Shine
By Luna
Chapter 10: To be mistress of Pemberley
Beth dropped her suitcase loudly on the floor in the foyer. She tried to rub away the ache her suitcase had cut into her shoulder while she waited for someone to come out to greet her, but the house was silent except for the quiet ticking from the clock in the living room. She let out a breath, feeling disappointed somehow. How could everything in her home still be exactly the same when she felt so changed? She found it hard to believe that only a week had passed.
She jumped when her father's voice rang out from the study.
"Is that you, Beth?"
"No, it's a robber. Where do you keep the jewelry and the fine wines?" She walked over to her father's study and found Thomas leaning back on his chair reading a very battered copy of a book. She leaned in to give him a warm hug.
"Beth, I've missed you. The house isn't the same without you," Thomas said.
Beth smiled and kissed the top of this head. "Now that's what a girl likes to hear. Where are mom and Lydia?"
"They're out shopping. It seems they don't have enough clothing." He smiled. Beth laughed and then yawned, but tried to hide it.
Thomas noticed right away. "Beth, you're tired. You should be in bed, not standing around talking to an old man like me."
"You're not that old, dad," she said. "But I think you're right about bed."
"Goodnight. I expect to hear all about you trip tomorrow!" he called as she walked out the door.
She paused for a moment at the door and smirked. "Yeah right," she muttered, under her breath. This was one trip she would not be telling her father about.
Beth went up to her room, and sat in her chair facing her phone, debating whether or not to pick it up. Jane wasn't coming home from New York for another two days, and she wanted to tell Jane about everything that had happened during her stay at Carla's.
She just didn't know if she was ready to talk about it yet, and she didn't have a reasonable answer yet for her actions. But she couldn't resist talking to her sister. She was sure Jane's calming voice would make her feel better about what happened. Jane was usually able to help Beth feel like a rational human being again.
Beth started in as soon as they had finished saying hello. "I have some news to tell you."
"Is it good or bad?" Jane asked, her interest piqued.
Beth had been sitting, but she stood and began to pace across the room. She was too agitated to stay still. "I really don't know."
"Okay, now you have to tell me. What's this news?"
"While I was at Carla's—"
"I thought it was going to have something to do with your trip!" Jane interrupted happily. "Did you have a good time?"
"For the most part." Beth spoke haltingly. She didn't know which words to use or how to say what she had to say.
"What does that mean? You're being so cryptic," Jane scolded.
Beth sighed, and made herself sit down again, this time on her bed. "If you'd give me a second, I would tell you what happened," Beth scolded, and Jane laughed on the other end of the phone. Not letting herself think, Beth launched into her story. "Carla lives a floor below Catherine Bourgh, who's Will Darcy's great aunt, and he was there." Beth finished in one breath. She swallowed. "He was visiting his aunt."
"And…?" Jane asked excitedly. "Knowing you, that can't be the end of the story."
Beth buried her face briefly in her pillow and tried to continue with the story. She found she didn't know what to say.
"I—We… I mean…" She mumbled something unintelligible. "…with Will." She put a hand over her eyes, feeling flustered.
"You didn't!" Jane gasped and began laughing wildly. When Beth didn't respond, she continued. "Oh, you did! Was he good? I feel like he'd be good. He has nice hands."
Beth's eyes shot open. She couldn't help laughing at her sister's reaction. "We didn't have sex, Jane."
"So what did happen between the two of you then? As your big sister, I demand details."
Beth groaned. "God, I don't know. One minute we were bickering in the cab, and then we were in the elevator and we were kissing, and I mean kissing, and then I—I flipped out I guess, and we got into a huge fight. It sounds so cheesy and melodramatic, like on television, but that's what happened," she finished.
"Right before we got in the fight he said he had feelings for me: obviously, right? But somehow I was still surprised. It's Will. He was always quiet, and I thought he was so arrogant and stuck up. When he told me about his feelings I was so—I said some really horrible things to him. I'm so ashamed of what I said, now. I wish I could go back."
