Chapter 5
The smell of coffee invaded Lizzie's nose and the promise of caffeine propelled her awake. Lizzie surveyed the room and saw Jane and Charlotte chatting softly on Jane's bed, both of them cradling a steaming mug of coffee. The two other girls were so wholly engrossed in their conversation that they didn't notice that Lizzie had woken up yet. Lizzie paused for a moment and looked lovingly at the two girls across the room. Lizzie really couldn't have asked for better friends to help her through college.
"Coffee?" Lizzie asked hoarsely to the other two girls across the room from her. Jane looked over at Lizzie, laughed, and then gestured to her nightstand, where a large mug of coffee was waiting for her. Lizzie sat up, grabbed the mug and took a sip of the coffee. "Ugh, a little milk and no sugar, just the way I like it," Lizzie said and then looked at Jane adoringly, "you really are such a saint, Jane."
"And how do you know that I wasn't your savior this morning?" Charlotte asked Lizzie with a cocked eyebrow. Jane laughed abruptly at Charlotte's comment and then covered her mouth in embarrassment at being so rude. However a smile from Charlotte informed Jane that she wasn't offended by her laugh.
"I believe Jane's little fit right there wasn't confirmation enough," Lizzie laughed and nodded her head at Jane. "Besides you would have drank all of the coffee yourself, probably right out of the pot if you could have," Lizzie countered at Charlotte before taking another long sip of her coffee. "Have you all started recapping the party last night without me?" Lizzie questioned while looking at the other two young women. When Lizzie saw their guilty faces looking back at her she put her hands over her heart and faked her best sad face before laughing at her own silliness.
"You really didn't miss much Lizzie, I was just trying to get Jane over here to tell me more about her beautiful Charlie," Charlotte explained to Lizzie while giving a teasing look at Jane.
"My Charlie? Oh c'mon Char, we just met last night," Jane quickly interrupted before Lizzie could ask more questions. "Besides I am sure he is not interested in me other than for fraternity and sorority business," Jane further explained.
"I am totally going to say that what you're saying is incorrect, just based on the way you two were dancing last night," Lizzie shot back at Jane with her eyebrow raised, signaling her disbelief.
"Oh Lizzie, he was such a great dancer!" Jane gushed, "I could hardly believe that he would even want to dance with me of all people! He is just so cute and kind. You know he gave me some tips for tomorrow and even offered to meet up tonight to talk strategy about the election. Isn't that just so sweet?"
"Oh yes, so sweet it's literally giving me cavities just thinking about it," Lizzie replied with a teasing roll of her eyes. "I bet he totally tries to make a move on you tonight at this 'strategy session'," Lizzie continued.
"Oh heavens no, I am sure this is strictly business," Jane replied with a crimson blush across her face at even the implication that Charlie could be interested in her.
"Would you be interested if he did try something?" Charlotte asked Jane seriously.
"Oh Charlotte, I can't even think about that," Jane began slowly, "I don't want to get my hopes up and come across as some silly sorority girl. I'm sure he's just being friendly, but professional. I am going to approach this meeting tonight very professionally."
"Oh, Jane, I'm sure that you will," Lizzie replied, "but we'll see what he does."
"Ok, enough about me. How was your guys' night? I'm sorry I just kind of disappeared for a bit," Jane continued, obviously trying to change the subject.
Lizzie and Charlotte began speaking at the same time, with Lizzie attempting to avoid the subject of Will and Charlotte clearly attempting to bring it up. Both Lizzie and Charlotte stopped talking once they realized what the other person was doing and glared at each other.
"I didn't catch a second of that, but it sure sounds eventful," Jane laughed while looking back and forth between Lizzie and Charlotte.
"It wasn't that eventful," Lizzie began while throwing a glare at Charlotte. "I just met my mortal enemy is all," Lizzie shrugged as if that was the most casual sentence in the entire world.
