The Cooking Club (1)

Morgendorffer house. Evening. Quinn is studying in her room when her mother comes in.

Helen : Can I have a word with you sweetie ?

Quinn (interrupting her reading) : What is it, Mom ?

Helen : I just had a talk with Linda Griffin over the phone. She told me you've left the Fashion Club.

Quinn has a trapped expression on her face.

Quinn (Thought VO) : Oh, crap ! Having the Fashion Club as an excuse to explain my absences when I'm visiting Daria and James and Mr. Sloane was handy ! But now, I'm soooo busted ! What am I gonna do ? (Sheepish) Well, yeah… I couldn't bear Sandi's bossy ways and mean streak anymore… Besides, I needed some time to catch up on my courses… That's how I raised my grades…

Helen : And I'm very proud for that, honey. I won't reproach you. Still, I think you should consider another extracurricular activity. It could prove useful later, when you'll be applying for college. (Thought VO) And losing face in front of Linda is infuriating.

Quinn (relieved) : Okay, Mom ! I promise I'll think about it ! (Thought VO) At least, she doesn't suspect anything.

Helen smiles and heads for the door. But, before exiting, she throws a sharp glance at Quinn.

Helen : By the way, Quinn, you have been going out a lot, Saturday and Sunday afternoon, over the past weeks… What was that for, if you didn't have meetings with the Fashion Club ?

Quinn (thinking fast) : Well… you see… I've been visiting the library… and hanging out with Tom Sloane, too…

Helen (with an approving smile) : Oh ! I'm glad to hear it ! Tom is a charming young man. Keep hanging out with him.

Quinn (smiling) : I will, Mom ! (Thought VO) Whew, that was a close call !

...

Cedars of Lawndale Mental Health Unit. Dr. Calan's office. Quinn and Dr. Calan are cuddling on his divan after a round of wild sex, judging by the clothes lying in complete disorder on the floor around them. Quinn has laid her head on her lover's chest, but she is now silent and looks worried. Dr. Calan is cajoling her.

Dr. Calan : Sweetheart, you lack your usual zest today. Is something bothering you ?

Quinn (hesitant) : Not really…

Dr. Calan : My love, you know you can confide in me. Maybe I could comfort you.

Quinn : There are several things…

Dr. Calan (smiling tenderly) : Please tell me. It breaks my heart when you're sad. I can lend you an ear at least.

Quinn (sadly) : I worry about Daria. When she said my name, I hoped she'd heal quickly, but… It has been months since then, and… she isn't getting any better. In fact… in some ways, things are worse than before… I'm the only one she ever talked to, and even to me, she's just saying a few words here and there… She is so distant most of the time… so absent-minded… There isn't any light in her eyes… It scares me. It looks like she's sinking deeper and deeper… into some dark pit where I can't reach her…

Dr. Calan : She's reacting to your attempts at communicating, though.

Quinn (fear creeping in her voice) : Yes… but barely… and she talks so slowly now… She's always drawling, even to utter a few short words… Sometimes, I fear that I'm losing her… that she'll completely… disappear in the pit, you know… that she'll reach a point where she won't answer me at all… It's terrifying ! James, what's happening to her ? She wasn't like that before coming at Cedars ! She was silent, yes, but she was active, quick-thinking, witty even ! What's happening to her ?

Dr. Calan (sympathetic) : Quinn, there isn't an easy to tell you any of this. Your sister has been hurt, deeply hurt, by the way she's been treated by your parents… especially by your mother, if I understand correctly…

Quinn sadly nods.

Dr. Calan : Thanks to our therapeutic sessions, and also thanks to your kind visits, she made some progresses. She became able to talk again. In fact, she was very close to a complete recovery. But then, she understood that healing would mean coming out of Cedars, facing the outside world again, and especially facing your parents. She couldn't take it. It terrified her so much that her mind retreated in a world of her own creation, a world where she feels safe, a world where she is at peace and nothing can ever hurt her. Alas, I've seen this often in similar cases ! That's why she's been so unresponsive and absent-minded : she is absent, really. Her mind is elsewhere.

Quinn (horrified) : So, if she's in this state, that's mainly because she's afraid of Mom ! That's the only thing preventing her to heal now. Dammit ! If only I could convince Mom to change her attitude towards Daria ! But… it's pretty much a lost cause… She gets angry everytime I mention Daria… If I kept insisting, I fear she could even try to have me committed here ! (Quinn smiles) Of course, I'd be close to you and Daria that way, and you would take care of me, but still… it wouldn't get us anywhere.

Dr. Calan smiles lovingly to Quinn and strokes her hair.

