"This was a mistake." Daria was exhausted. The sun still hadn't quite set yet, and the mid-summer heat was at its peak. It had been a few hours since she got off work, but spending half the day trying to get toddler vomit out of carpet had left her even more exhausted than usual. The party looked about the same as it had last year, a mix of people around her age Jodie had invited and middle aged couples her dad was trying to impress. Daria still didn't understand why Jane was so set on coming, but she was already regretting agreeing to go with her.

Jane looked across the streamer covered backyard, almost as if she were searching for something specific. "Come on, Daria, it's not that bad. Look, we'll make a circuit, grab some free food, and then we can leave. Okay?"

"You owe me, Lane."

Jane shrugged, still looking around, "Eh, put it on my tab. Now, let's get some food." She gestured to the barbeque, where someone was grilling hotdogs and hamburgers.

A familiar squeaky voice stopped them. "Daria! Jane! You came!"

Daria reluctantly turned to face the former head cheerleader of Lawndale High. She was immediately surprised to see that Brittany was not wearing her cheerleading uniform, but instead had on a red top and jeans. Standing next to her was Kevin, who had no such change in attire, wearing the same football pads he always did.

Jane waved a greeting. "Hey, Brittany. What's with the new duds? Finally get tired of Upchuck trying to look up your skirt?"

"I am no longer a student of Lawndale High School and therefore I can no longer wear a Lawndale High uniform. Unlike some people." She glared at Kevin.

He just grinned goofily. "Don't worry about it, babe. You still look hot, even without your uniform."

"Hmph!" Brittany folded her arms and turned away from Kevin.

"C'mon babe, what'd I say?" When Brittany remained silent, he turned to Daria. "Hey, Daria, where's Tom?"

Daria felt a small pang in her chest. She still wasn't completely over the whole Tom thing. Hadn't Jodie spread the news around already? "I'm afraid Tom couldn't make it. He was sent on a secret mission to infiltrate the underground lair of the mole people."

"Whoah, cool!" Kevin exclaimed. "What's he doing there?"

Jane cut in, "He's going to replace the Mole King and destabilize their country."

Brittany twirled a lock of her hair and tilted her head. "But if they're underground, wouldn't destabilizing them cause, like, earthquakes and stuff?"

"Hey, that's not cool man! Earthquakes could mess up the football field!" Kevin yelled, looking down and addressing the ground.

Jane smirked. "I don't think he heard you Kevin, maybe you should dig a hole so you can get closer."

Kevin nodded. "Good idea. I'm gonna go find a shovel." He dashed off towards the Landon's garage.

After he was gone, Brittany asked, "Um, Daria? Didn't you break up with Tom?"

Daria was glad that at least one of them remembered, that meant that the information was out there and she wouldn't have to explain it all night. "Yes, Brittany. I did. Congratulations on your ability to retain simple information."

"Thanks! Um, can I talk to you—" Brittany eyed Jane "—alone?"

Jane grinned at Daria. "Hey, you know what? I'm starving. I'm gonna go get some food. Don't worry Daria, I'll grab you something too."

Daria stared daggers at her friend, already thinking of ways to get back at her. "Gee. Thanks, Jane."

"No problem," Jane replied, and disappeared into the crowd towards the barbeque.

Once Jane was out of earshot, Brittany said, "Wow! It sure is lucky she was hungry. We didn't even have to ask her to leave."

"Yeah, lucky us." Daria wondered what it was about her that made people come to her with their problems.

Brittany moved closer, as if to make sure they weren't heard. "I need your help with something."

"Really," Daria said flatly.

"Yeah. Okay, so Kevin and I were supposed to be together until graduation, and I graduated, but he didn't, and I can't be with him anymore because I won't be here and he will and he's a loser now," Brittany rambled, then looked at Daria expectantly.

"It sounds like you have a pretty good grasp of the situation. What do you need me for?"

"I need you to tell me how to break up with Kevin," Brittany explained, as if it were obvious.

Daria looked at Brittany in disbelief. "Brittany, I'm pretty sure you and Kevin have broken up more times than I have. Actually, I'm pretty sure you've broken up more than most of the school. Combined."

Brittany looked desperate. "That's the problem, we always get back together. You broke up with Tom and you've stayed broken up for, like, weeks. How'd you do it?"

Daria sighed. "Brittany, I'm not exactly qualified to give relationship advice. I just told him why things weren't working out and wished him well."

Brittany tilted her head to the right in thought for a while, idly twirling a strand of her hair. Daria could almost hear the gears slowly grinding. Finally Brittany lit up and said, "So I should, like, tell him what I said earlier about graduating and moving and him being a loser and stuff?"

"Maybe leave off the part about him being a loser."

Brittany's usual vacant smile returned. "Thanks Daria! You're really good at this!"

Before Daria could respond, Jane appeared from out of the crowd carrying a paper plate with a burger in one hand, a half-eaten hotdog in the other, and a couple of cans of Ultra Cola tucked under her arm. "I hope you two are done with your little heart to heart, because I'm not gonna go stand in the crowd and wait."

"Wow, you have really good timing Jane," Brittany squeaked, "We just finished." She turned to Daria and said, "Thanks again. I'm gonna go find Kevin."

As the blonde was about to retreat, Jane called, "Brittany, don't forget: say no if he asks to get back together next week."

"Good idea. Thanks. Bye, Jane. Bye, Daria." With that, Brittany walked off in the direction Kevin had gone.

Daria took the burger and one of the sodas from her friend. She opened the soda and took a drink, then asked, "So, how long were you listening?"

