Stacy walked down the hall with Quinn, not really listening to her friend. She was smiling and almost skipping. Last weekend had been great. Well, except for falling asleep at Jane's and not waking up until eleven thirty the next morning, that had been mortifying. Jane had been totally cool though, completely calming her down and buying her lunch on the way home.

That wasn't the important part though. What was making her so happy was that Jane wanted to spend time with her. Not just for school stuff, but to just hang out. They'd really opened up to each other too. She had been so scared of what Jane would say when she came out to her, but Jane had just questioned her taste in girls. Stacy giggled thinking of that, considering how she felt about Jane, then felt her mood darken a little. Things were great, but they weren't what she wanted. She told herself that this was good enough, that pushing things would just ruin everything, but part of her was still unsatisfied.

"Stacy!" Quinn yelled, raising her voice over the conversational tone Stacy had been ignoring.

"Wha?" Stacy jerked her head towards her friend, startled.

"Well, what do you think?" Quinn asked expectantly.

"Um…" Stacy looked around nervously, trying to figure out what Quinn was asking her about.

Quinn gave an exasperated sigh. "My shoes, Stacy."

"Oh!" Stacy said, looking down, "They're totally cute."

"I know, right? I got them when I took Gwen and Liz shopping after the movie this weekend. I really wish you could have come, I could have used your help. Those two are cool, but they need a serious wardrobe makeover, especially Liz. What were you doing over at Jane's anyway?"

"Oh, um, just hanging out," Stacy answered, trying to keep cool but unable to keep a smile off her face.

Quinn gasped and an almost predatory grin formed on her face. "Something happened!"

"Nothing happened," Stacy said, trying to keep her voice down and avoid the attention of the other students in the hall, "We just hung out, really."

"Come on Stacy, something clearly happened." Quinn leaned in closer and whispered, "Did you tell her you liked her?"

Stacy's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "What? No!" she almost yelled, quickly clasping a hand over her mouth and looking around to see if anyone had heard her.

Quinn continued, undeterred, "Okay, so you're just laying the groundwork for now, that's fine. But you've got to ask her out soon. You only have a few months until she leaves."

Stacy sighed and looked down. "Quinn, I don't even know if I'm ready to date yet, much less ask out someone I have to see every day. What if she said no? There's no way I could be around her all the time; I'd have to quit the program and I'd lose a friend."

Quinn's crossed her arms. "Fine, but we're talking about this again at the end of the summer when we're done with the play," Quinn said with finality.

Stacy forced a smile and resigned herself to another session of Quinn pushing her to ask Jane out. She meant well, but she just didn't get it. Stacy had Jane as a friend, and that was enough. It had to be.

As the girls entered the auditorium, Mr. O'Neill called out to Stacy from the side of the stage, "Ms. Rowe, please come see me backstage. There's something I need to discuss with you." He walked off into the wings before Stacy could ask anything.

Quinn shot her friend a confused look, but Stacy just shook her head and shrugged. "Guess I'd better go. See you later," Stacy said and headed down to the stage.

"Later."

Stacy walked toward the stage, wondering what Mr. O'Neill wanted. She was a little nervous, but this was hardly the first time he'd asked to talk to her before things got started; sometimes he'd think up some blocking or something between classes and give it to her.

The wings were mostly empty, the props and set not having been finished yet. A small table had been placed against one wall, a chair on either side. Mr. O'Neill sat in the far chair, his hands interlocked and his face conflicted. When he noticed Stacy, he motioned for her to join him.

"Ms. Rowe, please have a seat," he said, his bored voice sounding more serious than usual. Once Stacy was seated, he continued, "Do you know why I've asked to talk to you?"

Stacy shook her head. "No, do you have some notes?"

"No, not today. I'd like to talk about your workload."

"My workload?" Stacy asked, starting to get nervous.

"Yes, you've got a lot on your plate. You've already got a demanding job here during the day, and you're working on the costumes at home on top of that."

"I'm fine, really," Stacy said a bit too fast.

"You're not in trouble Ms. Rowe," Mr. O'Neill reassured her. "As your teacher I just have to make sure you're not doing anything that might cause you to—" He shook his head. "Ugh, I sound like my cousin. Look, this is going to sound strange, but how has your sleep been lately?"

