Walking down the street, Daria casually glances at one of the many posters stuck on the side of a building. It's New York City and Daria's now a writer. The sign reads Mystik Spiral. Memories flood into her. The one good week of happiness. The arguments, at least on her part, and his annoyingly condescending yet coolly calm voice.
Shaking her head she soothes herself, "it's probably just a coincidence." At 23 years old, she'd had college flings but she's never neared any of the feelings she'd had with Trent. "You know what they say about first loves though," she grumbles. Yes she loved him. There were just too many complications. She being just over 16 him around 20. His unreliable future distasteful then now looked the same as hers. "Especially with this damn writers block," she groaned.
Mentally recording the date and location of the concert she walked on. Shrugging to herself, "ahh what the hell, I never go to clubs anymore."
WHUMP, "I'm so sorry," the apology came automatic since she had a habit of walking into people.
"No problem, my fault too," said a very attractive man.
"Oh, haha," nervous laughter, "OK thanks," she said staring at him.
"I know you, haha sorry I mean I think we went to college together." He said peering at her.
"You do?" She asked surprised. Yes he did look a bit familiar. Then it dawned on her, he sat a few rows away from her in her writing class at NYU. "Oh, we were in professor Jacques class together."
"Oh yeah," then a look of full recollection came upon him. "Daria, right?" He asked.
"Yeah." Now very surprised and embarrassed too. Though she had noticed him, (every girl in the class had noticed him) she'd never gotten his name.
"Collin Shay." He introduced himself smiling. "I never spoke up too much in class, Jacques never called out my name like he did yours." He offered.
Daria was liking him more with every word. She smiled back. 'I think I have a crush' she mused to herself. "So what have you been up to nowadays?" She asked surprising herself at starting a conversation. Normally she would have long been on her way, a quick 'well it was great seeing you again' and off she would go. 'I must be getting desperate for human companionship, make that male companionship. She grinned again to herself.
"Hey do you want to get a cup of coffee, or something, and catch up, or should I say meet?" He said grinning.
'He's very cute, charming too.' She thought to herself. Out loud she quickly replied, "Sure!" glancing for the Starbucks that was bound to be somewhere close.
The next day, she woke up at the sound of a persistently ringing phone.
"Where were you last night? I kept trying to call you all night and then some of today too. I thought you might be dead or something! Since when do you go out till all parts of the nights? Especially without me?!" The screaming stopped.
"Hey Jane." She said sleepily into the phone. " I had the most incredible night last night."
"Oooh, get any action?" She teased.
"No, but we had coffee... for about five hours. We talked so much."
"So who is this mystery boy and did he just fall out of the sky or something, where'd you meet him?" She questioned.
"No, I knew him from college. We bumped into each other, literally." She proceeded to tell Jane all about her find. How although he was training to be a lawyer, he still kept up with his writings. How he broke up with his old girlfriend when he found her in bed with his best friend. How fucking hot he was, and most of all how he was talking to her.
"Wow you really hit the jackpot with this one." Jane said, impressed.
"Hey we never established if he even likes me at all." Daria realized she was setting herself up for rejection as always. Determined not to ruin another golden opportunity with her pessimistic demeanor, she forcefully declared, "but he didn't' say he wasn't either, and why else would he tell me all those things, and listen to everything I said, and trade phone numbers with me." she stopped, satisfied.
Hanging up a while later, she thought how glad she was that she and Jane were in the same city again. After high school Daria went to NYU and Jane opted for college in Seattle. Finally Jane decided she'd had enough rain and joined Daria in New York, and she loved it here. She took extra art classes and had enough inspiration that she was still kicking herself for not going to college her in the first place, especially since they could talk daily on the phone without the long distance bills.
Over the next few weeks things were good. She and Collin went out often. Though neither admitted to deeper feelings the friendship was great. Looking at her watch, Daria realized she had to hurry so she wouldn't be late meeting Collin at the subway.
Hurriedly she entered the crowd and spotted him leaning casually against a pole looking incredible. His brown hair slightly curled at the edges. Wearing just a jeans, a long, black, wool coat, and a scarf, he looked great. Pulling down her hat over her ears she had to shiver at the site of him.
"Hey!" He greeted her with a smile. "Cold enough for you?"
"Nah, I wish it was 30 degrees cooler. That'd hit the spot." She joked. They laughed together.
"So what are we doing tonight?" He asked. "You pick, I'm out of ideas."
Thinking she realized it was the 5th of December. "How about going to a club? There's a band I wanted to check out."
"Oh? Anyone I've heard of?" He asked.
