Chapter 4 ~ Everything's Changing
Sorry for the enormous wait, but I was totally caught up in school work and everything. I've been so busy, and theres really no great excuse except I didn't have a lot of time for writing. Hope you enjoy this chapter, as I tried to speed things up with a bit more of the Pride and Prejudice type plot.
Please read, and review.
~G
'How can I decide what's right
When you're clouding up my mind?
I can't win your losing fight
All the time...'
"Tell me again why you dragged me along to this?" Charlotte hissed in Lizzie's ear as they got out of her fathers car, waved him goodbye and make their way across the gravel to the front door. It was the night of Charles party and they were thirty minutes late, after Lydia spilt coffee all over her new dress and screamed the house down. They'd had to make a hectic rush to her friend Isla's; in hope of finding anything Lydia could wear. Whilst there she'd found the perfect dress, and gotten a ride from Isla's brother, Jane's friend Tom.
"I'm more concerned about Lydia and Tom…you know what happened last time!" Lizzie complained, wobbling slightly in her new high heels.
She'd never worn anything quite like them, having never worn 5 inch heels before. They were black satin open toe pumps with a smattering of crystals all over. They contrasted nicely with her Cobalt strapless silk organza with a full bubble skirt. She'd thrown on some tights as well because it was getting cold at nights now that they were heading into autumn. Charlotte hadn't tried nearly as much, wearing a simple midnight blue tunic and low, shiny black pumps. She kept flicking her new fringe, and acting nervous about entering.
"Oh don't worry. We'll all be on the look out…" Charlotte sighed as they rang the door bell and waited on the step. Lizzie hopped from one foot to the other, feeling cold in the sudden strong breeze. Thirty seconds later, Jane opened the door, smiling at them both. She had on a simple little black dress, which fit her slender frame like a glove. She had added a pair of completely sequined silver heels, which were of course envied by all of her sisters.
"Hello Lizzie! Charlotte," she smiled politely, "you're just in time. Almost everyone's arrived."
"Has Lydia?" Lizzie bit her lip, tasting blood. She hated this feeling, the empty sickness at the pit of her stomach, the hollow fear rising up her throat. Tom wasn't to be trusted; he was truly vile with intentions to match.
"Not yet…she was coming with you, I thought?" Jane was breezy as ever, smiling.
"Well…she had a meltdown; her dress was the wrong colour of something. Isla fixed her up, and she went off with Tom…I thought they'd come here?"
Jane shook her head, making her curls tumble all over her face, she turned and walked into the house. Lizzie and Charlotte quickly followed, following her into the lounge where Charles was sitting on the couch talking to Jane's friends Abby and Jess. He made space for Jane, and threw his arm around her when she sat down, she positively glowed at this tiny gesture, but Lizzie had no time for this.
It was very loud; with a lot of people Lizzie barely recognised dancing, laughing and drinking alcohol. It could have been anyone's party.
"Jane!" she called "what about Lydia?"
Jane shrugged, "I trust Tom. Now Lizzie, don't worry. She'll be fine, go and dance with your friends…flirt with some guys…party!" She turned back to Charles and smiled; he smiled too but then turned to Lizzie.
"Is everything alright, Lizzie?"
She nodded, "just great. I'll leave you to get on with it then…" She turned, dragging Charlotte by the hand and practically fell over William.
"Lizzie." He nodded at her, his dark eyes sweeping over her new dress, she couldn't help but notice how his mouth curled into a smile, just a little. He nodded at Charlotte too, but didn't give her the same slow smile.
"William." Charlotte nodded, barely looking at him. She noticed her and Lizzie's friends, so she tactfully removed herself.
"And your well?" William asked Lizzie politely. She noticed a lot of Jane's friends looking at him in wonder. He was handsome after all, it was a pity that most of the time he was a complete horror to converse with.
"Mmm…sort of…" she noticed Charlotte and Demi staring at her and William curiously. "I better go. Well…nice seeing you William." She turned and went very quickly, without a glance back.
"Wait," he called grabbing her bare arm, "will you promise me a dance later?" He let go of her arm straight away as if it was red hot. He didn't normally show any signs off affection, so this was all completely new to him.
"Sure. Now I really have to go…bye William" she nodded, straining a smile.
"Will," he whispered, watching her walk away.
