"The Morning After"
A Piece Of Daria Fanfiction By
Brandon League
(Brnleague@aol.com)

Legalities-Daria and her pals are owned by MTV/Viacom and NOT me. There, you happy?

Summary-The morning after a wild graduation celebration with the Fashion Club, Stacy Rowe discovers that she's a bigger party animal than she ever could have dreamed.
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"Oh, my head..."

Stacy Rowe opened one eye slowly. At the moment, it was all she had the energy to do. In her eighteen years on this planet, her head had NEVER hurt as badly as it did right this second. It felt as though her brain was a pinball, and it was slamming into the sides of her skull over and over again. She was soaked in sweat, her legs felt slightly numb, and somehow, through some perversion of science, there was a fur coat on her tongue. What in God's name was wrong with her? For almost five whole seconds, she had no recollection whatsoever. Then the softest of groans escaped her lips. It was those darned "Rumple Meisters!" They had snuck up on her!

Gingerly, Stacy opened both her eyes and did a once over of her surroundings. She had a feeling that she already knew what she was going to see, but like someone who slows down as they pass a ghastly car crash she was compelled to see the facts. Sure enough, she was in Sandi Griffin's old "Care Bears" sleeping bag lying on the floor of Sandi's bedroom. Lying next to her, also in a sleeping bag, was her good friend Quinn Morgendorffer. About six feet away, lying face down on her bed, was Sandi herself. They both looked pretty much like Stacy felt, like they had gone twelve rounds with Lennox Lewis and hadn't survived. On the nightstand next to Sandi's bed, Stacy saw the implements of last night's destruction. Sitting there, with a rather ominous gleam were a bottle of Jagermeister and a bottle of Rumple Minze...next to four shot glasses.

Stacy groaned. Darn you, Sandi. I KNOW that High School graduation only comes once in a girl's life, but why did we have to drink? Why couldn't we just sit down with a great big tub of fat-free popcorn and watch "Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone" like I wanted to? You have a DVD player, Sandi. Stacy rose slowly to a sitting position and slowly rubbed her temples. Well that confirmed one thing; her head was still attached to the rest of her body. Strangely, Stacy didn't feel sick. As much as her head throbbed and her joints ached, she felt no urge to vomit. Last night is a blur; maybe I did a lot of throwing up then? Stacy sighed. God only knew what she had done last night. She had only vague memories up until about 12:30, and then everything became hazy. She remembered sitting Indian style in the floor with Quinn, Sandi and...TIFFANY! Where was Tiffany?

Taking her time, not wanting to fall on her face, Stacy managed to stand up. Her joints protested, and there was a soft, low burning sensation on her right ankle, but she got to her feet. She was more than a little alarmed. What if Tiffany had tried to drive home? What if she had fallen down the stairs and hurt herself? What if she had wandered off? In her highly intoxicated state, anything could have happened to her! What if she was even... Suddenly Stacy heard an all too familiar sound and almost laughed out loud. It was the toilet flushing. Thank God! She's all right! Stacy visibly relaxed and went down the hall to the bathroom. She softly knocked on the bathroom door. "Tiffany," she croaked, "is that you? Are you all right?"

The door slowly opened and there stood her other good friend, Tiffany Blum-Deckler. Tiffany looked more or less like she always did. Stacy guessed that Tiffany had probably spent a good thirty to forty-five minutes doing some major overhaul work to restore herself to normal, if Sandi and Quinn's sleeping forms had been any suggestion. She repeated herself. "Are you okay, Tiff?" Tiffany blinked and looked at Stacy for almost a full minute before she said, "Yeaaah, Stacyyy I'mmm finnne." Stacy resisted the urge to snicker. Tiffany had never been the sharpest knife in the cupboard, but now she was hung over to boot. No doubt, she felt just as bad as Stacy did. Stacy felt all her worries about Tiffany's fate turn to smoke and drift away. She was relieved.

Stacy heard the sound of a door being opened behind her, followed by a barely stifled yawn as Quinn lurched out into the hallway. She looked horrible. Her hair was wild and mussed, she swaggered like a wino, and to top it all off, there was a huge brown stain on her pink baby tee. The sight morbidly fascinated Stacy. Gosh, how messed up DID we get last night? She reached down and absentmindedly rubbed her right ankle. It feels sunburned, she mused. Maybe I spent too much time in the tanning bed yesterday morning? She didn't think to look at her ankle as Quinn staggered by her and Tiffany, mumbled something that might as well have been Greek, and slammed the bathroom door. Seconds later, both girls heard the sound of water running. Stacy grinned and whispered to Tiffany, "I hope she remembers to undress before she gets in the shower." Both girls snickered.

"Like, um, what's so funny, Stacy?"