"Probably not. I'm not even sure I have." She mumbled the last part a bit embarrassed as an image of Trent drifted to her. 'What am I doing? There's this terrific guy with me right now he's smart, interesting, great looking too, and I'm thinking about some loser I haven't heard from for five years.' Trent was never serious about anything in his life except music... and at times me. Collin is working on his law degree and likes to write short stories in his spare time. Trent's lyrics, when he had tried, had been something too though. She shook her head at the mental comparison of the two. Collin looked at her questioningly.
"What?" He looked concerned at her grimacing. "Are you OK?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." She said quickly. 'Besides I'm sure it's not even his band, just some group of guys who came up with the same name. Yeah that's it' She thought to herself.
"OK, let's go then." He said slowly, almost a question.
She nodded.
The club greeted them with a billow of smoke and loud music.
'Just like old times.' Daria thought to herself. She felt extremely anxious. Nervous too, wanting it to be Trent, wanting to see him again, but then looking at Collin she didn't want to even think about her feelings.
She paused when she got in, refusing to look at the stage, not wanting to know yet. "Let's get a drink." She said gesturing towards the bar in a little room off to the side.
"Don't you want to take a look at the band first?" He asked looking a bit excited. "I haven't been to a place like this in years. I got so wrapped up in school work and now hours at work to go along with it."
"I want a drink to warm up first." 'Yes liquor will help me deal with whatever happens.' She reasoned to herself.
They headed into the bar where the voices overrode the start of a new song coming up.
Two drinks later, at least on her part... "OK let's hit the dance floor!" Collin commanded enthusiastically.
"Ummm, one more drink?" Daria asked feebly.
"What's the matter? You want to come here but now you don't want to leave the bar?" He questioned.
'Think quick' "I can't dance." She said lamely. 'Well at least that's true too.'
"Aww that doesn't matter, neither can I!" He exclaimed grabbing her arm and pulling her up. Obviously the four drinks he had had were getting to him quickly. She laughed to herself thinking, 'maybe he just wants to dance with me.' Then laughed out loud and allowed herself to pulled out of the room. Before exiting the bar she thought one more time it's not spiral.
The blaring music sounded a tinge like Trent's. 'It's probably just that classic garage band metallish sound. Then again who says Trent couldn't change their music some too.'
The song ended and the band turned in to talk to each other. She didn't try to look. She then noticed Collin hadn't let go of her hand yet. Looking at her hand she blushed, then finally hearing a familiar voice she looked up and turned white. Letting go of Collin, she firmly told herself, "don't faint." 'OK it's Trent and he's hotter than ever before. He matured very nicely. Boy is that an understatement.' "Fuck, fuck, fuck" She whispered to herself. Seeing Jesse she knew it wasn't some Trent look alike before she could even use that as an excuse.
Collin was looking at her as she was whispering to herself, slightly pale, and staring at the stage. "Daria?"
'Control yourself' She ordered herself, feeling her eyes well up. 'Don't let Trent do this to you again!' Looking away from the stage she spotted, in the front of the pack of groupies a familiar Lane.
Not even thinking about Collin, she marched up to Jane pulling her to the side of the room. "What the fuck! Why didn't you tell me...why didn't you tell me that he was coming?! That he was in town. You never mentioned anything about him since... since after we broke up." Realizing her screams had slowly minimized until she had whispered the last sentence, she quickly looked up on the stage then back at her friend.
"Listen Daria, I didn't want you to do this, to freak out just seeing him, like you are doing now!" Shaking her friend a little bit. "I didn't think you'd ever come to a place like this anyway. Why are you here? I thought you were going out with Collin tonight?"
"Oh shit, I just left him over there. Oh well.. well... well... OK I saw a poster that said Mystik Spiral and decided to check it out. I didn't think it'd be him, I didn't. Oh god, I'm freaking out. I've lost it." Rubbing her eyes and breathing heavily she looked up to see Collin walking towards them, puzzled and worried.
"Hey, ummm what's going on, is something wrong?" Collin asked, even more confused now that he could see both girls expressions.
"Hey Janie, great gig right?" Came a voice behind her. "Who're your friends?"
Daria drew in her breath, not turning around.
"You guys were great." Collin commented, being his friendly self. "I'm Collin Shay. I'm a friend of a friend I guess you'd say."
Trent not being used to such friendliness just shrugged and shook hands.
'You have to turn around sometime.' She told herself.
Jane just looked at the disaster in progress. She knew Trent would feel exactly as Daria does now. He was as hurt to break up with Daria as she was but he felt he was doing a favor for her. He didn't want her 'ending up with a loser like me' were his exact words. If Daria was ever mentioned he'd clam up just like she when his name was said.
'Time to face the music.' Daria decided, noting the iron of the statement. It was music that had driven her to him and music that had torn them apart. He claimed he needed more time with his band and less with her. She finally turned around and said, "Hi Trent it's..."
