A/N - And the story continues!

Trent's room was tiny. Janie gave him shit for getting a double bed instead of a twin, but Trent needed his space, even if that meant that none of his possessions would have space. He had to keep his guitar under the bed, and he managed to fit everything else in the closet.

One morning, after Trent had been settled in with his sister for a few days, Jane woke her brother up and kicked him out of the apartment.

"I have class until two," she told Trent as she locked the apartment's door behind them. "That should be plenty of time for you to find a job."

At the street, Trent waved goodbye to his sister, then started for Pulsie Ave. Pulsie was the neighborhood's main street, and it was about four times greater than Dega St. Trent had only gone there once, with Janie, and they had only explored two blocks, but Trent knew he would be comfortable there. Already, he'd counted more music stores and bars along those two blocks than there were in all of Lawndale.

It was November in Boston, and Trent was in luck. The shops were preparing for the holidays, and Trent found a job in a combination music/bookstore.

The owner and manager, Curley Joyce, was happy to hire Trent. Curley was usually pretty careful about who he hired. He didn't like college kids because they had too many conflicting interests, such as the month long Christmas holidays and three months for the summer holidays. However, Curley's usual employment candidates were a little old and out of touch with the current youth culture. Curley didn't truly think that Trent would be a hard or diligent worker, but he already had the employees to do work. Curley really needed someone to help him figure out what the heck to sell. Their shop was located in a busy market area, and the neighborhood was prominently college age. Trends were coming and going so quickly that Curley only had to blink before a sales opportunity had passed them by. What the shop really needed was something a bit more… preemptive. They needed the merchandise in the store before a trend became big. They needed to make the trend big.

Trent didn't know about Curley's expectations, though. He thought he would only have to restock the shelves and work the cash register.

Jane was proud of her brother, even if he had managed to land himself a job in the lamest music/bookstore on Pulsie Ave.

"Bobby Books and Music, huh?" she asked as the two made their way into a Chinese restaurant for lunch. "They saw your tattoos and didn't even do a background check on you first?"

"That reminds me. Can I borrow some money? Curley said I have to cover my arms while I'm working. There are a bunch of old stiffs working there, Janie."

"I know," she said lowly. She'd made the mistake of going into the store only once.

"And they're running the background check before my second interview. I'm not worried, though. It's been a long time since high school, and I won't have to do any driving for the job so they won't care about all those moving violations."

Janie thought her brother's confidence was endearing, if a little undeserved.

Trent had reason to be confident, though. Curley had scheduled the second interview for the next day and planned to have Trent working the day after that. Trent figured that as long as he could buy a long-sleeve shirt to cover his tattoos and show up on time to the interview, the job would be his and he'd be able to help Janie pay rent on her apartment.

"So have you met Bobby?" Daria asked that evening when she came over to the apartment and heard the news.

"No," Trent said with a grin. "I thought I'd be meeting a guy named Bobby, too, but it turns out that Curley named the place after the blue-footed bobby. There's a bird on the logo."

"Is that some sort of literary reference?" Jane asked, looking at Daira.

"No," she answered flatly.

"A music reference, then?" Jane asked Trent, grasping for some sort of connection.

"I think the guy just likes birds," Trent told Janie. "He had a bunch of nice paintings of birds in his office."

"How uninspired," Jane huffed. "Hey Trent, show Daria your new wardrobe." As Trent reached for the shopping bag which he'd thrown by the end of the couch that afternoon, Jane told Daria, "They're considering him for an employee, but only if he covers his tattoos."

Trent tipped the bag over, spilling his purchases across the coffee table and onto the floor.

"I can see you went all out," Daria said, truly unimpressed by Trent's collection of long-sleeved button-up shirts. For a moment, Trent was somewhat insulted. He'd never spent money on clothing in his life, and he worked hard to let people know that without actually telling them as much. He thought Daria would understand what this meant: Trent was conforming for society so that he could get a job and pay rent to some fat cat who made all his money off of renting out bad properties for more than they were worth.

Trent's irritation died away when Jane put the situation into perspective.

"Yeah, I guess that five or six cheep shirts wouldn't mean much to you," his sister told Daria, "after you've seen Miss Marie buy enough to clothe every teenager in the Central African Republic."

