Thanks for your reviews! I loved writing this chapter, I don't even know why!
To the beat of the rhythm of the night
dance until the morning light
Forget about the worries on your mind
we can leave them all behind
To the beat of the rhythm of the night
Forget about the worries on your mind
we can leave them all behind...
-Valeria, Rhythm of the Night
Will was backstage, and he was nervous. He hated that feeling of insecurities that settled on his shoulders right before a concert, and he wanted to high tale it out of there. It was worse than the aching on his side from the crash earlier that day, and it was worse than the humiliation that that uncultured Bennett girl had put him through. It was the kind of nervous that made him want to run a marathon and never hit the finish line because he had hopped on the nearest semi to get away.
The only things stopping him were his manager, his lawyer, and his sister. His sister was also his clothes designer, and when she wasn't on the spot, she was just as fierce as he could be. Right now, she was stabbing him with pins as she struggled to get his "ripped and tortured" apparel to not fall off during his concert.
"I have good news, your chauffer is ok. He's got some painkillers and is passed out on a couch." Jack informed him with a grin. "His wife's keeping him company."
"Send him flowers for his trouble." Gina told Charlie with a mouthful of pins hindering her voice.
"Will, remember what you're supposed to do." Charlie prodded happily.
"We're on in five." The stage manager, Rick told him.
"Why would I send flowers? I've got enough trouble, I don't need to send a chauffer flowers!" Will snapped, his temper flaring.
"It's sentimental!" Gina argued.
"It's gay!" Jack supported.
"Just send it!" Charlie cried.
"Three minutes!" The manager snapped.
"Flowers are cheap!" Jack added, smirking.
"Flowers are pretty and sentimental!" Gina defended.
"I'm not attracted to him!" Will snapped.
"You don't have to be!" Charlie cried brightly.
"To send sentimental flowers, yes I do!" Will retorted.
"Let the wench who hit you guys send flowers!" Jack offered.
"Like she could afford it." Will muttered.
"WILL!" Gina cried, smacking him.
"That's not nice Will. Are you even ready for the concert?" Charlie asked brightly.
"Two minutes!" The manager barked at them.
"Is anyone paying attention to me?" Jack asked to no one in particular.
"NO!" Three voices cried simultaneously to him.
"Just asking." He muttered.
"Will, remember-"
"You need to be-"
"I think I-"
"WILL YOU STOP!?"
"You really should-"
"Will you please let my son prepare for his concert quietly?" A robust voice cried above everyone else's. Will grinned despite himself, and when everyone froze, the voice snapped, "Meaning, leave him!" Like dogs with tails between their legs, the three sidled off, heads hanging.
"You didn't have to do that, Mrs. Reynolds." Will said softly. Mrs. Reynolds was his house keeper, but also one of the few people he respected. With her dark eyes, severe bun pulled tight, and narrow cheek bones, it was hard to say no to her. When she said something, it was done.
"You looked like you were about to be shot, William. You need peace and quiet." Mrs. Reynolds dismissed his protests with a smile. "Besides, the look of relief on your face is enough to make it worthwhile. Now, focus with the time you have left. Make them beg for more, m'boy." With a smile, she walked off, barking at others who were gawking at him.
Will sighed, leaning against the wall. He took a deep breath, and held it, thinking calming thoughts. His mind wandered to after the crash, and the problem that had surfaced with it.
"We'll stay here until my car is brought along." Jane said softly, sitting down.
"Nonsense babe, stay until you guys are up to it. Don't push yourself!" Charlie smiled when she blushed, and held her hand as he turned on the TV.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and sat down next to her sister, fiddling with her cell phone in a nervous sort of way. She had taken off her jacket, and she wore only a tank top. What was curious was that he could see quite clearly a long and rectangular bruise that stretched from the top of her shoulder and went down, disappearing under her shirt. With a start, Will realized it was a bruise from the seat belt digging into her skin.
"Do you need some pain killers?" Charlie asked in concern when she winced.
"No, I'm fine, just a little pain. Thanks Charlie." She replied with an easy smile.
"If you're tired, we have another room for you to sleep in." Charlie offered, tossing a look at Will for an Ok.
