Page 30 of 30 Quinn's Code The Grounded Geek

Quinn's Code

Story 7: The Grounded Geek

Lawndale, MD, USA

January 17, 2006

It was late at night, Daria Morgendorffer was late. It was the latest she had been out, in Lawndale or in Highland. She silently urged the driver to go faster. Eventually she arrived home. "Thanks," she said as she emerged from the car. It then drove away. She checked her watch. Almost midnight. She tip-toed up to the front door. Or at least she tried to. Her sister, Quinn appeared to the side of the driveway. "Hold it, young lady," she said.

"Funny, Quinn," Daria responded.

"What are you doing out so late?"

"What are you doing out so late?"

"What do you mean? I'm always out this late," Quinn answered.

Daria wasn't sure of the truth of that. "You want to tell me how to sneak in, don't you?" she asked. 'Of course she does.'

"Stop tip toeing around like a nerd! Gosh! Have a little dignity, Daria!"

Not wanting to wake their parents, Daria kept her voice low. "I have dignity, Quinn! I'm not going to let you try and teach me how to be cool."

Quinn grumbled.

Then there was the sound of their father, Jake, saying from the parent's bedroom on that side of the house. "What's going on down there!"

Then their mother, Helen, saying. "More threatening."

"Let me handle it. Darn it, what's going on down there!" Jake said.

"Jake, you sound like such a nerd!"

Turning her back on Quinn, Daria quickly unlocked the door...

She tried sneaking up the stairs but found her mother at the top. "And why are you out so late, Daria?"

"No comment."

"You're not getting away that easily."

'Of course not!'

.~.

January 18, 2006

Around dinner time, there was a family meeting in the living room. "Is this going to take long. I'm supposed to be somewhere," Quinn said.

"Oh? Is there a games sale on at the Mall?"

"Don't start, girls. Your father and I are very upset that you broke your curfew last night."

"Strange, I didn't know we had a curfew," Daria said.

Jake spoke up. "Well, that's interesting, Daria; I didn't, either. But according to your mother... "

Helen interrupted. "Jake! The point is, you were out way too late, which is why tonight we're going to..."

Quinn then interrupted. "Destroy my social life with extra rules and regulations? I can't breathe! Mother, I can't breathe!"

"Don't be melodramatic. We just need to set some," Helen paused. "Boundaries. And we'd like your input."

"Well, late curfews can go to those who can use them. Like popular people who can respond to others' computer troubles late at night," Quinn said.

"Who said that? Jefferson? Gates? Jobs? Torvalds? Stallman?"

"Dar-i-a!"

"It can't be Jefferson..." Jake pondered.

"Of course not! Jefferson predated even Babbage," Quinn said.

Helen was annoyed at the change in topic. "All right, girls. Forget the input." She then produced a couple of large tablets, in a similar design to the popular conception of the Ten Commandments. They were covered in various rules.

'Cool!' Daria thought. "Hey, does this mean we get to wander in the desert for forty years?"

"After much hard work, your father and I have come up with a set of guidelines I think we can all live by."

"That's right! A lot of thought went into this." He whispered to Helen. "Do I have to read these?"

"Later!" Helen whispered back.

"Wow, it seems interesting," Quinn said. 'And rather annoying,' she thought to herself.

"Oh, brother," Daria said.

"But right now, I have to go. I have a date," Quinn said.

"You can't go out on a date. It says right here that we don't permit that on a school night. Rule Eighteen," Helen said.

Quinn changed tack. "You're probably confused by the word 'date.' I have a date to meet, uh," she paused as she came up with an excuse. "My Shakespeare study group."

"Oh, well, that sounds okay," Jake said.

Helen considered what Quinn had said. "All right. But as per the procedure outlined in Rules Twenty-One through Twenty-Six, make sure you sign in when you get back."

"Bye. Don't wait up. You know how these study groups are..." Quinn said as she dashed off.

"Good for you, Quinn! Study hard!" Jake said.

"Am I the only one who sees what's going on around here?" Daria asked. 'I know Quinn isn't that interested in Shakespeare.'

"Rule Number One: persistent questioning of parental judgment is punishable," Helen pointed out.

January 19, 2006

The next morning, as Quinn entered the kitchen Jake burst into song. "There she is, Miss American Bookworm." He then said "You really must have been burning the midnight oil last night."

"What do you mean?" Quinn asked.

"I mean your Shakespeare study group."

Her excuse from the previous evening had slipped her mind. "What are you talking about?"

"The study group you went to. The sign in sheet said you got back at eleven-thirty..." Jake paused. "But now that I think about it, I went to bed at eleven-forty-five. Hey, I thought you got that watch fixed?"

"A couple of times," Daria said. Toast popped up. "Prepare to be busted! She said in a gloating tone.

Quinn then remembered the previous evening. "Oops!" she whispered.

"Quinn, were you at a study group last night or did you go on a date?" Helen asked angrily. She had thought that her younger daughter knew better...

"Don't you see how your new rules are strangling me? Yes, I went on a date, but he's interesting."

"Interesting, you mean you're in love with him?" Jake asked.

"With whom," Helen asked.

"No! Don't put words in my mouth." Quinn said. She paused. She couldn't quite remember his name. "Cliff, or Clint, is just a friend. That's all."

"You don't even know his name, and you're in love with him!" Jake raged.

