You Only Hurt...

Chapter One: There's Something Wrong In The State Of...Texas? New England? California?

Daria Morgendorrfer shuffled a little in her seat, trying futilely to get a little more comfortable.

Some hope, she thought morosely. In front of her Mr. DeMartino was teaching his history class in the usual way. That is, shouting ever fifth word and looking like any moment he could collapse with an aneurysm.

At least that would liven things up a little. God knows, my life could use a little bit of momentum at the moment.

She sat back in her seat, reflecting over the last few months of her life. It wasn't that things were especially bad, just her life didn't seem to be going anywhere. She didn't know what she wanted. There was some good things. Quinn and her seemed to be almost getting along now, and she'd finally gotten over her embarrassing crush on Trent. Of course, now that had been replaced with an even more problematic infatuation, but she didn't want to think about that right now. She'd deal with it later.

She was shaken out of her reverie by DeMartino's voice rising a couple of decibels.

"NO Kevin, the Boer War was NOT fought over DRILL parts, but I'm happy that you SEEM to have a knowledge of SOMETHING else than football! Even if IT is NOT relevant to my class!"

"Er...thanks, Mr. D!" Kevin grinned that goofy grin of his.

Daria shook her head. At least Kevin was good for amusement, if nothing else.

Later that day, at lunch, Daria and Jane were walking towards their usual table.

"So you're feeling aimless, and that you don't fit in" said Jane. "And that's different from usual how?"

"I'm not in the mood for jokes, Jane."

Jane frowned a little. "Hey, I know I'm no Steven Wright, but if my amazing wit can't cheer you up, you must be depressed."

Daria smiled slightly. "I wouldn't call it wit, but what I'm thinking of does rhyme with that."

"Hey!" Jane affected a mock-hurt tone. They sat down, and Jane looked at Daria. "Daria, look. What's really bothering you?"

Daria sighed. "I just don't know what I want from life, Jane. What I thought I wanted, I don't. What I do want, I don't think I can have. Beyond the end of high school and college, I honestly can't see where my life is going."

"Hey, you're smart."

"Intelligence has much less practical use than you think, you know."

"I wouldn't know."

"What do you see yourself doing?"

Jane looked thoughtful. "I do keep having this recurring nightmare where I end up working for Disney..."

"Ouch. The dark side is pulling at you."

Jane smiled. "Daria, you can't always be the confident, self-assured, witty misanthrope we all, well, I know and love. Everyone has doubts and fears sometimes. You're no exception."

Daria half-smiled. "I guess. I just feel stuck in the same routine. I wonder if anyone else feels the same way?"

"Gee Quinn, maybe you should be the president of the fashion club, since you're so smart and everything." Sandi Griffin said that phrase for what felt like the millionth time. Across the table, Quinn said the typical response "Oh no, Sandi, I could never replace you."

How many times have we done this? Sandi stared at Quinn, trying to keep a scowl from creasing her perfect little face. I can't even remember why I said it this time. It's like I'm on autopilot, or something.

The Fashion Club was having one of its usual emergency meetings, this time to discus appropriate bad weather clothes after a surprise storm warning. The usual dynamic was being observed, and Sandi, for one, was sick of it.

Quinn, Quinn, Quinn! That little bitch has had it in for me ever since she got here!

Sandi watched as the Three J's filed up to Quinn, babbling away in their usual Quinn-worship mode.

They used to do that to me.

Stacy glanced at her watch, and cleared her throat, nervously. "Um...Sandi? I have to go to....a tutorial with Mr. O'Neill, and it's....really..."

"Alright Stacy." Sandi waved her hand dismissively. "Go on."

Stacy scurried away.

Like I'm too stupid to realize that you're dating that Ted geek. Oh well, at least you're smart enough to keep it a secret.

Sandi resumed fuming over Quinn, while the trio continued to discuss which raincoats were acceptable.

I just wish things would change.

