Disclaimer: Same as before.

Author's Note: I UPDATED! YAY! And I'm still reading 'Order of the Phoenix'! And school ends this Wednesday! I'm so happy! JUST THREE MORE DAYS! I'll be able to update sooner, which is good. Very good. On with the chapter...

~*~

Chapter 1

'She is a great reader of books and has no pleasure in anything else.'-Mr Bingley, from 'Pride and Prejudice'

For normal people, Wednesday is just another day. The only people who don't fit into the 'normal people' category are optimists, who will tell you that Wednesday, just like every other day is wonderful and should be savoured, because you never know how many Wednesdays you'll be around to see, and pessimists, who will tell you that Wednesday, just like every other day is awful and you should get through it as quickly as possible, just so you can have one less Wednesday you'll be around to see. Ricky was a pessimist, and therefore hated the idea of having to live through yet another Wednesday. You couldn't blame him, though. Every Wednesday after school, he had to get 'a little extra help in math' from Eleanor Jones. That's what she described it as, but Ricky just called it 'tutoring'. There was no need to make it sound any better than it did. Not that Eleanor's description made it any more pleasant.

Eleanor was a quiet, studious girl who never broke any rules, and so most of the other kids at school never even acknowledged that she existed. Ricky only knew about her because she tutored him. She read any book she could get her hands on. Books were everything to her. She couldn't live without them. Several times, Ricky had spotted her reading during especially boring lessons that even she couldn't handle. Most of the time, she read 'Pride and Prejudice'. She may have loved books, but she worshipped 'Pride and Prejudice'.

Her copy of the book had a few pages falling out and a slightly musty smell to it. She carried it everywhere, cradling it in her arms or carrying it in her bag, wedged tightly between two other novels so that it wouldn't be damaged. Ricky had never read it, or even heard of it before he met Eleanor. Other than him, no one spoke to Eleanor or even acknowledged that she existed. Eleanor didn't seem to mind; as long as she had 'Pride and Prejudice', she was fine.

He sat down next to her when he entered the room, and wished he could be anywhere else. Being tutored wasn't fun. It was a constant reminder of how you weren't doing that great in school. Being tutored by Eleanor Jones wasn't fun, either, but she was the only girl (well, person, actually) who would speak to him. Still, that didn't mean she wasn't annoying at times - she was.

"Hi," he said , "Sorry I'm late." Actually, he wasn't late. He just said it without thinking.

"It's alright," she replied quietly. Next to nothing had changed about her- she still had dark hair, eyes and skin. Her hair was still pulled back in a ponytail with a purple hair elastic, and she still had 'Pride and Prejudice' beside her on the table.

"Well," she said as Ricky took out his textbook. "Let's get to work." she told him to go to a certain page and began explaining something about angles. Ricky followed along as much as he could. Everything went as usual, so there's no need to write about it in great detail.

"Ricky, do you think that," Eleanor swung her book bag over her shoulder, pausing for a second before continuing, "you're ready for that test on Friday?"

"Uh..." He had forgotten about the test until now.

"Well, if you aren't sure, you can meet me tomorrow after school at the public library, OK?" she gave him a small smile snd turned on her heel, heading for he doorway. Ricky wasn't too thrilled with having to spend even more time on this sort of stuff tomorrow. He sighed and picked up his bag, walking out of the room as Eleanor had done a few seconds ago. Oh well, one extra day couldn't be that bad. What was the worst that could happen?

Ricky was going to find out the next afternoon.