Burned Out
Chapter 2: The Dis-Invitation
With a smile, Jennifer pulled the headphones off, and looked over the sheet music she had just finished writing, with a nod of satisfaction. The hasty shorthand under the notes indicating the lyrics were a bit stale and trite in her opinion, but then, she wasn't the lyricist of the group.
The music teacher, Ms. Breger sauntered over and looked over the electric keyboard at the music. "Very nice, Jenn. Another one for your band?"
Jennifer blushed a little at the attention. Ms. Breger was one of the few teachers she actually respected, and she found it embarrassing whenever the woman looked at her private work. It didn't help any that she always gave the air of a classical afficionado, but kept telling her that she respected all forms of "legitimate" music, spoken word being one of the few notable exceptions. "Um. Thanks. Monique just gave me the lyrics yesterday and asked me to work on the arrangement for her."
Ms. Breger rolled her eyes. "Still pawning off the scut work on others, is she?"
"It's okay, really," Jennifer said. "I need the practice." She looked down at the sheet and sighed. "I just wish I could do lyrics myself. Everything I write comes off sounding so... bleagh. But, to be honest, everything she writes just sounds kinda... the same. I hate to say it, but our one hit seemed to be a fluke, and we can't live off of that one song. Anger over a breakup will only take you so far, no matter how many times you keep repeating that break up over and over again. We're better than that."
Patting her shoulder, Ms. Breger said, "Then maybe you just need a fresher perspective. Try looking to your favorite things for inspiration. TV, movies, books, comics, nature, even friends and family can be an invaluable source of inspiration."
Jennifer stared at the music for a moment. "Maybe I'll ask Sam. She might be able to think of something to inspire me... or her. Or even Monique. Whatever it is, we really need to get out of this rut."
The teacher shook her head in exasperation as her advice once more went over her student's head.
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Walking into her house, Jennifer led Daria through the living room and up to her room. "Thanks for helping me with my English homework. I swear Mr. O'Neil gets more and more obnoxious with these reports he hands out like candy on Halloween."
Daria nodded. "No problem. Kant is interesting, but a bit advanced to make the subject of a sophomore report; especially given the average intelligence of our classmates." She suddenly realized how her comment could be misconstrued, and hastily added, "Not that you're stupid, but I just mean if you aren't ready to absorb some of his ideas, they can be a mouthful. So to speak."
Waving her off, Jennifer replied, "Don't worry, I know what you meant. And I also know my own limitations. Descartes, I'm not." She walked back to the door and asked, "I was going to get something to drink. Want a soda, water, juice, milk?"
Daria shrugged off her backpack and sat at the computer desk. "Considering how much of Brittany Taylor I had to deal with today, I need a sugar boost. I'll take that soda, please."
Jennifer nodded and was gone only a couple of minutes. When she returned she gave her a ice cold can of Ultra Cola while she took another swallow from her own. "So, what did the Princess of Pom-poms want?"
The question caught Daria off guard, and she almost snorted cola up her nose. Wiping her nose on her sleeve, she replied, "Believe it or not, she invited me to a party she's having this weekend, for helping her in art class."
"I didn't think she even knew how to apply paint to canvas with a brush," Jennifer said as she took a seat on the edge of her bed.
Daria took a proper sip before replying. "She doesn't. Ms. Defoe still hasn't let her hold anything more dangerous than a jar of fingerpaint... the plastic kind. Today, she needed help with learning perspective."
Leaning back on her propped up arms, Jennifer grinned and said, "Brittany needing to learn perspective? Whod'a thunk it?"
"Funny," Daria rejoined. "So as a 'thank you', she invited me to a party she's holding Saturday."
"I take it from your tone that you're thinking of blowing it off," Jennifer asked.
Daria shrugged. "Oh, sure. I'll even perform my glass-swallowing trick while I'm there. Could you imagine me in a room full of the school's so-called 'social elite'? I'd give it ten minutes- fifteen tops before justifiable homicide was committed."
Jennifer smirked back. "Honest, Your Honor! They were threatening me with a Hanson CD! It was me or them!" The corner of Daria's mouth ticked up as she imagined the scene in her head. After a moment, Jennifer's eyebrow went up thoughtfully. "You know, being that it's Brittany's party, it's pretty much a given that the football team will be there."
"Your point?" Daria asked.
