Love, War, and Daria Morgendorffer
Chapter 3::
Daria sat at the left side of the booth she usually sat at with her friend, Jane. Pizza King was a place the two would go to to escape everyone and everything. This place was where they would confide in each other and talk out their problems. Yet, the two were deep in thought.
Jane sat on the right side, quietly eating away her pizza. From time to time, she would look up at Daria to see her in the same position as before. She stopped for a minute, silently studying her face that was facing the pizza on her plate, yet not looking at it. Finally, after several moments, Jane put her slice down and sighed.
"Daria, you have to eat," she reminded her, bringing Daria out of her thoughts. At first she looked up, giving her a look on of panic, before looking back down at her pizza. "Go on," Jane urged as she continued to watch her friend.
Daria slowly picked up her slice and began to eat. A worried look filled her face as she looked back at Jane and sighed. "I've just had a lot on my mind," she replied after swallowing her last bit of pizza.
"Too much stress can be dangerous on a unborn child," Jane informed her. "Didn't Helen tell you that?" she asked as she took a sip out of her coke and eyed Daria, who seemed to have a hesitant look on her face. Jane's eyes widen as she set down her coke. "You didn't tell them?" she asked.
"I'm just too afraid!" Daria explained as she looked away in fear. "For the first time since I was six, I'm afraid..."
"It's been two weeks since you found out, Daria," Jane exclaimed in a loud voice as she slammed her hands on the table in front of her. "When are you planning on telling them?"
Daria looked down as if ashamed. "Cold feet," she muttered, before looking away from her friend.
"So, that means that you haven't told Tom, either," Jane suggested as she recieved a nod from Daria. "Well, you better think of something soon, before you begin to show."
"I think they are suspecting something," Daria began as she looked down with a deadpan look. "I'm starting to have those weird cravings."
"Do you want me there with you?" Jane asked with a kind look on her face as she pushed away her pizza. "Would that make it easier?"
Daria looked down and didn't answer her. Everything was going so fast
and she felt as if she were running, but could never stop and catch her
breath. Her eyes moved upward to see Jane waiting patiently for her reply.
Silently, she nodded and forced a smile onto her lips.
*****
Helen looked through some papers at the kitchen table. As usually, Quinn was out on a date, Jake was sleeping on the couch, leaving Helen alone to prepare for another upcoming case. However as she was about to dig into the paperwork, the phone began to ring. She looked over at it for a moment, before getting up to answer it.
"Hello?" she greeted to who ever was on the other line.
"Oh, hi, Mrs. Morgendorffer," Tom greeted back. "Is Daria there?"
"You know, Tom," Helen began as she placed a hand on her hip. "I haven't seen her much in the past few weeks. She's been going over Jane's a lot lately and seems to be avoiding everyone."
"Yeah, me too," Tom replied with a disappointed tone of voice. "She hasn't returned my calls or anything and I'm really getting worried."
"I'll have a look into it, Tom," Helen promised before saying her good byes and hanging up. Sighing, she walked out of the kitchen and walked up to the sleeping form on the couch. "Jake," she began in a tense manner. After not receiving even a twitch from her sleeping husband, Helen began to shake him and call his name over and over.
"Ah! Where am I?" Jake shouted as he awoke with a start. Helen sighed in frustration as she rubbed her temples together and sat down beside him.
"Jake, something is up with Daria," Helen began as she gave him a worried look. "Tom just called telling me that Daria hasn't been returning his calls or anything of that sort."
"Who's Tom?" Jake asked, as clue less as ever, he sat up and watched Helen fume.
"Jake!" she snapped as she slapped her fists against the couch, causing
Jake to jump up in fear. "Daria has been acting strangely and as parents
we must pry and find out what the hell is going on!"
*****
Jane and Daria walked down the streets toward Daria's house. The tension grew as they both decided it was time to tell Helen and Jake. Daria felt nervous, not knowing what their reaction would be to this. Her stomach was in knots and her face flushed.
"It'll be alright," Jane promised her as she eyed her friend. "If worse comes to worse, my parents will always be on your side."
Daria smiled at the joke her friend made about her parents. "You mean, if they were in town."
Jane grinned at the sight of seeing Daria recovering a little. "Well, yeah," she replied as they stopped in front of her house and looked on. "Well, this is it," she began, looking over at Daria. "Nervous?"
"As hell," she replied as she stared at her house. "But, we have to
do this..."
*****
"Maybe, it's the drugs," Jake suggested in a honest manner.