"Well someone has to have all those clothes, and you know those kids in Central Africa wouldn't appreciate the quality of fabric and they wouldn't properly coordinate the colors anyways."

Trent understood the reference to Daria's sister well. He didn't think her name was Marie, though…

Finally, Trent decided that he wasn't selling out if Daria was so unconcerned about his wardrobe. And there were worse ways to conform than buying long-sleeved shirts. No one had asked Trent to completely remove his tattoos, only cover them up. And Boston was pretty cold. Trent would have been forced to buy a warmer wardrobe before Christmas.

"So do we get a family discount?" Janie asked when the conversation returned to Trent's new employment. Trent was surprised at how interested Janie and Daria were in his the job. He didn't think it was that strange.

"Sure," Trent finally answered. After all, he wouldn't be buying anything from Bobby's, and his discount needed to be exercised.

"Daria's looking for a job," Janie suddenly declared. "Maybe you could give her a good word."

Daria shook her head. "Too little too late, Jane. I've found employment," she informed the siblings. "I'm going to be a section editor for the school magazine."

"Ooh, starting your foray into literature," Jane said, "Congrats, Amiga."

"Yeah, cool," Trent agreed, even though he couldn't imagine wanting a job like that. He'd gotten tired of editing Jessie's lyrics, and that guy's songs weren't exactly deep or complicated, and they definitely weren't at the college level of thought.

Jane began shaking her head, looking between her best friend and her brother. "And to think, I always assumed that Trent would never contribute and Daria would only destroy and never create. This calls for a celebration, I think. Let's go out to eat pizza tonight."

"I don't know," Daria said, even as she stood. "I think we should hold off a celebration of this magnitude for the day when Jane opens her first show."

"Nah," Trent said. "I feel like going out for the night. We can get Janie a hot dog or something for her opening night."

"Agreed," Daria nodded.

"Trent!"

"It'll be done in five minuets!" Trent automatically answered as he jerked upright.

"You said that an hour ago, before you fell asleep, again!"

Lorie's voice was shrill, and it made Trent's skin crawl. He'd slumped over the desk and closed his eyes to block out the sound as she spoke to customers while ringing up their purchases. She said the same words to each person, greeting them, pointing out Bobby's Book Special, asking if they had a member's card, asking debit or credit, then wishing them a happy afternoon. She greeted them, pointed out Bobby's Book Special, asked for their member's card, was that debit or credit, then she said good-bye. Greeting, Bobby's Book Special, member's card, debit or credit, have a good afternoon, over and over and over and over. Then, every now and again, she'd meet a chatty customer or a familiar customer, and Trent was happy to hear her verge away from her little spiel. However, his relief was short lived because when Lorie chatted with a customer, her voice became overly cheery and loud. The louder her voice got, the shriller it became.

Her voice was even shriller when she was speaking directly to Trent.

"I'll finish this in the back," Trent grumbled as he stood and took his project to the back of the store. As soon as he was comfortable in the employee's closet, though, Curley was rushing him back onto the sales floor.

"Help the customers!" he demanded.

Trent stood near the "Best Sellers" display, unsure of what to do. The store was pretty strait forward. Books were listed by the author's last name, and then by title. Likewise, music was arranged alphabetically by artist. It wasn't complicated.

Still, when a woman walked near him, Trent said, "Hey. You. Do you need help?"

The middle aged woman blinked at him and fidgeted with her overly-large purse, hesitating. The woman was mousy, and that silly bag was bright and seemed to engulf her tiny arm. Finally, she said, "I'm looking for Arcadia by Tom Stoppard?"

"We don't have that," Trent remembered. He only knew this because Daria had requested he check for the play a week before. "We've ordered a few copies, though." Trent turned towards the cash register. "Hey, Paul!" Trent called. His voice wasn't loud, but it reverberated through the store. "When's Arcadia getting in?"

"Wednesday," Paul snapped quietly. Trent almost didn't hear the response, Paul spoke so quietly. Paul, of course, was unconsciously trying to counteract Trent's sudden and jarring call. Paul had to admit, Trent hadn't exactly yelled, but the young man's voice was deep and had a low ringing quality to it, and when the kid raised his voice just a little above his usual even drawl, it rang across the space and through people's chests. It was something which people noticed, something which turned heads.