Sitting up, Jennifer gripped the edge of the bed and leaned forward. "Those three boys your sister is stringing along are on the football team. They're sure to invite her."
"I'm forced to spend all my time at home sharing a house and bathroom with my sister-"
Jennifer was quick to reply with, "Not at the same time, I hope." but was ignored.
"-Not to mention the time between classes at school where we might run into each other. Why on Earth would I want to voluntarily spend even more time with her?"
Jennifer stood up and walked over to her, resting a hand on her shoulder. "You're looking at this all wrong. You're not being forced to spend time with her, you're forcing her to spend time with you, while looking for an opportunity to embarrass her in front of her friends." Daria's eyebrows raised as she considered this point, while Jennifer moved in for the kill. "If nothing else, then think of it as payback for publicly disavowing having a sister."
Daria's grin was almost shark-like in its intensity. "You know, I think it's time I expanded my social horizons."
"Just promise me you won't forget the little people who got you where you are," the blonde replied.
Rising to her feet, Daria rested a hand on her shoulder in imitation of Jennifer's earlier action. "Oh, you don't think I'd go into that nest of vipers alone, do you?" She was quite pleased with the squeak of surprise she got from her friend.
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*(")(")
"Thanks again for driving us, Sam," Daria said from the backseat of the Charger.
Samantha turned around to face her, forcing Jennifer to correct her steering, and said, "No problem, Daria. Anything for my favorite little sister and her friend."
"I still can't believe you got Brittany to add me to the list at the last minute," Jennifer said. "I didn't think she even knew I existed."
With a shrug, Daria replied, "Honestly, I don't think she did. To be fair though, there's only so much room in that brain of hers, and so much of it is taken up by her cheer routines. I'm a little surprised she remembered she even invited me, let alone my name."
Samantha gave a bark of laughter, but kept her eyes on the road this time. "She sounds like this girl I knew when I went to school. She was a couple years ahead of me, so we didn't interact much anyways, but being a cheerleader too, I doubt we would have said 'Boo' to each other in the halls if we were in the same grade. Still, I wonder what happened to ol' Ashley-Amber. That was trophy wife material if I ever saw it."
The car pulled up to the entrance of the Crewe Neck gated community, and Samantha threw it into park. "Okay, this is where I leave you. I've been banned from Crewe Neck. Something about an amp, a balloon filled with paint, and a Mercedes; don't ask. Gimme a call at Monique's when you're ready to come home, and I'll come get you."
"Thanks, sis," Jennifer said and gave her a hug before getting out, while Daria just waved as she drove off.
Turning their attention to the gatehouse, they saw the guard watching them suspiciously. As they approached, he pulled out a clipboard and asked, "Names, please?"
Daria answered, "We're here for Brittany Taylor's party. Daria Morgendorffer."
He nodded reluctantly, and looked to the other girl. "What about you? Name?"
"Jennifer Peterson."
He flipped through several pages and shook his head. "Not seeing it. Sorry, kiddo."
Jennifer sighed and her shoulders sagged. "Try looking under Burnout Girl," she said with great reluctance.
The guard looked dubious, asking, "What kind of name is- oh. Here you are." He scrutinized her for a moment before adding, "Well, I suppose no one would willingly call themselves that just to sneak into a party. Okay, go on in." He made a big deal of going into the guard house to lift the crossing arm in order to let them pass.
"Truly, you are a credit to your profession," Daria said as the walked past.
As they walked up to Brittany's door, Daria asked, "Are you sure you want to do this?"
Jennifer looked at her like she had grown a second head. "You practically strong-arm me into coming to this party as your backup, and you're having second thoughts now?"
Daria chewed on her lower lip for a moment. "I feel guilty for abusing our friendship?"
Grabbing her elbow, Jennifer pulled her up the steps. "Come on. Just remember why we're here.
"To heap unending humiliation upon the most deserving shoulders I can think of?"
Jennifer smiled as they finally reached the front stoop. "Exactly! Now chin up, nose up, and act like you actually know a thing about boy bands."
"You mean other than the fact that they all come from a special order factory in China?" Daria quipped as her friend pushed the doorbell.
Before either of them could say anything, the door opened, revealing Brittany, still in her cheerleader uniform. "Daria! You made it!" She surprised her guest by embracing her quickly and stepping back. "Oh, and you brought Burnout Girl, after all! Won't you two come in?"