Jane pulled her own can out from under her arm. "Not long, just enough to figure out she's dumping Kevin." Jane smirked at her friend as she opened her soda. "I never knew you were such a relationship guru."

Daria was relieved that Jane hadn't heard the Tom stuff; it still managed to get them both on edge sometimes and she was irritated enough tonight as it was. "I was simply providing a public service. If I can keep those two from eventually reproducing, I'll know I've done my part."

"I never knew you were such a Good Samaritan."

::

Daria had been following Jane around the party for half an hour. Jane still seemed to be looking for something, but Daria had long since stopped caring what. She was ready to go home, take a shower, and get some sleep. "Jane, why are you even talking to these people? We hardly know them, and we're never going to see them again."

Jane stopped scanning the crowd and turned to her friend. "That's the point Daria; we're never going to see them again."

"What?"

Jane sighed. "Daria, you've lived in Lawndale for a few years—"

"Long enough to know I want to get out as soon as possible," Daria interrupted.

"Yeah, Lawndale sucks, and I'm looking forward to getting out, but I've lived my whole life here. These people, stupid as they are, have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I do know them."

Daria couldn't understand what Jane was getting at. They were going to Boston together; that was what mattered. Why was Jane so attached to these idiots? "All the more reason to avoid these kind of things. I didn't start going to a bunch of parties when I left Highland."

Jane exhaled and ran a hand through her hair. In an irritated voice she began, "Maybe that's because you—" Something behind Daria caught Jane's eye, and her voice lost its edge, "There they are."

Daria was caught off guard by the sudden shift and looked over her shoulder to see what Jane was talking about. Across the yard she spotted Mack and Jodie talking with Quinn and Stacy. Refusing to believe the alternative, she said, "Jane, we already talked to Mack and Jodie. I'm not taking another lap around the party."

Jane gave Daria an exasperated look. "I'm not talking about Mack and Jodie." Daria raised her hand to her friend's forehead and Jane pushed it away. "What are you doing?"

"Checking for a fever. You just suggested that we go talk to my sister and one of her friends."

Jane's voice was getting irritated again, "I told Stacy I'd say hi. I didn't think it would be a problem. Aren't you and your sister getting along better these days?"

"For short periods of time, under controlled circumstances."

"Whatever, I'm going to go talk to them. Do what you want." Jane started walking towards Quinn and Stacy.

Daria turned and watched Jane's back as she walked off. She just couldn't understand her lately. It seemed like Jane was spending more time with Stacy than she needed to and now there was this need to spend time with their former classmates. Why did she need all that? Daria looked at the crowd around her and then back at Jane, who was halfway to her sister. She sighed and started to follow.

As she neared the group, Quinn spotted her and called out, "Daria! I didn't know you were coming. Come over and talk with us."

Jodie looked surprised. Daria wasn't sure if it was because she and Jane were still at the party, or because Quinn was acting so friendly towards her. Either way, she quickly recovered. "Daria, I'm glad I got to bump into you again. Are you enjoying the party?"

Daria walked the rest of the way to where the others were and stepped into the group between Quinn and Jane. Glancing over at Jane to see if she was mad, Daria gave Jodie a distracted, "Um, yeah."

Jane scoffed. "Oh, yeah. You know Daria, she's a real people person."

Daria started to get angry, but before she could say anything Mack changed the subject. "So we were talking about that theatre thing you guys are doing this summer."

Stacy spoke up. "Yeah, Jane's in charge of the art and Quinn's in the play. She's Hermia."

Quinn shot Daria a questioning look, but Daria shook her head. Quinn looked concerned, but continued the conversation. "Stacy, don't forget about yourself. You're the stage manager and you're making all the costumes."

Stacy blushed. "Quinn, that's not true! Liz is doing a lot."

"Liz is great, but you did all the designs. We couldn't do anything without those," Jane argued.

Stacy blushed harder. "B-but, without your drawings I couldn't do anything. They're amazing." She hesitantly turned to Daria. "You've seen them right? The way the colors flow is so beautiful. I can't wait to see how the sets turn out."

Daria couldn't put her finger on it, but something about Stacy irritated her more than usual. "I wouldn't have thought you'd worry about color outside of your makeup." Stacy immediately started to tear up. Quinn glared at Daria and Jane elbowed her in the ribs. Wanting to avoid a scene, Daria quickly added, "It's a nice surprise."

Stacy sniffed and managed to keep herself together. "Um, thanks. I guess."

Jodie spoke up, obviously trying to keep the peace, "Well, it sounds like a fun program. It'll look great on your college applications."

Jane shook her head. "College applications? Your parents really did a number on you."

Mack chuckled and Jodie slapped his arm. He shrugged. "What? She's not wrong."

Jodie shook her head with a small smile. Turning to the two younger girls, she asked, "Speaking of college, do you two have any idea where you're going to apply next year?"

Quinn's face fell. "I don't know. I can't be too choosey; I mean I kinda wasted the first two years of high school, school-wise. Maybe I can get into a decent state school if I do well on the SATs."

When everyone turned to Stacy, she looked away and nervously said, "Um, I hadn't really thought about it."

Jodie quickly apologized, "I'm sorry. You haven't even started senior year. I'm just used to talking about it after the past few months."

Quinn put a hand on her friends shoulder. "Don't worry, Stacy. We'll figure it out. Maybe we can even go to school in the same city, like Daria and Jane."

Stacy gave an uneasy smile and said, "Um, sure. That sounds fun."

While it had been fun to watch Quinn and Stacy squirm over college, Daria was done for the night. She pulled Jane aside and said, "Alright, you've had your chat. Can we go?"

