For the purpose of this AU the version of Esteemsters I've written here has been time shifted forward so the following scene takes place in September 2011, a couple of weeks after Jane Lane starts her Sophomore year at Lawndale High. Some dialogue by Glenn Eichler and Susie Lewis Lynn.

This is fanfiction, done for fun and no money is being made. Daria and related characters are the property of Glenn Eichler and MTV/Viacom.

One Little Thing Chapter 1

'So then all the girls go to a different class and a female counselor talks to them about "body image".'

'What do the boys talk about? Do you know?' The new girl who'd just transferred in from what she described as "The Absolute Arsehole of Texas" asked her new friend.

'A room full of boys and a male counselor?' Jane Lane, artist extraordinaire asked.

The two girls stopped and looked at each other. 'Nocturnal emissions!' They said in unison, then laughed.

Daria looked quizzically at Jane through her rose tinted John Lennon glasses and asked 'You said you've done this course six times. Why can't you test out?'

'I could test out, I have all the answers in my notebook, but I like having low self esteem, it makes me feel special.'

'That isn't very funny Jane, low self-esteem is a serious issue.'

Jane looked sideways at the shorter girl, considering. 'No' she answered. 'The only funny thing is that the powers that be in Lawndale High think that Manson and O'Neill between them are competent to deal with any psychological issue, it's really just a class where they dump kids who don't toe the line and give pat answers to Manson's dumbass tests. As regards to actual help you might as well read fortune cookies, or the aphorisms on the bottom of your daily calendar... Don't wish to be nosy but have you...'

'I've had some therapy... but I'm all better now.' Daria flashed her a totally false toothy grin that wouldn't have looked any better on a month old corpse.

'Anything to do with the limp? If you don't mind me asking.' Jane's artistic eye had spotted the deformity in the thigh muscle in Daria's left leg through the skin tight jeans she wore. Her lower legs encased in serious looking knee-length biker boots. A many strapped and studded leather jacket completed the ensemble.

They walked along in silence for a short while. Jane was afraid she might have pushed her luck with the first interesting person she'd met in High School. She was about to apologize when Daria finally answered. 'Yeah... kinda. You noticed the limp huh?'

'Hey it's not that bad, you'd hardly know...'

'My left leg is shorter by almost an inch, there's only so much they can do with bone grafts... I suppose I'm lucky... I nearly lost the leg.'

'Accident or illness?'

'Car accident. I was on the wrong side of the car. My folks walked away without a scratch... look I don't like talking about it, ok? Can we talk about something else, please?'

'Anything else, amiga, didn't want to upset you, sorry, ok?'

'Can we just... forget about it?' After a pause she said 'You said you were an artist. What's your medium? Daria asked.

'Paint... oils mostly... but I do acrylics, watercolors, line and gouache... I also do sculpture and mixed media when the muse strikes.'

'Nothing digital?'

'I'd love to try it, I did a course in Photoshop at this art camp I was in during the summer, but my computer is so old it runs on coal... even if I could afford the software...'

'I have Photoshop on my Mac, wanna come in and give it a try?'

'Your folks won't object?'

Daria snorted. 'They won't be home for hours, come on, I'll order in a pizza.'

'Now you're talkin'!'

They approached a substantial looking red bricked house. 'Nice crib.' Jane quipped. 'Do you have many brothers and sisters?'

'I'm an only child.'