Chapter 13

Will waited for Charlie at the entrance to the school. They had decided last night that there was safety in numbers and when it came to confronting an angry Elizabeth and Jane this morning their safety was imperative.

When Charlie arrived, he looked nervous and Will couldn't blame him. " Are you ready?" Will asked sympathetically.

Charlie took a deep breath, "I'm as ready as I can be, let's go." He started for the doors and Will fell into step beside him as they entered the hallway.

All heads turned toward them and a path was cleared as they walked toward their lockers. "The natives are restless." Will said under his breath as he spotted a group of girls in the middle of the hall. He was pretty sure Jane would be in the center of the cluster.

As whispers reached the girls, the group disbanded to reveal Jane and Elizabeth, "Showtime." Will said quietly to Charlie.

Jane saw Charlie and as the two walked towards each other, the air around them was charged with energy. It suddenly felt like a scene out of an old western where the two gun men are facing each other down. Will could almost hear the eerie music that always accompanied those scenes.

"Jane…" Charlie began before Jane cut him off.

"Charles Bingley, you are the most cowardly man I have ever met." Her eyes were laser focused, "You didn't have the balls to look me in the face and breakup with me." Will saw that Jane's face flushed red when she said the word 'balls'. His guess would be that Elizabeth had coached her. "Instead you send me a horrible text that shows what a low-life jerk you are. I am glad that I found out what kind of man you are now before we got mmmm… mmmaaa…" Jane's emotion filled voice stuttered over the word before she managed to almost spit it out, "married." Her eyes were wild with pain and her eyes were wet with tears waiting to fall. Jane turned on her heal and ran into the ladies restroom.

Elizabeth stepped into Will's line of vision, "I will deal with you later." Her voice was low and threatening, Will glanced at her eyes and all he saw was steel starring back. She gave him one last withering glare that would have turned any guys balls to stone.

"Wow, Dude." Will was sympathetic as he looked at this friend. "She is pissed. I've never heard Jane use such language." Will chuckled dryly, "Her sister on the other hand has a real flair for profanity. I am sure I am in for a real treat 'later'."

They walked to class amid the stares of their classmates.

*

In her role of spy and informant, Georgie positioned herself close to Caroline to gather information during her lunch break. Caroline's voice was the first one she could hear.

"I had the most fabulous vacation," Her voice was full of triumph as she talked to her friends, "Will Darcy personally invited me to meet his Aunt Catherine who has a gorgeous luxurious home. He made sure I was well cared for by the staff. He was very attentive to me the whole time we were there and his Aunt just adored me and told me privately that she wanted me to be part of her family…"

Georgie was happy to hear another voice interrupt Caroline, "What I really want to know is why Charlie broke up with Jane?" Georgie didn't recognize the voice and glanced at the group. She realized it was a popular senior girl, Bethany Robertson. Caroline was always trying to ingratiate herself into Bethany's inner circle of friends. "I can't believe he would do that to a sweet girl like Jane."

Caroline's voice rose a few octaves, "I thought you would be happy about their breakup. Don't you have a crush on Charlie."

Bethany giggled, "Who doesn't have a crush on Charlie, he is so sweet and hot. Mmm, I could just eat that boy up." Georgie saw that Bethany's friends nodded their heads in agreement, "That does not mean I would ever condone him treating Jane in that disgusting way. I've heard the text was horribly cruel. I don't understand why because anyone who ever saw them together couldn't help but think they were the perfect couple and completely in love with each other." Georgie could see that Bethany turned to face Caroline and asked, "You tell me, what low-life cretin talked Charlie into sending that text. I could never be friends with anyone who could be that cruel."

Georgie could see from the look on Caroline's face that she was shocked by this statement. "Www… Caroline stuttered, "Will Darcy wrote and sent the text. I tried to talk him out of it but after his fight with Elizabeth at the dance, Will couldn't bear to see Charlie happy with Jane Bennet."

Georgie gasped and quickly stepped behind the lockers for cover as Caroline and her friends turned to face in Georgie's direction. When the girls went back to their conversation as they began moving down the hall, Georgie stepped from her hiding place and went to find Rick, her co-conspirator.

Rick was finishing up his lunch on the patio when Georgie found him. She quickly conveyed to him what she had heard during Caroline's conversation with Bethany and her friends.

"What a bitch!" Rick swore when he heard that she blamed Will for sending the text. "We all know the truth and I will swear to everyone that Caroline is a lying bitch who sent that text to Jane."

"I hate to rain on your parade," Georgie said solemnly, "but we weren't in the room when the text was sent."

"Will and Charlie told us what happened after we left," Rick countered as he glared at his cousin, "and I believe them."

Georgie laughed softly, "I believe them too." She shook her head, "That doesn't change the fact we only have Will and Charlie's word about happened and they are the two in the middle of this controversy."

"How are we going to convince people of the truth?"

"I have an idea but this will take some careful planning and we'll need help from those who may not want to help us." Georgie bit her lip in consternation.

