Quinn's Code (a Daria AU) - The Esteemsters Code Part 1 (1/?)
Quinn's Code (A Daria AU)
Story 1 - The Esteemsters Code
Lawndale, MD, USA
Monday, September 20, 2005
The blue Lexus approached the High School. “Girls, I just want you to know your mother and I realise it's not easy moving to a whole new town -- especially for you, Daria, right?” Jake Morgendorffer said.
“Did we move?” his 15, almost 16, year old daughter, Daria, said with a touch of sarcasm.
“I am just saying you don't make friends as easily as, uh, some people,” Jake said.
The car radio suddenly blared “It's all about the Pentiums!” as Jake's 14½ year old daughter Quinn turned up Weird Al Yankovic's song It's all about the Pentiums.
“Quinn, for instance?”
“That's not what I meant, necessarily,” Jake said, as he switched the radio off. “ The point is, the first day at a new school is bound to be difficult... “
Daria leaned forward and turned on the radio, cranking it up “... If you could use a nice heavy paperweight! The Digital Media is write protected! Every file inspected. No viruses detected....”
“Speak up Dad! Can't hear you!” Daria shouted.
“Uh, where was I,” he turned off the radio. “Oh yeah.” The Morgendorffers see that they had arrived at the school.
“Don't get upset if it takes the other kids a little while to warm up to you.”
Quinn grabbed her bag of books and her laptop in its case as she got out of the car. “See you tonight, Daddy,” she said.
With her pixie-length red hair, pretty, freckled face and pink shirt (with the logo of the first Matrix film and Keanu Reeves' [as Neo] face on it) Quinn attracted a lot of attention.
“Hi, What is your name?” a brunette, with her hair in braided pig tails, said.
“Quinn Morgendorffer.”
“Cool Name,” another, regal looking, brunette said, in a faux-valley girl accent.
Meanwhile Daria slipped out of the car and into the school without notice.
“Will you go out with me?” a boy asked. Quinn put her hand to her forehead.
'Not again!' she thought. She didn't want to go out with a boy that she had just met, without getting to know him first. “Maybe,” she said. She then turned to the girl whom had said that her name was cool.
“You know my name, what's yours?” she asked.
“Sandi Griffin.”
“That sound's cool too,” Quinn said.
“Would you like to join the Fashion Club?” Sandi asked.
“There is a vice-presidential position available,” the pig-tailed brunette said.
''Fashion Club?” Quinn wasn't sure that she wanted to join such a club. “And you are?” she said, turning to the one with the pig-tails.
The pig-tailed brunette hesitated before saying “Stacy, Stacy Rowe. I'm the secretary. Sandi's the President.”
“Are you two the only one's in the club?” Quinn asked, with curiosity, and starting to back away.
“Oh no. There is, like, a third member, but she is not here yet,” Sandi said.
“Sorry Sandi. I don't want to join the Fashion Club,” Quinn said.
“Why not?” Sandi asked, archly. Quinn started backing away, towards the school. Her 'gut' seemed to be saying that Sandi wouldn't take a refusal lightly.
“That is not where my interest lies. Does the school have a Computer Club?”
“Computer Club? Why do you, like, want to know about that? It's full of Geeks!” Sandi said.
Quinn was outraged. “I am a Geek! And I was popular at my last school, despite that status! So far Lawndale appears to be much better than Highland, so I am sure I will be a popular geek here too!” She ran off towards the school.
Sandi Griffin looked at Quinn Morgendorffer as she ran into the school building “I may be a freshman, but I know that geeks are, like, not popular here!” she said.
“Why did you scare her off, Sandi?” Stacy Rowe asked. Sandi glared at her. “Eep!”
Mrs Manson, Lawndale High's psychologist held a picture up in front of Quinn. “What do you see here?” she asked.
“Looks like two people talking,” Quinn said.
“That's right. Can you make up a little story about what it is they're discussing?”
“They are living together and they trying to put their computers in the same network, so they can share their ADSL router. They have just got up from a session of trying to get it to work. She says that he needs to get a newer version of Windows so it can talk to her Linux system. And he is saying that if she had Windows that it would work. Then she says that she doesn't want to put up with Microsoft's crapware any more than she needs to. He then says that she should then get a Mac. She then says that PC's have better hardware...”
Mrs Manson interrupted “Very good Quinn. Now, Dora, let's see if you can make up a story as vivid as, though less technical than, your sister's.
“It's Daria.”
“I'm sorry... Daria. What do you see in the picture, Dara?”
“Um... a herd of beautiful wild ponies running free across the plains.”
At recess Quinn entered the front office. The receptionist greeted her.
“Hi, I am looking for information on the Computer Club.”
“Actually, there are two Computer Clubs,” the receptionist said.
“Ok, I would like information on both of them,” Quinn said. The receptionist turned to the computer and soon two sheets come out of the printer.
“Here, information on the Computer Club and the Programming Club,” the receptionist said, handing the sheets over.
“Thanks!” Quinn said. She then left.
At her locker, she glanced at the information on the sheets.
Club Name: Computer Club
President: Jodie Landon
Vice President: Jennifer Burns
Club Name: Programming Club
President: Andrea Hecuba
Vice President: Dewey Rogers
'Ok, at lunch I will try to get in contact with these people,' she thought. She placed the sheets in the locker and closed it.
At lunchtime Sandi entered the cafeteria to find a crowd, of both sexes, sitting around that Geek, Quinn, at one of the 'popular' tables. She stopped in her tracks, causing her fellow Fashion Club member, Tiffany Blum Deckler, to crash into her.
