Quinn's Code
Installment 8: Alternapalooza
Friday, February 3, 2006
Lawndale, MD
Daria Morgendorffer approached her friend, Jane Lane's house. She noticed her other friend' Jennifer Burns' Beetle in the driveway alongside Jane's brother's car... 'I see that she got here first,' she thought.
Jennifer Burns was watching Jane's TV. "Can monkeys surf the net... And corrupt our kids? Chimpanzee chat rooms, next on Sick Sad World."
She noticed Jane holding something to her head. "I surrender, Jane."
"A little respect for the Stickmata 5000. Finest gluegun on the market," Jane said. She lightly petted the device before going back to her project.
"I thought it was a sci-fi prop,"
"No, thanks. Reality is bizarre enough for me," Jane said as she glued an object onto a sculpture. "Why do I get so much fun out of this?" she asked herself.
"Past life as a barnacle?" Daria asked at the door.
"Could be," Jane said. "Welcome, Daria." Jane was about to say more, but was interrupted by a tremendous sound of jarring rock music. The room vibrated heavily and her sculpture fell into many small pieces.
"I suppose they couldn't practice elsewhere," Jennifer murmured, her voice barely audible above the noise.
Jane sat up from the pile that had been her sculpture. "Come on, let's go complain about the noise, hmm?"
"I don't find it a problem," Daria said.
Jennifer got up. "Neither do I."
"I think Mystik Spiral might have a couple of openings for fly girls," Jane said, more to Daria than to Jennifer.
"I think we might have an opening for a new friend," Daria shot back.
"Come on, Daria," Jennifer said as she left the room.
"Sure," Daria said.
.
They were soon down in the Lane's basement...
Daria saw the second guitarist first. He was wearing a vest, without a shirt, and black pants. He also had shoulder length hair. "Who's that?" she asked.
"Jesse Moreno," Jennifer answered.
"He plays rhythm in the band," Jane explained.
"Doesn't sound that rhythmic," Daria countered. 'It's rather discordant. It probably causes cardiac arrhythmia in small animals,' she thought.
"They try," Jane said with a shrug.
Jennifer said something that was drowned out by the music. Daria thought it was something like 'They certainly do.'
.
"You're an angel in black.
You sure have a knack
For putting my heart on a shelf in the back
I'm waiting my turn
Oh, when will I learn?
My poor heart, you're giving it freezer burn. Yeah..."
"Yo, Trent!" Jane called out. "You wanna turn it down a bit?"
"Are you kidding?" Trent asked. "Hey, Daria."
Daria was mesmerised as her heart beat faster (without any arrhythmia). 'Must speak. Must speak!' "Hey."
"Whadda ya think of the song?"
'It has a beat and you can dance to it, if you have no shame.' Daria thought. She couldn't say more than; "Cool."
"It's called Icebox Woman," Trent explained.
"You guys ought to come to the next Mystik Spiral gig. We'll put you on the list," Jesse said. "He turned to Trent. We doing a show this weekend?"
"Nah, we're going to Alternapalooza this weekend," Trent replied.
"You're going to Alternapalooza?" Jane asked.
"Where's that?" Jennifer asked.
"Yeah. It's way out in Swedesville," Jesse answered.
'Where's that?' Daria thought. She knew of most places within Lawndale and Carter counties. 'It must be farther away,' she decided.
"You think your car will make it?" Jane asked Trent.
"We're borrowing our drummer's van, the Tank. It's indestructible," Jesse said.
"Yeah, but you know, Jess, it eats gas. I don't know what we're going to do for gas money," Trent pointed out.
"I could probably scrounge some up, if you let us come along. We'd enjoy that, wouldn't we, Jen? Daria? "
"Yes," Jennifer said.
"Okay, cool, we're there. If you can stand being cooped up in a van with Jesse and me for four hours," Trent said.
'Pass me a guitar string so that I might silence my friend,' Daria thought. She couldn't say anything more than "Uh-huh."
"Come on. It'll be fun," Jane said.
.
Trent and Jesse weren't the only ones in Lawndale planning to go to Alternapalooza. The Fashion Club, Sandi Griffin, Tori Jericho, Stacy Rowe and Tiffany Blum-Deckler were also planning to go. They were in Cashmans, shopping for alternative fashions.
"Friends don't let short-waisted friends wear hip-huggers," Sandi said.
"I hate these big plastic things. They're so ugly!" Stacy said as she held up a dress. It wasn't ugly, but it wasn't exactly pretty either.
"I wouldn't take anything that cheap if I were to steal something," Tori said.
"Tor-ri, Cheap is in this season."
