Party at 111 Howard
Lawndale
4 May 1998
"Did I hear you right?" Daria Morgendorffer asked her friend Jane Lane as they arrived at school. "You're having a party?"
"That's right."
"Why?"
"Sweet Sixteen, Daria! I can't believe you don't know when my birthday is."
"I know when your birthday is. I didn't think you'd be celebrating it with a party."
"That's because I never had one before."
"Never had one?"
"My parents were either never home when I had my birthday, or when they were, didn't come up with the idea for the party."
"I see."
"So, are you coming?"
Daria resigned herself to the inevitable. "Yes," she said in her usual tone.
"Cool," Jane said.
.
As the day progressed, the news spread through the school...
Stacy Rowe ran up to her friends in the Fashion Club. "Guys, guess what I heard!"
"What?" Quinn Morgendorffer asked, excitedly.
"There's a party tonight, in Howard Drive."
"Howard Drive?" Quinn asked.
"Yes," Stacy answered.
"Sounds familiar..." Quinn mused.
"Sta-cy! There are, like, many houses in Howard Drive," Sandi Griffin said. "Did you get the exact address?"
"Of course I did, Sandi," Stacy said nervously. "It's at 111 Howard Drive."
"Excellent. We shall met at Tiffany's at six, and head there at seven," Sandi decided.
"A great idea Sand-di," Tiffany Blum-Deckler said in approval.
"Cool idea, Sandi," Quinn said at the same time.
.
Quarterback Kevin Thompson found his girlfriend, Brittany Taylor, in the cafeteria.
"Hey, Babe!" He called.
"Have you heard the news, Kevie?" Brittany asked as she hugged him.
"What news, Babe?" Kevin asked, his usual oblivious self.
"There's a party tonight!"
"A party, where?"
"At 111 Howard Drive."
"Where's that, Babe?"
"I looked at a map. It's in West Lawndale, near the railway line."
"Oh," Kevin said.
"So..."
"I'll be coming!"
"Good. I already promised Angie I would be there."
"Cool!"
.
Between classes, Kevin came up to one of his team mates. "Hey, Mack Daddy!"
"I told you not to call me that!" Michael 'Mack' McKenzie said out of exasperation. Kevin didn't get it through his thick skull already that he hated that name.
"Did you hear?"
"Hear what?"
"There's a party tonight!"
"Where is it?" Mack asked in a resigned tone. He figured that he had to go, to ensure that Kevin wouldn't do something stupid that would reflect poorly on the Lawndale Lions.
"In Howard Drive, bro!"
"Interesting," Mack said as he pondered how that address was familiar to him.
"So, you're coming bro?" Kevin asked.
"If you're going. Yes," Mack answered.
"Cool!" Kevin said.
.
Mack met his girlfriend, Jodie Landon, as they arrived at their next class. "There's a problem," Mack said.
"What is this problem?" she asked.
"Kevin is intent going to a party tonight."
Jodie knew what Mack was going on about.
"So you have to keep an eye on him," she stated.
"Yes," Mack responded.
"I'll come," Jodie said, with a resigned tone.
"I'll need all the help I can get."
.
Of course, not only the 'popular' crowd heard about the party. One really unpopular male certainly heard of it. Charles 'Upchuck' Rutthiemer III had overheard people talking about it, while on the way between classes. 'Interesting,' he thought. Unlike the others, he knew who lived at the place. "So, Ms. Lane, you're sweet sixteen. Feisty." he said to himself. 'I'll be there,' he decided.
.
At the end of the school day, Andrea Hecuba left the campus in a huff. She was tired of hearing about that party. 'Why would I want to go?' she asked, herself for the umpteenth time.
There was one reason...
She smiled "Time for gate crashing!"
.
Daria and Jane left the Morgendorffers house at 5:00. "So what did Trent say?" Daria asked.
"The Spiral will be there at 5:30," Jane answered.
"Why do I get the feeling that maybe having an early twenties punk band at a Sweet Sixteen party is a bad idea."
"I don't think so."
"I hope you're right," Daria said. As they left they heard the sound of Quinn rifling through her overly stuffed closet.
"Where is that cute shirt?" Quinn asked. She wanted to wear something other than her usual look. Something that would make Sandi jelous., but also not make Stacy panic at the sight of. Quite difficult, but she was certain she would do it. As for Tiffany, she was easy enough to please. She put aside the thoughts of concern for her as she continued to search.
