that odd – Amanda was usually around about two-thirds of the time (at least physically), more-or-less (usually a bit less). However, then Wind showed up – his current flame and he were fighting and he was having trouble with his ex-wives. Then Jane's father returned home early from a photo shoot. Next, the oldest sibling, Summer, showed up with two of her children, who had been located after having run away (yet again).

Jane and Trent were unused to having more than two extra people in the house – that had not happened in a few years. Jane needed rest before a major track meet, and was allowed to sleep over at Daria's that Wednesday and Thursday evenings. Friday morning, Jane reported (having checked in at her parents') that her remaining sibling, Penny, had also arrived, along with a very obnoxious parrot.

Jane received permission to continue to stay over. Trent sought refuge that evening as well.
In the end, Amanda managed to get her three oldest children (and the two grandchildren) out of the house by early the next week. Vincent left soon afterwards on his next assignment, and (relative) quiet reigned again in the Lane household.

That first Friday in May was Daria's last day at Lawndale High School. She had turned in her last art project the day before and took French and Econ exams that Friday as well. She would receive confirmation of her early graduation the next week. The Monday of that next week, she took her Calculus final exam at Lawndale State, later learning she had earned an A-.

Daria had spent a bit of time over the previous weeks sorting and packing all her belongings. Some of her outgrown if meager wardrobe that was in decent shape was donated to charity. Books, CDs, and some of her other possessions were sorted into staying (packed in boxes in the attic) or going to Raft with her. By the time she would be leaving in mid-May, her bedroom would be essentially empty of any personal effects, although a few boxes of items were left there rather than the attic, so she could access them whenever she returned home if anything in them was needed at Raft. In addition, Daria made certain that she photographed and made rubbings of the poetry and other graffiti that the schizophrenic inhabitant of the room had scratched into the closet walls. She also made certain that she saved a bit of the padding from her room's walls.

All these preparations were necessary because Daria's mother had made it clear that she was finally going to have the room gutted and redone. That Daria made no objection clued Helen in that Daria would not be coming home too often. That was also why Daria had packed those remaining items left in her room, so that they could be easily moved in and out as needed as the room was redone but still be accessible if she needed anything. She also knew it was possible her mother would throw her and her possessions out of the house come Thanksgiving, and wanted to be prepared to move everything if she was under any sort of time limit or duress, just in case anything like that happened.

Still, Daria would be coming home at least once before the end of the summer sessions, like it or not. Helen had suggested, and then demanded, that Daria actually attend graduation in June. Ms Li was happy to go along, as that would add to the veracity to the exaggeration that Daria's academic success was due to Lawndale High. In the end, Daria had to agree, but Helen had had to agree to buy Daria a plane ticket for the Friday morning of graduation, and for Daria to fly back to Boston on the immediate Sunday. Helen even had to let Daria book the ticket – she should have realized that meant Jack might be on the flights with Daria.

Jack arrived from Boston that Wednesday, his final exams over. He had had a very successful year academically. Between his own CLEP exams and hard work, he would be a junior the next semester. Of course, with her even greater number of CLEP credits and other work, Daria would have the same status after that summer.

Jack did not bother with renting a hotel room this trip. He and Daria had total use of the Morgendorffers', as Helen and Jake were at work that Thursday and Friday, and they took full advantage of it. Jack would be going back to Boston the following Wednesday, and the pair would be together as much as possible that Monday and Tuesday. Jack would also stop in at the bank so that he could take their rings to Boston with him. They had no plans to hide their relationship at the universities.

Just as they had made love Thursday and Friday mornings, the pair happily again had dinner and then danced at the country club that Friday night. The pair actually much preferred this type of evening to the Prom the following evening. Their going to the Prom was Jack's way of giving Daria one last taste of high school – not that Daria was thrilled by the idea. Still, she was willing to go along with this rite of passage. Daria understood conventions, but really rarely cared about them – she didn't object to most, but rarely cared if she followed them. Jack was just old-fashioned enough to prefer to follow custom, unless inconvenient. Dancing at the club pleased them; going to the Prom mostly pleased their mothers. As Daria knew she would be aggravating her mother in various ways in the upcoming months, she decided to make this farewell gesture.

