Chapter 10: Daria Digs

Daria and Jane turned as they heard Mai's truck stop in front of Schloss Morgendorffer. Mai Ling got out and approached the girls. Daria took in Mai's cut-off jean shorts with an unfamiliar stirring feeling in her heart. Mai looked nervous until her eyes brightened as she took in the bow Daria was carrying.

"Wow, nice bow. An old Fred Bear recurve."

"Yeah," Daria said, wondering if Mai was there to recruit her for the volleyball team. "Jane just gave it to me. But we don't know anything about how to shot it. I was planning to skewer some squirrels for an early Father's Day present, too."

"Lemme take a look," Mai stuck out her hand and Daria deposited the bow into it. Mai held the bow by one end then the other turning it and carefully sighting down the length. Then she ran her eyes over every inch slowly and closely.

"Well, the string's shit but you probably know that. I think the bow's in great condition, but you should have Junior or Senior at Conrad's Archery Fun Shoppe take a look. If they think it's safe to shoot they'll set you up with a new string and show you how to string it and, and whatever other tackle you want, they got. Uhm, tell them I sent you."

She handed the bow back. "Uhm, can I come in? I can't stay long. I wanted to ask you something, Daria." Mai put a hand behind her head and rubbed her thick, black hair. She was keeping her eyes down but glanced up at Jane once or twice.

"Sure," Daria let the girls in. Mai declined the offered soda but Jane, of course, accepted.

"Daria," Mai began uncertainly, fidgeting in the foyer. "I...uh...I got a nice recurve myself and a longbow. Hmmm, how about this Saturday afternoon I pick you up and take you to the range? You don't have to buy any arrows or other stuff now, just bring your bow. We can use all my junk otherwise." Mai was glancing up uncertainly into Daria's eyes and then down.

"I think you're really cool, Daria, and I'd like to get to know you better. We can get pizza after or whatever you like, my treat." Mai bit her lip then, probably aware she was starting to sound desperate.

"I would like to learn how to use this bow. It would be fun if you could teach me. But pizza's on me; I owe you for volleyball lessons too, Mai." Daria said stiffly; she tried to add a smile as she looked into Mai's eyes.

"Hot Damn." Mai smiled widely. She gave Daria a quick, firm smooch on the cheek. Daria surprised herself and Jane by standing on her toes and turning to make it easier for Mai to kiss her.

"Thanks. Fu.., I mean, so Saturday then. Well, gotta go. See ya." Mai said.

Daria opened the door for Mai and watched her walk to her car with a jauntier step than she used when approaching Schloss Morgendorffer.

Daria called after her, "Yeah. Yeah, see you then." She turned to Jane who was slouched on a couch.

"Was what just happened what I think just happened?" She asked Jane. Daria could feel her face burning.

"If what you thought was that you just got asked out on a date then, yeah, I'd say that what happened is what you thought happened," Jane opined with a note of certainty. "And Daria, you might think Mai Ling is your average submissive little Asian girl but I bet you would be in for a big surprise."

"Oh? You know more about this than you're telling me, don't you, Jane?"

"Well, a couple days ago Mai came to talk to me…"

Daria's paranoia interrupted, "Oh, so she asked you first and you said no. I'm second choice. Not that I'm surprised."

Jane sprang up and approached Daria with her eyes hard and hand up and open as if for a slap. Daria flinched.

Jane exhaled hard and dropped her hand. "Jeez, Daria, I don't know whether to pity you or be pissed at you. In the first place if my door swung that way and a cute chick like Mai asked me out I would be in her truck in a New York minute. In the second place she first asked me if I thought that you thought that she was pretty. I said anyone in their right mind would think she was beautiful and, while I had my doubts about you at times, you were mostly in your right mind. Then in the third place she secondly asked me if I thought you would go out with her. I said she had better man up and ask you quick before some other girl or guy beat her to it. Then she thanked me and swore me to secrecy. I told her I was honored that she trusted me. And you know what? She said all that without swearing at all. She's weird that way I guess; when she's nervous she doesn't swear."

Jane ran out of steam. Their eyes fell on the beautiful bow with shabby string which Daria had laid across the arms of an overstuffed chair.

"Pizza first then let's call my place and get Trent to take us down to Ye Olde Archery Emporium or Shoppey or whatever," Jane proposed. "You need a new string, Morgendorffer."

DM DM DM DM DM DM

Mai rang the doorbell of Schloss Morgendorffer. She jumped a little as the door was instantly thrown open by a man still wearing a stiff-looking business suit on a Saturday afternoon. His eyes widened as he stood eye to eye with the equally tall Asian girl facing him on his step.

"Uhm, hello, Mr. Morgendorffer?"

The man turned and yelled up the stairs behind him, "Quinn, your date's here." She barely heard him mutter, "Wow, I really don't know my kids."

"Uhm, sir. No, I'm here to see Daria."

"Daria?" The man said obviously nonplussed.