"Daria?" Trent finished outwardly gawking at her.
To be continued...
Shaking her head she soothes herself, "it's probably just a coincidence." At 23 years old, she'd had college flings but she's never neared any of the feelings she'd had with Trent. "You know what they say about first loves though," she grumbles. Yes she loved him. There were just too many complications. She being just over 16 him around 20. His unreliable future distasteful then now looked the same as hers. "Especially with this damn writers block," she groaned.
Mentally recording the date and location of the concert she walked on. Shrugging to herself, "ahh what the hell, I never go to clubs anymore."
WHUMP, "I'm so sorry," the apology came automatic since she had a habit of walking into people.
"No problem, my fault too," said a very attractive man.
"Oh, haha," nervous laughter, "OK thanks," she said staring at him.
"I know you, haha sorry I mean I think we went to college together." He said peering at her.
"You do?" She asked surprised. Yes he did look a bit familiar. Then it dawned on her, he sat a few rows away from her in her writing class at NYU. "Oh, we were in professor Jacques class together."
"Oh yeah," then a look of full recollection came upon him. "Daria, right?" He asked.
"Yeah." Now very surprised and embarrassed too. Though she had noticed him, (every girl in the class had noticed him) she'd never gotten his name.
"Collin Shay." He introduced himself smiling. "I never spoke up too much in class, Jacques never called out my name like he did yours." He offered.
Daria was liking him more with every word. She smiled back. 'I think I have a crush' she mused to herself. "So what have you been up to nowadays?" She asked surprising herself at starting a conversation. Normally she would have long been on her way, a quick 'well it was great seeing you again' and off she would go. 'I must be getting desperate for human companionship, make that male companionship. She grinned again to herself.
"Hey do you want to get a cup of coffee, or something, and catch up, or should I say meet?" He said grinning.
'He's very cute, charming too.' She thought to herself. Out loud she quickly replied, "Sure!" glancing for the Starbucks that was bound to be somewhere close.
The next day, she woke up at the sound of a persistently ringing phone.
"Where were you last night? I kept trying to call you all night and then some of today too. I thought you might be dead or something! Since when do you go out till all parts of the nights? Especially without me?!" The screaming stopped.
"Hey Jane." She said sleepily into the phone. " I had the most incredible night last night."
"Oooh, get any action?" She teased.
"No, but we had coffee... for about five hours. We talked so much."
"So who is this mystery boy and did he just fall out of the sky or something, where'd you meet him?" She questioned.
"No, I knew him from college. We bumped into each other, literally." She proceeded to tell Jane all about her find. How although he was training to be a lawyer, he still kept up with his writings. How he broke up with his old girlfriend when he found her in bed with his best friend. How fucking hot he was, and most of all how he was talking to her.
"Wow you really hit the jackpot with this one." Jane said, impressed.
"Hey we never established if he even likes me at all." Daria realized she was setting herself up for rejection as always. Determined not to ruin another golden opportunity with her pessimistic demeanor, she forcefully declared, "but he didn't' say he wasn't either, and why else would he tell me all those things, and listen to everything I said, and trade phone numbers with me." she stopped, satisfied.
Hanging up a while later, she thought how glad she was that she and Jane were in the same city again. After high school Daria went to NYU and Jane opted for college in Seattle. Finally Jane decided she'd had enough rain and joined Daria in New York, and she loved it here. She took extra art classes and had enough inspiration that she was still kicking herself for not going to college her in the first place, especially since they could talk daily on the phone without the long distance bills.
Over the next few weeks things were good. She and Collin went out often. Though neither admitted to deeper feelings the friendship was great. Looking at her watch, Daria realized she had to hurry so she wouldn't be late meeting Collin at the subway.
Hurriedly she entered the crowd and spotted him leaning casually against a pole looking incredible. His brown hair slightly curled at the edges. Wearing just a jeans, a long, black, wool coat, and a scarf, he looked great. Pulling down her hat over her ears she had to shiver at the site of him.
"Hey!" He greeted her with a smile. "Cold enough for you?"
"Nah, I wish it was 30 degrees cooler. That'd hit the spot." She joked. They laughed together.
"So what are we doing tonight?" He asked. "You pick, I'm out of ideas."
Thinking she realized it was the 5th of December. "How about going to a club? There's a band I wanted to check out."
"Oh? Anyone I've heard of?" He asked.
"Probably not. I'm not even sure I have." She mumbled the last part a bit embarrassed as an image of Trent drifted to her. 'What am I doing? There's this terrific guy with me right now he's smart, interesting, great looking too, and I'm thinking about some loser I haven't heard from for five years.' Trent was never serious about anything in his life except music... and at times me. Collin is working on his law degree and likes to write short stories in his spare time. Trent's lyrics, when he had tried, had been something too though. She shook her head at the mental comparison of the two. Collin looked at her questioningly.
