"Hey, Lizzie, how was your day?" Charles asked the second he and Jane entered. He brushed off the snow from his jacket and helped steady Jane as she removed her boots. Their cheeks were bright red from the cold.
"It was great," I replied. "Thanks so much for having me."
"Anytime!" Charles waited until everybody else was upstairs before asking me his next question. "Um, Lizzie, would you be okay if I took Jane out to dinner tonight? I know that Caroline can be, well, not the most tolerable of people, but you'd have Darcy here to protect you."
I tried to not choke on my hot chocolate. It was clear that Charles meant every word he was saying, and at the same time had no idea what he was talking about. Despite my growing displeasure with Darcy and my extreme desire to avoid Caroline, I wanted Jane to be happy. Sometimes friends have to suffer for their friends' happiness.
"Of course, Charles," I replied. "Have fun!"
I went upstairs and helped Jane prepare for the evening. She was ecstatic to finally go on a real date with Charles.
My own dinner was even more awkward than I could have imagined. I kept to myself, only speaking to compliment Henry or offer help. Mostly I felt like I was a third wheel on a date. Caroline kept flirting with Darcy, reaching across the table to touch his hand at any chance she could get. Darcy, for his part, seemed as bored as ever, especially when Caroline brought up prom. Which she did ... twenty-seven times (I counted).
"There are so many responsibilities being head of the prom committee," Caroline stated. (Make that twenty-eight times.)
Darcy pushed away his plate. "Do you think it would be possible to have an evening that doesn't revolve around talking about prom?"
Caroline opened her mouth, but paused. She began to twirl her hair around her finger. "You're right...." She smiled sweetly at Darcy. "Let's get a nice bottle of wine and start a fire."
He shook his head. "I should get some reading done tonight."
"Ugh, reading? On a Saturday night?"
I tried to not laugh as I got up and cleared my place. "Please let me help you with the dishes, Henry," I said once I got back to the kitchen. "Don't make me go back out there." I nodded toward the dining room.
He shook his head. "My dear, you have no idea how long I've had to put up with Miss Bingley. Why do you think I don't use the dishwasher?" He gestured toward the stainless-steel industrial dishwasher to his right as he filled up the sink to manually do the dishes. He gave me a wink as I headed to the living room.
Caroline was mindlessly flipping through the channels on the large flat screen against the wall while Darcy was busy on his laptop. I curled up on the chaise longue and tried to read. As much as I enjoyed Chaucer, the Caroline Bingley Show was much more entertaining.
She leaned over to watch Darcy type. "Tell Georgiana I say hello."
"I already did -- do you want me to tell her again?" Darcy didn't even look up from the screen.
Caroline placed her hand on Darcy's shoulder. "Well, I just think it is so sweet of you to check up on your sister as much as you do."
Darcy didn't respond and kept typing.
"Hmmm." Caroline yawned exaggeratedly. "What an amazing day on the slopes." She got up and began stretching in front of Darcy. She took a deep breath as she reached her arms up to the ceiling, a motion that exposed her midriff conveniently at Darcy's eye level. She continued stretching, bending over to the side and letting out a loud sigh.
Darcy closed his laptop, much to Caroline's delight. But then he went over to the couch beside me and picked up his book, not giving Caroline a second glance.
Caroline slouched down on the couch beside him. Darcy was entrenched in his book. "Ooh," Caroline cooed. "What a beautiful evening. Yes, I think it is a perfect evening to read." She bit her lip and went over to the bookshelf and selected a book at random.
She pretended to be interested in Great Expectations. But after ten minutes, her own expectations had clearly not been met, and she threw the book down.
"Lizzie," Caroline said to me. I was in such shock that she was addressing me directly I didn't respond right away. "Lizzie, do you want me to teach you some yoga moves?"
I didn't know how to react. I automatically assumed that she was setting me up for something.
Darcy set down his book and started studying me as Caroline began doing very complicated poses, obviously trying to impress him.
"Not your thing?" Darcy asked me.
I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess not."
