Quinn's Code 10: Blue Screen of Sherman
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Lawndale
Helen and Jake Morgendorffer were admiring their daughter, Quinn's, school photos.
"Why, Quinn, you look darling!" Helen said.
"You look so happy, sweetie!" Jake added.
"I felt happy. I always feel happy on picture day. Do you think that 'Wilds of California' was a good background? Because I almost went with 'Silicon Valley at Sunset'," Quinn said, referring to a picture of herself posing in front of a rainforest waterfall.
"I think it was a fine choice," What did you pick, Daria?"
"Sea Tainted by Morris J. Berman?" Her other daughter, Daria, said.
"Come on, Daria, where's your school picture?" Helen asked. Daria handed over her picture, showing her against a plain black background.
"Wow, that's sharp focus," Jake said.
"Daria, just once, why can't you smile when somebody takes your picture?"
"I don't like to smile unless I have a reason."
"Daria, people judge you by your expression."
"Yes, and I believe there is something wrong intrinsically wrong with that system, and have dedicated myself to changing it."
"Hey, did you see these?" Quinn asked, holding some wallet-sized photos.
Friday, February 17, 2006
Lawndale High
"This is it, Mack Daddy! The week of weeks," Kevin Thompson said.
"Too much hero worship isn't healthy, you know. And don't call me that!" Michael 'Mack' McKenzie said.
"But the man is coming! The man! Tommy Sherman brought it home, bro! The State Championship. And now he's coming back to Lawndale!"
"I know all about it. Jodie's giving the speech about the Goal Post, remember?"
"Oh, yeah! Does she need any help with ideas for that? Like from a Quarterback's point of view?"
"Gee, I'll ask her, when there aren't any sharp objects around."
"Cool!"
Daria sat near the library, near her friends Jane Lane and Jennifer Burns. "What is the big deal about the football guy anyway?"
"He was the Quarterback three years ago when the school won the state championship," Jennifer explained.
Trent knew him," Jane added, referring to her brother.
"Well, why name the goal posts after him? Why not the whole stadium?"
"Goal post," Jane corrected.
Flashback (3 years earlier)
"See, his trademark was, he always wanted to run the touchdown in himself..."
A game was in action. Indeed, Tommy Sherman was running the ball in, and waving to the crowd. Slam! He hit the goal post. Hard! Blood 'spurted' out of his nose...
"He broke his nose twice. Then, in the playoffs a week before the state championship, he scored the winning touchdown, and hit the goal post so hard he cracked his helmet."
End Flashback
"He was unconscious for six days. Miraculously he woke up the night before the big game feeling great. The next day he led the team to victory."
"Stirring," Daria commented.
"Isn't it – so now the school's bought one of the new goal posts designed to break apart rather than split your skull."
"Why only one?" Daria asked.
"Budget cuts, Li figured she'll get one at a time," Jennifer answered. 'I think that is right,' she considered.
"Of course."
"And they're naming it after good ol' Tommy Sherman," Jane commented. She saw Jodie Landon approaching. "Here comes the lucky student council member who will do the honors."
Jodie sat next to Jennifer. "Gimme a break," she said to Jane. She turned to Daria. "I can't get past the introduction to the speech. Can I read it to you?"
"Does that mean I don't have to listen to it later?"
"'Good afternoon, students, faculty, and distinguished alumni of Lawndale High. As a representative of your Student Council...' Any ideas?"
"'It is my privilege today to once again send the message that learning is no substitute for winning.'" Daria suggested.
"And that it's not how hard you study, it's how hard you play football," Jane added.
"Gosh, thanks so much. You think I like this?"
"If you don't believe any of it, why give the speech?" Daria asked.
"Because I'm on the Student Council. It's a job with many responsibilities, and today it's my responsibility to kiss the butt of some jerk getting a goal post named after him, but at least now I feel really good about it."
Mack came up. "Hey."
"Leave me alone!" Jodie said, as she dashed off.
