Quinn's Code - Cafe Geekdale - Part 6

[fardell24]

Shortly before recess, the three friends sat in front of Ms. Li's desk.

“Why are we here?” Daria asked in an annoyed tone.

“The school received a phone call this morning from a Mrs. Johannsen. She said three girls came to her door to sell her chocolate bars, and then suddenly refused to do so. Hmm. Even after she offered five dollars a bar, or more than twice the asking price,” Ms. Li said.

“She was hyperglycemic. The chocolate would've killed her,” Daria said.

“She passed out while we were standing there,” Jennifer said. 'There is no way she can refute that,' she thought.

“Did she ask you to feed her the chocolate?” Ms. Li asked.

“Of course not,” Jane said.

“How do you know it wasn't for her family?” Ms. Li asked.

“We didn't see any family,” Jennifer said.

“She has no family. She ate them,” Jane said.

Jennifer glared at Jane through her hair 'That is not helping our case!' she thought.

Mr. O'Neill then spoke; “Daria, Jane, Jennifer, we're two hundred dollars short of what we need to open the coffeehouse.” He sounded a little, distressed. But then, that was hardly news.

“So, your refusal to sell chocolate to this woman was based purely on concern for her welfare,” Ms. Li said.

'Of course, didn't you hear what I said?' Jennifer thought.

“And not wanting to do time for manslaughter,” Daria said.

“I second that,” Jennifer put in.

“You have no overall problem with raising money for the coffeehouse?” Ms. Li asked.

“I believe in coffee. Coffee for everyone. But I don't want to sell any more chocolate bars. It makes me feel dirty,” Daria said.

“Well, I can't force you to do fundraising, but I can't give you credit for participating in the coffee house project, either,” Ms. Li said.

'Uh, oh!” Jennifer thought.
“Wait. Daria, what about what we discussed? Reading something on opening night,” Mr. O'Neill said.

“I don't think so!” Daria said.

“You do want this extracurricular activity, don't you?” Ms. Li asked.

“Remember your mom,” Jennifer whispered to Daria.

“Fine!” Daria said.

“Fabulous!” Mr. O'Neill said.

“Although I still don't know where we're going to find that two hundred dollars. Well, maybe the freshman volunteers will make up some of it,” Ms. Li said.

'I hope so,' Jennifer thought.

As if in answer to Jennifer's hopes, the office door opened to reveal Quinn, Cindy and Kristen with pockets and hands full of cash.

“Where do you want us to put this money?” Kristen asked.

“Just give it to Mr. O'Neill. He will take care of it,” Ms. Li said, happy that the Coffee house would be able to open after all.


As she walked away from the principal's office with her friends, Daria thought about what she would do about Friday night. 'I have to do something,' she thought. 'Maybe that Melody Powers song,' she thought.



At lunch; Stacy crept along the corridors. She found her destination; the room where the Anime Club usually met after school. She looked around to ensure that no one in the Fashion Club, or any other popular clique was nearby. She saw no one (or any security cameras), so she opened the door and slipped inside.

Once inside; Stacy went to the desk and expertly fished out the sheet with the contact details of the membership on it. She quickly found Quinn's information near the bottom of the list. She took out a notebook and quickly copied all of Quinn's contact details, before placing the sheet back exactly where it was.
She then left the room, but not before ensuring that everything was exactly as it was when she entered and that no one would see her leaving the room.

However, she didn't notice that someone did see her leaving the room...


A special meeting of the Anime Club was held in the library after school.

“The reason why I called this meeting is that I thought we could collaborate on possible performance ideas for the Coffee House,” Jenna said.
“That is a good idea, Jenna,” Quinn said.

“What about my idea for reading fanfic?” Tatiana asked.

“Well, not all of us write fanfic, Tatiana. But you can read your fanfic there if you want to,” Jenna said.

“Cool!” Tatiana said.

“Perhaps, reviews of the various series. What they are about, how well they are produced and the characters,” Rob said.