Stacy wrung her hands and hesitantly answered, "I guess I might be getting a little too much sleep lately."

Mr. O'Neill eyebrows went up. "I'm sorry, did you say too much?"

Stacy nodded, her face tinged red. "Um, Yeah. I mean, I fell asleep without realizing it last weekend and slept for over twelve hours. Plus, I've been dozing off sometimes at lunch and I get tired a lot, which is like sleeping. It's really a problem, I didn't even get to work on—"

"Ms. Rowe," Mr. O'Neill interrupted, "Have you considered that the reason you've been falling asleep during the day might be that you're working too hard and not getting enough sleep at night?"

Stacy's blush grew. "I guess I have been staying up late working on the costumes some. Okay, a lot. I just want them to be perfect you know? Ja— I mean Ms. Lane's designs are just so beautiful and I want to capture them just right."

Mr. O'Neill ran a hand through his hair. "And how much time have you spent not working over the past few weeks, during the day?"

Stacy thought for a minute, then hesitantly said, "Um, not much I guess. Between the costumes, studying all the cues for the script, and helping Quinn practice I've been pretty busy."

"So, you're losing sleep and not giving yourself any time to relax. Can you see how that might be a problem?"

Stacy looked down at the table and said, "Yes."

Mr. O'Neill sighed. "I was really hoping I wouldn't have to do this, but I can't allow you to risk your health. You're going to have to choose between working on the costumes or as the stage manager."

Without thinking, the answer came out of Stacy's mouth, "I want to do the costumes." She quickly tried to justify, "I-I mean, because someone else can be the stage manager, but we only have two people that can sew."

Mr. O'Neill smirked in amusement. "It's fine, Ms. Rowe. Can I have your script? Your replacement will need it."

"Oh, right." Stacy picked up her backpack and pulled out her script. After a moment of hesitation, she handed it to the teacher. "Sorry I couldn't handle both."

Mr. O'Neill shook his head. "You tried to take on too much and we let you. That's our fault, not yours. I hope it won't keep you from theatre next year, you're talented and a hard worker."

Stacy blushed again, flattered. "Oh, um thanks."

Mr. O'Neill looked over at the door to the hall. "Ms. Lane should be waiting outside."

"Thanks. Again." Stacy said, getting up and heading for the door.

In the hallway, Jane was leaning against the wall across from the door looking surprisingly nervous. Stacy figured it must have something to do with last weekend. She was certainly still nervous about it; just seeing Jane was making her heart beat faster.

As the door finished closing, Jane said "I'm sorry."

"What?" Stacy asked, caught off guard.

Jane pushed herself off the wall. "I'm sorry. I ratted you out. Your mom told me how you were losing sleep and I told Mr. O'Neill."

"Oh, um, don't worry about it."

Jane looked at Stacy with a mix of disbelief and concern. Putting her hand on the smaller girl's shoulder, she said, "Stacy, you just got told you have to drop something you've been working yourself to death over. It's okay to be mad."

Stacy shook her head. "I know it's weird, but I'm really not upset. Maybe it's because all this is happening so fast. I didn't even realize I was losing sleep. Thanks to you, I can concentrate on the costumes and avoid getting those ugly circles under my eyes."

"Glad you have you priorities," Jane snarked. "So you picked making the costumes over that stage stuff?"

"Um, yeah. I figured since we only have two people who can sew, costumes are more important."

Jane started to look guilty again. "Stacy, if you don't want to—"

"No! I do. It's just—" Stacy sighed in frustration. "It's hard to explain. Being the stage manager is fun, and I know it's important, but it's all taking notes and reminding people of things. I've been doing that for years in the fashion club. With the costumes I get to actually make things. They're going to be on stage for everyone to see, and that's terrifying, but also kind of cool. Does that make sense?"

"You really are an artist, aren't you?" Jane said, her voice a mixture of surprise and respect.

"I guess?"

::

Stacy and Liz sat alone at their usual table in the cafeteria. The rest of their usual group wasn't there yet, Mr. O'Neill tended to keep the actors late giving them notes.