"Down the hall and to the left." Will muttered as he got up to leave. The way her eyes held him made him feel uneasy. He felt exhausted, as if someone had sucked the energy out of him, and he knew just the trick to fix it. Music. Walking down the hall, he stepped into his instrument room, and grabbed his guitar. Slowly, he began plucking at it, tuning the strings and messing with a melody he had been working on.
The music came naturally, the tune simple. Make it a love song, make it sad. Make the girls pine for you; those are the words that Charlie said. Will tugged at his hair in frustration, and began singing softly under his breath.
"Breathe in for luck,
Breathe in so deep,
This air is blessed,
You share with me,
This night is wild,
So calm and dull,
These hearts, they race…"
He was then aware of someone in the doorway, watching him. Looking up, he saw those eyes, and he couldn't move. His chest tightened, and his heart seemed to jump in his chest. Angry at his reaction, he snapped, "What are you doing?"
"Just listening to music, don't worry; I'm not going to steal your song or anything." She held her hands up in mock surrender, and grinned.
"Not like you could." He shrugged and looked down again. He tried putting up a cold front that usually pushed girls away. As if sensing his act, Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at his tone. "I just find it funny how someone like you could play something so pretty." Will glared, not used to someone he barely knew teasing him in such a sarcastic way.
"Someone like me?" He asked, dangerously quiet. Elizabeth nodded, her grin suddenly appearing.
"A grump." She said simply and sat down on the piano bench.
"'Come mothers come fathers throughout the land; don't criticize what you can't understand'."
"You know Bob Dylan?" She asked, incredulous.
"Why wouldn't I?" Will demanded, fiddling with the strings. For some reason, whenever he looked at her his chest would squeeze tight and he hated the feeling. It was weak, and uncalled for. She couldn't be that pretty, could she?
"You don't seem the type." She flashed a grin, as if she could read his thoughts. His thoughts being, 'you're right… I'm not'. But Will had tried to learn from every artist before him. He studied their strengths, their weaknesses. He saw how they rose, how they fell. He could name their hits, and their failures. And by that, he found that he hated most music. But she couldn't know that, could she?
"And how would you come to that conclusion? Have you heard my music?" He was beginning to grow annoyed that his obvious annoyance wasn't driving her away. In fact, it seemed to draw her closer.
"Of course I haven't heard your music. You're not much of a jazz singer, I have gathered." She retorted, raising an eyebrow. He felt exposed as she stared at him, straight in the eyes, as if to say she could pin him for anything.
"You would have to find that out yourself." He snapped coldly, turning away from her. She stood up, and walked down the row of guitars standing next to one another, letting her fingers graze them lightly.
"And how would I do that?" She asked with a smirk.
"Come to my concert." Ah, he saw her turn a slight red at that.
"I don't have a ticket." She muttered, turning back to him.
"Charlie will take care of it." He pushed her protests away, glaring. He would show her what music was. He would get that ridiculous smirk off of her face soon enough.
"I'm much to busy." She stated firmly, walking towards him slightly. Her hands were on her narrow waist, and she was staring him down again.
"Then you're going to have to accept defeat. I've won this debate." He dismissed her and began to fiddle with his song.
"You've done no such thing!" She was glaring now, and he noticed how she seemed ready to defend herself. Ah, she was an independent girl.
"Then come to my concert, and find out for yourself." He shrugged, and almost rolled his eyes at how uncultured she seemed. So ready to argue, but not willing to go the whole way. She must be lower class.
"Fine. Maybe I will." She snapped, flashing him a cold look. Standing up, she winced and said in a slightly miffed way, "I'm going to go now. Thank you for your stimulating company."
In spite of himself, Will grinned.
Now, he was angry with himself. Inviting a girl to his concert, as if he was interested in her was a stupid move to make. Now, she probably would follow him around, talking about nonsensical things and trying to sleep with him. If it was one thing he hated, it was a gold digger.
And then there was her sister. She seemed to accept Charlie's advances, but seemed to not feel as strongly. He had seen how lost Charlie was when he had seen them together. In a couple months, if things progressed, he would probably ask her to marry him. Charlie always rushed into everything, and never stopped to think. Because of things like that, Will was stuck in Georgia for summer and almost all of fall.