That Friday evening, as the pair enjoyed one of the slower, quieter waltzes, Daria asked teasingly, "So, have you found places in Boston where we can waltz on the weekends?"

Jack smiled and replied, "Actually, I found a few places that allegedly should work. We'll just have to check them out and see which ones suit us."

Daria returned his smile with a tiny one of her own, and held him close.

dp

As Daria had suspected ahead of time, she had not had a great time at the Prom. It wasn't that she hated the experience – spending any sort of time with Jack was always to some degree enjoyable after all. Still, Jane had decided not to go. Evan, one of the boys on the track team, had asked her, but she had realized that he was just looking for a chance to score with her after the dance. Jane missed sex with Fred and Tom, but was not interested in having just casual sex, and a one-night stand was all Evan would be. Jack's friends had graduated with him and none were dating high school girls anymore. Daria did not want to go to the dance along with Quinn and her date (a senior football player) any more than Jack wanted to hang out with Jeffy and his date (Stacy) – especially because they thought Jeffy would likely spend much of his time mooning over Quinn.

Jack and Daria certainly did not mind sharing a table at the dance with Jodie and Mack, except for the fact that this meant also sharing with Brittany and, unfortunately, Kevin. After all, Jack and Daria liked Mack and Jodie, and Daria liked Brittany well-enough in small doses. Jack of course had known Brittany for years and liked her as well. It was Kevin that bothered both. Still, they were willing to put up with Kevin for the evening. This was not easy, because Kevin couldn't understand how Daria was already finished with high school, no matter how many times it was explained to him.

Daria would do her best to forget most of the evening once she had left the dance with Jack, although she did like the formal photo of them that was taken. Like the one the year before, their photo showed the pair hugging tightly, Jack with a very affectionate smile, and Daria with a small smile, but a very satisfied one.

dp

Finally, however, it was the third Saturday of May, and it was time for Daria to leave for Boston. Helen had been indecisive, but in the end she decided to stay home. Quinn therefore stayed as well. Jane stayed over that Friday night, the two going to the Zon to hear Mystic Spiral together for perhaps the last time.

Jane had to drag herself out of bed that next morning when Daria prodded her a third time at 7:05, whereas Daria was awake earlier, had eaten breakfast and made coffee, and quietly moved things to her father's Lexus before anyone else was awake. Jake and Daria therefore managed to leave just before 8:00. With the two of them driving, limited rest stops, not much traffic (as it was Saturday), and by eating sandwiches that Daria had packed ahead of time along with a thermos of coffee, they arrived at Raft just after 4:00.

Sign-in for the dorm lasted until 5:30, so Daria did not really have to rush through the process. She and Jake were through moving everything before 5:30 as well. The pair went out to get Jake checked into a nearby motel, and then the two went to dinner after calling and letting Helen know that everything had gone well.

Daria was almost alone on the floor of her dorm that first evening. She learned that this particular floor's summer residents would also be assigned there in the fall, as indeed she was. It was expected that only about a third of the rooms would be occupied that summer. Most of the other summer students would show up the next day, including the RA, a graduate student. All the residents of the floor would be Juniors or Seniors the following term, although a few needed their upcoming summer courses to achieve that status.

Since her dorm phone could make local calls (the long-distance service would be switched on only on Monday), she called Jack to let him know all was well, other than her missing him. He agreed to turn up the next morning after Jake left.

Jake of course would not leave the first thing in the morning. He insisted on taking Daria out for breakfast first. As much as she wanted to see Jack as soon as possible, she, of course, was not about to pass up a little more time with her father. As many conflicts as she had had with her mother, Daria had rarely come into conflict with her father. In part, that was because he was sometimes lost in his own world, but on the whole, most of those times when he was fully engaged with his family, he was taking Daria's side. He even often did so when startled into joining a disagreement between Daria and his wife.

Daria therefore surprised Jake a bit when she hugged him firmly just before they got into his car to go back to Raft, telling him to drive safely.

Jake would make the long drive back to Lawndale a bit happier than he had anticipated, even as he missed his elder daughter even more than he had guessed he would.