Looking up from her lunch, a loaded up sandwich instead of her usual salad, Stacy asked, "So Liz, are all of the other art students always so…"

"Lazy?" Liz finished. "Yeah. I think most people took art thinking they wouldn't have to do any real work and the rest are happy to just work on their own stuff with the supplies for the play. Ms. Lane doesn't seem to mind though. I think she wanted to do all the stuff for the play herself anyway."

"I guess that makes sense. It seems kind of wrong though."

Liz shrugged, finishing a drink of her soda. "I thought so too at first, but it seems to work for everyone. Speaking of class, are you going to bring your sewing stuff and the costumes to school? I've been curious how they turned out."

"I hope they're okay; Ms. Lane says she likes them, but it'll be nice to get the opinion of someone who knows clothes. Ms. Lane's giving me a ride tomorrow and we're getting all my stuff from my house then." Stacy paused, and in a slightly ashamed voice added, "They don't want me working on them at home anymore."

"No offense, but I'm glad they made you cut back. You were working way too hard."

Stacy nodded. "Yeah, it's obvious now, but I didn't even realize it before. It must be one of those things that someone else has to point out."

"Hey guys!" Gwen called, approaching the table with the rest of their group in tow.

As everyone sat down and started getting out their lunches, Quinn turned to Stacy and asked, "Stacy, what happened this morning? Mr. O'Neill said you decided to stop being stage manager."

"Quinn nearly blew a gasket," Alex added, grinning.

Blushing and looking down, Stacy said, "Well, I haven't been getting enough sleep lately, and I had to choose between making the costumes and being the stage manager. It's fun working with you guys, but I really like doing the costumes and they kind of need me because Liz and I are the only ones who can sew."

Stacy hesitantly looked up at her friends. Liz was keeping quiet, letting her decide how much to say. Sitting beside Liz, Gwen was looking at her like she was an abandoned puppy. The boys were more reserved, but looked sympathetic. Quinn just waved a hand dismissively.

"That's not true. You can totally do both. Sure, you've been a little sleepy lately, but you've been doing such a good job. Have a little more confidence in yourself," Quinn said, her tone reassuring, but slightly condescending.

Stacy squirmed in her seat. "Um, Quinn, I've been really tired lately. I don't think it's a good idea to keep doing both."

Quinn's eyes narrowed. "Stacy, you've got to stop underestimating yourself like that. I know Sandi made you feel bad about yourself, but you're doing so well! You just have to trust me. You can—"

"They made her choose," Liz interjected.

"What?" Quinn asked, turning to face the dark haired girl.

"Mr. O'Neill found out how little sleep she's been getting. He made her choose between working on the costumes and being the stage manager."

Quinn turned back to Stacy and said, "Don't worry, Stacy. I'll talk to my mom. I'm sure she can make him let you do both."

Stacy was getting frustrated. She took a deep breath, looked Quinn in the eye, and said, "Quinn, I know you're trying to be nice, but I don't want to do both. I'm tired. I'm glad Jane told Mr. O'Neill."

"Wait, Jane told him? Look Stacy I know you—" Quinn looked around the table "—have been, um, working with her a lot, but you can't let her do that to you. You've got to stand up for yourself."

Stacy felt something inside of her snap. "Stand up for myself? Stand up for myself!? Okay, Quinn. Here I go." She grabbed the smaller girl by the shoulders. "Stop bossing me around! Ever since that night at Sandi's you've been telling me what to do. You think you're helping? You're just ordering me around, the same way she did! I'm sick and tired of being told what to do Quinn! I'm a big girl and I can make my own decisions! You want to talk about Jane? Jane doesn't tell me what to do! She just listens and helps. Like a friend.

"Stand up, right?" Stacy stood up, knocking her chair back. "Okay! Hey, as long as I'm standing up for myself, why don't I just walk out the door for myself too?" Ignoring the stares of the other students and the growing uneasiness in her gut, Stacy strode out of the cafeteria.

Daria stared off into space from her station behind the café's counter, lost in thought. Jane still hadn't called. Didn't she understand that they only had a little more than a month before they'd be if different cities, hell, states? This was supposed to be their last summer, the one where she wouldn't have to do anything and they could just hang out before going to college. Instead, they were both working, and apparently weren't talking to each other.

