AN: Okay here's some warning for this chapter. Lizzie teases about Darcy being gay (Sorry if this offends anyone) and later you learn why Lizzie is so self-conscious and why she doesn't do the rodeo anymore. Some of the things I mention aren't exactly politically correct but I think it make Lizzie a little more human. Please forgive me if it totally turns you off from my story but some things just need to be written. Please R&R.

Chapter Eleven

Our…wonderful stay at Netherfield only lasted a few days. The rain stopped, the roads were pretty clear, and Jane was feeling better (I still felt really guilty for getting her sick though). Mom welcomed us with open arms and a frown. Obviously, it wasn't enough for us to be home safely. She demanded to know exactly what happened but Jane and I had already agreed to avoid the topic of "Chane" (yes I am the only one who called them that), because we all knew exactly how she'd react. So Jane and Charles' agreement was kept a secret. Eventually, Lydia found out and we swore her to utter secrecy. Of course, this only meant that our parents were never told. Anyone else who would listen on the other hand…

The excitement for the Bingley's Halloween party grew more and more palpable as the event drew nearer. I still wasn't completely sure what I was going as due to the fact that I was helping Jane with her costume. Jane and Charles were coordinating because Charles' decided he wanted to go as Jane's Prince Charming. And you know what else he did? He took her shopping for her Cinderella costume! He actually drove her to the mall and went to every store with her. How amazingly sweet is that? If he was my type, I might be jealous.

While Jane was buying and making her costume, she desperately tried to get me to wear a dress to the party. The only problem was that I didn't do dresses. With the exception of Sundays, of course. Ultimately, Jane the evil mastermind thwarted my plans to go as a gangster.

"I have a surprise for you," she told me excitedly one day, a week before the party

"What type of surprise?" I asked cautiously.

"It's up in your room," she smiled. Never one to pass up on free stuff, I immediately rushed up into my room. Lying over my bed was a gorgeous dress. The golden satin shined slightly in the dying sunlight shining in from my window. I gaped at the sight.

"Surprise!" Jane exclaimed. "You'll literally be the Belle of the Ball." I didn't say anything. My dear, sweet sister bought me a dress. Jane meddled in my life and forced me into something that I didn't really want to do…I threw my arms around her.

"I'm so proud of you!" I cried. "You imposed your will on others for the first time in almost nineteen years. Just because of that, I'll wear the dress." Her face fell.

"You wouldn't wear it before?" she asked.

"No, no," I quickly assured her. "I love the dress but even you have to admit that it's not really my style. I love it and of course I'll wear it.

"Will you try it on for me?" she begged. "Please." Unable to resist my favorite sister, I rolled my eyes and went to go change into the dress. I felt like Belle from Beauty and the Beast which is a good thing cause that's what Jane was going for. She gasped when she saw me.

"You are so beautiful," she told me. "I can't wait to do your hair and make-up."

"The party's not for two more weeks," I laughed. "Besides you know that Kitty and Lydia are going to be occupying your time. You'll barely have time for you, let alone me."

"I could tell them I promised to do you first," she suggested.

"Jane, that would not stop them," I said, with a shake of my head. "I'll just get Charlotte to do it. She does the make-up for the Drama department so I'll be just fine."

"If you're sure…" Jane hesitated.

"I'm positive," I smiled. "Don't worry about me and thanks for the dress."

"Anytime," Jane smiled and hugged me.

"I'm still wearing my jeans and Converses under it though," I told her.

"I figured," she said. "Do you want to come with Charles and me to Phillip's?"

"I really don't want to be a third wheel," I replied.

"You won't be. Darcy's coming too." She looked slightly annoyed at this.

"Are you asking me to distract Darcy, so you can 'Charlie' can escape to Love Land?" I asked.

"That's not exactly how I would put it," Jane mumbled, blushing. I took pity on my shy sister and agreed to come. Phillip's, at least on a Saturday night, was a pretty lively place. On the weekends, they had live music and the dance floor was filled with high school students. Jane and I knew the owners so whenever their regulars couldn't come, they asked me to perform. The atmosphere was definitely directed to the younger age group. For every one slow song, they played seven fast, fist-pumping ones.

As I suspected, Jane and Charles were in their own little world while Darcy glared at nothing in particular. One of my good friends, Stephan Granger, was DJing tonight and I decided to take a break from the awkwardness of our booth to visit him.

"Lizzie!" he greeted me.

