Chapter 12
Striving for Perfection
"What!"said Lizzy.
Rick could tell he was in trouble. All though he couldn't see why. He hadn't changed that much in the essay. Really, he had only improved the paper. He took something that would have only gotten an A and made it so it would receive an A+. Where was the harm in that? Even though he believed himself to be in the right, he couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt sweep over himself.
"It wasn't that much! Only a few corrections. I swear. Nothing drastic." Rick declared holding his arms up as if to defend himself.
"It's fine." said Lizzy not meaning it in the slightest. She mentally admonished herself for letting Rick convince her to let him print the paper and bring it to school. She should have known he would have pulled a trick like this.
Rick really feel semi-ashamed. (Even though he was right!) But not nearly ashamed enough to change the essay back to its original state.
"Besides," Rick reasoned to himself, "It's far too late to do anything about that now."
Mr. Lewis told the class to pass up their papers as he entered the room. He announced to the class there would be no lecture. Instead he was going to grade the essays. And that a wise and clever student would use this time to their advantage to get the 23 page assignment done. Rick immediately began to follow Mr. Lewis's advice. He cracked his book open and began reading. Lizzy mimicked these actions, but internally she was letting her anger stew.
"He honestly can't let anything be! Everything has to be perfect. He takes things that are good enough and he 'fixes' them"seethed. "And I am certainly far from what he considers perfect. I'm not pretty enough to associate with according to him. My family is repulsive. And my paper needed a few adjustments. What is wrong with him?"
The entire class jumped as Mr. Lewis began to slow clap. "It is not often that we as humans witness amazing occurrences in history. An A is a very difficult feat in this class. That's the reason why I rarely hand them out. But an A+ was thought to be impossible." The entire class was in awe. Everyone began to look about. Could anyone have done that well? "Never in all my years have I graded a perfect paper," he paused for dramatic effect. "Until today." The frenzy over who it could be increased. No one could began to think it it was. Everyone was baffled.
"Mr. Darcy ad Miss Bennet, this paper deserves your pride. It should be framed and placed next to the Declaration of Independence. This is truly a masterpiece. A job done with precision. And I reward good work. Miss Bennet and Mr. Darcy will be receiving a ten percent increase on their next exam. You both deserve it."
Rick was very pleased. But he wasn't going to slack off. He was going to study even more. If he got a perfect, then he would get 110%. That was going to be his next goal. That would mean that he would have a perfect in this class.
Lizzy on the other hand was furious. Her classmates would have killed to be in her place. But Lizzy knew that it wasn't her work. And how could she be proud of someone else's work? Especially a person she didn't like. At all. Not to mention it proved that Rick had been right and she had been wrong. But she put a facade of joy on her face and didn't display any signs of anger.
Rick was so pleased and proud he decided he wanted to celebrate. So he turned to Lizzy and said, "I guess we make a pretty great team? Let's go out and celebrate! What about that ice cream place?"
Lizzy, seeing that she was overheard, made up her mind to give a logical explanation as to why she couldn't go.
"Sorry, I'm babysitting, Jason."
"Well, bring him along then."
Lizzy REALLY didn't want to go. So, she sat and pondered a way out of this... whatever it was. Rick took this as Lizzy making up her mind to go or not.
"Come on I'll buy! How can you say no to free Ice Cream?"
Lizzy sighed. There was no way she was getting out of this.
"Okay. We'll meet you there."
"That's absurd! I'll just give you a ride. Your house isn't that far away"
Lizzy concealed her distaste for the idea, but there was no logical explanation out of his reasoning.
"Alright. Do you want me to meet you in the courtyard?"
"Perfect! After school."