"Jake, Daria is the same as always," Helen explained. "Just a little more distant. It isn't like her to not talk to Tom or to never be home."
"Hello, Mom and Dad!" Quinn replied as she entered from the kitchen and stopped. Quinn looked on at her parents' worried looks. "What's going on?" she asked in a hesitant manner.
"Nothing Quinn," Helen replied. "We are waiting for Daria."
"Oh, is she in trouble?" Quinn asked as she sat down with a smile on her lips. "Because, if she is then this is something I don't want to miss. I mean, come on! Daria in trouble! It must have been something horrible that she did."
"We think she is doing drugs," Jake whispered.
"No we don't, Jake!" Helen snapped, making Jake whimper and jump up in shock.
Just as Quinn opened her mouth to say something, the front door opened, revealing Jane and Daria. Everyone turned and watched as the two walked in and stood before them.
Helen quickly took the stand as she stood up and faced her eldest daughter. "Daria, we have to talk."
"Yes, we do," Daria replied in a calm manner as she looked down and then back up. "I have something to tell you all. And, this isn't going to be the easiest thing to tell you, because I know it will break your hearts."
Jake eyed Daria and Jane, studying them for a long moment before standing up. "I got it!" he shouted, causing the rest to turn to him.
"Well, then, thank you for interrupting my important speech," Daria replied, somewhat relieved for one her father's many outbursts.
Helen crossed her arms over her chest and gazed on. "Jake, this better be good. Daria was about to tell us something important."
"Daria, I can't believe you would do something like this to me," Jake began as he stood before his daughter with a evil glare.
"So am I," Daria replied. "Um, what did I do to you, exactly?"
"You," Jake began, turning to Jane with a disgusted look. "Daria, you've turned gay!"
The room stood quiet as Jane looked down at Daria with a raised eyebrow. Helen continued to glare at Jake as if he were losing his mind.
"Ew!" Quinn screamed as she placed her hands on her cheeks. "Daria! I can't believe you! How more disgusting can you get? I think I'm going to be sick!"
"Honestly, Jake. Where the hell did you come up with a crazy notation like that?" Helen asked as she stood between Daria and Jake.
Jake gave a hesitant look as he began to grow nervous under his wife's watch. "Well, just look at them, Helen!" he shouted, trying to defend himself. "She's always over there. She never talks to Tom anymore. What else could be the reason for her weird behavior?"
"Dad, Jane's here for moral support," Daria explained as she shook her head towards Jane. Not wanting for another interruption before she finally had enough nerve to tell them, Daria turned to Helen. "Mom, could I just talk to you?" she asked, before looking at everyone else. "Alone?"
"Um, of course," Helen replied, growing a little nervous.
"Give me a second, will you?" Daria asked her mother before she turned to Jane. "Listen, you go a head and tell them. I think I will have enough to deal with with just telling my mother, all right?"
"Gotcha," Jane agreed with a wink as she watched Daria and Helen walk up the stairs.
"Please, tell me that it isn't true!" Jake pleaded as he got down on his knees in front of Jane.
"We aren't gay," Jane replied, looking over at Quinn. "Something happened
between her and my brother that is going to shake this town for everything
it is worth."
*****
"All right, Daria," Helen began as she felt her patient grow thin. Daria closed the door to her room and watched as her mother turned around and crossed her arms over her chest. "What exactly is going on?"
"Things with Tom are going to under big time," Daria replied as she sat on her bed with a worried look. "I really messed up."
"You're not gay, are you?" Helen asked as she sat down beside her daughter and placed a hand on hers. Daria shook her head in a negative manner and continued to look on. "Then, what has happened that makes you feel that Tom and you are over?" she asked in a kind manner. "Daria?"
"Mom, two months ago when I kissed Tom," Daria began with a short breath. "Jane stopped talking to me and it really hurt to think that she hated me."
"Well, you two seem closer now than ever before," Helen observed as she looked down at her serious daughter. "I'm sorry, go on..."
"One night, I felt like I was going to break down. So, I went to Trent, wanting to talk with him," Daria began, feeling everything that was bottled up inside of her begin to release. "And, we began to drink."
"How much?" Helen asked with a eyebrow raised.
"I was totally and beyond drunk," she replied, not looking up at her mother. "Mom, what I am going to tell you next will probably make you hate me."
"Daria, what ever it is, it's not something that is going to make me hate you," Helen replied in a soothing voice.
"I'm pregnant," Daria muttered in a barely audible voice.
***** LA, la la LA la *****
2 down and 1 to go. All is left is for Daria to tell Tom. Or will someone else beat her to it.