"You know what? You didn't listen to me! I said he's just a friend."

Jake didn't let that deter him. "Do you have any idea how many of these rules you've broken?!"

Daria closed the tablets. "How many, Dad? And which ones?"

"Wha... what's that got to do with it?" Jake asked, confused.

Quinn gave in. "OK, ground me!" she directed.

"I wish it were that simple," Helen said.

"Exactly," Jake said. "What?"

Helen pointed to a point on one of the tablets.

Family Court

"You've got to be kidding me," Daria said.

"That's not a good answer," Helen said..

.`.

On the way to school, Quinn met with her friends, Cindy Brolsma and Kristen Bell. "What's up?" Cindy asked, noticing that Quinn was slightly out of sorts (in that she wasn't very talkative, and wasn't as bright as she habitually was.)

"Oh, If Mom just wants to ground me for being late two nights in a row, she should just ground me! Not institute some experimental 'Family Court'!"

"Family Court?" Kristen asked, curious.

"Exactly what it sounds like," Quinn said.

"Sounds, strange," Kristen said.

"You want to get grounded?" Cindy asked incredulously.

"Of course not! But I don't want it dragged out in a long 'process' either," Quinn grumbled.

"I wouldn't either," Kristen said.

"That would be annoying," Cindy agreed.

"Tell me about it!"

.1.

Between classes Daria was at her locker with her friends, Jane Lane and Jennifer Burns. "So instead of saying, 'Don't come home so late,' now they've created some elaborate punishment system.

"You mean like a spanking machine?" Jane asked.

"I mean like Family Court," Daria said.

"That sounds, weird," Jennifer stated.

"Due process? Jane asked, rhetorically. "Yikes."

Jodie Landon then came up. "Hey, you guys wanna buy tickets for the faculty-DJ roller hockey game?"

"We'll take three," Jane said.

Jennifer nodded.

Daria was incredulous. "What? You're gonna pay to watch teachers skate around with DJs? Classic rock DJs?"

"You weren't here last year, Daria," Jodie said. She launched into a description of the previous year's game...

.2.

Flashback – 50 weeks earlier

Roller Hockey Game

History teacher Mr. Anthony DeMartino contested with 'Rock & Roll Randy' for the puck.

Mr. DeMartino grabbed his chest. "Argh!" He collapsed to the floor.

Rock & Roll Randy was then in control of the puck. "Rock and roll, foreva!"

"Help... me."

Language Arts Teacher Mr. Timothy O'Neil stopped next to his colleague. "Oh No! Anthony! Someone get the paramedics!"

Mr. DeMartino lay still on the floor.

End Flashback - Present

"Mr. DeMartino had to have an emergency angioplasty. He almost died," Jodie explained.

"What are you saying?" Daria asked.

"You know how there are people who go to car races on the chance that they might see a crash?" Jodie asked.

Daria took out some money. "I'm in," she said.

"Cool."

"This is going to be great!" Jane said.

When school finished for the day, Jennifer found Quinn as she was leaving the grounds. "Quinn, I heard about the 'Family Court' thing."

"Daria told you?" Quinn asked. She sounded a little peeved.

"Of course," Jennifer said.

"Was she gloating?"

"No, she was complaining."

"What about? She was only late one of those nights!" Quinn complained.

"It seems whe is being subjected to the 'Family Court' too."

"Duh!" Quinn said as she facepalmed.

"So, if you're not grounded, are you coming to the Roller Hockey game?" Jennifer asked.

Quinn hadn't yet heard of it. "What Roller Hockey game?"

Jennifer overcame her surprise and told Quinn about the upcoming Roller Hockey game and Mr. DeMartino's rivaly against Rock 'n Roll Randy.

"Interesting," she said whilst in thought. "I think I would go regardless of what my parents say," she decided.

"Cool," Jennifer said quietly.

"Where would I get a ticket?"

"Jodie is selling them."

"I'll buy one tomorrow."

.3.

Later that night, at the Morgendorffer residence...

"What do those Supreme Court judges wear under their robes? Declassified government polaroids, next on Sick, Sad World."

Helen entered the living room. "Hi, honey," Jake said.

"Are you girls ready for your day in court?" Helen asked.

"Can't you just punish us? I'd like to get on with my life," Quinn grumbled.

"Quinn! Your father and I want you to have a fair hearing. Then we'll punish you."

"But a court procedure? Isn't that a little bureaucratic?" Daria asked.

"Bureaucracy is the price we pay for impartiality," Helen quoted.

"Jefferson!" Jake guessed.

"Stalin," Helen corrected.

'Stalin!?' Quinn thought.

"It's all about fairness, girls. That's why your father will make a terrific judge."

"I get to be the judge?" Jake exclaimed. He then got up and pushed a large chair in front of the television.

"Look, someone once said, 'The most important thing in life is not to look like a dweeb.' Do you have any idea how dweebish all of this is?" Daria asked.

'I know you were going to say 'geek' and geeky,' Daria!' Quinn thought.

"That's it, Daria. All I can say is that I hope you have a darn good defense lawyer," Jake said.

Daria thought for a moment. "A lawyer? Mom?"

"Sorry, honey, I'm prosecuting. And if I do say so myself, you're going down."

DeMartino smoking upside down...

La La La, La La La La

"Let me start by saying that, while I respect the effort that has gone into this... " Daria began, but she was interrupted.