Caroline, satisfied that she had outshined me, sat down on the floor facing us with her legs crossed. "Yoga isn't for everybody. I just really try to challenge myself physically, as well as intellectually, every day." I had to bite the inside of my cheeks to stop from laughing. "I have to admit that I'm not nearly the sibling to Charles as you are to Georgiana." Caroline reached over and touched Darcy on his knee.
"Do you have any brothers or sisters, Lizzie?" Darcy asked.
I shook my head.
"Your parents must be sad to have you so far away." He looked genuinely interested in my family life.
Before I could answer, Caroline kept prodding on. "I try my best to be a good sister, but I have a tendency to take on the big-sister role with so many of my friends. It's hard sometimes, when you put so many others first."
Darcy kept staring at me, and it was making me uncomfortable.
"Not that you have any faults, Darcy," Caroline continued. I couldn't tell whether she was serious or not.
Darcy turned his attention away for a second to look at her. "Nobody's perfect."
I let out a laugh. He looked over at me. "Do you think you're perfect?" he asked.
"No, no, not at all. Far from it. I'm just interested in hearing what you think your faults are." I found myself enjoying the conversation.
"Well." He paused. "Everybody has them, and I'm certainly not an exception. I can sometimes have a bit of a short fuse. I'm not the most forgiving of people. And I'm sure I would be bad at yoga." He looked at me. "Would you care to jump in?"
I tried to be polite. "I haven't known you for that long."
"But I'm sure you have something to say on the subject?" I didn't need to be asked twice.
"I guess the fact that you seem to hate everybody and everything could be considered a weakness."
"And I guess your ability to wildly misunderstand people is yours."
Caroline jumped to her feet and turned on the TV. She sat back down next to Darcy and started droning on and on about what movie to order. Neither Darcy nor I expressed any opinion, but Caroline didn't seem to notice or care.
As long as Darcy wasn't talking to me, she was happy.
9.
THE RIDE BACK TO SCHOOL THE NEXT DAY WAS UNEVENTFUL.
Charles and Jane were in front laughing and enjoying themselves. Caroline continued relentlessly dropping the P-word (sixty-eight times) to Darcy, who spent the entire trip staring out the window. He ignored me the entire way home, which made me very happy.
I had switched my shift at work for the trip, so I had to work on that Sunday night. I preferred Sunday afternoons since it was always busy, so the time just flew. And we got more tips.
"What are you doing here?" I asked Tara when I arrived.
She looked exhausted. "James called in sick, so I'm doing double duty today."
"Yikes." I grabbed my apron. "Well, if it's quiet, you can probably go home early."
I started wiping down the counter and cleaning up the tables. There were only a few customers in the seating area, nobody I recognized. I practically had the orders of the Sunday afternoon regulars memorized so at least tonight would be a nice change of pace.
"Elizabeth?" I looked up to find Colin studying me.
"Oh, hey, Colin. What can I get for you?" I walked over to the counter and tried to look busy so I wouldn't be stuck in a conversation with him.
"I didn't think you worked on Sunday nights."
"I had to trade shifts."
"How nice of
you. I figured there had to be a reason. You seem to be someone with a disciplined schedule, which I greatly admire. How was your weekend?"
"Good ... yours?"
He studied the blackboard menu for a few moments. "It was very pleasant. Thank you for asking."
"No problem. Can I get you something?"
Colin placed his order after what seemed like an hour's deliberation. As I steamed the milk for his latte, I couldn't help but feel he was studying my every move. I wasn't the kind of girl that thought every guy was checking her out, but Colin's gaze seemed to linger over me.
"Here you go," I said as I handed him his order, hoping there was enough finality in my tone to end the conversation.
"Wonderful. Thank you, Elizabeth."
I smiled and began to wipe down the espresso machine, even though it was already clean. Colin eventually got the hint and left.
"Tara," said one of the few remaining customers from a nearby table, "I don't know how you deal with those Pemberley guys."
"As I recall," Tara replied, "you were once a Pemberley guy, Wick."
I hadn't noticed this guy before, which was surprising since he was very cute with his short, dirty-blond hair and hazel eyes.