“What is up, Sandi?” Tiffany asked, when she had recovered from the collision. 'She usually watches where she is going,' she thought.
“That Geek, like, appears to be popular! How is this happening to me?” Sandi asked, with anger. She glared at Quinn (or tried to, people were getting in the way).
“What geek?” Tiffany asked, clueless.
“Quinn Morgendorffer!”
“The new girl?” Tiffany asked.
“Yes, Tiffany!” Sandi said.
“People were talking to her in Science and in Study Hall,” Tiffany said. 'I couldn't understand most of what she said. Something to do with computers,' she thought.
“Great!” Sandi said as she started moving again.
Quinn was talking to her new friends, Kristen and Cindy, about the Computer Club and the Programming club, as they ate lunch. “So you know Andrea, right?” she asked as she pointed to Andrea Hecuba's name on the information sheet for the Programming Club.
“I do. I must warn you, she is a misanthrope,” Kristen Bell said.
“Oh?” Quinn asked as she took a slice of tofu off the plate.
“Like, she is not much for company. They say that she is a hacker,” Cindy Robertson said.
“That reminds me of my sister. She is quite a misanthrope. I don't think she is a hacker,” Quinn said, whimsically.
Kristen looked at Quinn “I think I saw her. Auburn hair, big glasses, neutral expression, ...”
“That's her, Daria. Anyway, Andrea's a sophomore, right?” Quinn said, interrupting.
“Yes, she's a sophomore,” Kristen said.
“So we will have to wait until after school to talk to her,” Quinn said. She took out the other sheet. Kristen and Cindy looked at it.
“Jodie's a sophomore too,” Kristen said. Quinn slumped into her seat.
“What about the vice presidents?” she asked. Cindy and Kristen looked at the sheets.
“I don't know this 'Dewey Rogers' but Burnout Girl's a sophomore too,” Cindy said.
“I don't know 'Dewey Rogers' either,” Kristen said.
“Burnout Girl?” Quinn asked, confused.
“A nickname. They say that she is into weed,” Kristen said, whispering the last word.
“Eeewww!” Quinn said.
“My reaction exactly. Anyway we could go to the Landon's and then to the Hecuba's after school,” Kristen said.
“Count me out. Andrea gives me the creeps,” Cindy said.
“She is not that creepy,” Kristen said.
“I don't want to go to Andrea's place, ok,” Cindy said.
“That's ok, right, Kristen?” Quinn asked.
“That's ok. Quinn and I will go to Jodie's and Andrea's after school.” Kristen said.
“Ok,” Cindy said.
“The brown Nissan Pulsar parked in front of a large house with a brown roof. “Here it is, the Landon's,” Kristen's brother, Keith, said.
“Thanks!” Quinn said as she got out.
“I will give you a call when we're finished,” Kristen said.
“As long as it is after 6. My shift at Cluster Burger finishes then,” Keith said.
“That's cool,” Kristen said.
“If we're finished by then we'll walk. I need to learn Lawndale's layout anyway,” Quinn said.
“That's cool,” Keith said, before he drove off.
Quinn rang the Landon's doorbell. A pre-teen African American girl came to the door. “Hi, are you here for Jodie?” she asked.
“Yes, I am Quinn Morgendorffer, a new student at Lawndale High. I'm really interested in joining the club that Jodie is president of.”
“I'm Kirsten Bell, Quinn's friend.”
“I'm her sister, Rachel. You mean a club that she is President of.”
“You mean that she is the president of more than one club?” Quinn asked. 'She must be really popular, an overachiever or both,' she thought.
“Yes,” Rachel said, as if stating the obvious.
“I forgot to tell you, Jodie has a large extracurricular load,” Kristen said, apologetically.
“Could have told me that,” Quinn said, playfully.
“Follow me,” Rachel said, leading the other two into the house.
Jodie Landon and her boyfriend Michael 'Mack' McKenzie were doing homework when Rachel lead Quinn and Kristen to the Landon's den.
“Visitors for you, Jodie,” Rachel said, before leaving.
“Kristen Bell, right? Why are you here?” Jodie said, looking up from her homework.
“Actually, I am accompanying Quinn here,” Kristen said.
“Quinn Morgendorffer,” she said indicating herself. “I'm new at Lawndale and I would like to be a member of the Computer Club.”
Jodie's expression was unreadable.
“Morgendorffer, where else have I heard that name today?” Mack mused.
“Oh yeah, do you know a Daria Morgendorffer?” Jodie asked.
“Yeah, she is my sister,” Quinn said. “Isn't she weird?”
“Could have said that your sister was a sophomore,” Kristen said.
“Didn't come up,” Quinn said, shrugging. “Anyhow, Computer Club membership?”
“Sorry, Quinn. I don't handle the membership applications for the Computer Club. Jennifer does,” Jodie said.
“Oh?” Quinn asked.
“I am sure that Kristen has told you that I have a large extracurricular load?” Jodie asked.
“Yeah, when your sister mentioned that you were president of more than one club,” Quinn said.
“I am president of four clubs, vice president of three more, a member of even more, and involved in the school paper, the student council and the yearbook committee. So you see, I have to delegate,” Jodie said.
“Ok,” Quinn said.
“So, do you know where Jennifer lives?” Kristen asked.
“I do have her address, somewhere. I'll go up to my room and get it,” Jodie said. She left.
“So you want to join the Computer Club?” Mack asked.
“Yeah, and the Programming Club. Programming stuff is very cool! Except when there are bugs, but I enjoy the challenge of solving them. Many of the special characters are cute,” Quinn said.