Jake interuppted exclaiming. "Oh, my God, I almost forgot!" He rushed forward and grabbed the coffee table. "Sorry, councilor, the court requires this accoutrement." He dragged the coffee table over and lifted the chair onto it.

"Oh, for heaven's sake..." Helen murmured.

"There. Family court is now in session," Jake said as he climbed up on the 'accoutrement'.

"Careful. Don't fall off the accoutrement," Daria said.

"All rise," Jake paused whilst everyone rose. "Please be seated. The court calls the case of the family versus Daria and Quinn Morgendorffer."

"Let me start by saying that, while I respect the effort that has gone into this... "

Jake interuppted exclaiming. "Oh, my God, I almost forgot!" He rushed forward and grabbed the coffee table. "Sorry, councilor, the court requires this accoutrement." He dragged the coffee table over and lifted the chair onto it.

"Oh, for heaven's sake..." Helen murmured.

"There. Family court is now in session."

"Careful. Don't fall off the accoutrement," Daria said.

"All rise," Jake paused whilst everyone rose. "Please be seated. The court calls the case of the family versus Daria and Quinn Morgendorffer."

"Dad, what is this?" Daria asked.

'I was about to ask that, Daria,' Quinn thought.

"Dad? I don't see any Dad."

"Your honor, may the family proceed with our opening statements?"

After a brief pause in the proceedings, (Jake asking Helen how he looked as the judge.), Helen proceeded with her opening statement. "You honor, let me make it clear at the outset that this is not a witch hunt. Daria and Quinn are two fine girls who have often made us proud."

"But..." Daria began.

"But..." Quinn also began.

"But that doesn't make them exempt from the simple truth that rules are rules."

The phone rang. With hardly a pause Quinn ran and picked it up. She glanced at the caller id. "Sorry, Jerry, this is a bad time."

"It's Jamie!"

"Or boundaries," Helen said.

"Yeah, really bad time, could you call back in like an hour or something?" Quinn asked.

"Sure!" Jamie said.

"Quinn..."

"Bye!"

"Bye!"

Quinn hung up, dashed back to her seat and made her decision.

"Now, then..." Helen continued.

"I plead guilty as charged," Quinn said. "I place faith in your parental wisdom."

Daria glanced at her sister. 'Of course she's going to sacrifice herself,' she thought.

"Daria?"

"No plea, your honor."

"Daria, you have to make some kind of plea," Jake said.

"Still no plea."

"Daria..." Helen began.

Daria sighed. "Then I plea guilty as charged for coming home late on the first night."

Quinn glared at Daria. 'I'm taking you down with me!' She decided what to say. "She planned that!" she said.

"What? I did not!" Daria retorted.

"Yes, you did!"

"Girls! Stop it," Helen said, before one of their not-so-usual-anymore arguments started.

Quinn and Daria faced their parents, and waited for Jake to make his judgement.

They didn't have to wait for long. "Grounded for a month," Jake pronounced.

"What? I wasn't even the one who stayed out late last night," Daria exclaimed. 'This doesn't make sense.'

"We have to set boundaries, Daria. Nobody said the justice system would be fair," Helen said.

'I'm pretty sure that someone did,' Quinn thought.

"Actually, I think somebody did say that. Jefferson or somebody..."

"What have I told you about backing me up?" Helen asked Jake.

"Sorry, the sentence stands. You both are grounded for a month," Jake proclaimed.

"Very unfair," Daria said as she got up.

"It was fair," Helen said.

.4.

January 20, 2006

Quinn meet her friends halfway to the school.

"So, how did it go?" Kristen asked.

"Grounded! It starts tonight, at 7:00," Quinn lamented.

"How long?" Cindy asked with curiosity.

"A month. That's overkill!" Quinn said with annoyance.

Cindy gave Quinn a light hug. "That is excessive. The most I've been so was a week and half in seventh grade."

Kristen smirked. "That was one boring week," she said.

"I know you got up to something," Cindy said light heartedly.

Kristen shrugged. "You'll find out eventually."

"I'm sure I will," Cindy said playfully.

Quinn chuckled at her friends' playfulness and then added "Fortunately, she hasn't banned online activity, so we can still talk that way," Quinn said.

"I guess It's time to buy Guild Wars," Kristen said, knowing that the other two had been talking to her about it for a while.

"Yes, we'll do an instance at eight," Quinn said.

"Though she has to get through the prologue first," Cindy pointed out.

"Oh, yeah," Quinn said. She thought for a moment. "Nine thirty," she decided.

"That should be enough time," Cindy said.

Kirsten wondered what she was getting into. 'They wouldn't have recommended it if it wasn't a good game.'

"What else are you going to do?" Cindy asked Quinn.

"Board games," Quinn said.

"Doesn't sound so bad," Kristen said.

"But my parents get bored with them easily."

"I can see how that could be a problem."

Quinn nodded.

Later on in the day at the school... "Man, this game's gonna be great! I say Mr. D. goes down halfway through the second period," Kevin Thompson said.

"That's too late. He's gonna blow out early in the game, while the adrenaline's high," Michael 'Mack' McKenzie retorted.

"You guys are so insensitive," Jodie said.

"What do you have in the pool, Jodie?" Kevin asked.