Was it about the party? If she'd been a little bitchy that night, it was only because Jane had dragged her out after such a crappy day. Okay, so she'd left her without a ride, but Jane had told her to go. Why had Jane become so damn social all of a sudden anyway?

Daria shook her head. It didn't really matter. Regardless of whatever was going on with Jane, she still wanted to hang out with her best friend in the few weeks she had before she left. She resolved to go over to Jane's and try to patch things up when she got off work, hopefully her friend could squeeze her into her busy social calendar.

The chime on the door rang and Daria's focus returned to the café. To her great surprise, a slightly disheveled Sandi Griffin walked through the door. Her usually carefully styled hair was frizzy and her makeup was uneven in places. When she reached the counter she gave Daria an unsettling smirk.

Daria tried to ignore the look and proceeded to deal with Sandi as she usually would, sarcasm. "Are you lost? We sell coffee and books here. You know, bad for the skin, good for the brain?"

Sandi replied in her usual condescending tone, "Like I would ever shop here. I came here because I have some information I think you may be interested in."

"Unless it's your order, the only thing I'm interested in how to get out of this conversation."

"Even if it's about your little girlfriend or whatever?"

"Wow, that's a new one. Did you run out of gossip and decide to start rerunning the classics? Jane and I are not now, nor have we ever been, dating."

Sandi flipped her hair. "If you say so. I guess it doesn't matter that Stacy has been spending her nights at your friend's house then."

Normally Daria would just ignore gossip like this, but something about the idea of Jane hanging out with Stacy made her feel the need to explain what was actually going on. "They're working on the costumes for that play they're working on, not making out."

Sandi's smirk widened to a grin, a sadistic glint in her eye. "Really? Because I didn't see any garment bags last Saturday, and I don't think you need to stay overnight to work on clothes."

Daria barely managed to hide her surprise, not willing to give Sandi the satisfaction. "So two girls spent the night together. If you think that means they're together, then there's a lot going on at those fashion club sleepovers that Quinn never told me about."

Sandi blushed, but didn't stop pushing. "Very funny, but we had things to talk about and do together. What do those two have in common? What else could they be doing?" She leveled a questioning look at Daria, daring her to come up with an answer.

Daria just ignored it. She was done. "If you're done with your rumormongering could you go ahead and leave? You're cutting into my vacant staring practice. I'm hoping to go pro."

"Very well, I was just trying to be considerate," Sandi said, turning and leaving the way she came.

Once the door closed behind Sandi, Daria breathed a sigh of relief. That had been weird. Sandi had always been the type to spread rumors, but never to people like her. The only times she could remember talking to her had been about Quinn. On top of that, she'd seemed off, almost manic.

Still, while she hated to admit it, something about what she said about Stacy had struck a chord. She knew they weren't together, Jane had made it pretty clear she was straight after that art camp last summer, but something was going on. Regardless, now she definitely had to talk to Jane tonight.

::

Daria stared at the Lane's front door, hesitating. She'd been there for several minutes and was starting to regret the decision to talk to Jane in person. As she finally raised her fist to knock, Jane's voice came from behind her, causing her to jump.

"Took you long enough."

"Jane! I, uh, came to talk."

Jane walked past Daria and unlocked the door, holding it open. "That's a relief. I was worried you'd just come over to stare at my front door."

"How long were you standing there?" Daria asked, embarrassment clear in her voice.

"Only a couple of minutes," Jane said with a grin. "Come on in."

Daria walked in and the two went up the stairs and into Jane's room without further conversation. Once there, they settled into an awkward silence. Eventually, Jane tossed down her bag and sat on her bed.

"So, you said you wanted to talk. Talk."

Daria took a deep breath, then said, "I'm sorry about the party. I don't understand why, but it was clearly important to you. I should have been more supportive."

Jane shook her head. "I shouldn't have dragged you out in the first place. The whole social interaction thing was never really your deal."

"I didn't think it was yours either," Daria replied, a little defensive.

"Well it is. At least, more than it is for you." Jane stood up and started pacing. "I like spending time with people. Sure they can be annoying, but I need to get out and interact with more than one other person. I can't spend all my time with you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Daria asked, not sure if she should be offended.

Jane stopped pacing and turned to face Daria. "Come on Daria, you know you have a tendency to get a little… possessive."

