Chapter Eleven
The summer holidays had come to an end, but the hot weather was showing no signs of disappearing any time soon. Lydia stood outside the school gates dressed in her sixth form uniform: a plain blue skirt rather than checked, a white shirt and jumper with the school's logo, not to forget the plain blue tie that came with it. It was a Friday, the school's secondary education students weren't due to return to school until Monday, today it was only the sixth form students required to go in to resettle and learn what was expected of the new starters.
"Are you excited?" a voice asked her brightly.
Turning around, she greeted her best friend with a warm smile and turned back to stare at the school gates.
"A little. It's a whole new chapter. It's kind of scary." Lydia replied.
Georgiana nodded her head in agreement.
"At least we don't have lessons today. It's just ice breakers to get to know the A-Level teachers and what happens during the school. Oh, and we get to know our new tutor."
"Are you happy with your course choices?" Lydia questioned.
"It took me a while, but I've decided to do just the three A-Levels this year: Psychology, Classical Music and Law," Georgiana answered confidently, "How about you? I know you were a little conflicted about your choices."
Lydia nodded her agreement. Ever since they had gotten their A-Level brochures all those months ago, she and her friends had been torn between what course they wanted to commit to for the next two years of their lives. The A-Level curriculum provided sixth formers with a wider variety of choice to gain qualifications than the secondary school curriculum, which meant that Lydia and her friends had a lot of subjects that they were interested in. However, they were limited to a minimum of three courses and a maximum of five.
"We have four weeks to decide before it's too late to change courses. But I'm happy to stick with three and I'm really interested in pursuing a psychology degree once we leave sixth form." Lydia said with a smile.
"At least we'll both be together in psychology classes. Unless you feel like changing to Law?"
Lydia laughed and shook her head.
"I think I'll stick with Media Studies, Psychology and Photography."
As the two girls continued to chat about the possibilities that were ahead of them, they were joined by a nervous looking Denny.
"Nervous?" Lydia smiled.
"A tad. My future here was uncertain for a while, and to have a letter in the post to say that I wasn't being expelled was a relief. But I wish I knew why Mrs. de Bourgh changed her mind." Denny said, his voice filled with surprise.
Lydia shrugged her shoulders, she didn't know why the headteacher had suddenly gone back on her wish to expel Denny from Rosings. As the three teenagers moved inside the school gates and into the reception, she noticed that Georgiana's facial expression change to indicate that she might just know the reason behind Catherine de Bourgh's change of heart.
"Georgie, can I talk to you for a minute?"
Pulling her friend to one side, Denny looked a little confused as he stood on the other side of the reception to wait for them. Lydia looked at Georgiana with an eyebrow raised, as her best friend turned a light shade of pink.
"What?" Georgiana muttered.
"You know why your aunt changed her mind, don't you?" Lydia asked amusingly.
"Not so loud!" Georgiana shushed, "I don't want Denny to know."
"Why not?"
"Because he kind of didn't want me to say anything. But then Will got this letter from our lawyer which told him that Catherine had sent back the tuition money that our dad put aside for Denny's school fees. So, I told my brother that Denny had known for a while that his future at Rosings was up in the air."
"And then what happened?" Lydia asked curiously.
Georgiana exhaled before looking around to make sure there was nobody who could overhear their conversation. Denny was still stood on the other side of the reception flicking through his phone notifications and the receptionist was busy answering the many phone calls the front desk was receiving. Lydia poked her friend impatiently when Georgiana's gaze lingered slightly too long on their waiting friend.
"What?" Georgiana asked hazily.
Lydia raised an eyebrow, smiling amusingly at her friend as Georgiana's pink tint to her cheeks reddened further.
"So…what did Will do after you told him about Denny's problem?"
"Well…Alice reminded him about being on the board of governors…and they've put Catherine on probation. She has three months to prove she cares about other things than the school's reputation and told Denny that he still had his place here…"
"Wow…so the headteacher has been put in her place?" Lydia mused.
Georgiana nodded, looking back over her shoulder at Denny. Lydia watched as her two friends shared a warm look and smirked. It was obvious that her two friends still had deeper feelings for each other but were hiding behind their friendship. It was understandable, both had been through difficult times over the past year.
As the two girls walked back over to their waiting friend, the bell rag to indicate the start of the school day.
ooOoo
It was her first day back and it felt like she was seeing her medical room and office for the first time again. As the morning progressed, she had gone through the work emails, organized her filing cabinets and made herself familiar with any new students that were starting Rosings who had to keep medicine in the medical room. The agreement was that for the first term of the new academic year she would work on a part-time basis and keep attending her weekly therapy sessions with Dr. Richardson. The plan was to review her progress just before Christmas and come up with an action plan to go forward with her life. She hoped by then that Wickham's trial would have taken place and he'd be behind bars for the rest of his life.
Outside the medical room, she heard the bell ring to signal the start of lunch time. Her first half-day had been completed. Nothing major had happened. As she logged off her computer, gathered up her belongings and locked up the office and medical room, she heard Charles calling her name through the crowd of students.
"How was your first day back?" Charles asked brightly when he finally reached her.
Elizabeth shrugged.
"Hardly eventful. I'm sure once the secondary school students are back next week my workload will increase." She replied.
"But are you glad to be back?"
"I'm not sure. I know I must slowly ease back into a normal life after what happened but it's hard to occupy my thoughts when there is hardly anything to keep me busy. In this environment, it's just a case of sorting out paperwork, reading through new cases of students, reading emails and the odd medical emergency that needs my attention. I know being a school nurse is entirely different, but I miss a more hands-on approach to nursing."
"I suppose I understand. Are you meeting Will for lunch or do you want to eat with me?" Charles asked.
"I'll eat with you." Elizabeth smiled.