"What Lizzie is trying to say is that Charlie's friend, Will, and Lizzie did not have the best of first meetings last night," Charlotte began slowly. When Jane responded with a confused look, Charlotte explained the entirety of Lizzie and Will's altercation the night before. Charlotte first went through the comments that Will made directly to Lizzie face and the detailed what the two of them had overheard while listening in on Charlie and Will's conversation.
Lizzie decided to remain silent in an attempt to appear nonchalant through the whole description of the event. Lizzie hadn't had much time to really process what had happened last night herself, and she knew Jane would force her to talk about how this made her feel.
"Maybe he was just in a bad mood or something?" Jane offered, "Even still, that does not give him the right to be so awful to you Lizzie. Wow Lizzie, I had no idea that Will was being so rude. Oh I feel so terrible, I shouldn't have left you. I should have been there to defend you and tell him off. I am so sorry; I let my own crush on Charlie prevent me from being there for you. Could you ever forgive me Lizzie?"
Lizzie quickly crossed the room and enveloped Jane into a warm hug. "Oh Jane, don't be silly," Lizzie began, "I can handle a simple, stuck-up rich boy all on my own. It really wasn't a big deal. He just hurt my pride a little bit is all," Lizzie laughed and rubbed Jane's back until Jane calmed down. Lizzie continued, "Needless to say, I do not think that we will ever be the best of friends."
"Even still, I am saying something to Charlie tonight about it. Not only did Will say something really terrible things to and about you, it also does not look good for the fraternity President to say that about another member of Greek life," Jane said resolutely.
"Oh please don't say anything Jane. I really don't want this to become a large thing between Will and I," Lizzie pleaded, "Not to mention, Charlotte and I were kind of eavesdropping when we heard a lot of this stuff."
"Fine, but remember that once you win this election –" Jane began before Lizzie quickly cut in.
"If," Lizzie interjected.
"When," Jane responded rather forcibly, "You will have to spend a lot of time with Charlie and Will, since they are crucial to the planning of this major event as the President and VP of Social Relations. So if he says one more thing I am going to have to talk to both him and Charlie about this."
"Oh, you won't have to worry about that Jane," Lizzie began, "If he tries to start something else with me I will just give him a swift kick to the–"
"Lizzie! No violence!" Jane admonished.
"Yeah, well, you get the idea," Lizzie finished rather lamely.
"Oh shit! It's already noon? I have to go, I have a study group, and Lizzie don't you have a shift at the bookstore in thirty minutes?" Charlotte suddenly interrupted.
Lizzie looked at the clock and realized the time before running into the bathroom to get ready for work as quickly as possible. Charlotte gave Jane a hug and quickly took her leave to head back to her own house. Lizzie took a quick shower and got dressed for work.
The rest of the afternoon passed relatively quickly for Lizzie. Lizzie was on stock duty for her shift, so she was in the backroom of the bookstore for the entirety of her shift. This meant that she could play music while she worked, since no customers were allowed into the stock room. Before Lizzie knew it, her four-hour shift was already up and she walked back to the house. She decided that she would get some studying done in her room, but when she got to her room a frantic Jane greeted her.
"Oh Lizzie, I know I said that I would be professional, and I still will but," Jane began, "I really have no idea what to wear. Everything I put on either says 'mom' or 'let's get out of here right now' and I need something in between."
"Ok Jane, just breathe, honey. Let's look at some of our outfit choices. I am sure we can find something," Lizzie replied calmly.
Jane tried on several outfits before both her and Lizzie agreed on a light blue sweater that brought out Jane's eyes and a pair of dark grey skinny jeans. It was the perfect mix of casual and flattering. Lizzie knew that if Charlie had any sense to him he would be half in love with Jane by the end of the 'professional strategy meeting'.
Lizzie wished Jane good luck on her non-date and decided that she needed some coffee to kick off her long night of studying and preparing for the elections the following morning. Lizzie put on a light green jacket and headed out of the house towards the local on-campus coffee shop.