Jane had sobered. "What's done is done. You can't do anything about it now. I feel bad that you hurt him. He's nice when you get to know him. Honestly, I'm not that surprised. You two have chemistry—"
"Why does everyone say that?" Beth interrupted.
"Because it's true. You don't still think you hate him, do you?"
Beth almost slapped herself on the forehead. "I forgot to tell you, and this is the whole reason I called. I can't believe I forgot. When we were fighting I said something about how he was horrible for mistreating Jamie."
"I forgot about that."
"The thing is that he wasn't. Jamie lied about everything when I met him. I felt like such a fool when I found out." She proceeded to tell Jane about the letter, but left out the parts concerning Charles, and only gave a vague description of what happened to Will's sister. She didn't want to hurt Will by telling the whole world about Anna's experience.
Jane was as astonished as Beth had been when she learned the truth. "Maybe it isn't true. Are you completely sure, Beth?"
"Yes. I've been so wrong about everything. This is the only thing I'm sure of right now." Beth felt a small wave of guilt for everything she had done and said to Will.
Jane must have been able to sense what Beth felt through the phone. "You must feel really terrible after throwing all those accusations at him and finding out they weren't true."
"You have no idea. I wish you had been there. Maybe I wouldn't have been so stupid about everything." She paused before going on. "Do you think I should tell everyone about Jamie?"
Jane paused to think.
"Will didn't give me permission to tell everyone about his sister, and Carla said something about how she thought Jamie had stopped dealing drugs. I don't really think I should tell people."
"I agree. You would only hurt Will by filling everyone in on his past. I don't think he deserves that."
Beth sighed. "I'm glad I got all of that off my chest. I've been dying to tell someone about it."
In actuality, she still had something weighing on her. She was debating whether or not to tell Jane about the first part of the letter. She decided not to divulge. It would only make her sister unhappier, and she didn't want to be the cause of that. She had enough guilt as it was. She smiled into the phone. "Enough about me already, how are you doing? How's New York?"
The thought of going to college seemed so strange to Beth. She had spent her whole life waiting for this year: the year that she would finally move on to college. Now that it was actually looming in front of her she was scared.
She was afraid she wasn't prepared, that she would get to Pemberley and find that she wasn't ready, that she wasn't smart enough, and that she was going to fail. She was afraid she would get a horrible roommate, or that she wouldn't make any friends and would go through her entire college career as a social pariah. Although she knew that most of her fears were unfounded she couldn't help feeling them.
Beth was almost successful at keeping a certain boy off her mind. Sometimes when she really wasn't thinking or focusing on anything, her mind would wander back to that night and she'd have to cover her face to hide her blushing cheeks.
She was unsure as to what she should do. The letter had changed her mind so much. Should she contact Will somehow to tell him that she no longer hated him? The problem was that she didn't know if she ever wanted to talk to him again. When she thought of him, she mostly wanted to hide in a hole.
Their past was so full of confusion and misunderstandings. Sometimes, though, a feeling over came her that was something akin to regret for what could have been.
During that last week before she left for school she was very busy. Along with the tremendous amount of packing, she had to prepare herself to leave the only home she'd ever known. She also had to prepare to leave her family.
Jane's calm steady support was what really got Beth through. She was a nervous wreck, but Jane at least kept her from being a hysterical, hyperventilating, nervous wreck.
There was also, buried very deeply within her of course, the feeling of anticipation that she might see Will. She knew that he would be attending the same school. She also knew that it was a very large school, and that their chances of meeting were slim as he was an upperclassman and because their majors were totally different, his; business management and economics, and hers; English, but it still worried her.
As it turned out, when the first day of school arrived she was not ready for what it had in store, not even close, but fate always likes to throw those curve balls.
Beth sat on her bed and looked around the room in something akin to wonder. Her walls, closets, and shelves seemed so very bare. Their appearance had altered dramatically in the last week that she had been home. Everything she owned, it seemed, was packed away in boxes or plastic tubs, waiting to be taken to the car. She shivered as she thought about what she would be doing in 24 hours.
