~Meeting for the first time~

Levy McGarden took the book out of her beach bag and settled down on the large towel she'd spread on the warm sand. With an appreciative sigh, she lifted her face to the sun soaking in its warmth as a cool breeze wafted in from the ocean. Final exams were over, and it was finally warm enough to do one of her favorite activities, read a book at the beach. She had chosen a paperback of her favorite writer to accompany her to the seaside. This volume was well worn and dogeared so she wasn't too concerned if it got wet or otherwise destroyed. In any case, she knew this story by heart and almost didn't need the book. She was just about to get lost in the intrigues of pushy mothers and scheming daughters in Regency England when a voice caught her attention.

"Excuse me, but weren't you in Professor Heartfilia's Modern Lit class?" The young woman asking was wearing red shorts, a blue tank top, and pink cat-eye sunglasses. In one arm she carried a blanket and her flip-flops, the other hand was nervously gripping a novel.

"Mondays and Wednesdays? 9 am?" Levy asked.

Relief showed on the other woman's face. "That's the one! I thought the blue hair looked familiar, but I wasn't entirely sure. You're…. Levy, right?" Levy nodded. "I'm Lisanna." She smiled and held up her book. "I guess we both had the same idea."

Levy grinned back at her, "Well you've got to admit it is a perfect day for it."

"That it is," Lisanna agreed. She dropped her shoes and started spreading her blanket out a few feet from Levy. "I'm just so glad that the semester is over."

"Me, too," Levy grimaced as she thought back over the semester she had just survived then added, "How do you think you did on the final? That last essay question was totally unexpected."

Lisanna laughed, a light and happy sound, before answering. "Professor Heartfilia actually is heartless!" she declared as she settled onto her blanket. "After a semester going over what makes something literature in these modern times, and that scathing lecture about fan fiction, she goes and demands that we show how fan fiction is actually the best example of modern literature?" Lisanna shook her head. "She's got to be a demon in angel's clothing."

"Agreed," Levy chuckled. "So what are you reading?" she asked, curious.

"Charles Dickens," Lisanna held up the book so that the title could be read.

"Great Expectations?" was the incredulous reply. "You're reading that? … For fun?"

"Oh no," came the shy answer, "I have an English Lit class next semester and this is one of the few books on the list that I haven't read yet." She pulled the sunglasses from her face and laid them next to her. "I prefer to read Dickens when it's sunny because it can be far too dreary and depressing."

Levy laughed again. "You're right about that, and I like your solution."

"Thank you," she said with a grin. "So, what are you reading?"

"One of my favorites," Levy said with a sigh, "Pride and Prejudice."

"Have you seen the new movie?" Lisanna asked eagerly.

"Girlfriend please," she said with a small wave of her hand, "I've seen every movie from the times of black and white film to P & P with zombies."

"Which one is your favorite?"

"Well, that's hard to say," she paused to think, "I love them all, not so much the zombie one since I'm not really a fan of zombies, but I'd say it's a close tie between the long version with Colin Firth and the cinematically shorter, but still lovely, Keira Knightley one."

"Why those ones?" Lisanna asked.

"The clothes!" Levy was sitting up, excited to be discussing one of her favorite subjects. "I love all things from Elizabethan to Victorian, especially the women's dresses, but once I saw those Empire waists in person and the flow of those gowns…" she sighed, "It was love at first sight."

Lisanna giggled, "I understand the appeal." She leaned a little closer, "I confess that I love Victorian Era clothing, too. Those clothing silhouettes are remarkable." She paused then added, "Even though the lengths women went through to achieve them were ridiculous!"

"That is a topic I could write a book about," Levy said. "Actually, I have written several essays on the topic. I could probably put them together to make a book," she mulled the thought over, "It'd be a rather slim volume though," she added more to herself than to Lisanna, "And I'd need to do some serious editing."

"Well, I'll let you get on with your reading," Lisanna said when the conversation stalled for a moment.

"What?" Levy seemed to recall where she was with difficulty. "Oh, yeah," she said as she tried to hide behind her open book. "Sorry for zoning out like that.

Lisanna grinned. "Don't worry about it. I get that way when I'm thinking about a story, too." She rolled onto her stomach and opened her book. "Enjoy Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth with their verbal sparring."

"Oh," Levy said as she chuckled, "While I do love the main characters, my favorite pairing is Bingley and Jane." She smiled and answered the question so clearly written on Lisanna's disbelieving face. "They have a sweet and tender kind of love, and it spills over to all the people that see them so that the people looking at them are happy, too. That's the kind of relationship I'd like to have someday," she admitted as she looked down at her book. Finding her place, she began to read.

Lisanna thought for a moment and nodded. "Me, too," she said quietly.