"Third period, two minutes in. Prime cramping time," Jodie said. She then saw Daria come along. "Hey, Daria. What do you have in the DeMartino pool?"

"I'm not going. I'm grounded."

Jodie, Mack and Kevin laughed.

"What did you do to get grounded? No offense," Jodie said.

"None taken, especially since I'm the victim of a fairly bizarre experiment in parental justice."

"An experiment? On you?" Mack asked, with slight humor.

"Yeah, they deliberately exposed me to jurisprudence."

"Whoa! That's a little twisted," Kevin pointed out.

"Yeah. The sad part is that these are the people responsible for my genetic makeup."

Jodie and Mack laughed. Kevin was confused. 'Why would they do that?' he thought.

.5.

After talking to Jodie, Mack and Kevin, Daria met her two close friends. "How did it go?" Jane asked.

"Grounded. For a month."

"Whoa, that's excessive," Jane said.

"My feelings exactly," Daria said.

"You must be rather annoyed," Jennifer murmured.

"Oh yeah. They're going to be annoyed in turn."

"You're going to play music really loud?" Jennifer asked.

"You haven't heard it at full volume yet."

"Would I hear it at my place?" Jane asked.

"Not over Mystik Spiral."

"True."

.6.

Schloss Morgendorffer

6:59 PM

"Great dinner, honey. Right, girls?" Helen asked.

"Now, off to the exercise yard before lockup," Daria said.

"Hey, that's right!" Jake remembered "Any final words before grounding officially begins?"

"This sucks!" Quinn said.

"What have I said about using that word?" Helen asked.

"That you'll ground me or something?" Quinn responded.

"Hey, I wouldn't want to go back to Family Court if I were you," Jake said. He chuckled. "I hear the judge is pretty tough."

The clock chimed.

"See? This will fly by in no time," Helen said.

"I doubt that," Daria said as she got up.

Helen sighed.

.7.

Ruins of Ascalon City, Ascalon, Tyria

3 years after the Searing

(Main Guild Wars game world)

In the midst of Ascalon City three adventurers met. They were all human females. They were an experienced Ranger, a moderately experienced Warrior and an inexperienced Necromancer.

"So are you ready?" the Ranger asked.

"I am," the Warrior said.

"I think so," the Necromancer said.

"Well, you've got this far," the Ranger said.

"Certainly," the Necromancer said.

"Let's do it then," the Ranger said.

Lawndale

Leung-Bell residence 10:30 PM

Kristen closed the Guild Wars client. 'That was great! The month is going to fly by,' she thought. Of course, she knew that it wouldn't be the same. 'I hope they relent before the month is up.'

.8.

January 21, 2006

After breakfast, Quinn didn't go out 'window shopping' with her friends as she was acustomed to do on most Saturdays since she had arrived in Lawndale. 'I guess I'll have to look at games on Amazon,' she thought.

.9.

However, after an hour and a half of Amazon searching she was bored. 'Time for gaming then.' she thought. However as she turned on the X-Box, there was sudden burst of music and the house vibrated. She knew what it was; Daria playing her music with the amplifiers turned up to the highest settings. Very annoying. That was annoying. 'I guess that's one way of trying to get the grounding lifted. Of course it might have the opposite effect...' she thought. She turned the TV up to maximum herself as she...

.!.

Outside, a passer-by would have heard metal music, with a sudden burst of the X-Box startup sound mixed in...

. .

Quinn played Halo until lunch time.

"Quinn, you cannot spend the entire month in your room." Helen said as she entered the room.

"I can if Daria is playing her music rather loud all day," Quinn retorted.

Her mother glared at her "Yes, she'll turn it down, but still, come and interact with us. Most of the afternoon at least."

"You mean, boardgames?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Monopoly?"

"Yes."

"Scrabble?"

"Yes, Quinn."

"Chess?"

"We have that too. We have lots of games."

"Operation?"

"Definitely that," Helen said boredly.

"I'll come out," Quinn said.

"Now," Helen said, when she saw the Quinn wasn't saving the game.

Quinn made the menu come up. "I'm coming!"

.#.

Quinn spent the afternoon playing board games with her parents, and occasionally, Daria. After dinner she once again played Guild Wars with Cindy and Kristen.

.$.

January 22, 2006

Once again, Quinn was annoyed at the grounding.

"This is ridiculous," she said as she came down stairs to play board games again. She had betten, both her parents, but not Daria at chess the previous day. 'Daria will probably win scrabble too,' she thought.

Indeed, Daria did win the scrabble game, mainly using words like 'incarcerate' and 'harden'. The significance of that didn't escape Quinn, or their parents.

Later in the afternoon. Quinn decided to 'play' with her parents, by calling a psychic hotline. "...Really? You think that's going to happen in the next six months? That would be so great," she said.

"Quinn, I really have to use the phone," Helen said.

"Muh-om! I'm sorry, but I think that learning about my future husband is a little more important right now."

"What? Are you talking to that Clint person again?"

"Not Clint, It's my psychic buddy."

"Hang up that phone this instant! Those calls cost a fortune!" Quinn gave her the phone. "I'm sorry, but I need the phone and my daughter isn't allowed... what? Why, yes, I was about to call a client. Really? I believe he was born in August... ooooh!"

Her job done, Quinn made herself scarce.

.%.