Later Brittany was tying her shoelace when she noticed that she wasn't alone... She looked up and saw muscular legs. "Keep going. It gets better," the young man said. He helped her to her feet. "Hello, beautiful," He said, looking lower than her eyes. "I see one thing about Lawndale football has improved a lot since I was unanimously voted most valuable player: the cheerleaders."
Brittany looked him in the eyes, ensuring that he would look in hers. "You're Tommy Sherman!"
Sherman did look in her eyes, but she knew what was there: lust. "You know your sports," he said.
Brittany decided to get his mind on something else. "My boyfriend's Kevin Thompson. He's quarterback of the team. He worships you!" 'I don't!' she added mentally.
"That's great. Listen, they're putting me up at the Lawndale Manor. Why don't we head back there, order you some champagne, get horizontal, and you can find out just how big a hero I am."
Brittany glared back at him. How dare he confirm her fears. "Didn't you hear what I said? My boyfriend is your biggest fan?" 'Even that won't save you from him, he's jealous,' she wanted to add.
"What are you telling me? He wants to watch? I don't know..."
Brittany finally lost it, and slapped him. 'I don't want to see you again!' She dashed off.
"All right, all right, he can watch. Hey, where are you going? Did someone flash the bimbo signal?"
Unknown to both the cheerleader and the 'Big Man on campus', Daria and Jennifer had witnessed the whole exchange. "That Jerk!" Daria ejaculated. She clenched her fists. "Brittany doesn't deserve to be treated like that."
Jennifer grabbed her shoulder. "I know, but you can't just go and hit him!"
Daria calmed down. "I know." She had been working on trying to subdue her temper since the whole situation with the lab mouse. (The situation at Donna's could have gone either way.)
Tommy Sherman was walking through the corridors of Lawndale High. He noticed a young short haired redhead, wearing a shirt advertising a science fiction film. She was talking to a geek and a goth but he didn't take notice of them. "Hello, gorgeous."
Quinn Morgendorffer saw the football guy checking her out. "I may be 'gorgeous' but I' not interested in a guy like you! Leave me alone!"
"Yeah, leave my friend alone!" Kristen Leung-Bell said.
"You heard her!" Cindy Brolsma added, as she noticed the football guy's gaze wandering downwards.
"Fine!" he said as he turned around.
Later, Daria had also seen Sherman interact with Kevin and Mack, and disliked him even more. She was surprised to see him blocking her locker. She glanced at her friends, thankful for their presence. She didn't know what would happen if she was alone. "Excuse me," she said.
"You're kidding, right? You think I'm going to talk to you?" Sherman said in reply. He looked at Jane. "You, maybe. Like, four hours into a kegger." He looked at Jennifer. "Similarly."
"Perhaps after I vomit on your shoes," Jane said.
"No way!" Jennifer said, forcing herself to be audible.
"I don't want to talk to you!"
"Yeah, right. You said, 'Excuse me.'"
"You're on my locker!"
The Jock straightened up. "Do you know who I am? Tommy Sherman?"
"I know the whole school's turning itself inside out because of some egotistical football player, and I've seen you insult or proposition just about everyone you come across, so my guess is that you're the football player guy. Congratulations, you must have worked very hard to become such a colossal jerk so quickly," Daria said.
Jane snickered.
"You know what Tommy Sherman's going to do now? He's going to go out onto the field and check out his new goal post. He's going to read the plaque and think of all the people who admire him. But you wouldn't know anything about that. You're one of those miserable misanthrope chicks, always moping about what a cruel world it is, making a big deal about it so people won't notice that you're a loser." He walked away.
"I don't think he likes you."
"That doesn't bother me. What bothers me is that jerk is going to be treated like a hero for the rest of his life."
"Well, maybe he won't live that long," Jane said.
"Come on. You know wishes don't come true."
Suddenly there was a loud crash from outside. Kevin's voice came loud with a tone of shock! "Oh, my God! The goal post fell! Tommy Sherman's dead! He's dead!"