Jane still seemed upset. "I'm having fun Daria. You're free to leave whenever you want."

Daria felt betrayed. They always stuck together, especially at things like this. "Fine, have fun walking," she said and headed into the crowd before Jane could respond.

Quinn walked into the lunchroom with Gwen and Alex. She quickly scanned the room and spotted Liz and Stacy already sitting down. "Over there guys," she said, indicating the table.

Stacy gave a slow wave as they approached. "Hey," she said, lacking her usual energy.

"Hey, guys. Where's Steven?" Liz asked.

Alex sat down next to Liz. "He stayed behind to ask Mr. O'Neill something about theatre next year." He grinned and shook his head. "If I didn't live with him I'd swear theatre was all he thought about. So, what did you guys do for the Fourth yesterday?"

Next to him, Gwen said, "My family drove up to Oakwood for a big barbeque with my mom's family. She has four sisters and a brother and they all have at least two kids, so there are a ton of us. It was really fun, and I got to see my cousin's Emily's new baby."

Liz shrugged, "It was a day off. I just stayed home and watched TV." The table gave her a judgmental stare. "What? I like to relax when I get the chance." She turned to Alex and asked, "What did you do that was so amazing?"

Alex threw up his hands defensively. "Who said anything about amazing? Steven and I just went down to the water with our dad and watched the fireworks." He looked across the table at Quinn and Stacy and asked them, "What about you two?"

Quinn was jealous of Gwen and Alex. Her family never did anything together. "We just went to The Landon's Party."

Gwen's eyes opened wide and she leaned forward. "Jodie Landon's Party? Like, with the seniors who just graduated? The popular ones?"

Quinn was surprised. She was so used to going to all the popular parties that she never even thought about it anymore. Was it that weird to go to older student's parties? When she realized everyone was waiting for an answer, she said, "Um, yeah. Is that so weird? I mean it's not like we were the only ones our age there."

Liz shook her head. "Let me ask you a question, Quinn. Gwen, Alex, and I are a year younger than you. If you were having a party, would you invite us?"

Quinn answered immediately, "Of course!"

Liz smiled. "Thanks, but let me rephrase my question. If you were throwing a party last year would you invite us?"

"I didn't know you last year," Quinn said, confused.

Liz sighed. "Pretend you knew us, but we weren't friends. We were just some sophomores you'd met a few times."

Quinn blushed. "Um, I guess not."

"And which sophomores would you invite?"

Quinn put her hand on her chin and thought for a moment. "The popular ones, I guess. Although Sandi would say you shouldn't invite the really cute ones. But then I'd remind her that we had to keep an eye on them especially. Not that I was ever worried, but you have to ask them so you look good and Sandi just didn't understand that so I had to convince her. Oh, and the cheerleaders and football players, and maybe some of the other popular sports if there was room," Quinn said, slipping into old habits without realizing it.

Everyone on the other side of the table was staring at her. Confused, Quinn thought over what she had just said. It all made sense, but it seemed cold. It was like she didn't care about the actual people, and she'd done it without even thinking. Was that how she sounded to people? Quinn lowered her head. In a quiet, introspective voice she said, "I think I get it now."

Liz shook herself out of her stupor. With a guilty look on her face, she asked, "Are you okay? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

Quinn shook her head and forced a smile. "It's not your fault." Then, she remembered Stacy. If this had shaken her up, who knew what it would do to Stacy. She hadn't even said anything during the whole thing. Quinn quickly turned to check on the more sensitive girl and saw Stacy resting on her folded arms, breathing evenly. Quinn put a hand on Stacy's shoulder and shook her until she raised her head. "Stacy?"

Blinking her eyes, Stacy looked up at Quinn. In a groggy voice she asked, "Quinn? What time is it?"

Quinn looked up at the clock on the wall. "It's twelve thirty Stacy, in the afternoon." Across the table, Alex laughed. Quinn shot him a glare and he stopped. "What's going on with you lately? You've been out of it all week. Gwen had to ask you for her line three times this morning."

Stacy blinked a few more times as she sat up. Her face was an interesting mix of reds, from a combination of embarrassment and sleeping on her arms. Nervously, she said, "I'm fine, really. I've just been a little tired lately, that's all."

"Stacy, you don't fall asleep on tables from being a little tired." Quinn could tell Stacy needed a little push, like when she got nervous and couldn't make up her mind. She put her hand on Stacy's arm and firmly said, "You can't keep going like this; you've got to get it together. I know you can."

Stacy nodded, then stared down at her hands. "Right. You're right. Sorry, Quinn."

"Stacy, stop apologizing," Quinn chastised.

"Right," Stacy said again, still looking down.

Liz gave the two an odd look, then got the conversation back on track, "Okay, so what were we talking about?"

"The Fourth of July," Gwen answered. Turning to Stacy, she asked, "Quinn said you guys went to Jodie's party. What was it like?"

Stacy looked up and seemed to relax a bit. "It was fun. We got to hang out with Jane, I mean Ms. Lane, after Quinn's sister left."

"Quinn's sister?" Alex asked.

"Daria," Stacy said, a tinge of anxiety in her voice, "She's Ms. Lane's best friend."

Quinn crossed her arms under her chest. "And totally rude. She should not have talked to you that way, even Jane was mad."

"Annoying siblings? Trust me, I know the feeling," Steven said, pulling out the chair next to Quinn.

"Gee, thanks, bro," Alex said sarcastically.

Quinn's anger at Daria was replaced with something else when Steven sat next to her. She looked over at him with a slight blush. "Hi, Steven. How'd it go with Mr. O'Neill?"