Michael Jordan Mackenzie waited on the roof of Lawndale High, his temper growing noticeably worse by the minute. He glanced at his watch and frowned.

It wouldn't kill her to find some time for me once in a while. I mean, I know her extra-curricular activities are important, but the football team is important to me, and I still make the time for her!

Mack took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He heard a click from the access door and turned expectantly. Kevin and Brittany tumbled through the door in each other's arms and began loudly making out. Mack sighed.

She's not coming anyway.

He stepped over Kevin and Brittany, and through the door. Kevin and Brittany looked up from their make-out session.

"Was that Mack Daddy?" said Kevin.

"I...think so. He didn't look too pleased."

Kevin looked thoughtful for a long time. "Maybe....I...should go see what's wrong with him?"

"Oh Kevvie, that's sooo sweet of you!"

"Well, I am the QB!" Kevin looked self-confident. "If anyone can help him, it would be me, right?"

Kevin stood up, and strode out, purposefully, while Brittany looked on adoringly.

Mack walked down the corridor, seething inside. His expression made sure anyone with half a brain knew not to deal with him today.

Naturally, he wasn't at all surprised to hear Kevin's voice in his ear.

"Hey, Mack Daddy! Wait..."

Mack turned round, glowering. "I told you not to call me that! Are you completely retarded?"

Kevin's face went blank in an expression of fear.

Mack calmed down a little. "I'm sorry Kevin. It's just Jodie."

The goofy grin returned to Kevin's face. "Hey, no problem, Mack Daddy! You know, maybe I can help you with it. After all, I'm the QB!"

"I doubt it, Kevin. It's just...you know how when you feel a certain way about someone, and you think that someone should do for you what you do for them? And you get upset when they don't."

"I know exactly what you mean."

Mack stopped in his tracks and stared at Kevin, amazed. "You do?"

Kevin slapped him on the shoulder. "Sure! Brittany wanted me to do it. She said if she had to put up with the taste, so did I! Man, she got pissed when I didn't. But you know, sometimes you have to do gross things like that. Right?"

Mack shook his head. "I guess so, Kevin. Well, thank you for your...help."

"No problem, Mack Daddy!"

Mack walked off. Great. Now the team will get all kind of stories about my sex life. Oh well, Kevin was only trying to help. In his own unique way.

Jodie Landon finished putting the last of the books back on the shelf, and turned to the librarian. "There you go!"

"Thanks, Jodie. I couldn't have reorganized the library without you."

"Hey, no problem." Jodie glanced at her watch, and her eyes grew wide. "Is it really that late?"

A nod.

"Got to go." Jodie rushed out of the library and headed for the access door to the roof. I hope he's still there. God, lunch is almost over, and I was supposed to meet him fifteen minutes ago!

She reached the door, fumbled to get her key in the lock, and opened it. There was no-one on the roof besides Brittany.

"Brittany?"

Brittany looked up and smiled. "Hi Jodie!"

"Brittany, have you seen Mack?"

"Yeah. He was up here when me and Kevvie came up to..." She blushed. "But he left. Kevvie went to find out what was wrong. He looked sooo mad."

Jodie's heart sank. She sank to the ground. "This is...I don't even know how many times I've let him down. He must be furious."

Brittany looked thoughtful. "Well, he didn't look happy." She noticed that Jodie seemed on the verge of tears. "Jodie? Are you, like, okay?"

Jodie shook her head. "No. I feel like we're drifting apart. I mean, I know I have all these activities, and I don't have a lot of free time. But I do try...I mean, my parents...sometimes I just don't think he understands what I go through." She looked up at Brittany through tear filled eyes. "Do you understand?"

Brittany looked confused. "No" she finally admitted.

Jodie smiled sadly. "I don't think anyone does. That's the problem."

Ted DeWitt Clinton took a quick glance in the mirror as he awaited the arrival of the fairest maiden he'd ever set his eyes on. Admittedly, he hadn't set eyes on many women in his life, but he didn't any could compare to her.

