The Only One
(Part III)
By GOST
Just then Jane burst through the front door.
"Kafka, anyone?" she called to them. Daria started and stood up quickly.
"Nah," said Trent. He too stood up and headed up the stairs. "I gotta leave now and finish this song, while I'm still inspired."
"Playing the muse, are we Daria?" Jane said with a knowing glance in Daria's direction. Daria was embarrassed to blush again.
Once Trent was safely out of earshot, Daria turned to Jane.
"You sure you didn't ask him to ask me about that song?" she asked tentatively.
"Absolutely. I was beginning to give up on the whole throwing you two together thing anyways. But now that you ask....tell me what happened!"
"Well, I told him how I feel."
"Daria Morgendorffer, you astound me."
"But I don't think it registered."
"You never know, sometimes Trent is a lot more perceptive than I give him credit for. You cleverly disguised your admission in song lyrics, I'm assuming?"
"Sorta."
"Hmm, well, we'll see where this takes us. Meantime...let's watch freaky movies!"
Jane put the tape in the VCR and for a while at least, Daria forgot all about Trent.
Later that night, Jane crept down the hall to Trent's room and cautiously opened the door.
"Still awake?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah, Janey, what is it?" Trent asked. He was on his bed with his crumpled notepad full of songs balanced on his knees. Jane carefully avoided his piled clothes and duck telephone as she made her way over to him.
"How is that song coming?" Jane asked as she sat down at the foot of the bed.
"Amazing. This is a really good one, I can tell."
"Daria said you asked her for some help."
"I couldn't have written it without her."
"That one line helped that much, huh?"
"No, not just that. I mean, the whole song really has a lot to do with her."
"Really?" Jane asked, an eyebrow raised. "Can I see it?"
"Sure," Trent said, handing her the book carefully folded so she couldn't read any other songs in progress. After taking a quick look over it, Jane handed it back, eyes narrowed.
"I must admit, I expected a song about Daria to be more along the lines of, 'she's pretty cynical, her depression might be clinical'."
"C'mon, Janey, there's a lot more to her than that."
"So I see you've realized."
There was a long silence. Finally Trent broke the pause by putting down his pencil and notebook.
"Janey?"
"Yeah?"
"Is there....could I....does...?" Trent stopped for a moment. "I've got to ask you, do I even have a chance with Daria?"