"Will, you're on!" Gina told him, giving him a hug and a pinch for luck. Will shook his head and realized that the applause for the opening part was dying out. With a sigh, he walked onto stage, causing the whole crowd to go wild. He gave a cool smile, causing girls to swoon, and he almost laughed. Women were so predictable!
"Hey," He said softly into the mike, "Thanks for coming tonight. I see it's a good crowd out here. Lots of noise going on, right?" He grinned when he saw girls standing up in their seats trying to get a close up picture. Lights blinded him from most of the crowd, but he could see the first two rows quite clearly. Right in the middle seats were Jane and Elizabeth. Jane was smiling faintly, but Elizabeth seemed merely skeptical.
"I think I'm going to start off with a favorite from the radio. You all have heard it, I'm sure-" Will was cut off by screams from the crowd. He smirked. "I know you all know the lyrics." More screams of acknowledgement. With an almost imperceptible sigh, he settled down on the stool, and began strumming lightly. The noise around him seemed to die, as if the screams had been turned off instantly. All that he saw and heard was the instrument in his hands. His tool. His fingers found the right placements as if he had never needed to learn them. Clearing his throat slightly, he looked up, capturing everyone with his dark eyes. There was a thick feeling of wait in the air as he almost felt everyone leaning in. He had them right where they needed to be.
And then, he sang.
Elizabeth had never heard something so sweet. His voice seemed to flow from his lips like silk, and she could see he was far away from everything around him. His eyes were on the crowd, but she could tell his mind and heart were gone. All he was thinking of was the music. It surprised her that someone so cold towards people could be so passionate about music. It was like a different person was on stage singing.
Elizabeth loved music. She loved the feel and the way it moved her. The tug and pull of the melody with a twist in the harmony seemed to lull her into a different world. She almost could feel the emotion coming off of him in waves as he sang, and it was different than anything she thought could have come from him. Jerks weren't supposed to be so good at things like this!
"You totally bitch slapped him Lizzie." Charlotte told her with a laugh when they were getting ready for the concert. Charlotte already had tickets and a date with a guy, so they would just meet up afterwards for the party.
"I only told him what I thought. He was more concerned about him than the guy who had to be taken to the hospital!" She laughed when her friend imitated the Darcy guy to perfection. She couldn't get a grip on how unfeeling he could be.
"I can't believe you didn't recognize him though." Charlotte grinned mischievously and rolled her eyes. "If I didn't know any better, you only said that to get a rise out of him. The guy would deserve it."
"Yes, the look on his face was worth all of the drama he caused over it."
"You take pride in driving ass holes nuts?" Charlotte asked incredulously. Lizzie grinned.
"Every time."
And now, here he was, up on stage, singing his heart into it. Well, something like that. His eyes starting roaming the crowd, catching girls' stares and sneering at them. What an arrogant guy. She wanted to laugh at how he seemed totally ok with making them swoon, but then again, he probably was ok with it. Guys like that weren't worth anyone's time, she decided.
He changed the tempo, making it a bit faster, a bit more emotional. His gaze then fell on Elizabeth, and her jaw almost dropped. There was so much feeling in his music that she could hardly get her head around it. There was no way he could make music like that! Almost as if sensing her reaction, he smirked at her. Lizzie shut her mouth and raised an eyebrow, challenging him. The look seemed to startle him, much to her amusement, because he missed the next chord in the song, putting it slightly off beat. His head ducked down, and he fixed the mistake almost immediately, blushing angrily. Thankfully, he had had enough composure and control to keep singing while he did this, but she noticed he seemed colder than before.
"Lizzie, be nice!" Jane scolded, her angelic face suddenly reproachful.
"But messing with people like him is half the fun!" Elizabeth retorted cheerfully, feeling a buzz in her pocket. Pulling her phone out, she saw she had a text.
To: Lizzie
From: Lottie
Im guessin that wuz u miz lizzie bear.
Reply?
Elizabeth grinned, showing the text to her sister. Jane rolled her eyes and smiled.
To:Lottie
From: Lizzie
Of course.