Daria knew Jennifer was touchy about her nickname, so she raised her hand and said, "Um, actually, she-"
Jennifer gently pulled the hand down again and shook her head. "Don't worry about it. It doesn't matter. It's been going too long and has too much inertia."
"Come in, come in!" Brittany said, pulling Daria in, and by extension, Jennifer, since she was still holding onto her arm in case she tried to bolt for it. The sound of something fragile breaking, followed by Kevin Thompson's muffled "Oops." caught her attention and she added, "Excuse me. I think I hear my Kevvy getting into trouble."
They watched her bounce off in the direction of the offending noises, and took a look at the display of peacockery going on. Naturally, the cliques had all gravitated to themselves and their allied groups. Daria's scan stopped suddenly when she noticed movement behind a large, rearing ceramic tiger. "Target sighted," she mumbled just loud enough for Jennifer to hear her over the loud music.
Jennifer followed her gaze, spotting the shock of red hair poorly hidden behind the large expanse of porcelain cat. They were about to head in that direction when another redhead blocked their path. "Charles Ruttheimer III. And you are?"
Rolling her eyes, Jennifer replied, "Charles, you know who I am; we've been in the same classes since fourth grade."
Daria decided on a different tack, and answered, "Esmerelda."
Charles ignored Jennifer's comment, and gave a small bow. "I'll be your social director for the evening. Would you ladies like a tour of the house? It's free."
"Do you accept tips?" Daria asked.
Sensing he might be getting somewhere with the new girl, he said, "But, of course."
"Ditch the bangs."
Taken off guard momentarily, he gave a low growl like an asthmatic cat purr. "Feisty..." Nevertheless, he put his arms over the girls' shoulders, and played it off when he was shrugged away. Seeing that he needed more time to work on them, he led them on the offered tour, despite not actually knowing anything about the house itself. "This five-bedroom house is designed in a combination of southern pseudo-plantation and late mock-Tudor styles. To your right, the quasi-Victorian breakfast nook. Straight ahead, the family den, which was inspired by the novels of Isak Dinesen."
He led them to another door tucked away in a corner of the hallway and said, "And this... is the make-out room! Am I blushing? Confidentially, it's really the laundry room." He held a hand up in a mock attempt to hide what he was saying to an unseen audience as he said this, then knocked on the door. "Hey? Don't lean on the buttons!"
A male voice called out from in the room, "Can it, Upchuck, or I'll break your face!" This was quickly followed by a distinctly female giggle.
Turning back to his captive audience, he added, "As we've reached the end of our tour, I'd like to thank you for your undivided attention. Any questions?"
"Yes. How did you get invited?" Daria asked.
Charles' expression immediately became crestfallen as he said, "I dissected her frog." Finally sensing the direction of the wind, he wandered off sadly.
Jennifer felt a little bad about it, but pushed it to the side as she resumed search for their target. She noticed a couple of boys watching them pretty intensely, but also ignored them as unimportant. Eventually, her eyes came across that same tiger from before and was surprised to see Quinn still standing behind it. She was watching the two of them until Jennifer spotted her, and ducked back behind cover. Jennifer lightly elbowed Daria and muttered, "Heads up. Target reacquired, same location."
Daria looked over and spotted her sister once more, and said in a normal volume, "I'm getting a bit thirsty. Want some punch?" She pointed a thumb over in the direction of the refreshments table, which was very close to the tiger.
Nodding, Jennifer mechanically replied, "Sure. That walk built up a mighty thirst."
They walked over to the table, where several other kids were standing and socializing. After getting a cup each, Daria loudly asked, "I wonder where my sister, Quinn Morgendorffer is? She said she would be here. How am I supposed to look out for my little sister when I can't even find her?"
"I know," Jennifer added just as loudly. "It's almost like she's trying to ditch the party."
Several of the kids around them began whispering at this, and Daria could almost swear she heard her sister blush. It was then that Quinn's three "suitors" came straight up to the tiger, and began talking to her as if there was nothing unusual about the situation. "There you are! I'm glad we found you," Joey said.
"Yeah, we were looking all over for you," Jeffy added.
"I looked the hardest," Jamie volunteered.
Mortified beyond reason, Quinn wordlessly ran out from behind the tiger and dashed for the bathroom, locking it behind her. Daria watched her go, then looked to the three boys next to her. "Hi. I'm Quinn's brainy sister. People say we look alike."
