Chapter Three
Will sat in the empty music room with his guitar on his lap, plucking at the strings and singing softly to himself. He had seen Libby earlier that morning, and Jane of course. Chuck had decided to invite them over to sit with them at breakfast and they'd agreed. Unfortunately, Caroline joined them quickly after,
"How's Georgiana getting along at Ramsgate Academy, Will?" Caroline asked him, her voice appearing particularly offensive that morning and he'd had to suppress a grimace,
"She's getting on fine, from what I understand." He replied simply, before turning back to his food,
"Ana is Will's little sister," Caroline then informed Libby and Jane, neither of whom and asked, and again, Will tried not to cringe at the use of the nickname, "I met her a couple of years ago at Cheerleading Camp, she's a national gymnast! Crazy accomplished for a fourteen year old, isn't she Will?" Why was it that she felt the need to drag him into every conversation? He didn't respond.
"You say that about every girl, I swear Caroline!" Chuck said, smiling rather forcedly at the pretty red head,
"I s'pose the word is overused." she conceded,
"Completely," Will said, causing a look of glee to spread across Caroline's face, "The word's used far too often. I don't think I know many girls who I would really consider accomplished at our age."
"Goodness!" Libby interjected, "You must comprehend a great deal in the word, Will?" He tried not to notice how nice his name sounded in her soft British accent,
"I do." he replied simply, smiling slightly at the girl opposite him,"
"Oh, totally!" Caroline drawled, "she has to be sporty, artsy, have travelled a lot, and...she's gotta have a certain air about her," She looked to Will for approval but gained none, because he was still staring at Libby,
"She must be well read and educated, have good taste in music and theatre, not be into all of those shitty chickflick movies like most girls," at this point he inadvertently glanced at Caroline, "and, of course, she can't be remotely void of personality." he smirked slightly, not breaking his gaze with Libby. She just stared back, completely incredulous because he could not have meant what she thought he meant.
"Well, how very sixteenth century of you." She'd said, pushing her chair back and getting up, "I no longer wonder at you knowing so few 'accomplished women' I've left something upstairs," she said, turning to Jane, "I'll meet you in Drama." And then, she walked off. Will pretended he didn't watch as she sashayed away, imagining the fierceness in her caramel eyes as she tried to calm down.
"Will, what are you doing mate?" Chuck asked, pulling him from his thoughts as he entered the room,
"Had this idea, for a new song...I was working on it."
"Lets hear it then?" Chuck said, grinning crookedly at his best mate, Will went to start but Chuck interrupted him, "By the way, mate, this Saturday, I'm taking Jane out to town before the gig, but...she wanted to show Libby around so I said she could come...you wouldn't join us would you, show Libby around if we get...preoccupied?" he asked sheepishly, Will regarded his friend with a raised eyebrow for a second before shrugging,
"Just promise Caroline wont be there?"
"Swear."
"Okay then, I need some things from the mall anyway." he'd conceded,
"I owe you, man!" Chuck smiled, "Now lets hear this song?"
Libby was fuming. How dare he? How bloody dare he suggest that she was an accomplished women? He was such a pig, misogynist was another negative now added to the list of things Libby couldn't stand about Will Dacry.
She'd continued to be in a bad mood for the rest of the day, and then the next three, a mood which only worsened on Friday when Jane informed her who was coming with them to town the next day.
"Will?" She cried, slamming her book shut, "Will bloody Dacry? You're kidding, Jane? Tell me this is a joke?"
"I..." Jane said sheepishly, looking about the (thankfully) empty common room,
"Oh my god! You know, you do know that I'm going to be stuck with him for the entire day while you and Chuck are off playing lovers?" she demanded,
"I'm sorry, Libby! I...please? I promise, he isn't that bad? He...he can't be, not if he's friends with Chuck! It'll be fine, you just...you just need to get to know him better?" Libby was stood with her arms folded and her eyes hard, "For me?" Jane asked, and she watch Libby deflate,
"Fine." She said bitterly, sitting down and scowling, "But you bloody well owe me Jane."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Jane squealed enveloping the girl she was fast starting to think of as her bestfriend in a tight bear hug. Libby laughed and hugged her back.
"I'm serious though, Libby, you should really give him a chance! He's actually a pretty nice guy...once you get to know him, I swear. I think you two would get along if you actually tried!"
"Haha! Jane, you couldn't think anyone bad if you tried! All the world is good and agreeable in your eyes!" Libby laughed tracing the spine of the book she was still holding fondly, "But fine, I'll try, I promise...but, if he starts behaving like a dick again then I swear to god-"
"Yay! Thank you!" Jane said, smiling warmly, "You're the best, Libby! I have to go to french, but I'll see you at dinner!" She grabbed her lilac tote and hurried out of the door, leaving Libby alone to her thoughts and her book.