Steven groaned. "I swear he enjoys jerking me around. I talked to him for ten minutes and I still have no idea what he's planning."

"What's the problem?" asked Liz.

Alex answered, "Steven wants to be avant-garde. He was trying to convince Mr. O'Neill to put on a 'modern' play in the fall."

Steven corrected his brother, "I don't care about 'avant-garde'. I'd just like to be in a play written in the last two decades before I go to college. The theatre teacher at our last school didn't believe anything written before nineteen fifty was worth putting on."

Quinn threw her head back. "Ugh, can we please not talk about college?"

"What's wrong with college?" asked Gwen.

"I…" Quinn looked at Steven and the rest of her new friends. She really didn't want them thinking she was stupid. In her best annoyed voice, she told a half-truth, "I'm just tired of everyone bugging me about it. Jodie was even asking us about it at the party last night, right Stacy?"

Stacy nodded stiffly. "Uh, yeah."

"I know what you mean," Steven said, "My dad's been going on about how I'll be the first one in our family to go to college since I started high school."

"Wow, no pressure," said Gwen.

"Let's talk about something else," Liz said, "Does anyone have plans for the weekend?"

Alex shrugged. "Not really."

"I was thinking about going to the movies on Saturday. Do any of you guys wanna come?" offered Gwen.

"Sounds fun," said Quinn.

"Yeah, I'm in," echoed Alex.

"No you're not," Steven said, shutting his brother down, "We're helping Dad set up his garden this weekend, remember?"

"Oh, right," Alex said hanging his head.

"Okay, so just us girls then," Quinn said. "What do you say? Liz? Stacy?"

Liz shrugged. "Yeah, alright. I don't have anything else planned."

Stacy shook her head. "Sorry. I wish I could, but I have to go see Ms. Lane about something."

"Oh, okay." Quinn was surprised, Stacy hadn't mentioned going to Jane's. Recovering, she turned to Gwen and Liz. "So I guess it's just us three then. What do you guys want to see?"

Stacy looked at the Lane's house as her mom pulled up to the curb. It was big, but it didn't look very well taken care of. The faded yellow paint was peeling in places and the yard was almost completely overgrown. It reminded her of what Jane had said about her parents. Stacy leaned across the center console and gave her mom a hug. "Thanks for the ride Mom."

Stacy's mom looked at her daughter in surprise, then smiled. "I need to give you rides more often if I get rewards like that. Go on, have fun."

"Thanks, bye."

Stacy grabbed her bag and climbed out of the car. She headed up the walkway, past an odd looking sculpture, and stopped at the front door. She remembered Jane telling her that the doorbell was broken and knocked politely. She waited a few minutes, not wanting to seem pushy, then knocked again, louder this time. She waited another minute, but no one answered. She was starting to get nervous, but reminded herself that Jane had said she would be here. Stacy pulled her fist back to knock as hard as she could. Just as she was about to swing it, the door opened.

A tall man with messy dark hair and a goatee, wearing a faded green shirt and torn jeans, stood in front of her. He stared at Stacy for a while, then, in a raspy voice, asked, "Is this about the cookies?"

Dumbfounded, Stacy struggled to come up with a response. Cookies? What was he talking about? Her anxiety started to rise again and she murmured, "Um… Is Jane here?"

"Did Jane order cookies? I think I ordered some too, or maybe I didn't have enough money…" He turned his head inside and shouted up the stairs, "Janey, did you order cookies?"

Stacy heard a door open inside the house, loud music pouring out. "What?" came Jane's voice.

The man raised his voice to be heard over the music. "There's a girl here with the cookies you ordered!"

"Um, I'm don't have any cookies. I'm just here to see Jane," Stacy interjected, wringing her hands.

The man turned looked at her skeptically. "If you don't have any cookies, then why are you here? I don't think she wants to join again, she hated that John Jacob guy."

Stacy shook her head, trying hard not to lose it. "No, look I—" she started, but lost her voice when Jane came down the stairs. She was wearing a dirty red t-shirt and some short white running shorts, without her usual leggings. Jane had really nice legs.

As she came down the stairs, Jane addressed the man, "Trent, what are you talking about? I didn't order any—" She stopped when she saw it was Stacy at the door. With an exasperated sigh she turned to the man Stacy now realized must be her brother. "Trent, this is Stacy. I told you she was coming over today, remember?" She tilted her head in confusion. "Wait, why did you think she had cookies?"

"Well she's a girl scout, so I thought she'd have cookies."

Jane opened her mouth to say something, then stopped and rubbed her temple. "Why would you think she was a girl scout?"

Trent looked back at Stacy. "She looks like a girl scout."

Jane looked at Stacy as well and seemed to consider the argument for a moment, then shook her head. "She's not even wearing a uniform."

"Yeah, but she was in the girl scouts with you," he said matter-of-factly.

Jane gave Trent a questioning glance, then replied, "That was a long time ago Trent. Look, this is Stacy and we're—"

"Oh, Daria's sister's friend. Right," he said, with a look of realization.

Jane sighed. "If she comes by again just send her up to my room, alright?"

"Sure thing, Janey. I'll be in the basement if you need me," Trent said, then turned and headed into the house.

Jane shook her head. "Sorry about that, Trent gets some weird ideas sometimes." She looked Stacy up and down. "You do have some other clothes in that bag right? Jeans aren't exactly great for running."

Stacy nodded. "I've got some workout clothes. Is there somewhere I can change?"

Jane started up the stairs. "Come on, my rooms up here."

"Alright." Following Jane up the stairs, Stacy caught herself staring at Jane's legs from behind and wondered why she was doing this. She was only torturing herself, hanging out with Jane when she knew she'd never feel the same way. Maybe she liked it; she'd followed Sandi around for all those years after all.