Soon, she found a shirt that was particularly cute. It was perfect! But then the thoughts of concern for Tiffany came back. She wasn't sure what she was going to do about it.
.
Casa Lane, the ground zero for the chaos that was going to occur later that night, was empty when Jane and her amiga arrived. "We better get started."
"Yes," Daria stated. "How much food have you got?"
"Enough for the band to gorge themselves and throw up," Jane said. She paused. "If they wanted to, that is."
"And us?" Daria asked.
"Enough for us to, alongside the band," Jane said as she entered the kitchen. Soon, she was putting out the food. There was more than Daria expected.
"Jane, that is more than enough for us and the band," she said. "How did you afford it all."
"Oh, Dani bought most of it," Jane said nonchalantly.
Daria was surprised "Jesse's sister? She's coming too?"
"Yes, she is. She's a nice girl."
Daria wasn't sure. They hadn't really interacted as of yet. "So... us, the Spiral and their groupie. Anyone else?"
"Well, any of the Wandering Lanes but that is fairly slim," Jane answered. She then frowned. "I did tell Ms. Defoe. She might drop by."
"The list is getting longer..." Daria said with an annoyed tone.
Jane saw the slight annoyance on her friend's face. "Relax, there isn't anyone else."
.
Jane and Daria had finished putting out the food when they heard Mystik Spiral arrive. "Hey, Janie," Trent said.
"So, where you going to set up?" Jane asked.
"Either in the basement or in the Gazebo," Trent answered.
"The Gazebo sounds good," Jane said.
"The Gazebo it is then. We'll be ready for the first set in an hour."
.
Trent left the kitchen, but Dani Moreno then came in. She was younger than her brother, but older than Daria and Jane. She was about their height, slim with close cropped hair. "Hi," Jane said.
"Hi Jane," she said quietly. "You must be Daria."
"Yes, I'm Daria."
"I've heard a lot about you," Dani said
"What have you heard?" Daria asked.
"That you're very principled and stick up for what you believe in," Dani asked.
Daria had to agree, that was a quite accurate description of her.
.
Quinn arrived at the Blum-Deckler house at the same time as Stacy, approaching from different directions.
"Quinn!" Stacy called out. "You look cute!"
"Thanks!" Quinn said, but then looked serious. "Stacy, do you think something is up with Tiffany?"
"No," Stacy said. She reconsidered. "You mean how she's been asking that question more often?"
"Yes," Quinn answered quietly.
"There's not much I can do about it," Stacy said.
"Nor I, but we need to help her if she asks for it."
"This is Tiffany we're talking about; she hardly asks for help!"
'She has asked me from time to time,' Quinn thought. There was now something else to worry about, why Tiffany wouldn't ask Stacy for help. "Let's go in," she said, seeing that Stacy was showing the warning signs of one of her anxiety attacks.
"Sure," Stacy said, starting to calm down. Quinn could tell she was still thinking about what she had said about Tiffany though.
.
Daria was watching Mystik Spiral set up in the Gazebo from the kitchen, when she heard a knock at the door. "Who could that be?" she asked.
She opened the door. "Jodie?"
"Mack said that there was a party in Howard Drive this evening..."
"How did he find out?" Daria asked.
"He found out from Kevin, who found out from Brittany."
"I see," Daria said, resigned to the fact that Jodie and Mack at least would be coming.
"Jane is getting ready, right?"
"She's helping her brother's band set up," Daria answered.
"I'll warn her that Kevin and Brittany may be coming."
"So, you're staying?"
"Yes, Mack will be here in less than fifteen minutes," Jodie answered.
"Great!" Daria groused. 'What are the chances of there being another party in this street tonight?'
.
Jane was surprised when she saw Jodie come out of the house. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
"A heads up. Brittany knows about your party. She told Kevin and he told Mack."
"Oh!" Jane said. "I didn't tell Brittany! I might have mentioned it in passing to a few fellow unpopular students..."
"What's up, Janie?" Trent asked as he plugged his guitar into the amplifier.
"There may be more people coming," Jane said.
"We can handle that," Trent said. He looked to his bandmates.
"No problem," Jesse said.
"See?" Trent asked.
"I know you can," Jane said.
.
"Jodie Landon."
"Dani Moreno."