This party was beginning to get very boring. It was full of other people's friends; she'd scarcely been allowed to invite anyone compared to how many people Jane invited. And Lydia still hadn't showed up. This bothered her beyond belief, because Tom hadn't either. She was earnestly chatting to a really cute boy in Jane's year when Kitty ran into the room shouting.
"Oh, Lizzie!" Kitty rushed up to her, almost knocking her over "Tom's already here! I saw him! And Lydia isn't here!"
"What?" Lizzie stood up quickly, her voice full of disbelief. "He wouldn't!" She turned to the boy, but he'd already left, obviously bewildered by her odd family member.
Kitty only nodded, as she pushed her way through the crowded room, and into the Lounge. Jane and Charles were nowhere to be seen, but over by the window, talking to Helena sat Tom. She marched up to him angrily.
"Where is Lydia?" she shrieked.
"I don't know…" he laughed, arms flopping over Helena. Ugh, he was drunk.
"Did you drive her here?"
He shook his head lazily, "I was going to. But she started moaning about her shoes…or something…so I left her a couple of miles from here. She wanted to get out."
"Are you serious? You left a fourteen year old girl on her own, miles from a party, you were supposed to be bringing her to?" she started shouting, everyone looked at her, but that didn't make her halt. "She's fourteen! And she's Lydia! When she's around boys all common sense goes out the window, how could you be so stupid?"
"Hey Lizzie…calm down, will you?" Tom was grinning, whilst Helena sniggered. "Lydia's fine…she said she was meeting someone anyway…"
Someone? Well that was never good! A nameless boy to flirt with her, and make her giddy. A nameless boy who'd think she was at least sixteen and expect something he really didn't deserve. A nameless boy that she'd likely bring back here. She groaned.
"Lizzie! Lizzie!" Charlotte reached her, completely out of breath. "William was looking for you…about some dance? I thought you didn't like him!"
"I don't…." she whispered, just as the most beautiful boy entered the room, Lydia clinging to his arm. Oh my god. Her heart rate accelerated, and she gasped out loud.
"Whoa," Charlotte murmured, "Lydia doesn't hang around does she?" Lizzie barely heard her, as Lydia and the boy came closer.
"Lizzie!" Lydia smiled, showing all of her even, white teeth "this is Johnny Wickham."
He held up his hand by way of greeting, and said "Hi" in a big, husky voice.
"He's a soldier, on leave." Lydia said proudly, her arm entwined with his.
This put her off a little, she hated war, and the one the government were in right now was completely unnecessary. He couldn't be that great if he opted to go into the army.
"He decided to come join me here; I met him earlier in the week…" Lydia was still explaining. "When Tom left, I phoned him. And here we are!"
Lizzie couldn't have cared less, but Lydia seemed overly excited. Jumping up and down, clutching onto his arm, making everyone stare. She was easily the centre of attention tonight, and was relishing in it. Johnny kept smiling at her, his dark green eyes seeming to go right through her. She felt very dizzy.
"I have to go." She said suddenly, "I promised someone a dance."
.........
As William looked at her, as they danced in time around the room. He was looking at her far too often; it was making her feel very uneasy.
"Do you like the party so far?" he asked, his face a complete emotionless mask.
"Oh, it's fine…." She replied dubiously. Their conversation was awkward and stilted. He'd comment on something boring like the party, or the amount of people dancing. She'd reply with a boring answer, and they'd continue to move round the room not even vaguely representing anything like dancing. Jane and Charles of course, floated round gracefully, long limbs not once colliding. They looked like they were floating on a cloud, high above everyone else's heads, too far away for anyone to reach. Jane hadn't seemed bothered by Lydia arriving with a new beau; she'd simply smiled, telling Lizzie to let her have some fun! She wasn't Jane anymore. She was too busy with Charles. He was the only thing consuming her thoughts right now and probably for a good while.
"It's getting late, what time are you going?" William asked her, suddenly a little urgently.
"I don't know. Whenever I can tear Jane away from Charles!"
They danced in silence for a few moments more, both watching each other suspiciously. Finally, she couldn't bear it any longer.
"Are you enjoying your time here?" she asked casually.
"It is nothing more than I expected," he replied in a dull monotone.
He was lying, not that Lizzie would ever have guessed. There was something here that was much more than he could ever dream of, something that was bewitching him more and more with her beautiful brown eyes.
"Mmm…the country, not my first choice of a place to live either," she agreed "but we can't all live in plush, sky scraping pads in the centre of London, now can we, William?"