Jane stopped next to one of the doors along the upstairs hallway. "This is my room. Go ahead and change; I'll wait out here."

"Thanks. I'll just take a minute"

Stacy walked in and closed the door behind her. She looked around the messy room and had to suppress a compulsive urge to start cleaning. Setting her bag down on the surprisingly neat bed, Stacy pulled out her workout clothes. As she took off the clothes she was wearing, neatly folding them as she went, she briefly wondered what Jane would think of the outfit she'd picked. It was a stupid thought—Jane didn't care about clothes, much less how they looked on her—but Stacy still hoped Jane would like them. She quickly pulled on her lycra shorts and powder blue tank top, put her hair back in a ponytail, and headed out of the room.

Jane was leaning against the wall across from the door listening to something on her headphones. When she saw Stacy, she put them around her neck and asked, "Ready to sweat?" Stacy blushed at Jane's choice of words and nodded. "Cool. You can just toss your bag anywhere. Oh, did you bring some music?" Jane tapped her headphones for emphasis.

Stacy blushed. "Oh, right." She reached into the outside pocket of her bag and pulled out a Walkman, then set the bag inside Jane's room. As they walked downstairs, Stacy asked, "So, where are we going?"

"Just around the neighborhood. There's a couple of nice parks around here."

"Thanks again for taking me. I really appreciate it."

"It's no problem. Don't worry about it."

"Right, sorry."

Jane smiled back at Stacy as she opened the front door, and asked, "Has anyone ever told you you're too polite?"

::

Stacy walked out of Jane's bathroom, back in her normal clothes after a quick shower to rinse off the sweat. Running was definitely more of a workout than yoga; she couldn't believe Jane had barely even broken a sweat. When she got back to Jane's room, Jane was laying on the bed watching TV.

"Thanks for the shower. I guess I'll leave now."

Jane muted the TV and looked up. "You sure? I thought you might want to stick around for a while. We could watch a movie or something."

"You don't mind? I mean, I know I'm not exactly the kind of person you normally hang out with."

Jane sat up and turned to face Stacy. "Well, maybe I should try something new. The person I usually hang out with is being kind of a bitch right now, in case you hadn't noticed."

Stacy's face fell a bit when Jane mentioned Daria. "I'm sorry about that, I didn't mean to make you two fight."

"What, at the party?" Jane asked. "Daria's been acting weird all week. She just gets like this sometimes. It's not your fault. So, do you wanna watch a movie or what?"

"Um, sure. I guess."

"Cool," Jane said as she stood up, "Go ahead and sit down while I order some pizza. You eat that cheeseless stuff, right?" She made a face as she said the word.

Stacy giggled at Jane's expression and shook her head. "Not today. The whole point of running is so that I can have real food sometimes, right? Get me whatever you're having."

Jane looked at Stacy with respect. "Alright, an extra-large with everything for the two of us then. Help yourself to the TV while I call the pizza place."

Stacy sat down on Jane's bed and grabbed the remote. She started flipping through the channels, not finding anything worth watching. When Jane finished ordering the pizza, she walked over to her closet and started rummaging around.

"What are you doing?" Stacy asked, fighting the urge to offer to organize the mess.

Without turning around, Jane answered, "I'm looking for a movie to watch. Ah, perfect!" She held up a VHS box like some lost treasure. "Flash Gordon, hilariously camp with a soundtrack by Queen," she explained, as she walked over to the TV. "Can you put it on three?"

Stacy changed the channel and Jane started to set up the tape. As she watched Jane, Stacy remembered something Trent had said earlier. Without thinking, she asked, "Do you remember it?"

"Hmm?" Jane hit play and started fast forwarding past the previews.

"Girl Scouts, your brother was talking about it."

Jane chuckled. "I try to forget."

In a sad voice, Stacy said, "I liked it."

Jane found the start of the movie and hit pause. Sitting down next to Stacy on the bed, she asked, "So why'd you quit?"

"Sandi," Stacy said, surprised by the venom in her voice. She'd thrown herself into the play since their fight and managed to not think about her, but talking about where it all started caused something in Stacy to snap. She imitated the former fashion club president's throaty, condescending tone, "The uniforms are so, like, ugly, and they want me to go out and sell those stupid little cookies in public?" Stacy's voice grew louder and tears started streaming down her face. "Damn it Sandi! I liked the uniforms! I liked selling those cookies! I liked all of it! Why did I have to quit too?"

Jane put a gentle hand on Stacy's shoulder. In a surprisingly understanding voice, she said, "Hey. It's okay. It's not your fault."

Stacy drew up her legs and dropped her head on her knees. She was too far gone to care that Jane was seeing her like this, although in a small rational corner of her mind she knew she'd regret it later. "Yes it is. I didn't stand up for myself. I never do. It was my choice to go. I'm just weak and stupid."

Jane wrapped her arms around the smaller girl. While maintaining her awkward hold Jane softly spoke, "Shh. You're not stupid. You stayed with a friend, even when it hurt you. Trust me, not many people will do that. Besides, you got rid of her in the end. You're done with all that, remember?"

Stacy bitterly mumbled, "Took me long enough. Wasted half my life on her. Couldn't even do it on my own."

Jane gave Stacy a squeeze. "Unless you plan on dying before you graduate, I'm pretty sure it won't be half your life. Sometimes it just takes a long time for something good to happen." Something about the way Jane said it made Stacy believe her.

