Office hours- Saturday

[justrealistic]

Daria had an office? Huh. At least it gave her one more place to hide out.

Though today wasn't a good day to actually hide, probably. She'd probably be expected to talk to parents and relatives if they came by. She'd much rather be hanging out watching TV with Jane for the first time in months.

Stupid responsibilities.

Whatever. Daria was here, sitting behind her desk in her suspiciously sparse office, thinking she'd just keep it entirely devoid of decoration.

[Open!]

Comments

[titantic_fan]

With Beth and Summer taking the morning to enjoy a little girls' time at the spa, Jerry was going to take the advantage to hit up the school and meet all of Summer's teachers before his ex-wife did, which, in his mind, meant leaving the better impression.

It also meant getting mildly lost despite having a map clutched in his hand, but, eventually, he found the first teacher on the list and knocked on the frame of the door.

"Hello? Miss, uh, Morgendorffer?"

[justrealistic]

Oh good. A visitor.

"Yes," Daria monotoned. "That's me."

[titantic_fan]

"Oh," his relief was evident, practically melting off his shoulders, "good. I found the right place. Hi, I'm Jerry Smith, I believe my daughter Summer is in your, uh..." He checked the list again, "Creative Writing class?"

[justrealistic]

"That's right," Daria said, a little weirded out at being addressed like an actual authority figure by an adult because she was one. She was actually going to have to be nice, probably. "How can I help you?"

[titantic_fan]

"Oh, well, you know, I just thought I'd stop in," Jerry said, "see how she's doing. I know she's never been a very good student and she's had some...issues in the past, so it's good to know..."

Isn't that what these weekends were for? Parent teacher conference stuff? Now Jerry wasn't so sure. Which meant a bit of awkward babble.

"So, Creative Writing, huh? That's, uh..." Not something he'd ever think Summer would be into, "...interesting?"

[justrealistic]

"Yes. It's a chance for students to hone in on their imaginations to create something," Daria replied. "Every week they get a prompt and need to come up with a story based on it."

[titantic_fan]

"...is she any good?"

Really, that was the ultimate thing Jerry was curious about, even if it was pretty clear how skeptical he was. After all, he had been banished from many a Barbie playtime for trying to act out fairy tales or other stories when all little Summer wanted to do was brush their hair and change their clothes. Discovering that perhaps she liked creating stories now would just be...a devastating blow the likes of which he was not equipped to handle right now.

[countsasaplace]

After a while, Jane found the office, and stood in the doorway, frowning.

"Does sitting in her feeling like you're playing dress-up in your mommy's clothes?" she asked.

[justrealistic]

"It's funny how you think I would know what that'd feel like," Daria pointed out. "I thought you were exploring the town."

[countsasaplace]

"I did," Jane said, sliding into the chair on the other side of the desk. "The thing about small towns is that there's not a lot of town. How long are you stuck here?"

[justrealistic]

Daria shrugged. "Until people stop coming in, I guess."

[countsasaplace]

Jane would have jumped straight to asking her to leave because she was bored, but being in here was still weird.

"I feel like I'm on a job interview."

[justrealistic]

"So, Miss Lane, where do you see yourself in five years?" Daria deadpanned.

[countsasaplace]

"Already regretting my student loans that I have to pay off with my meager earnings, especially since my art degree won't actually help me in selling art," Jane replied, way too easily.

[justrealistic]

"I regret to inform you that you do not fit the requirements for this position, but thank you for coming in," Daria said.

[countsasaplace]

Jane frowned. "And here I thought nepotism got you everywhere."

[justrealistic]

"Speaking of which," Daria said, "remind me to tell you what counts as a presidency in this place."

Shudder.

[countsasaplace]

"Let's not and say you did. Or let's not even say you did," Jane replied. "So you actually buy into this whole ~alternate universe~ thing?"

It had taken weeks for Jane to realize that Daria wasn't pulling her leg with that sort of thing, and that was only because Daria would never commit to a joke that long.

[justrealistic]

Daria shrugged. "Weird stuff happens. Sometimes students get replaced by robot versions of themselves. Sometimes everything tastes like pumpkin spice. Also all the newspapers say 2017. So it's an elaborate joke, or it's real, and either way it's more interesting than if it were normal, so I'll go with it."

[countsasaplace]

"The future tastes like pumpkin spice?"

Ewwwww.

[justrealistic]

Daria stood up. "I'm probably done here. Let me introduce you to the pumpkin spice aisle, and then we'll get pizza to remind us what food's supposed to taste like."

[countsasaplace]

"Sure, let's do that," Jane said, standing as well. "But maybe without that first part."

[revengenotebook]

Paris came in followed by an older woman. "This is Nanny," she said perfunctorily. "Tell her that I'm a joy and a treasure in class and I challenge you to make teaching better and more fulfilling for your sad, meager life. But nicer than that."

[justrealistic]

"Hello," Daria said to Nanny in a perfect monotone, "Paris is a treasure and a challenge."

[eusouababa]

Nanny burst out laughing. "//Oh, I can imagine,//" she said in Portuguese. "//I've watched her since she was little. Challenging is definitely correct."//

[justrealistic]

That reaction almost got a smile out of Daria.

"I didn't understand that," she admitted. She knew she liked it, though.

[revengenotebook]

"She said that I'm a joy to be around," Paris loosely translated.

[drinkwine_savehorses]

Later that afternoon, unaware that her ex-husband had been around earlier in the day, the other Smith parent came in through Daria's office door. She dreaded this, but a relaxing morning at the spa with her daughter and an even more relaxing glass bottle of wine back at the hotel helped to make her mood much better.

"Miss Morgendorffer?" she said by way of introduction. "I'm Beth Smith. My daughter Summer is in your Creative Writing class."