“I see,” Mack said.
Jodie re-entered the den carrying a piece of paper, which she gave to Quinn. “That is Jennifer's address. You should be able to join the club.”
“Cool. But how are we going to get there? Kristen's brother had to go to work,” Quinn said, thinking.
“I could drive you,” Mack said.
“Cool!” Quinn said.
15 minutes later Mack pulled up his white Plymouth Valiant in front of a small two story house with a ramshackle yard. Quinn and Kristen got out. “Eeeewww!” Quinn said.
“They say that her mother works double shifts at the hospital to meet the mortgage repayments,” Mack said as he got out of the car.
“Ok,” Quinn said.
Kristen rang the doorbell. Soon afterwards the door was opened by a teen with long blonde hair which covered one side of her face.
“Hi, Mack. What brings you and your friends here?” she asked in a soft and relaxed voice.
“Somebody would like to join the Computer Club and Jodie said that you handle the membership applications,” Mack said.
Jennifer was then in thought. “Oh, come right in, please don't mind the mess,” she said.
A few minutes later, Mack, Kristen and Quinn were sitting at a breakfast bar as Jennifer served them diet sodas.
“So, you are Quinn Morgendorffer right? I heard about the new freshman Geek, but I had to see for myself,” Jennifer said.
“Yeah,” Quinn said.
“Your sister is a sophomore, right?” Jennifer said.
“She isn't popular, is she?” Quinn asked.
“There is no way she could become popular, with that attitude of hers,” Jennifer said.
“Thank goodness,” Quinn said.
“That's not the way I would have put it,” Mack said, responding to Jennifer.
Jennifer shrugged. “Anyway, when she came into history class, Mr DeMartino asked her about Manifest Destiny.”
“What did she say?” Quinn asked, eager for any 'dirt' on her sister.
Jennifer began to explain what occurred in History class...
History Class
Daria came into the classroom.
“Class, we have we have a new student joining us today. Please welcome Daria Morgendorffer. Daria, raise your hand, please,” Mr Anthony DeMartino said.
Daria raised her hand.
“Well, Daria! As long as you have your hand raised... “ Mr DeMartino chuckled. “Last week we began a unit on westward expansion. Perhaps you feel it's unfair to be asked a question on your first day of class.”
“Excuse Me?” Daria asked, nonplussed.
“Daria, can you concisely and unemotionally sum up for us the doctrine of Manifest Destiny?”
“Manifest Destiny was a slogan popular in the 1840s. It was used by people who claimed it was God's will for the U.S. to expand all the way to the Pacific Ocean. These people did not include many Mexicans.” Daria said, concisely and unemotionally, albeit with rather thick sarcasm.
'Wow, that is concise,' Jennifer thought.
Mr DeMartino was surprised “Very good, Daria. Almost... suspiciously good. All right, class. Who can tell me which war Manifest Destiny was used to justify?” He looked to someone in the class whom was wearing a football outfit. “Kevin! How about you?”
“The Vietnam War?” Kevin Thompson asked.
“That came a little later, Kevin... a hundred years later. A lot of good men died in that conflict, Kevin. I believe we owe it to them to at least get the century right! “ Mr DeMartino said, (more than) annoyed at Kevin's stupidity.
“Uh... Operation Watergate?” Kevin asked.
Mr DeMartino was even more annoyed.
End of Flashback
“Interesting, but that Kevin sounds rather stupid!” Quinn said.
“Oh, Stupid does not begin to describe it. He doesn't get it through his thick head that I don't like being called Mack-Daddy!” Mack said.
“You know him?” Quinn asked. 'of course he does,' she thought.
“Unfortunately, yes. It's also unfortunate that he's the junior-varsity Quarterback,” Mack said. Jennifer left the kitchen (unnoticed by Quinn and Mack, but not by Kristen)
“So you are on the team?” Quinn asked.
“As a running back,” Mack said.
“Ok,” Quinn said. She noticed that Jennifer was gone. “Where's Jennifer?”
Jennifer entered her bedroom and opened a drawer immediately to the left of the door. She grabbed one of the Computer Club membership applications and then went back downstairs.
“Here is the membership form,” she said, handing it to Quinn.
“Thanks!” Quinn said. She began to fill it out.
20 minutes later, Quinn had finished filling out the form. She handed it back to Jennifer.
Jennifer read over the form and then placed it in her backpack. “I will show it to the office in the morning, but as far as I am concerned you are now a member of the Lawndale High Computer Club,” Jennifer said.
“Yes!” Quinn squealed. “When is the next meeting?”
“Wednesday at Lunch, it will be in the main computer lab,” Jennifer said.
“Cool,” Quinn said.
The Valiant pulled up in front of a two story house larger than Jennifer's but smaller than Jodie's. Quinn got out of the car and immediately thought that it looked rather foreboding. She could see black curtains in two of the upstairs windows, to the right of the front door. “So why did Cindy not want to come here again?” she asked Kristen.
“Andrea creeps her out,” Kristen said.
“Now her house is giving me the creeps,” Quinn said. “Like an icky feeling that I can't describe.”
“You and me, both,” Mack said as he got out the car.
“Let's get this over with,” Quinn said as she walked towards the front door.
Quinn rang the door bell. About 10 seconds later the door was opened by a Goth chick whom looked more Gothic than Kristen did. Quinn could see why she would creep Cindy out.
“Who are you?” she asked, looking at Quinn.
“Andrea, this is Quinn Morgendorffer,” Mack said.