"Tomorrow's the big day," she said aloud, in amazement. It didn't seem to be real. Everything she had been longing for would finally be happening in less than a day.
It was late, and she knew she should have been in bed, but somehow the thought of sleep was totally unappealing to her. She knew once she lay down she would only toss and turn before falling into a fitful sleep hours later. She was too full of nervous energy to sit still. Sleep was the furthest thing from her mind. She figured she could use the long car ride to make up for any lost sleep. She couldn't ever remember being so excited for something in her life. It seemed that the 12 years of hard work she had put into school were finally paying off.
The next morning she woke with a jolt, and sat straight up in bed. She was confused as to where exactly she was. She hadn't remembered falling asleep. Once she realized she was in her own bed, she flopped back down on her pillows with a sigh. For once, she was happier to be awake than asleep.
She had been caught up in the middle of a horrible dream: one in which her alarm clock didn't go off and she didn't get to the university on time, and subsequently wasn't allowed inside the premises. Throughout the whole dream she had heard Caroline Bingley's awful laughter cackling in the background, like a horrible disembodied monster. She shook her head and tried to rid herself of the images.
She squinted at the bright sunlight streaming through the window and tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes. She smiled before getting out of bed to take a shower. It had finally come. Her first day had arrived.
"Are you sure you have everything?" Jane asked as she released Beth from a hug.
"No, I'm sure I'm forgetting something. You'll have to send it to me when I remember what it is, or better yet, you'll have to bring it to me personally."
"Who do you think I am, your personal servant?"
"No, you're my sister, and I love you very much, and I'm going to miss you horribly."
"I love you too. Now get out of here before I start crying."
Beth smiled and turned to hug Lydia before picking up her backpack and following her father out the door. She wiped a few tears away, feeling surprised. She hadn't expected to cry.
The only thing she felt as she left, however, was sadness. What would it be like living in a strange city full of people she didn't know? How would she get along without the guidance of her family? She couldn't find answers to those questions as she helped her father load the last of the luggage into the car. However unceremoniously, they were off.
The first thing she had noticed about Massachusetts was how many trees there were. When she had visited the campus earlier in the year they had still been covered in snow. It had been a beautiful sight, so beautiful, in fact, that it had been one of the major draws to the campus.
Now, in the height of summer, the trees were so green. It was quite a change from what she had seen in the dead of winter. She wondered if all the seasons were so vividly represented. She couldn't wait to see the trees in the fall; she knew they would be beautiful. She couldn't only imagine the sea of colors they would turn.
As they parked and began to unload the car, Beth looked around at the majestic brick buildings surrounding her. Her fingers were tingling with excitement. She could not, for the life of her, stand still. She wondered if anyone would think she was insane if she burst into spontaneous whoops of joy.
She had no feelings of homesickness or sadness; perhaps they would come later. Those feelings had disappeared as soon as they had reached the campus. The only thing she felt at that moment was elation and a curious sense of freedom: as though she could finally breathe. She frowned as she looked at the boxes. Many of them, she remembered, were quite heavy.
"This is going to take some serious work," she said glumly, indicating to the boxes. Her father laughed, apparently undaunted.
"We know you're in Grays Hall. That's what your admission packet said," her father piped cheerfully. "We're parked pretty close to the building. It shouldn't be too hard."
"You reminded me; I have to go to Admissions and pick up my key. They wouldn't give them to us until a particular date. Security reasons, I think. I decided I would wait and pick it up when we got here. You can start dragging those boxes to the dorm, dad. I'll help you when I get back."
"I see how it is," her father said, rolling his eyes, but he dutifully began to move the boxes.
Beth smiled as she walked toward the admissions office, or at least to where she thought the admissions office was. The campus was huge! She felt like a little insect trying to find its way around the ant farm. She let out a sigh of relief when she found the building. The signs had been very helpful. She didn't even have to stop to ask someone for directions.