Jennifer scrutinized her face, then shook her head. "I don't see it. Anyway, why don't you finish that story you were telling me about the family trip to the Grand Canyon? The one where your father didn't want to make any pit stops because he was making good time?"
Picking up on her cue, Daria grinned. "Oh, right. So, there we were, in the middle of the desert without a gas station within sixty miles, when Quinn started crossing her legs and squirming in the seat. She said, 'Da~aaad!'" Jennifer gave a little shudder at how well Daria imitated Quinn just then. "'You have to stop! If you don't, I'm gonna explode!' So my mom hands her an empty soda cup and says, 'Here, you gotta go? Then go.'" Just then, she noticed Quinn standing aghast behind the Three J's,frozen in shock and horror. Just to twist the knife a little more, she said, "I have this great picture at home of Quinn in her chubby stage."
Quinn ran up and pulled her away roughly and brought her to the foyer, shoving some money in her hand. "Look, I'll pay you five dollars to just go away, all right?"
Daria took the money, but rolled her eyes. "Boy, you try to look out for your little sister..."
Quinn dug out more money and shoved it in her other hand. "Fine, here's ten. Now, go away!"
As she stomped off, Jennifer walked up. "Does this mean mission accomplished?"
Daria gave her one of the fives then turned for the door. "I'm happy with the damage caused tonight. When she breaks out the bribes, it usually means I've come to the wall that keeps her from telling our parents. Shall we go, then?"
Walking to the entrance of the gated community, Jennifer looked at her watch and said, "It's still pretty early. Want to go hang out at Monique's?"
"Well, my mom will ask too many questions if I come home this early, especially without Quinn, since I was supposed to be looking out for her, but do you think it'll be okay? I don't want to intrude on 'band business' or whatever," Daria replied.
Jennifer shook her head, momentarily revealing both eyes. "Nah, it's cool."
They reached the guard station where the guard was arguing with a bunch of kids in a car blaring loud music. "I don't care if you are a late addition. You're not on the list, you don't get in."
Jennifer tapped him on the shoulder and asked, "Hey, can we use your phone? We need to call for our ride."
The guard turned around to face them, replying, "Fine, just let me deal with these-" With his back turned, the kids took the opportunity to drive around the crossing arm with a squeal of tires on the pavement. "Hey! Get back here, you-" He chased after them on foot, leaving the station unguarded.
Picking up the phone, Jennifer made her call, then turned to Daria. "She'll be here in a few minutes. Sounds like they're actually inspired enough to practice the new song tonight."
"Sure I'm not going to be in the way?"
Jennifer shook her head again. "Positive. Besides, the rest of the band wants to meet you. I never had many friends outside of them, so they're kinda psyched to see who I would make friends with all on my own."
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*(")(")
The meeting went a lot better than Daria had thought it might, though she still felt out of place in a room full of mature women. At least, some of them acted mature. Samantha was probably the most mature there, but that's not really saying much.
As soon as she walked through the door behind Jennifer, she had the attention of the three other women. Jennifer pointed out each of them in turn as she introduced them. "Daria, that's Monique," she pointed at the woman with too many piercings that had spent almost five minutes on a guitar solo that first night at the club, "Lisa," she pointed at a redhead sitting on a couch, strumming away on a bass guitar, and looking like a refugee from a trailer park tornado, "and Sylvia, but everyone calls her Sylvie," she indicated the last woman standing at the entrance to the kitchen, who had a body like a Victoria Secret model, and a face to match.
The four women all added up to a rather attractive band, though Monique's allure was more of an, "I'm dangerous to know" kind of attractiveness, and Lisa had a sort of put upon look that hid what was likely a rather attractive woman. Still, Daria held her hand out for them when Jennifer gave her a little push forward into the room. "Um, pleased to meet you," she mumbled.
Sylvie pushed her way through the other two and took the offered hand. "Aw, the poor thing's so shy." She leaned forward, her face coming uncomfortably close and pushed Daria's hair on the side behind her ear, eliciting a deep blush from the girl. "You remind me of Sam when she was your age; so cute."
"Sylvie!" a blushing Samantha shouted as she chased the laughing woman back into the kitchen.
Monique rolled her eyes and said, "So are we gonna practice now that we're all here or not? I heard that Trent's come up with a new song that's supposed to be killer."
