Chapter 4
Mina strode through the school hallways furiously the next day. Before hearing Jordan's story she'd been content to dislike Keith for his snobbery. Now she was as close to hating Keith as she'd ever come to hating anyone. She couldn't believe he'd destroy a man's life over something as petty as jealously. She despised him.
Naturally she had first period with him. She chose a seat at the back of the classroom, away from Keith. Lynda walked into the classroom and sneered at Mina before taking the nearest available seat to Keith.
Mina slumped sullenly into her seat. Apparently whatever shaky truce she and Lynda had reached was gone. Fine, back to status quo. They'd chat at parties and in the halls and even sometimes at lunch, but all Lynda said yesterday was to be forgotten. The girl from middle school was gone and she wasn't coming back. It was time for Mina to accept that and move on.
Mrs. Pataki cleared her throat to get the classes attention. "Alright class, we're starting our unit in organic chemistry. The next two weeks will mostly be composed of labs. Please partner up."
Mina held her breath when she saw Keith get out of his seat and head toward her. She released it with a smirk when Lynda intercepted and tugged Keith to a lab table. Her smirk faded when she realized everyone had a lab partner and she was the odd one out. Just as she was resigning herself to working alone, Melvin Collins walked into the room and Mrs. Pataki pointed him towards Mina.
He offered a hopeful smile and a hand. "I guess we'll be working together. I'm Melvin."
Mina shook his hand. "I know." And she did. Melvin Collins had only attended Rivercrest High for two weeks and kept to himself more often then not. But *everyone* already knew that his father was one of the top plastic surgeons in the country. He had been based in New York but moved to California when his second marriage collapsed. Melvin was the product of the first. His brand of choice was Abercrombie and Fitch, he was allergic to bee stings, and he was in the habit of cleaning his glasses with his shirt while he talked.
If Mina had listened more closely to the gossip about Melvin she would have known one more critical thing about Melvin Collin's habit while speaking. Once he got talking he would. Not. Shut. Up.
It wouldn't have been all that bad if he'd actually had something interesting to say. But when he wasn't reading the lab instructions out loud (in a voice better suited for a drama stage), he was babbling about so and so back in New York. Mina did not know so and so and after hearing Melvin drone on for an hour, she devoutly prayed she never met them.
Worst of all, Mina was beginning to share Rei's opinion of talkative people. And thinking like Rei was a bad thing.
"And when Catherine Bergman invited David and I to stay at her house in the Hamptons, we of course accepted. Incidentally I only refer to it as a house because that is how she described it. In realty it is a mansion of such grandeur-"
"Hey Melvin?" Mina decided the only way to get a word in bladewise was to cut him off. "What about your friends here?"
He frowned. "I haven't really had time to make friends yet."
If he found anything odd about making no effort towards making friends, his tone didn't suggest it. In fact, he sounded as if Mina had asked him what color his underwear was.
Mina just nodded and went back to the experiment. While she was sorry for his predicament, she could see how he'd gotten himself into this position.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
For the first time in weeks the Hathaway family sat down for dinner together. Only one member of the family still relished the once common tradition, for there was nothing she enjoyed more than having all her targets in once place.
"Dear, do sit up straighter. You look like an ape hunched over your soup like that." This was addressed to her husband who moved maybe an inch, but otherwise ignored his wife. "Jedidiah, when will you bring your girlfriend over for dinner?"
Jed cringed at the use of his given name and refrained from pointing out that this was the first "family dinner" everyone had been present at in well over a month. "Sometime soon."
"I don't want her thinking she's not welcome. You did well in snagging her. A senator's daughter no less!"
Jed sighed to his soup. "Mom, I'm not dating Rei because of her father's job."
Meredith Hathaway gave her son a sharp look. "Of course you aren't! And I won't have anyone at the country club saying that the Hathaway's are social climbers!" Her gaze switched from sharp to sly. "However, since you are dating the girl, there's no reason our family shouldn't enjoy the benefits of your association with Senator Hino."