She wasn't allowed much peace, however, because Caroline came bubbling in and, noticing Libby sat nose buried in a book, rolled her eyes, "Libby!" She called, and Libby looked up, trying to suppress a groan as she realised who had entered the common room,
"Hi, Caroline." She said, calmly, before returning to her book,
"You haven't seen Will, have you Libby?" She asked, and Libby shook her head, not looking up, "because I can't fine him anywhere and he's been totally MIA except from at meals all week! It sucks! I need to talk to him about...winter ball!" At this Libby looked up,
"Winter ball? Whats that?" She asked, and Caroline's eyes filled with utter glee as she said in mock horror, "You don't know?" Libby shook her head, "It's the schools annual winter ball, it's a big party where everyone dresses up and it's going to be perfect!"
"Why do you need to talk to Will?" Libby asked, thoughrally unenthused,
"Because we're going to together." Caroline said, like it was the simplest thing in the world and Libby couldn't help but laugh. Caroline furrowed her brow, "What?"
"No offense, Caroline, but...you do know that he has to actually ask you, right?" At this, Caroline's brow furrowed even further, and Libby continued to laugh, because if there was one person Will Darcy hated more than her, it was Caroline.
"Excuse me, Elizabeth," Caroline said curtly, before standing quickly, "I have a practice to get too."
The next morning, Libby and Jane met the boy at the bus stop that was going to take them into the centre of Hollywood. Jane was wearing a light teal dress with a white peter pan collar and white ballet flats. Her blonde hair was loose and curled softly and her makeup was light but beautiful. Libby on the other hand was wearing a pair of light jean shorts, and vest top and and blue and white striped shirt. Her light brown hair was loose and messy and she had next to no makeup on.
"Jane, Libby!" Chuck said warmly as he approached the girls with Will in toe. Will looked hot. Like, really hot. But Libby pretended she didn't notice, instead just smiling warmly at Chuck,
"Libby," Will said, his voice as low and husky as ever and she turned to find him stood beside her,
"Well, William, looks like we're stuck together for the day, I do hope you don't get too bored." Libby said
"I doubt I could ever be bored in your company, Elizabeth." He retorted quickly, the use of her full name not being lost on her. She smiled,
"So, Will, Caroline was telling me all about how you two are going to the winter ball together. I must say you make a very cute couple-"
"She said what?" he demanded and Libby turned to him, her dark caramel eyes full of mischief,
"Yes, I think she was going out today, to pick her dress and your tie-"
"Fuck!" Will groaned, and Libby raised her eyebrows, trying not to laugh. Will turned to her about to say something, before something occurred to him, "You're teasing me, aren't you?" he asked, and she grinned at him,
"What, is it such a foreign concept to you? Can no one tease the great Will Darcy?" She chided just as the bus pulled up and she stepped on after Jane and flashed her bus pass before going and sitting at the back with the others. She expected Will to sit next to Chuck and start talking about soccer, or the band or...something, but he didn't, instead he came and sat next to her.
"No, and I suppose I should expect it from you, as well." He said quietly to her, she turned a confused smile on her face,
"From me, huh? So, you aren't too proud then?"
"No...I'm a lot of things and maybe I can be proud but..." She looked at him is surprise, her pretty brown eyes going wide as she ran her hands through her tousled waves,
"You play the part very well, Mr Darcy." She conceded finally, "Let me guess, it's an act to fight of the Caroline's of the world?" He shrugged and leaned back in his seat,
"Something like that, I don't have the talent of conversing easily with people I've never met before."
"And when there's hundreds of screaming girls clamouring just to talk to the amazing Will Darcy some sort of self defence is necessary." She said nodding, looking at him and catching his eye. God, his eyes are so blue.
"What...what I said this morning, I...I didn't mean it as an insult...I-"
"It's...it's okay." God that was hard to say, Libby was not the sort of person who changed her opinion of someone readily, she was stubborn like that, but Will Darcy was surprising her quite a lot already. Maybe Jane had been right about him.
