"Daria, phone call. It's your friend Josie" Daria's mother Helen called out to her daughter

"Hey Joey" Daria said "What's happening"

"Hey Daria. I need to talk to you about something. I've had a crazy few days and I just need to get everything off my chest" Joey said

"Okay. Go ahead. Start at the beginning I guess"

I was walking to school with Dawson, when Nikki walked up

"You dropped film class?!" she said in an accusative tone

"I'll let you guys hash things out. Talk to you later, Dawson"

"Wait, Dawson dropped film class?" Daria interrupted

"Yes, but that's not the point of the story. May I continue?"

"Go ahead"

So, then I saw Andie and mentioned that I needed to talk to her about something, but before I could, Principal Greene asked to see me in his office. Along the way, Matt Caulfield sneaked up behind me and whispered "I haven't forgotten" into my ear. I then turned around to see him skulking away. I don't think Principal Greene saw or heard him. But as I looked back, I saw Pacey and Andie and they clearly saw what had happened.

"So what did Principal Greene want?" Daria asked

"He wanted me to paint a school mural. Hey Daria, have you or Jane ever done anything like that before?"

"Actually, yes. Jane and I were once asked to contribute to a school art fair. Jane painted a portrait of a girl looking in a mirror. I wrote a caption"

"What did it say?"

"She knows she's a winner. She couldn't be thinner. She goes to the bathroom to vomit up dinner"

"Edgy. I bet that went down well."

"Oh yeah. So well I nearly got suspended, but you were saying..."

So I was, but I missed a big part of the story. I visited Dawson that morning before school. He was taking down his Spielberg posters and saying he needed time to reassess things. I called him a sell out. We both yelled at each other for a bit and then we made up.

But that's not really what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to paint something that symbolised unity. Pacey gave me some words of inspiration.

"How schmaltzy"

"Hey, we can't all be crude and edgy. Now, may I continue" Joey asked sternly

"I'm listening..."

Anyway, the next day, I was giving a speech and I unveiled it, and, disaster…

"What happened?" Daria was now hanging on Joey's every word

Someone had vandalised the painting and I was devistated. Dawson tried to comfort me and told me not to take it personally. Pacey, on the other hand, was a more aggressive. He likened High School to a caste system and said that I should take it personally as it was likely an attack on me, personally.

Jack and Andie came over to pay me a visit and try to cheer me up. It worked, and I totally forgot what it was that I was going to talk to Andie about that morning and I think she did too.

Meanwhile, Pacey did some investigating and quickly discovered Matt Caulfield was the culprit

"Wait, who's this Matt Caulfield character?"

Arrogant Jock who doesn't like me because I once turned down a jello shot

"So basically, Capeside's answer to Tommy Sherman"

I guess. Anyway, Pacey confronted him in the parking lot and things got physical. Principal Greene arrived on the scene and had to physically separate them. He then dragged them both into his office kicking and screaming, but neither would say what the fight was about, so they were both suspended until one of them gave some answers.

"So, how did you make Pacey make him come to his senses?"

"I'm getting to that"

Pacey had just moved in with his brother because of family drama. Basically, one of his older sisters had split up with her husband and has moved back in along with her kids. So Pacey is now stuck with his reluctant big brother. Fortunately, he has been persuaded by Jack to knock off the homophobic jokes and snide remarks.

"Well, thank goodness for that" Daria said, completely genuinely

Anyway, I visited Pacey at his brother's house and told him he was being stupid and he had to come forward. He wouldn't budge, so I left angrily. I saw Andie arriving as I left. I said "tag, you're it" as we passed. Apparently, she got through to him, because the next day, he and Matt Caulfield returned to school to be questioned again. This time Pacey admitted what was going on. He got three days suspension. Matt Caulfield got expelled. And then everything went to hell.

"As though it wasn't already?" Daria remarked. Daria had realised something Joey hadn't, but decided keep the information to herself.

"Did I mention Principal Greene is black?" Joey added

"Ah, now its all starting to come into focus. I think I can see where this is going"

The PTA meeting was a total dumpster fire.

"Now who's being crude and edgy" Daria joked

"May I continue?" Joey said, annoyed at the interruption

There were accusations, threats, thinly veiled racists comments. I tried to stand up for Principal Greene, but then people started attacking my family and Dawson and Pacey had to calm me down. Did I mention Dawson's mom was there and doing a story about it?

"I thought she was in Philadelphia?"

"She was, she came back to cover the story"

Anyway, the Superintendent of the School board basically said if Principal Greene didn't reduce Matt Caulfield's sentence, he'd be fired. Dawson's mom summed it up by saying: "There you have it. A vandalised mural, A principal under fire and an ultimatum."

"What happened next?"

"Actually, that just about brings us up to the present."

"And you want to know what to do next?"

"I know, you're not much on advice..." Joey started

Actually, it reminds me of something that happened to me a few months ago. We started getting more and more soda machines at school. I seemed to be the only one that had a problem with it. People said 'if you care so much, why don't you complain Daria'. So I did, to the superintendent. Luckily my pleas were heard and the contract was scaled back, but not cancelled.

"Daria Morgendorffer, Activist" Joey said jokingly

"Don't get used to it. It was a one time only deal" Daria assured her.

"So, what was the point of that little anecdote?"

"That you should draw a line in the sand, if you care so much. Save your Principal. Become an activist, Jo"

"Thanks Daria. I think I needed that"

"Let me know how it turns out"

Joey hung up and straight away there was a knock at the door.