"Possessive? What are you talking about? You make it sound like I'm some kind of jealous girlfriend," Daria said, jokingly.

"Are you? You certainly act like it sometimes. Whenever I start spending time with anyone else you either stop talking to me or turn into a total bitch. When I started running track and got popular, when I started going out Tom and Nathan, and now hanging out with Stacy; every time."

"Hey, I was right about at least half of those."

Jane threw up her arms. "That's not the point! You act like that every time. Of course you're going to be right sometimes; lots of people are jerks. That doesn't mean I shouldn't keep trying to find the cool ones."

"If so many people are jerks, what's the point in looking when you've already found one of the few cool people out there? Why not just hang out with them?"

"Because people are different. There are things I can't talk about with you, things I can't do with you. I need other people in my life."

"Like Stacy Rowe? What huge gap in your life is she filling? You need someone who can help you coordinate your outfits?" Daria asked bitterly, regretting the words as soon as they left her mouth.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about! What the hell is your problem with Stacy?"

"Jane, I—"

"You want to know what Stacy does? She understands how scary it is to be alone. She understands what it's like to be so scared of losing the one friend you have that you do whatever it takes to make them happy, to keep them from leaving. Even if that leaves you with no one else around you," Jane said, her eyes glistening with held back tears, "Even if they steal your boyfriend and you have to watch them date him for a year."

Daria felt like she'd been stabbed in the gut. She tried to say something, but couldn't make the words come out. Eventually, she managed to say, "I'm sorry."

Jane turned away from Daria and quietly said, "Look, can you just… go."

"I—" Daria stopped herself. This wasn't the time. "Okay." Numbly, she left the room and headed downstairs to her car.

Quinn sat on the couch, flipping through the channels, but not really paying attention. She'd been on autopilot since lunch. Mr. O'Neill had made her sit in the audience all afternoon after she kept messing up her lines.

The door opened behind her and she turned around to see Daria looking about as bad as she felt. Her sister walked over and dropped down onto one of the other couches.

"What happened to you?" Quinn asked, turning to face her sister.

"I'm a terrible friend," Daria replied absently.

Quinn gave a hollow chuckle. "You too? It must run in the family."

"What?" Daria asked, coming out of her daze a bit.

"I'll tell you if you tell me."

Daria didn't respond. Quinn shrugged and was about to start flipping through the channels again, when Daria muttered, "Damn curiosity. Fine, but you go first."

"I guess that's fair," Quinn said, turning off the TV. She sighed and began, "So, apparently I've been bossing Stacy around for the past few weeks."

Daria arched an eyebrow. "Weeks? That's funny, I seem to recall you and Sandi ordering her around since we moved here."

"Gee, thanks. Besides, it was always Sandi before. Mostly. I mean, okay sometimes I said something, but—" Quinn dropped her head into her hands and muttered, "God, what's wrong with me?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" When Quinn remained silent, Daria asked, "So what brought about this revelation?"

"Stacy kind of… told me off in front of the whole cafeteria," Quinn answered, rushing the later part out as quickly and quietly as possible.

"We're talking about Stacy Rowe, right? Spineless little field mouse?"

Quinn glared at her sister. "Don't talk about her like that! Anyway, she's got plenty of spine. I always tell her—" Quinn stopped and groaned.

"What?"

"I'm doing it again. I push her to do stuff while acting like I'm helping her. I didn't even realize I'd been doing it, someone had to explain it to me after Stacy left."

"At least you were trying to help. I'm apparently just a possessive bitch."

"What?" Quinn asked.

"That's why Jane got mad at me. She says I always start acting jealous when she starts hanging out with other people. Maybe it's true, but I just don't get why she needs to."

"Needs to what?"

"Hang out with other people. I don't need anyone else. I finally found someone who gets me. I thought she felt the same way."

Quinn looked at Daria appraisingly. "Daria, are you…"

"Am I what?" Daria asked, clearly agitated.

"Gay."

Daria groaned. "No, I'm not gay. If you'll recall, I've been dating a guy for the last year. I swear, you're the third person to ask me that today. Why does everyone think I'm gay?"

"You just said you found someone who totally gets you and that you didn't need anyone else. That's the kind of thing you say about someone you're in love with."