Stacy opened the door to the empty classroom and walked in, leaving Ted speechless as usual. She walked up to him, and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"Hello, Ted."

Ted held up a single red rose. "I couldn't find something as lovely as you, but I hope this is enough."

Stacy blushed. "Ted, you always surprise me. How do you do that?"

Ted smiled. "I've been reading up on dating rituals. This has been a staple for quite a few hundred years, apparently."

She smiled. "You're sweet." She glanced at her watch. "We don't have a lot of time. I just wanted to see you before lunch was over."

"Stacy?"

Stacy looked up at the more serious tone.

"Why can't we tell anyone about us?"

Stacy sighed. "Ted, I'm not ashamed of you or anything. It's just that if Sandi found out, she might kick me out of the Fashion Club!"

"Why can't you just stand up to her?"

Stacy's eyes grew wide. "Me? Stand up to Sandi? I...I couldn't do that! She's so...so.." Stacy started to hyperventilate at the thought. Ted was used to this. He started tapping the pressure points he knew would release endorphins to calm her down.

She stopped hyperventilating. "Oh Ted, I'm sorry. I just can't...not with Sandi..."

"I know...I shouldn't have brought it up."

Stacy glanced at her watch. "Oh no! I'm going to be late for class." She kissed Ted quickly. "I'll see you tonight, okay?"

"Okay."

Stacy hurried out, and began walking to her next class.

What am I doing? Ted's the nicest guy I've ever dated. Would it be so bad if I did stand up for him? Her knees started going weak at the thought. I just wish there was some way I could do this!

"I don't think that's going to suit you, M."

Jake Morgendorffer turned at the distinctive English voice to see Wendy Thackerell shaking her head at him. He returned the underwear set he was holding to the rack. "It's not like you have much of a knowledge of underwear, Wendy."

"Well, the image that brings up is not one I want to see."

"I don't blame you." Jake turned around. Horizon Bridger was checking out the oils and bath products at the other end of the store. "Horizon? Any ideas?"

Horizon shook her head and wandered over to join the others. "Mr. Morgendorffer..."

"Jake, please."

"Jake. I don't really know...I mean, I've never even met her."

"Me neither" said Wendy.

"And helping you shop for your wife's birthday wasn't really in the job description when I signed on."

"Oh come on" said Jake. "This is fun! Besides, you are getting paid for this..."

The two women sighed, and went back to looking. "Why the big deal about her birthday this year, anyway?" asked Wendy.

"Well, I think it's her fiftieth."

"You think?"

"Well, she lies so much about her age it's hard to tell. I think she had all the copies of her birth certificate destroyed."

Horizon laughed. Wendy rolled her eyes. "Jake, you told me you've been together since the sixties. Can't you remember?"

"Wendy, for the most part of the sixties, I was fully convinced I could lift the Pentagon with my mind. I'm just glad I can remember my age."

Horizon looked thoughtful. "Yeah, my parents are the same way."

Jake looked morose for a moment. "Plus...things haven't been so good between us lately..."

Wendy looked at Horizon, then at Jake. "Why?"

"Well...she keeps telling me how stupid I am...how irresponsible I can be..." Jake's tone went more grim. "I mean...I try, okay!? It's not my fault that..."

Horizon placed her hands soothingly on Jake's shoulders. "Jake, it's okay."

Wendy scowled. "Yeah. Keep the outbursts for the office."

"Sorry."

"Jake, if she's being so much of a bitch..."

"Wendy." Horizon looked at her.

"Sorry. But if she is, why the trouble for her birthday?"

Jake's face softened somewhat. "Because, I want to show I can do something right. I want to show her I still care about her."

Wendy's mood softened. "Well, I suppose that's a good enough reason."

"Good girl! I knew your cockney charms would come through."

Wendy raised her eyebrows. "Cockney charms? You're only about 300 miles off."

