Stacy Rowe gulped as she entered the main doors of Lawndale High. This past weekend, she had been part of a quadruple date with Sandi, Quinn and Tiffany. And somehow, some way, despite much careful preparation, she had managed to wreck it. At least, that's what Sandi had informed her in a spluttering confrontation immediately following said date.

Upon further reflection, Stacy found that she could not remember much of what Sandi was talking about. She did remember the anguish in Quinn's eyes that occasionally sneaked past a face of indifference, and Tiffany's pained expression. She tried a little harder, but only recalled accusations of "cups de tates" and uprisings, or something akin to it.

She frowned. Must have been because she wore her hair down. Well, damn it, it was up now. In the standard braids, which were perfectly smooth and silky. Maybe it was the severely understated makeup? She had only wanted to try it, just once, just to let everyone see what she looked like minus the Max Factor. Her date had been pleased. So had everyone else's dates and indeed, 2/3 of the Fashion Club. In fact, it seemed very much as if the only person displeased was Sandi Griffin.

And there she stood at the end of the main hallway, speaking in her disdainful voice to the other two members of the Fashion Club. As their secretary approached, she looked up and all but snarled, "So glad you could join us, Stacy. I'm quite sure that you enjoy activities with your friends, don't you?"

"Sure," the quieter girl said, uncertainly.

"And since our date on Saturday went so very well, thanks to a certain member of the Fashion Club wanting to hog the spotlight, we as a group have decided that you are entirely qualified to teach the more…disadvantaged students about proper etiquette on dates."

Quinn's shoulders slumped. Tiffany looked vaguely uncomfortable. But they both remained silent. Stacy, for her part, was merely confused.

"Stacy Rowe, until further notice, you are on probation from the Fashion Club. You will turn in your official pink secretary's notebook with all pertinent information to the president immediately."

She didn't bawl, scream, or faint, even though this had been a recurring nightmare since the beginning of her sophomore year. Instead, with a gesture that could not be mistaken for anything except relief, she deftly tossed the flamingo-pink binder to Sandi, who clumsily dropped it, and walked away in search of a can of non-diet soda.

Class was nearly over. And Stacy needed ideas on how to prepare for the 'hooomecoming party – that is, of course, completely voluntary' that Mrs. Li was currently announcing through the tinny intercom. Having been summarily relieved of her duties of copying the tirades between Sandi and Quinn verbatim, she now needed to go shopping. Alone. After all, a school dance was fast approaching, and social engagements really didn't stop for personal crises such as being dumped from your own special clique.

Although she was mildly concerned about how to find a date without the guidance of Sandi, she knew that there were guys at school who weren't quite as in demand to necessitate much effort. A few winks of the eye, a sweet smile – not 'hussy' sweet, though, and bam – date officially set. However, to really show capability, she might need to snag a guy more popular than she currently was now. The guy had to be slightly more in demand than the girl. Balance was the key to the universe. She'd heard that somewhere.

Upon trying to actually remember which guys were popular enough for her to go with, and yet not so popular that they were now out of her league as a disgraced Fashion Club member, Stacy found herself in a nasty dither.

James Carmichael. Cute, but popularity way down since wrecking the Lexus.

Harry Silverton. Not cute in the conventional way, but quite rich and supposedly getting a Navigator for nothing in particular. Popularity on the rise.

Mase Trundle. Very cute and tattooed with a thorny rose. Oooh, dangerous. Medium popularity due to oddly shaped earlobes.

Alex Lufton. Cute, popular, but had a rep for unnecessary giggling in certain situations. Questionable.

Randy Bloomington. Cute in a more nerdy way. Was rumored to have money. Was also rumored to have another green substance elsewhere on his person that wasn't nearly as charismatic. Sandy tore her list to shreds.

She pondered the thought of simply trying to go alone. Of course, it wasn't what the popular people did. But maybe she could handle being mildly unpopular. She always seemed to be the third string member of the group, the one that the guys went to when Quinn was just a little too unavailable and Sandi was being just a little too capricious and Tiffany was going through her "seriously fat" stage that seemed to last all month long.

Before she could attempt a new list, the bell rang and she decided that now was a good time to find a way to get to the mall from school. Yes, she could just go on home and borrow her one of her parents' cars. But wouldn't now be a perfect opportunity to try out her newly found confidence and test the ever-changing waters of popularity? She could just ask one of the three J's to give her a ride. The one with the black hair was sitting two chairs over from her. She leaned over and whispered, "Jamie."

"I'm Joey," he hissed back. "And anyway, I'm not supposed to be talking to you."

Her eyes widened, but only a little; pop eyes weren't fashionable. "Says who?"

"Says Sandi. She says you're totally into dating geeks now. So you must be turning into a brain, and I don't talk to brainy chicks."

Stacy scratched her head. She was pretty sure that her past date was actually quite non-geeky, and that she was in actuality very much mot a brain at all, but if she couldn't get a ride with one of the second-tier football players, she might actually be forced to drive herself to the mall. So she shrugged, said, "Okay, thanks," and left. Joey watched her leave, then tossed a note to Quinn, who was just passing by. The contents of the note as pertaining to Stacy are summarized as follows:

Hey,

She took it really well. Is there something about that date that Sandi doesn't know?

I luvvvvv uuuuuu!!!!!! Joey

Stacy went to lunch and ate outside for the first time ever, sitting under a tree. The cool breeze ruffled her braids and impulsively, she undid them, deciding that she wanted to feel the breeze in her hair at least once in a while.

A bird was singing quite merrily nearby. She wondered that she had never heard it before, until she recalled that she had always been bombarded with either music or conversation. It was definitely a change of pace to be left to her thoughts, and she actually did have a few rumbling through her head apart from the dance and her waning popularity. Such as a book that she needed to read for her literature class. She looked at the syllabus for the first time since the semester had begun and located the current week.

"'Raisin in the Sun.' Why would we be learning about fruit in that class?"

Intrigued all the same, she finished her sandwich and another non-diet soda and marched off directly to the library, failing to notice that Tiffany was keeping a watchful eye on her from the last window of the cafeteria.

As soon as Sandi finished giving her opinion on tomorrow's weather and how they could coordinate their outfits to match the sky, Tiffany leaned over to Quinn and whispered cautiously, "Y'know, Stacy doesn't seem real upset about all of this."

The younger Morgendoffer nodded. "She must know something we don't. By the way, don't you think that she was really cute on Saturday?"

"Yeah, she was really cute."

"Why is Sandy so mad, then?"

But just then, Sandy returned, and the conversation was postponed until they could safely talk about her behind her back.

Author's Notes: Upon reading several of the submitted pieces and feedback reviews in the 'Daria' section at FF.net, I became aware that

1)'Daria' writers are pretty serious about their established canon, and

2)Clichés usually don't go over well, even in parody.

I'm not quite sure how badly 'Fashion Club member is booted/Fashion Club member turns out to be an intelligent young lady' has been beaten to death, considering that I'm quite late to the party, but I've always liked Stacy Rowe and thought that she deserves more respect than she got…hopefully this got across in the first part. Feedback, both positive and constructively criticism are of course appreciated.