Lizzie walked into the campus coffee shop, nicknamed The Hub by the Hertfordshire students, and headed straight towards the counter. Usually Lizzie just got a drip coffee, but she decided to treat herself with a large latte. Lizzie quickly ordered her coffee and the cashier told her that someone would bring the coffee to her table.
Lizzie sat down at a small table in the corner of the room and opened her laptop to begin work. She plugged her headphones into her laptop and decided to play some music to get her motivated to write her papers. She had just opened up the essay prompt on her laptop when she felt a tapping on her shoulder.
Lizzie looked up and saw an extremely good-looking young man staring down at her. He had dark-blond messy hair, which stuck up in all directions, and warm brown eyes. His best feature by far was his wolfish grin that was simultaneously welcoming and intimidating. Lizzie was so caught off guard by the young man that she didn't notice him asking if she had ordered the latte until the third time he asked and Lizzie finally had the good sense to take out her headphones.
"Sorry if I interrupted your work," the man began, "I just didn't want to deliver the coffee to the wrong person." The man then laughed and brushed a hand through his messy mop of hair. "That really upsets some people, trust me," he further explained and laughed.
"Oh that's no problem. Sorry it took me so long to respond, I couldn't hear you until I took my headphones out," Lizzie explained dumbly and blushed.
The man smiled at her and then returned to the counter. Lizzie snapped herself out of her trance. She drank some of her coffee, put her headphones back in and recommitted herself to her work.
Lizzie had been doing work for about two and a half hours when a tap on the shoulder once again interrupted her. This time she corrected her previous mistake and took out her headphones immediately. When Lizzie looked up she saw the same beautiful smile and warm eyes that had previously interrupted her.
"Hi sorry to bother you again, but we are actually closing for the night," the man explained, "I tried to let you stay and work as long as possible, but I've already cleaned everything and the only thing left to do is to lock up."
Lizzie looked around and realized that not only was there no one else in the coffee shop, but all the other tables had already been cleaned off with the chairs were stacked on top of them. "I am so sorry," Lizzie said, red with embarrassment. "I was so focused I guess I didn't notice that everyone else had already left. I'm also a bit stressed so I was trying to focus really hard on my work in order to escape everything else. Now I'm babbling and you are just trying to go home and I am so sorry. I'll head home now," Lizzie managed to say all in one breath. Lizzie began to close her laptop and pack up her things.
"No you're fine, seriously," the man began before hesitating for a moment, "Look I know this sounds a little crazy, but you clearly need someone to talk to right now. Would you be interested in going for a short walk after I lock up?"
Lizzie looked at the man, unconvinced. "I promise I don't mean anything untoward with this offer. I promise to be a perfect gentleman; a genuine Disney prince if you will. As a generally stressed out guy, I can recognize when someone needs to talk," the young man offered while looking at Lizzie genuinely.
As soon as Lizzie heard the man call himself a prince she couldn't help but think back to the note attached to the flowers that she received a week earlier. While Lizzie knew that odds were that this wasn't the mysterious 'Reluctant Prince Charming' she couldn't help but shake the giddy feeling that the possibility implied.
"All right, yeah, sure," Lizzie said after momentarily debating her options in her head. "The name is Lizzie, by the way," Lizzie offered and extended her hand.
"Nice to meet you Lizzie, my name is George, but most people call me by my last name, Wickham," the man said as he shook Lizzie's hand.
Author's Note:
Hello everyone! I did it, I posted on time for once, well at least here in Ireland. I am originally from the States, and am currently in university. I am currently studying for the semester in Dublin, Ireland, but I leave to go back to the states in 15 days (so the updating schedule might change then).
So what did you guys think of the introduction of Wickham, our possible 'Reluctant Prince Charming'? Next chapter will focus on the sorority election, with special appearances from Darcy and Bingley.
Special thanks to Vikki, IrishJessy, ReaderLoverNumber1, and Swimmy6 for reviewing! I really, really appreciate it. Please keep reviewing guys; I promise it really does make me write faster.