"Will." He sounded a little angry.
She continued dancing, trying to ignore him. It was painfully awkward. Charlotte kept shooting her warning glances and pointing to the door, but she couldn't be bothered listening to her problems. She turned her gaze back on Will…and his big, dark eyes and beautiful smile. They caught her eye for several moments, making her bite back the snarky comment she'd been about to unleash. He should really smile a lot more often.
"Is something wrong?" He was being annoyingly concerned, and polite, she could tell it was totally fake.
"Everything's good, well…."
"Well is it, or isn't it?" he sounded like the same old Will. Impatient, and arrogant.
"It's really none of your concern."
He shrugged, knitting his dark eyebrows together. It made him look a lot older than eighteen.
"And now is about the time I leave you," she told him smiling as Charlotte began to walk towards her, nibbling on her bottom lip. She stepped away from him, leaving him dancing all by herself. She seemed to be doing that a lot tonight, drifting in and out of realities that didn't quite seem real. They seemed like unpleasant dreams, which she knew she'd just have to wake up from very soon.
"Lizzie. You must come now, Lydia is drunk!" Charlotte was hissing in her ear.
........
Lydia giggled all the way home, in Johnny's car. When Lizzie had found her she'd been shrieking, arms raised, about to hit Isla. Johnny had held her back, and somehow managed to get her out of the house. Lydia wasn't in the least thankful, throwing up all over his shiny black shoes. Then they'd had the trouble of actually getting her into the car, and even worse were trying to find Kitty, Mary and Jane to tell them what was going on. Kitty had followed them, holding onto Lydia's arm half asleep. Jane had eagerly told her that she was staying over at the Bingley's and she couldn't find Mary. She'd probably headed off home early.
"I'm sorry about your shoes," Lizzie commented, when Lydia finally shut up, and she appeared to be asleep.
"No problem, I wasn't invited so I suppose it's the price I have to pay," he replied back, fingers drumming out the beat of the song blasting from the radio.
"It was an open invite, really," she replied "Charles really didn't care who was invited."
"Oh I'm sure someone certainly wasn't happy to see me…" he replied strangely.
"Never mind, it wasn't that great a party anyway." Now that was a major understatement.
He chuckled, although it wasn't in the least bit funny. "Lydia certainly had a good time."
"Mmm…but she can make anything fun. All she has to do is laugh, tell silly stories and find a cute boy to hang about with and she's all set." She hoped he wouldn't think the cute part was in any way a description of him.
"Well I had fun, but then I've been under someone's command for so long that even walking to the shop for a pint of milk is a triumph."
This time she laughed. "What are you doing here anyway? I'm sure there are a million places better to come to."
"I was visiting an old friend…" he replied, shrugging "but it turns out he wasn't too happy to see me, and then I bumped into Lydia."
"She is sort of hard to miss," she interjected.
"And she invited me to this party, with the promise of a good time. She's a sweet kid," he told her.
"I'm not a kid!" Lydia suddenly perked up, "I'm fourteen, Johnny! That's nowhere near a 'kid' and beside you didn't seem to mind earlier…"
The car came to a stop, and Johnny nodded, getting out. They were home, and Lizzie hadn't ever been happier to see it there.
"Thanks," she whispered, helping Kitty get Lydia out.
"Sure," Johnny said as he got back inside the car. She thought he'd leave but he leaned over, opened the other door and smiled, "I was wondering if you wanted to do something tomorrow? See a film or something?"
Her heart beat loudly, and she knew it was wrong to go out with someone who Lydia had been with, but surely it was fine as friends?
"Mmm…I don't know."
He shrugged, "give me a text when you do. Lydia has my number." And with that he slammed the door shut, and sped away in his car.
Lizzie stood there watching it grown smaller and smaller, until it disappeared for far too long, before heading on inside and feeling the wrath her parents when they found out Lydia was hopelessly drunk. Little did she know everything was about to change drastically from now on…
.....
and there you have it! I was happy to introuduce Johnny (George in P+P) Wickham into the plot...and the next chapter will begin to see the lives of the Bennett sisters really change, as written in the chapter. I hope to have to up really soon, maybe tonight if possible.
Anyway, please review and tell me what you think, I'd love it know.
Quotes from Paramore's AWESOME new song for the Twilight Film (eeek!) entitled Decode.
~G