Jed was getting upset. "Mom! There are no benefits! Rei hardly even sees her father. If I do bring her to dinner I don't want you to mention any of this."
Meredith bristled. "Of course I wouldn't-"
"I'm serious mother. Drop anything having to do with Senator Hino from your mind. Rei's father has nothing to do with why I'm with her."
His mother didn't answer her son and instead turned her well meaning attention towards Mina. "I hear you've been spending some time with Keith Taylor."
Mina did her best not to hunch her shoulders defensively. "Not that much time Mom."
"You'd do well to spend more time. Brian Taylor brings in 23.6 million a year and one day it will all be Keith's."
Both Hathaway children discreetly rolled their eyes and vowed to hide Forbes in the trash from now on.
"Mo-om! Even if I dated Keith, which by the way would *never* happen, I'm sixteen years old! I'm not going to marry him."
"And why not? I was only two years older than you when I married your father."
"Nobody gets married that young anymore unless the girl is knocked up!"
Jed choked on his soup and Meredith released an outraged gasp. But before she could reprimand her daughter, James Hathaway interrupted with a laugh.
"Really dear, she has a point. It's not the thing to do anymore. Come to think of it, it wasn't then either. Which is why we waited seven years before having children."
His wife's tongue stilled, he turned his attention to his children. "I'll be taking your mother out of firing range next week. She'll accompany me on my trip to D.C."
Mina and Jed beamed and made eye contact with one another for no more than three seconds, nothing else needed to communicate the inevitable.
The party gods would be appeased.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"I'm thinking that we'll throw the party on Saturday so that the house is ours and ours alone for the rest of the week. You're included in that 'ours' by the way." This was addressed to Rei during the trek to first period.
"Oh sure, I'll just tell my mom that I'm moving in with my boyfriend and his sister while their parents are out of town. That'll go over well."
Mina easily shrugged off Rei's sarcasm. "Tell her that we're working on a project for History. She'll go for it as long as you leave out the whole my parents not being there part."
"School nights might be a problem."
Mina rolled her eyes at Rei. "Just give it a try."
Rei huffed out a breath, tugging her backpack up further. "So should I follow you home on Friday or just show up early on Saturday to help set up?"
Mina laughed. "The only setting up I plan to do is pour some Chex mix in a bowl while Jed taps the keg. There's no point in doing anything else. It's not as though everyone will be showing up for the atmosphere."
"I'd put anything fragile or valuable in one room and lock the door."
Mina nodded. "Good idea. Last time I had to spend an entire Saturday trying to find replicas of these hideous lamps that mom had in the living room. Anyway, I don't care if you show up to set up as long as you stay to clean up."
"Lazy." Rei accused.
"You bet. See you at lunch."
Rei waved goodbye half heartedly and began the trek to first period.
"When is your party?"
Mina gasped and spun around clutching a hand to her chest. "Don't do that Melvin! You scared me sick!"
He furrowed his brows. "I'm sorry. I've been behind you for awhile now. I thought you knew."
Mina shrugged it off. "The party is Saturday. I hope you'll be there." She felt as though a weight had been lifted as soon as she gave the invite. Sure he was as annoying as a squirrel on speed but he had no friends. This would be an opportunity for him to meet some new people.
"Oh yes, especially if she'll be there." He exclaimed as he went into the classroom.
Mina looked around the hall but there were a lot of girls and she had no idea who Melvin was talking about. She made a mental note to ask Melvin who he'd been talking about at the party. Maybe Mina the Matchmaker could make reappearance.
"I invited Melvin to the party." Mina announced as she slide into the booth across from Rei at La Hacienda.
"There's no point in personally inviting anyone to this sort of thing. Half the people will be complete strangers." Rei admonished, idly playing with her straw.
"Melvin's not the type of person who'd feel comfortable crashing. And anyway, he overheard us talking about the party. It would have been rude not to invite him."
"Is he the guy with the hair that was following us in the hall?"
Mina winced. Melvin had a bowl haircut in its purest form. "That's him."