"You know you've been MIA for the past week? Caroline has been going crazy!" Libby chuckled, and Will joined in, before blushing slightly and looking at the floor,
"I've been doing a lot of writing actually, new song." He responded,
"Ohh, I'm going to guess that it isn't about one of your 'brain dead' groupies." She hadn't meant for it to sound quite so bitter, after her conversation with Jane and actually allowing herself to get to know him, she'd really been trying to get past that, he chuckled sadly, still gazing at the floor before stopping and turning to her,
"I realised…I just…I wanted to apologise for my behaviour that night. I was in a shitty mood and I judged you without really looking at you. Anyone who spends more than five minutes in a room with you can tell that you're anything but void of personality and…I'm sorry. The truth is I find you to be one of the few girls at this school that I can stomach having a conversation with," he stammered mentally kicking himself for not making sense. He had just come so close to admitting to something he wasn't even sure of himself yet,
"Because I refuse to fall at your feet and beg for songs to be written about me?" She questioned, a twinkle in her caramel eyes and a smile licking at the corner of her dark lips,
"Let me play you this one, with the exception of my that one," he said indicating Chuck who was still in deep conversation with Jane, "You're probably the only one who I can trust to be brutally honest with me." He asked, and she smiled,
"I do have a tendency to be brutal…and…I'm not always right. I accept your apology and offer one of my own in return, I was a bitch and I couldn't get past my own scruples with guys like you."
"Guy like me?" he asked, eyebrows raised,
"You know," she said softly, avoiding his gaze, "the gorgeous, rock star type. Let's just say that I have a bad experience with guys like that." He tried not to jump for joy when she called him 'gorgeous' and instead just nodded in understanding as she glanced up at him with sad eyes and an unfamiliar unsurety too her, he smiled comfortingly and she smiled back. Everyone has baggage that affects the way that they are, he had his own too, they were silent, but unlike before it wasn't uncomfortable like it had always been before.
The bus came to a stop in the middle of a crowded street in central hollywood and the four got off,
"Chuck and I are going to get a coffee, you guys coming?" Jane asked, looking towards Will and Libby. Will opened his mouth to respond but Libby beat him too it,
"Oh, no, we're fine. You guys go have fun." It was out of her mouth before she even realised it. Chuck grinned at her in thanks, Jane raised her eyebrows at her in a mix between amusement and question and Will smirked slightly.
"Come on, William." She said, turning and starting walking in the opposite direction, "I have no idea where I'm going and I need to buy some more notebooks and, apparently now a dress for 'winter ball'." he smirked and followed her.
They walked together in companionable silence as Libby took in her surroundings,
"It's very pretty, I'll give you that." She said suddenly, "Nothing compared to London though." She said, "Far more 'glitz and glamour I suppose."
"No way! Don't get me wrong, I love London, but LA beats it hand down! It's just so much more cosmopolitan!" Libby turned to him with wide eyes,
"Nuh uh! London is far more cultured! England as a whole is, no offence, but the whole reason you guys even have a history and culture is because we created it."
"I quite agree, London is far more cultured, I said cosmopolitan, though. You do know what that means, right?"
"No, I was born yesterday Will." She retorted quickly, actually quite enjoying the little debate, "I see what you mean, Los Angeles is far more consumerist than London is," they had reached a park now, filled with small children running and laughing and people walking about the place.
"Oh my god! Ice cream!" Libby cried, completely forgetting about their debate and grabbing onto Will's hand, dragging him towards the ice cream van she'd just spotted. She'd let Chuck and Jane go off by themselves because she knew they wanted some time alone, that didn't mean she wasn't hungry as anything. By the time she realised what she'd done her tiny hands were securely linked to Will's and she tried not to shiver at the contact, noting just how perfect her tiny hand fit in his. When they got to the cue, she heard the rich sound that was William Darcy laughing, and she noticed that he made no attempt to let go of her hand.
"What do you want then?" he asked, and she quickly scanned the board,
"Double chocolate twist with a flake." She said, grinning and turning to him, he raised his eyebrows, "What?" she asked, furrowing her brow,
"Nothing," he replied, smirking slightly, "You just aren't like any of the other girls I know," their gaze locked as she looked up at him,
"Is that a good thing?" she wanted to asked, but she couldn't handle the intimacy levels given they were still holding hands, so instead, she just laughed good-naturedly,
"What, because I'm not having a baby scoop of low fat lemon sorbet?" She chuckled and he laughed then too.
They ordered their ice-creams and then Libby turned to him,
"So, Jane mentioned that there was a kickass adventure park here…?"
"You never cease to astonish me, Elizabeth," he said before grabbing her hand and tugging her in the direction of the adventure park,
Jane turned to Chuck and smiled warmly, as they both drank from take out coffee cups,
"So, when you said that he liked her…?" She asked smiling as they watched Libby hang upside down on the monkey bars as she poked her tongue out at Will who was sat on one of the swings,
"Give him time." Chuck laughed,
"They're a very attractive couple, I must say." Jane noted, and Chuck couldn't help but agree, "I wonder how long it will take before he actually asks her out."
"He's shy...I guess we'll have to see what happens at winter ball." Chuck said confidently, and Jane nodded, smiling happily for her friend, and trying not to think about when Chuck was going to ask her.