Jake had had enough! Daria. Playing. Her. Metal. Music. At. Full. Volume! He pounded on her door as he cringed at the volume of the music that managed to escape the soundproofing of the padded walls of her room.

He knocked on her door. No answer. 'Of course, she can't hear me knocking! I'll have to go in!' he decided.

Jake entered the room. "Yes, Dad?" Daria asked.

"Yeah, hi, Daria. I was kind of wondering if maybe you could stop now."

"Dad, these tired bones may be locked behind prison walls, but when I play, my soul flies free as a bird."

"I'm sorry, honey. You go on and play. But please turn the volume down!"

"That's all I ask."

As her father went out. Daria moved the knob on her amplifier from '9' to '10'. 'He hasn't heard anything yet!' She grabbed the guitar and launched into her loudest song... The house vibrated and reverberated.

.^.

Jake put his hands to his ears. "Aaaaahhhhhh!" He ran down the hallway. "See what you did, Old Man! I'm unable to bear loud music!"

.&.

Quinn was online, chatting with Cindy when Daria let rip...

Geek_princess91: Noise! Noise! Noise!

Cindyquill: Huh?

Geek_princess91: Daria's music. Her amplifier must at full power.

Cindyquill: Oh.

Cindyquill: You have ear plugs?"

Geek_princess91: Somewhere, but not here in my room. Most likely in the attic, and the music would be louder up there.

Cindyquill: That's not helpful then.

Geek_princess91: Not at all.

Cindyquill: Would it be quieter downstairs?"

Geek_princess91: Possibly, but there isn't really anywhere to put the laptop where my parents wouldn't try to 'engage' me.

Cindyquill: I see.

.*.

Quinn signed off from her chat with Cindy. She knew that if she did try to talk to Daria about the volume of the music that one of their arguments would start. 'Not that it's so common anymore,' she remembered the time, just prior to the opening of the Coffee House, when Kristen talked to Daria. She had a thought. 'That's it! Kristen or Jane could ask Daria to turn the music down...' She then checked to see if Kristen was online.

.(.

Kristen wasn't online. 'I guess I have to call Jane,' Quinn thought. She decided to find the Lane's phone number

.).

Trent Lane entered his younger sister's room where she was engaged in her usual artistic activities. "Hey, Janie, phone." He handed her the cordless.

"Who is it?" Jane asked.

"Someone named Quinn, says she's Daria's sister." Trent's voice showed curiosity. He'd thought that Daria was an only child.

"I'll take it," Jane said, wondering why Quinn would call her.

.-.

"Hello, Quinn?" Jane said.

"Jane?"

"This is she, why are you calling?"

"Daria's playing her music at full volume!"

"And...?" Jane asked, wondering if Quinn would get to the point.

"So, I'm wondering if you could ask her to turn the music down."

Jane could see why Quinn would ask that. The music in question was quite prominent in the background. "Why can't you?"

"There would be an argument! She won't listen to me. She certainly won't turn it down for me."

"I see. I'll think about it. How did you get this number anyway?"

"I looked it up online, duh!"

"Of course," Jane said.

"So you won't ask her today?"

"Probably not."

._.

January 23, 2006

Daria met her two friends outside Lawndale High, shortly before homeroom.

"I had a strange experience yesterday afternoon," Jane confided.

"What kind of experience?" Daria wondered.

"Quinn called, asking if I would ask you to turn the music down."

"She was quite annoyed yesterday," Daria said with a smirk.

"She was quite annoyed, to call me. She even googled my number!"

"She always goes to the net first for answers."

Jane decided to change the subject. "You annoyed your parents too."

"Yes, I beat them in Scrabble and Monopoly."

"There's something more there, I'm sure," Jennifer commented.

"I also annoyed Dad with the music."

"I see," Jennifer said.

.=.

"How was the first weekend of grounding, Daria?" Jodie asked after first period.

"I had fun at others expense," Daria answered.

"How?"

"Winning boardgames and playing music at full volume."

"That's what I would do."

"Huh?"

"The boardgames that is. Not the music."

"Of course."

"If I tried playing loud music while grounded. It would only serve to extend the grounding."

"I'm trying to do the opposite," Daria said.

"Trying to bore your parents?"

"Exactly."

"I heard that you got grounded?" Jenna Swartz asked Quinn.

"Yes. But it's over the top! A month for two late nights in a row! It's too much. I can't do any shopping!"

"You shop a lot?" Jenna asked.

"There's always something new out," Quinn replied.

"That's true. New programs, new games, new DVDs..."

"Exactly."

"Your room must be bursting at the seams!"

"True."

"Anyway, you must be bored."

"They didn't forbid me to go online."

"So you could buy things there."

"It's not the same!" Quinn said.

"I guess not."

"But I'm going to sneak out and go to the Roller Hockey game."

"It would be worth it if you do," Jenna said with a laugh.

"You liked it last year?"

"Absolutely. I've even entered the DeMartino pool."

"So have I."

Jenna laughed. "So, I take it that you're not coming to the meeting after school tomorrow?" she asked, referring to the club that she was president of, the Anime Club.

"I'm afraid not."

"Don't worry. I will give you a copy of the minutes."

"That would be good."

.q.

January 24, 2006

At lunch Daria was surprised when she was approached by Brittany Taylor. "Yes, Brittany?"

"Um, there have been some rumors going around that you'r parents have, like, experimented on you."