Rei waved a dismissive hand. "Okay. I don't know why you think I care."
Mina grinned. "In bitch mode, much?"
Rei struck a pose. "Have you known me to be anything less?"
Mina just shook her head then immediately slumped down into her seat as Keith entered the restaurant.
Rei immediately took notice. "Oh look, it's Keith! Shall I call him over?"
"NO!"
Rei smirked at Mina's reaction.
Mina glared. "Geez, you're being totally obnoxious. Are you channeling my brother or something?"
"I dunno, are you channeling a lovesick puppy? Just drop the Elementary school bullshit and go talk to him."
Mina shot up straight in her seat and glared in earnest. "I have absolutely no romantic feelings towards that jerk!" She hissed. "He's an asshole of the highest order and I'd die happy if I never spoke to him again."
Rei was taken aback by the uncharacteristic ferocity in Mina's statement. "You're actually serious, aren't you?"
"Never more."
"Look, I know he was rude to Jordan the other day, but does that really justify this new opinion of him? True, Keith's a bit standoffish but I'm sure the same could be said of me."
"You're not standoffish Rei. You're mean."
"Fair enough."
"And as for Keith.he's evil."
"Ouch! That's a bit drastic. Especially since I though you were warming up to him after his party."
Mina sniffed. "Alcohol has a way of warping things into something they're not. In my intoxicated state I was deluded into believing that Keith Taylor somewhat resembled a decent human being. And then I sobered up."
Rei's eyebrows host up towards the ceiling halfway through Mina's impassioned speech and showed no sign of coming down. "All this because he was rude to Jordan? I'd love to see what you do to a guy who doesn't hold the door open for you on a date!"
"There's so much more to it than that. But you are right. It does have to do with Jordan."
"My ears are burning."
Both girls jumped in their seats.
"When did you get here?" Mina asked as casually as possible.
"I just walked in and heard my name. What kind of gossip have you been spreading about me, darling Mina?"
Mina's hands fluttered of their own accord, as if trying to grasp a plausible answer from thin air. Luckily Rei chose that moment to come out of her stupor and try to cover Mina's ass.
"She was just wondering if she should invite you to her house on Saturday. She's having a party and would love for you to come. I told her you probably had a dozen other things to do, what with you being in college and all."
Jordan looked to Mina for confirmation and she nodded weakly.
"I'd love to come Mina." He handed her a pen. "Do me a favor and write directions to your house down on this napkin and I'll do my best to show up."
Beaming, Mina handed him the napkin. "See that you do."
Jordan pocketed the directions. "Until then." He kissed Mina's hand and left her watching him walk away with dreamy eyes.
Rei was entirely unimpressed. "Let's get out of here before karma kicks us in the ass again."
Mina waited until they were outside to address Rei's statement. "How was that karma?"
"Talk about someone behind their back and they show up halfway through. It's a liberal interpretation, I know. Not to mention all that Keith hatred you spewed back there. That's really gonna hurt when karma catches up."
"Kind of like parking in a handicapped space and being towed for it?" Mina asked, pointing ahead towards the tow truck backing up towards Rei's BMW.
"Yeah, only that can't be my car. I didn't park in a-" She froze as she caught sight of the license plate and the handicapped sign she'd missed earlier. "Oh Jesus, no! She whispered before springing into action. "Hey you!" She screamed as she broke into a run. "Drop that hook unless you want it shoved up your-"
Mina ceased to listen as she realized that she'd left her purse in the restaurant. Sparing the tow truck man the most pitying of glances she turned and jogged back into La Hacienda. She sighed in relief when she saw her bag just as she'd left it against the wall on the booth seat. She grabbed it and on her wait out saw something that made her pause.
Jordan and Keith were facing each other down at the back of the restaurant. Their stances suggested that it was high noon at the O.K. Corral.
Keith's posture was completely aggressive, shoulders forward, fists clenched. He looked ready to lunge at the slightest warning. She couldn't see his face but Mina could well imagine the cold, closed off anger streaking across it. Jordan on the other palm looked oddly tense and relaxed at the same time. His face was full of mocking contempt.