"Oh" Jake's face fell. "Come on, anyway. I'm sure we can find something."

After school was out, the students all filed out. Jodie rushed out to see if she could catch up with Mack. She could have sworn he'd been avoiding her in class all afternoon. And he'd just rushed out when class was over. She looked for him in the teeming mass of people. There he was.

"Mack!"

He looked round at her, then turned and walked off.

Jodie's stomach fell. Maybe he didn't see me. But she knew he'd seen her all right, and things between them suddenly seemed a lot worse now than earlier.

Jane and Daria trudged out of school together, and set off for home.

"How you feeling now, sport?"

Daria raised an eyebrow. "Sport?"

"Hey, one of us has to be up when you're down."

"You don't have to turn into Punky Brewster."

"I'm nowhere near top-heavy enough for that" Jane glanced down at her figure.

"Hey, thanks for the concern anyway" Daria deadpanned.

"With enthusiasm like that, how could I not help?"

Daria smiled slightly. Jane continued: "Hey, we all go through things like this from time to time. It'll pass."

"Even the unflappable Jane Lane?"

"You know me better than that, Daria."

"True." They stopped at Casa Lane. Jane gestured wildly towards the house. "Want to come in? I'm sure Trent would love to see you."

"Can't. Dad and Mom are working late, and Quinn's off with the Fashion Gestapo."

"So you have the house all to yourself?"

"Yeah. How often does that happen?"

"True. I'll call you tonight." Jane waved at Daria and went into the house.

Jane closed the door behind her and walked into the living room. "Trent?" No Answer. Guess he was practicing, or asleep. Come to think of it, those were the only two things he ever did. She plopped down on the sofa, and let out a loud sigh.

Why do I keep trying to foist Daria on Trent, anyway? Sure they'd make a cute couple, but I don't think they could make it work. And if they did, where would that leave me?

Jane shivered, as a wave of loneliness swept over her. She had always managed not to let Daria inside too much, worrying that if Daria ever realized how lonely...how needy she was, she wouldn't want to be with her any more, and Jane never wanted to go back to being alone.

Is that why I do it? If Daria's with Trent, she has another reason to stick around. Like I'm not good enough?

Jane put her head between her knees.

Of course, if they do get together, they could just leave you out in the dust.

"Stop that!" Jane realized she was saying this out loud now. She was just being silly now. She knew Trent would never leave her, and Daria...

She ought to trust Daria by now to let Daria know how much she meant to her, right?

Right?

Daria opened the front door to her house, and walked in. The house seemed oddly quiet. No "Dammits!", no noisy chatter on the phone, no legal jargon. She walked upstairs to her room, and laid down on the bed.

Quiet. Absolute quiet. A chance to relax. Sort through all the stuff running through her mind at the moment. Or rather, the lack of stuff. That settled it, she was definitely in a funk. Oh well, she'd been in them before. Who could blame her? She'd get through it. All she needed was time. And the presence of her best friend. Who wasn't here. That was another story. Deal with that later.

Daria closed her eyes and futilely tried to relax.

The relaxation was shattered as she heard the front door crash open and Quinn bluster in, complaining loudly about something or other.

The door to Daria's room flew open and Quinn strode in.

"I can't believe she'd do that!"

"Hello Quinn. Yes, you may come in. I'm good, thank you."

"What? Oh." Quinn sat on the edge of the bed. "No, it's Sandi!"

"What did she do this time?"

"What she always does. We can be talking, then she acts like I'm trying to throw her out of her own club!"

"Quinn, look..." Daria suppressed a snide comment. "Well, are you?"

"No!" Quinn looked sad for a moment. "We're supposed to be friends, but she acts like I'm out to get her."

"Maybe you should stop acting like it, then."

Quinn glared at Daria, then stormed out.

Daria went to cry out, then restrained herself. I didn't mean it that way. I was trying to help. Oh forget it.

