Disclaimer: I do not own Daria or any of its characters; this is just my point of view.
Hope you enjoy it, and review if you think is worth it.
** Quinn's awakening **
David: Quinn, you and I are in two different places, way too far apart to go out. You'd hate it, believe me. But it's a real big compliment. Keep studying and good luck. (Leaves)
Quinn: Yeah... good luck. (Hangs her head in disappointment)
She went from a sad face to a deep frown, he rejected her?, this wasn't supposed to be like this, he was not supposed to say no; she was drop dead gorgeous and popular;all guys in school where after her, all girls in school wanted to be her, even her friends at the fashion club envied her popularity, then why? Why didn't he liked her?; her ego had been stabbed on the right spot and she felt the blood rushing madly through her veins.
He only date girls with a certain amount of depth
She felt how her eyes filled with tears; was she as shallow as he implied she was?; no, she was no stupid, she knew how to manipulate everything and everyone around her to get her way, even the tutoring had been her idea
Lack of self-esteem… the losers you hang out with… (His words kept ringing on her ear)
She always knew she could do better than the other girls in the fashion club, and that's why she had decided to spend the summer studying instead of shopping and dating; but they were not losers, she was not a loser, she was (And at that instant she realized there was only one word she used to describe her and her peers) popular
She punched the table with all the strength she found within her, and the book David left behind bounced over the table for a second.
She didn't hear the sound of steps walking towards the kitchen
(Helen walked into the room and noticed her daughters face)
-Sweetie, are you ok?-
-Fine mom, big fashion crisis-
The answer was so programmed on her that it felt natural and Helen let it go. Quinn ran up the stairs still crying.
Her room was surprisingly organized, a few vintage paintings decorated her yellow walls; the bed was made, clothes hanging on the closet following an obvious color pallet, her window curtains open with pink ribbon laces and a few stuffed animals on top of a white cabinet.
Sitting on her dresser, she hid her face between her hands, the shy sound of her sobbing filled the room while she shake her head, why?; why?, why?Was her continuous chanting, he was an egghead, he had said it himself; no one on her circle will EVER date a guy like that, they all dated the same type, hip boys with expensive cars who bought them expensive gifts, little high class kids, to summarize. But here she was, her first tears over a boy where dedicated to a geek, a worm book like her sister.
I like you (She remembered saying it)
What the hell happened to her there, she never said that to no one, the boys come to her and ask her out, THEY say I like you, THEY took her to nice places; THEY tried to date her. All she ever had to do was to look pretty, and well accessorized, and give small compliments to those who tried; but she wasn't there to say I like you, no; she was not the one who liked them.
The phone kept ringing but she let her voicemail take care of that, it was probably Sandi with some stupid comment about her date, or Stacy having a panic attack because she was unable to pick a good outfit, or Tiffany, or Joey, or Jeffrey, or Jamie, or someone stupid enough not to understand that she wasn't in the mood to answer her phone.
She was feeling nauseas, her head pounded and she hadn't been able to stop crying, it was almost dinner time and with no intentions of showing how she was feeling Quinn headed to the bathroom for a nice bubble bath.
Her eyes closed, her hair pulled back in a bun; the steamy water on her skin and the smell of strawberries helped her relax. She was down in a hole for the very first time in her life, and this was the first step to hide that up.
2 weeks later
Daria : So you learned a whole bunch of stuff and found out you don't have to be a dummy if you don't want to... because he gave you a chance.
(Helen walks into the room)
Helen : Quinn, I...
Quinn : Okay, thanks for lending this to me. A Journal of the Plague Year. Sounds fun!(Laughs nervously as she leaves)
Once she was alone in her room, Quinn tossed the book on her bed and walked towards the window; the end of the summer was near, but the sun still shined over the sky and the flowers were still blossoming.
What Daria said made sense, she wasn't as shallow as David had said, and she wasn't stupid either, she knew stuff, not just fashion stuff, but, academic stuff; her sister Daria on the other end wasn't as blank as she figured she was, her sister knew about life too, and she was right, sometimes life's a bitch, but that doesn't mean you have to die on it; David was cute, and smart and funny, but he wasn't the only boy with those qualities out there, she could go back to dating and find someone else, someone who met her new standards.
She frowned and rubbed her temples; something had cracked inside of her and there were a lot of things happening on her head.
It was Christmas time and Quinn was enjoying a few days off school.
The last few months were surprisingly challenging for her. First was the bitch slap she gave Sandi in Mr. DeMartino's class right after they returned to school, that felt good she thought remembering her moment of glory
She answered that question just fine, almost as good as Daria, she believed; but then Sandi had to make one of her comments
Sandi: Gee, Quinn… I hope that little foray of yours into geekland just now is the result of heat exhaustion, and not an unpleasant side effect of all the tutoring, I mean, you're not turning into a brain, are you?
She felt like not answering, something she usually did, but why?, she knew the answers
-Sandi, just because someone can answer a simple question doesn't mean they're a pedagogue-
That one felt great, she had finally gather the courage to bite back, and Sandi's face was irreplaceable, she had no idea how to reply, probably because she had no idea of what a pedagogue was.
EPILOGUE
A few months later, our favorite redhead was an improved version of herself, her grades were much better, she had publically admitted that Daria was her sister, and though she had proved that she was Sand's loyal friend when she got fat, she was not been bossed around no more. David was just a blurry memory now, the trigger of her awakening to the real world.
She was still a big fan of fashion; she still spent long hours working on her everyday shopping and she still dated several boys at the time. But Quinn was almost 17 and her future seemed to matter more to her; she was going to be a senior at Lawndale high and was readier than ever to take her P-STATs again, this time her score was not going towards Pepperhill and her old party dreams; this time she was looking forward to something bigger.