Sisters and Friends

Chapter 14

Opening Doors

"Dad has a cat?" Daria's amused tone was clear. "Poor thing."

Quinn laughed. "Her name is Fiona. She's really cute, sis. She and dad talk to each other, and she follows him all over the place. Mom was right, the cat's done him a world of good. He's a lot calmer, more relaxed, and just plain happier."

"Trent likes cats. No, wait…maybe it's my-"

"Daria!"

"Kidding, Quinn," came the droll response. "Actually, we have a cat too. Trent found her in the garage, and we love her. She woke me up the morning after she moved in by barfing up a giant hairball on me."

"Cute," Quinn laughed.

"She couldn't help it. She'd gotten into some of Jane's art materials and had swallowed a fair amount of cotton fiber. Jane started calling her a boll weevil, and the name kind of stuck. Her name is Weevil Morgendorffer-Lane."

"Typical weird Morgendorffer girl name," smiled Quinn. "Hang on a sec." She opened her phone's picture folder and selected a recent image, sending it to Daria. "Send me a pic. Check your email, I just sent you a photo of Dad and Fiona. What does Weevil look like?"

"A shorthair, black and white tuxedo. She has blue eyes like Jane, so she might have a bit of Siamese in her. I'll send a photo as soon as I get one that's in focus or not of her butt running out of frame. It might be a while though; I took her to the student vet clinic at Raft, so she's been hiding whenever I come around. Normally, she's very sociable."

"She'll get over it," Quinn smiled. "By the way, do you think she could handle a little company?"

"Oh, yeah, you mentioned that you and Annie needed a place to crash next weekend. Yeah, I think she'll be fine with you two using her living room. What's the occasion?"

"Annie wanted to check out the graduate level Architecture Finals exhibit at Raft, and I'm kinda tagging along. It's pretty interesting stuff."

"It is. Raft's Architecture School is one of the best. Are you thinking of some kind of design major? I always thought you'd do well as a designer; you've always had an eye for detail and aesthetics."

Quinn smiled broadly. "Thanks, sis. Not fashion, though. I don't want to participate in that blatant manipulation of self worth." She glanced at her sister's photo on her dresser. "This is where you can insert a big fat 'told you so'. I think I want to consider something with a bit more value to society. There's also an Industrial Design Senior Project gallery that I'm interested in."

"Also an excellent program here. You know, that's something I can see you getting into."

"Let's just say that I want to explore my options. We're leaving Lawndale Friday afternoon after finals, doing the exhibits Saturday and running back Sunday. Annie's got a presentation to do on Monday. By the way, you should bring Weev for a visit. Dad would love it."

"Would you be willing to take her with you? That way we wouldn't have to find a housesitter, and I wouldn't have to put her in an airline kennel. Jane and I would be there on Wednesday night."

"No worries. Fiona's a love. She and Weev can keep each other occupied."

"Or work together to tip over the Christmas tree," chuckled Daria. "Seriously, ask Mom and Dad if it's okay and let me know. Otherwise, I need to find a sitter for the few days after Trent leaves for Lawndale."

"I'll take care if it, sis. I'm sure you'll be pretty stressed out with finals and all."

"Maybe not as bad as you think. Finals finish up on Friday, and Monday thru Wednesday the following week are instructor and advisor appointments for me and portfolio reviews for Jane. The actual work will already be in. Trent's the one who'll be going nuts with the Christmas shopping crush."

"Damn, Trent is really good," yawned Annie as they followed the Toyota back to the cottage. "I'm tired as hell but it was absolutely worth it."

Daria glanced in the rear view mirror at the young woman, keeping her hands on the wheel. "Glad you liked it, Annie," she smiled. "And thank you for your support."

"Thanks for dinner and for driving, sis," Quinn said from the front passenger seat. "I managed to find the Blue Moon okay, but I'd probably get lost trying to find your place in the dark. This city is confusing even in daylight."

"One of you can sleep on the sofa, and Trent bought one of those folding futon chairs that Quinn was talking about from the local Japantown. Wish I had one of those to sleep on in Jane's room back in Lawndale."

They drove on in silence for a minute. Quinn looked back at Annie, now asleep in the back seat.

"I'm glad you had Jane, Daria," Quinn said quietly. "I was just horrible to you."

"And I was horrible to just about everyone," Daria said after a moment. "We both grew up. It's time to move on with life. Speaking of which, I'm hearing from Mom that you're not as…social as you were in high school. What's up with that?"

"You said it yourself. I grew up a little, and my standards changed. The guys I'm interested in these days- well, let's just say that you kind of set a high bar."

"My fault, huh?" Daria smiled.

"Your credit. I could have learned a lot more from you if I hadn't been so damn…" Quinn shook her head slowly, looking out at the Boston traffic that swirled in the rotary. "You were the one with real friends, not me. Jane, of course, but also Jodie, Mack, Andrea, even Brittany. Dim as she was, she could tell that you were someone special. You had a little fan club, you know, a lot of kids looked up to you even if they were kind of scared of you. And you know that DeMartino still thinks that the fate of the world is in your hands."

"Hardly. I was just someone that he could count on to answer his questions."

Quinn laughed quietly. "You were more than that to him. You know, on the last day of class before graduation, he pulled me aside and told me that the few students like you- and I," Quinn smiled, "Were the ones that gave him hope that our species would continue to evolve."

"He was just saying that you and I have an obligation to humankind to procreate. I think he was afraid of Kevin getting Brittany pregnant."

The two sisters laughed as they pulled into the driveway of the cottage.

Quinn turned to her sister with a wicked grin. "I think everyone that knew you back in Lawndale is expecting you to solve global warming and find a cure for cancer by the time you graduate from Raft."

"No pressure. Thanks loads."