Rick wasn't entirely positive why he had been so adamant that Lizzy go with him. He knew he couldn't date her. It was entirely out of the question. And yet he had never put so much effort into someone with whom he couldn't date. Wait! Scratch that. Wouldn't date. He could easily get anyone to date him. But he refused to date Lizzy. She just wasn't the type of person he could be seen associating with. Besides he had to focus on Yale! But none of this answered his original question! Why was he trying so hard for a nobody? He actually regretted it a little. Well sort of. She wasn't really a nobody. Just her social status was. She herself was an interesting person, someone who Rick took a great interest in. But he had to keep up appearances. What would his city friends think of such a person? He immediately became cool and icy toward Elizabeth.
Lizzy wasn't at all shocked by it. In fact the more she was around Rick, the more she found that her theories on his character were confirmed. He was a spoiled ignorant prat. He relied on his money and good looks to take him places. She decided right then and there he was the last person whom she would ever consider dating.
The bell rang. Neither had gotten much work done. They both had to much regret to even think about history. Without saying a word to the other, they gathered their back backs and books. Without so much as a glance to the other, both bolted from the room. Seventh period went by all to quickly for the two. They both arrived in the courtyard at the same time. Lizzy smiling with a grimace tucked in the corner of her mouth. Rick looked at Lizzy with the facade of a smile on his face and a stony expression in his eyes.
"Hey, Lizzy."
"Hello, Rick Darcy."
Noting the formality with a genuine smirk, Rick said "Last names, Bennet?"
"Well I don't know you very well, Darcy." teased Lizzy with extra emphasis on his surname.
"Well, just follow me ,Bennet. My car is this way." He had no idea how she had melted his barrier so quickly.
"It's not as though I'm dating her. We are friends. There is nothing wrong with being friendly." thought Darcy, though he still thought it foolish to date her. "It would just be inappropriate. She is just someone to distract me from the boringness of this town."
They reached Darcy's car. Since the passenger side was closest to them, Rick opened Liza's door. Much to her annoyance. It wasn't that she was a "women with a Y" feminist. In fact, she found those Sylvia Plath quoting, bra burning, hippies to be incredibly annoying. The truth was generally speaking, she LOVED it when guys behaved in such chivalrous ways. It was just the way Darcy held her door open. As if it was his duty. Not an act of kindness. If he didn't want to hold the door open, then he shouldn't have.
The car ride actually went pretty smoothly. Darcy's taste in music surprised Lizzy. The Beatles, Beach Boys, Old Blue Eyes, even a few Indy groups she hadn't ever heard of. But the car ride was mostly silent. Rick thought it was nice. It was hard finding someone who just enjoyed silence every once and a while. But to Liza it was quite awkward. She couldn't believe how anti-social Rick Darcy was. Why had he even asked her to come. What did he mean by this? Was she going to end up at prom with pigs blood all over her?
As they pulled up to Lizzy's house, Jason came sprinting forward. "Rick! Rick! Rick! Are you going to hang out today?"
Rick laughed,"That was the plan little man! Lizzy and I thought we might go to Sprinkled and Swirled. Is that alright with you"
Jason approved so much that he immediately opened the car door and said,"Floor it rich boy! Thats what these sports cars are for!"
Lizzy laughed but couldn't help but feel that pang of jealousy. For the first ten minutes or so of the car ride, Rick and Jason talked so easily about everything. While Lizzy was left to listen.
"Hey Rick? When's your first basket ball game? Huh?"
"Well, the coach wants to put me in soon. The next few weeks probably."
Jason turned to Lizzy for the first time. "You'll take me won't you Lizzy? I want to go!"
Lizzy didn't really want to go but she found it incredibly hard to look into Jason's little green eyes and say no. "Of course I'll take you, Jason. Who knows maybe Mr. Basketball over there will give you an autograph."
They arrived at Sprinkled and Swirled and immediately jumped out of the car. The two eldest laughed as Jason's eyes grew to be as large as saucers when Rick told him that he could get anything he wanted. Things were actually going really well, but Lizzy's opinion of Rick still hadn't changed. He was constantly stealing everyone and everything from her. She could never, scratch that, WOULD never like Rick Darcy.