“I would like to join the Programming Club,” Quinn said.
“Oh, come right in,” Andrea said, without preamble.
The living room was sparsely decorated, with throw rugs on the floor and paintings on the wall. The stairs to the second level were at the back of the room, adjacent to the door to the kitchen. On the TV was a paused scene of blood being splattered. Quinn saw the TV and fought back the nausea that appeared in her throat. “Eeewww! What is that?” she asked.
“American Psycho, I recently bought the tape,” Andrea said.
“Yuck!” Mack mumbled.
“Ick, Andrea!” Kristen said.
“Fine, I'll eject it!” Andrea said, getting the hints from her guests. She picked up the VCR remote and pressed eject. She then picked up the TV remote and muted the resulting static. Finally she used the stereo system remote to start a previously paused CD. “Hip, Hip to be a square...” It was Huey Lewis and the News' Hip to be Square.
Andrea danced to the beat for a short while before pausing the CD again.
“Come on, the stuff is in my room,” Andrea said.
“Okay...” Quinn said, as Andrea started going up the stairs.
The upstairs corridor was dark, with the only light coming up the stairs, from a window at one end of the hallway and a slightly open doorway opposite the stairwell. The sound of dripping water could be heard from the bathroom, making the place seem even more eerie. “That faucet needs to be repaired,” Andrea said. “Only one of many things wrong with this house,” she added, as she lead her guests towards her bedroom.
“There isn't a ghost, is there?” Quinn asked. Andrea simply unlocked her bedroom door (marked Andrea's Lair Enter at Own Risk) and opened it.
Andrea's room was all black. Black curtains, black walls, black carpet, black ceiling, black bed covers. Just about the only things that weren't black were the power outlets and various other items, including some decorations. There was a heavy smell of incense and red candles burned in various locations around the room, including around Andrea's computer set-up. “Are those cases custom made?” Quinn asked.
“Yes. Cost my parents a bundle too. They are now making noises about me needing to get a job. Like, I don't have enough to deal with already,” Andrea said. She opened a drawer below one of the computers and took out a Programming Club membership application form.
She gave it to Quinn.
“Thanks!” Quinn said. She sat at the computer desk, and began to fill it out, whilst Andrea opened her bar fridge (hidden next to the computer desk) and took out four sodas.
“List the the Programming Languages that you have any level of skill in,” Quinn read. 'Ok,' she thought as she started writing down the languages that came off the top of her head.
BASIC
C++
VBScript
…
Quinn completed the form and handed it to Andrea. Andrea read it and signed it. “You are now a probationary member of the Programming Club,” she said.
“Probationary?” Quinn asked.
“I will test you on your proficiency in the languages that you listed, prior to giving you full membership,” Andrea said.
“Ok,” Quinn said. 'That's not so bad,' she thought.
“You can come over tomorrow and I'll start by testing you on BASIC,” Andrea said.
“That will be ok,” Quinn said, warily. 'Best to get it over with as quickly as possible,' she thought.
“Good, I'll see you here, tomorrow before 4:00,” Andrea said. It wasn't a question.
“I will be here,” Quinn said. Being in the Programming Club was worth being in the Hecuba's creepy house many times a week.
Mack's Valiant stopped outside a large red brick house on Glen Oaks Lane. (Larger than the Hecuba's but smaller than the Landon's). Quinn and Kristen got out. “Bye, Mack. I'll see you at school,” Quinn said. Mack waved and drove off. Quinn looked at the drive way. Her father's Lexus was there, but her mother's SUV wasn't. 'She was always a workaholic,' she thought.
“Come on, I'll introduce you to my father,” Quinn said as she walked to the door.
“What about Daria?” Kristen asked.
“Most likely she would be in her room,” Quinn said. There was an uneasiness in her voice that told Kristen that Daria's room would be unusual.
'Cannot be any more unusual than Andrea's surely?' she mused.
“I must warn you, he is prone to going into rants,” Quinn said.
“What sort of rants?” Kristen asked.
“Oh, about his teenage years...” Quinn said.
Jake Morgendorffer was reading the paper in the kitchen when Quinn and Kristen entered from the living room.
“Daddy, this is my new friend, Kristen.”
“Hi, Quinn, Kristen.”
“Hi, Mr Morgendorffer,” Kristen said.
“You're Goth?” Jake asked.
“What of it?” Kristen asked.
“Nothing,” Jake said.
“It's not 'nothing' Daddy,” Quinn said, wondering where her Father was going with his questioning.
“I have heard a lot of things about Goths,” Jake said, in thought.
“A lot of those things may not be true about me,” Kristen said. 'Although they may be of Andrea,' she thought.
“Great!” Jake said.
Linda Griffin arrived home from her job at KSBC (as Vice-President of Marketing). When she opened the front door she saw her daughter Sandi sitting on the couch, moping. She entered the house and slammed the door. “Sandi, what is wrong?” she asked, her tone implying that she expected an answer, pronto.
“Hi, Mother,” Sandi said. She sighed and then began to tell her mother about Quinn, her geekiness and her popularity.
Once Sandi had finished telling her about Quinn and the changed situation at the school, Linda put her hands on her hips and gave a disapproving look. “Sandi, I told you. If you loose control, you need to get back in control!”
“But how, Mother?” Sandi asked, with exasperation.
“You know the social dynamics of that place better than I do. You figure it out!” Linda said.
“Ok,” Sandi said, as her mother went up the stairs. ''Typical Mother, she gives me general advice but not the specifics!' she thought. She knew she would have to sleep on the problem. She heard her brothers fighting in the den. 'What are they up to now?' she pondered. She then went towards the den.