Ms. Li placed her hand on the table. "Welcome to the annual Lawndale High budget report!" Her gaze went over the rest of the room, as the entire Lawndale High faculty sat before her, in varying states of (dis)interest.

"Let's go round the room, and go through your proposals, shall we? Timothy?"

Mr. O'Neill stood up and began. "Well, I was thinking maybe the students could put on a play this year. They seem so..."

"No."

"Okay." He sat down, disappointed.

"Anthony?"

"MUCH as I would like to USE school money to hire someone to KILL Kevin Thompson..."

"Anthony, please."

"SORRY. Anyway, I think that the BUDGET...."

The phone rang. Ms. Li picked it up.

"Hello? Who is this? You want me to do what? Do you know who this is?"

Ms. Li's face went pale. She hit the speaker phone button and put the phone down. All the other teachers looked at her oddly. Suddenly, a voice came out of the speaker.

"Ludovico."

There was complete silence in the room for a couple of minutes. All the teachers remained completely still, not looking at each other, not talking, nothing. Then, they all seemed to return to life.

"Well," said Ms. Li. "Our new agenda..."

Jake, Wendy and Horizon sat in the mall's food court. Wendy was scarfing down some steak fries, while Jake was picking at his lasagna absentmindedly.

"Cheer up," said Horizon. "I mean, I'm sure you'll find something before the big day, right?"

"I guess."

"She wouldn't have wanted that lingerie, anyway" added Wendy.

"Like you'd know."

"What's what supposed to mean?" Wendy glared at Horizon.

"Hey, on a windy day, the whole world can see you're a natural redhead!"

"Girls, please..."

Jake found the two women glaring at him.

"I mean, ladies, please..."

Jake's cell phone went off. He frowned. "I wonder who that can be?" He picked up the phone. "Hello, Jake Morgendorrfer consulting, Jake Morgendorrfer speaking."

Wendy and Horizon watched as his expression went to puzzlement, and he hung up the phone.

"Who was that?"

Jake shook his head. "I don't know. They just said one word, then hung up."

Wendy frowned. "One word?"

"Yes..." Jake tailed off, and he got a weird expression on his face. He stood up, clutched his head and screamed.

Wendy and Horizon leapt to their feet. The rest of the people in the food court were staring at Jake as he sank to his knees, still screaming. Horizon rushed round the table to him, while Wendy pulled out her cell phone and called 911.

Suddenly, Jake stopped screaming as abruptly as he had started. Then he crashed to the floor.

Wendy hung up her phone and joined Horizon by his side. The other customers in the food court came over and watched as they frantically tried to revive him.

Quinn sat in her room and fumed as she went over what Daria had said to her. How dare she! Suggesting that Sandi was mad because of the way she was acting!

She's right, you know.

Quinn sighed. It wasn't her fault she was so popular. Sandi just wasn't used to not being the center of attention anymore, and it had been that way for almost two years. No wonder she was mad at her. But what could she do about it?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the phone. She grabbed it. "Hello? Yes, this is the Morgendorrfer residence."

Her eyes went wide as she heard what they had to say.

"Daria!!"

Daria scowled and looked up from her book. "What is it? Double booked with Joey and Jed again?"

"It's Daddy!"

"What about him?" Daria looked at Quinn. It looked like she about to burst out in tears. "Quinn, what's wrong?"

"He's in the hospital! They think it's his heart again!"

Jake opened his eyes with some difficulty to see Horizon and Wendy standing over him.

"This must be heaven....." He tailed off.

"Good to see you haven't lost your charm, even at death's door." Wendy smiled grimly.

Jake tried to sit up, and found that his body wouldn't let up. Horizon put her hand on his shoulder. "Jake, don't try to move. The doctor said not to."

"What..." Even speaking was an effort. "What happened?"

"We were in the food court. Intern girl here was making cracks about my fashion sense, and you collapsed. Bloody weird, if you ask me."

"The doctor thinks it might be your heart."

"Didn't...feel like heart..."