They sat silently together for a few minutes, Jane's arms around Stacy's shoulders and Stacy's head resting on her knees. Eventually, Stacy looked up at Jane, their faces inches apart. She felt a twinge of embarrassed panic, but it barely registered through everything else she was feeling. "W-why are you doing this? Why are you being so nice?"

Jane dropped one of her arms, keeping the other around Stacy's shoulders. She turned her head towards the hallway, and said, "Because someone did it for me."

Stacy looked down at her hands, then back up at Jane. In a still shaky voice, she asked, "Um, you said something like that before. W-what do you mean?"

Jane looked conflicted. She looked at Stacy, staring into her eyes, then looked down and sighed. "Me and my big mouth. Alright, let's make a deal. What you're asking about is really personal, but I'll tell you about it if you tell me what's really going on with you and Sandi. No offense, but no one gets this torn up over just Girl Scouts."

Stacy's stomach did a backflip. Jane was offering to share something really personal with her; from the way she was talking it sounded like she didn't share this with just anyone. But, she would have to tell her about Sandi, and that meant telling her everything that went along with that. Stacy chewed at her lip, trying to decide. Eventually, possibly due to her emotional fatigue, her curiosity overpowered her fear. "Um, okay. I guess."

The two sat awkwardly for a moment, unsure where to start. A loud knock at the front door caused both girls to jump. Jane seemed relieved at the temporary reprieve and quickly stood up. "Right, the pizza. I'll go pay," she said as she hurried out the door.

Stacy sat in a daze, overwhelmed by everything that had just happened. She was completely embarrassed over freaking out in front of Jane like that, not to mention being held by her. She was nervous too, not just about talking about Sandi, but also about whatever it was Jane was going to tell her. She shook herself out of her thoughts and took a few deep breaths.

By the time Stacy had pulled herself together, Jane was walking into the room, balancing the pizza, two glasses, and a two liter bottle of Ultra Cola. Stacy jumped up to help and together they got everything laid out between them on the bed.

They ate in an awkward silence, until Jane finally spoke, "Before I start, I want to make something clear. I'm not just telling you this because I want to know what's up with you and Sandi. You seem like you might actually get this kind of thing, and I could really use someone to talk about this with other than Trent."

"What about Daria?"

Jane took a long swig of her soda and explained in a frustrated voice, "Daria wouldn't understand something like this. She's never had any real problems with people. She doesn't' need them. I'm her friend, and she'd probably be sad if I was gone, but if she'd never met me I think she'd be fine alone."

"Oh," was all Stacy could manage.

"You seem like you get the whole pain of human interaction thing though. Not just the Sandi stuff, but your art too."

Stacy blushed. "Thanks, I guess."

Jane took a big bite out of a slice of pizza and sighed. "Well, I guess I better get started, huh? You know how I said I try to forget Girl Scouts?" Stacy nodded. "Well that's not completely true. I'll kill you if you tell anyone this, but I had a lot of fun. It was just one more thing that got ruined when I started middle school. You left when I was in fourth grade, how many friends do you remember me having?"

Stacy had to think for a minute. It was a long time ago, but she thought Jane had friends. She certainly wasn't alone, like Sandi. She would remember that. "I'm not sure. I guess you were pretty normal?"

"Normal." Jane scoffed. "Yeah, that works. I was normal. Until middle school. Do you remember how many friends I had in middle school?" Jane's voice was getting heated.

"Um, I…"

"Think. We were in the same school for two years. How many friends did I have?"

Again, Stacy racked her brain. Jane was right of course, they had been in the same school. She tried to think of the few times she'd seen the older girl in the halls. "I guess—"

"None. From sixth grade up until sophomore year I had no friends." Jane's voice was bitter and there was a glint of moisture in her eyes.

Barely above a whisper, Stacy said, "I'm sorry."

"What?" The sudden apology seemed to have shaken her from her frustration.

Stacy was on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry. I ignored you. I should have been helping you, instead of trying to fix Sandi. I'd been trying to do that too long at that point anyway."

Jane smirked. "Hey, this is supposed to be my tragic backstory. We'll get to yours in a minute." After a pause, she added, "Thanks though."

"So, um, what happened?"

Jane took another bite of pizza and washed it down with some soda before explaining, "A lot of things, but mostly my parents. I guess they figured that since I was in middle school and Trent was almost done with high school their job was done. They started going on trips, leaving for months at a time, until they were barely ever here at all." Jane stopped to take another drink. "We're not poor you know. Mom and Dad are pretty successful, they just have a tendency to forget to put their money in a bank account Trent and I can get to."

"That's terrible!"

"See, this is why I wanted to talk to you about this. Trent and I are so used to it that it feels normal. It's nice to have an objective outsider confirm that my parents are horrible. Anyway, when I started middle school, Trent and I were still getting used to living on our own. Casa Lane was not always the smooth running operation you see today. I was late, dirty, and a lot of the time I didn't have a lunch or money to buy one. You know how middle school is; everyone judges everyone else, but there's always that one kid who gets singled out to be the worst, the one everybody can feel better than. That was me." A bit of vulnerability and genuine sadness broke through Jane's usual sarcastic barrier, "The weirdo. The freaky art girl. Hobo. Stain Lane."

Hearing it again, Stacy remembered some of that. Being popular and next to the scariest girl in her grade, she never had to worry about that kind of thing, but it always made her uncomfortable when people talked like that. She never did anything though. "I remember. I should have done something. I could have done something." She balled her fist and slammed it on her leg in frustration. "Dang it, why didn't I?"

Jane shook her head. "If you'd tried to help me you just would have been dragged down yourself."

"That doesn't make it okay. I should have helped, at least then you wouldn't have been alone. I'm sorry."