Story 1 - The Esteemsters Code
Lawndale, MD, USA
Monday, September 20, 2005
The blue Lexus approached the High School. “Girls, I just want you to know your mother and I realise it's not easy moving to a whole new town -- especially for you, Daria, right?” Jake Morgendorffer said.
“Did we move?” his 15, almost 16, year old daughter, Daria, said with a touch of sarcasm.
“I am just saying you don't make friends as easily as, uh, some people,” Jake said.
The car radio suddenly blared “It's all about the Pentiums!” as Jake's 14½ year old daughter Quinn turned up Weird Al Yankovic's song It's all about the Pentiums.
“Quinn, for instance?”
“That's not what I meant, necessarily,” Jake said, as he switched the radio off. “ The point is, the first day at a new school is bound to be difficult... “
Daria leaned forward and turned on the radio, cranking it up “... If you could use a nice heavy paperweight! The Digital Media is write protected! Every file inspected. No viruses detected....”
“Speak up Dad! Can't hear you!” Daria shouted.
“Uh, where was I,” he turned off the radio. “Oh yeah.” The Morgendorffers see that they had arrived at the school.
“Don't get upset if it takes the other kids a little while to warm up to you.”
Quinn grabbed her bag of books and her laptop in its case as she got out of the car. “See you tonight, Daddy,” she said.
With her pixie-length red hair, pretty, freckled face and pink shirt (with the logo of the first Matrix film and Keanu Reeves' [as Neo] face on it) Quinn attracted a lot of attention.
“Hi, What is your name?” a brunette, with her hair in braided pig tails, said.
“Quinn Morgendorffer.”
“Cool Name,” another, regal looking, brunette said, in a faux-valley girl accent.
Meanwhile Daria slipped out of the car and into the school without notice.
“Will you go out with me?” a boy asked. Quinn put her hand to her forehead.
'Not again!' she thought. She didn't want to go out with a boy that she had just met, without getting to know him first. “Maybe,” she said. She then turned to the girl whom had said that her name was cool.
“You know my name, what's yours?” she asked.
“Sandi Griffin.”
“That sound's cool too,” Quinn said.
“Would you like to join the Fashion Club?” Sandi asked.
“There is a vice-presidential position available,” the pig-tailed brunette said.
''Fashion Club?” Quinn wasn't sure that she wanted to join such a club. “And you are?” she said, turning to the one with the pig-tails.
The pig-tailed brunette hesitated before saying “Stacy, Stacy Rowe. I'm the secretary. Sandi's the President.”
“Are you two the only one's in the club?” Quinn asked, with curiosity, and starting to back away.
“Oh no. There is, like, a third member, but she is not here yet,” Sandi said.
“Sorry Sandi. I don't want to join the Fashion Club,” Quinn said.
“Why not?” Sandi asked, archly. Quinn started backing away, towards the school. Her 'gut' seemed to be saying that Sandi wouldn't take a refusal lightly.
“That is not where my interest lies. Does the school have a Computer Club?”
“Computer Club? Why do you, like, want to know about that? It's full of Geeks!” Sandi said.
Quinn was outraged. “I am a Geek! And I was popular at my last school, despite that status! So far Lawndale appears to be much better than Highland, so I am sure I will be a popular geek here too!” She ran off towards the school.
Sandi Griffin looked at Quinn Morgendorffer as she ran into the school building “I may be a freshman, but I know that geeks are, like, not popular here!” she said.
“Why did you scare her off, Sandi?” Stacy Rowe asked. Sandi glared at her. “Eep!”
Mrs Manson, Lawndale High's psychologist held a picture up in front of Quinn. “What do you see here?” she asked.
“Looks like two people talking,” Quinn said.
“That's right. Can you make up a little story about what it is they're discussing?”
“They are living together and they trying to put their computers in the same network, so they can share their ADSL router. They have just got up from a session of trying to get it to work. She says that he needs to get a newer version of Windows so it can talk to her Linux system. And he is saying that if she had Windows that it would work. Then she says that she doesn't want to put up with Microsoft's crapware any more than she needs to. He then says that she should then get a Mac. She then says that PC's have better hardware...”
Mrs Manson interrupted “Very good Quinn. Now, Dora, let's see if you can make up a story as vivid as, though less technical than, your sister's.
“It's Daria.”
“I'm sorry... Daria. What do you see in the picture, Dara?”
“Um... a herd of beautiful wild ponies running free across the plains.”
At recess Quinn entered the front office. The receptionist greeted her.
“Hi, I am looking for information on the Computer Club.”
“Actually, there are two Computer Clubs,” the receptionist said.
“Ok, I would like information on both of them,” Quinn said. The receptionist turned to the computer and soon two sheets come out of the printer.
“Here, information on the Computer Club and the Programming Club,” the receptionist said, handing the sheets over.
“Thanks!” Quinn said. She then left.
At her locker, she glanced at the information on the sheets.
Club Name: Computer Club
President: Jodie Landon
Vice President: Jennifer Burns
Club Name: Programming Club
President: Andrea Hecuba
Vice President: Dewey Rogers
'Ok, at lunch I will try to get in contact with these people,' she thought. She placed the sheets in the locker and closed it.
At lunchtime Sandi entered the cafeteria to find a crowd, of both sexes, sitting around that Geek, Quinn, at one of the 'popular' tables. She stopped in her tracks, causing her fellow Fashion Club member, Tiffany Blum Deckler, to crash into her.