"I'm not in love with her. I just… I never found anyone who understands me before, and I never thought I would. I met Jane and that was more than enough. I don't need a lot of people, I don't even like being around a lot of people. I just want to relax with my friend."

"But Jane needs more people," Quinn said, starting to understand the problem.

"That's what she says."

The two were quiet for a while. Quinn finally said, "I think you need to make more friends."

"Quinn, I just said that I don't like—"

"You said you didn't like being around a lot of people. I'm saying that you should try to find a couple of people who you might like and hang out with them alone, like you and Jane do. Then maybe you won't be so jealous when Jane spends time with other people."

"Let's say, hypothetically, that all I need is more people to hang out with. How exactly am I supposed to find these people without having to deal with large groups of morons?"

Quinn tilted her head in thought. "Hmm… What about Tom?" Daria flinched at the name, but Quinn pressed on, "You hung out with him without Jane."

"Can we not talk about him?" Daria said, sounding wounded.

"But you met him without having to deal with big groups, that means you can make more friends."

"Yeah, all I have to do is break my best friend's heart."

"What are you talking about?" Quinn asked, finally noticing her sister's distress. "I thought you and Jane were over all that."

"So did I," Daria said bitterly, "Apparently Jane was just forcing herself to put up with it for the past year."

"Why didn't she say anything?"

Daria gave an exhausted sigh. "She said something about being afraid of losing her only friend and being all alone." She slammed a fist down on the couch and continued, "Damn it, I never would have dated him if I knew she felt that way."

Quinn put a hand on Daria's arm. "It's not your fault. You couldn't have known."

"Tell that to Jane." Daria shook her sister's hand off. "Look, can we talk about something else?"

"Um, okay." Quinn thought for a moment, then said, "Oh! Who else called you gay?"

Daria was shaken out of her depression by the strange question. With an incredulous look, she asked, "What?"

"You said three people asked if you were gay today. One is me, and I'm guessing one is Jane, so who's the other?"

"Sandi Griffin," Daria answered, her distaste clear.

"When did you see Sandi?" Quinn asked, surprised.

"She showed up at the coffee shop to spread rumors about Jane and Stacy. Wanted to let me know my 'girlfriend' was cheating on me."

Quinn fidgeted. "Um, not that it's important or anything, but what did she say?"

Daria eyed her sister. "What do you know?"

"What? I don't know anything. Why would I know something?"

"Quinn."

"Look, I can't tell you, okay? I promised Stacy I wouldn't tell anyone."

"So Stacy has a big secret relating to her and Jane cheating on me?"

Quinn pouted and almost screamed. "I didn't say that!"

Daria ignored her. "So that must mean… Quinn what was Stacy doing over at Jane's all night on Saturday?"

"Look Daria, I can't tell you. Stacy is already mad at me and if I told you anything she'd never forgive me. Can you please just tell me what Sandi said? I need to warn Stacy," Quinn pleaded.

Daria sighed and shook her head. "I must be getting soft. Sandi said that Stacy spent the night at Jane's on Saturday, and that they didn't have any costumes or things for the play. She said they were hanging out together a lot and that since they didn't have anything in common they could only be dating. However that works. That's all I know, I kicked her out before she could say anything else."

Quinn was processing the information when a thought occurred. "How did she know about Stacy spending the night at Jane's?"

"I assume she saw them."

"But Sandi would never go to that part of town. Oh my god, is she stalking them?" Quinn asked, her eyes wide.

"I seriously doubt Sandi is stalking anyone, it's just a coincidence. Maybe someone told her."

"I don't know Daria, Sandi's kind of… off."

"She did seem a little unhinged when she came in," Daria said thoughtfully.

"So she is stalking them."

"I didn't say that. Even if Sandi is crazy enough to stalk them, I doubt she could. She's not exactly the patient stealthy type. I'm sure it's just a coincidence."

"If you say so," Quinn said, unconvinced.

Standing up, Daria said, "I'm going up to my room to see if killing some zombies makes me feel any less guilty. So… thanks for the talk."

Quinn smiled up at her sister. "No problem." Once Daria was halfway up the stairs, Quinn called out, "Daria, if you ever want to try the friend thing we talked about, well, you wouldn't have to deal with a lot of people to hang out with me. Just, if you're interested."

