Disclaimer: I do not own Pride and Prejudice.

Ch. 4

Lexie

She was dragged to the city for back to school shopping and to buy supplies for the party. Mrs. Lucas and Charlotte were with them, Lexie just listened to her mp3. It wasn't like they were shopping for her anyways. All she needed were undergarments because her uniform still fit her well enough and looked new. It wasn't until Rose told her and Lizzie that she would buy them a dress for their birthday did she start to look at anything.

To her surprise Rose was going to let her pick out her own dress, they stopped by several stores before Lizzie found hers. It was an olive green spaghetti strapped dress that cut off at her knees. The skirt flowed beautifully out from her waist and the color brought out her big brown eyes. She looked beautiful, as always.

While the others shopped for the party supplies, Lexie took off and walked to Savers knowing she wasn't going to have a say in anything. She hadn't seen any dresses that she liked, that Rose would have brought her so she knew there would still be more shopping. Being around all of them was taking a toll on her energy, even with music. She really needed a break.

This was one of her favorite stores and she just wanted to look around. She always found really nice frames and clothes at a really great price, even Jane and Lizzie often shopped here. She found her bookshelf and nightstand here. She had finished looking at everything and was absentmindedly looking through the dresses when a purplish grey color caught her eye.

It was polyester with thin sparkling gold thread going vertically up the dress and long sleeves. The skirt was knee length and she looked at the size hoping that it would at least fit, even if it was a little too big. The tags were ripped off the dress, but putting it up against her, it looked like it would be worth trying on. She made her way to the fitting room and carefully tried it on.

It fits! A small smile played on her lips as she looked at herself in the mirror. She felt pretty. It was a little loose but the elastic band around the waist showed off her hips. It almost looked like a two-piece suit because the top looked like a blouse tucked into the skirt. The left side of the dress had small pearled buttons going from the collar to her shoulder. Once buttoned up there were two straps at the collar that tied into a medium bowtie off the side. The sleeves were shy of her wrists and had cuffs with the same buttons on the side.

She never once cared about looking pretty, decent yes but never petty. She liked the way she felt in this dress and she really liked it. Rose of course would buy it, it was only $8, but she still needed to run it by her and ask. She asked one of the cashiers to hold it while she went to get Rose. She of course had to try it back on but she didn't mind, if it meant she was going to get it.

"It looks decent I suppose. It is your birthday. If you want to wear that, who am I to stop you?"

This was as close to a compliment Rose was capable of giving her, only confirming that she looked nice. If she looked ugly, Rose would have told her. Rose may have hated her but she cared too much about what others thought. Often she would buy Lexie the clothes that she wanted, but for the most part Rose bought her dark clothes that were a size or two too big but she didn't care, she only wore them at the house.

What she hated most about Rose was that she always boasted about her trophies, her school, education, her friends, and grades to her friends but she didn't even believe the own crap she was spewing from her mouth. Jane was beautiful, Lizzie was great, Lydia was her favorite and she was a trophy. It was strange to her how Rose managed to brush off what people said about her. She never thought before she spoke, it didn't matter who she was speaking to, she had no filter. She was always one of the first ones to get drunk and loud, and she encouraged Lydia and Kitty to be silly and boy crazy.


Anne informed her that she wouldn't be able to attend the party, her cousin who just moved to the city would be going over that day for dinner. She didn't feel bad though, she knew how Mrs. De Bough was. She could still remember the first day they met. Anne told her that her mother knew about their friendship and insisted that she needed to have dinner at her house. Anne was such a nervous wreck when she invited her, her mother was overbearing, highly judgmental, she had an opinion on everything and she learned soon enough that she always got her way. Luckily she was approved but even if she hadn't, Anne would have still been her best friend.

Anne was as quiet as the day they met, if possible it was like she wasn't even there. Anne never spoke the entire time and her small frame and pale skin made her look sickly to some but to Lexie she was beautiful. A real Snow White. Throughout the years, she'd seen how different Anne was with her father. They were always laughing, Mr. De Bough was really funny and always spent time with Anne when she was 'sick.' At least Mary and Hurst will be there.


Today was the first day of school and she found that she was excited. She was going to see Anne and Hurst, who she hadn't seen for an entire month but often spoke to them. The daily routine for school days was, get up at 5:45, and be ready by 7 so she could come with him to the city so she could go to school. Their car rides mostly always consisted of silence other than the morning news on the radio. Sometimes he would ask about her grades or music but nothing else. He liked to get to work early so he'd leave her at a diner by 7:30 and then she'd take the bus or walk to school depending on her mood.