Jane, Daria and Jennifer looked at each other in total shock...
An hour later, the faculty and students of Lawndale High gathered in the Hall for a memorial assembly...
"How does one make sense of a tragedy so... tragic," Ms. Li said.
The sound of Kevin blubbering was clearly audible.
"A young man, our hero, struck down in a freakish accident by the very goal post that was being put up in his honor. What lesson can we take from all of this... other than not to leave heavy goal posts in sharp edged wooden crates leaning precariously against the bleachers." She glared at a group of nearby janitors. "The lesson is to spread joy, spread light! Make it your goal to make others feel good. And when you reach that goal, you keep running until you reach the goal post. You hit that goal post hard, and that's what this young man did, and that is the legacy he left to you, to me, to Lawndale High."
Afterwards...
"It's weird. One minute he's standing there calling me a loser, the next minute he's dead," Daria said.
"Yeah," Jane said.
"Yeah," Jennifer said.
"I mean, the guy Ms. Li was talking about didn't bear any resemblance to the guy we met. But still..."
"Listen, I'm going home to change and then I think I'm going to go for a run."
Daria glanced at Jennifer "I'll walk with you."
"Actually, I think I'm going to walk by myself for a little while. See you later."
Jennifer watched Jane leave, and then turned to Daria herself. "Actually, I'll drive home by myself," she said. She quickly left.
'This is strange,' she thought.
Kevin soon walked up. "Hey, Daria? Can I talk to you?"
"Why?"
"Well, you know, Tommy. I'm really bummed out."
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that, Kevin. But I don't know what to tell you. I only met him right before the accident."
They walked out of the building. "Me, too! But I mean, it really makes you think. Got any, like, words of wisdom or whatever?"
"Like what?"
"I don't know. I figure you think about depressing stuff a lot. You're that type, you know?"
"No, I don't know!"
Kevin saw that Daria was annoyed but continued asking her anyway. "I mean, the guy was a hero. A really good quarterback; everybody liked him, kinda hunky, you know. Not that I would notice something like that. And now he's just, like, the dead guy."
"Tell me, Kevin, did he remind you of anyone?"
"What do you mean?"
"Maybe his death hit a little too close to home?"
"I get what you're saying. But I don't believe in ghosts, Daria."
"What?"
"You're saying he got hid on his head out there in the football field, the team's home. And now it's going to be cursed or something, and we're going to lose all our games. I'm a little surprised, Daria."
"That not what I meant!" Daria said as Kevin walked away. She saw his girlfriend approaching from the other direction.
"Daria?" Brittany asked.
"Brittany?"
"Daria, I've got to talk to you."
"About..." Daria prompted, although she was sure it was about...
"Tommy Sherman!" Brittany said with confusion and grief in her voice.
"Maybe you should talk to Kevin."
"I can't talk to Kevin!" Brittany then whispered. "Tommy Sherman was a jerk!"
"You know, no one else seems to realize..."
"Oh! I can't believe I said that! I called a dead guy a jerk!"
"So, you are upset about what happened?"
"That's just it. I feel terrible. Why did that jerk make me hate him? Now he's dead and I feel bad but I don't feel that bad so I feel terrible! It really makes you think. I mean, you're used to being all gloomy and depressed and thinking about bad stuff..."
"Why does everyone keep saying that?"
"Well, I guess what I'd say, Brittany, is that here's this guy who really wasn't very nice, and you didn't like him at all. You're sorry that he died..."
"I am!"
"...but you don't think you're sorry enough, and you're worried that you're not as nice a person as you thought."
"Yeah! It's like, I feel bad, but I think I should feel worse, and not feeling worse makes me feel bad all over again."
"The truth is, Brittany, is that you are nice, or you wouldn't be feeling bad at all right now."
"So... you're saying that feeling bad about not feeling worse is good?"
Daria paused to let that last comment sink in. "Yes. Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."
"Thanks, Daria!" Brittany said as she ran off in the direction that Kevin had gone.