Pausing before continuing up the stairs Daria said, "Um… thanks. I'll think about it."

No longer zoned out enough to enjoy flipping through the channels, Quinn went upstairs as well. Once in her room, she sat down on the edge of her bed and let herself fall back. Lying with her legs dangling off the bed, she stared up at its pale blue canopy.

When did things get so complicated? Just a few weeks ago things were the same as they had been for the last two years. She had her fashion and Daria had her books and they both had friends that they'd been hanging out with since they moved to Lawndale.

Now everything was different. Theater and getting closer to Daria were great, but did they have to lose their friends? She knew that the problems they were having had been building for a while, but it felt like everything was changing at once. It was so frustrating. Why couldn't everyone just talk to each other? If she and Daria had known what was going on, they could have stopped before it got to this.

Quinn sat up and grabbed the phone from her bedside table. She dialed the first six digits of Stacy's number and hesitated. Taking a deep breath to steel herself, she pushed the last number and put the phone to her ear. After a couple of rings, someone picked up.

"Hello, Rowe residence," answered Stacy's mom.

"Hi Mrs. Rowe, can I talk to Stacy?"

"Oh, hi Quinn. Let me get her." Quinn heard the sound of a hand covering a receiver, followed by Mrs. Rowe shouting, "Stacy, it's Quinn." There was a pause and Mrs. Rowe came back on sounding confused. "I'm sorry Quinn, Stacy says she doesn't want to talk to you. Is something wrong?"

"Um, kinda. Look, this really important. Can you tell her Sandi was saying stuff about her and Jane? I just want to tell her about it."

"That girl just doesn't know when to stop," Mrs. Rowe said in a dangerous voice. "Hold on, I'll get Stacy."

After a short wait, Stacy's voice came over the line. "I'm still mad at you."

"That's fair."

"So what did Sandi say?" Stacy asked, relaxing a little.

"She saw you spend the night at Jane's. She told Daria and said you two were dating or doing, y'know, stuff together."

Stacy inhaled sharply. "Oh, God. Jane's going to realize I really do like her, and then she's going to hate me. Well, maybe not hate me, but she'll freak out and think I've only been talking to her because I'm into her, which isn't true, I talk to her for lots of reasons, and we were just getting to know each other and she gets me. She really gets me." Stacy took a deep breath and groaned, "Why did this have to happen?"

Quinn hesitated for a second, not wanting to tell Stacy what to do, then said, "Stacy it's going to be alright. Jane won't hate you and she won't find out. Look, I don't want to tell you what to do, but if you tell her yourself, she'll be more likely to think it's all a rumor."

The line was silent. Quinn thought Stacy might have hung up, until a hopeful voice asked, "Do you really think so?"

Quinn felt herself smile. "Totally. If it was the truth and you didn't want her to know, you wouldn't tell her. If you tell her it makes it seem like it's just a rumor you're warning her about. Why would you tell her about it if you were hiding something?"

"I guess that makes sense. Okay, I've got to call Jane. Bye Quinn."

"Stacy before you go I just wanna say… I'm sorry."

"Quinn…"

"I just wanted you to know. Bye." Quinn hung up the phone.

Jane lay on her bed and stared up at the ceiling numbly, half asleep. What had happened? Daria had come over to apologize and then everything had just come out, even the stuff about Tom. What she'd said wasn't wrong, but she still felt miserable. She could still remember the look on Daria's face when she said it, a gut wrenching mixture of guilt and shock.

Thankfully, the phone interrupted her thoughts. She groped around in the pile of clothes next to her bed where the ringing was coming from, eventually finding the phone on the fourth or fifth ring.

"Hello," she answered, somewhat groggily.

Stacy's voice came over the phone. "Um, hi Jane. Can you talk for a minute?"

"Stacy? Yeah sure, just hold on a sec." Jane sat up and stretched, trying to wake herself up a bit. "What's up?"

"Quinn called."

Jane sighed. "So yours wanted to talk too?"

"What?"

"Your Morgendorffer. Best friend, or ex-best friend, whatever."

"Um, yeah," Stacy answered, sounding confused, "Jane are you okay?"