“That's a cool idea!” Quinn said. 'That is totally a cool idea. The audience will get an appreciation for each series,' she thought.

“Anything else?” Jenna asked.

“Reviews of individual episodes as I suggested on Monday, Jenna,” Tania said.

“Any new ideas?” Jenna asked, wondering if there would be any.

“We could talk about games that are based on various anime and manga,” Quinn said. She could think of many examples right there.

“Good idea, Quinn,” Jenna said.

“Yeah,” Quinn said.

“So which series do you think we could review?” Jenna asked.

“One Piece?” Rob suggested.

“That's a good one,” Tania said.

“And quite cool too,” Jenna said.

“Ghost in the Shell?” Quinn suggested.

Jenna wrote it down. “Cool!” she said.

“Ranma ½?” Tatiana suggested.

Jenna glared at Tatiana. “I don't think so,” she said.

“Why not?” Tatiana asked, disappointed.

“They would not understand the idea of it,” Jenna said, shaking her head. Tatiana grumbled. “Anything else?” Jenna asked.

“Pokemon?”

“Most of them may be familiar with that, but sure.”

“Yes!”

“Cowboy Beebop?”

“That is a good show,” Jenna said.

“Cool,” Quinn said.

“Bubblegum Panic?”

“Possibly.”

They continued their discussion for another 15 minutes.


When Quinn got home she went upstairs and logged on to her email accounts.

Almost immediately she found a mysterious email in her Hotmail account.


ldtomboy91 Coffee House Peril 2005, 10, 20 03:45 PM


“Weird,” she said. 'What is so perilous about the Coffee House?' she wondered. She clicked on the link to the message.


To: Geek_Quinn@hotmail.com

From: ldtomboy91@yahoo.com


Hi, Quinn.
You don't know me, but I also go to Lawndale High. The reason why I am sending this email to you is to warn you that someone is going to use the Coffee House to discredit you, to try to destroy your popularity, possibly by saying a lot of mean things about you.

This will be my last communication.

From ldtomboy91

agzayuke aeuurrsmu uvaqi


Quinn had to read it again, to be sure of what it said.
'Thanks for warning me, whoever you are,' she thought. She wasn't sure what to make of it. She knew of several of her classmates who were disgruntled about her influence since she started at Lawndale High. However the foremost of that group was Sandi Griffin, with her protégé Tori Jericho just behind her.
'You will not get away with this, Sandi,' she thought.


As the sun set, Daria and Jennifer arrived at Casa Lane.

Jane was watching Sick Sad World when they entered her room. She muted the show. “So, you have performance ideas for the Coffee House?” she asked.

Jennifer shook her head vigorously. “You know that I don't do well on stage. The Esteem-a-Teen course graduation assembly was the best that I could do,” she said.
“Oh yeah,” Jane murmured, remembering several middle school assemblies where Jennifer's stage fright had gotten the best of her.

“There is a song that I have been working on,” Daria suggested.

“Do tell!” Jane said.

“It's about an American agent who hunts Russian spies in South America,” Daria said as she sat on the bed.

“Sounds violent,” Jane said.

“Mr. O'Neill will have a fit!” Daria said.

“Is that figuratively or literally?” Jennifer asked, uncertain what Daria meant.

“Both,” Daria said.

Jennifer grumbled. “Can I see the lyrics?” she asked.

“I haven't finished it yet,” Daria said.

“Can I look before you play it at the Coffee House?” Jennifer asked.

“Yeah, both of you can,” Daria finally said.

“Cool, maybe I can show Trent!” Jane said.

“Aagh!” Daria exclaimed.

“May I take that as a no?” Jane asked.

“I think it is,” Jennifer said.

Daria looked back at Jane. “What are you planning for the Coffee House?” she asked.

“Me? Nothing. I will watch everyone else embarrass themselves.”

“I guess that you don't want the extra-curricular activity,” Jennifer said.
“I don't,” Jane said.

'Of course not,' Jennifer thought.