*

Georgie was nervous as she knocked on the Bennet's door. Elizabeth answered the door and eyed Georgie suspiciously when she caught sight of Will's car so she demanded, "Who is in your brother's car?"

"Will, Charlie and Rick," Georgie answered sheepishly and when she saw the tightening of Elizabeth's jaw in anger, she added quickly, "We need to talk to you and Jane. I know the two of you are angry at Will and Charlie." Georgie tried to lighten the tension, "To be truthful you two could be angry at Rick too because I never know what trouble he has gotten himself into."

Elizabeth shook her head with a slight smile after Georgie's little joke. She thought for a moment and finally agreed, "Okay, we'll talk to them." She cocked her head and quipped, "Will and Charlie are lucky they brought you and Rick as reinforcements or else I might have been arrested for multiple homicides."

"You'll allow us to come in and explain somewhere private?" Georgie asked.

"Okay, you can come in," Elizabeth raised her eyebrows in a mocking salute, "But I can't guarantee everyone will get out alive."

Georgie looked at Elizabeth with a tentative smile and waived to the guys in the car.

Elizabeth opened the door to admit the four visitors but she glared at Will and Charlie who were left in no doubt as to how she felt about them.

Charlie whispered to Will, "I don't know how you've coped with her being mad at you all the time, she's scary."

Will nodded his head, "Yes, she is and lord help me, I love it."

"I will inform Jane you are here." Elizabeth told them as she started up the stairs.

The four visitors waited in silence until Elizabeth and Jane appeared on the stairs.

Jane was polite and indicated the room behind them, "We can have some privacy in the living room. Please come this way."

When everyone was seated, Elizabeth asked impatiently, "What is all this about?" She glared at Charlie, "Let's get this straight, if you hurt my sister again, I will tear you from limb to limb."

Charlie rose and crossed the room where he knelt at Jane's feet, "I love you, Jane and I'm sorry, it was never my intention to hurt you."

Jane looked away with barely restrained emotions, "I have the text from you which proves that is not true."

"Charlie didn't send that text." Will came to the defense of his friend.

"Well, if he didn't send it who did?" Elizabeth asked sarcastically, "Do I even have to ask." She shook her head in disgust as she turned to Jane, "'I told you, this has Will Darcy written all over it."

"No," Will said quietly, "I never wanted that text sent."

"Would somebody give us a straight answer." Elizabeth demanded, the agitation evident in her voice. "Are you now going to blame Georgie for sending the text because I don't believe that at all."

"No," Will shook his head emphatically, "Let me start at the beginning." Elizabeth groaned in frustration, "Please, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth responded to the sincerity in his voice and acquiesced, "Okay, but get to the point quickly."

Will explained what Caroline had told him at the dance. Jane gasped with horror as she heard what Caroline had said about her. Charlie took her hand in his and slid into the seat next to her.

Elizabeth looked even more angry as she glared straight at Will. "You couldn't possibly think that Jane would be capable of that sort of deceit and manipulation."

"I wasn't thinking straight that night after our fight but I probably wouldn't have given it another thought if Caroline hadn't been so persistent." Will tried to explain, "While at our aunt's house, Caroline kept trying to get me to go along with this plan she apparently had devised. She wanted me to talk to Charlie. After a week of the same argument, I told her that I believed Jane loved Charlie and to do whatever she wanted but to leave me out of it."

"Well then.." Elizabeth waived her hands, "why are we all here."

Georgie sighed, "I saw Will right after the last fight and I could see he was frustrated. He told me everything he knew." Georgie pursed her lips, "I'm afraid that while trying to defend Jane, I caused Will more concern when I told him of your mother's plans for you to marry well, Jane."

"Oh no." Jane leaned forward, "What happened next?"

"After wrestling with my conscience," Will explained, "I decided it was my duty as his friend to talk to Charlie privately." He saw the hurt in Jane's eyes. "I never wanted Charlie to breakup with you. There is no reason for you to believe me but that's the truth." He rolled his eyes and quoted, "'The best laid plans of mice and men'." Will looked at his friend. "Charlie was late to dinner because he was on the phone to Jane. After dinner…"

"After dinner," Georgie continued," I was asking Charlie about you and he told us…"

"I told them about the trip we were planning to go to Europe including the fact that I was paying for your trip and that we planned to marry while we were there."

"This was when the shit hit the fan." Rick told them about Caroline's blow up and Will's attempts to mediate the situation. "Will wanted me to get the girls out of the line of fire so I took the out of the room."

Elizabeth was furious, "That bitch had no right to say those things about Jane."

Will agreed, "Charlie defended Jane and that just made Caroline even more determined to destroy their relationship."

"I was incredibly angry at the names she called Jane and we were both shouting at each other." He looked at his friend, "Will tried to remind Caroline that this was supposed to be about protecting me."