Jane smiled. "Thanks. That actually means a lot." She chuckled, brightening. "Can you imagine what that would be like? Us being friends from middle school?"

Stacy smiled sadly, "It would definitely be better. I'd rather have spent the past five years with you than Sandi. She was my best friend, but I don't think I was ever hers. I don't think anyone was. I should have gotten away from her years ago."

"So why didn't you? I told you my big secret, now it's your turn."

Stacy took a drink of her soda, trying to delay the inevitable. Finally, she said, "Okay, but you have to make two promises. You can't tell anyone and you won't freak out and hate me."

Jane raised an eyebrow. "What, did you and Sandi murder someone and hide the body?"

"Promise."

"Alright, alright. Scouts honor," Jane said, smirking at the last part.

"Okay." Stacy took a deep breath. "It started in Girl Scouts. I felt sorry for Sandi."

"You felt sorry for her?"

"She wasn't always as bad as she is now, her mom did a lot of that to her. Not that that excuses it. Anyway, she was all alone and didn't know how to deal with other people. I wanted to help her. So I tried, but everyone else started avoiding me too. I figured that if I could help Sandi learn to work with people, we could all be friends again." Stacy's voice grew bitter, "That was my first big mistake. Sandi Griffon doesn't make friends. Eventually, Sandi left the Girls Scouts, and I left with her."

"Why didn't you just ditch her and go back to everyone else?" Jane asked.

Stacy sighed. She had asked herself that question a lot of times over the years. "I still wanted to help her and… I was afraid."

"Afraid of what? Sandi trying to strangle you with a scrunchie?"

Stacy couldn't help but smile at that mental image. "No, afraid of being alone. You should understand more than anyone. She was my only friend. Maybe someone would take me back, but what if they didn't? Wouldn't you go through a lot if you thought you might end up alone?"

Jane looked down for a while, then chuckled bitterly. "You forgive pretty much anything."

Stacy hesitated, then asked, "Jane, are you okay?"

Jane looked up. "That's a secret for another day. Go on, you were talking about leaving Girl Scouts."

"Um, right. So, we hung out together. Eventually, Sandi got good at intimidating people and some other girls joined us. Then… middle school."

"You too?"

Stacy nodded. In a serious and somewhat scared voice, she said, "This is the part where you have to keep your promise, okay? I've only told this to one other person." Jane nodded. Stacy looked down and continued, "Okay, so Sandi and I were in middle school, and that's when you start to like people, and… that's when I started to like Sandi." Stacy slowly looked up, scared of Jane's reaction.

Jane had a thoughtful expression on her face. "So that's what the dress was about."

"What?" Stacy was caught off guard. No one reacted to her coming out the way she expected, although this was at least better than she'd feared.

"The colors coming out of the blandness. Unfolding after being repressed."

"Um, yeah, I guess," Stacy said, blushing.

"So what made you like her? I mean, no offense, but you've got pretty lousy taste. Not that I have room to talk."

Stacy grabbed a piece of pizza and took a few bites, buying herself time to think. After she was finished, she answered, "I'm not sure. I guess I always thought there was someone better underneath. I mean, she was my best friend. I couldn't believe she was all bad."

Jane continued to grill Stacy, "Are you over her?"

"I think so. I definitely don't want to be around her anymore, but there are some times when I think about her." Stacy was relieved Jane hadn't asked if she liked someone else.

Jane nodded. "I think that's normal. At least she's not dating your best friend. Trust me, that makes it a lot harder."

"Right, the Tom thing. I was really surprised you and Daria stayed friends after that."

"We almost didn't. But it's like you said, I didn't really have much of a choice. I was afraid to go back to having no friends," Jane explained, then took a bite of her pizza. "That's not the only reason of course. Daria's a good friend. I would have tried to patch things up, even if I did have more friends. You know?"

Stacy nodded. "I think so."

An awkward silence stretched out, neither girl sure where to take the conversation. Eventually, Jane spoke up, "Well, I think that's plenty of soul baring for one night." Jane grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. "You ready for a movie?"

Jane turned off the TV and looked down at her bed. Stacy was curled up at one end like a cat, dozing peacefully. Jane carefully got up, then grabbed a blanket and placed it over the sleeping girl. She'd made it through Flash Gordon, but dozed off right after they started watching TV.

Jane stared down at the younger girl and chuckled. She'd certainly never expected to have Stacy Rowe in her bed. She hadn't expected her to be so interesting either. When Stacy got past her anxiety, she was actually pretty fun to hang out with. She was talented too. Jane didn't know much about clothes, but the costumes Stacy had made so far were amazing. She'd taken Jane's sketches and brought them to life, changing them to make them work in a different medium without losing the feel of the original.

More than anything else though, Stacy got her. Not just her art, but her past too. Jane still wasn't sure why she'd opened up to her like that, but she was glad she had. Trent was great to talk to, but he'd never really dealt with that kind of isolation. Stacy had. She didn't offer empty consolations, she just poured her heart out in regret for not doing anything. It made Jane really hate Sandi Griffin. Not just annoyance or dislike, but hate. For all she did to Stacy, and for keeping her from getting to know Stacy until she was about to move out of state.

The phone's ring pulled Jane from her thoughts. She blushed as she hurried over to the phone, realizing she'd been staring down at Stacy's sleeping face for several minutes. She ducked into the hall with the phone, hoping not to wake Stacy.

"Hello?"

"Hi Jane," Mrs. Rowe's cheery voice came over the line, "Can I talk to Stacy?"

"That might be a little bit of a problem."