"If you want it, get it, Stacy."
"Sure."
"Why are we going to Alternapalooza? Ugh. Isn't that for girls who don't shave?" Tiffany asked, her voice showing some disgust.
"As members of the Fashion Club, we have to keep up with the latest trends in music and clothes," Sandi explained.
"So we can show everyone that popular kids can be more alternative than geeks," Tori said. She glanced at Sandi. "More so than that Quinn can manage."
"I hope so!" Sandi said with a stern expression.
Tiffany held up an outfit. "Is this alternative?"
"If you tuck the top in, no. If you let it hang out, yes."
Tori held up a clunky shoe. "Would I have to wear this?" she asked.
"If you wear it, the rest of you will look cuter by comparison," Sandi said. She added in a muttering tone;. "And you'll show up that Morgendorffer..."
'Of course she wants me to do that.' Tori thought "Maybe I'll shave my head!" she joked.
"You crack me up, Tori," Tiffany said.
"Maybe if Quinn gets it in to her head to shave hers..." Sandi pondered.
"Nah..." Tori said as follow up to her joke. She turned to Sandi. "I doubt she would."
"Maybe," Sandi said.
'She wouldn't look as cute,' Stacy thought.
.
Daria's sister, Quinn and her friend Kristen Bell were at their friend, Cindy Brolsma's house for the afternoon.
Cindy turned from her computer where she had been reading a game strategy site. "Would you like to come to Alternapalooza this weekend?" she asked.
Quinn looked up from her DS. "I've heard of that. Some kind of alternative music festival?" she asked.
"Yes," Kristen said. "It's quite cool. I went there last year," she clarified.
"So you're coming?" Cindy asked.
"Of course," Kristen replied. "I wouldn't miss it for anything."
Quinn looked at her two good friends, smiled and said "I'll come too. I'd like to escape Lawndale once in a while." She then thought. 'We've been here for four months without a holiday, and the only time I have left the town was to go to the Mall of the Millenium.'
"Excellent," Cindy said.
"Of course, we'll need to wear alternative clothes," Kristen said. 'We wouldn't stick out so much,' she thought. Of course her usual clothes were alternative to begin with, but still...
"That's no problem," Quinn said.
"That's OK," Cindy said.
"Temporary Tattoos, yes, or no?" Quinn asked after a moment.
"I'd say not," Cindy said worrying about the image that would project. "No need to be that alternative."
"I'd say a little risk is alright. Yes," Kristen said.
"Only if it's henna colored," Cindy said.
"Sure," Kristen said with a smirk.
"I know where I saw some in Cashmans," Quinn said. "We could go there before dinner time," she decided.
"There are a few other stores where they're available," Kristen said.
"We'll try Cashmans first," Cindy decided.
Kristen just nodded.
.
Later that night, after both Quinn and Daria arrived home, dinner was ready... Helen Morgendorffer, their mom, noticed one of Quinn's fake tattoos. "Quinn! What is that thing on your arm?"
"Don't worry, Mom. It's fake."
"So you got a tattoo to match your personality?" Daria asked.
Quinn glared at Daria. "I'm going to Alternapalooza this weekend. Kristen and Cindy are also going."
"And if some guy named Pigpen asks you to be his old lady, hell, you'll be ready," Daria commented.
"What?" Quinn asked.
"What? No daughter of mine is going to mutilate her body for the sake of some fad!" her father, Jake, declared.
"Da-ad! Don't you remember. I told Mom that it's fake!"
"Oh, yeah," Jake said as he remembered.
Quinn was then curious about something. "Hey, Mom, did you go to any festivals back in the seventies?"
"Oh, sure. I did my share of partying."
Daria was sure of something else in their past. "You mean you experimented with..."
Helen didn't want to talk about that at that time. "No! Your father went to one of the most famous tours of the decade."
"Which tour? There were many famous tours," Quinn said.
"I dropped in on 'The Rolling Stones Tour of the Americas '75' over in San Francisco..." Jake said as he started to reminisce...
Saturday, February 4, 2006
After a quick breakfast, Quinn had gone over to Cindy's house to prepare to go to the festival.
"Hi, Quinn," Cindy said as she answered the door.
"Ready to go?" Quinn asked. She saw that Cindy had dressed in the clothes she had brought the day before and that her fake tattoos were visible.
"Absolutely," Cindy replied with excitement. "Kristen and Keith will be here in ten minutes. Then we'll be on our way!"
"Cool," Quinn said with a smile.
.
Daria exited her house and found Jane and Jennifer waiting outside, near the curb. "Oooh, la la. Is that lipstick?" Jane teased in a fake French accent as Daria came up.