"Yes sir, Daria. I'm Mai Ling. We're classmates. We're going to the archery range this afternoon."

The man turned and yelled upstairs again. "Daria, your, ah, classmate's here."

He turned back to her. "Oh, sorry. Come in, uh, Mai Ling.

Daria came down the stairs carrying a small bag and the Fred Bear bow equipped with a new string. She and Mai had both chosen to wear black jeans. Mai had a tee-shirt proclaiming, "Proud to be a farmer's daughter" and showing an incongruous blonde girl sucking a long-stemmed length of grass. Daria had on a plain dark green tee.

"I'm sorry too, Mai," Daria began. "I intended to rescue you before you met my family, but I was practicing stringing and unstringing like Junior taught me. Dad, this is Mai Ling. She is slowly turning me into a volleyball powerhouse force to be reckoned with. Mai, this is my father, Jake Morgendorffer.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Morgendorffer. Let's go, Daria, time's awastin'. It's a great day to loose some arrows."

The two moved outside followed by a curious Jake. His eyes brightened as he took in Mai's huge, red pickup parked in their driveway.

"Wow, a 4X4 with crew cab! I've always wanted one but no, 'Jake, we have to get something practical.' Practical, huh? Try hauling a billiards table over a rushing mountain stream in a luxury SUV."

Mai giggled, delighted at Jake's praise for her pride and joy.

"Mai, we'd better go before Dad wants a ride and begs to beep the horn."

Mai put Daria's bow carefully in a long quilted case and then rested it on the bed with similar cases and a couple small bags and plastic canisters. Mai stretched a dark canvas cover over the bed securing it tightly. As they pulled away Quinn's first date for the day pulled up. Mai burst into sincere laughter.

"Wow, your Dad's a real damn hoot. I like him! We should get him and Leo together at the farm sometime."

"Leo?"

"Yeah, you know, my pops, Leonard Ling. Aww, c'mon don't you call your old man 'Jake' once in a while? It seems to make my dad both a little fucking peeved and happy at the same time."

"Gotta keep 'em guessing," Daria surmised. "Are you calling your mom by her first name then?"

"Good point," Mai conceded and sucked her teeth. "I don't think me calling Mom 'Mavis' would fly. Now, did you get any gear besides a new string?"

"Yes, a stringer, an armguard and a shooting glove. The glove is even Quinn-approved. She said it matched my eyes."

Mai laughed, "Now that's downright essential. We wouldn't want to be uncoordinated."

Mai took her on side streets Daria had never been down. Mai began to quietly sing a bit in Chinese, Daria guessed. She was smiling broadly when not signing.

"Oh, sorry, I'll just shut up."

"Not for me, Mai, please. That's beautiful."

Daria did not know what to make of Mai, the situation or herself for that matter. Mia seemed to be nervous, all but bouncing at the wheel in happiness and her usual cocksure self all simultaneously.

And Daria herself? Was she really out on a date with a girl, with Mai? Jane had assured her that Mai thought of the situation as such or very much hoped it so. Was Daria just along for the ride, like she felt in so many other situations in her life?

"Okay, play it by ear; wing it, just fly by the seat of your pants, Morgendorffer." she told herself. "Oh, forgot one, go with the flow. But nothing happens that you don't let happen to you."

Mai was careful to avoid the huge ruts in the gravel parking lot she pulled into. She shook her head.

"Lawndale spends all this money on a pretty damn nice archery range and the parking lot's a real axle-busting shit-hole. Go figure."

Mai had taken her through Lawndale's light industrial zone and they were on the edge of town, she surmised. Daria looked around at the high, mature trees surrounding three sides of the parking lot. Where was the range?

She was about to hop out when Mai commanded, "Just wait a sec."

Mai jumped out and ran around to open Daria's door. Sticking her hand up for Daria to take she smiled sweetly and said, "Please."

Daria had to laugh at the absurdity and sincerity behind the gesture which Mai seemed to be well aware she was putting into it.

"Why thank you, kind sir, uh, madame. It pleases me that chivalry is not dead in these philistine times."

She took Mai's hand and alighted as delicately as a five-foot-one-and-a-half-inch young woman could from a massive pickup truck. Daria was happy for the chivalry to end there as Mai handed her the case with her bow and a few pieces of gear. Mai hefted the other gear bags.

Mai led her to a narrow break in the trees. She paused and gestured to a large sign overshadowed by trees. "Here's the rules. Read 'em over but I'll give you my version too. Big thing is safety, of course. Don't go out to fetch your arrows until everybody yells, 'Clear.' Then don't shoot again until everybody gets back behind the line and yells, 'Clear' again. It sounds fucking dorky, I know, but it works. I've never heard of anyone getting stuck. It says only shoot five arrows at a round but I consider that mostly for the wheel-bow—the compound bow boys. They take a damn lot more time than us traditional archers so I usually shoot six in a round. You're a newb so you're gonna be slow today, Daria, but if you keep it up you'll spend more time waiting for them then they'll ever spend waiting for you."