"Oh?"

"That they give you generic makeup! Also subject you to, like, Jury Pruce Dancing?"

"Brittany, who told you this?"

"Kevin, also the other cheerleaders. Kevin for the generic makeup. Like, eep!"

Daria interuppted. "Brittany, Kevin misunderstood something. I'm sure that happens all the time."

Brittany twirled one of her pigtails around her finger. "You're right," she eventually admitted.

"All that is happening is that I unfairly got grounded."

"Grounded, what for? Wait, what about the Jury Pruce Dancing?"

"First it's not Jury Pruce Dancing. It's jurisprudence. Like in court. That's how I got grounded. A misguided attempt at including court procedure in parental discipline!"

"Oo-oh!"

"You understand?"

Brittany twirled her hair again. "I think so." Daria sighed. "Your Mom's a lawyer, right?"

"Yes," Daria answered, sure that Brittany had at least understood some of what she had said.

"So she decided to put, like, her work in practice at home?"

"Exactly."

"So what did you get grounded for?"

"Being out late two nights in a row," Daria admitted knowing that Brittany may keep pressing, if she didn't answer.

"So, you we'ren't late, like, two nights in a row?" Brittany asked with a twirl.

"No! But Quinn was. It's partially her fault that I was grounded!" Daria as said. She banged her fist upon the table.

"I see," Brittany said.

.Q.

January 25, 2006

As she arrived at school, Quinn met Jenna. Jenna gave her a copy of the minutes from the previous day's Anime Club meeting. "Cool, thanks, Jenna."

"You're welcome," Quinn said.

"How's the grounding going?"

Quinn grumbled. "There's only so many times I can play Monopoly and lose to Daria!" she said vehmently.

"Is it that bad."

"It wouldn't be so bad if she weren't so smug about it!"

"Annoy her back," Jenna suggested.

"You mean subject her to anime she doesn't like?"

"Exactly," Jenna said.

"That's a good idea," Quinn said with a slightly devious tone.

"What of your parents?"

"They usually loose first, although Mom wins sometimes."

"I can see that," Jenna said.

"I knew you would."

.w.

Daria walked with Jane and Jennifer between classes. "The rumors concerning your grounding have dropped off today," Jane said.

"Good, let them talk about DeMartino," Daria said.

"What I have heard is closer to the truth," Jane said.

"I guess Brittany has quashed the other stuff."

"Brittany?" Jennifer asked.

"She came to me yesterday at lunch. I refuted the rumors."

"Must have been rather good refuting," Jane said.

"She understood it better than I thought she would."

"I guess so," Jane said, after some thought.

"So, what are they saying about DeMartino?" Daria asked.

"That he's been working out all week. He really wants to defeat Rock 'N' Roll Randy," Jane said.

"I imagine after last year he really wants to win the rematch," Daria said.

Jennifer laughed.

"Same here," Jane said.

Indeed, all through Lawndale High, whereever students met between classes, they were discussing how well their head History teacher would do against his DJ rival...

.W.

After school, Quinn walked home with her friends. "I'll see you online," she said as she arrived at the house.

"See you then," Cindy said.

"I'll be on when I get home," Kristen said.

"Sure," Quinn said as she opened the door.

.e.

January 26, 2006

Daria was annoyed. Quinn had asked her to watch an anime with her.

"No, Quinn."

"This is a good one, It's about a card game, that's more than it appears."

"No!"

"At least one episode?" Quinn asked.

"Only one," Daria said. It was only 20 or so minutes, afterall.

.E.

January 27, 2006

Before School, Quinn met her friends. "So, Daria watched some anime?" Cindy asked.

"Some Yu-Gi-Oh but she only watched one episode," Quinn said.

"Should get her to watch One Piece," Kristen suggested.

"I will tomorrow," Quinn said.

"I hope she likes it," Kristen said.

"She may. But I'm not sure. I'm getting tired of her playing her music all day. I thought it was bad before. Now it's worse!"

"We'll have another game tonight then?" Cindy asked.

"Definitely," Quinn aggreed.

.r.

Daria met her friends at lunch. "Quinn's subjecting me to Anime."

"Nothing wrong with that," Jennifer commented.

"It would depend on the anime in question I suppose."

"Anime about card games!"

"Yu-Gi-Oh, I suppose," Jennifer said after taking a bite from her sandwich.

"It's worse than my parents attempting to play different card games after they had lost the board games."

"So you found it boring?" Jennifer asked.

"Of course! Tomorrow, she's going to make me watch some pirate anime."

"Depends on how well it's presented, I guess," Jane said.

"If it's the one I think it is, it's worth it, Daria," Jennifer said.

"If I like the first episode, it'll be worth it."

Jennifer smiled. Daria wondered what that pirate anime would be about for her to be interested.

.R.

After Dinner, Kristen went to her room. "Gaming again, Kristen?" her brother Keith asked.

"Yes, Quinn's grounded, so we can't go to the Pizza place."

"What did she get grounded for?" Keith asked.

"Being out late."

"How long?"

"A month," Kristen answered.

"That seems harsh."

"You're telling me," Kristen said as she opened the Guild Wars client.

January 28, 2006

Daria was playing her guitar (loudly) when she heard knocking on the door. It was Helen. "Come down, Daria. Quinn has the DVD of the anime ready," she said.