Trent was unconcerned with how loud or low or quiet or distracting his voice was as he turned back to the woman, nodding. "Wednesday. You know, Arcadia is a pretty cool title. It would be a good name for a band."

The mousy woman stared at Trent, her eyes wide after his small scene and his strange declaration. Finally, she said, "Yeah. It would be a good name for a band. I, uh, I guess I'll be back for the book tomorrow then."

"Kay," Trent said, shrugging.

As the woman shuffled from the store, Trent thought that wasn't hard. Trent didn't like meeting new people and talking to them that much. He was naturally kind of shy. He preferred to express himself in music. But that small interaction with a complete stranger hadn't been complicated. It hadn't really felt like he was putting himself out there. In fact, the woman had seemed more nervous and unsure than him.

In a way, that was comforting.

When the next customer came into the store, it was easier for Trent to ask, "Hey. Do you need help?"

"Nah. I'm just browsing the music. You guys have any good rock?"

"No," Trent answered immediately, scowling. He wouldn't have applied for the place if he'd known how pathetic the selection was. "Only classic and big name sell-outs. They don't have any grunge."

The kid scoffed. "Grunge is over anyways-"

"Hey, man. Don't disrespect the art," Trent demanded, unaware of Curley and Lorie standing just a few feet away, horrified at Trent's manner. As far as they were concerned, the customer was always right, and you never told them they were being disrespectful.

But then the young man held up his hands to Trent in surrender. "Don't get me wrong! Grunge had its moments, but the great Grunge bands are gone!"

Trent felt a small pang in his chest when he realized this was somewhat true. After all, he'd wanted to be one of those great Grunge bands for as long as he could remember, and sure, he'd quit the band, but he still had a little shred of hope…

"And why stick in the past when there are new styles created almost every day, you know?" the young man continued. "Like have you seen the Orderlies yet?"

"Orderlies?" Trent asked skeptically.

"Yeah! And yeah, their name is kind of weird, but then so is the band. They're a bunch of young kids, but they put on costumes and makeup so that they look like old guys. But all weird monikers aside, their music is great!"

Trent was still skeptical, but he agreed to check them out.

"If they're good," Curley told Trent a while latter, "You can offer to sell some of their CDs in the store."

Trent shrugged. He really didn't care if the Orderlies or Curley got good business. He'd been a little bored in Boston the last few weeks. Janie was always in school or involved with some activity related to school, so she wasn't around often. And other than Janie, Trent didn't really know anyone in Boston. He used to have Jessie, Nick, or Max to go with him if he wanted to spend the night at a bar. And besides, those bars were familiar. Trent knew how to have fun with good old friends in familiar old bars. But in Boston, he didn't have those friends there for him anymore, and he didn't really have the self confidence to go explore the bars on his own. Trent only agreed to go watch the Orderlies because he wanted to get Janie out of the apartment with him, and it had been a long time since they'd gone to a concert together.

Of course, their night out was only better when the band turned out to be amazing. Their name and the costumes were strange, but the music was loud and fun, the band had a ton of energy, and that energy transferred to the crowd.

Janie was happy to stick around with Trent after the show to talk to the band. As Trent introduced himself to their keyboardist, Jane struck up a conversation with the drummer, who had taken off his wig but not the long beard he kept strapped behind his ears.

"It looked like a strange twitching animal when the end got caught on your drumstick," Jane was saying.

When Trent spoke to the keyboardist, the two got along easily. Although the guy had been wild on stage, he proved to be mellow and laid-back, like Trent.

"So you liked the show?" the keyboardist – Kyle – asked after the two had been talking for a while.

"Yeah. The music was cool, too," Trent informed him. "You know, I work at Booby Books and Music. We could put a few of your CDs on our counters, make some sales for you."

A large smile spread across Kyle's face, and Trent wondered if he'd smile like that if anyone ever offered to sell his music in a real store.

Annoying Note: And so the exciting life to Trent truly begins. I hope everyone was in character for this chapter. I haven't actually watched Daria in a while, but I tried to stay true to how they would act and what they would do. Still, keep in mind that this story is about how they all grow and change, so they won't be the same old Lawndale cast forever.

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