Daria stood looking in the full-length mirror. It wasn't something that she normally did, but she had been making some small changes in her life. These things were making her stronger- she could feel it. It felt good to be the place that she was in. School was- well, it was school and not completely unbearable, home was good. Her father seemed happy, though his cooking needed some fine tuning. Her mother hadn't scaled back on the work, but she did find a balance that kept her hunger for work satisfied as well as allowed her to spend time with her husband and kids. Quinn had also hit her stride by finally putting Sandy in her place thus allowing Quinn to let her confidence surface and use her popularity for good- such as it was. This helped her relationship with her sister because she didn't feel the need to be such a- a- Sandy. Then there was Jane of course. Her friendship with the artistic one was recovering better than she could have ever hoped. They had hashed through the majority or the mess the that their relationship had went through and now Daria knew that whatever else happened, she would be able to handle it. Next was Tom; he had been attentive and sweet. He had backed off when she needed him to and was being an all-around good guy. It was almost unsettling how good everything was going she would sometimes think.

What about Trent…?

She smiled thinking of how Trent had helped her. He had saved her life, but he had done so without 'playing the hero' in Daria's eyes. He had drawn her out of her comfort zone and shown her how lucky she was.

Trent is a great guy. He's nice and sweet…and hot- …don't go there. Friendship, he has offered genuine and uncomplicated friendship. Don't muck it up!

"Daria, you have a guest." Quinn's voice filtered through the door.

She turned away from the mirror quickly feeling as though she'd been caught, but as she made to step away she turned back an looked at herself.

There is nothing wrong with taking an interest in one's appearance.

She gave a small smile at her reflection and went downstairs.

"Brittany?" Daria was more than a little surprised by the bouncy cheerleader that stood in her home.

"Daria, can we talk?" she glanced at Quinn then back at Daria. "Privately."

"Uh, okay." Daria led the way to the dining area and Quinn stalked upstairs feeling more than slightly miffed. "Okay Brittany, what's up?"

"Well," she twirled a ponytail as she decided how and what to say, "school has been really hard this senior year and to unwind I thought that perhaps a relaxing place would be in order, you know to chill out and whatever while on spring break."

Daria raised a brow unsure of what this had to do with herself.

"Daddy agreed but…"

"Let me guess… you need a good grade in order to go?"

Brittany nodded vigorously.

"If you tutor me and help me with my paper, then of course I'll pay you."

"Why didn't you get Jodie or someone more… along your social level?"

She twirled her ponytail again as she explained.

"Jodie is totally swamped with her own work and really there is no one else that's as smart as you."

Why thank you Brittany, that was kind of a compliment.

They worked out the financial details and a schedule that could work around Brittany's cheerleading practice, as well as Daria's volunteer work. Brittany left feeling happy about her upcoming spa and Daria was already counting the cash as part of her secret stash that she was planning on investing into something a bit more lucrative than the savings that she had it in now.

Later…

"So Brittany wants