“What is up, Sandi?” Tiffany asked, when she had recovered from the collision. 'She usually watches where she is going,' she thought.
“That Geek, like, appears to be popular! How is this happening to me?” Sandi asked, with anger. She glared at Quinn (or tried to, people were getting in the way).
“What geek?” Tiffany asked, clueless.
“Quinn Morgendorffer!”
“The new girl?” Tiffany asked.
“Yes, Tiffany!” Sandi said.
“People were talking to her in Science and in Study Hall,” Tiffany said. 'I couldn't understand most of what she said. Something to do with computers,' she thought.
“Great!” Sandi said as she started moving again.
Quinn was talking to her new friends, Kristen and Cindy, about the Computer Club and the Programming club, as they ate lunch. “So you know Andrea, right?” she asked as she pointed to Andrea Hecuba's name on the information sheet for the Programming Club.
“I do. I must warn you, she is a misanthrope,” Kristen Bell said.
“Oh?” Quinn asked as she took a slice of tofu off the plate.
“Like, she is not much for company. They say that she is a hacker,” Cindy Robertson said.
“That reminds me of my sister. She is quite a misanthrope. I don't think she is a hacker,” Quinn said, whimsically.
Kristen looked at Quinn “I think I saw her. Auburn hair, big glasses, neutral expression, ...”
“That's her, Daria. Anyway, Andrea's a sophomore, right?” Quinn said, interrupting.
“Yes, she's a sophomore,” Kristen said.
“So we will have to wait until after school to talk to her,” Quinn said. She took out the other sheet. Kristen and Cindy looked at it.
“Jodie's a sophomore too,” Kristen said. Quinn slumped into her seat.
“What about the vice presidents?” she asked. Cindy and Kristen looked at the sheets.
“I don't know this 'Dewey Rogers' but Burnout Girl's a sophomore too,” Cindy said.
“I don't know 'Dewey Rogers' either,” Kristen said.
“Burnout Girl?” Quinn asked, confused.
“A nickname. They say that she is into weed,” Kristen said, whispering the last word.
“Eeewww!” Quinn said.
“My reaction exactly. Anyway we could go to the Landon's and then to the Hecuba's after school,” Kristen said.
“Count me out. Andrea gives me the creeps,” Cindy said.
“She is not that creepy,” Kristen said.
“I don't want to go to Andrea's place, ok,” Cindy said.
“That's ok, right, Kristen?” Quinn asked.
“That's ok. Quinn and I will go to Jodie's and Andrea's after school.” Kristen said.
“Ok,” Cindy said.
“The brown Nissan Pulsar parked in front of a large house with a brown roof. “Here it is, the Landon's,” Kristen's brother, Keith, said.
“Thanks!” Quinn said as she got out.
“I will give you a call when we're finished,” Kristen said.
“As long as it is after 6. My shift at Cluster Burger finishes then,” Keith said.
“That's cool,” Kristen said.
“If we're finished by then we'll walk. I need to learn Lawndale's layout anyway,” Quinn said.
“That's cool,” Keith said, before he drove off.
Quinn rang the Landon's doorbell. A pre-teen African American girl came to the door. “Hi, are you here for Jodie?” she asked.
“Yes, I am Quinn Morgendorffer, a new student at Lawndale High. I'm really interested in joining the club that Jodie is president of.”
“I'm Kirsten Bell, Quinn's friend.”
“I'm her sister, Rachel. You mean a club that she is President of.”
“You mean that she is the president of more than one club?” Quinn asked. 'She must be really popular, an overachiever or both,' she thought.
“Yes,” Rachel said, as if stating the obvious.
“I forgot to tell you, Jodie has a large extracurricular load,” Kristen said, apologetically.
“Could have told me that,” Quinn said, playfully.
“Follow me,” Rachel said, leading the other two into the house.
Jodie Landon and her boyfriend Michael 'Mack' McKenzie were doing homework when Rachel lead Quinn and Kristen to the Landon's den.
“Visitors for you, Jodie,” Rachel said, before leaving.
“Kristen Bell, right? Why are you here?” Jodie said, looking up from her homework.
“Actually, I am accompanying Quinn here,” Kristen said.
“Quinn Morgendorffer,” she said indicating herself. “I'm new at Lawndale and I would like to be a member of the Computer Club.”
Jodie's expression was unreadable.
“Morgendorffer, where else have I heard that name today?” Mack mused.
“Oh yeah, do you know a Daria Morgendorffer?” Jodie asked.
“Yeah, she is my sister,” Quinn said. “Isn't she weird?”
“Could have said that your sister was a sophomore,” Kristen said.
“Didn't come up,” Quinn said, shrugging. “Anyhow, Computer Club membership?”
“Sorry, Quinn. I don't handle the membership applications for the Computer Club. Jennifer does,” Jodie said.
“Oh?” Quinn asked.
“I am sure that Kristen has told you that I have a large extracurricular load?” Jodie asked.
“Yeah, when your sister mentioned that you were president of more than one club,” Quinn said.
“I am president of four clubs, vice president of three more, a member of even more, and involved in the school paper, the student council and the yearbook committee. So you see, I have to delegate,” Jodie said.
“Ok,” Quinn said.
“So, do you know where Jennifer lives?” Kristen asked.
“I do have her address, somewhere. I'll go up to my room and get it,” Jodie said. She left.
“So you want to join the Computer Club?” Mack asked.
“Yeah, and the Programming Club. Programming stuff is very cool! Except when there are bugs, but I enjoy the challenge of solving them. Many of the special characters are cute,” Quinn said.