'That would be a great lyric' "Feeling bad... not feeling worse... good."
Daria was ready to go. However, after Brittany had gone, their Language Arts teacher came up to her. "Daria?"
"Hi, Mr. O'Neill," she said as she put the notepad away.
"May I ask what you're jotting down? A reflection about poor Tommy Sherman, no doubt."
"Not really."
"It must have been a terrible shock for someone as sensitive. It really makes you think."
"Um... yeah, but I'm dealing with it."
Mr. O'Neill chuckled. "I figured you'll be dealing with it. You probably think about the dark side all the time."
"The dark side? Are we talking about "the Force"?"
"The dark side of life. The thoughts other people try not to have. That's your thing, right? Facing the void? Yes, I'm sure you're dealing with it." He paused. "I'm not dealing with it!" He started crying.
"There, There," she said awkwardly.
Elsewhere, Quinn, Cindy and Kristen had left the school. All three were thinking about the tragic events of the day.
"It's really sad!" Quinn said.
Cindy nodded.
"I mean. I know he wasn't a nice guy..." Quinn continued.
"I mean, he was leering at you," Kristen said, her voice tinged with as much sadness as her friend's.
"That was not pleasant! And I usually like guys looking at me. He was totally creepy! Still, it's not good that he died..." Quinn said.
"Not at all," Cindy said.
"And the way he died... It must have been painful!" Kristen added.
The other two nodded.
"So, what now?" Cindy asked. "We just be sad about it?"
"Just be there for each other," Kristen said.
"Yeah..." Quinn said. The three walked on in silence.
Later, Daria was talking to Jane on the phone. "So then, after I get Brittany squared away, Mr. O'Neill comes over wanting to talk. And they all say the same thing: "It really makes you think." I feel like getting a couch."
"You're the girl of the hour. Maybe I should talk to you."
"Yeah right. I can't believe the way people are reacting. I mean, yeah, it's terrible what happened, but it's not as if he was nice to anyone. They're acting like they lost a friend."
"Boy, Daria, nothing gets through to you, does it."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"A guy died, and you're talking about what a jerk he was."
"I just said..." She paused "look, you want to get some pizza?
"I'm going running."
"After?"
"I don't know. It's going to be a long run. See you later."
Daria sighed, she looked at her computer and saw that Jennifer had sent an instant message.
Burns_Jen: Daria?
Misandorffer: Yeah?
Burns_Jen: This thing with Tommy Sherman, It's so...
A lengthy interval of time passed before Jennifer sent another message.
Burns_Jen: ...Tragic.
Misandorffer: Yes...
Burns_Jen: It really makes you think.
Misandorffer: Not you too!
Burns_Jen: Huh?
Misandorffer: First it was Kevin, then Brittany, then Mr. O'Neill... And now Jane is...
Daria pressed Enter, wondering if the 'giving me grief' turn of phrase would be appropriate.
Misandorffer: 'Giving me grief' over it.
Burns_Jen: That's just it, everyone is grieving, bet it in their own way. They know you think a lot of the dark side...
Misandorffer: Not all the time.
Burns_Jen: But a lot of the time. I guess I'll call Jane myself.
Misandorffer: She said she's going on a run.
Burns_Jen: I'll call Trent.
The software then said that Jennifer was offline.
Daria sighed and turned on the television. "Malibu's Mopious Millionaire, next on Sick, Sad World."
Then there was a knock on the door. "Come in."
Quinn came in. "You still have your room like this?" she asked.
"Yes..."
"Daria, can I talk to you?" she paused. "About the dead guy?"
"No! Talk to Jennifer, or Mom and Dad, or your other friends," Daria snapped. She had had it.
"What is up with you?" Quinn asked. She had thought that their relationship was getting better.
"What is up? Everyone wants to talk to me about their grief for that jerk. Kevin. Brittany. Mr. O'Neill. Jane. Jennifer. And now you! Out!"
