Disclaimer: Daria and all associated characters owned by MTV. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money or any other goods have been exchanged.

The characters Ashley Winters and Cassidy Hemming were created by Ognawk.

Contains dialogue from "Jane's Addition" by Glenn Eichler

THE GREAT AND THE GOOD
By Ognawk

Part 4 - Attitude Problem

The following morning, Tom made his way downstairs to the breakfast table to find his mother Kay, father Angier and sister Elsie already there. As he sat down with the bowl of oatmeal he'd decided to have, his father looked at him from over his newspaper.

"So, have a good night last night, son?" Angier asked.

"Yeah, pretty good. Met a couple of interesting people." Tom replied, as he started to spoon his breakfast into his mouth. There was silence for a short time before his mother spoke up.

"So, where did you go exactly?" Kay asked.

Tom thought about it for a moment before answering. "Just some music club downtown."

"You went to a club in the Pinto?" Angier asked him, eyebrow raised, "You could have at least taken one of our cars, made a better impression."

"If you'd seen that club, you'd think the Pinto made the place look better," Tom replied, sensing the direction this conversation was taking, "But I like that car and I still intend to keep it."

"As you wish." His father said, returning his attention to his newspaper.

Tom finished his breakfast and took his bowl into the kitchen, not noticing that Elsie had stopped reading the book she had and followed him in.

"Just a couple of interesting people, eh Tom?" she teased.

"I may have met a girl who was very interesting." He replied with a slight smile.

"Slumming it with some town girl, huh?" Elsie replied in an overly haughty voice.

"She's an artist." Tom said, "Me and Ashley went for food with her and a friend of hers after the gig. It was good."

"So, are you planning on seeing her again?"

"I was planning on swinging by this afternoon just to see how she's doing." Tom answered, "She said she's not a morning person."

"Sounds like every creative type I've ever known." Elsie said.

"Pretty much." Tom said, with a slight smile.

That afternoon, Tom was driving to Jane's house, remembering the route from when he dropped her off at home the previous night. As he pulled up outside Casa Lane, he saw Jane in the doorway, her hair looking dishevelled like she just woke up, which she probably had. She was talking to Daria who was stood outside. Tom got out of the car and walked up the path. Jane was talking as he was approaching the door.

"I don't know Daria, I'm really beat." Jane said, rubbing the back of her neck, then turning her head slightly as she noticed Tom. "Hey! How you doing?"

"What do you mean? I'm fine." Daria said confusedly, not noticing that Tom was behind her.

"Hi!" Tom said, as Daria turned her head to see him. "Hi Daria!"

"Hi." Daria replied, a slight hint of concern on her face.

"I just came by to make sure you didn't get sick from those two jumbo burgers." Tom asked.

"Are you kidding? I could eat five of those babies and never feel a thing." Jane replied, belching suddenly. "Oh, excuse me. Why don't you come in?"

Tom nodded towards Daria. "No, it's OK, you've got a guest already."

"Oh come on." Jane said, pulling Tom in by the arm and Daria in along with him. Trent walked into the hallway, looking slightly disoriented and a little confused at the new face he didn't recognize.

"Hey... um. Hey Daria." Trent said, clearly having only just woken up.

"Hey Trent." Daria replied.

"Trent, this is Tom," Jane said, introducing the new face.

"Hey, you guys were good last night." Tom said.

"Um... thanks." Trent said groggily.

"Trent, I came over to talk about that project." Daria said.

"Oh. Well, um, why don't we talk in the kitchen, Daria?" Trent suggested.

"Don't you want Jane in on this?" Daria asked.

Jane scratched her head and yawned slightly. "You go ahead. I'm still waking up. I'll walk Tom to his car."

"But..."

"Yeah, c'mon Daria, it's cool," Trent interrupted, "She'll walk Tom to his car."

Daria and Trent went off to the kitchen as Jane opened the front door and walked outside towards Tom's car.

"Wow. He's not really much of a morning or afternoon person, is he?" Tom said.

"He's not much of an awake person," Jane replied, "Nuclear war could break out in Lawndale and he'd probably only stir to scratch his butt."