She pushed open the door and welcomed the blast of cold air that hit her. She walked over to the receptionist sitting behind a large desk.
"Hi, I'm Elizabeth Bennet. May I pick up my room key here?" she asked uncertainly.
The receptionist looked up and smiled. "Of course. Just one moment. Bennet you said? Ah yes, here it is." She handed Beth the key before continuing. "Just so you know, there's a tour of campus for all freshmen in..." she turned her head to look at the clock on the wall behind her. "About an hour. It's not mandatory, but a lot of students say it's very helpful."
"That sounds wonderful," Beth said with a relieved sigh. "Where's it being held?"
"Donwell Hall. It's the large dorm across from Grays. You can't miss it. It's one of the largest on the campus. Have a nice day." She smiled nicely.
When she returned to the car, she was amazed to find her father casually leaning on the side of it, lazily watching his surroundings as he waited for her to return. There were no boxes in sight.
"There's no possible way that I was gone long enough for you to cart all those boxes away. How in the world did you manage to finish so quickly?" Beth asked in amazement.
Her father grinned. "I threw most of them in the dumpster over there."
"I had too much stuff anyway," Beth said, not missing a beat.
They both laughed at their silliness, and then Beth inquired as to the real reason all her boxes were gone.
"There was a group of boys in need of service hours, or so they said, and they asked if they could help, and naturally, I said yes. They piled everything up onto carts, and rolled it all away. It's sitting outside your room waiting to be unpacked."
"Are you serious? That's really convenient," she finished, laughing.
"That's what I thought. Apparently the people at Pemberley know what they're doing. Go figure." He laughed at himself, and then sighed. "I guess that's it then. I told your mother I would try to make it back tonight."
"You're leaving?" Beth was a little disappointed. She thought he was going to stay for longer, maybe take her out for dinner. She walked forward to give him a hug. She felt so sad hugging him, as though they were saying goodbye for forever, not just the semester. "I love you, dad."
"Beth, I love you too." He stepped back and lightly kissed the top of her head. "Make sure to stay out of trouble. Not too much drinking. Or too many boys. I don't think I can handle having more than one daughter like Lydia..."
Beth laughed. "Don't worry. I'll be on my best behavior." 'Most of the time,' she added to herself. Thomas checked to make sure that the car was empty and that Beth had all of her things before climbing into the front seat. Beth waved as he drove away and let out a big sigh once he was gone. She was now officially on her own.
Looking at her watch, she realized she didn't have time to start unpacking, so she decided to walk to Donwell Hall. As she walked up to it, she tried not to be awed by the sheer size of the building. It was easily the biggest and most beautiful building she had seen on campus so far.
The brick building loomed several stories above her head as an impressive piece of architecture; she could find no other way to describe it. Opening the doors, she had to blink several times before her eyes could register anything. Once they adjusted to the dimmer interior, she found it was just as opulent and elegant as the exterior. She noticed the tell-tale signs that it was a dorm and was amazed. It looked nothing like her mental picture of a dormitory. As she walked in, a perky female voice greeted her.
"Hi! I'm Lucy Reynolds. You must be here for the tour!"
"Yes." Beth looked around, amazed. There were dozens and dozens of people in the room. She looked at her watch. Maybe the receptionist had told her the wrong time. She hoped she wasn't late. "Has the tour started yet?"
Lucy smiled. "This tour hasn't started yet. There was an earlier round of tours that ended about 10 minutes ago. The people still sticking around are mostly freshmen and upperclassmen that hold leadership positions in clubs. I don't think the freshmen know where else to go, and the upperclassmen have to be here; they're leading the tours."
"Oh," Beth said, feeling out of place.
"Could I have your name?" Lucy asked kindly.
"Oh," she said again, feeling sluggish. "I'm sorry. My name is Elizabeth Bennet."