Daria covered her mouth with her hand. "I just had a lollipop."
"Sure you did, kid," Jane said as Jennifer laughed. The Tank, a decrepit van, then pulled up.
Trent was driving. "Ready? Sorry, there's only two seats up here, but there's plenty of space in the back."
Jane opened the sliding door. "Daria, why don't you sit in front with Trent?"
"Oh, I'd much rather be in the back with you and Jennifer, Jane. Easier to get to your necks."
Jennifer smirked as she climbed aboard.
"Girl talk, huh?" Jesse asked.
"You know Daria. She's a regular chatterbox," Jane said.
'Compared to me, sure,' Jennifer thought as she sat on a cooler box.
.
At Cindy's place. Kristen and her brother Keith arrived. "You're ready for Alternapalooza?" Keith asked.
"Of course," Quinn said.
"Let's go," Cindy said.
"Cool," Keith said as they got in the back. "Remember, enjoy yourselves, but if something is suspect, say no."
"That's a definite," Cindy said.
"Of course," Quinn said.
.
The Tank had left Lawndale behind, and approached a toll booth. "Hey, Jane, got any change?" Trent asked.
"Hey, Trent, got any shame?" Jane sounded annoyed. "I already gave you all my cash," she pointed out.
"Oh yeah," Trent said. He took some cash out of his pocket and paid the toll.
.
After they had driven away, Jesse realised something. "Oh, man. That was Curtis Stalano."
"Who?" Jane asked.
"He graduated with us. Now he's working in a toll booth. Whoa," Trent said.
"You'd never catch me in a job like that," Jesse said.
'Because it falls under the category of employment,' Daria thought. She wouldn't say it out loud...
"Hey man, we're artists. Who knows where we'll be in five years," Trent said.
'Still living over your parent's garage?' Daria continued thinking.
"Say it, Daria. Whatever you're thinking, say it. If you don't, they'll go on like this for hours," Jane whispered loudly.
"We've got a vision," Jesse said.
"Eyes on the prize, man. Eyes on the prize," Trent said.
"I agree with Jane, Daria," Jennifer whispered.
"Yeah, and this guy's not about selling out," Jesse said.
"No way," Trent agreed.
"'Cause for that to happen, you'd need someone interested in buying," Jane said. Daria glanced at her. "Well, someone had to pick up the slack!"
They went past a billboard advertising new homes for sale "'If you lived here, you'd be home by now,'" Trent read.
"And bored out of your mind," Daria said. She raised her hand to her mouth when she realized that she had blurted it out.
Trent and Jesse laughed. "Good one, Daria," Trent said. The Tank swerved around a slow-moving car. Daria felt queasy...
"Can somebody open up a window?"
"Wish I could. All the handles are missing."
.
Half an hour later, they parked at a place named Mom's Diner.
All of them sat a booth and waited for a waitress to take their order. "Okay, that's a meatloaf, two open turkeys with fries, box of Frosted Flakes... "She looked at Jesse "those are pretty small, hon. Just one?"
"You're right. Make it five," Jesse said, knowing his appetite.
The waitress turned to Daria. "Dry toast and coffee, please."
"I thought you looked depressed. You want a booster seat?" She laughed. Then yelled "Five boxes of flakes and two nausea delights!" She then asked. "You kids going to that rock 'n roll shindig out near Swedesville?"
'They must have had a lot of people going that way,' Jennifer thought.
"No. We made a wrong turn on our way to Paris."
Jane, Trent, Jennifer and Jesse all laughed. "You've got a mouth on ya, don't ya?" the waitress observed.
"Why?" Daria asked.
"Ever thought of becoming a waitress?"
"Maybe."
Jane and Trent laughed again.
Daria slid further down in her seat in embarrasment.
.
The Fashion Club had also left Lawndale behind. They began to notice a rather pungent odor. "What's that smell?" Tori asked.
"Uck! A skunk!" Stacy exclaimed.
"Yuck!" Tori said. Sandi pressed the button to make the top come up on the convertible.
.
Daria and Jennifer were in the bathroom of the Diner. "Could Jane rig that gun of hers to shoot bullets? I'm ready to end my suffering."
"You're not your usual self," Jennifer noticed.
Daria scowled. "I've got a bump on my head, a bug bite on my arm, a sandwich on my ass..." she started saying.
Jennifer interrupted. "And that in front of a certain musician."
"Now turn the knife counterclockwise. I can't go back out there," Daria said, sounding depressed. "You go on to Alternapalooza; tomorrow, I'll emerge and begin my new life as a waitress." She paused and thought. 'I'm not even sure if I'm joking.'