"Now there's an image I could have done without." Tom said.

"So, you wanna do something this weekend?" Jane asked.

"Sure, I've got nothing planned." Tom answered, as he opened his car door, "I'll drop you a line tomorrow and arrange something."

"Cool." Jane said, "I'd better go inside and make sure Trent hasn't fallen asleep with his head in the sink again."

"OK, later!" Tom said, getting into his car and driving away.

Tom was sat in his bedroom, finishing off some homework. It had been a couple of weeks since he first met Jane and they really seemed to hit it off. As he stretched, his cell phone started ringing. He picked it up and answered it.

"Hello."

"Evening, young Thomas," Ashley Winters said, "What's going down in Groove Town, then?"

"Damn you for getting me hooked on that show," Tom replied.

Ashley chuckled. "Anyway, what are your plans for the weekend? Off to see the lovely Ms Lane?"

"Actually, no. I'm hanging out with a few of the guys from school." Tom said. "You want to come along?"

"Ordinarily I'd love to, but it's the weekend of my Uncle Frances' wedding." Ashley said.

"Ah, of course, I forgot that was this weekend. Sounds about as fun as pulling teeth."

"It's not so bad." Ashley said, "I'm going to start a pool on how long it takes my cousin Graham to get drunk and punch one of the waiters."

"Actually, that sounds like it could be entertaining." Tom said, chuckling slightly.

"Well, it wouldn't be a Winters wedding without a visit from a panda car." Ashley said, laughing a little himself.

"So, you spoken to Daria much, then?" Tom asked, "You haven't really said much about her."

"Ah, well, you see there's kind of an issue there." Ashley said sheepishly.

"And that would be?"

"When the four of us went out for food that night, I kinda didn't think to exchange contact details with her." Ashley explained.

Tom shook his head and sighed. "Ashley, you're hopeless."

"I can't say I've had as much experience at dating as some people." Ashley said.

"Fair point." Tom responded, "I was just trying to figure her out. She's been acting kind of weird towards me for some reason."

"Well, I can't help you there, unfortunately."

"Well, I need to get going. I'll see you later, Winters."

"Good night, Sloane!" Ashley said before Tom hung up.

That Saturday evening, Tom sighed and got into his car. His friends who he was supposed to be meeting that evening had cancelled on him, so he decided to head off to Pizza King to see if Jane and Daria were hanging out. A short while later he walked into the restaurant and, sure enough, there they were sat at their usual booth.

"Hey!" Tom said as he approached their booth.

"Hey!" Jane replied as she was picking up a slice of pepperoni.

"What are you doing here?" Daria asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Well, my plans for this evening got cancelled and I figured I'd see if you guys were here." Tom answered.

"Well, pull up a bench and we'll order another pie." Jane said.

"That's OK, I'll just get a slice, I'm only going to stay a minute."

"Want to borrow my stopwatch?" Daria said, clearly annoyed by Tom's presence.

Wow. She really doesn't like me being here, Tom thought to himself.

"Daria, if you want to leave, just say so." Tom said, trying not to get frustrated by Daria's hostile attitude.

"OK, bye now." Daria replied.

OK, I knew she wasn't my biggest fan, but what is her deal, Tom thought.

"Hey, come on Daria!" Jane said, trying to defuse the tension, "I thought we were going to see a movie!"

"What movie?" Tom asked curiously.

"It's called 'The Big Chick Movie That Appeals Only to Girls and Makes Men and Boys Vomit.'" Daria answered.

Tom was having a hard time hiding his frustration with Daria now. "Hey, Daria, did I say I wanted to go to the movie with you?"

"No." Daria said, "But you never mentioned wanting to horn in on our pizza time, either."

Tom had had as much as he could take by this stage. "Daria, you're so darn pleasant and friendly, I don't see how anyone could resist an evening with you. But just on a crazy whim, I think I'll go home and watch TV by myself."

With that, Tom turned and walked out of Pizza King and got into his car. I really need to sort this out when I'm in a better mood, he thought to himself as he started the drive home, not noticing that Jane had come out after him.