Pride and Prejudice is owned by Jane Austen, not me (otherwise I'd be filthy stinking rich right now). This isn't going to follow the events of P&P exactly, but it'll pretty much be the same idea. Please review; I'd really like to know how you like my first fic! Bon apetit!

*****

Tap…tap…tap…tap…

"The first World War began due to four factors, each contributing to the mounting tension between…"

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap…

"…and can anyone tell me a little about these contributing factors?"

Taptaptaptaptaptaptaptap…

"For pete's sake, Robbie! Stop with the tapping before I take your stupid pen and shove it up your-"

"Miss Bennet? Do you know one of the answers?" Mrs. Callahan sniffed from the front of the classroom, giving her best "I've-really-got-you-now" look. Lizzie stopped mid-hiss and glanced at Mrs. Callahan, who waited expectantly at her. She sighed and shot a glare at Robbie, who smirked back at her, and then straightened in her desk. Glazed eyes all over the room perked up, hoping for a little reprieve from the teacher's endless lecture.

"Um…one of the…factors was imperialism," Lizzie responded, glancing discreetly at her notes. Mrs. Callahan sniffed again, obviously upset that she hadn't been able to embarrass her. "And why exactly was imperialism a factor?" she prodded, hoping for an "I don't know" or an "uhh".

"Because most of the European countries were fighting over land in Africa, and it caused lots of tension between those who wanted more than they had," Lizzie answered easily. Thank God I actually studied last night…

"That is correct, Miss Bennet. Now, can anyone else tell me one of the causes of World War One?" Mrs. Callahan said, shifting her gaze from Lizzie to the rest of the students. Lizzie slumped in her seat with a sigh.

"Sorry about that," Robbie whispered with a grin, now tapping his fingers instead of his pen. Lizzie sighed again, silently accepting his apology with a nod. One of the horribly infuriating things about Robbie Masovich was that you couldn't stay mad at him for too long.

"Now, on to the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand…"

*****

"Oh…my…God…I don't think I've ever been more bored in my entire life," cried Robbie, making his way through the student-crammed halls towards the cafeteria. "I mean, really: who cares about the reason a bunch of dead guys started a stupid war that ended ages ago?!" Lizzie chuckled, sliding the strap of her heavy messenger bag back onto her shoulder. Lunch time, as abysmally horrible as the cafeteria food usually was, was one of the few periods of her day that she didn't feel like pulling out her thick brown hair and screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Well, look at it this way, Robbie. This is the second week of school. We only have about nine months left…" she said with a grin. Robbie grumbled as he pushed through the double doors to the cafeteria, almost immediately lighting up when he spotted his girlfriend, Claire Daniels. She stood by a crowded table, filing her nails and looking bored.

"Claire Bear! Please save me from the horror that is World History!" he groaned as he ran over to her and slid down on his knees, hugging her denim-clad legs. Claire whacked him over the head with her nail file, horrified, and tried to pull him to his feet.

"What are you doing?" She hissed, looking around at the other cafeteria tables and flushing in embarrassment when a group of freshman walked by giggling. "You're embarrassing me!" Lizzie slid onto one of the benches, trying to muffle her laughter. Claire looked despairingly at one of the girls at the table, whining, "Why am I going out with this lunatic again?"

"I'm not sure anyone knows the answer to that question, Claire," the girl, Kat Warner, wryly answered. She turned back to her lunch and frowned at the grey mashed potatoes, meatloaf, and gravy on her tray. "What do they put in this stuff, anyway?" she asked, poking at the meatloaf with a spork.

"You absolutely do not want to know," declared Jennifer Reyes, carrying her own tray of the toxic mass and sliding next to Lizzie on the bench. She flipped her wavy auburn hair over her shoulder, bending down to hunt through her backpack for a scrunchie. She gave Lizzie a cheery smile by way of a greeting, and then frowned when she couldn't find anything in the mess that was her backpack. "Hey Lizzie, you got a scrunchie I can borrow?"

"Jen, all the ones I have are probably yours; you leave them all over my room every time you come over," she replied, undoing her ponytail and tossing her a rubber band. "I probably own half of your wardrobe by now, come to think about it," she joked, earning a good-natured shove from Jen.

"Would you two stop horsing around?" snapped Maria Peterson from the other side of the table, shooting a glare over her Spanish textbook. Jen raised an eyebrow.

"Aw come on, Maria, stop being such a bookworm and socialize for once!" Mollie Daniels said, sitting next to Maria and immediately digging through her purse for a tube of lip gloss. "We all know you're going to pass your Spanish quiz next period; take a break!" She pulled out one of her compacts, carefully balancing it on one knee as she applied another coat of shining gloss to her coral lips.

"Just because you never put in the effort doesn't mean I'm going to let myself fall behind in my studies," huffed Maria, taking a bite out of her apple and burying her freckled nose back into her book.