He laughed. "Well, I did get kicked out. You can't really count that against me."
Tara motioned toward me. "You better be careful what you say -- Lizzie here is a Longbourn girl."
He got up from his seat and approached the counter. "A Longbourn girl working at the Java Junction?"
"Make that Longbourn scholarship girl," I corrected.
He smiled warmly at me and extended his hand. "Longbourn scholarship girl, former Pemberley scholarship boy."
I shook his hand. "Pleased to meet you. Elizabeth Bennet, but you can call me by my commoner name: Lizzie."
"Ah, George Wickham, but my friends call me Wick. So, obviously, at Pemberley everybody called me George."
"A Pemberley scholarship boy? I thought such things were an urban legend."
He laughed. "True, true. We're a rare breed. More difficult to spot than Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster."
"Wick here is the rarest of rare," Tara said. "He's a townie who made it through Pemberley's gates."
"Wait a second." I looked at him suspiciously. "The esteemed Pemberley institution would let in ... a local? The scandal!"
"Yes, oddly enough, it didn't rain frogs. It was the strangest thing." He had an easy laugh about him, very different from any guy I'd met here. I instantly liked him.
"I know. All the girls in my dorm are convinced I'm single-handedly bringing the apocalypse to Longbourn."
"And by apocalypse, you mean noncouture outfits?"
"Wow. You really did go to Pemberley. Only a Pemberley boy would know what 'couture' means."
He nodded his head and blushed. "You caught me. You can kick the boy out of Pemberley ..."
"You really got kicked out?"
He grimaced. "Yeah, I guess there is only so much charity one school is able to give...."
"Or scholarship students that can be tolerated."
"I see you're a quick study." He winked at me. I noticed that he had cute dimples when he smiled.
I could feel my pulse quicken. I didn't even notice when the bell signaled the front door opening. Wick looked over to see who it was. Once he did, he suddenly tensed up, his entire demeanor changing.
I turned around to see Darcy staring at us with a look of utter contempt on his face.
Wick abruptly left the counter and returned to his seat. Darcy's eyes followed him the entire time, his jaw clenched tightly. Wick picked up his book and turned away so Darcy couldn't see his face.
"Can I get you something?" I asked coldly.
Darcy jerked back to life. For an instant he looked at me as if I had somehow betrayed him. He shook his head and his stoic facade returned to his face. "Um, yes." His eyes darted back to Wick again. "I guess I'll have a large decaf, please."
There was something about the former scholarship boy that had rattled Darcy. Which made me like Wick even more.
I handed Darcy his coffee and rang him up. Before he left, he hesitated for a moment. "How late are you working tonight?" he asked.
I shrugged. "Depends. Why?"
He began to play with the lid of his drink. "Is it really safe for you to be walking back to the dorm this late at night?"
"Do you mean besides the usual torture at the hands of my fellow student body?"
Darcy clenched his jaw.
"I'll be fine."
He nodded and walked out. He stared straight ahead as he passed by Wick. As soon as the door swung shut, Wick turned to me and said, "Well, that was awkward."
"I take it you know Will Darcy from your Pemberley days?"
He sighed. "Yes, unfortunately. You could say that we were once on friendly terms. But you seem to be friends with him, so ..."
I groaned. "Hardly. I've known him for a week, and I find him to be the most egotistical, condescending person on the planet."
Wick laughed. "So you do know him well."
"You got me there."
Wick approached the counter. "You really need to start being more careful about who you're seen hanging out with."
I smiled at him. "Are you referring to Darcy or yourself?"
"Depends on who you ask."
"Hmm, I guess since there isn't a way for the esteemed ladies of Longbourn to despise me even more, I will hang out with whoever I choose."
"Well, then, Longbourn scholarship girl, do you think you'd ever entertain giving charity to a disgraced Pemberley boy such as myself?"
"What do you have in mind?"
"Your phone number would be a good start."
I gave it to him without hesitation.
I was ready for a good start.
10.