“I see,” Mack said.
Jodie re-entered the den carrying a piece of paper, which she gave to Quinn. “That is Jennifer's address. You should be able to join the club.”
“Cool. But how are we going to get there? Kristen's brother had to go to work,” Quinn said, thinking.
“I could drive you,” Mack said.
“Cool!” Quinn said.
15 minutes later Mack pulled up his white Plymouth Valiant in front of a small two story house with a ramshackle yard. Quinn and Kristen got out. “Eeeewww!” Quinn said.
“They say that her mother works double shifts at the hospital to meet the mortgage repayments,” Mack said as he got out of the car.
“Ok,” Quinn said.
Kristen rang the doorbell. Soon afterwards the door was opened by a teen with long blonde hair which covered one side of her face.
“Hi, Mack. What brings you and your friends here?” she asked in a soft and relaxed voice.
“Somebody would like to join the Computer Club and Jodie said that you handle the membership applications,” Mack said.
Jennifer was then in thought. “Oh, come right in, please don't mind the mess,” she said.
A few minutes later, Mack, Kristen and Quinn were sitting at a breakfast bar as Jennifer served them diet sodas.
“So, you are Quinn Morgendorffer right? I heard about the new freshman Geek, but I had to see for myself,” Jennifer said.
“Yeah,” Quinn said.
“Your sister is a sophomore, right?” Jennifer said.
“She isn't popular, is she?” Quinn asked.
“There is no way she could become popular, with that attitude of hers,” Jennifer said.
“Thank goodness,” Quinn said.
“That's not the way I would have put it,” Mack said, responding to Jennifer.
Jennifer shrugged. “Anyway, when she came into history class, Mr DeMartino asked her about Manifest Destiny.”
“What did she say?” Quinn asked, eager for any 'dirt' on her sister.
Jennifer began to explain what occurred in History class...
History Class
Daria came into the classroom.
“Class, we have we have a new student joining us today. Please welcome Daria Morgendorffer. Daria, raise your hand, please,” Mr Anthony DeMartino said.
Daria raised her hand.
“Well, Daria! As long as you have your hand raised... “ Mr DeMartino chuckled. “Last week we began a unit on westward expansion. Perhaps you feel it's unfair to be asked a question on your first day of class.”
“Excuse Me?” Daria asked, nonplussed.
“Daria, can you concisely and unemotionally sum up for us the doctrine of Manifest Destiny?”
“Manifest Destiny was a slogan popular in the 1840s. It was used by people who claimed it was God's will for the U.S. to expand all the way to the Pacific Ocean. These people did not include many Mexicans.” Daria said, concisely and unemotionally, albeit with rather thick sarcasm.
'Wow, that is concise,' Jennifer thought.
Mr DeMartino was surprised “Very good, Daria. Almost... suspiciously good. All right, class. Who can tell me which war Manifest Destiny was used to justify?” He looked to someone in the class whom was wearing a football outfit. “Kevin! How about you?”
“The Vietnam War?” Kevin Thompson asked.
“That came a little later, Kevin... a hundred years later. A lot of good men died in that conflict, Kevin. I believe we owe it to them to at least get the century right! “ Mr DeMartino said, (more than) annoyed at Kevin's stupidity.
“Uh... Operation Watergate?” Kevin asked.
Mr DeMartino was even more annoyed.
End of Flashback
“Interesting, but that Kevin sounds rather stupid!” Quinn said.
“Oh, Stupid does not begin to describe it. He doesn't get it through his thick head that I don't like being called Mack-Daddy!” Mack said.
“You know him?” Quinn asked. 'of course he does,' she thought.
“Unfortunately, yes. It's also unfortunate that he's the junior-varsity Quarterback,” Mack said. Jennifer left the kitchen (unnoticed by Quinn and Mack, but not by Kristen)
“So you are on the team?” Quinn asked.
“As a running back,” Mack said.
“Ok,” Quinn said. She noticed that Jennifer was gone. “Where's Jennifer?”
Jennifer entered her bedroom and opened a drawer immediately to the left of the door. She grabbed one of the Computer Club membership applications and then went back downstairs.
“Here is the membership form,” she said, handing it to Quinn.
“Thanks!” Quinn said. She began to fill it out.
20 minutes later, Quinn had finished filling out the form. She handed it back to Jennifer.
Jennifer read over the form and then placed it in her backpack. “I will show it to the office in the morning, but as far as I am concerned you are now a member of the Lawndale High Computer Club,” Jennifer said.
“Yes!” Quinn squealed. “When is the next meeting?”
“Wednesday at Lunch, it will be in the main computer lab,” Jennifer said.
“Cool,” Quinn said.
The Valiant pulled up in front of a two story house larger than Jennifer's but smaller than Jodie's. Quinn got out of the car and immediately thought that it looked rather foreboding. She could see black curtains in two of the upstairs windows, to the right of the front door. “So why did Cindy not want to come here again?” she asked Kristen.
“Andrea creeps her out,” Kristen said.
“Now her house is giving me the creeps,” Quinn said. “Like an icky feeling that I can't describe.”
“You and me, both,” Mack said as he got out the car.
“Let's get this over with,” Quinn said as she walked towards the front door.
Quinn rang the door bell. About 10 seconds later the door was opened by a Goth chick whom looked more Gothic than Kristen did. Quinn could see why she would creep Cindy out.
“Who are you?” she asked, looking at Quinn.
“Andrea, this is Quinn Morgendorffer,” Mack said.
“I would like to join the Programming Club,” Quinn said.
“Oh, come right in,” Andrea said, without preamble.