"Ladies, ladies, let's calm down. At least until I find a good mud puddle you can wrestle in," joked Robbie, earning groans and eye rolls. Claire stepped on his sneakered toe with a pointed boot and he yelped. "Come on, Claire; you know you're the only one I want to see gloriously half-naked and covered in mud," he said, giving her a kiss on her cheek. Claire rolled her eyes, but smiled and allowed him to put his arm around her shoulders. Kat made a gagging sound, and Maria sighed from behind her book.

"Is that even a compliment?" Lizzie pondered aloud, shaking her head and pulling out a Tupperware container from her backpack. Jen shrugged, sipping her diet cola.

"Did you bring that chicken salad stuff again?" Mollie asked eagerly. "I am sooo starved, and there's no way I'm eating any of that crap," she said, pointing at the brownish-grey lump on Jenn's tray.

"Yep. Chef Lizzie to the rescue," she declared, popping the top off of the container and spearing a forkful of salad-y goodness. "Mmmm…" she murmured. Mollie grabbed a fork and helped herself, practically moaning in delight.

"Lizzie, remind me to hire you as my personal cook," she said through a mouthful of lettuce.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" cried Claire, shaking off Robbie's arm from around her shoulder. "There are some new transfer students from New York coming in today. They're supposed to be extremely upper-class types, and they were really popular at their old school. Plus, word has it that they're rich!" Claire squealed, practically drooling at the prospect of getting into their good graces. Lizzie groaned and covered her eyes. Claire was a good person, but was always trying to claw her way to the top of the social ladder. Let's just hope that this doesn't end up like the Blind Date Fiasco…Is it sad when it deserves capital letters? "Oh come on! Elizabeth Bennet, you can't tell me that you aren't the littlest bit curious about them!" said Claire, hands perched on her hips.

"Yes, I can," replied Lizzie, putting the top back on her salad and sliding it back into her bag, much to Mollie's chagrin. She got up from the cafeteria bench and picked up her bag, stretching a little bit, and added, "Especially if it ends up with you trying to get me to date one of them."

"Okay fine, I admit that my matchmaking skills are a little…rusty, but at least I tried!" Claire protested. Robbie laughed.

"Claire, the last time you played matchmaker Lizzie ended up on the date from hell with an 18-year-old Dungeons and Dragons geek from Florida," he said, earning another squashed toe. "Ow!"

"I'll see you guys later, ok?" said Lizzie, grinning and walking off toward the door to the quad.

"See you next period, Lizzie!" cried Jen, waving to her. Lizzie turned to wave back, and the next thing she knew she was sprawled on her butt on the cafeteria floor, books and pencils spilling out of her bag.

"Watch where you're going, sophomore!" snapped a voice above her head. Priscilla Broderick stood in front of her, perfectly manicured hands on her hips and Italian leather shoes tapping impatiently on the floor. Her groupies stood around her, snickering down at Lizzie.

"I'm so sorry," she drawled, rolling her eyes and gathering her things. Of all the people I could've run into…

"I can't believe some of the trash they let in here," Priscilla said to her friends, breezing past Lizzie and "accidentally" kicking a few of her books under the nearest cafeteria tables. Her friends shrieked with laughter, following right behind Priscilla like a bunch of jackals. Lizzie grumbled as she stood, picking up her bag and straightening her skirt and sweater. There was no way she was going to let Priscilla ruin her day, even if she was a major bitch. She bent down to retrieve her English book from beneath a table, only to bump heads with someone as they reached to get it at the same time.

"Sorry about…that…" Lizzie said, rubbing her head and looking up into a pair of gorgeous blue eyes.

"That's quite alright", replied the owner of said gorgeous eyes. "Are you okay? I know that sometimes Priscilla can be a…," he trailed off, handing her book back with a dazzling smile and smoothing down his chestnut brown hair.

"A raging bitch?" Lizzie finished.

"Yeah, that's true. I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself: my name is Christian, Christian Stoddard," he said, offering a hand. Lizzie shook it, smiling.

"Nice to meet you, Christian. I'm Lizzie Bennet," she said. Jeez this guy is a hottie!

"Um, I know this is going to sound kind of sudden because you don't know me or anything, but do you want to come to a soccer game with me sometime?" Christian asked, scratching behind his ear. "Well, I mean, not with me, because I'll be playing, but…"

"Of course! I'd love to," Lizzie replied, smiling brightly. Did I just get asked out? Holy crap!

"Great. I guess I'll see you Thursday, then?" he asked, starting to walk backwards towards his seat.

"Yeah…see you then," Lizzie said. She set off towards the door again and gave him a little wave, and then let out a breath she didn't know she was holding once she stepped outside into the sunshine. "That was interesting," she said to herself. Just another thing to add to my list of daily weirdness, I suppose.