Will finished with a flourish, cursing inwardly. The low class wretch! He had looked at her, not surprised to see her in awe, but then she had the audacity to make him mess up! Nothing like that had ever happened, ever. Will Darcy didn't make mistakes, not in his business running, not in his music.
Then what the hell just happened?
It wasn't like she was trying to mess him up. It was just a look! But his chest had tightened, and his eyes were only for her. He didn't have time to think about that. She wasn't worth it.
"Yeah, did you like that?" He asked, grinning. He knew exactly how to make them go crazy. The words, the body language, the looks were all key. Walking on stage, they were all easy to do. If only he could incorporate that into real life settings.
"Let's speed things up, shall we?" He asked rhetorically, risking a glance to the side of the stage where his sister was giving him a thumbs up sign.
"This is the story of a girl,
Who cried a river and drowned the whole world,
And while she looks so good in photographs,
I absolutely love it,
When she smiles-"
The whole crowd, save one, went wild.
"And here's the man of himself, Will Darcy!" Charlie grinned as the whole crowd went crazy. The after party was always crazy, and Club Europe was supposedly the place in Georgia to hold it. The V.I.P. section was booked through, and drinks were pouring. Rap and dance music blared through the speakers and the dance floor was packed with swaying, gyrating bodies that went with the beat in perfect rhythm. Will was disgusted with the smell of booze, smoke, and sweat, but he knew he couldn't wriggle out of this party. It was all about him, after all.
The people around him were all trying to talk to him at once, asking for auto graphs, photos, and how he felt about things. He didn't answer, thinking that they didn't want to know that he wanted to shoot them all for bothering him with trivial things.
"This is a party, isn't it?! Why isn't there dancing?" Jack appeared out of no where, an arm around Will's shoulders. "This is the best that Atlanta could offer, and no one's showing it?"
"This is their best?" Will asked in disgust. Charlie just laughed and led them over to a table where Jane, Elizabeth, a girl Will didn't know, and a boy sat. There was minimal dancing in the V.I.P. but a lot of people talking and mingling, most of them around the D.J.
"Will, Jack, this is Charlotte and Bill, friends of Jane's and Elizabeth's." Charlie smiled at the look of stony discomfort on Will's face, and frowned slightly at the way Jack hungrily checked out his girlfriend and her sister.
"A pleasure, I'm Jack, Will's lawyer." Jack sidled in next to Lizzie, his intentions perfectly clear. Lizzie wrinkled her nose slightly at him, not because of his looks, but because of how blatant a player he was. Will took note of this and had to suppress a grin. He didn't know that there was a woman who could turn Jack Wickam away. This was definitely a first.
Jack didn't seem angry or annoyed at this though. In fact, he seemed delighted that there would be a fight for it. Jack loved those who fought. He loved winning them over too. It made him feel greedy all over.
"Jane! Aren't you going to introduce us too?" A shrill voice seemed to cut through all the other loud noises. Jane flushed slightly and looked slightly embarrassed, but Lizzie all together slammed her head onto the table in mortification. Will glanced at her once before he was bombarded with the stench of very cheap perfume.
My mother has to be the most brash, over-bearing person I've ever met. When I saw her finally wriggle through to the V.I.P. section I tried not to beat my head into a wall. Think happy thoughts. I kept thinking in a slightly panicked way. If there was one person to make the ever big ego- freak Darcy think any less of the Bennett's it was my mother.
"Oh you're Mr. Darcy! My daughters tell me so much of you! Jane, introduce us! Oh… hello Lizzie." And then there she was, all short skirt, tank top and high heels, and no body to fit it. My mother thinks that she can dress like a fifteen year old slut and get away with it. Two and a half words: she can't. Will looked at me, and raised an eyebrow.
"Your daughters tell you about me? One of them said she had never heard of me." He smirked in an annoying way at me, but I quickly burst his bubble.
"I have four sisters, Darcy." I pointed out, and Charlie burst into laughter.
"Oh, most would be dancing though. Lydia and Katie love to dance. Mary… well, no one pays mind to her. She's probably off reading something at the table over there." She waved a hand in the general direction of where Mary could be. My mother loved to blather on about nonsensical things. Yes, I could see it in that arrogant singer's eyes. He thought we were very uncultured.