"Hmm," Lucy said, as she looked down at her clipboard. "We had a lot of English majors earlier in the day; this is the last round of tours, and the other freshmen here are pre-med and law. It's nothing to worry about," she said, seeing the look on Beth's face. "You'll just get a one on one tour instead. I think you'll like that better anyway. Let's see...which of the guides can I put you with? I would put you with Will, but I don't know if he's back yet. He should be here. Hey, Joan," Lucy called to another guide holding a clipboard. "Is Will Darcy giving tours today?"
Beth looked sharply at Lucy and then froze. She felt like the floor had abruptly been ripped out from under her feet. Until that moment she had assumed that the 'Will' they were speaking of was anyone but the Will she knew.
She knew her mouth was hanging open, and her eyebrows were raised much higher than normal, but she couldn't bring them down. The pounding of her heart was so loud that the roaring in her ears seemed block out all other sounds. She was having a hard time getting enough air; there was no way she could concentrate on a silly thing like her facial expression.
Joan thought a minute before replying. "No, I'm pretty sure he's coming in tomorrow. He's on some business trip or something. You know how he is."
Beth exhaled violently. She thought she might have just had a stroke or an aneurysm...or both. She couldn't express her relief.
"That's a pity," Lucy said, smiling. "You would've liked him. I've had this thing for him since freshman year." She leaned in as if sharing a secret. "He's so nice. Of course, he's so far out of my league it's not even funny." She shrugged unconcernedly. "Some people think he's arrogant...or something," she shook her head, apparently amazed at that thought. "But they just don't know him. He just gets shy sometimes. I would kill to go on a date with him," Lucy continued, wistfully.
"But he's always so busy. He does all these clubs, and sports, and his fraternity. Plus he's training to take over his family's company. He's got zero time. There's also been this rumor that he's engaged to somebody in San Francisco, but I don't believe it. He's never said anything about it."
"Interesting." Beth tried to hide her surprise at how very obvious Lucy's feelings for Will were.
"Yes, well," Lucy coughed. "I'm such a blabbermouth sometimes. Since he's not here, I'll have to give you the tour."
Beth smiled gratefully. "Thank you. That would be…great. . ." Beth was forced to trail off.
She was tempted to look over her shoulder. The door had opened halfway through her sentence, and she had totally lost Lucy's attention. Lucy's appearance had changed, too. Her blue eyes got rounder, and she fluffed her hair almost absently. Beth could tell she was trying to make her short blond hair appear naturally disheveled.
Beth had her back to the door and couldn't see who had just entered, but she wondered who had caused the change in Lucy's appearance.
"Excuse me, for a moment..." Lucy trailed off, and smiling brightly, walked toward the doors.
"Okay?" Beth said. She was both confused and amused by Lucy's behavior. Beth turned toward the doors and promptly felt as though someone had punched her in the stomach. That curious roaring was back in her ears, too. She assumed it was from all the blood rushing from her head. For it was Will standing there, just inside the door, with Lucy chatting away at his side.
He hadn't seen her yet. She knew that for sure. For one thing, he was still standing calmly, and for another, she was close enough to hear what they were saying. Lucy hadn't even brought up the tours. She was still trying to figure out why he was there a day early.
'Join the club,' Beth thought, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Maybe, just maybe, she would get out of the present situation without having to talk to him. She strained to hear what they were talking about. The decibel of the room's chatter had definitely risen.
"—ou doing here?" Lucy was asking. She was surprised, but not unhappy. "Joan told me that you wouldn't be getting back until tomorrow, but you're here now."
"So it would seem," he replied.
Beth was amazed. Not by the reply, that was the Will she remembered, but at the way he said it and the bright smile on his face. She couldn't ever remember him joking around, and especially not in a room full of strangers. She could count on one hand the number of times he had flashed his full smile.
Small talk was something Will Darcy didn't stoop to do. His hair was longer, she absently noticed. Something else was different, more important than the length of his hair, but she couldn't place her finger on what exactly it was. She'd never seen him like this. Whatever it was, she wanted it to stop.
On seeing the look of confusion on Lucy's face, Will elaborated.