She could tell that they were speaking in low, harsh whispers. Mina inched cautiously closer, trying to hear what they were saying. But before she could hear a word, a horn blared outside declaring that Rei had won the battle with the tow truck and Mina had better hurry her ass up.
Mina contemplated ignoring Rei's rude summons, but the horn honked again and Mina knew not to push her luck. With one last curious look at the bristling males she hurried outside.
Notes
It's official. We've moved out of the It's Gonna Be Me timeline completely into Underneath It All.
Pride and Prejudice is one of my all time favorite books. This, like Clueless, is a loose interpretation of the events and characters created by Jane Austin. Some characters have been left in the literary dust and others have evolved to fit their new environment. Jed and Rei for example, switch off between Jane and Bingley. And though Lynda isn't Mina's sister, she plays a very Lydia like character. And yes Jordan Wicklam is my version of George Wickham. Rather than make him a soldier, I'm given him another profession. It'll be revealed soon.
Definite "Mina time" coming up in the next chapter. She's long overdue for an inner conference, I know. I don't think Mina's naïve so much as too nice. She just tries to see the best in people and sometimes she allows the good to cancel out the obvious bad. It can lead to bad situations, true. But I think Mina has too many people looking out for her for her to get into serious trouble.
Li Ying Fa- You wrote of the cursed drink. To many the Purple Haze experience is fun. But Purple Hazes hate me. I won't even go into the depths of how hard they've kicked my ass in the past, but suffice to say it was the sneakiest hangover I've ever had. Actually, anything with Vodka is bad. Shudder.
Next chapter will be up in a week or two. Definitely before Halloween weekend. I need to devote as much time as possible to my favorite holiday! Again I have to take from paper to type. It's a stupid way of writing, but the thing is I write the majority of these chapters during long, boring lectures. Yep, all that money I'm pumping into college is well spent! Leave a comment or question or even a complaint at the door and I'll go back to working on chapter five.
Mina strode through the school hallways furiously the next day. Before hearing Jordan's story she'd been content to dislike Keith for his snobbery. Now she was as close to hating Keith as she'd ever come to hating anyone. She couldn't believe he'd destroy a man's life over something as petty as jealously. She despised him.
Naturally she had first period with him. She chose a seat at the back of the classroom, away from Keith. Lynda walked into the classroom and sneered at Mina before taking the nearest available seat to Keith.
Mina slumped sullenly into her seat. Apparently whatever shaky truce she and Lynda had reached was gone. Fine, back to status quo. They'd chat at parties and in the halls and even sometimes at lunch, but all Lynda said yesterday was to be forgotten. The girl from middle school was gone and she wasn't coming back. It was time for Mina to accept that and move on.
Mrs. Pataki cleared her throat to get the classes attention. "Alright class, we're starting our unit in organic chemistry. The next two weeks will mostly be composed of labs. Please partner up."
Mina held her breath when she saw Keith get out of his seat and head toward her. She released it with a smirk when Lynda intercepted and tugged Keith to a lab table. Her smirk faded when she realized everyone had a lab partner and she was the odd one out. Just as she was resigning herself to working alone, Melvin Collins walked into the room and Mrs. Pataki pointed him towards Mina.
He offered a hopeful smile and a hand. "I guess we'll be working together. I'm Melvin."
Mina shook his hand. "I know." And she did. Melvin Collins had only attended Rivercrest High for two weeks and kept to himself more often then not. But *everyone* already knew that his father was one of the top plastic surgeons in the country. He had been based in New York but moved to California when his second marriage collapsed. Melvin was the product of the first. His brand of choice was Abercrombie and Fitch, he was allergic to bee stings, and he was in the habit of cleaning his glasses with his shirt while he talked.
If Mina had listened more closely to the gossip about Melvin she would have known one more critical thing about Melvin Collin's habit while speaking. Once he got talking he would. Not. Shut. Up.
