Disclaimer: I do not own anything whatsoever! No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.

Baskets

A Modern P&P

Chapter 1: All For Charity

"No WAY!" she exclaimed.

"Mar..." Erin pleaded, "Mar, please."

The brunette looked at the blonde. "Erin, you're crazy. Where, and why, and how in the world did you get the idea that I would ever participate in something like this?!"

"It's for a good cause," offered Erin, "And plus, it'll be fun."

Here Mariana raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Fun? What kinda fun are you thinking of? 'Coz my kinda fun doesn't exactly constitute preparing a basket and being bid upon."

"Oh Mar, you're so cynical," Erin chided, "It is fun, because the bidders get the basket for lunch, and get to eat it with the girl who made the basket."

"Great," Mariana said, "So I'll be trapped into having lunch with some creeper buying me and my basket. Isn't that, like, prostitution or something?"

"Oh come on, it'll be fun!"

"You keep on saying that, Erin, and every time you say it I still don't believe you."

"Do it?" Erin pleaded one last time, "For me?"

Mariana stared at Erin right in the eyes for a long time.

"Alright," she said finally, "Alright. I'll do it. But you owe me!

---

The day of the Baskets event came quickly, and Mariana's basket actually contained edible foods - a feat which wouldn't have been accomplished without Erin's aid.

"Mmm..." said Mariana, looking into the bag and licking her lips, "It smells good!"

Erin slapped her friend away. "Save that for the lunch," she scolded playfully. "Now let's go get dressed."

Every 'Basket Girl', a term Mariana loathed with a passion, had to wear a white sundress, and Erin and Mariana had already gotten theirs. Erin's was a strapless dress with flowers, and Mariana's was a halter that went down to her knees.

"Should I curl my hair?" asked Erin, turning to her friend.

"No," said Mariana, "We're late already!"

"Okay..." said Erin, "But can you at least let your hair out before we go? You look too uptight; like you don't want to go or something."

Mariana avoided commenting and looked at herself skeptically in the mirror, considering Erin's request, then with a sigh took her long wavy hair out of its usual ponytail.

"Much better!" Erin exclaimed, clapping her hands.

"Okay, okay, don't get too carried away," laughed Mariana.

Erin popped on a pair of white wedges and Mariana a pair of white flip flops as the two friends left Erin's home and got into Erin's Jeep.

"I'm so excited," Erin gushed, talking the whole way to Douglas Park, where the Baskets event was being held.

"Okay Erin, whoa girl," Mariana laughed, getting out of the Jeep and heading towards the stage where everyone had assembled. Erin craned her neck, looking at the crowd, then squealed as her eyes were covered.

"Guess who," Jake said from behind Erin, winking at Mariana.

"Jake!" Erin smiled, then turned around to give her boyfriend a kiss.

"So..." Erin asked, swinging Jake's hand, "You gonna bid for me today?"

Jake smiled goofily. "I'm loaded, didn't ya know?"

"Yeah, I knew," teased Erin.

"Hey Mariana," greeted Jake.

"Hey Jake," Mariana smiled in return.

"You know, I had to practically drag Alex here," Jake laughed.

"Alex is back?!" Mariana asked in disbelief.

Seeing Jake's nod, Mariana huffed. "Well," she said, "Not that I care, and I don't want anything to do with him. He doesn't have any reason to interact with me, either," she tried to convince herself.

"Oh, come off it, Mar," said Jake. "You know and I know that he's been calling you nonstop, and that you've been ignoring his calls. What that tells me is that he does want to interact with you - very, very much."

Mariana crossed her arms stubbornly. "Alex Williams is the most egotistical asshole I have ever met," she announced, "It was a mistake when I... when we..." she faltered, losing her composure. "Anyway, again I say, that Alex Williams will never, ever be a part of my life again!"

Mariana heard a whistle from behind her and saw none other than Alex Williams in all his glory, looking at her with his hands in his pockets. "That was pretty harsh," he winced.

"Well, I meant every bit of it!" Mariana spat.

"What's that for?" Alex asked, pointing to the basket.

"This?" Mariana asked, lifting her basket up. "Oh, it's not mine," she started to babble, lying horribly.

"Actually, Mariana's a Basket Girl," Erin piped in.

Alex's face slowly started to crack into a grin.

Mariana hit him on the shoulder. "Shut up."

"I didn't say anything," Alex grinned again. "You're a basket girl?!" Alex took out his wallet and started to count his money.

"Don't you dare!" Mariana hissed.

"But if I do?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Come on, Mar," Erin coaxed her friend over to the back of the stage as Jake and Alex went to take their seats, "Alex was just playing with you."

"Yeah, well, he lost that right when he insulted me right after he - right after we..." Mariana stopped herself. "He's such a jerk!" she amended, reverting to her usual statement whenever she was at a loss for words.

"A jerk who still likes you," Erin corrected.

"He does not!"

"Oh yes he does," Erin argued. "The way you two interact..."

"Oh stop it Erin," Mariana rolled her eyes, "Your 'romantic tension' argument still doesn't work. It didn't work in Grade 8 when we first met Alex the Jerk, and it won't work now in our senior year. Alex has always been a jerk and I doubt he'll ever change. Not that I care, though."

Erin smirked, not saying anything, her silence speaking words.

"All basket girls to the stage, please," a voice said through a megaphone.

Mariana looked at Erin's excited face and sighed. "What's the point of going up there if you know Jake's gonna bid on you anyway?" she asked her friend.

Erin didn't reply as they walked on stage, to whistles and catcalls from the audience - Jake included.

"Why I don't participate in these things," Mariana muttered to herself.

---

A/N: And... the first chapter! Sorry to end it like that, but I want to see what you wonderful readers think before I post more. This should be a relatively short fic - although you never know when the plot bunnies attack, haha. I was going to write the whole entire thing before I posted it, so that there weren't too many long gaps in between updates, but I was too impatient so I've only finished Chapter 2. I'm going to try to update quickly... but it is finals and provincial exam time for me right now so please be patient.

Some name changes happening here, mainly because our favourite main characters are going to be slightly out of character. For those of you who haven't guessed already, Mariana is Elizabeth, Erin is Jane, Jake is Charles and Alex Williams is our much adored William Darcy.

So I've decided to twist the story line just a little bit - changing Mariana and Alex's relationship. Obviously (I hope) you've guessed that they were 'involved' with each other and Alex said something to hurt Mariana in some way. Flashbacks and more info about their history in following chapters!

So do you like this so far? Please review and tell me what you think. Constructive criticism is appreciated, as this is my first fanfic.

- Darcoholic

Preview of Chapter 2:

"Why?" I asked, "Why?" I repeated the word again, tears threatening to fall down my cheek.

Alex looked at me with such emotion in his eyes that I started to cry, silently, tears streaming down my face.

"I..." he faltered, reaching out with his thumb to wipe my tears away from my cheek, "I... "