She was happy to know that she had several classes with Anne and Hurst and as always, she had Mary for Orchestra. Mary was a junior so the only time they got to hang out was at lunch and after school. This year they all had lunch together as usual but Hurst didn't eat with them today; Lexie was telling them about Will and it was then that she found out Anne was his cousin. She could see the resemblance now that she mentioned it and she just couldn't seem to stop talking about him but she didn't realize it.

Anne and Mary could tell that Lexie had a crush on him, even if she didn't realize it herself. It was the way she spoke about him; it was like she was speaking about music or one of them. It was mostly the fact that she mentioned him at all.

"He's the reason I can't go to your party. He's coming over for dinner," Anne reminded her.

That blank look came into her eyes but quickly disappeared, they often wondered if she ever noticed it but they just ignored it.

Anne began to wonder that it was strange William would pick that specific date to go over. She knew her mother insisted on it being sooner but he was very set on that day; she was listening to her mother on the phone with him. She was already thinking of a way to get to the party with him. Lexie would be surprised and she would be happy, she deserved to be happy.


After school she and Mary would stay to practice together, Mary on the piano and Lexie on the violin. Her Aunt Grace would pick them up later and then take them to the Philips house or just take her home so grace could visit with Rose. On the days she went to Mary's, she had to wait for her father to get out of work and he often stayed late. Grace was Rose's older sister and they were almost complete copies of each other. They talked about everything and they loved hanging out because they could openly criticize Lexie and Mary with each other.

Grace and Mary didn't have a good relationship either and part of it was because Mary took more after her father and was a little plump. Mary had plain brown straight hair, she was always reading and she was very quiet. Mary wasn't ugly but Grace was too shallow and couldn't believe her daughter was plain. It wasn't like she married for love, she married for convenience, a lawyer, to support the lifestyle she wanted.

Lexie just brushed it off and soon Mary learned to do it as well. Lexie was grateful to have Mary as her cousin. They always gravitated towards each other and grew closer when Lexie transferred schools. They both tolerated family gatherings together even if it was spent in silence. Meeting Anne completed the trio and they were all close. They even developed their own Morris code to communicate secretly.


Lizzie

Lizzie couldn't believe she was going to be 17 soon and she was happy that she was finally a senior. This would be her last year of high school. She didn't really have any plans after school but she didn't care or think too much about it at the moment. Eventually she knew she needed to decide but for now she was keeping her options open. She was more excited about the party.

Charlotte was her best friend, besides Jane, they'd been friends their whole lives even though Charlotte was closer to Jane's age. She really loved the dress her mom got her, it gave off the impression that she had curves and she knew she looked beautiful. While blue was her favorite color, she mostly wore green knowing it brought out her eyes like her mom suggested. She found that she was happier that Lexie found a dress she really liked. When they got home, she caught Lexie modeling it in front of their mirror. It seemed like this was the first normal thing she'd ever seen Lexie do, act like a girl.

To top it all off, Darcy wasn't going to the party making her relieved and happy but at the same time angry. She was glad he wouldn't be there to spoil her mood but she couldn't believe he'd make up an excuse to get out of the party. She knew he was a snob and that he didn't like his new neighbors but to conveniently visit someone seemed off. Especially since he'd been here two weeks already.


The first day of school came, bringing an end to summer and horrible news for the rest of the school year. It was her misfortune not only to have Darcy for a class but Caroline was also in it. Worse, it was her least favorite class and she got stuck sitting with both of them as lab partners. Fuck, you should have gotten here earlier. At least I don't have to sit next to either of them. The only thing that made the day better again was Caroline's constant and obvious flirting with Darcy and his reaction to it. She was constantly trying to touch him and get him to talk as she batted her long eyelashes at him. He seemed really irritated but kept it hidden well. A part of her felt sorry for him but his discomfort brought her comfort.

She tried to stay focus, knowing she had to pay attention. First because anything science she was bad at and second, if she paid attention to her partners, she'd spend her time laughing at them. She was too focused to realize that Darcy spent most of his time looking at her but the several times she looked ahead, his eyes were on her briefly. She hated the way he looked at her, as if she did anything wrong to him.