Dr. Calan (Thought VO) : So, you really think your mother could intern you at Cedars ? That's an interesting idea. And you think I'd take care of you ? My sweet, foolish little Quinn, if only you knew ! You'd be at my mercy here. I could have free access to your luscious body whenever needed… Of course, you can talk, unlike Daria, but with the appropriate medication, I bet I could train you to be my docile little plaything, just like your sister… In fact, I think you'd be less resilient than her… Maybe I could try to persuade your mother that you need help… But no, she doesn't know that you're meeting me, I can't talk to her about you… I guess you'll have to stay my lover, for now at least. (Aloud) Everything depends on Daria now. She has to find in herself the courage to move on, to defeat her fears and to exit the dream world where she's retreating. That's the only way for her to heal at last, and nobody can do it in her place.

Quinn (anguished) : Isn't there anything I can do to help her ?

Dr. Calan (kindly) : You can keep doing what you've been doing already : visiting her, letting her know that you love her, reminding her that's there someone in the outside world who's waiting for her and ready to stand by her side.

Quinn : I'll keep doing that, always ! I just wish there was more I could do…

Dr. Calan : We all do, my sweet Quinn, we all do.

Quinn sighs. She closes her eyes and stays silent for a while.

Dr. Calan : Was there something else ?

Quinn : Nothing important, really. My mother has been pestering me to find some freakin' extracurricular activity, since I left the Fashion Club. Honestly, I don't care much about all that crap, now. Daria is more important ! But if I don't want Mom to find that I'm coming at Cedars as often as I can, I need some new activity to be my cover… But the various clubs and activities at school are all dumb, time consuming, or both. I dunno what to do…

Dr. Calan : If none of the activities existing at your school interest you, maybe you should find your own activity. Maybe you could even create your own club, about something you love.

Quinn (smiling sweetly) : I love Daria… and I love you, James… But I can't create a club about that.

Dr. Calan : Isn't there something else ? Something you like to do ?

Quinn (sighing) : Not really, in fact. Until I met you, I had always been totally engrossed in fashion, dating, popularity and all those things. That was rather stupid, but… You know, you have to be good at something. I thought that, being attractive and popular, that was what I was good at. Maybe it was not that important, but it was what I could do. God, I was sooooo shallow ! But you taught me that I could be both a brain and a beauty, and now I think I could get interested in other things… But I still don't know in what… I mean, since I started to make real efforts in school, I discovered history can be a really fascinating matter… But creating a History Club ? Nah !

Dr. Calan (comfortingly) : Don't try to rush things. I'm pretty sure you'll find some good idea pretty soon.

Quinn (thoughtful) : I hope so, James.

...

Later. A corridor in the Mental Health Unit. Quinn has left Dr. Calan's office and his about to go home, when she comes across a nurse pushing a little cart with several trays on it. Quinn looks at the food displayed with morbid fascination.

Quinn : Is this… the meal for the patients ?

Nurse : Of course.

Quinn (looking with disgust at some greenish substance) : Is this… pudding ?

Nurse : Well, it's supposed to be.

Quinn : Ewwwwww !

Nurse : Hey, don't blame me ! I'm not the one doing the cooking.

The nurse carries on. Quinn looks horrified.

Quinn (Thought VO) : Oh my ! It looked really disgusting. And poor Daria has been eating this crap for eight months now ! That's awful ! Even worse than Mom's frozen lasagna ! But… Hey ! Maybe I've just found the idea I needed ! That could be both a fine activity, a perfect cover against Mom, and a great way to remind Daria that I love her ! I could even cook for James… As they say, the way to a man's heart his through his stomach !

Quinn smiles happily.

...

Lawndale High. Quinn and Stacy are approaching Jane at her locker. To be more specific, Quinn is approaching Jane while Stacy is cowering behind her back.

Quinn (with a friendly smile) : Hi, Jane.

Jane : Hi, Quinn. Don't look back right now, but I think you're being followed by one of the fashion snots.

Stacy (nervous) : Eep ! It isn't… it isn't what you think !

Quinn : It's okay, Jane. Stacy has just left the Fashion Club. I recruited her for a new club I plan to create. We came to invit you in it, too.

Jane (surprised) : She left the Fashion Club ?

Stacy (fidgeting) : It wasn't the same since Quinn left. Sandi was always demeaning me, and Tori trampled all over me, too. She is so bitchy since she became the new vice-president ! I couldn't take it anymore.

Quinn pats Stacy's back reassuringly.

Quinn : When I proposed her to join me, she agreed on the spot, and she told Sandi she was quitting ! I was sooooo proud of her !

Jane : Okay, that's nice but let me stop you there. If you want me to join a new club about clothes and the like, I'm not interested.

Quinn : Duh ! I wouldn't have asked you for that ! It won't be another Fashion Club. We're doing something totally different, this time : a Cooking Club !