Mai let her read the sign. She led Daria down a tree-shaded wood-chipped path for about a hundred yards. The two glanced at each other and Daria enjoyed seeing flashes of sun play on Mai's dark hair. Before the path ended she started hearing thick thwacks and the occasional soft twang.

"Daria, you're a natural. Volleyball and now archery." Mai concluded as Daria's arrow sunk into the center spot once more at a twenty-yard lane. After a brief intro at a short ten yard lane Mai had considered her ready to shoot at longer distances. The satisfying thunk of arrow hitting butt brought small smiles to Daria after each shot.

"Maybe those thick glasses act like telescopic sights," Mai speculated.

Daria stuck out her tongue and rolled her shoulders before drawing another arrow from the quiver which Mai had carefully strapped to her side.

"Here, let me show you another way to draw." Mai moved in and put her hands over Daria's carefully arranging Daria's fingers on the string. "Get used to a few different draws and you can decide which one you like the best."

Daria shifted back almost snuggling into Mai's arms. Both girls shivered and moved a bit apart. Then Mai stepped away and let Daria draw, aim and loose.

After another half-hour, Mai declared it enough for the day. The two unstrung their bows and walked slowly back to the parking lot without talking. They glanced at each other as the trees waved in the breeze and cast coins of bright sunlight over the path.

DM DM DM DM DM

Mai and Daria stowed their gear in the pickup bed. Mai secured the canvas over the bed. "Thanks Mai. That was fun. Now I have a more practical weapon to terrorize Quinn with."

"Daria, it's still early yet for pizza. Well, okay, I know you and Jane can eat pizza anytime but I have to work up an appetite. Let's walk on the trails." She jutted her chin out to the woods at one side. "There's a really pretty spot I want to show you."

Daria assented and Mai took off at a quick trot. Daria for once was up to some running and tried to catch up and then keep up with the long-legged girl on the gravel trails twisting and turning through the heavy trees. As she was beginning to wonder just how much of Lawndale they were running through, the trail opened unexpectedly onto the shore of a large pond.

Mai followed the shore for a few yards until she sat on a bench Daria had not noticed until it was right in front of her. The sun was to their backs over the heavy trees, shining on the water. The two girls sat closely on the shaded small bench and chatted.

"I about peed myself when that parakeet got pissed at its owner," Mai said about a Sick, Sad World episode. Daria chuckled at Mai's two separate, distinct urine references in less than a second.

Daria turned to Mai and was about to start an enthusiastic response given in her usual deadpan.

"Yeah, and then the owner…" Daria begun as Mai leaned in, parted her lips and kissed her. A gentle hand whispered around Daria's head and caressed her hair. Almost without noticing, Daria leaned closer and brought her hand up to stroke Mai's face. She pressed her lips against Mai's a bit tighter. Daria's eyes widened in surprise then closed in pleasure.

"My, my first kiss. It's with Mai. It's good! She's good! Mai's a girl. I'm a girl."

Daria pushed away. Mai shot away from her to the end of the short bench and buried her face in her hands. Daria went to the water's edge, picked up stone and surprised herself by making it skip four times over the water's smooth surface. She watched the ripples interlace and spread back to her.

Mai was standing up with her hands over her mouth when she turned. Tears glistened hugely at the edges of her eyes.

Daria approached her with a dry mouth. "Mai, we're girls."

That obvious fact seemed the most important thing in the world to Daria just then. She moved closer and attempted to look up into Mai's eyes; Mai tried to avoid the eye contact.

"I know. Daria, oh, oh I'm sorry." Mai was on the verge of flowing tears.

"Mai, we're girls. I'm happy."

Daria closed more distance and attempted to close vertical distance by standing on her black-booted tiptoes and putting her hands on Mai's shoulders. She could feel Mai shiver. She could hardly believe what she was doing as Mai dropped her hands from her mouth and bent her lips to Daria's.

The vertical distance difference problem was soon remedied by Mai as she sat on the bench and pulled Daria onto her lap. A position which Daria had not assumed on anyone's lap for years but one she grew quickly to enjoy as she put her arms around Mai while Mai embraced her. Mai gently removed Daria's glasses and set them aside.

"We're girls. I'm happy." Daria forced herself not to verbalize any thought but that as she enjoyed the strong arms holding her and the soft lips moving on hers.

Coarse, shrill whistles sounded from the path. "Ms. Morris!?" Daria thought irrationally as she and Mai sprang apart. The two tunelessly whistling kids with fishing poles barely gave them a glance although Daria was sure the hot red she could feel spreading on her face broadcast to the world exactly what she had just enjoyed.

The two young women said nothing as they walked back to Mai's truck. As soon as they were out of view of the pond hand found hand and clasped. Utterly unnecessarily and utterly delightfully Daria let Mai help her into the red truck.