Sure, we grew up in the south, but it's not like we're so redneck that we don't know anything. I've been accepted to Yale, and Jane is thinking of applying to Harvard for criminal justice. I'm not going to Yale though. My passion is singing, and I don't want to bust my ass at a school that wouldn't promote that sort of thing. Besides, I'm only twenty. I've got a little bit of time. I've already got an associate's degree from going to four semesters at Perimeter College. But this ass hole didn't know that.
"That's excellent!" Charlie beamed, but the mood of the table had been made into a very awkward one. Charlotte threw me a sympathetic glance before her date suddenly spoke up.
"I've been told that your aunt is the Catherine De Bourge! Is this true?!" He gushed in a dorky way. I resisted the urge to hit my head against a wall. Billy Collins was the standard nerd who loved to follow me and Charlotte around during high school. She accepted his "sweet advances" after a month of him stalking her.
Will glared daggers at him, and I almost feared for the dork. He didn't seem to notice and he smiled expectantly.
"Yes." He had dropped all attempts at furthering that conversation. Charlotte grabbed Bill's hand, and squeezed it in a, "shut up" kind of way. Bill merely looked clueless and then looked down at his drink, mumbling.
"I always wondered if you were really talented at music Will, can I call you Will? Well, it was your record company so I didn't know if you were good or not but you proved me wrong! How much money do you make anyway?" Gosh, my mother was a hound dog. She seemed to be trying to sniff the amount of money off of him. Will recoiled, and his posture stiffened. It was two different types of dogs meeting in an alleyway, one a mutt and the other a pampered pure bred. I winced at the analogy.
"A suitable amount, I would guess." He said stiffly before turning around and walking off, probably to find some more suitable friends to talk to. I had to hand it to him though, he held himself well with my dear old mother. She is a tough cookie.
"Ah, the ever dark Darcy. Don't you worry Elizabeth, he gets like that. It's a talent of his to do that." Jack seemed eager for me to talk to him, but I wasn't buying into his act at all. Players are players, and no skin they hide in can make them a chameleon.
"Who said I was worrying? Come on Charlotte, I want to dance." Grinning brightly, I grabbed my best friend's hand, and pulled her to the dance floor. Well, it was an attempt at a dance floor. The V.I.P. of Club Europe was mostly for sitting and drinking and talking while the people on the other side of the separation danced like crazy. I wanted to be on that side of the club, and the only thing stopping me was Jane. I couldn't leave her alone with the likes of Darcy's group. She was too nice.
"Lizzie, you handled yourself well with her." Charlotte informed me as we joined the small group dancing. Among them were people more like me, there through connections, not money. My family had money, but nothing near as big as Darcy and Bingley. Darcy was almost a billionaire and Charlie was a millionaire.
"She always embarrasses my family! It's like a child, I can't take her anywhere!" I tried to play it off as a joke, but Charlotte knew I was mortified.
"Well there's two hot guys here with our names on them." Charlotte sent a very inconspicuous glance at two boys who stood at the edge of the group, watching. They seemed European, and very interested. I looked back at Charlotte to see her grinning at them smoothly.
"You have a date, Lotte." I reprimanded her jokingly, but I knew it was too late. Charlotte was very pretty, and I didn't blame her for wanting to ditch the toad. At present, he was sitting at the booth, watching us with fascination. When he saw Lotte, he actually licked his lips. I repressed a shudder.
As they D.J. managed to covertly change songs, I let the beat take over me, and I slid into a new personality. There were never any worries when I was dancing. Dancing always let me relax. And boy did I need to relax.
I couldn't believe that the crowd I was subjecting myself to hang around was considered classy. The mother who dressed like she was two hundred pounds lighter was like a tabby, eyeing everyone and sizing them up. I had to walk away before I said something I would regret.
It was sad to think that Elizabeth came from something like that. Jane as well. Charlie was holding it off very well, smiling amiably, as if the fact they were almost spelling gold digger out on their chest didn't bother him. Jack was simply smiling maliciously, taking the situation in with a look that said quite clearly he was enjoying their ignorance way too much. I walked over to a few colleagues, but I didn't want to converse. I was much too disgusted with how the night was turning out to be.