At lunch she found out that Darcy was in all AP classes except for Chemistry and she was just glad that she didn't listen to her dad. Jane did and she had him for two classes. Her day was once again ruined when she found out Charlie and Darcy also had lunch with them but she at least had Charlotte to talk to. Jane spent all of her time talking to Charlie while Darcy ate in silence. His scowl really got to her, knowing that he didn't want to sit with them, let alone speak to them. The only time he spoke was when he was spoken to, responding with curt answers and a slight annoyance in his voice. He hardly ate and she kept catching him looking at her and she really wanted to tell him of but she had to tell herself she needed to get through it for Jane.


"Oh we started reading about poetry in Mr. Colton's class. So we're gonna have to write an essay about it and the influence it has on love." Charlotte rolled her eyes as Darcy and Charlie walked up to their table. "It has to be at least two pages long," She whined.

"A whole essay about love poems? How horrible. If anything all they do is scare the other person away." She lightly laughed.

"But poetry is the food of love." Darcy stated surprising her. This was the first time he'd spoken on his own after a week of eating with them.

"Only if you're already in love. Sure you can fall deeper in love with someone but if it's only a small crush; you can scare the person away. Especially if the feeling isn't mutual." She shivered, remembering Bill Collin's love poem to her in the 6th grade. She got detention for a whole week after she punched him in the cut and kicked at him. They'd only known each other for three days and he was already professing his love for her.

"What would you believe is a good way to show affection?" He asked.

"I would have to say… dancing," she smirked. "Even if one's partner is only tolerable." She smiled brightly with a twinkle in her eyes.

Charlotte looked as if she was about to laugh but didn't. Darcy noticing it looked like he was going to say something but replied with a curt nod and started eating.

"I would have to say dancing, even if your partner is only tolerable." She smiled with a twinkle in her eyes.

Darcy looked like he was going to say something, but replied with a curt nod.


Will

He knew he had to figure a way to get out of going to the Bennet's party. He hadn't seen Alexa again or ran into Lizzie like he would have hoped but Elizabeth haunted his dreams. Charlie couldn't stop talking about Jane, only making matters worse; making him frustrated that he couldn't seem to get her out of his thoughts and he had no idea why.

He came up with the idea when his Aunt De Bough tried to get him to go over for dinner. He knew it was the perfect excuse, he told Charlie that he was going to go visit his family. Charlie didn't even protest or gave it much of a second thought. Charlie knew that his family was really important to him.

What Charlie didn't know was that he didn't really like the De Bough's or know them besides his aunt, who was overbearing, nosey and highly judgmental. He really dreaded going over but if it got him away, he'd gladly deal with her. It probably wouldn't be so bad if she didn't dominate the entire conversation, she hardly let anyone speak only allowing for short yes and no answers. Even when she did ask a question, it was always rhetorical. She just seemed to love the sound of her own voice. He couldn't begin to imagine how Anne must have felt, living with her.

He never took time to get to know Anne, she always kept to herself and was quiet. She didn't speak and she was always sick. Whenever they were in the same room together, she just sat there. He sometimes forgot she was even there until his aunt would say something to her. He knew it was going to be a long night and he was going to need all his strength to make it through dinner.


He thought he was lucky when he entered Chemistry and saw that there was only one table left and he was hoping that no one else would sit with him. He was already tired of all the staring and whispering that seemed to follow him. His luck changed when Caroline entered the room and practically sprinted to the chair next to his. He knew it would have been rude to move, plus she might think that he wanted to look at her so he stayed sitting. Now he was hoping that someone else would come in and sit with them otherwise he would have to pray for an A in this class. Science was just a subject he couldn't understand. No matter how much tutoring he got he could never grasp it. It wasn't like it mattered because his job wouldn't require him to know it. But he needed that A to remain Valedictorian.

As luck would have it, Elizabeth entered the room a split second before the bell went off. He wasn't quite sure if this was a good or bad thing. Paying attention, the first day seemed like a fruitless effort on his part. Caroline spent most of her time flirting with him and he spent most of his time looking at Elizabeth as she concentrated on what the teacher said.

He knew he would have been fine if Caroline could just stop touching and brushing up against him. This was the closest she had been able to get to him; at the house he always made sure to keep his distance but she always seemed to pop out of nowhere. The only time he got any space from her was when he went to the restroom, or was in his or Charlies' room. It was still better than living with the De Bough's he told himself and thinking of seeing his aunt later today soured his mood. It didn't help that Elizabeth looked amused as his misery and now he had a new image of her in his mind.