It wouldn't have been all that bad if he'd actually had something interesting to say. But when he wasn't reading the lab instructions out loud (in a voice better suited for a drama stage), he was babbling about so and so back in New York. Mina did not know so and so and after hearing Melvin drone on for an hour, she devoutly prayed she never met them.
Worst of all, Mina was beginning to share Rei's opinion of talkative people. And thinking like Rei was a bad thing.
"And when Catherine Bergman invited David and I to stay at her house in the Hamptons, we of course accepted. Incidentally I only refer to it as a house because that is how she described it. In realty it is a mansion of such grandeur-"
"Hey Melvin?" Mina decided the only way to get a word in bladewise was to cut him off. "What about your friends here?"
He frowned. "I haven't really had time to make friends yet."
If he found anything odd about making no effort towards making friends, his tone didn't suggest it. In fact, he sounded as if Mina had asked him what color his underwear was.
Mina just nodded and went back to the experiment. While she was sorry for his predicament, she could see how he'd gotten himself into this position.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
For the first time in weeks the Hathaway family sat down for dinner together. Only one member of the family still relished the once common tradition, for there was nothing she enjoyed more than having all her targets in once place.
"Dear, do sit up straighter. You look like an ape hunched over your soup like that." This was addressed to her husband who moved maybe an inch, but otherwise ignored his wife. "Jedidiah, when will you bring your girlfriend over for dinner?"
Jed cringed at the use of his given name and refrained from pointing out that this was the first "family dinner" everyone had been present at in well over a month. "Sometime soon."
"I don't want her thinking she's not welcome. You did well in snagging her. A senator's daughter no less!"
Jed sighed to his soup. "Mom, I'm not dating Rei because of her father's job."
Meredith Hathaway gave her son a sharp look. "Of course you aren't! And I won't have anyone at the country club saying that the Hathaway's are social climbers!" Her gaze switched from sharp to sly. "However, since you are dating the girl, there's no reason our family shouldn't enjoy the benefits of your association with Senator Hino."
Jed was getting upset. "Mom! There are no benefits! Rei hardly even sees her father. If I do bring her to dinner I don't want you to mention any of this."
Meredith bristled. "Of course I wouldn't-"
"I'm serious mother. Drop anything having to do with Senator Hino from your mind. Rei's father has nothing to do with why I'm with her."
His mother didn't answer her son and instead turned her well meaning attention towards Mina. "I hear you've been spending some time with Keith Taylor."
Mina did her best not to hunch her shoulders defensively. "Not that much time Mom."
"You'd do well to spend more time. Brian Taylor brings in 23.6 million a year and one day it will all be Keith's."
Both Hathaway children discreetly rolled their eyes and vowed to hide Forbes in the trash from now on.
"Mo-om! Even if I dated Keith, which by the way would *never* happen, I'm sixteen years old! I'm not going to marry him."
"And why not? I was only two years older than you when I married your father."
"Nobody gets married that young anymore unless the girl is knocked up!"
Jed choked on his soup and Meredith released an outraged gasp. But before she could reprimand her daughter, James Hathaway interrupted with a laugh.
"Really dear, she has a point. It's not the thing to do anymore. Come to think of it, it wasn't then either. Which is why we waited seven years before having children."
His wife's tongue stilled, he turned his attention to his children. "I'll be taking your mother out of firing range next week. She'll accompany me on my trip to D.C."
Mina and Jed beamed and made eye contact with one another for no more than three seconds, nothing else needed to communicate the inevitable.
The party gods would be appeased.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"I'm thinking that we'll throw the party on Saturday so that the house is ours and ours alone for the rest of the week. You're included in that 'ours' by the way." This was addressed to Rei during the trek to first period.
"Oh sure, I'll just tell my mom that I'm moving in with my boyfriend and his sister while their parents are out of town. That'll go over well."
Mina easily shrugged off Rei's sarcasm. "Tell her that we're working on a project for History. She'll go for it as long as you leave out the whole my parents not being there part."
"School nights might be a problem."