A high pitched shriek caused everyone to jump. Jake winced in pain. Quinn ran into the room, bawling.

"Daddy! Are you okay? What happened?"

Jake strained to answer. Daria walked into the room behind Quinn, a concerned look on her face.

"Hi...girls..."

Quinn and Daria looked at each other, worried.

"Dad, what happened?" Daria came over to stand behind Quinn.

"They think it was his heart" Horizon said. Daria and Quinn looked round, noticing the other two women for the first time.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Horizon Bridger, and this is Wendy Thackerell. We work for your dad."

"Oh." Daria turned to Jake. "Does Mom know you're spending your days with strange women?"

Jake tried vainly to smile.

"She does now."

Everyone looked round as Helen strode into the room. Her expression instantly turned to concern. "Oh, Jakey! What happened?"

As Jake tried to get the words out, Helen sat down beside the bed, and took Jake's hand in hers. "Is he going to be okay?"

Horizon nodded. "According to the doctor, it's weird. It looked like his heart, but there doesn't seem to be any damage done to it. He should be out of here in a week."

Helen smiled. "Good. I'll take good care of you, Jakey." She turned to the two women. "I don't understand how this could have happened at his office."

Wendy stepped forward. "Maybe I can explain, Mrs. Morgendorrfer. Jake and the two of us were at the mall...."

Helen's eyes narrowed. "What were you doing at the mall? I thought he was at work."

Horizon stepped in. "Mr. Morgendorrfer was shopping for your fiftieth birthday, and..."

"Fiftieth birthday?" Helen's voice went cold. She turned to Jake. "Jake, I'm nowhere near fifty just yet. Don't you have any clue about our marriage? And now I see you're telling strange women..."

Wendy was getting incensed. Daria noticed the look in her eyes, and stepped in right before she could say anything. "I'm sure you're both thirsty. Why don't we get something to drink?"

"Great idea" said Horizon, practically dragging Wendy out of the room, her eyes still shooting daggers at Helen. Daria and Quinn followed them out, while Helen continued to harangue the helpless Jake.

They reached the hallway. Wendy was fuming. "The nerve of that bit.."

"Wendy." Horizon nodded at Daria and Quinn.

"Right." Wendy closed her mouth.

"Sorry about that." Daria looked slightly sheepish. "At least she waited until she knew he was going to be alright..."

"Well, that's okay" said Horizon. "I'm sure she isn't like this all the time, right?"

Dead silence.

"Okay" said Horizon nervously. "Well, I'm sure we have to be going, right, Wendy?"

Wendy mumbled something.

"Um...tell your dad that we'll be back to visit, and we'll see him back at the office when he's better. Er...it was really nice to meet you all."

Horizon took a still-blustering Wendy's arm, and the two women left. Daria and Quinn watched them leave, then turned to each other.

"Dad does keep some interesting company." Daria raised an eyebrow at Quinn. She nodded. "I think the blonde has a good eye for suits, but the red head! Ooohh...someone should have told her the no-support look went out in the seventies."

"That's what I love about you...you always look past the surface to see a person's true character."

"Yeah." Quinn nodded, not getting what Daria had said. "Do you think we should back inside?"

"Let's let Mom vent her frustrations out first."

"But that could take hours!"

"True. But I'm hungry, and by the time I eat, I'm sure Mom will have finished."

Finished Dad off, probably.

Quinn looked dejected. "You're right. Let's go."

Back in the hospital room, Helen had finished her ranting when she noticed Jake had passed out again. She sat down heavily in the chair beside the bed and sighed heavily.

Okay, Morgendorrfer, you could have handled that one better. She looked over at Jake's peaceful form and frowned. He almost died tonight. Sometimes I wonder if he can function without me at all.

Helen leaned back in her seat and put her hands over her face. Their marriage had not been going so well lately. Jake's constant childish attitude and ranting about his father had started getting really old, really fast. Their conversations had been reduced to the barest minimum, in case another argument broke out. Why couldn't Jake just grow up a little?

