I'm A Single Lady
The following week offered little distraction and all the irritation. Ricky thought it was necessary to come by each weekend to visit the Bennet family. Sometimes his family would accompany him. Other times it would just be himself. The first day he offered his words of thanks for his unexpected visit and hoped that he was not seen as a trespasser.
Majority of the family thought he was, but never voiced their opinions until after he had left.
"Why does he come here. No one likes him." Lydia huffed as she sat down in the living room next to her sister.
"I'll say. He probably doesn't have any friends." Catherine laughed and soon both girls were laughing.
"Well I think he is welcome to come by and visit. He offers company which we rarely get." Jane defended.
"Of course you'd think so Jane. You are never here when he's around so you don't know what he is like."
"I know very well what Ricky is like. I've known him since we were little."
"But do you know the current Ricky? All stuck up this and you're inferior that. How dare he try and look down on me. I'm taller than him you know." Lydia said flipping her hair for effect.
"Height isn't all that important Lydia." Lizzie mumbled into her pillow that she was clutching to her chest.
"Lizzie, I think you had it worse than any of us. For a while he just stuck to you like glue. I thought he would go with you into the bathroom for a minute there. Then he would've definitely been a perv."
"Lydia!" Jane reprimanded.
Lizzie started to zone her sisters out as best as she could. The day had been pretty exhausting.
Since break, the teachers had been assigning lots of homework. Leaving Jane hardly any time to spend with Charles. They would call and text, but that soon became far in between.
Earlier at the beginning, their mother practically had a heart attack when she heard that Jane's grades had slipped to a 'B'.
Their mother wasn't about them being studious, but for Jane who she always thought was perfect, it was another thing entirely.
Jane had to remain on the principal's list while finding some time in between all that to be in the school choir and math team.
Some days after school, Lizzie would find her older sister staring at her phone like she was wishing for a distraction.
'If you want to hear from him then why don't you just call?'
'Because I'm the one who said I needed time to focus on school and if I'm calling him then I'm clearly not focused.'
Lizzie looked over at her sister now. She looked the same as always, but something was off. Her light that had been evident when she was with Charles was gone. In replace was an exhausted teenager struggling to keep her emotions from being noticed.
Since Ricky's uninvited visits brought some distractions, Lizzie couldn't ask her sister anything. Especially since the boy seemed intent on vexing her.
Whenever they were seated he would would grab the seat next to her or the one opposite.
He never needed encouragement to talk and never needed but a small reply before continuing on.
Jane liked his visits because she could hear a little on how Charles was doing because Ricky thought it was necessary to keep up his information on Darcy which indirectly gave him some things on Charles who was his close friend and hung out with him a lot.
While Jane welcomed some of the information, Lizzie thought it was inconvenient on how she was to be reminded of one particular person.
She couldn't however ignore the stories all together. Especially when she heard that Ricky and his family were to go up and visit Will's aunt at a place called Rosings.
I wonder what that would be like? I'd pay some money to see a few exchanges between them. Lizzie laughed at the thought before correcting herself.
Had she really just said she wanted to see Will?
Figuring it was the fatigue she decided to think of something else.
Getting up, she excused herself from the room though it was unnecessary. The others were too busy to notice her slip out of the room.
Sitting on the front porch she held herself close as she shivered in the cool air. The sun was gone and fewer people were seen about. It will soon grow quiet as the worries of the day settle.
After watching the flickering of the street light for about twenty minutes and the occasional walker, she went back inside and to her room. Tomorrow at school she would finally address the elephant in the room. Also known as George. She'd been ignoring him since the party, but she knew she had to talk to him sooner or later.
"George, why doesn't Will like you?"
George rose an eyebrow in surprise at her bluntness as they sat down in their partner groups."
"It's good to see you too."
"George I'm serious."
"And why do you get the feeling he hates me? Does he know that I know you or something?"
"I may have mentioned to him that I knew you at a party we were both at."
"I never thought you were the party type." George chuckled as he looked into their microscope.
"You're avoiding my question."
"What did he say?"
"Huh?"
"What did he say about me?"
Lizzie shook her head, "I asked you first. Why doesn't Will like you?"
Pulling away from the equipment, he looked at Lizzie who was waiting for his answer.
"Everyone has their own opinion every situation. Each have their side of the story."
"And what is the story?"
George chuckled, "You sound like a news reporter."
"What happened back then?"
"A lot, but I was foolish back then and did many stupid things. I'm- I'm just afraid if I tell you then you'd hate me."
"Let me be the one to judge my response."
"Well, when we were both kids, Will and I, I was a big prankster. Whenever we got caught, he would always be the one to receive the bigger punishment. Probably because his parents were more strict than mine. Any way a couple years my father died of cancer. I had already lost my mother earlier when there were complications to my birth. I was all alone at fifteen. The Darcys had taken me in. Which I was really grateful for. I tried really hard to remain on their good side. Mr Darcy was always nice to me and was less strict with me than his son, which is why I think Will started to hate me. Even planned a small inheritance for me when I was old enough. Nothing official, but it was in words only. He didn't like me getting attention from his dad when he never could. So he started to find ways to get rid of me.