"Hey Steve!" I shouted over the blaring music. "How's life?"

"I'm getting paid less than minimum wage for my epic skillz," he told me and yes I know that's not how you spell "skills" but he's a DJ. That's really how he talks!

"Want to throw in a playlist and come meet some new friends?" I asked. He laughed at the face I made when I said "friends."

"That kind of night, huh?" he said. "Thanks but no thanks. They don't pay me for a playlist. Save me a dance though."

"Always," I told him and made my way back to my table.

"Was that Stephan?" Jane asked me.

"Yep," I answered. "He's working tonight, so they night won't be dull." Yeah. That was the understatement of the year.

"Is he a friend of yours?" Darcy asked haughtily.

"Yes, he is," I bristled. It seemed that a humble DJ wasn't good enough for Mr. Millionaire.

"Hey everybody," Stephan's voice on over the music. "I promised my beautiful friend, Lizzie Bennett, a dance. Are ya'll alright with a slow song?" The crowd roared their approval. Yep. Stephan was going to die. I rolled my eyes as the crowd parted around Steve. He grinned at me a waggled his eyebrows. I smiled slightly and stood. He winked at me as he took my hand and twirled me before starting to sway gently.

"I hate you," I whispered. "You do realize that, right?"

"Of course," he smiled. "If you didn't, I wouldn't like you nearly as much. Now tell me who is tall, dark, and death glare over there in the corner?"

"That's Jane's boyfriend's best friend," I said. "He's what I call socially deficient."

"Are you sure he's just Jane's…whatever?"

"Positive," I said. "Why?"

"I'm a guy…" he started.

I snorted. "Yeah, I got that."

"So I know what that death glare means," he finished. "That boy is either extremely jealous of either you or me, and upon observation, I'd have to say it's me."

"I don't know," I said. "His being gay could explain a lot. Poor Caroline."

"Come on, Liz," Steve said. "Trust me when I say that he is definitely not gay. If he was, he'd be glaring at you not me."

"I was just joking," I said. "Besides, it would be bad if he liked me because I've sworn to hate him forever."

"As the unbiased third party, I'm going to test my theory."

"Steve, don't you—" I threatened but it was too late. He had already waltzed us over into the corner.

"Hey there," Steve said happily. "My name's Stephan but you can call me Steve."

"Hi," Darcy said warily. "I'm Darcy."

"I've got to get back up to my booth," Steve told him. "Do you think you could finish the dance with Lizzie?"

"No, it's fine," I cut in. "I just want to go sit down anyway."

"I'd like to dance with you," Darcy said.

"That's really nice but I'm a little tired," I replied and quickly moved away. Steve chuckled silently and moved back to his booth. I'm sure a judge would understand why I killed him. Right?

"Hurry up, Liddy!" I shouted. "You're making us late." It was Halloween night and we were late because Lydia had already changed four times.

"I'm coming," she yelled back. She was going as Little Red Riding Hood and when I say "little" I mean everything on her costume was short. If I tried to walk out of the house like that—not that I ever would—my mother would have a heart-attack but not her little Lydia. Kitty looked a lot better in her black cat costume and Mary's Harry Potter costume wasn't horrible. Jane and I were dressed in our princess dresses—and jeans in my case—but I was uncomfortable. How did women do this every day!? I probably would have worn pants anyways.

"We're getting in the car and leaving in five minutes," I informed Lydia loudly. "If you aren't there, we'll leaving you."

"Geez, calm down," Lydia rolled her eyes. "I finally fixed the cape." It was actually more of a red dish towel covering a tight fitting top and short skirt.

"Don't care," I said. "Let's go." In another ten minutes—Kitty forgot her mask—we were on our way. We arrived fashionably late and Charles greeted us with a big smile.

"Hey," he said. "Now that you're here the party can start." He beamed at Jane and grabbed her hand to lead her into the ballroom. The room was massive and filled to the rafters with people. Pumpkins, electric candles, cobwebs, and spiders were spread about the room. The stage, which supported a live band, was slightly raised and also decorated with Halloween stuff. My mask and make-up couldn't hide my shock. There were so many people.

"Look there's Carter!" Kitty exclaimed.

"And Denny," Lydia shouted and dragged Kitty off in the direction of the boys dressed like G.I. Joes. I rolled my eyes and scanned the room for George. He told me he would be dressed as a pirate—lame, right?—but that costume was so common it was impossible to spot him.