"What?" He looked concerned at her grimacing. "Are you OK?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." She said quickly. 'Besides I'm sure it's not even his band, just some group of guys who came up with the same name. Yeah that's it' She thought to herself.
"OK, let's go then." He said slowly, almost a question.
She nodded.
The club greeted them with a billow of smoke and loud music.
'Just like old times.' Daria thought to herself. She felt extremely anxious. Nervous too, wanting it to be Trent, wanting to see him again, but then looking at Collin she didn't want to even think about her feelings.
She paused when she got in, refusing to look at the stage, not wanting to know yet. "Let's get a drink." She said gesturing towards the bar in a little room off to the side.
"Don't you want to take a look at the band first?" He asked looking a bit excited. "I haven't been to a place like this in years. I got so wrapped up in school work and now hours at work to go along with it."
"I want a drink to warm up first." 'Yes liquor will help me deal with whatever happens.' She reasoned to herself.
They headed into the bar where the voices overrode the start of a new song coming up.
Two drinks later, at least on her part... "OK let's hit the dance floor!" Collin commanded enthusiastically.
"Ummm, one more drink?" Daria asked feebly.
"What's the matter? You want to come here but now you don't want to leave the bar?" He questioned.
'Think quick' "I can't dance." She said lamely. 'Well at least that's true too.'
"Aww that doesn't matter, neither can I!" He exclaimed grabbing her arm and pulling her up. Obviously the four drinks he had had were getting to him quickly. She laughed to herself thinking, 'maybe he just wants to dance with me.' Then laughed out loud and allowed herself to pulled out of the room. Before exiting the bar she thought one more time it's not spiral.
The blaring music sounded a tinge like Trent's. 'It's probably just that classic garage band metallish sound. Then again who says Trent couldn't change their music some too.'
The song ended and the band turned in to talk to each other. She didn't try to look. She then noticed Collin hadn't let go of her hand yet. Looking at her hand she blushed, then finally hearing a familiar voice she looked up and turned white. Letting go of Collin, she firmly told herself, "don't faint." 'OK it's Trent and he's hotter than ever before. He matured very nicely. Boy is that an understatement.' "Fuck, fuck, fuck" She whispered to herself. Seeing Jesse she knew it wasn't some Trent look alike before she could even use that as an excuse.
Collin was looking at her as she was whispering to herself, slightly pale, and staring at the stage. "Daria?"
'Control yourself' She ordered herself, feeling her eyes well up. 'Don't let Trent do this to you again!' Looking away from the stage she spotted, in the front of the pack of groupies a familiar Lane.
Not even thinking about Collin, she marched up to Jane pulling her to the side of the room. "What the fuck! Why didn't you tell me...why didn't you tell me that he was coming?! That he was in town. You never mentioned anything about him since... since after we broke up." Realizing her screams had slowly minimized until she had whispered the last sentence, she quickly looked up on the stage then back at her friend.
"Listen Daria, I didn't want you to do this, to freak out just seeing him, like you are doing now!" Shaking her friend a little bit. "I didn't think you'd ever come to a place like this anyway. Why are you here? I thought you were going out with Collin tonight?"
"Oh shit, I just left him over there. Oh well.. well... well... OK I saw a poster that said Mystik Spiral and decided to check it out. I didn't think it'd be him, I didn't. Oh god, I'm freaking out. I've lost it." Rubbing her eyes and breathing heavily she looked up to see Collin walking towards them, puzzled and worried.
"Hey, ummm what's going on, is something wrong?" Collin asked, even more confused now that he could see both girls expressions.
"Hey Janie, great gig right?" Came a voice behind her. "Who're your friends?"
Daria drew in her breath, not turning around.
"You guys were great." Collin commented, being his friendly self. "I'm Collin Shay. I'm a friend of a friend I guess you'd say."
Trent not being used to such friendliness just shrugged and shook hands.
'You have to turn around sometime.' She told herself.
Jane just looked at the disaster in progress. She knew Trent would feel exactly as Daria does now. He was as hurt to break up with Daria as she was but he felt he was doing a favor for her. He didn't want her 'ending up with a loser like me' were his exact words. If Daria was ever mentioned he'd clam up just like she when his name was said.
'Time to face the music.' Daria decided, noting the iron of the statement. It was music that had driven her to him and music that had torn them apart. He claimed he needed more time with his band and less with her. She finally turned around and said, "Hi Trent it's..."
"Daria?" Trent finished outwardly gawking at her.
To be continued...