"I used the word 'we' and Charlie asked me point blank if Caroline and I had been discussing him. I abhor deceit and I just blurted out the truth." Will closed his eyes with remorse, "I will never forget the look of triumph on Caroline's face. I had stupidly blundered into saying exactly what she wanted me to say." He shook his head with regret, "She told Charlie her 'story' of Jane's betrayal but in her version this time there was a direct confrontation with Jane. She said Jane taunted her with plans to trap Charlie into marriage." Will sighed, "It was then that I realized the depth of Caroline's lies as this was not what she told me."

Jane closed her eyes for a moment, "Charlie, you didn't believe this story for one minute, did you."

"Well…" Charlie fidgeted nervously.

"Charlie," Jane reminded him patiently, "You know I've always been very clear that I am saving myself for marriage." Her voice was a little stronger, "Biology class was very specific, no sex – no baby."

Charlie lowered his head to his hands, "I am such an idiot, Caroline made me so angry that I didn't even think about it."

Jane's eyes were full of moisture, "Charles Bingley, you are a moron."

Elizabeth grew impatient again, "This still doesn't explain how the text happened."

Charlie reddened with embarrassment, "I took out my phone to text you that we should take a break to examine our feelings and I typed the text." He looked over at his friend, "Will advised me that I should think about it overnight and then make a decision about sending the text."

Will finished the story, "Caroline was royally pissed off and said if he sent that text, Charlie and Jane would be back together before the start of school on Monday. She snatched the phone out of Charlie's hands. She typed the text and sent it before either Charlie or I could respond." He looked at Jane, "We didn't know what it said until after she left the room giggling about what a genius she was."

"I was horrified when I saw what she had sent and I was worried that you would never speak to me again." Charlie said in a low and pained voice.

"Later the four of us met in my room and I explained about Caroline's lie about Jane."

"We realized that she must have some sort of agenda for wanting Charlie to break up with you." Will looked to Jane, "I am sorry for all of this, I shouldn't have let Caroline provoke all of this but as usual; I put my foot in my mouth again."

"I appreciate the sentiment, Will." Jane said softly, "Charlie, you know me better than anyone and I am very disappointed that you didn't have faith in me and us."

Georgie interrupted Charlie as he started to open his mouth to speak, "I know there are a lot of feelings right now but there is something else I need to tell you." She went on to explain the conversation Caroline had with Bethany today, she told the sisters of Bethany's outrage about what happened to Jane and the fact that Caroline blamed everything on Will.

"Caroline seemed to think that Bethany would be happy to have Charlie brought to her on a silver platter but ," Rick finished, "Bethany seems to hold Jane in high regard."

"Jane is too modest to tell you, but last summer when Jane was a lifeguard at the community swimming pool she saved the life of Bethany's little brother." Elizabeth told the others proudly.

"That would explain Caroline's fatal mistake," Rick chuckled, "Now as that is settled, we come to the crux of the matter. Georgie came up with a plan of how to get Caroline to admit the truth." Rick came to the point, "Jane, we need you and Elizabeth to help." After he had explained what Georgie had in mind, he said "If everything goes to plan, we will have exposed Caroline's devious plan and she will be on the other side of the pain and humiliation that she has served to you, Jane." Rick finished, "Are you two with us?"

"We're in." Elizabeth spoke for them both as Jane nodded her head in agreement.

"Jane and Charlie, I will need the two of you to keep up the pretense that you are broken up." Georgie explained, "For my plan to work, Caroline needs to think that she won this round."

"That won't be very difficult as this is not a pretense." Jane commented, she looked at Charlie and saw the pain cross his features.

Georgie looked at her brother, "Will, to clear your name, you will need to ask Caroline to the Winter Formal."

"No, absolutely not." Will steadfastly refused, "I will not take her on a date."

"Okay," Georgie thought for a moment, "At the least, you will need to ask her to dance; otherwise the plan doesn't work."

Will sighed, "If I have to, I will agree."

"Is everyone clear as to what needs to be done?" Georgie asked and in response there were nods and murmured agreements. "I think we are done here then."

Will, Georgie and Rick prepared to leave, Charlie stopped Will, " Can you guys give me a minute." He turned and asked, "Jane, can we talk?"

Jane shook her head negatively, "It's been a long day and I can't get into this with you right now. I would like you to leave now."

Charlie looked reluctant but followed the others toward the door.

Elizabeth smiled at Will, "You are about to be the most hated person in our school." She giggled wickedly, "Now, I will not be the only person who hates you."

"Elizabeth Bennet," Will smiled at her, "You are cruel, kicking a guy when he's down."

"You never stay down for long, Will Darcy." Elizabeth replied as she shut the door.

Georgie walked to the car with her brother, "She's right and this is going to be a tough time for you at school."

Will shook his head in the negative, "No, that's not tough," He looked back toward the house, "Tough is getting through Elizabeth's defenses."

"Come on," Georgie said as she gave a tug on his sleeve, "Let's go home, it has been a long day."