Jane (surprised) : A Cooking Club ?

Quinn (enthusiastic) : Yes ! We'll meet regularly to cook together ! We'll prepare delicious food ! Like… I dunno… cupcakes… or vegetables salad…

Jane : That sounds awful. Don't you plan to cook some real food ? Like pizza, by example ?

Quinn (conciliatory tone) : Of course ! We can try to cook pizza, or anything you want, really !

Jane : That's great, but... That's rather surprising from your part. What gave you such an idea ?

Quinn's face falls. For a brief moment, her expression lets a deep sadness appear.

Quinn : My sister has been eating crap at the psychiatric hospital for months, now. I just want to cook for her, to let her eat something good from time to time... And since my mother is pestering me to find a new club, I thought I could create one myself.

Jane is visibly moved to hear Quinn talking about Daria.

Jane (with a smile) : That's nice of you, Quinn... But, quite frankly, I'm not much of a cook, and I'm busy with my paintings anyway, so I think I should decline.

Quinn sighs. Stacy looks devastated.

Stacy : Oh my ! Oh my ! Quinn, what are we gonna do ?

Quinn (reassuringly) : Stacy, don't panick ! Everything will be okay. Listen, Jane, all we need is a third member, so our club can be officially recognized by school : then, it'll count as an extracurricular activity, and we could obtain some funding. That's why we need you. But as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't bother me if you're just a ghost member. You wouldn't need to participate, except for a few school events. We would also have to do our meetings at your place from time to time, so nobody would get suspicious. But you won't be forced to cook with us, if you really don't want to.

Jane (hesitant) : I don't know, Quinn...

Quinn (with a wily smile) : What if you get your share of everything we cook ?

Jane (interested) : Seriously ? You'd share with me ?

Quinn : If you are our third member, it's only fair that you're getting a third of the food : the club couldn't exist without you, after all. Of course, if you want the dishes to be to your liking, I expect you to give us a hand from time to time.

Jane : Free food ? It's something ! The table of Casa Lane isn't always planturously served. Well… You win, princess ! Count me in.

Quinn : That's great ! I just need your signature, then.

Quinn hands to Jane the document for membership in the club. Jane reads it quickly, then signs it.

Jane : By the way, are you a good cook, Quinn ?

Quinn (embarrassed) : Well… I can't really say that I am…

Jane : Do you know how to cook, at least ?

Quinn (embarrassed) : I've still many things to learn, that's for sure…

Jane (suspicious) : Quinn, you don't know the first thing about cooking, am I right ?

Quinn : Well… I could make an omelette… or a salad… I think…

Jane : Dammit ! Stacy ?

Stacy : Eep !

Jane : Can you cook at all ?

Stacy : I… I made pancakes once or twice…

Jane (incredulous) : Wow ! I'm a member in a Cooking Club where nobody knows how to cook !

Quinn (cheerfully) : Don't fret about it, Jane. We'll just have to learn together. It can't be that hard !

Jane (sceptical) : If you say so…

...

Sloane mansion. Tom's room. Tom is busy staring at the ceiling when Elsie comes in with a cordless phone.

Elsie : A phone call for you. That Quinn chick…

Tom doesn't look happy to hear that.

Tom (sighing) : I'll take the call. Thanks, Elsie.

He takes the phone and closes the door behind Elsie when she leaves.

Tom : Hello, Quinn ?

Quinn's voice (cheerful) : Hi, Tom ! I'm calling you because I just cooked some lasagna, real lasagna I mean, not frozen lasagna, and I baked a cake, too ! So I wondered if you'd want to come at my place and taste it.

Tom (surprised) : I didn't know you could cook.

Quinn's voice : Well, I can't… or rather, I couldn't ! The thing is, I've recently created a Cooking Club with two friends from school. We've been cooking all sorts of dishes for a few weeks now.

Tom : Did the other girls know how to cook ?

Quinn's voice : Uh… Not really at first… But we used a cookbook and we taught ourselves how to do it.

Tom (wary) : So… was it any good ?

Quinn's voice : The first few tries were clearly failures. The dishes weren't edible. But, after a week or so, we obtained some results… We tested the food on Trent, my friend Jane's brother. He threw up once or twice, and I think we poisoned him a little… But he survived, and by now I think we've all become pretty decent cooks.

Tom : So let me get this straight. You plan to use me as a guinea pig for your culinary experiments.

Quinn's voice : Well… not really… I mean, the first tries weren't good at all, but by now the food is edible and safe at least. We've tasted it ourselves. Of course, we aren't perfect yet, and yes, I'd like your opinion about our dishes, but you shouldn't throw up and you definately won't be poisoned.

Tom (deadpan) : How comforting.

