So, who else bawled uncontrollably for over half an hour at the end of AWE, especially after the scene after the credits? -mutters-
Anyways, here's chapter 2. In case anyone is reading my other Pirates story, "yo ho, yo ho," I outta let you guys know that I'm not going to finish that. I refuse to read/write anything that follows the last two movies anymore because Ted Elliot and Terry Rosio SCREWED IT UP. (If you don't know, Ted and Terry are the writers.)
I made this chapter extra-long. Hope you like it.
Disclaimer: If I did, there is NO WAY IN HELL At World's End would have ended like that. EVER.
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Chapter 2.
"Ready to go?"
Elizabeth nodded, hoping she looked okay for this study group thing - she had on a dark pair of jeans, a black V-neck shirt, black flip-flops, and a simple shell necklace that she always liked but rarely wore.
"Yep. Do I look okay?" Elizabeth asked nervously, checking the mirror once more.
"Of course," Rachel laughed. "Most of the people there are going to be wearing sweatpants, anyway."
"Good," Elizabeth breathed, reassured. She and Rachel made their way to the main library and almost as soon as they walked in were hailed by a small group of people, all looking overworked yet happy. Elizabeth could only see about 5 people, though. The rest were sitting in big, poofy armchairs by the fire and were overshadowed by the people standing.
"Hey guys!" Rachel greeted. She stepped to the side so they could all see Elizabeth, who immediately flushed - she didn't like all these eyes on her...
"Everyone, this is Elizabeth. She's new this year. Actaully, this is only her third day!"
There was a round of "Heys!" from the group of people.
"Elizabeth, this is David, Jon, Olivia, Amanda, Bryan, aaand... hey, where's my brother?" Rachel asked, looking around. The people around her shrugged, looking around as well.
They didn't have to look for long. A tan boy with long black dredlocks sauntered in, walking with an odd swagger, as if he was drunk. Elizabeth raised her eyebrows; who in their right mind would come to a library drunk?
"Ah, of course. Elizabeth, this is my brother Jack. Jack, this is Elizabeth. She's new," Rachel explained.
"Ah! What a beaut'! New this year, eh? Need someone to show you around?" Jack asked, stepping a bit too close for comfort. Elizabeth could smell that he hadn't brushed his teeth in probably about a month.
"Down, boy..." Rachel said, rolling her eyes as she pulled Jack backwards.
"I was just askin' 'er if she wanted..."
"We all know what you were asking, dude," the boy called Jon said with a chuckle. Elizabeth laughed nervously.
"Oh, don't worry about him. He's little... hyperactive. But don't worry," Rachel repeated as Jack went to join his friends, "He's harmless."
"Eh, where'd Will get to...?" Jack asked, peering at the entrance to the large, spacious library. As if to answer his question, a tall boy with brown hair and eyes walked into the library, looking weary. As he approached the group, Elizabeth couldn't help but notice that Will was extremely attractive...
"'Ere 'e his!" Jack roared. Rachel rolled her eyes at her brother once more.
"Will, this is Elizabeth. She's new this year," Rachel repeated for the third time that night. "Elizabeth, this is Will, Jack's best friend."
"Hi," Elizabeth squeaked. She flushed, again. Why did she have to turn red now? Why?
"Hi, Elizabeth," Will answered, smiling a bit. Elizabeth couldn't help but notice how his hair was flopping into his face.
"Well, now that we're all here-" Jack started, throwing a mock filthy look at Will, ("Who was it that had to park the car because the cops won't believe the other one when he says he's not drunk, hmm? Who!") "Who's ready to PARTY!"
"Jack, this is a study group," Rachel reminded him, her nose already buried in a thick and extremely dull-looking book entitled Advanced Calculus and Its Wonders.
"Oh... right..." Jack muttered, looking crestfallen.
"So, do you like it here at PRA?" The girl named Amanda asked kindly. Elizabeth smiled and nodded; there was no need to tell everyone that she thought their school was the most boring and annoying school she had ever attended.
"So what are you studying? Physics?" Amanda asked, eyeing Elizabeth's textbook with apprehension. She nodded wearily and started to write.
"That sucks. I don't take it, myself. Actually, I'm pretty sure that the only person here who takes physics is Will," she added thoughtfully.
"Hey, Will! You take physics, right?" She called. Elizabeth flinched.
He looked up from the binder he was rifling through.
"Yeah, why?" He asked.
"Elizabeth takes it, too. Hey," Amanda turned back to Elizabeth, "Are you doing well in that class? Like, do you understand the material? Because, like, I'm sure Will could help you out. He's getting, what, an A+?"
"Um, no, that's okay. I understand it pretty good. My only problem is that I've already fallen asleep 2 times, and I've only had the class 3 times. I don't think I'm Norrington's favorite student," Elizabeth joked. Will laughed. Elizabeth lowered her eyes as she turned red again; she hadn't realized he'd been listening.
