Daria blinked, amazed that her family finally got around to talking to her after Quinn raved for half an hour on all the groups she had been invited to join.
"Well, my history teacher hates me because I know all the answers, but there are some interesting idiots in my class."
"That's great!" Jake said.
"Jake!" Helen cut in.
"I mean..."
"Daria, your father's trying to tell you not to judge people until you know them. You're in a brand-new school in a brand-new town. You don't want it to be Highland all over again."
"Not much chance of that happening - unless there's uranium in the drinking water here, too."
Helen became a little annoyed, evidenced by her wrinkled brow and scowl. "I'm talking about you making a friend or two. Don't be so critical. Give people the benefit of the doubt."
"It all boils down to trust," Daria summed up.
"Exactly. It all boils down to trust. Show a little trust."
"Mom...Dad...you're right." One heartbeat...two heartbeats... "Can I borrow either car?"
"No," Jake uttered instantly, bent over his lasagna. Helen, however, paused for a moment.
"Sure, Daria," she said, reaching into her pocket. "Here you go!" She placed the keys to her SUV next to Daria's plate.
"Eep!" The sound escaped from Daria's larynx unbidden. "Uh...I mean...thanks, Mom, but I meant...uh...after dinner."
Helen nodded. "After dinner, then," she said, a sage smile on her lips.
A moment later, the phone rang, and as Helen got up to answer it, Daria stared at the keyring, terror fermenting in her gut at the thought of actually getting behind the wheel. Besides that one abortive driver's ed class she had taken shortly before leaving Highland (watching Buzzcut cry was a life-changing experience), she had no experience at all behind the wheel. And what was even more terrifying than that was that Helen had called her bluff.
"You girls took a psychological test at school today?" Helen had apparently finished up on the phone.
"They said we wouldn't be graded!" Quinn whined.
Ignoring Quinn's outburst, Helen turned to Daria. "Daria, they want you to take a special class for a few weeks, then they'll test you again."
Crap.
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I was re-reading the transcript for Esteemsters (research for chapter two of The Cornfield - I'll get it done before too long, honest!) and my eye caught onto the line of Daria's about borrowing either car. So, like tons of authors before me, I though, "Hmm, what if?" and this was born.
I have a few ideas as to where I'd like to take this...let's just hope I don't decide to let it sit on the backburner for months on end, like what usually happens with anything I write. Haha.
(Also, I apologize for the title - it was the best I could come up with at quarter to five in the morning. If anybody thinks of anything better, I'll gladly take it. (Though nobody came up with anything for Daria vs. Abraham Lincoln, so I'm dubious that anybody will even try)).