The living room was sparsely decorated, with throw rugs on the floor and paintings on the wall. The stairs to the second level were at the back of the room, adjacent to the door to the kitchen. On the TV was a paused scene of blood being splattered. Quinn saw the TV and fought back the nausea that appeared in her throat. “Eeewww! What is that?” she asked.
“American Psycho, I recently bought the tape,” Andrea said.
“Yuck!” Mack mumbled.
“Ick, Andrea!” Kristen said.
“Fine, I'll eject it!” Andrea said, getting the hints from her guests. She picked up the VCR remote and pressed eject. She then picked up the TV remote and muted the resulting static. Finally she used the stereo system remote to start a previously paused CD. “Hip, Hip to be a square...” It was Huey Lewis and the News' Hip to be Square.
Andrea danced to the beat for a short while before pausing the CD again.
“Come on, the stuff is in my room,” Andrea said.
“Okay...” Quinn said, as Andrea started going up the stairs.
The upstairs corridor was dark, with the only light coming up the stairs, from a window at one end of the hallway and a slightly open doorway opposite the stairwell. The sound of dripping water could be heard from the bathroom, making the place seem even more eerie. “That faucet needs to be repaired,” Andrea said. “Only one of many things wrong with this house,” she added, as she lead her guests towards her bedroom.
“There isn't a ghost, is there?” Quinn asked. Andrea simply unlocked her bedroom door (marked Andrea's Lair Enter at Own Risk) and opened it.
Andrea's room was all black. Black curtains, black walls, black carpet, black ceiling, black bed covers. Just about the only things that weren't black were the power outlets and various other items, including some decorations. There was a heavy smell of incense and red candles burned in various locations around the room, including around Andrea's computer set-up. “Are those cases custom made?” Quinn asked.
“Yes. Cost my parents a bundle too. They are now making noises about me needing to get a job. Like, I don't have enough to deal with already,” Andrea said. She opened a drawer below one of the computers and took out a Programming Club membership application form.
She gave it to Quinn.
“Thanks!” Quinn said. She sat at the computer desk, and began to fill it out, whilst Andrea opened her bar fridge (hidden next to the computer desk) and took out four sodas.
“List the the Programming Languages that you have any level of skill in,” Quinn read. 'Ok,' she thought as she started writing down the languages that came off the top of her head.
BASIC
C++
VBScript
…
Quinn completed the form and handed it to Andrea. Andrea read it and signed it. “You are now a probationary member of the Programming Club,” she said.
“Probationary?” Quinn asked.
“I will test you on your proficiency in the languages that you listed, prior to giving you full membership,” Andrea said.
“Ok,” Quinn said. 'That's not so bad,' she thought.
“You can come over tomorrow and I'll start by testing you on BASIC,” Andrea said.
“That will be ok,” Quinn said, warily. 'Best to get it over with as quickly as possible,' she thought.
“Good, I'll see you here, tomorrow before 4:00,” Andrea said. It wasn't a question.
“I will be here,” Quinn said. Being in the Programming Club was worth being in the Hecuba's creepy house many times a week.
Mack's Valiant stopped outside a large red brick house on Glen Oaks Lane. (Larger than the Hecuba's but smaller than the Landon's). Quinn and Kristen got out. “Bye, Mack. I'll see you at school,” Quinn said. Mack waved and drove off. Quinn looked at the drive way. Her father's Lexus was there, but her mother's SUV wasn't. 'She was always a workaholic,' she thought.
“Come on, I'll introduce you to my father,” Quinn said as she walked to the door.
“What about Daria?” Kristen asked.
“Most likely she would be in her room,” Quinn said. There was an uneasiness in her voice that told Kristen that Daria's room would be unusual.
'Cannot be any more unusual than Andrea's surely?' she mused.
“I must warn you, he is prone to going into rants,” Quinn said.
“What sort of rants?” Kristen asked.
“Oh, about his teenage years...” Quinn said.
Jake Morgendorffer was reading the paper in the kitchen when Quinn and Kristen entered from the living room.
“Daddy, this is my new friend, Kristen.”
“Hi, Quinn, Kristen.”
“Hi, Mr Morgendorffer,” Kristen said.
“You're Goth?” Jake asked.
“What of it?” Kristen asked.
“Nothing,” Jake said.
“It's not 'nothing' Daddy,” Quinn said, wondering where her Father was going with his questioning.
“I have heard a lot of things about Goths,” Jake said, in thought.
“A lot of those things may not be true about me,” Kristen said. 'Although they may be of Andrea,' she thought.
“Great!” Jake said.
Linda Griffin arrived home from her job at KSBC (as Vice-President of Marketing). When she opened the front door she saw her daughter Sandi sitting on the couch, moping. She entered the house and slammed the door. “Sandi, what is wrong?” she asked, her tone implying that she expected an answer, pronto.
“Hi, Mother,” Sandi said. She sighed and then began to tell her mother about Quinn, her geekiness and her popularity.
Once Sandi had finished telling her about Quinn and the changed situation at the school, Linda put her hands on her hips and gave a disapproving look. “Sandi, I told you. If you loose control, you need to get back in control!”
“But how, Mother?” Sandi asked, with exasperation.
“You know the social dynamics of that place better than I do. You figure it out!” Linda said.
“Ok,” Sandi said, as her mother went up the stairs. ''Typical Mother, she gives me general advice but not the specifics!' she thought. She knew she would have to sleep on the problem. She heard her brothers fighting in the den. 'What are they up to now?' she pondered. She then went towards the den.