Simply Tolerable

Chapter 1: First Meetings

Summary: She could remember the kiss vividly. She could remember every little detail about it. But the one thing she couldn't remember was the man... Join Lizzie through a whirlpool of events involving love, chaos, drama, and a certain pair of clear, blue eyes.

Disclaimer: Okay. If I owned Pride and Prejudice, do you really think I would be here on Fanfiction? No. I would totally be sitting in some awesome mansion and working away on my next masterpiece. And I'm not, so therefore I don't own Pride and Prejudice.

Average? AVERAGE? She was average??? He had the personality of a sponge and he had the nerve to call her average?

How dare he? she thought to herself as she downed her third glass of vodka. The alcohol raced down her throat, leaving a burning sensation which only fueled her anger even more. She knew that she shouldn't, but she asked the waiter for another glass and downed it, wanting to forget her annoyance at the obnoxious man before her.

Elizabeth Bennett was not a proud woman. In fact, she liked to think of herself as quite modest. Perhaps spending two years with her loving sister and caring friends had inflated her ego a bit. Even then, she knew she wasn't perfect, but simply tolerable?

She wasn't hurt because of the insult itself. She had grown up in New York City. Insults were almost like vitamins to her, taken every day and not given a second thought. What hurt her was disinterested way that the man had said it in. It seemed like he did not even think much about it. Like she was a fly on his shoe instead of a person. And that infuriated her. She couldn't even slam him with a comeback, because he wouldn't care.

"Lizzie, you have to stop drinking dear." Jane's voice pulled her out of her jumbled, murderous thoughts. Elizabeth looked at Jane and sighed, nodding her head in submission. The anger wasn't gone yet, but she had calmed down enough that she could face the party again.

Jane and Lizzie reentered the ballroom. Lizzie looked around realizing, that if it hadn't been for that man, Darcy, she would have enjoyed herself quite a bit. Mrs. Lucas, as insane and boy-crazy as she was, definitely knew how to throw an amazing party. The ballroom was quite spacious, leaving plenty of room for both dancing and mingling. There was a lavish bar (where Lizzie had spent her last fifteen minutes) and an elaborate food court where all sorts of extravagant dishes could be ordered. The decorations were done superbly, giving the entire place an ethereal feeling with white curtains, twinkling fairy lights, and crystal ornaments. All around the room, people flitted about, wearing formal dresses and suits with masks. Of course, every extravagant party had to have a theme, this one being Formal Masquerade Ball. Considering that the Lucases were a middle-class Californian family, this was a spectacular welcoming bash that had been thrown.

The bash had been for the man who now held her beloved sister, Jane's, attention. With bright, curly red hair and twinkling green eyes, Charles Bingley seemed like the perfect suitor for Jane. He was kind and friendly and he had been devoted to Jane ever since he had arrived. Though to a stranger, it may have seemed like Jane was not very interested in Charles, or Charlie as he liked to be called, Lizzie, having known her cousin ever since she was a baby, knew that Jane was completely smitten by the man. She hung on his every word, continuously blushed a bright red (almost dark enough to match her partner's hair), and smiled brightly every time he made a joke. Lizzie smiled while looking at them; they seemed so happy.

But then he came into her sight. That man was so egotistical that Lizzie was afraid that maybe his big head might just throw the Earth off balance and make California the South Pole if it got any bigger. She sighed. It would do her no good to keep on insulting the man under her breath. Of course, Lizzie kept at it for a good fifteen more minutes. Who said that any good had to come of it? It was fun!

After half an hour, Lizzie had completely forgotten about insulting Darcy and how much fun it was, abandoning that pleasurable activity for a more sensible one, finding a bathroom to puke in. There it was! Lizzie hurried towards the door with the toilet sign on it, trying to keep her eyes down as to avoid any conversations with socialites by inviting them through eye contact. Lizzie started thanking the heavens as she came near the door.

Apparently, the heavens had an odd sense of humor. Her mother called out her name just before Lizzie could run into the bathroom. Lizzie stopped right before the door, watching it warily, as if it might disappear as she talked to her mother. Francine Bennett strode over to her daughter with an annoyed look on her face.

"What do you think you are doing?"

"What do you mean, mom?"

"You know what I mean. Why are you lurking around here when you could be out on the dance floor with a man?"

"I just need to use the bathroom mom, and then I'll dance with people, okay?"

"Fine."

Francine sighed. She didn't need this in her life. She had been an actress, a decently popular one as well, but when Francine was fired off of a set for being too much of a diva, she could not find any more work. It seemed that the movie business had decided her career for her. Desperate for money and a future, she married Tom Bennett, an upcoming lawyer in New York. Now, Mrs. Bennett had everything she could ever want, money, power, and fame, but the two things that bugged her in life were her two daughters, Lizzie and Mary. They had no aspirations. They were perfectly content in pursuing "an education". Like that would get them very far. Francine Bennett had not even graduated out of high school and look at her now!

Francine caught a sight of Jane, her eldest daughter. She smiled. Now Jane was a daughter to be proud of! Beautiful and wildly admired by men, she put up a show of being oblivious to their affections. Her daughter had men chasing after her like lovesick puppies.

Mrs. Bennett turned her focus onto a more eminent problem. Her youngest daughter was sitting against the wall, reading some useless book. She stormed over to Mary, determined to accomplish her task.

Charlotte Lucas was standing on the sidelines of the party, feeling very bored and unhappy. Though she knew she was nothing to look at, she felt disappointed that not one of the young, available bachelors had danced with her. She felt like screaming at them and forcing them to dance with her, but she stayed where she was, silent and seemingly calm. She fiddled with her mask which was pinching her face and she scowled when she heard a chuckle behind her.

"What do you want George?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

Charlotte glared at her friend. They had recently met at a party, and had become friends during the time. Even though Charlotte knew she shouldn't, she felt herself being drawn towards the boy, who, with sparkling blue eyes and mussed-up brown hair, would have been her mother's favorite suitor, until they conversed that is. He was nothing like the boys her mother had previously thrown at her, and that what was made him so refreshing for Charlotte. But there was something about him that just didn't feel right.

"Charlotte? Hello? You still alive?" George asked, grinning.

"What? Oh, yeah. Sorry. I was thinking about something." Charlotte decided to stop worrying about it and just enjoy herself with her new found friend.

"Oh, so you were dreaming about me again? It's okay. I have the effect on girls," he joked.

Charlote grinned and punched George in the shoulder. He flinched and scolded her for "such horrid acts of violence". Charlotte quieted him and asked him to dance. As he led her to the dance floor, she couldn't shake the ominous feeling out of her mind.

There we have it! The first chapter of my first fanfic! Whew! You guys have no idea how relieved I am that thing's finally up. It's been looking at me, naggin me for months. I had just written a few lines for fun one night, but somehow those few lines became a chapter!

Now I just want all of you to know that I'm an evil author. If I don't get any reviews, I won't update, so REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!!!!!

K, see you next time!