"What period do you have him?" Will asked suddenly.
"Last," Elizabeth said with dislike. Will gave her a sympathetic look.
"Ouch. That's gotta suck."
"Pretty much," Elizabeth answered, returning to her textbook. She didn't look back up to see if Will was still looking at her.
Hours passed like minutes as everyone studied, an occasional question like "What did Keller say about this?" or "When is this essay due?" popping up from the various members. Before anyone knew it, the elderly librarian was telling the group that the library was closing and they needed to leave. Grumbles broke out amongst them as everyone stuffed papers, binders, folders, and textbooks into their bags. Rachel and Elizabeth bade them all goodbyes as they walked out onto the campus.
"Well, that was fun," Elizabeth said, looking down as she walked.
"Yep! Did you like everyone?" Rachel asked, her face glowing blue from the shine of her phone in the night.
"Yeah, they were all really nice! Although, I'd be lying if I said that I thought your brother was normal..." Elizabeth joked, hoping she hadn't crossed a line. Ther her relief, Rachel laughed.
"Yeah, Jack's never been what people call 'normal.' What about Will, though? Did you like him?"
"Yeah, he was nice. Kinda wierd that he's friends with Jack, though. I mean, no offense or anything, but Jack's so... you know. And Will's like... not," Elizabeth tried to explain, knowing that she must have sounded like an idiot.
"Ha, yeah, I know what you mean. Jack and Will go way back, though. I've known him for years, the amount of times he's been over to my house! Ah, I could tell you stories about those two..." Rachel trailed off, swinging the door to their dorm open with a flourish. The two girls walked into their room and found Angela sleeping, her face stuck to a page of a notebook on her bed. She was still fully dressed.
"Let's just... let her sleep," Elizabeth suggested, not exactly liking the idea of waking up an extremely tired college girl.
"Yeah... her next class is in an hour; I have the same one. I'll wake her up for it. You can go to sleep if you want," Rachel offered. She grabbed her bathroom bag from the drawer in her bedside stand.
"I'll go take a shower in the meantime. Get some shuteye," she commanded. Elizabeth nodded gratefully and changed quickly. After what was surely the longest day she had ever had, Elizabeth flopped into her warm, cushy bed. Oddly, Will's face greeted her behind closed lids. She smiled; glad no one else could see what she saw.
High-pitched twitterings woke Elizabeth. She cracked one eye open unwillingly and glared at the small birds perched on the trees outside her window.
"Mmm... 5 more minutes..." she mumbled, glad it was the weekend. No classes, no Norrington... She smiled into her pillow.
After another half-hour of twisting herself in the covers and tossing and turning, Elizabeth decided that it was futile to attempt to get any more sleep. She looked at the alarm clock by her bed and saw that it was already 9:45.
"Wierd..." she muttered. Usually, Elizabeth didn't sleep past 8, even on weekends. She shrugged; college must be catching up with her.
"Morning!" Angela greeted her brightly, her dark brown curls bouncing wildly as she walked. She strode from the doorway to the desk by her bed, a muffin in her hand.
"Morning!" Elizabeth anmswered, the smell wafting from the pastry in her hands making her mouth water.
"I'm gonna go get some breakfast," she said. Angela waved her on, her mouth full of muffin.
The huge dining hall wasn't as packed as Elizabeth expected it to be; on the contrary, it was nearly empty. Elizabeth wondered why until she remembered that it was Saturday morning - everyone was either still asleep or getting breakfast somewhere else. She grabbed a blueberry muffin and a packet of butter, choosing an isolated table in the corner of the hall. She preferred eating alone.
Elizabeth was halfway through her muffin, one of her pirate novels in hand, when the squealing of a chair made her realize someone had sat down across from her. Her eyes snapped up to see who it was - and she started choking on the bite of muffin that had been in her mouth.
Will was sitting across from her, grinning.
"Morning," he said as she swallowed the food with difficulty.
"Morning," she gasped, taking a swig from her water bottle that she had thought to bring.
"So, what are you reading?" Will asked politely, after taking a long sip of coffee. Elizabeth marked the page in her book by folding the corner back before answering.
"Oh, nothing. Just a silly fiction..." she murmered, though she secretely hoped he would inquire further. She got her wish.
"Really? I love fiction. I mean, if you're going to read for pleasure, why not read about something new? So, what's it about?" Will asked, trying to read the title. Elizabeth smirked.
"Pirates," she answered.
Will's dropped his eyes at the word. He didn't say anything for a moment, but when he snapped his head back up, his eyes were distant, very unlike they had been just a minute ago, and his tone almost apologetic.
"Sorry to have bothered you. I gotta go pick up some things from the library..." he mumbled, standing up quickly. He didn't even wait for a goodbye as he strode away from the table, a dark green backpack slung over his back and coffee in hand.