"I think he's rather oblivious. At least that's what Jane would say."
'She better be right.' Daria sighed. "Okay."
"At least the stain is alternative," Jennifer said trying to cheer Daria up.
"True," Daria said with a smirk. Jennifer had succeeded. A little.
"Let's go."
Soon they had left the Diner and were caught in traffic...
.
Soon afterwards the Fashion Club arrived at the Diner.
"Ugh, stretch pants. Everywhere, stretch pants," Tiffany said.
Stacy noticed something about her clothes... "Hey, these are stretch pants! I'm wearing stretch pants!"
Sandi moved to calm her down. "They're leggings! They're leggings!"
Stacy calmed down and let out a high pitched sigh of relief.
"It's all right," Sandi reassured.
The waitress approached. "Three cheeseburger deluxe, four house salads." she paused. "With oil and vinegar on the side!"
'That's perceptive,' Tori thought.
.
A while later, an alphabet game was being played to pass the time.
"Your turn, Trent. We're up to E," Jane said.
"I'm going to the picnic, and I'm bringing asbestos insulation, brine shrimp, the cryogenically frozen head of Walt Disney, Dominos and... an Elephant."
Jane considered. "I'm going to the picnic, and I'm bringing..." before Trent hit a bump... and Daria's glasses went flying.
"My glasses!"
"Sorry! Hey, Janie, I saw that one coming."
Jesse held up the glasses, broken clean in two through the bridge. "Don't worry. I can fix them," he said.
"Need the glue gun?" Jane asked.
"Keep that thing away from me! You'll miss and glue my eyelids shut."
"There's some tape in the back there," Jesse said.
Jennifer found the tape. 'Duct tape?' she thought.
.
"Duct tape. Great," Daria said once she had put the glasses back on.
"It's fine. It looks alternative," Jane said.
'I guess so,' Daria thought.
Then all of a sudden, the Tank's engine started to splutter... "Uh oh!" Trent said.
"That's not good!" Jennifer said.
"Of course," Daria stated.
As the Tank rolled to a stop on the side of the road, the engine died. Trent tried to start it again, but without success.
.
At the same time, Quinn, Cindy, Kristen and Keith arrived at the Diner.
The waitress served them. "What would you like, hon?" she asked.
"Um, a salad with an egg on the side," Quinn said, after some thought.
"A hamburger," Cindy ordered.
"Fish and fries," Kristen said.
"Two pies," Keith added.
"Salad, egg, burger, fish, fries and two pies!" the waitress yelled.
"A burger, Cindy?" Quinn asked, light heartedly.
"I have a hankering for it," Cindy replied with a smile.
"Sure," Kristen said with a smirk.
Jesse opened the hood, and looked at the engine. "Some hoses have come loose," he said.
"Great!" Daria intoned.
"What do we do now?" Jesse asked.
"There's a noise wall up ahead. There must be houses behind it. Daria, you and Trent stay here; Jesse, Jennifer and I will find a phone and call for help," Jane suggested. She leant towards Daria. "Great plan, huh?"
Daria opened her eyes wide and then glared at Jane, who then walked off with Jennifer and Jesse. Jennifer shot her a consolatory look.
.
Shortly after driving past the broken down Tank, the Fashion Club were distracted. Tori noticed something. "Outlet Shopping!" Tori said.
"Change of Plan!" Sandi decided, she turned into the lane for the off ramp.
Stacy leant out and drew a clothes hanger symbol with her hand...
.
"What is that? A Pyramid?" Michael 'Mack' McKenzie asked in the car behind.
"A mountain?" Jodie Landon asked.
"A square?" Kevin asked, confused.
Brittany saw the sign next to the off ramp that Sandi had directed her car onto. "A clothes hanger! Outlet shopping!" She grabbed the wheel and turned the car to follow.
Kevin was annoyed. "He-eeay!"
Quinn, Cindy, Kristen and Keith had left the diner behind. They saw the Tank on the side of the road. "Isn't that Daria?" Kristen asked.
"With Trent Lane?" Keith asked, curiosity showing in his voice.
"Well, she is friends with his younger sister," Cindy pointed out.
"Don't worry, she can look after herself," Quinn said.
"Jane and Jennifer may have gone for help," Cindy said.
"I guess so," Quinn said.
"I'll keep going then," Keith decided after a few moments.
Daria listened to Trent play a G chord over and over. She glanced at his tattoo. "Um, nice tattoo. Tribal?"
"Māori. I copied it out of Tattoo World's international issue," Trent said.
"Very graphic, and meaningful."