Jane fell back onto her bed. "Honestly? I feel like crap. Daria came over to apologize for the party and I went off on her. I wasn't wrong, but I still feel like a jerk, you know?"

"I think I know what you mean. It's like with Quinn; I really needed to get her to stop pressuring me, but I wish I hadn't blown up like that in front of everyone."

Jane chuckled. "I don't know about that. At least no one's going to call you a pushover anymore. I think I heard someone call you dynamite Rowe when you left the room this afternoon." After waiting a moment for a response, Jane continued, "So what did little miss pushy have to say? Begging for forgiveness?"

"No, well she did say sorry, but that's not why she called. She wanted to let me know Sandi was spreading rumors about us."

"For a supposedly popular girl, she sure does have a lot of free time to try and wreck your and Quinn's lives. So what was she saying about you two? Rashes? Boils? Secret shriveled up conjoined twins hidden beneath your clothes?"

"Ew! No. Anyway, I didn't mean Quinn and me us, I meant you and me us."

"Really, and what did she have to say about us? It's already common knowledge that I'm corrupting you with my art geek ways."

Stacy's voice got quiet. "She, um, said that we're sleeping together."

"What?" Jane asked, unsure she had heard correctly.

Stacy took a deep breath. "She said we were sleeping together, like a couple," Stacy said, clearly making an effort to speak normally, "Apparently she saw me spend the night over there."

"What is it with rumors about me and girls? For once I'd like there to be a rumor that Mack is cheating on Jodie with me or something."

"So, you're not… mad?" Stacy asked hesitantly.

"Eh, like I said, this isn't the first time the rumor mill has paired me off with another girl." Jane chuckled bitterly. "Heck, this time it's one of the cute popular ones. I'm moving up in the world."

"Um, thanks, I guess," Stacy said, sounding confused.

"I guess the question is, are you okay?"

"What?"

"Come on Stacy, you're not that hard to read." Jane's voice took on a more compassionate tone as she continued, "Are you worried about being outed or something?"

There was a pause, then Stacy said, "Um, yeah. I'm not really ready for people to find out." Something about what Stacy said seemed off, but Jane just chalked it up to the whole weird situation.

"Look, the best thing to do is just ignore this. Sure, some people are going to think you're gay, but they won't know you're gay, and when the next rumor comes along they'll forget all about it. Okay?"

"Okay. Um, thanks Jane."

"Eh, it's nothing. Just sharing my vast experience as a subject of sapphic gossip."

"Well, thanks anyway. I've got to get going. It's pretty late and I need to start catching up on my sleep."

"Yeah, I'd rather not have O'Neill on my back about keeping you up all night."

"Bye, thanks again."

"See you tomorrow Stacy," Jane said, ending the conversation.

She dropped the handset back onto the pile of clothes next to her bed and stared up at the ceiling, all the energy leaving her body. "So I'm gay again," Jane said to the empty room. She couldn't figure out why people kept pegging her as a lesbian. Was it because she was an artist? But Alison had singled her out at an art colony. She hadn't been attracted to Alison though. Of course, if a guy had gotten her drunk and tried to get her into bed on the first date she wouldn't like him much either.

What about Daria? Those rumors stuck around for a long time. Their whole situation was confusing. They certainly acted like a couple sometimes, hell she'd called Daria on it just this afternoon. She didn't like Daria though, not like that. She certainly couldn't imagine dating a girl like Daria. She was a great friend to sit around and complain with, but Jane needed someone active who had different opinions on things.

Jane yawned loudly and decided that was enough introspection for the night. She'd gone over this with herself before and she probably would again, just another fun part of adolescence. She reached over to her lamp and switched it off, the darkness easing her mind as she drifted to sleep.

Hello again,

It's been awhile. At least considering my usual update schedule, but, as I said before, you shouldn't expect a regular schedule from me. The story comes out when it wants to, not completely up to me.

This one has a lot of conflict, which is fun to write. Pretty much the first half is conflict and the second half is commiserating the first half. Let me know how you thought it turned out. I know this is , but I'll take one "You should work on..." over a dozen "This was great!"s, not that I mind getting the later.

As always thank you for reading and commenting.

Edit: 8/16/15 Finishing up my trimming. Cut a few sentences, changed a few things, so on.