Elizabeth felt the smile slip off her face. What was that about...? She wondered, bewildered.
After finishing her breakfast and getting a long, hot shower, Elizabeth decided to take a tour of the campus. She had been around the school these past three days, of course, but never really took the time to check out some of the less academic features of the grounds, like the football field and the little park enclosed on the campus.
She sat down on the one of the few benches in the small park, grateful for the shade. They had been having rather hot weather for September this year. She watched the passersby for a few minutes, then got her pirate book out of her bag for some light reading. She was no further than two paragraphs when a coarse shout got her attention.
"'Ey, Lizzie!"
She looked up to see Rachel's brother, Jack, sauntering towards her in his odd walk. He still had an aura of drunkness and was smiling crookedly.
"It's Elizabeth," she reprimanded lightly. The only person she had ever let call her Lizzie was her father.
"Apologies," Jack said, waving his hand. "So, what might you be doing this fine day?" He sat down next to her on the bench - a little too close, she thought. She scooched down a bit.
"Just reading," she answered politely. Jack made a noise of disgust.
"Reading on a weekend? Who reads on a weekend?" He asked cheekily.
"I do!" Elizabeth replied defensively. Jack wrinkled his nose but said nothing.
"So I heard that you have Norrie for physics, eh? Had 'im last year, meself. Bloody prick, that one is," Jack said, annoyed.
"Yeah. So you took physics last year?" Elizabeth asked, impressed.
"Nah. Elementary topics of physics. I'm in regular Topics now," Jack answered offhandedly.
"Science not your strong point?" Elizabeth asked, smirking.
"Not particularly. I prefer to focus - Oy, Will!" Jack said, waving his arms around. None other than Will had walked past them, looking deep in thought. He still had his coffee in his hand, though by then it was probably stone cold. Elizabeth was happy he was there; what was with that awkwardness earlier?
"Wha-? Oh, hey Jack. Elizabeth," he said, refusing to meet her gaze, though Elizabeth thought she saw suspicion in his eyes.
"Will, what are you doing here? I thought you went down to your parents' last night to visit, now that you're mum's sick," Jack said sympathetically.
"What?" Will asked, snapping his eyes back from the tree he was looking at back to Jack's. "Oh. No, I didn't go to my mom's. Katherine's with her now," he said offhandishly.
"Who's Katherine?" Elizabeth piped up. She was surprised at the sudden rush of jealously she felt - was Katherine Will's girlfriend?
"'Is sister, and he refuses to let me meet 'er. I swear, makes me feel bloody unwanted," Jack answered.
"That's only because your goal in life is to steal as many flowers as you can," Will said, narrowing his eyes at him. Jack feigned hurt.
"William Turner! Tha's an awful thing to say and untrue, at that! I would never-!"
"Want me to list them? Giselle, Scarlet-"
"Alright, alright! So I've been around..." Jack murmered. Elizabeth raised her eyebrows at him.
"Don't take it like that, love! I just happen to lose sight of m' morals when I'm not entirely sober..." Jack said, grinning. Elizabeth rolled her eyes at him.
"So then I suppose going to a party when you're there is not the best idea?" She asked. Jack's grin became more pronounced.
"Speaking of a party! It's dear William's birthday next Friday - we're throwing a little get-together (and by that I mean mad party), in the boy's dorm room at 8 - wanna come?" Jack asked.
"Well, in the assumption that I'll have to get someone to hide all the alcohol from you, I'd love to go! That is," Elizabeth looked up at Will, "if Will wants me to go?"
Will flushed at her words. He opened his mouth to speak, but wan interrupted by Jack.
"Of course 'e does! All set, then. Now, if you'd excuse me, I do believe I see a young lady I know..." he fast-walked over to a pretty blonde girl, speaking quickly. Elizabeth couldn't quite hear what he had said, but it was only a split second before the girl slapped Jack -hard- across the face. She stalked off as Elizabeth heard an indignant "I don't think I deserved that!" from Jack.
"Did he?" She asked Will, her eyes still on Jack. She could spot the red spot on his hand from where she was sitting.
"Yes," he snorted.
"Will!" Someone called. They both looked up to see David and Jon, two of the boys from the study group the night before, waving Will over.
"Gotta go," he said, finally throwing away his coffee in a nearby trash can. Elizabeth merely nodded; her heart doing an odd sort of backflip as she watched him walk away.
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I'll be putting in much more fluffiness soon, don't worry. And if you read that and got Sparrabeth out of it, please go bang your head on a wall. Repeatedly. Because I have never been, am not, and NEVER WILL BE a Sparrabether.
Reviews are awesome! I wanna thank all who reviewed for my pathetic story so far - a craftsman (taking the word craft rather liberally) is always pleased to hear his (or her) work is appreciated!
Vampire love!