"I hope this is good."

"I've seen it. It is rather good. A good story."

"I'll come down."

"Good!"

.t.

Daria came down. "I'm ready for the pirate anime, Quinn."

"Great!" Quinn said as she started the first episode of One Piece...

.T.

After watching two episodes of One Piece, Daria played Monopoly yet again with her parents. Jake was losing, yet again...

"Uhhh, okay... let's see... one... two... eh, twelve... seventeen... I have seventeen dollars."

"Any property?" Daria asked.

"It's all mortgaged."

"Care to make a deal?"

"I'd need infinite free passage through all your properties..."

"I can do that."

"...five thousand dollars..."

"Keep talking."

"...and all your railroads." The doorbell rang.

"I believe we can do business." Daria went to answer the door.

"Jake! You cannot revoke Daria's grounding."

"But I'm losing!"

.u.

Daria opened the door. "See? She's okay," Jane said.

"I guess so," Jodie said.

"Although the clothing would disguise any electrodes below the neck..." Jane said.

"What are you talking about?" Daria asked.

"There are more rumors about what you're going through," Jane said.

"I guess DeMartino isn't enough to keep their attention," Daria said. "It has been more board game hell."

"When does it end?" Jodie asked.

"It ends on Monday," Daria lowered her voice. "I'm busting out. I'm going to the Roller Hockey Game."

January 29, 2006

After school, Daria had finally had it. She was ready to bust out. Up in her room, she called Jane and Jennifer in a conference call.

"I'm ready to go," she said.

"Good, Daria," Jane said.

"Cool," Jennifer said quietly.

"I have recordings of my music that I can play, I can climb down the lattice in under three minutes, and I know exactly how often the neighborhood security guy drives by. It'll be tight, but I think I can make it." Daria was then interuppted by the call waiting beep. "Hold on."

"Sure," Jennifer said.

"Yeah," Jane said.

Daria pressed the call waiting button. "Hello?"

"Daria, this is your mother. Would you tell Dad that I have to work late drafting a report?" Helen said.

"You bet. Go get 'em, tiger." She pressed the call waiting button again. "Jane? Jen?"

"Yo," Jane said.

"Here," Jennifer said.

Call waiting beeped again. "Hold on!" Daria said with annoyance. "Hello?"

"Hey, Daria, it's Dad. Would you tell Mom that I've got dinner with a client tonight? A biggie!" Jake said.

"Uh, I'll be sure to leave her that message."

"Super. Bye-bye!"

Daria pressed the call waiting button again. "Guys?"

"Yeah?" Jane asked.

"Yeah?" Jennifer echoed.

"New plan. Come over and pick me up. I'll be at the front door."

.y.

Daria opened the door. "Hello!" Quinn said.

"Mom and Dad are taking the night off from being jailers, so I'm taking the night off, too."

"You're... busting out?!"

"The confinement has made me desperate. If I don't get out, I'm afraid I might do something crazy."

"Really?"

"I'm going to the Roller Hockey Game, are you?" Daria expected Quinn would want to go, but she didn't expect her answer.

"Yeah, but I'll be showing up 'fashionably late'."

"I doubt it, you know how Ms. Li is with security."

"There are ways in that she doesn't expect."

"I think she would expect them!" Daria said, with a great deal of annoyance in her voice.

"You'll be surprised," Quinn shot back.

Daria sighed as she went out the door. "Bye."

"I'll see you there," Quinn said with a smirk.

.Y.

When Daria, Jane and Jennifer arrived at the School, the Roller Hockey Game had already started. "Do you think anything has happened yet?" Daria asked.

Jane pointed out the ambulance in the parking circle. "Something cool? Nah, the ambulance is still in the lot."

"Last year, it was in the second half," Jennifer said, as they approached the Hall...

It was late in the first half when there was an interupption... Suddenly the lights flicked off!

Principal Ms. Li was outraged. "What is the meaning of this!" she cried out as the players came to a halt on the darkened ring.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Daria commented.

"Because you were enjoying yourself?" Jane asked.

"Nah!" Daria added, with a tone of denial.

"Slowly the lights flicked back on, with an addition. Two spotlights were focused on the entrance. Suddenly Cindy and Kristen entered, skating and wearing Guild Wars inspired cosplay.

"Quinn, what are you doing?" Daria asked rhetorically.

"Something that will get her into trouble no doubt," Jennifer groused, quietly.

"Certainly," Jane said to Jennifer.

.u.

Anthony came to a stop as the lights went down. 'Ah, Ms. Leung-Bell, Ms. Robinson-Brolsma, impeccable timing!' He glanced at his adversary, barely visble in the darkness. 'I'll be ready.'

.U.

Cindy and Kristen did a complex set of movements (based on their dance training), and then moved back to the entrance. They courtisied and waved, after coming to a stop.

Then Quinn entered, waving...

With Quinn's interruption over, the roller hockey game continued. Anthony threw himself at his opponent.

.i.

Ten minutes into the second half, DeMartino and Rock 'n' Roll Randy were contesting each other for control of the puck.

"Come on... take... your punishment like... a man!" DeMartino said.

"I'm not a man, dude, I'm a rocker!" Randy said in response.

"Why, you..." DeMartino took control of the puck and advanced. "Where's your rock & roll power now? Hippie!"

Randy wacked DeMartino's leg, causing him to fall. He clutched at it in pain...