The two colleagues walked up the hall and entered the staff room, only to find that the room, which had once been buzzing with conversation, had now fallen silent upon their entry. Elizabeth felt self-conscious as she and Charles sat at an empty table, feeling the eye of her colleagues staring at her as she pulled a small lunchbox out of her bag.
"Just ignore them." Charles muttered under his breath.
Elizabeth smiled, keeping her attention on Charles as she took a large bite out of her sandwich. She felt grateful that her friend was trying to take her mind off the stares of their colleagues.
"So, have you and Will made any plans this weekend?" Charles asked.
"We're taking Alice shopping for her birthday on Saturday. We were going to take Lydia and Georgie too but both girls have a day shift and then they're going to a party that evening." Elizabeth replied.
"What does Georgiana do?"
"She works at a private tutoring company."
"That's different. Most sixteen-year-olds start out working in retail."
"She seems to enjoy herself with it. Will found it strange when she said that she was going to find a job, it's not like she needs to work. But, it's a good way for her to actually know the meaning of earning your own money and giving her a chance to explore her options. She may want to pursue a teaching career if she likes the tutoring so much." Elizabeth explained.
"Teaching can be very rewarding." Charles agreed.
The two colleagues continued to talk while eating their lunch, all the while listening to the various sounds of chatter that filled the staff room. It seemed that while her colleagues had taken to staring at her as she ate her lunch with Charles, they had quickly gotten bored and had returned to their previous conversations once it became apparent that Elizabeth had chosen to ignore their stares.
Before they knew it, their catch-up came to an end when the bell rang to start off the school afternoon. Seeing a text from her boyfriend telling her that he was waiting for her in the reception, Elizabeth said her goodbyes to Charles and left the staff room; reflecting on how her first day back at work had gone.
ooOoo
Jimmy waited outside the school gates anxiously, watching as the students began to exit the school in large groups. The sound of them chattering about the different aspects of their day. He felt a surge of nerves fill him as he waited, hoping to catch a glimpse of the girl he couldn't stop thinking about. At first, he and Lydia Bennet had gotten off on the wrong foot, it was more a case of him not knowing when to shut up or not to talk about sensitive subjects that offended her. But the last few weeks, he had noticed she had been a bit warmer when they spoke to each other; especially after the unexpected visit from her absent mother.
He took a deep breath when he heard her familiar laugh in the crowd of sixth formers. His eyes scanned the crowd.
At last, he saw her.
She was smiling and talking to a boy, nudging him in the ribs as they shared a private joke. Just observing the two of them together, it made his heart sink in his chest. Of course, she had a boyfriend. A pretty girl like Lydia was bound to have a boyfriend. There was no way that a girl like Lydia, living in a world of private education, expensive school uniforms and fees would ever be interested in someone like him.
He turned around to walk away but stopped in his tracks.
"Jimmy!"
Turning around to face her, he smiled awkwardly as he noticed her looking at him in surprise.
"Hi Lydia…" Jimmy mumbled shyly.
"What are you doing here?" Lydia asked curiously.
"It doesn't matter." Jimmy said, shrugging his shoulders.
As he turned to walk away again, he heard Lydia tell the boy to wait for her before she wrapped her tiny hand around his bicep and led Jimmy a few feet away from the school gates. He hadn't expected her touch to be so…soft…and warm…
Lydia came to a slow stop and looked up at him. Her blue eyes looked up at him so curiously, so full of concern and wonder…
"I think if you've come to my school, then it must be something. What's the matter?" she questioned.
Jimmy tugged at his collar, suddenly feeling a little hot. He didn't even know why he had shown up at her school...well…he did. His mother had cancelled his birthday party and he didn't want to celebrate his birthday tomorrow alone.
"It's nothing…not really…important…" Jimmy rambled, "I just wanted to let you know…I thought in person would be better…that my party has been cancelled…"
"Oh. That's a shame. My friends and I were looking forward to it." Lydia said sadly.
"Right. So, I just wanted to let you know. I'll let you get back to your boyfriend."
He watched as she frowned.
"Boyfriend? I don't have a boyfriend."
Jimmy felt himself light up upon hearing that the girl he liked didn't have a boyfriend. But then…why did she look so close with the boy she had been walking out of school with?
"Oh…then who is…" Jimmy stammered, gesturing towards the boy.
Lydia looked around and then looked back to him again.
"Denny? You think Denny is my boyfriend?" she asked with a smile.
Jimmy shrugged, feeling even more like an idiot for jumping to conclusions.
"Oh…I just saw how close the two of you are…"
"Denny is more like the brother I've never had. He's one of my best friends. Why did you think he was my boyfriend?" Lydia smiled.
He felt his heart beating faster in his chest. A bead of sweat slowly began to drip down his forehead. Now was his chance. If he wanted to ask her to spend some time with him, just the two of them, it was now.
"Jimmy?" Lydia pressed, her voice filled with concern.
"Willyou...goto...dinnerwithme?" he blurted out, quicker than he should have.
She paused for a moment, taking in what he had said. And although there were only a few seconds of silence between them, Jimmy could have sworn that they were the longest of his life.
"Dinner with you? Just the two of us?" Lydia asked, wanting clarification.
He nodded, giving her a shy smile.
"Yeah. Look, my mum cancelled my party, I've had a really shit day and it's my actual birthday tomorrow and I don't want to be alone. I want to spend some time with you, that is, if you want to spend some time with me..." Jimmy rambled.
"Alright."
Jimmy grinned from ear to ear at the confirmation that she would go out with him.
"Great! I'll text you later?" he suggested.
Lydia nodded, smiling warmly at him as she turned to walk back to her friend; leaving Jimmy to wonder just where he was going to take her out for dinner tomorrow night.