"Yeah, it makes a statement. You know what it is?"
'I got a tattoo out of a magazine?' Daria thought.
"I got a tattoo out of a magazine," Trent said, unknowingly echoing what she had thought. They both laughed.
"I guess it's better than trying to copy one off the TV."
"Daria, do you ever feel like maybe you're wasting your life?"
"Only when I'm awake."
"Like, no money, no job, you live with your parents, and you still can't play an open D tuning," Trent said.
"Well, I haven't had those exact thoughts..."
"Maybe I will end up a townie doing Doors covers. I mean, who's to say, right?" Trent asked. He didn't know whether the Spiral would make it big, or not. Who could say?
Daria considered. "Umm, you know, Trent, it takes a lot of guts to go after a dream, especially when you know that failure can mean spending the rest of your life playing L.A. Woman... in public," she said, her distaste for that song showing.
Trent thought for a moment. "Hmm, I guess."
"And even if it doesn't work out, at least for now you're doing exactly what you want to."
"Yeah, that's true."
"A lot of people never even get that far."
"I guess I'm not doing too bad. You know, Daria, sometimes it's hard to believe you're in high school."
"I find the situation unbelievable myself."
"You're pretty cool."
"Thanks," Daria said with a slight smile. She then noticed that Jane, Jennifer and Jesse were approaching.
"So?" Trent asked.
"There was nothing behind that wall but a cornfield, and the corn wasn't very helpful."
"Helpful Corn! That's a cool name for the band," Jesse suggested.
"I don't think so," Jennifer murmured.
"Even better than Mystik Spiral, huh, Daria?"
'Maybe not,' Daria thought.
.
Keith, Kristen, Cindy and Quinn arrived at Alternapalooza. They could see that the concert had already started, and that the parking had spilled into a nearby field.
"We've missed the start!" Cindy said.
"I wasn't responsible for the traffic after Oakwood," Keith explained.
"I guess there wasn't any other way," Quinn said.
"I guess not," Cindy said.
It took more than ten minutes for Keith to find a parking space at the opposite end of the field from the concert venue. "At least we can hear it out here," Kristen said as she got out.
"It's going a take longer to get over there," Keith said with a slightly sad tone.
"You mean it may finish before we get in?" Quinn asked.
"It's a possibility," Keith answered.
"We can go through the rows of cars, rather than around," Cindy suggested.
"That's true," Keith said.
.
Shortly before they got to the gates, they could see people leaving. "I guess we missed it," Quinn said with resignation.
"Maybe we should have left Lawndale at sunrise," Kristen said with a shrug.
"Maybe next year," Cindy suggested.
"That would be great!" Quinn said.
"You would have to drive yourselves though," Keith said.
"Yeah, College," Kristen said with a distant look.
As they turned around, Quinn thought that there was some deeper meaning to Kristen's remark than just the fact that Keith would be at College...
.
Back at the Tank, Jane completed her repair work with the glue gun. "Go for it, Trent!"
Trent turned the key, and the engine came to life. "All right!"
Jane held up the glue gun. "I knew this would come in handy."
Daria swatted it away. "Keep that thing away from me."
"Let's go. We can still catch some of the show," Jesse said.
They could see heavy traffic going the other way.
"Uh, maybe not," Jane said.
.
Three guys approached, one of them looked quite stoned. "Why's everyone going the wrong way?" Trent asked.
One of guys said. "Concert's over, man."
The stoned guy said. "It was amazing. Where am I?"
"Is he all right?" Jesse asked.
The third guy said "Oh, yeah, he's cool... just, you know, a little sleepy."
'Right,' Jennifer thought. 'You wouldn't catch me being like that...'
The stoned guy looked at Daria. "Are you my mommy?"
"No!" she snapped, and retreated to the Tank.
"Is she alright?" the first guy asked.
"Just hasn't had a good day," Jennifer murmured.
"What did you say?" the third guy asked.
"That our friend hasn't had a good day," Jane answered.
.
Sunday, February 5, 2006
It was early in the morning when the Tank and Keith's car re-entered Lawndale.
The Tank arrived at the Morgendorffers first. Daria and Jennifer got out and waved to Trent and Jane, before they drove off. Keith's car pulled up less than ten seconds later. Quinn and Cindy got out.
Helen was making pancakes with 'sensual' moves with Jake looking on. "I should really make pancakes more often. The batter's so sensual," she said, her tone matching her body language.
"Like batter, like chef!" Jake agreed.
Daria and Quinn entered.
"Hi, girls," Helen said, more like her usual self.
"How was the festival?"
Daria and Quinn looked each other, turned around and left the kitchen.