Stacy and Tiffany looked up in surprise as Sandi crept out into the hallway. Sandi stretched and strutted normally down the hallway, stopping in front of the two impressed girls. "Sanndi, howww commme yourrre sooo alerrrt," Tiffany asked, mystified. Sandi smirked at Tiffany. "Tiffany, darling, I've drank alcohol before," she said smugly, "it doesn't hit me as hard as it does you guys. Now what were you laughing at?" Stacy repeated her line to Sandi about Quinn forgetting to undress and Sandi grinned widely. "That would be a shame, wouldn't it?" The three girls snickered madly. Twenty minutes later, when Quinn emerged from the bathroom looking considerably fresher, the three cracked up again. Quinn looked at them, puzzled. Her best friends could be SO weird sometimes.

An hour later, the four freshened up ex-Fashion Club members sat at the kitchen table in the Griffin household. Luckily for the girls, Sandi's parents, Tom and Linda Griffin were upstate visiting Tom's parents and they had dragged Sandi's two little brothers, Sam and Chris, along for the ride. Sandi, being too old to drag, had been allowed to stay behind. Sandi remembered the grin on her mother's face as her family piled into the family car. Linda knew damned good and well what Graduation night was like, she too had been popular in high school, and she didn't want her daughter to miss out on the same fun she had had when she graduated from high school. Linda had put her hands on Sandi's shoulders saying, "My baby girl is all grown up." Then they had been off, her father complaining about "freeway traffic" as they disappeared from sight. Sandi was more grateful than Linda would ever know.

Stacy smiled as she saw how deep in thought Sandi was. It meant that it was up to her to get the coffee for her friends. Usually the four girls wanted no part of coffee, considering it gave you wrinkles and all. This time, however, it was necessary. She smiled as she put down a cup of coffee in front of Quinn and Tiffany and gently tapped Sandi on the shoulder. "Coffee, Sandi," she gently prompted. As the four girls sat at the table, Stacy unconsciously rubbed her ankle. It was itching like mad! It had to be a mild sunburn from that darned tanning bed! The four best friends sipped their coffee and made idle chitchat when suddenly Quinn said what was on all their minds. "Hey you guys? Does anyone remember what the Hell went on last night? I can't remember much and it's driving me crazy!"

To the surprise of all four girls, it was Tiffany who dropped the first major clue. "Youuu guyyys, I rememberrr Deggga Streeet," she said softly. Sandi, Quinn and Stacy gasped. When they composed themselves, they thought carefully. Then Stacy said in a hushed tone, "She's right! I remember Dega Street too! Didn't we walk over that way late last night?" For a minute Sandi and Quinn were speechless, then Quinn squealed, "Yes! We did go to Dega Street! I remember seeing those black baby tees in that store window! Remember, Sandi? You and I went in." For a moment, Sandi sat quietly, thinking, and then her eyes lit up with recognition. "Kuh-winn, you're right! Tiffany stayed outside because she kept drifting off to sleep. She was leaning on that brick wall...and Stacy, I can't remember. Stacy where did you go on Dega Street last night? I seem to remember that you just kinda disappeared for a little while."

Stacy racked her brain hard. She struggled hard with her mind, trying to get her memories of last night to leak out, but for the life of her, they wouldn't come. Then Stacy remembered something she saw on an old episode of Cheers once. If you ever get so drunk that you can't remember the night before, search your pockets and maybe you'll find a clue. Stacy stood up slowly and searched the pockets of her jeans. She felt silly, she knew she wouldn't find anything weird. Just as this thought crossed her mind, a piece of paper slipped into her fingers. She pulled it out and glanced at it. Suddenly she dropped the paper with a whimper, her face suddenly ghostly white. Quinn was at her side immediately, asking her what was wrong. Stacy didn't reply, she just pointed to the scrap of paper on the floor. Quinn picked it up and read it then, she too, turned pale. Sandi and Tiffany were concerned. What was the matter with her? She showed them the paper...the one hundred and thirty-five dollar receipt from "Axl's Piercing Parlor." Suddenly she understood what the itching on her ankle was. Without another word, Stacy lifted up her right leg and showed her friends the brand new rose tattoo on her ankle.

End Notes-Ha. Ha. Ha. What did you think? I wrote this one on an urge. The concept was simple; the Fashion Club gets drunk on Graduation night. What will they do? I think that I stayed in character, don't you? As is usually the case, I HAD A BLAST writing this. I hope you enjoy this one. I love the character of Stacy Rowe and I believe that as sweet and innocent as she is, this would happen with the help of a little "liquid courage." As usual, feel free to email me your thoughts. Whether they are positive, negative or indifferent doesn't really matter, but I must insist, no DEATH THREATS or MARRIAGE PROPOSALS, I will accept neither! Enjoy!