"I haven't seen you at Lawndale."
"I'm at Lawndale State, Freshman," Dani said.
"But I would have seen you last year."
"I kept to myself last year."
"I guess," Jodie said. She didn't take all that much notice of the seniors the previous year.
"So, how do you know Jane?"
"Her brother is in a band with my brother," Dani said, excitedly.
"You like their music?" Jodie asked, surprised at Dani's exuberance.
Dani shrugged. "They have potential," she said.
"I guess others don't think they're that good?"
"Wait until they start playing."
"That doesn't sound good."
.
Sandi arrived at Tiffany's house. She too was worried about Tiffany. The Fashion Club may have had a maximum allowable weight, but it also had a minimum. She was not stupid! Tiffany seemed to be approaching that minimum. Some kind of intervention had to take place, but she wasn't sure how. It was a very delicate situation.
.
Tiffany was looking at various articles of clothing as Sandi entered the room. She remained in the doorway, to observe what was taking place before talking to her friends. "Does this make me look fat?" she asked as she held out a black dress to Quinn and Stacy.
"No, it doesn't," Quinn said with an encouraging tone.
"Maybeee." Tiffany turned around and held the dress against her as she looked in a mirror. Sandi had to admit, it made her look good. "No-oo!" Tiffany said, as she threw it into a pile of similar dresses.
Stacy said. "It looks good," she said.
"No, It didn't!" Tiffany said as she took out another dress. "Does this make me look fat?"
"No, it doesn't," Quinn said, as encouraging as before.
'It seems that Tiffany isn't going to decide what to wear any time soon,' Sandi thought. She looked at her watch, 6:20. She entered the room. "Sand-di! You're late," Tiffany said.
"Fashionably!" Sandi added.
"Still late," Quinn said.
"Quite,cute, Quinn," Sandi said.
"Thanks!"
'Now, to help Tiffany dress...' Sandi considered. She looked at the pile of clothes. It seems that she had gone through a third of the dresses she had.
Tiffany took out another dress, similar to the shirt Quinn was wearing. "Does this make me look fat?"
No, it doesn't," Quinn said.
"Quinn's right, Tiffany. It looks almost perfect on you."
"Almost?" Tiffany asked.
"A minor imperfection. Nothing to worry about," Sandi said, trying to be encouraging.
"I need something perfect!" Tiffany said.
"No need to be perfect, Tiffany, just very close to it," Quinn said.
Tiffany thought for a moment. "I guess so. I'll wear it," she decided.
.
At Casa Lane, Mack knocked on the door. Jodie opened it. "The Party will be here," she said.
"But Jane?" Mack asked.
"She wants to celebrate," Jodie answered.
"I suppose Daria is here too," Mack said as he entered the house.
"And her brother's band."
"What kind of band?"
"Grunge," Jodie answered.
"At least that might scare Kevin away."
"But probably not Brittany."
.
Brittany wasn't far behind. She didn't know why Kevin didn't want to drive there with her. She did have her suspicions as to why. 'It happens sooner or later,' she thought with a shake of her head. But then, she knew that their relationship wouldn't last much longer than graduation. Her grades weren't great, but she knew that his were a lot worse. While she would get into a college somewhere away from Lawndale, she was sure he would end up either at Lawndale Community College or working for his father's building company.
She had long since decided to cut him loose after graduation, but in the meantime, they were an item. As she finished this reflection she pulled up outside the address, noting that Mack was already there.
.
The doorbell rang again. Daria opened the door. "Brittany! Of course."
"Daria! Why are you here?"
"I was actually invited," Daria responded.
"O-oh!" Brittany said.
"By Jane," Daria added.
"It's Jane's party?" Brittany asked while twirling her hair.
"Yes, it is."
"Who else is here? Besides Mack?"
Daria stepped aside, allowing Brittany inside. "Jodie, Jane's brother, Jane's brother's band and their groupie."
"O-oh!" Brittany said. "Wait, were they the band that were in the club that time?"
"Yes, Brittany, they were."
"I hope they have improved."
"I wouldn't bet on it," Daria said.
.
Brittany exited the house into the yard. "Hi, Jane," she said.
"Hi, Brittany," Jane said. "How did you find out about the party?"
"Angie told me," Brittany answered.
Jane was annoyed, "Then, how did she find out?"
Brittany twirled her hair. "I don't know."