Andrea Hecuba leapt up. "Yes!"

Randy celebrated. "Woohoo! Rock & roll power forever!"

Mr. DeMartino groaned. "My knee!" he got up. "Arrgh!"

"Damn!" Andrea said.

.I.

"I don't suppose we can get a refund?" Daria asked rhetorically.

"He could still have a heart attack. He tries walking on the bad knee, and the pain is so bad his heart stops," Jane said.

"Right," Daria said.

"Just trying to find the silver lining," Jane commented.

Jennifer sighed.

"Too morbid?" Jane asked.

.o.

Meanwhile Kevin was looking at Daria. "They did mental stuff to her. I can tell," he said.

"Nobody better try that on me!" Brittany said.

"Yeah..." Jodie said.

.O.

Helen arrived home to find all the lights out. At the least she expected the light in Quinn's bedroom to be on. She looked up again. Not even the dim glow of her monitor screens. Unless she was in the dining room...

Helen entered the dining room. Quinn wasn't there... "Quinn! Jake! Where are you." She decided to check whether Daria was in her room...

Helen opened Daria's door, and found that her older daughter wasn't home either. "Where are they?" She then heard her husband's Lexus as it pulled up outside...

.p.

Back at the school...

Ms. Barch was laying into Randy. "It's payback time, Randy!"

"Hey, this isn't so bad!" Jane said.

"Beats Monopoly," Daria said.

"It certainly would," Jennifer said.

.P.

After the Roller Hockey game ended, the Morgendorffer sisters and their friends sneaked back to Glen Oaks Lane.

When they had arrived back they saw that their both their parents' cars were in the driveway. "Going in and facing the music?" Jane asked after Daria had hesitated.

"Of course," Daria said.

Quinn was already approaching the door. "Bye, I'll see you tomorrow," she said to Cindy and Kristen. "See you at School," Cindy said.

.[.

Helen was right in the foyer, between the door and the stairs. "Upstairs! Now! We'll talk about this in the morning, before you go to school!" Her expression was such that both of them knew that she would brook no discussion...

.].

January 30, 2006

Daria entered the kitchen at twelve minutes past seven. She saw her parents sitting there. Quinn was standing next to the island bench. "Your Honor," she began...

"Haven't you already made enough mockery of our judicial system?" Jake asked angrily.

"We just want to confer with our distinguished counterpart on the prosecution," Daria said, as she came up alongside Quinn."

"Yeah," Quinn agreed.

"That seems fair," Helen said warily. Then both Quinn and Daria told her what had happened.

.{.

"You can't seriously expect me to plea bargain. We're talking about a repeat offender here," Helen said when they were finished.

"So, we screwed up, but either of us aren't hard cases yet. Both of us could go either way..." Quinn said.

"Quinn, Daria, it's our policy to be tough, especially on youthful transgressors."

"But think of the effort you have to spend on incarceration. Scrabble... Risk... Monopoly... Operation," Daria pointed out.

"I see your point," Helen said.

.}.

"Well?" Jake asked.

"Your honor, the family has offered to settle, they both agree to parole."

"We have to call if we're later than seven pm," Quinn said.

.\.

"Wait, Quinn," Helen said as they both began to go and get ready.

"Yeah?"

"I got a call from Ms. Li," she said with her hands on her hips.

"Mr. DeMartino said that I could do it!" Quinn explained.

Helen sighed. "Yes, she did say that, but you still disrupted the school event!"

"For a short time," Quinn pointed out.

"Obviously the attempt at grounding went badly, but there are other punishments available. Do I make myself clear!"

"Mom?" Quinn asked, wondering what those punishments would be.

"You will take out the garbage every second day, rather than every fourth day. The same with unloading the dishwasher." Again, her expression was such that it brooked no argument.

"Yes, Mom."

.|.

"So, you have to do extra chores?" Kristen commented as they approached the school.

"Yeah, it turned out that they were too busy to effectively continue the grounding..." Quinn said.

"That's something," Cindy commented.

"At least I didn't get grounded either," Kristen said.

"Neither did I, but they did institute a curfew," Cindy said.

"When?" Quinn asked.

"Nine pm," Cindy added. "Lights out by Ten thirty on a school night."

"That's not so bad," Kristen said, "Compared to what Quinn has just gone through."

"True," Cindy added.

.a.

After school at the Pizza place, Daria filled Jane and Jennifer in on everything that had happened that morning.

"So, basically, you've convinced them that you were too dull to be worth grounding," Jane said.

"Exactly, and the sad thing is, it's kinda true," Daria answered.

"For them anyway," Jennifer added.

"True," Daria said. Kevin then came over. "Kevin, I already told you, my parents did not conduct experiments on me."

"I know, I know, but seriously, now tell me the truth," Kevin said.

Daria sighed, and glared at Kevin. "All right. I had a magnetic device implanted in my head."

"I knew it! What does it do?" he asked.

"It attracts gullible boys."

"Cool! Does it work?"

"It's working right now," Daria said, wondering when he would get it.

Kevin looked around, then turned around. "Whoa! Dude! That is very uncool," he said and then left.

"Nice trick," Jennifer said.

"There's no sadder sight on this Earth than a football player trying to think," Daria said.

"Who said that?" Jane asked.

"I believe it was Jefferson," Daria said.