There was a group in the section that was dancing in a slightly large circle, and I could see quite clearly that Elizabeth and her ok looking friend were dancing in the center. It wasn't slutty, but it wasn't simply swaying back and forth. Both of them could move, and move well.
Why was I staring? Setting my stern glare in place, I turned around and ordered a drink, Laubade, simply to have something to do with my hands. The place smelled strongly of smoke and sweat, and I couldn't stand the way everyone stared at me. Their eyes seemed to size me up, and they hungrily approached me if I stayed in one place too long. This type of crowd was the reason why I wanted to keep friends within my social status.
Charlie pulled Jane away from the crowd, and they found their way to the dance floor, joking around. Charlie could never dance, and they made a show of twirling her around slowly to a fast song. I couldn't believe he was lowering himself to her standards just to be with her. As I glanced around, I noticed that the only higher class of people were Charlie, Jack, a few of my workers, and me. It was sad really.
Charlie and Jane danced the whole night almost, taking breaks to come and keep me company. Jack had disappeared somewhere, probably out of the V.I.P. section to see the crowd of females out of this area. He was lucky.
He got to get out of this hell hole.
I noticed that Elizabeth and her friend hardly stopped dancing. Once they stopped when the small man from earlier pulled them aside and began loudly protesting about their dancing. Elizabeth seemed to shrug it off and pull her friend back over to the two men who they had been dancing with. She never stopped moving.
And for some reason her and her friend were the only two who didn't come near me -save Charlie and Jane- and try to talk to me. In fact, they seemed to stay right there in order to avoid me. Or maybe I was just imagining it. It was a relief that there were at least four people here that didn't care about my money. It was a shame that three were so close to the lower class culture surrounding me.
"Will!" Charlie walked over laughing, his voice loud over the music. "You need to go and dance! You're just sitting there, glaring at everyone. It's scary, and if I didn't know you any better I would have thought you were contemplating suicide!" I saw that Jane was no where to be seen, and her sister and their friend had also disappeared.
"Who said I wasn't?" I mumbled, grinding my teeth together. Charlie either didn't hear me, or chose to ignore my comment.
"Come on, just dance with a girl! I'm sure you saw Lizzie dancing! Can she move or what? Jane says you two would have a lot in common, she sings as well!" Wow, Charlie was really trying. The night as a whole made me in a mood bad enough that I was in no mood to mess with people like her.
"Her dancing is sad, Charlie. Do you honestly think I'd enjoy my time with a no talent hick like that? So what if she can sing. Karaoke isn't something she should brag about." I hope there was enough sting in that comment to make him really get the point. Charlie was never one for brains. Sure enough, I felt slightly bad when his face fell like a child who had been denied their favorite toy.
"Suit yourself Will. Have fun talking to yourself." He grinned cheekily, but his eyes grew wide when he glanced behind me. Raising an eyebrow, I was about to turn around when Jack walked up.
"Will! I found the hottest girl here. She doesn't even speak a lick of English! I feel the beginning of something wonderful brewing."
Funny, I feel the beginning of something painful brewing.
"Come on, just dance with a girl! I'm sure you saw Lizzie dancing! Can she move or what? Jane says you two would have a lot in common, she sings as well!" Charlie's bright and happy voice floated from behind us somewhere, and Lizzie laughed. She had figured that he was trying to use her as an excuse for Will to do something at his own party, but she knew it would most likely be in vain. The grump had walked around the entire booked section, glaring at everyone. Charlotte and her were waiting impatiently for an answer though, and trying to muffle their laughter.
"Her dancing is sad, Charlie. Do you honestly think I'd enjoy my time with a no talent hick like that? So what if she can sing? Karaoke isn't something she should brag about." His cold voice was like a slap to the face, and Lizzie knew her look of shock was mirroring Charlotte's. Lizzie could feel her face heating up, but she tried to suppress the feeling. There was no sense in letting him the get the best of her. Who was he? A rich, stuck up jerk who thought he was better than anyone from a "redneck hick town". He was a nobody. Lizzie knew that.