By the time lunch came around, he was beyond angry. Most of his day was spent trying to avoid all of the girls he had to sit around and the ones who passed him in the hallway. He really missed his old school, it wasn't as bad as this. He was tired and frustrated and he still needed to get through the other half of the day. He was hungry and it was difficult to eat with Elizabeth sitting across from him. He couldn't stop looking at her smile as she spoke to Charlotte and he spent most of his time listening to what she had to say. They tried to get him to speak but he wasn't having it today.


Seventeen:

Lizzie couldn't sleep, she was too excited because today was her birthday. She even woke up as early as Lexie, who couldn't have cared less what today was. Not even on our birthday Lexie really? She didn't even tell her 'Happy Birthday.'

"Hey how about we go for a walk today?" She suggested. Lexie looked shocked but only nodded in agreement. She wasn't sure why she suggested it either, knowing they would have to talk but she hoped that maybe she could change Lexie's mood today.


They didn't talk at all as they walked through the field until they were heading back, Lizzie decided to break the ice.

"I can't wait to get home. I love how mom always cooks our favorite food for our birthday."

You mean your favorite foods! "Me too." She stated.

"Oh! Remember when the carnival came to town and we got to ride the ponies! I was so scared, dad had to hold onto me to get me to ride it." Lizzie laughed.

I remember being afraid as well! The line was too long and he didn't want to wait so I had to hold on by myself! "Yes. Have you been near a horse since then?" She tried to keep the annoyance out of her voice.

Lizzie laughed and shook her head no.

Her fear for them only grew when she saw Charlotte get knocked to the ground and hit in the head. She was over at her house and Charlotte wanted to show her the new horse they got. She was trying to make her get on it to conquer her fears when it began to panic. There was so much blood, she thought Charlotte was going to die. Since then she avoided them all together but Charlotte was left unaffected.


The smell of food hit the both of them as they entered through the side door. Rose had made waffles, Lizzie's favorite. They both received 'Happy Birthday's' from everyone, except Lizzie got hugs and kisses from everyone. While Lexie received a hug from her father and Jane; and what could be described as a half hug from Rose, Kitty and Lydia.

Once she finished eating, Lexie stood up to get a head start on all the dishes that were over piled in the sink and counter. There were more dishes than necessary and she wanted to finish them so she wouldn't be bothered the rest of the day.

"Let me wash them Lexie," Jane offered kindly.

It's my turn to do them. "If you have already gotten me a gift, then no." She said.

Jane smiled at her and nodded softly. "Can I help you?" She asked, she wanted to spend some time with Lexie and maybe this way they could talk.

Lexie saw Rose glance their way, trying to see what they were talking about. "No, thank you."

Jane gave her a sad smile, "Ok."


"ROSE, GIRLS!" Her father called as she placed the last dish away.

She took a small breath and slowly walked into the living room. Everyone was taking a seat around the TV as her father stood there with a VHS. She made her way to the recliner further away from it and them.

Apparently Lizzie had the brilliant idea to watch home videos from their childhood, celebrating seventeen years of existence. No matter how much she didn't want to look, she couldn't look away.

They were seven, the screen showed her standing next to Lizzie. She was about to blow out her candles when Lizzie blew all of the candles, including her own. Her face shook side to side as she let out a hearty breath.

She was just staring at the cake, when Lizzie backed away and pushed her head into the cake, ruining half of it. Everyone but Lexie started laughing, including the people from the TV. Her younger self's face was covered in cake but you could still see her glossed over eyes.

"Lizzie! What did you do?" Her father chastised her playfully, laughing.

Lexie grabbed a handful of cake and shoved it into Lizzie's face, making her cry.

"ALEXA! Why would you hit her!? Look at what you did! She's crying!" Was heard from faceless voices; all of them upset.

Further along in the video, Lexie was singing a song she didn't recognize.

"Look at how Lizzie's dancing!" Someone said.

The camera quickly panned to Lizzie. She looked cute smiling and laughing in a shirt and shorts with a pink tutu around her waist, making up her own dance in her own world. Lexie stopped singing but no one noticed. The rest of the videos continued the same, Lizzie in the spotlight.

She remained quiet, giving small smiles, speaking when spoken to, and putting up with all the laughing and teasing that seemed to be at her expense. She wasn't bothered by it though, she was numb to the feelings that threatened to overcome her; they were just another brick and by tomorrow she wouldn't feel this anymore. It'll just be another day like today was.