Quinn saw that her sister was quite angry. She didn't want to argue, so she left. "Okay, just tell me when you're ready to talk."
Quinn retreated to her room. She sat in front of her television and turned on her GameCube. "OK... Super Smash Bros Melee..."
After a stress relieving session of Smash, Quinn called Jennifer; no answer. She sighed. She then called Cindy...
Saturday, February 18, 2006
It was breakfast at the Morgendorffers. "So I called up Cindy, Kristen, Jenna and Andrea, and the Anime and Programming Clubs are going to take up collections to get safe new goal posts. Like, to honor the dead guy's memory."
"Quinn, what a wonderful impulse. To make something positive come out of this devastating event."
"It was Andrea's idea. She's good at this tragic stuff."
'Good, maybe I'll redirect Jane onto her,' Daria thought. "Have to say, Quinn, it was one of the safe new goal posts that fell on him."
"I know that, but it's the thought that counts," Quinn responded. Having finished her breakfast, she got up and left.
"And how do you feel, Daria?" Helen asked.
Daria scowled. "I feel great. How else could I feel? I'm the miserable misanthrope chick! I'm going to Jane's.
At the Lane's, Trent answered to Daria's knock. "Hey, Daria. Janie went running."
"Oh. Well, I'll see her another time," Daria said as she turned to leave.
"Scary about Tommy Sherman."
Daria turned back. "Yeah. You knew him, right?"
"We had a couple classes together. I mean, we didn't see him much. You know, he didn't show up too often."
"Not like you, huh?"
Trent laughed and coughed "I guess I might have missed a few classes, now that you mention it. Weird thing. Freak accident."
"Would you say it really makes you think?"
"No," Trent said.
"Thank you for that."
"Huh?"
"See ya," Daria turned to leave.
"Hey, Daria?"
"Yeah." She turned back.
"You know, it was a while ago that Janie went running. Maybe she came back and I didn't hear her or something. Anyway, why don't you check her room. She might be there."
"I'll yell up the stairs." Daria entered the house and went to the foot of the stairs.
"No, umm, sometimes she's got some music on and she can't hear really well. Why don't you just head on up?"
Daria frowned slightly. 'Something's up!' she thought.
Daria knocked on Jane's bedroom door. She could see Jane listening to music and sketching.
"Yo! Come on in! Oh. Hi."
"Are you avoiding me?"
"Um... not anymore?"
"What's going on?"
"Nothing. I just haven't felt like talking to anybody."
"I'm not anybody, and I'd like to talk to someone," Daria said.
"But you've been talking to everyone," Jane countered.
"No, everyone's been talking to me. There's a difference."
"Well, what do you want to talk about, anyway? You don't care about what happened."
"How can you say that?"
"You've been treating it like, 'Oh well, another stupid day.' The guy died."
"I know he died! I'm sorry he died! But I'm not going to pretend that he was some great person when he wasn't. People aren't upset because Tommy Sherman died, they're upset because they're going to die," Daria explained.
"That's understandable."
"Okay, but you know what I've been hearing? 'You know how I feel, Daria. You're gloomy. I knew I can talk to you, Daria. You're always miserable.' Tragedy hits the school and everyone thinks of me. A popular guy died, and now I'm popular because I'm the miserable misanthrope chick. But I'm not miserable. I'm just not like them."
"It really makes you think."
"Not funny! Thanks a lot!" She turned to leave.
"- No! That's why they want to talk to you. When they say, 'You're always unhappy, Daria,' what they mean is, 'You think Daria. I can tell because you don't smile. Now this guy died and it makes me think and that hurts my little head and makes me stop smiling. So, tell me how you cope with thinking all the time, Daria, until I can get back to my normal vegetable state.'"
"Okay. So why have you been avoiding me?"
"Because I've been trying not to think. About the way we were making jokes about him dying and then, boom, it happened."
"We didn't have anything to do with the guy dying. It was a freak accident."