"The seminar I was attending ended a day early and I didn't really want to spend the whole day sitting around. The real reason I'm here is because I had absolutely nothing better to do."
"Ah, the world makes sense again," Lucy said, laughing.
'No, it doesn't,' Beth thought. She was having a hard time adjusting to the new situation. She hated surprises!
"I'm glad you're here," Lucy was continuing. "Otherwise, I would have had to lead one of the tours myself."
"Oh, no!" he said, laughing. "How awful."
She slapped his arm playfully. "Here's the list," she said, handing him the clipboard. "Your group is highlighted in green. I shouldn't say, group: there's only one person. The English department is severely underrepresented. Everyone else is pre-law or med, and I know how you love those tours." She rolled her eyes, but Will didn't notice.
He hadn't heard anything Lucy said after she'd handed him the clipboard and his eyes were drawn to the name highlighted in green phosphorescent ink. His world changed in that moment. He could honestly say it would never be the same again. He had to blink to make sure he was reading it correctly, but he was. It clearly said Elizabeth Bennet.
Beth knew he had found her name. It was obvious as he had quickly scanned, stopped, and blinked rapidly, his brow furrowing. She even thought he looked paler. She almost felt bad for him until Lucy pointed her out and began leading him over.
She looked about for a place to hide. She couldn't find one. As they reached her, she did not make eye contact. Instead, she concentrated on his nice brown shoes before panning up his legs, across his shoulders before glancing into his eyes for the briefest of seconds, and finally she settled her gaze somewhere near his mouth. She had forgotten how green his eyes were.
"I'm sorry I left you like that, Beth. I was so surprised that Will was here. I guess he'll get to be your guide after all. It's probably for the best anyway. He's much better at it than I am. Okay," Lucy finished, after the pause in which neither one had responded or acknowledged her existence. The door opened to reveal a rather lost looking freshman. "Excuse me." With that, their buffer left, leaving them totally alone, face to face, for the first time since that night.
Beth decided to get it over with. The sooner it began, the sooner it would end. She coughed lightly to clear her throat and extended her hand out in greeting, meeting his eyes fully for the first time. He seemed surprised, but reciprocated her actions.
His hand was warm, and hers looked childishly small in comparison. She quickly let go and shoved her hands into her pockets. Initiating the handshake had been as far as she'd gotten in coming up with a plan, and no other ideas on what to do were forthcoming.
What could she say to break the sudden and awkward silence? Every subject seemed to be taboo. She could not think of a single thing to say. Somehow, she thought 'The last time we were alone we were making out' was a tad inappropriate for the situation. However, it was all she could think of.
"How is your, uh..., your family?" Will asked ungracefully, finally breaking the silence that lay over them like a blanket. He pursed his lips together slightly after he said it, as though wishing he hadn't.
"They're great! They're great. Great." She couldn't think of another adjective. "How's your family?"
He scratched behind his head nervously. "Well…my sister is doing well..." He was also missing, for the moment, the skills needed to think up adjectives.
'How stupid of me. I knew he only had a sister. Why did I have to bring up his dead parents?' Beth scolded herself silently.
"I take it your sisters are also dong well?"
"Yeah! They're doing great. They're...great..." She bit her lip and looked to the side, wishing the ground would open up and swallow her.
"Right. I'm going to go up." He pointed to the stairs. "Up to--up--I'm just going to go." He walked past her, toward the stairs. She could see him shaking his head.
Beth let out a huge breath of air she hadn't know she'd been holding, but sucked it all back up again when Lucy spoke. She hadn't realized she had come back.
"He's probably going to drop off his stuff. This is his dorm you know."
"Oh."
She wasn't listening to what Lucy was saying. She was playing the conversation she had just had over and over again in her mind.
'I'm so dumb,' she thought, cringing. 'I get accepted to one of the most prestigious school in America, and the only adjective I seem to have learned is 'great'. I'm such an idiot.'