"Are you looking for someone?" Charles asked me.

"Yeah but I'm sure he'll turn up soon," I smiled. "You two go have fun."

"Are you Lizzie?" a guy asked after Jane and Charles had moved on.

"Yes," I said. "Obviously you know who I am. Do I know you?"

He shook his head with a smile. "No, but you know my friend George. He wanted me to tell you that he couldn't come tonight. He's very sorry and promises to make it up to you." He said this with a wink that made me blush. The guy moved on—actually he was dragged away by my sisters—and I was left to hang out with Charlotte.

"Where's George?" she asked. She was dressed as a cowgirl. In exchange for doing my make-up and hair, I had let her use my hat and boots for her costume.

"I have a feeling he was driven away by away by a rude, arrogant, pig-headed…" Charlotte bumped me and interrupted my speech. "What?"

"Paul's here," she whispered with a gesture at the corner where a tall blonde boy dressed as Wesley from The Princess Bride stood. I gritted my teeth and took a deep breath to calm the quiver of fear in my stomach.

"I'm fine," I said in response to Charlotte's worried look. "Oh look. He's talking to Darcy. Why doesn't it surprise me that they get along?"

"Lizzie," Jane gasped, running up to me. "Paul's…"

"I know he's here," I interrupted, "but the question is why?"

"He's a crasher," Charles said. "I would throw him out but he's not really causing any harm."

I shook my head. "No it's fine. Let him stay."

"Can I ask why none of you like him?" Charles inquired.

"Jane will tell you," I said. "I'm going to step out onto the balcony." I walked away from their worried looks and tried to push through the crowd while still avoiding Paul. Of course I was pushed and I ran right into Paul Jennings.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he caught me.

"I'm fine," I muttered and looked down. He stared at me.

"Lizzie?" he asked. I didn't say anything and ran toward the balcony. I was so distracted that I didn't notice Darcy throughout the interchange. "Lizzie!" Paul called. "Lizzie, wait!" I ignored him and kept running. The balcony was thankfully empty and the cool October air felt amazing on my flushed skin. I heard the door open and close again, and I heaved a sigh.

"Go away," I said. "Please."

"You look amazing, Lizzie," Paul said from behind me.

"Thanks so much," I replied sarcastically. "It's nice to know that after starving myself for three years, I finally meet your approval."

"You have to admit, you were a little overweight," Paul said.

"I was anorexic and bulimic, Paul!" I shouted. "I starved myself because you told me every day that I was fat and worthless and that no one could ever love me. You said that you were the only one who would ever want me. My sister had to stage an intervention. To this day, no one but her and Charlotte know exactly what happened."

"You didn't have to do those things to yourself," he retorted, getting angry now. "You could have done something different."

"I tried dieting and exercise," I said, tears streaming down my face. "It wasn't until I stopped eating all together that you finally said I was looking good. You refused to feed me when we went on dates. You said I was looking fat, so I'd better skip breakfast. And lunch. And dinner!"

"I like my girls skinny," he said indignantly.

"I hope you like them dead too because I was almost there last year before I had the courage to break up with you. Even then, I didn't start eating."

"You looked good!"

"I could count my ribs!"

"You're overreacting."

"Am I?" I asked. "The doctor said that if I had come in a week later, they would have had to hospitalize me and feed me through a tube. You're the reason I stopped competing in the rodeo. I was so terrified of seeing you and I even couldn't get on my horse."

He rolled his eyes. "Lizzie, you were hardly skin and bone. The running we did every morning was really helping you. We should do that again."

"So you can tell me who I can and can't be friends with again?" I asked. "So you can completely control my life and actions? Do you remember that time you broke my arm, Paul? Do you remember when you slapped me for talking to Steve?"

"He was a bad influence on you anyway," Paul said. "You were so much better off with me. Come on, baby. I still love you and I doubt that you've dated anyone since you dumped me. I'm all you got left. Who else wants a broken girl who's unremarkable? I'm your only chance at love and marriage." My chest heaved as I sobbed. He was right. He was always right.

"No!" I shouted. "You are not going to affect me anymore. Leave now and stay away from me. I don't ever want to see you again."

"You can't make me leave," he sneered.

"But I can," Charles said menacingly from the doorway.

AN: Once again, I apologize for how dark this. I had a friend tell me that it kinda came out of nowhere. If you agree, please comment. If you disagree, comment anyways! :) I love hearing for all of you. Please don't hate me for writing this.