Panic crept into Ms. Rowe's voice, "Is she okay? What's wrong?"

"Whoah, calm down. Everything's fine," Jane said, chuckling disarmingly. "She just fell asleep watching TV."

There was an audible sigh of relief on the other side of the line. "Don't scare me like that. Look, do you mind letting her stay over? I'd rather not wake her up if I don't have to."

"Um, I guess not. Why?"

Stacy's mom sighed again, this time in resignation. "She's been falling asleep like that a lot lately. It's actually starting to worry me a little. I didn't want to say anything because she's been doing so well, but I think she's been working too herself too hard lately. I've caught her staying up late working on those costumes more than once."

Thinking back, Jane remembered Stacy's frequent yawns and drowsy demeanor the past week or so. She cursed to herself. Even if she didn't take it very seriously, it was her job as a teacher to watch out for her students. Now her most important one was losing sleep working on the extra work she'd pushed her to do. She remembered Daria lecturing her when she first took the job and could just hear her saying "I told you so."

"I'm really sorry Mrs. Rowe. I'll call Mr. O'Neill tonight and we'll figure something out so Stacy isn't so overworked," Jane said, her guilt evident in her voice.

"Jane, honey, it's not your fault," Mrs. Rowe reassured her, "Stacy's just figuring out her limits now that she's coming out of her shell."

A small smile formed on Jane's face; she could see where Stacy got her kindness. "Thanks. I still have to talk to Mr. O'Neill about it though. Responsibility for student welfare and all that. Could you not tell Stacy? I'd like to get everything figured out before we talk."

"I understand, I trust you to handle it. Can you give her a ride home in the morning? I've got brunch with some friends and I can cancel if I have to, but—"

"It's no problem. I can use my brother's car. He's never up before noon anyway."

Mrs. Rowe chuckled. "Alright, thanks. Goodnight Jane."

"'Night."

Jane leaned back against the wall and stared at the phone in her hands. She really didn't want to call Sean. She knew he would pull Stacy off of working on either the play or the costumes. Either way, she was pretty sure Stacy would be crushed. Wanting to do both was the reason she was working herself to exhaustion in the first place, and it would be Jane's fault that she couldn't any more.

Pushing off from the wall, Jane headed downstairs. She didn't really know what time it was and the only working clock outside of her room was on the microwave. If she was lucky, it might be too late to call Sean. When she reached the kitchen, she found Trent digging through the fridge.

"Anything in there that hasn't developed the ability to move under its own power?" Jane asked, walking around to look over Trent's shoulder.

"This looks alright," Trent said pulling out a pitcher full of purple liquid. "Want some?"

"What the hell, not like I really want to live through the rest of the night anyway," Jane replied, more bitterly than she'd intended.

"Whoah, what's wrong? Did you and the girl scout have a fight or something?"

Jane shook her head. "No, we actually had a really good talk. Apparently I'm not the only one middle school sucked for."

"Hmm." Trent found a couple of mostly clean glasses and began pouring. "You don't usually talk about that. You never even mentioned it to Daria, right?"

For some reason, Jane found herself blushing. "It's… different. Like I said, she has stuff too." She grabbed a glass and stared down at its contents for a while, before continuing. "She really gets it."

"Cool. I always thought it was weird you only had one friend."

"Gee, thanks Trent. Sorry it took me so long to find another person who would put up with me," Jane snapped.

"I mean it was weird because you're so cool. You're not a joiner or anything, but you like people. You always have. You were happy hanging out with Daria so I never said anything, but I always thought it was weird you didn't make more friends."

"Oh," Jane said, anger deflating. She absentmindedly took a sip of the mystery drink. "Hmm, purple flavor."

Trent sipped at his own. "Must be from when Summer's kids were over a couple of weeks ago."

They drank in silence for a few minutes, then Jane said, "She makes it hard, y'know?"

"Hmm?"

"Daria. She makes it hard to make more friends. She gets all jealous and bitchy."

Trent nodded. "Yeah. Daria's a loner. She doesn't need other people, but she got attached to you and now she's afraid of losing you. She thinks everyone else around you is trying to steal you from her. She doesn't get that you can have more than one friend."

"I'm starting to figure that out. Why couldn't you have told me this two years ago?"

Trent shrugged. "I thought it was obvious." Jane stared at him. "So why were you so mad earlier?"

"Work. I have to call the head of the program and talk to him about Stacy falling asleep all the time."

"What's wrong with sleeping?" Trent asked, clearly confused.

"Well Trent, unlike you, most people don't randomly nod off. She's exhausted from working too hard. She's passed in my room right now."

"So why is helping her a bad thing?"

Jane sighed in frustration. "Because it means Stacy's going to have to give up one of the things she's working on, maybe the costumes." In a smaller, more vulnerable voice she added, "And because she might not want to hang out with the person who made her give something up."

Trent gave Jane a knowing smile and put his hand on his sister's shoulder. "I don't think you have to worry about that Janey. I get the feeling she likes you way too much to worry about something like that."

"Thanks," Jane said, examining the kitchen floor.

Trent smiled at her. "I'm gonna go upstairs and get some sleep. Try not to worry too much, okay?" he said before leaving for his room.

Jane sighed and looked up at the microwave. 7:34. Late, but not too late. Might as well get it over with.

Yo,

As always, thanks for reading.

I feel like my style might be shifting. Don't know if that's good or bad, but there it is. Like I said before, this is my first time writing fiction in a long time, and I wasn't all that good back then.

This should be about halfway through. That's subject to change of course, but it's what's plotted out right now at least.

Edit: 8/14/15 Cleanup, added a sentence here, removed one there, so on.