She was trying to calm down. She had not been expecting to meet him like that. She had been hoping they would run into each other later. Much later. Definitely not her first day. She was feeling so lost and alone. She had secretly hoped they would meet on a date far into the future when she no longer felt like a transplanted house plant. Someplace where she would be witty and calm. Maybe they could start over and finally get an accurate impression of each other.
It didn't matter any more though. Whatever hopes she'd had were dashed. What had happened when they'd met could not have been any further from what she'd wanted. Everything was so difficult when it came to Will.
She was grateful for Lucy's cheerful prattle. She was almost starting to feel normal again when she heard Will's distinctive gait coming down the stairs. She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and prepared to meet her fate.
She noticed he looked much calmer. The smile he was flashing certainly seemed to imply that his mood had improved.
Will joined them again. "Are you ready to go?" he asked Beth quietly, as if unsure of her reply.
She sighed and then took a deep breath. What would be would be. She would simply have to deal with it. She looked up to meet his eyes. "Sure. Let's go."
The other groups were also leaving, so she and Will followed them outside. She had to squint when they went out the doors. The sunlight blinded her. She was surprised that it still looked the same as it had. She felt as though a million years had passed since she had last been outside.
"So you must be excited—first day and all," Will said lightly, looking sideways at her.
She was astounded for a moment. She couldn't believe Will was making small talk with her.
"Yeah. It's been a pretty hectic day. I guess I'm just feeling lucky that Pemberley wanted to raise its enrollment; otherwise, who knows where I'd be."
The second it came out of her mouth, Beth wished she could take it back. She'd meant it as a joke in reference to one of their first conversations; she was feeling so nervous. But at the pained look that briefly flashed across his face, she wished she'd said nothing. Beth scowled darkly to herself.
In the next moment though, Will surprised her even more by continuing the conversation.
"I bet you'd be at some small, liberal arts college, keeping all the professors on their toes with insightful questions." He smiled lightly after he said it, and she remembered suddenly that he had dimples.
Beth found herself beaming back at him, grateful for the fact that he had let her remark go and for the compliment implied by the sentence.
"More like terrorizing them with my stubbornness."
He laughed before looking off into the distance. She had to smile back at him. He was acting more like Rich than the Will she knew, and she wondered at the changed.
He seemed to remember that he was supposed to be giving a guided tour and dutifully began pointing out buildings to her.
"Right, uh, in front of us here, we have most of the dorms on campus. Hollis, Thayer, Holoworthy, Stoughton, and Grays."
She smiled up at her dorm as he pointed it out. She couldn't wait to go start unpacking and meet her new roommate.
"Down the way here, we have the Science Center. You'll probably have a few classes there. That's where all the labs and science equipment are located. You'll probably have most of your classes in Emerson Hall or Server Hall. Those are those two buildings over there." He pointed them out. "Most of the classrooms are in there. You might have a few in Barker though. You never know."
Beth was amazed. In under an hour the campus had gone from a horribly confusing maze to a place she actually felt she could navigate. Will was an excellent tour guide. He gave her so many useful suggestions of places to see and things to do. Of spots she should stay away from, and most importantly, the only correct way to maneuver through Annenberg: the freshmen dining hall. She was so grateful for everything. She didn't feel like a stupid freshman any longer.
If it had been anyone else she would have been on her knees thanking them over and over again for the guidance, but with Will, she didn't know how to act or what to say. There was so much in their past. She wished they could both start over and forget about everything.
"Will," she said suddenly, interrupting. "Do you think we could start over?"
"The tour?" he scratched nervously behind one ear. "Sure...I guess. I mean, we're back at Donwell anyway."
"No," she shook her head, seemingly amused by his answer. "You and I."
He looked down at her, still puzzled. She finally elaborated.
"Do you think that you and I could start over?" She saw he was taken aback and quickly looked down. "I know there was so much...stuff between us in the past, but I thought maybe we could put it all behind us and start over." She finally found the courage to look up again. She met his eyes. "What do you say?"