WE HAD OUR FIRST DATE ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT. WICK took me to a pizza place that was in a part of town that I hadn't been to before, a very non-Longbourn establishment.
"Hey, Wick!" a girl behind the counter greeted him. "Couple of slices?"
"I didn't know you were working tonight." He leaned over the counter and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Couple slices would be great. Lizzie, this is Cassie. Cassie, this is Lizzie." He motioned toward me and the girl smiled at me. "I'm saving her from the elitists over at Longbourn." He looked over his shoulder and then said in an exaggerated whisper, "She's a scholarship student."
I couldn't help but laugh. I knew that nobody in this place would care. It was nice to be somewhere that I didn't feel the need to constantly look over my shoulder or think that I was being set up.
"Here you go." Cassie handed us each two slices. "You know your money isn't good here, Wick," she said as Wick reached into his pocket for his wallet.
"Aww, you're the best." He winked at her and we headed over to a booth. "See, Lizzie, you need to start finding the right kind of friends." He motioned down at our free food. "I've known Cassie since kindergarten. There's a group of us that have been close friends for ages. I don't remember life before them, you know? I'm sure you have people like that back home. It was hard for me to leave them behind and I was only down the road; I can't imagine what it must be like for you."
It was the first time in a while that I'd felt comfortable and open around a new person. Being with Wick felt normal, natural. He was open, honest, and self-deprecating in a very, very irresistible way.
"I still can't believe a Longbourn girl has agreed to be seen with me in public," he said after I'd told him more about life back home in Hoboken, and the switch to Longbourn. "The prima donna police have probably sent out a search party."
"Not likely. They're probably changing the locks as we speak."
"Still" -- he gave me a smile that made my stomach flip -- "you're a brave one."
"Believe me, the bravest thing I'll be doing this evening is entering my dorm. The goal is to try to get back to my room without someone throwing something in my face. But you're all too familiar wit
h the treatment of our kind."
Wick played with the wrapper of his straw. "Actually, things weren't that bad for me at Pemberley."
"Really?"
For the first time since I'd met him, I didn't know whether or not to believe him. I couldn't comprehend that the guys at Pemberley would have any compassion for people like us.
"Really. I even had friends, if you can imagine that."
"Wow, that's impressive. I have Jane and Charlotte, but that's it. Jane is always trying to get me to go out more, but every time I do, the evening ends in either bodily or emotional harm. She's pretty relentless, though. I've already agreed to go to this party on Saturday night, despite my better judgment."
"Charles Bingley's party?"
I was surprised. "Yes -- how did you know about that?"
"You don't give us townies enough credit. We find out about the parties, and a few of us usually crash. With all the students around, nobody seems to notice."
"Please tell me you're going to come on Saturday." I tried to hide any hint of desperation in my voice. Having Wick there would make it bearable. Plus, I wanted to spend more time with him.
"Now you've put me in a tough spot. If you're going to be there, how could I not show up?" Wick smiled at me, but then his smile faded. "Sadly, I have a feeling someone else will be there, and there's no way I'd be welcome." Wick hesitated. "There's something I want you to know, and I want you to hear it from me."
"Okay ..." I leaned in.
"It's about why I got kicked out of Pemberley."
"Wick, you don't need to --"
"Yes, I do. I'm surprised people haven't started trying to turn you against me yet."
I hadn't really told anybody about Wick. Jane knew I'd met someone from town, but I hadn't told her he was a former Pemberley student. I didn't know why, but I wanted to keep Wick to myself.
"I don't care what anybody thinks of you," I told him now. "You should realize that I would know better than to believe anything anybody at Longbourn or Pemberley would say to me."
Wick nodded. "I'm so thankful my caffeine habit brought you into my life."
What a clear, powerful emotion -- thankfulness. It hadn't occurred to me in a long time that I could be someone that another person would be thankful for. Not for anything I'd done or said, but simply for who I was, and who I had the potential to be. After spending the school year in a world of torture (at worst) and indifference (at best), to have such open thankfulness expressed to me gave me something I hadn't felt in a long time: hope. Maybe this semester was going to be good after all.