Quinn's voice : Besides, you've really helped me with my schoolwork, and I'd like to bake a cake just for you as a thank you gift… So I need to know your tastes !

Tom (sighing) : Listen, Quinn, I already told you that I'm busy with family stuff.

Quinn's voice : Come on, that was, like, weeks ago, and you can't be busy all the time ! It wouldn't take long…

Tom (harshly) : Quinn, it would be better if we didn't see each other again.

Quinn's voice (shocked) : Uh ? But… why ? Did I offend you somehow ? If so, I'm sorry, I didn't want to…

Tom : You didn't offend me, Quinn. You did nothing wrong really. (Thought VO) I'm the one who did something wrong. (Aloud) It's just that… we aren't from the same social sphere.

Quinn's voice (pained) : But… but I thought you didn't care about wealth, social standing and all that… You used to say it shouldn't matter in relationships…

Tom : Sorry, Quinn. I guess I'm not as rebellious as I thought I was. Please don't call again.

Tom hangs up the phone. Then he seats on his bed and takes his head between his hands. He looks miserable. Someone knocks at his door.

Tom : Come in.

The man coming in looks like an older version of Tom, elegantly dressed in a rather conservative way.

Angier (cordial) : So, how are things with that Quinn girl, son ?

Tom (gloomily) : I won't see her again.

Angier (sympathetic) : Did she call to break up with you, then ? That's cold ! That brat have nerves, to treat a Sloane that way ! Well, don't be sad. There are many fishes in the sea. By the way, I'm having another party in two weeks. Do you want to go? It'd help you change your mind !

Tom (curtly) : No, thanks.

Angier : Are you sure ? The chick from the other time, the one who pleased you so much, will be there, though.

Tom pales.

Tom (Thought VO) : I should refuse… Those parties are sick and disgusting… I'd like to see that girl again, though… Daria… God, she was so beautiful… Besides, if I don't go, that won't do her any good. Someone else will get to bang her. And that someone else might be rougher with her than I would. I could go… to make sure she isn't treated too badly… That's it ! I have to go ! That way, I will keep her to myself, and I'll be gentle with her ! That's the only thing I can do for her. (Aloud) Okay, Dad. I'll go.

...

The courtyard of Cedars of Lawndale Mental Health Unit, appropriately planted with cedars. Quinn is taking a walk with Russel Sloane, pushing his wheelchair in the alley. She looks dejected.

Quinn : So he refused, and he said he never wanted to see me again.

Russel (sighing) : The boy disappoints me. To cut out of his life a girl as sweet as you, he has to be even dumber than I thought.

Quinn : I hope he's visiting you again, at least.

Russel : Nope. I don't expect to see more of him. His father is selfish and heartless, his mother arrogant and stuck up. I guess Tom takes after both of them.

Quinn (sadly) : He's been so nice to me, though ! I considered him my first true friend !

Russel (comforting) : Don't take it too much at heart, Quinn. In a way, maybe it's for the best.

Quinn : Uh ? What do you mean ?

Russel : If you had kept frequenting Tom, you'd probably have met my son Angier at some point and… I prefer if you don't.

Quinn : Why that ?

Russel : Angier has a liking for pretty young girls. Too young girls, in fact. And, well, you're a cutie. If he ever saw you, he could try to hit on you despite the age difference.

Quinn (blushing) : I don't believe that age difference matters that much in love… But of course I wouldn't want him to hit on me.

Russel : Love ? I don't think that's the proper word… (He sighs) Maybe I shouldn't talk to you about it, but… I really want you to be careful around my son if you ever meet him… Yes, I think you should be warned… In fact, I learned Angier has been organizing… clandestine parties, for lack of a better term. Rather decadent parties, where wealthy, amoral people gather to indulge in all sort of vices together. Apparently, some girls are attending those parties to satisfy the desires of the guests… Often very young girls… I don't know how they are recruited. But I wouldn't be surprised if the means were neither moral nor legal. I'm not even sure the girls are always… willing or consenting…

Quinn (horrified) : That's creepy !

Russel : That's an understatement. When I learned Angier had been using my own money to organize those hellish parties, I was furious ! In fact, that's one of the major reasons why I decided to disown him. But I was blind to my son's flaws for a long time, and I acted too late. That's why I'm here now. I guess I deserve it in some measure. I allowed my son to become the sick bastard he is today, and I'm punished for it.

Quinn shudders.

Quinn (Thought VO) : It's awful ! I don't know what to believe… James said that Mr. Sloane suffers from dementia… that what he's saying about his son comes from delusions and paranoia… Still, Mr. Sloane looks so… rational and normal… I never saw him having crises of dementia… He's always kind and polite… But I have to trust James, though. James is a great shrink. He's wise and good and clever. He can't be wrong.

TBC