The redhead gave a sharp bark of laughter from her seat. "Ha! I'll bet it's 'killer'. Probably kill your brain cells from trying to interpret the lyrics."
Monique took exception to this and glared at her. "I'll have you know that I read them, and they are fantastic! We're really going to have to buckle down if we want to keep up with The Spiral."
"Oh, great. It sounds like she's back together with Trent again, or she wouldn't be defending his awful music, let alone calling his band, 'The Spiral'." Jennifer sighed quietly.
Daria waited for the others to head through the kitchen and into the garage before she looked to her friend and asked, "I take it them being together is not a good thing?"
Jennifer smirked and shook her head. "Oh, no. It's a good thing; so long as you happen to like watching volatile chemical reactions up close... without safety gear." She grabbed a chair from the kitchen table as they walked past, and set it up next to the door in the garage. "You can sit here while we practice, or if it gets to be too much, just head on in and watch TV. I think Sick, Sad World will be on in a half hour or so."
She sat down and watched them get in their positions and shakily start practice. To say that Daria was less than impressed this time around would have been an understatement. She didn't know if it was because it was a new song, and therefore unpolished, the subject matter, a odd little number that almost sounded... happy, which was a huge departure from their usual fare, or some other factor, but the Harpies sounded just awful.
After the fifth time through, the song just kinda petered out, until only Monique was left jamming away on her guitar. It took her a while to notice nobody else was playing or singing, and she stopped abruptly to glare at her band mates. "Okay, what's the problem this time?"
They sat there for a moment, staring at each other. Samantha was the first to break the silence and say, "Monique, we sounded like Spiral."
Monique rolled her eyes and gave a snort of disgust. "I wish!"
"No, Monique; that's a bad thing," Sylvie clarified from behind her keyboard. "Remember Ice-"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" Monique shrieked.
Samantha stood from behind the drums and walked around them to stand next to her. "You're like this every time you and Trent get back together. Honestly, I'd say we need to take a break from being a band for a few days every time you two hook up again, if it weren't for the fact that you two break up and get back together at least once a month." Monique opened her mouth to say something back, but Samantha stopped her with a raised hand in a "halt" gesture. "Before you say something we'll all regret again, why don't we call it a night and cool off? Meet up again tomorrow after work, and discuss this again?"
Several emotions could be seen to crawl across Monique's face, most some variation of anger, until she looked over at Daria, who sat there with a slightly startled expression, like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. She seemed to come to her senses and angrily unplugged her guitar and put it on the stand next to her before stomping off into the house, slamming the door behind her.
The rest of the band was stunned, and it was several moments before anyone spoke. "Well, that was the quietest I've ever seen her storm off before," Lisa said.
"You can say that again. What just happened?" Sylvie added.
Samantha looked from the door to Daria and gave a sad little shake of her head. "I think she finally realized what she must look like to an outsider when she throws a hissy fit, and didn't like it." She walked over and gave Daria a brief, one-sided hug. "Thanks, Daria. We've been trying to get her to do that for as long as we've known her."
Daria looked over at Jennifer in confusion, only to receive an equally confused shrug in return.
Samantha wasn't quite done, however, and grabbed her sister's sleeve and pulled her towards the door back into the house. "Come on. Let's all go get some ice cream before I take you home."
Still in a daze, Daria quietly followed after.
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AN: Well, now. I hope that was enough of a departure from the episode to be fresh and new, while still resembling the source material. My plan in future is to do something like this; keep the original premise of the episode, but see where the new perspective and changes to cast take us. I think that eventually, all the changes will pile up so high, that they'll be almost entirely new episodes- er, chapters... whatever.
Try not to think too badly of Monique (or at least, my interpretation of her here). She's not bad; she's just written that way. :P I needed new conflict to put in here, since I'm not going to bother with most of the Daria alone or Daria/family scenes, because most of those will remain largely the same (just replace names etc), and thus, would be retreading old ground that any fan of the show would already know. Rest assured, she won't always be such a bitch. I believe she's a good person at heart, she just needs to move away from toxic influences on her life (even if they're only incidentally toxic) to let that shine through.
One thing to note: Ms. Breger is actually based on my middle school band teacher. Think of her appearance as a sort of tribute, and an apology for not keeping up with my music (I was a pretty good trumpet player, if I do say so myself; second chair is nothing to sneeze at).