She knew the answer before he said it. The smile playing on the corners of his mouth gave it away. "Yeah. I would like that." It broke out into a full-fledged grin. "I would like that a lot."
Beth had to fight the urge to laugh. He seemed so happy.
He held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Will. It's very nice to meet you."
She took his hand, laughing. "Hi. I'm Beth. It's nice to meet you. You were an excellent tour guide."
"Thank you. Maybe I can show you around again sometime." He suddenly looked shy.
"Maybe." She could only return his shy look with one of her own. She didn't know if they were ready for that yet. They'd only just begun being cordial to each other. Friendship seemed like a mighty big step to be taking.
"Are you thirsty? We could go back in and get you something..."
"Thanks, but I'm fine," she quickly replied. "I have to go start unpacking. It was nice meeting you though." She smiled to show that she was joking.
"Yes, it was. I'll see you around, Beth."
She nodded and then turned to walk the short distance to her dorm. The day was turning out differently that she had expected.
She went up the two flights of stairs quickly and turned in to the hallway before she ran into her pile of boxes stacked unceremoniously in front of her door. She picked up a box and opened the door with one hand. She was surprised. The room was small and could fit two people semi-comfortably, but wasn't anything to write home about.
That wasn't what had shocked her. What had surprised her was the fact that the room was already half occupied. She had expected to get there first. Her new roommate turned to see who had entered.
"Hi! You must be my new roommate. I'm Marianne Dashwood." She smiled a warm and irresistible smile.
"Hi, I'm Beth Bennet."
"Are those all your boxes? Here, I'll help you drag them inside."
Beth was amazed by Marianne's energy. She was like the energizer Bunny; she kept going and going. She lit up the room by being in it. Beth had never met anyone who could talk so much. Her head was spinning from all the new information.
Marianne was 18, and born and bred in Minnesota. She had two sisters, and her father had died when she was ten. She was a business major, but wanted to minor in art. It was really her passion.
Beth found it hard to take her seriously. She looked like a pixie. She had short coppery curls that seemed to blaze when set against her translucent, pale skin, and snapping green eyes. It didn't help that she measured a whopping 5 feet 1 inch, and had a very petite build to go with it. Beth estimated she weighed a whole 100 pounds.
Beth let out a sigh of relief when they had moved all the boxes in.
"Thank goodness that's over. Now I only have to unpack everything."
"Yeah, it's going to take forever. I got here and I wanted to explore the campus, but now I'm like, 'I wanna get this all done.' I wanna feel like I belong here, and I won't until I have some of my own music playing and my own art up on the walls."
Beth smiled. "I know what you mean. I'm probably going to spend the rest of the evening doing this, and save the exploring for tomorrow."
"We could look around together tomorrow if you want."
"I'd like that." She smiled happily as she said it.
Beth looked around the room in satisfaction several hours later. It looked cozy, homey, and like some place she wouldn't mind living. Marianne's artistic touch had really added something to the room. Beth had gasped when Marianne pulled a few paintings out of a case.
"Those are beautiful! Did you paint those?"
Marianne nodded and smiled shyly.
"Why in the world are you a business major here? You should be off at some fancy art school instead."
"I would like to be, but my mom wanted to make sure I was secure in life, and she's the one who's paying for the education...so here I am. It's not so bad. I'm planning on minoring in it here, anyway." She shrugged and yawned. "I'm tired. It's so hard deciding where everything should go. As soon as I put it one place I start thinking, 'actually it would look much better over here.' Everything is where it is because I got too tired to try to move it around any more. I think I'm going to lie down for the night if you don't mind."
"Not at all. I was actually going to say the same thing myself," Beth replied.
"I can't wait for what tomorrow's going to be like. It's like some wonderful adventure. Like some book. I can't believe I'm really here. Pemberley; it's sickeningly romantic."
Half an hour later they were both happily tucked into their respective beds and quietly saying good night to each other.
Beth smiled up at the ceiling in the darkness. What a day it had been. She could only imagine what the future held for her.