Jane Morgendorffer (Part 14)
After Christmas break, time seemed to fly by. Jane's birthday was in April. They celebrated it by going to play miniature golf. Trent even won them a free game when he made a hole in one on the final hole. Jane continued helping Daria with her math and by the end of the school year, she was at grade level. Ms. Harrison hated watching her two favorite students walk out of her door for the last time when the final bell rang. Before leaving, Jane gave her one last story and Daria handed her a couple more drawings. Both girls hugged the teacher then left to go find their little sister.
Daria's birthday was a week after school ended. Jane, Quinn and Trent wanted to make her a birthday cake instead of buying one. Helen arrived home early to find the kitchen covered in cake batter while Jake and the three "chefs" were trying to clean it up. Sitting at the table was Daria, who was trying to draw the scene as best she could between fits of laughter. Almost two hours later, Helen and Jake took the kids to Pizza Forest for dinner. Quinn loved listening to the singers while Jane and Daria made comments to each other back and forth. Finding out that Daria had a knack for claw machines, the girls left with their arms full of new stuffed animals and toys.
Jane and Daria spent a lot of time during that summer at the library. Ms. Harrison had given Jane a list of sixth grade level stories for her to read. Jane would pick one a week to check out while Daria looked the art books. Jane loved the fact that she could talk to Daria about the book she was reading and Daria for the most part, understood what she was saying. Quinn spent a lot of her summer in her sister's room or playing with the two girls who lived across the street. All three girls loved Wednesday nights because that was when Trent would practice his guitar in the garage with a few of his friends. He and his friends talked a lot about starting high school in August. Daria, Jane and Quinn wondered what it was going to be like for them once they were in ninth grade.
Right before school started, the library held a drawing and writing contest. The first and second place stories and drawings from each age group would be displayed for the entire school year. Jane won best story for an elementary student and Daria placed second for her drawing based on Jane's story. Helen and Jake were proud of their two little girls. Quinn brought her friends with her to show off what her sisters had done. After each recieved a trophy for their work, Ms. Harrison walked up to them and congratulated them. She also informed Helen that she would be Quinn's teacher this coming school year.
Two nights before school started, Daria and Jane were sitting in their room. Jane was excited while Daria looked upset. Jane went over and asked her sister about why she was sad. She pointed at the calendar. Jane pushed for an explanation. Daria told her that it was a year ago that day that she last saw her real dad. Jane wrapped the smaller girl in a hug and held her until she fell asleep.