Mina rolled her eyes at Rei. "Just give it a try."
Rei huffed out a breath, tugging her backpack up further. "So should I follow you home on Friday or just show up early on Saturday to help set up?"
Mina laughed. "The only setting up I plan to do is pour some Chex mix in a bowl while Jed taps the keg. There's no point in doing anything else. It's not as though everyone will be showing up for the atmosphere."
"I'd put anything fragile or valuable in one room and lock the door."
Mina nodded. "Good idea. Last time I had to spend an entire Saturday trying to find replicas of these hideous lamps that mom had in the living room. Anyway, I don't care if you show up to set up as long as you stay to clean up."
"Lazy." Rei accused.
"You bet. See you at lunch."
Rei waved goodbye half heartedly and began the trek to first period.
"When is your party?"
Mina gasped and spun around clutching a hand to her chest. "Don't do that Melvin! You scared me sick!"
He furrowed his brows. "I'm sorry. I've been behind you for awhile now. I thought you knew."
Mina shrugged it off. "The party is Saturday. I hope you'll be there." She felt as though a weight had been lifted as soon as she gave the invite. Sure he was as annoying as a squirrel on speed but he had no friends. This would be an opportunity for him to meet some new people.
"Oh yes, especially if she'll be there." He exclaimed as he went into the classroom.
Mina looked around the hall but there were a lot of girls and she had no idea who Melvin was talking about. She made a mental note to ask Melvin who he'd been talking about at the party. Maybe Mina the Matchmaker could make reappearance.
"I invited Melvin to the party." Mina announced as she slide into the booth across from Rei at La Hacienda.
"There's no point in personally inviting anyone to this sort of thing. Half the people will be complete strangers." Rei admonished, idly playing with her straw.
"Melvin's not the type of person who'd feel comfortable crashing. And anyway, he overheard us talking about the party. It would have been rude not to invite him."
"Is he the guy with the hair that was following us in the hall?"
Mina winced. Melvin had a bowl haircut in its purest form. "That's him."
Rei waved a dismissive hand. "Okay. I don't know why you think I care."
Mina grinned. "In bitch mode, much?"
Rei struck a pose. "Have you known me to be anything less?"
Mina just shook her head then immediately slumped down into her seat as Keith entered the restaurant.
Rei immediately took notice. "Oh look, it's Keith! Shall I call him over?"
"NO!"
Rei smirked at Mina's reaction.
Mina glared. "Geez, you're being totally obnoxious. Are you channeling my brother or something?"
"I dunno, are you channeling a lovesick puppy? Just drop the Elementary school bullshit and go talk to him."
Mina shot up straight in her seat and glared in earnest. "I have absolutely no romantic feelings towards that jerk!" She hissed. "He's an asshole of the highest order and I'd die happy if I never spoke to him again."
Rei was taken aback by the uncharacteristic ferocity in Mina's statement. "You're actually serious, aren't you?"
"Never more."
"Look, I know he was rude to Jordan the other day, but does that really justify this new opinion of him? True, Keith's a bit standoffish but I'm sure the same could be said of me."
"You're not standoffish Rei. You're mean."
"Fair enough."
"And as for Keith.he's evil."
"Ouch! That's a bit drastic. Especially since I though you were warming up to him after his party."
Mina sniffed. "Alcohol has a way of warping things into something they're not. In my intoxicated state I was deluded into believing that Keith Taylor somewhat resembled a decent human being. And then I sobered up."
Rei's eyebrows host up towards the ceiling halfway through Mina's impassioned speech and showed no sign of coming down. "All this because he was rude to Jordan? I'd love to see what you do to a guy who doesn't hold the door open for you on a date!"
"There's so much more to it than that. But you are right. It does have to do with Jordan."
"My ears are burning."
Both girls jumped in their seats.
"When did you get here?" Mina asked as casually as possible.
"I just walked in and heard my name. What kind of gossip have you been spreading about me, darling Mina?"