It's not all his fault though, is it?

Okay, maybe she was a little controlling. But her family needed a little controlling, right? Someone to set an example, someone to take care of everything. She glanced at Jake again.

It's not easy to do everything, you know.

Maybe this attack of Jake's was a good thing. Maybe they could make a fresh start, fix everything that was wrong. Try to turn their marriage around. She looked at his sleeping form and smiled. He did look cute like that. Kind of like a lost little boy. But acting like a little boy can get to be too much after a while. She hoped he'd see that after he recovered.

"Daria?"

Daria looked up from her plate at Quinn's unusually subdued tone.

"Do you think Daddy's going to be okay?"

Daria looked back down at her plate. "Sure."

"I'm being serious!" Daria looked up, surprised at how harsh Quinn sounded. "I just got over his last attack, and now we're here again! Why can't anything change around here?"

Quinn was on the verge of tears. Daria looked at her. "Quinn..."

Quinn stood up and rushed out of the cafeteria. Daria slumped back in her seat. Twice in one day had to be some kind of record, even for her. What the hell was wrong with everyone, including herself?

Quinn sat in the bathroom, her head in her hands. Everything was falling apart. No, that wasn't true. Nothing had been right to begin with. Her father had always been stressed out beyond words, and her "friends"...well, Sandi's attitude had steadily gotten worse over the last two years.

Because of you.

Yes, alright, because of her. Because of the way she'd basically muscled in on Sandi's territory. But that was going to change. Tomorrow, she was going to find Sandi and take to her. Really talk to her, and get all this out in the open. Then maybe they could start to be real friends. Quinn smiled. She felt better now. All she needed now was her daddy to get better, and things would start to fall into place again. She stood up, checked her reflection, and headed back to Jake's room.

Jodie flopped back in her chair and looked at the stack of documents on the table. School assignments, her timetable for the next month, proposals for the student council, all of it needed to be worked on. She wasn't going to have a lot of free time, that was for sure.

What else was new?

She was startled by the phone ringing.

Let the machine get it, I'm busy.

Her answer-phone message came on, then the beep. "Hey, Jodie, it's Mack. Um...I was wondering if you were free tonight. We haven't had a lot of time together, and, well...call me. Bye."

Jodie sighed and reached for the phone, ready to apologize for having to blow him off. Suddenly she caught herself.

Wait. I'm always apologizing. I'm the one who's always in the wrong. He blew me off today, and he didn't even apologize. I'm sick of this. Let him sit tonight.

She returned to her work with added vigor.

Mack hung up the phone and looked at it for a second. Jodie had said earlier she would be working tonight. That meant she had to be home, and she was just blowing him off.

Fine. I've got plenty of places I could be tonight.

He frowned, and picked up his phone book.

In Lawndale High, the teacher's meeting was drawing to a close, albeit in a radically different way than what it had started.

"We can do this. Agreed?" Ms. Li stood at the front of the room, an eerie fire burning in her eyes.

Mr. DeMartino looked over some plans on the table, looking more calm than he ever had. "I think so. It's going to be hard."

"I have every confidence in you."

Ms. Barch frowned. "We need help."

"Already taken care of. Timothy?"

Mr. O'Neill sat back in his chair. "We can start recruiting students in a couple of days, maybe a week." His voice had dropped almost a full octave, and his face had lost it's usual gormless expression. "Margaret is going to help on that end." He gestured at Mrs. Manson.

"Excellent."

Barch looked at Li again. "That's not going to help with labour, parts, security, that sort of thing?"

"We have some more...associates...in this town. I just need to get in touch with them, and all of our problems will be solved. Especially the main one."

"Which is?"

"Naturally, publicity, or the lack thereof. Thankfully, I have that particular aspect under control." She smiled, grimly. "I mean, you can't wipe out the entire population of Lawndale without anyone noticing."

To Be Continued...