"Yeah, well, I don't like it when I say people should die and then they do. I don't want that kind of responsibility. At least not until I've got a job in middle management."
Daria paused before saying. "You didn't make him die."
"You're not the miserable misanthrope chick."
"All right, then."
"All right, then."
There was another pause. "He shouldn't have died," Daria said.
"No."
"But he wasn't a nice guy."
Jane frowned. "No," she said.
"Did Trent know you were up here?"
"Told him to tell anyone who dropped by that I was out running. What a surprise... he forgot."
"No, he didn't."
Jane chuckled. "Cool."
While Daria was talking to Jane, Quinn arrived at Cindy's house...
"Quinn?" Cindy asked when she opened the door.
"You want to talk about … ?" Quinn asked, before trailing off.
"Sure," Cindy said, with slight hesitation.
After talking to Jane, Daria headed to Jennifer's. She accepted Trent's offer of a lift. "You know, no one died while I was at school," Trent said.
"No one like Tommy Sherman came back?" Daria asked.
"No one lead the Lion's to the State Championship, like Sherman did," Trent said. "According to Ms. Li, anyway."
Daria considered this. "I guess history won't repeat itself with Kevin," she said.
Hmm. "Lawndale, where history doesn't repeat."
"Nah. Where they only learn when it comes to football,"
"Lawndale, where history repeats, but not with football..."
Jennifer answered the door. Daria was there. She could see Trent driving away. "Hi," she said after a few moments.
"Hi, I must apologise. Can I come in?"
Jennifer was surprised. "Sure," she said as she opened the door wider.
"So, you talked to Jane?" Jennifer asked once they were in her room.
"Yes," Daria answered.
"Yes, I have been avoiding you," Jennifer said.
"I knew that," Daria said.
"You got tired of everyone saying 'It really makes you think'."
"Yes."
"I don't think about mortality often. This was very close..." Jennifer dropped off.
"There is a reason why..."
"Yeah, my father..."
Sunday, February 19, 2006
512 Grandstaff Drive
Sandi Griffin re-entered her room, after having a tense discussion with Tori Jericho about her treatment of the other two members of the Fashion Club.
That was quickly forgotten, as she immediately noticed her cat, Fluffy, on her bedside table. He didn't look very good... She rushed over and quickly found the reason... He had somehow got into her foundation... "Mom!"
Soon, the Griffins were rushing to the vet.
Monday, February 20, 2006
Lawndale High
Daria approached the school with a small amount of trepidation. She hoped that no one would be pestering her, telling her 'It really makes you think,' asking how to feel better.
Later in Mr. O'Neill's class,
"'It is better to have loved and lost, then never to have loved at all.' Just what is Lord Tennyson talking about? Brittany?"
"Um, love?" Brittany answered.
"Anyone else? Daria?"
"Well, he's acknowledging that if something makes you feel good, like being in love, there must be a corresponding painful side, like losing a love, and that it's just a fact of life," Daria answered.
"Is he a big unhappiness freak?"
"No, he's realist. He says, 'Emotional involvement brings pleasures and extraordinary pain.' Then he declares that it's better than feeling nothing at all.
"That is excellent, Daria," O'Neill praised.
"Of course, this was before the advent of community property laws."
After class.
"Hello? Geekendorffer's sister or whatever?"
"Yeah?" Daria answered, slightly amused at the nickname that Quinn had picked up.
"You're supposed to be, like, really good with bummed out stuff?"
"Yeah?" Daria asked, warily.
"My cat, he got into my makeup or something and, like, ODed on foundation, and he spent the whole day puking," Sandi said.
"And the experience left him questioning the meaning of life?" Jane asked.
"And I've been feeling really bad about it, and I was wondering if you had, like, some advice or something."
"No!" Daria said.
"No?"
"No!" Daria said; she ran off.
"Daria?" Jane asked. She wondered why Daria brushed her off in that manner. 'I guess she doesn't like the reputation of being the Miserable Misanthrope Chick."
finis