Mina's hands fluttered of their own accord, as if trying to grasp a plausible answer from thin air. Luckily Rei chose that moment to come out of her stupor and try to cover Mina's ass.
"She was just wondering if she should invite you to her house on Saturday. She's having a party and would love for you to come. I told her you probably had a dozen other things to do, what with you being in college and all."
Jordan looked to Mina for confirmation and she nodded weakly.
"I'd love to come Mina." He handed her a pen. "Do me a favor and write directions to your house down on this napkin and I'll do my best to show up."
Beaming, Mina handed him the napkin. "See that you do."
Jordan pocketed the directions. "Until then." He kissed Mina's hand and left her watching him walk away with dreamy eyes.
Rei was entirely unimpressed. "Let's get out of here before karma kicks us in the ass again."
Mina waited until they were outside to address Rei's statement. "How was that karma?"
"Talk about someone behind their back and they show up halfway through. It's a liberal interpretation, I know. Not to mention all that Keith hatred you spewed back there. That's really gonna hurt when karma catches up."
"Kind of like parking in a handicapped space and being towed for it?" Mina asked, pointing ahead towards the tow truck backing up towards Rei's BMW.
"Yeah, only that can't be my car. I didn't park in a-" She froze as she caught sight of the license plate and the handicapped sign she'd missed earlier. "Oh Jesus, no! She whispered before springing into action. "Hey you!" She screamed as she broke into a run. "Drop that hook unless you want it shoved up your-"
Mina ceased to listen as she realized that she'd left her purse in the restaurant. Sparing the tow truck man the most pitying of glances she turned and jogged back into La Hacienda. She sighed in relief when she saw her bag just as she'd left it against the wall on the booth seat. She grabbed it and on her wait out saw something that made her pause.
Jordan and Keith were facing each other down at the back of the restaurant. Their stances suggested that it was high noon at the O.K. Corral.
Keith's posture was completely aggressive, shoulders forward, fists clenched. He looked ready to lunge at the slightest warning. She couldn't see his face but Mina could well imagine the cold, closed off anger streaking across it. Jordan on the other palm looked oddly tense and relaxed at the same time. His face was full of mocking contempt.
She could tell that they were speaking in low, harsh whispers. Mina inched cautiously closer, trying to hear what they were saying. But before she could hear a word, a horn blared outside declaring that Rei had won the battle with the tow truck and Mina had better hurry her ass up.
Mina contemplated ignoring Rei's rude summons, but the horn honked again and Mina knew not to push her luck. With one last curious look at the bristling males she hurried outside.
Notes
It's official. We've moved out of the It's Gonna Be Me timeline completely into Underneath It All.
Pride and Prejudice is one of my all time favorite books. This, like Clueless, is a loose interpretation of the events and characters created by Jane Austin. Some characters have been left in the literary dust and others have evolved to fit their new environment. Jed and Rei for example, switch off between Jane and Bingley. And though Lynda isn't Mina's sister, she plays a very Lydia like character. And yes Jordan Wicklam is my version of George Wickham. Rather than make him a soldier, I'm given him another profession. It'll be revealed soon.
Definite "Mina time" coming up in the next chapter. She's long overdue for an inner conference, I know. I don't think Mina's naïve so much as too nice. She just tries to see the best in people and sometimes she allows the good to cancel out the obvious bad. It can lead to bad situations, true. But I think Mina has too many people looking out for her for her to get into serious trouble.
Li Ying Fa- You wrote of the cursed drink. To many the Purple Haze experience is fun. But Purple Hazes hate me. I won't even go into the depths of how hard they've kicked my ass in the past, but suffice to say it was the sneakiest hangover I've ever had. Actually, anything with Vodka is bad. Shudder.
Next chapter will be up in a week or two. Definitely before Halloween weekend. I need to devote as much time as possible to my favorite holiday! Again I have to take from paper to type. It's a stupid way of writing, but the thing is I write the majority of these chapters during long, boring lectures. Yep, all that money I'm pumping into college is well spent! Leave a comment or question or even a complaint at the door and I'll go back to working on chapter five.
