Jane had invited Daria to her house. Her roommate was out of town for a few days. Daria hadn't been to this house before, so she doubled checked to make sure she had the right address. So she was quite shocked when someone other than Jane answered the door. She was even more shocked when she realised who it was.

"What are you..." Daria began

"Is that Daria?" a familiar voice came from inside the house

"Yes it is" the girl who answered the door said "Well, are you coming in, or not?"

Daria walked into the house to discover it looked even more dilapidated on the inside. The walls and ceiling were covered in stains, the carpet was full of holes. Jane and yet another familiar face sitting on the old, worn sofa, which was falling apart, watching TV, eating pizza, and drinking what appeared to be wine.

"Welcome to the new Casa de Lane, Amiga" said Jane, and then offered her a slice of Pizza, which Daria gladly accepted.

Jane then offered to pour Daria a glass of wine from the cheap-looking wine box, which Daria refused, and took, what she assumed was her seat, an old, upholstered chair, the arms looked like they were about to fall off, and when she sat down, they moved apart notably.

"You know I don't drink, not after..." Daria decided that wasn't a story that needed to be told just now. Nevertheless, the two other girls wondered what it might be.

"As for you, I seem to recall a lot of trouble starting for a glass of wine" Daria teased

Jane responded by simply turning up the volume on the TV.

"Next time, meet a frog, who can tell the future?

The Psychic Amphibian, next time on Sick Sad World" The announcers voice dramatically reverberated from the old TV, which sat atop a makeshift TV stand of cinder blocks, chip board and book ends. Jane switched it off, once it was over. She then walked over to her CD shelf and asked "What does everyone feel like listening to?"

"Hole" said Jen

"Garbage" said Joey

"Veruca Salt" said Daria

"Angry chick rock it is. Luckily I have just the compilation" she said, pulling a CD from the shelf and placing it in the stereo and hitting play. A moment later, the opening riff of Celebrity Skin echoed throughout the room.

"Ah, this song takes me back" Jen said

"So, what brings you two to Boston, and why didn't I know you were coming?" Daria asked, taking a seat on the nearby lounge chair

"Well, we figured we'd check out the city, since we're probably going to be going to college here next year" Jen explained

"But I thought you were going to New York?" Joey asked, drunkenly slurring her speech

"Probably not, too many bad memories" Jen said

"Would you like me to look over your college applications?" Daria suggested "Normally I charge for it, but for friends, its free"

"I think that would be a wonderful idea" Joey said, with a degree of euphoria in her voice

"So, what's the latest from Capeside? Who's doing what to whom and with what?" Jane asked, jokingly

"Well, Pacey and I broke up, and I'm still not sure why" Joey said, struggling to string the sentence together

"And then you got back together, and broke up again. Rinse and repeat" Jen joked "Its what she does"

"It is not!" Joey said in an annoyed tone

"But you did it with Spielberg, didn't you?" Jane asked

"Spielberg, never met the, oh you mean, yeah, I guess I did" Joey admitted "Speaking of which, didn't you just get back together with.."

"Yeah, but our last time together was about three years ago"

"What about that thing with Abby and the investigation, and the sex note" Joey practically whispered the last two words.

"That didn't happen. It was just a misunderstanding" Jen insisted "So, what was this trouble that started with a glass of wine" she asked Jane, quickly changing the subject

Daria for her part, was quite amused by drunken Joey. Part of her wished that she could be this much fun when she was drunk, but, well…

At that moment, the CD switched over to the next track. It was Queer, by Garbage.

"Its a long story" Jane said

"A girl at art camp got her drunk and made a pass at her" Daria explained

"Apparently, not that long" Jane said, mildly annoyed

"Jane, are you, you know, a lesbian?" Joey asked "because its totally cool if you are"

"I don't think so" Jane sounded unsure of herself

"You know, I dated a gay guy once. Jack McPhee. Total homo. But it took dating me for him to come out. I guess I just have that effect" Joey was stating the obvious, since everyone in the room already knew this. But it was still amusing, nevertheless.

"But speaking of Allison, there's something I wanted to ask you all"

"Who's Allison?" Joey asked

"I'm guessing she's the girl from art camp" Jen suggested, and Jane and Daria both nodded in agreement.

"She and I have been spending time together lately, and I made it clear that what happened when we first met wasn't okay, and she's accepted that and apologised. But I find myself attracted to her. But I don't think I can trust her. What should I..."

"Jane, when we met, you told me you liked guys. Has our entire friendship been based on a lie?" Daria said, trying to lighten the mood and failing spectacularly.

"I think you should follow your heart. I know you probably think this is the wine talking, but its not, I really mean it" Joey said, and everyone stared at her, because what she said made total sense.

"Also, take the gender dynamics out of the equation and just look at as two human beings. Everything should become a lot clear then" Jen suggested

The CD then moved on to The Cranberries' Zombie.

"So, Miss Misery, what's college life been like for you?" Joey asked Daria

"More or less what I expected. Classes, roommate dramas, tutoring rubes, dating a suicidally depressed goth anarchist" Daria said, in her usual flat affect.

Joey spat out her wine and Jen's jaw dropped

"Come again?" Jen asked

"Oh, you didn't know. This is going to be interesting" Jane said, sardonically

"Okay, I was partnered to work with this guy on a class project. He asked me out. I said yes, eventually, he stood me up, because he tried to kill himself. But he's still alive and he still wants to go out with me and I have no idea what to say, or even what to think" Daria explained.

"Well, I think you should follow your heart" Joey said, repeating her earlier line

"But what does that actually mean?" Daria asked, genuinely confused

"You wanna know what I think?" Jen asked

"I'm all ears" Daria said

"I think you already know the answer. But I think you're afraid. So, I'll tell you what; I give you permission to do it, and whatever the consequences are, I'll take full responsibility for them"

Daria sat and took in what Jen had just said.

"Alright" she finally said

Shutterbug by Veruca Salt started playing on the CD player

"Oh no!" Joey exclaimed "I left all my college appli-appli, all my paperwork back in Capeside"

"You can send me an email" Daria said

"You see, this is a true friend" Joey stood up and went to hug Daria

"Hug me, and our friendship is over" Daria stated, and she obviously wasn't joking

"You see people, boundaries. That's what all truly, good, great, relationships are built on" Joey explained

"To boundaries" she said, raised her glass, took a sip, and then passed out on her chair.

Daria took this as a negative omen. Something bad was about to happen. She was sure of it.