Part 10: Preparations are a Go!

"And I was saying to Tori that tangerine isn't as orange as… AHHHH!" Quinn screamed as she entered her house with the other members of the Fashion Club and her tiny pathetic brain processed the sheer madness in the Morgendorffer living room.

Day-glow was very much in attendance along with tye-dyed banners, happy face posters, signs saying, "Make Love/Not War" and "WAR IS OVER (if you want it)" scattered about.

And in the center of the maelstrom was her sis… Cousin, distant cousin and her loser friends working away.

"What in the name of the guy on the Christmas cards are you doing?!" Quinn screamed in horror while the rest of the Fashion Club stood frozen behind her, Sandi already processing the countless fashion violations while giving Quinn an evil predatory look.

Without missing a beat Daria answered, "Working on stuff for the dance."

The fashion drones did a double take and Sandi demanded that she repeat that.

Graham obliged her with his most snotty Grove Hills act, and for Graham it was very snotty indeed.

"We…Are…Working…On…stuff…for…the…dance." He said very slowly as if he was talking to a retarded monkey on crack.

Sandi inhaled a breath, readying a devastating retort at the loser who had dared to mock her like that, but Tiffany beat her to the punch.

In that she spoke up first.

"Hey…" She said happily, "I…understood…that."

Sandi was rendered speechless again.

Jane gave them all a very big and very evil smile, "That's great Tiffany… But we are busy and all that, working on a 60's theme is draining work for us misanthropes."

"A sixties theme?!" Quinn exclaimed in disbelief as she found her voice and her three frenemies joined in her the sheer horror of such a dance theme.

"Yes." Daria replied flatly and dismissively.

"Well!" Sandi said with a contempt filled tsk, "You are going to have to change it, since the 60's were extremely unfashionable."

"It's too late," David spoke up while making a faux Anti-Vietnam War poster, "Ms. Li already signed off on it."

Relishing a new wave of horrified gasps Daria added, "It's going to be announced tomorrow, which means that you four can either stand in here with your mouths open gawking at us."

"Or," Jane butted in with another evil grin, "You can go to the mall right now and get the right clothes for it before all the good stuff is taken."

"Your choice." Graham tossed out with his own wicked smile.

Sandi and Quinn both looked at each other processing this information while Tiffany and Stacy stared mesmerized at the sight of four people who were giving them the kind of grins that belonged on Cheshire Cats or Sharks.

After a minute, Sandi made an about face and lead her minions out while barking orders from the corner of her mouth.

As soon as the door slammed shut Daria breathed with relief, "Good riddens."

The next day at school a very surprised Graham was accosted by several dudes he normally didn't talk to in Gym Class and once he ascertained that they weren't going to beat him up and registered what they were saying managed to blurt out.

"How did you guys even know about that?!"

They stared at him vacantly before he muttered, "Nevermind, this is Lawndale."

Then he realized that they were waiting for an answer, "And yes I'm taking Daria to the dance."

"How the hell did you pull it off?!" asked that guy with the big head, Bobby was it?

"I asked her." Graham replied simply, "You know, with words. That came out of my mouth."

He noticed a couple of them were struggling to figure out if he had just insulted them or not and decided that fleeing was the better part of survival.

So he finished grabbing his gym clothes and said, "Now we all need to head on out before Gibson complains."

As he began walking away he heard Evan make a crack, "You know for a total loser, that Graham kid managed to penetrate that Ice Fortress."

"Hah!" some other guy laughed, "I doubt it, her and that Jane chick are total dykes."

Graham had to force himself to keep walking and to ignore the laughter, but he was in a foul mood for the rest of gym, having wished very hard that he was strong enough to take at least one of them on because there wasn't much he had wanted to do in that moment than to start swinging his fists and not to stop until his enemies were bloodied beneath his feet.

"It wouldn't have been worth it man," David assured him after class was over and Graham had opened up about what had happened, "They would have beaten you into the dirt even if you were as strong as them."

"Yeah, yeah." Graham replied annoyed, "But still what gives them the right to say crap like that?"

"Nothing," David supplied, "But it's just words, let it slide man. Besides we both know that it's not true, right? Who cares what those idiots think?"

Graham managed a small smirk at that, "Hey yeah, you're right, who cares what they think? They're the real losers."

David laughed, "That's the Graham that I'm proud to call my buddy."

"I assume someone on the Dance Committee talked," Daria speculated during lunch while telling them about her encounters with various gossipy girls that day, "I guess it's not surprising, but it still irks me."

"Yeah I can understand that." Jane replied while munching on her barely edible food.

David took a swig of barely fresh milk and noticed Upchuck heading up behind the girls and gave them some warning, "What do you want Charles?" he asked coolly and Daria and Jane quickly turned to give the scrawny sleazy redhead a warning glare.

To his credit, Upchuck stopped in mid-step a good foot away and said, "I heard that you guys were on the Dance Committee and I wanted to see if you were looking for a DJ, if so I'd like to volunteer my services."

"…Let us talk about it for a second." Daria said before she and Jane turned to their two guys and formed a huddle over the table.

"You know," Jane mused almost instantly, "Him volunteering means that we won't have to pay him to do it."

"Yeah but think about it," David replied, "Him on a microphone all night with a captive audience… Ugh!"

"True," Daria stated with a sigh, "But unless we can keep Trent awake for the duration the list of candidates is kind of short."

"How about looking at it this way," Graham offered up, "If Upchuck is DJing then he won't be in circulation hitting on people's dates. Simple physics."

"Hmmm… Good point Mister Alexander." Daria conceded and got a nod of approval from Jane, herself, and Graham.

Finding himself out voted (Et tu Graham?), David sighed and gave his consent.

Daria turned back to an awaiting Upchuck and said very flatly, "Congratulations Mr. DJ."

"Yes!" Upchuck cheered and jumped happily, "You won't regret this!"

He scampered off and David made a sound in his throat, "Too late."

A little bit later David managed to get Jane alone at her locker and asked her casually, "So since we're going to the dance, you mind going as my date?"

Jane gave the kid a small grin, "Took you long enough."

David laughed, "I'll take that as a yes… So anything serious or just as friends?"

Jane's smile didn't fade, "Just friends, let's not make things any more complicated than they already are."

Case in point is when Graham and Daria were walking up to them together, and yet trying not to seem too, together with each other.

David smirked and replied, "Complications are the last thing we need right now."

Once the school day was over, the entire dance committee, not just themselves but also the others were in Daria's living room working on the decorations and ironing out the details of getting enough furniture and food and soda.

While Graham and Bob debated what people would rather drink, Coke or Pepsi, Daria was watching Jane at work, granted she was stuck in a 60's medium but even then her creativity shined through.

While the cute freshman girl in the group was smiling at David, thinking that his mop top haircut was kinda cute, the distinctive ring emerged from his pocket.

He pulled out his cellphone and made a face, "Hmm… Unknown caller." He muttered and walked out of the room saying that he'd be back in a second.

He walked through the Morgendorffer kitchen and stepped outside and answered his phone.

"Hello, who's this?" David asked politely, wondering if it was a wrong number.

"David please don't hang up!" a feminine voice pleaded quickly from the other end.

He instantly recognized who it was even though he had only met her once in his entire life.

"Sue?!" David exclaimed in surprise and dread quickly consumed his entire being.

Note: Yes, this is the infamous Susan 'Sue Bee' Bentley of the Hallowed Halls of Fielding. Used with permission of her creator, Roentgen.