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Chapter Two; She's Just A City Girl

The pleasantries were cut short, with the arrival of Tom. Daria had spent days wondering why she was with Tom, despite how horrid that sounded. Was it because they had kissed? Or was it because Jane 'wanted' them together? Or even just because she needed to conform to the social standards of 'boy meets girl'? There it was, in that sentiment. It wasn't 'girl meets boy'… it was her place to smile and laugh a merry little laugh and vapidly twirl her hair around her finger when she was required to…

Tom, of course, had done his best to hide this up till this point of their relationship. Or, maybe it was the fact she had deduced he didn't care about her. That he wasn't actually interested in her at all. In fact, he hadn't even made a point of introducing her to his family, none of it. They hadn't even gone for a nice dinner, something she was sure that Tom would do for any of his other girlfriends. This made her wonder if she was just his shot in the slums so he wouldn't need to put effort in; she wasn't that desperate.

It's not like she wanted to be a girly girl, or wanted to froufrou herself up. She would just like a little recognition as a feminine equivalent to his masculine finesse – did she even want that? Did he? Daria made a point of asking all these questions and more during a pleasant little trip to Tom's car, seeing as he had offered her a ride home to 'discuss' their issues. Trent and Jane seemed nonplussed, but Daria swore she saw an annoyed flicker in Trent's eyes – she was just being hopeful.

Even as Jane and Trent waved themselves off, Daria remained her stoic and numb little self, arms by her sides and face averted to the front of the car. She hadn't seen Tom for a few days, and by this point her brain had mulled over everything and anything of concern.

'Daria, what makes you think I don't want to be with you?'

'We're dating because it's convenient,' Daria explained, her tone shifting unnoticeably from indifferent to annoyed, 'I never asked to date you – it was all about what you felt was right. I don't want my -'

'You don't want to be changed… you don't want to compromise your beliefs, your self-assured nature. You're an independent woman; you make your own choices. You're truly a martyr,' Tom explained, his hands neatly tucked into his pockets as he thoughtfully watched Daria's expression. It wasn't sarcasm or disinterest, it was just the same kind of speech he recalled from all their previous discussions; Daria had a twisted view that relationships caused nothing but pain and grief. He hadn't bothered to start driving yet, as he felt it wasn't the best idea in their current discussion to add the danger of crashing.

'What? I never said that… relationships are about giving and taking – God, I sound like…'

'A teenage girl?'

'Tom, it's not working out.'

'Because you won't let it work out. You're making up reasons to fight with me, and pulling things out of the air… just give me a chance -'

'You cheated on Jane with me, so I can't trust you. I'm sick of explaining to everyone that you're my boyfriend, not Jane's boyfriend or my brother. Tom, I don't want to get involved.'

'And that… relationships are all about getting involved, Daria… we have fun, we can talk, make fun of people – it's just like being friends, but -'

'You get some action out of it? You're right; we are just like friends… Thanks for seeing it my way. Bye Tom,' Daria gave a small sigh, her tone resuming its complacent monotone. Tom and Daria argued for a few more minutes, solely about her refusing to get back into the car. She sighed once more, muttering a very quiet curse word before walking off toward her house.

Or what she thought was her house. As she arrived, she realised she was at Jane's house, her subconscious having a good old laugh at her… she didn't want to see Jane right now, especially as she just dumped the thing that caused her and her best friend such goddamn grief and strife.

'Hey Daria,' the voice was a resonant hum of a sound, ripping her out of her trance of self-inflicted anguish.

'Trent?'

'Yeah.'

'Hey.'

The exchange was intensely sterile – they hadn't properly spoken since they had discussed, albeit vicariously, the fact they would never work as a couple. Sure, they had seen one another and exchanged pleasantries, but the two of them hadn't been as bare, exposed as these few seconds allowed; rampant and revealed; insidious and ignored. Daria liked to dramatise things as much as possible in her mind – it allowed her to mock the situation, and feel less like Quinn.

Her cheek remained singed from the touch of his lips, Tom's own kisses only serving to numb the burning resonance she still felt.

'What up?' Trent finally managed, leaning heavily on his guitar, eyes averted to the ground beside him. He seemed as distracted as she was, though he could have easily been focusing on remaining upright.

'Since I last saw you? Took a walk, ate pizza, broke up with Tom… the usual,' she added in her own variation of airy.

'Pizza, huh. Any good?' he asked, eyes flickering up to Daria before turning back to the ground.

'The first few bites were okay, but then the toppings got too much – the pizza started talking back too, asking if I had any soul behind the façade of sarcasm and orphan-snatching.'

A laugh that slowly formed into a cough resounded from Trent, his hand coming to rest just beside his lips. He took a moment before flashing a weary smile, eyes focused on her properly for once. 'Huh. Sounds like a pizza I keep getting… I keep hoping it'll taste better the next time I have it, but it never does… I mean, it's pretty good but – wait…' he trailed off.

'Talking about Monique?'

'Only if you're talking about Tom…'

'Mhhh. Nothing like some stuck-up pizza telling me I'm a teenage girl with impossible standards and a stick somewhere – I'll let you guess,' Daria let a small smile trickle past her features, quickly replacing the slip with a scowl.

'You're more than that -' Daria perked, 'you're Janey's best friend.'

'Oh. Right.' She scolded herself for expecting anything further. This – this crush was gone. He was unreliable, unfocused and going no where… she would have been better off dating Kevin for his brains than Trent for his future. She, once again, scolded herself. Her negativity was what spurred all her problems, but it seemed to be almost always accurate. 'Trent…'

'Yeah?'

'Why are you out the front of your house? In hindsight, this would have been a better question to open with…'

'Dunno – inspiration… I'm trying to find myself…'

'Trent? Daria?' Jane called out, carrying some bags of, what seemed to be, groceries.

'Also, Jane locked me out of the house when she went to get the food for this month…'

As Jane approached she cast a look between Trent and Daria. Daria seemed to take a small step back, raising an eyebrow. 'I'm just waiting for you to hand over the deed to the farm.' They shared a few moments of pleasantries and explanations of needing some time before Daria bid farewell to Trent and Jane.

'I'll talk to you Monday.'

Offering no real goodbye Jane and Trent watched in mild confusion before walking into the house. Trent quickly headed upstairs, deciding against getting involved in the sticky Daria-Jane-Tom love triangle that had developed over the past few months. Sticky business he wanted no hand in, especially not now…