"Don't listen to him Liz-bear, he's just jealous his only curves are the makings of a beer gut." Charlotte whispered, and laughing, she pulled Lizzie over to the drink bar, where thy both ordered their favorites, a strawberry dacqri and a caramel apple martini.
The party was closing quickly; people getting tired and checking their watches. Elizabeth, Charlotte, Jane, and Charlie stayed back with Will to say good night to those leaving. Billy had left early, much to Charlotte's amusement and pity. As her mom left, Elizabeth turned bright red as she gushed drunkenly about how much fun she had. Along behind her came a girl dressed in all black, her nose in a book. Looking up from her book, no one was surprised to see that she had heavy dark makeup, and a nose piercing.
"That book looks interesting." Charlie commented to Mary, a nervous smile on his face.
"Yes, this is the book I've been waiting for. The Art of Dying is an excellent book based off of the many forms of suicide and homicide." She informed them dully, much to the entire group's mortification. Charlie almost theatrically gulped, and Will's face darkened. Lizzie took note of this, but she knew to hold in her annoyance with him. Now was not the time to go off.
"Where's Kitty and Lydia?" Jane asked her mother in a concerned manner, much to her drunken mother's amusement.
"OH! Hic- I do believe- teehee- that they left- hic! With their friend- hic-hic-hic- earlier! Oh, dearie, these hiccups!" Giggling, she walked out, swaying her hips grotesquely. Elizabeth flushed at the sight.
Finally, they were able to leave. Walking along with the group, Lizzie had to admit that it was an ok night. Leave out Darcy, and it was pretty much a good party. Charlotte, Charlie, and Jane dominated the conversation, Darcy sullen and quiet, Lizzie just quiet. As they reached their cars, Jane kissed Charlie good bye, and climbed into the driver's seat. Charlotte slid in back, and as Lizzie began to get into the front, Charlie asked in a concerned manner, "Are you ok Lizzie? You seem awfully quiet."
Lizzie grinned, and made a show of trying to talk. Jane started the car, and she rolled down the windows so Lizzie could finally spit out what she was trying to say.
"Sorry… I've just been trying to save my voice for tomorrow night's karaoke jam at Dugan's Bar. I kill it on that karaoke machine. You guys should come!" She grinned suddenly and shrugged, her eyes sparkling mischievously. Jane looked blankly at her sister, but Charlotte burst into laughter, much to the dismay of Will and Charlie. Charlie turned red, and spluttered something, while Will flushed a pale color, his hands stuffed into his pockets. Slowly, his gaze settled on Lizzie's and she returned his glare with an amused smirk.
Will couldn't stop staring. Her face was slightly red from dancing, her hair was pulled out of her face, so the scratches were still visible, but they seemed to blend in with her skin at the moment. It was her eyes that caught him. The light blue seemed unnatural for her to have, and the way she portrayed her emotions through them was incredible. Her eyes seemed to say, "You don't matter to me, your words mean nothing". She was amused at him, he could tell, and he couldn't find any kindness in her gaze. With a dip of his head, he turned around and let the darkness of the parking lot swallow him up. Jane smiled apologetically at Charlie before they backed out and pulled away.
"Lizzie?" Jane asked as they hit the highway, going east to home.
"Yes?" Lizzie asked with a laugh. She knew Jane wanted to know what the hell had happened.
"Do you enjoy doing that to people?" There was a moment of silence as everyone glanced at the girl in question.
"Every time."
"Will… she got you there." Charlie laughed as they sped towards the hotel a few blocks away. Will merely pressed harder on the gas pedal, his glare set.
"They're so low class Charlie. Honestly." Will ground out. I didn't like how she unnerved him. No one had that power over him.
"Jane's an angel!" Charlie spluttered, flabbergasted.
"She smiles too much." Will retorted, making an illegal u-turn.
"As an angel should!" was the tart reply.
Ah, that was fun. Oh yeah, I didn't want to mess with the whole Lizzie Jack thing. Don't worry, he'll play a bigger part later. But, I always thought Lizzie didn't need that drama, though it did pull Darcy and her closer together. But, never fear, I have an idea!!
… well, that is reason to fear… but anyway…
And these places? All real. I've been stuck growing up with them, haha.