This last year his sister started to fall for me and tried to get my attention. Will just believes her side, the girl is a convincing liar, and he didn't like me by then. One day when I was hanging out at the mall with some friends Georgiana appeared out of no where and asked me if I would eat with her. I saw no harm in it so I said yes. Little did I know that this girl was capable of the thing she tried. She had the nerve to kiss me and when I refused to do anything with her she called her brother and blamed everything on me. This was the weekend after her own parents died in a car accident. Since Will had all the control then, and with the help of his aunt, they had me kicked out and I was on the streets. Will said that if he saw me again then he would have me arrested. He denied me any opportunity of any future financial help and said I gave it up.
So I moved here into the city. I came here to finish high school and live with some friends. I'm a free man at eighteen, but will be completely free to do whatever I want when I graduate and turn nineteen."
Lizzie looked down at their assignment paper. There was a lot of information to absorb. A lot of accusations being thrown at another.
"Can I ask you something?"
"What?"
"Why did you say that I wouldn't like you after telling me what happened?"
"Because I like you and I thought that if I told you what happened between me and our mutual friend then you wouldn't like me any more."
"First of all. Will and I aren't friends. I can barely stand the guy."
George turned his head away, hiding his face while Lizzie continued to think over what he said while looking at the paper.
"But while I can't stand him, I won't dismiss his side of the story."
"
George's smile faltered, "And did he tell his side of the story?"
"No."
"That's just like him. He feels that talking about his personal life to others is beneath them. That's why he hardly has any friends. He doesn't open up to anyone. He enjoys being by himself, and thinks other people are just a nuisance. If he hasn't done it already. You will see his true nature. He's controlling and a little bipolar. One minute he's nice and agreeable, next thing you know he is stabbing you in the back and causing destruction."
"From what you told me about your history together, you gave me the impression that you wanted to still be friends with him."
"Friends? With that control freak. No thank you. I've moved on and have made friends ten times his worth." and with a sheepish look he added, "Like with you."
Lizzie tried to act unaffected by his words, but it was hard when he was staring at her.
"Maybe we should start our assignment before we run out of time." she suggested and being fiddling around with the objects on the lab table.
After school, the Bennet girls agreed that they would all go to get ice cream and hang out with some friends before going home for dinner. They were just about to leave when the doorbell rang. None of the girls moved in fear that it was a certain someone that they were all trying to avoid.
Finally after the third ring, Jane gave a sigh and answered it.
Standing on the porch was Ricky in all his awkwardness. He was still dressed in his school's uniform and was carrying his backpack with him.
"Ricky, I didn't know you were coming over today. We were just about to head out so now's not a good time."
What's with the backpack? Is he trying to stay over for the night? The girls all gave questioning looks, but didn't say anything, leaving it for Jane to try and shoo the boy away.
"Well might I join you all on your outing. Girls should be accompanied especially when they go out in such a dangerous neighborhood."
"It really isn't necessary." Lydia called loudly from behind, and more quietly she added, "We live in the twenty-first century. Girls can take care of themselves you know. Probably do a better job than you ever could."
Catherine giggled at her sister's comment and Mary shook her head.
Even though Mary found Ricky to be annoying because she found his pious behavior irritating, she wasn't going to go and express her opinion in front of him. No, she believed that if you didn't have anything good to say then keep it yourself...unless it was about a Doctor Who hater. That was the only exception.
"Oh but I insist." Ricky pushed on.
"Just let him so we can go already. We need to meet up with the others before dinner and I don't want to stand here listening to him argue." Lizzie whispered into Jane's ear before pushing past Ricky to get outside. The younger girls followed, leaving Jane with Ricky.
"Well ok then. We're headed to meet some friends at the ice cream parlor a few blocks away."
"How delightful."
"Just shoot me now." mumbled Lydia and Catherine together.
They walked along in groups of two.
Lydia and Catherine walked in the front with Mary and Jane following, leaving Lizzie in the back with Ricky who was having trouble keeping up.
He had no extra energy to talk as he struggled to level his breathing. Lizzie kept her smile in check as he huffed a little ways behind her.
Yes they could have taken a car, but they wouldn't have all fit in one car and this also prevented Ricky from trying to talk.
When he suggested driving instead she quickly pointed out that finding parking would've been hard and more troublesome to find a place near the parlor.
They entered the cold shop and saw their friends already seated in the corner.
Lydia and Catherine went to sit with the boys in one booth while Lizzie sat with Charlotte and Jane.
To her dismay, but not to her surprise, Ricky sat in their booth. He wasn't recovered enough to actually speak, but prevented the girls from talking about what they wanted to. The relationship between George and Will.
As if thinking his name, the former appeared at the doorway. Their eyes met and he walked up to their section.
"Lizzie, what a surprise to see you here."
"Hey George. What are the odds, right."
George gave a toothy grin and nodded to Jane and Charlotte.
Ricky straightened up in his seat, "I'm hardly surprised to see you here Wickham."
Everyone looked at Ricky and then at George. Even George was surprised.
"Sorry, but do I know you?"
"I'm a childhood friend of the Bennet girls."
I really wouldn't call you a friend in any situation. Lizzie turned her head to try and keep her expression in check.
"And how do you even know who I am? I've never meet you before."
"I know you through the Darcys."
George frowned and looked down on the other boy who was still sitting.
"You think you know a person because of what someone else said. You must be an idiot or extremely gullible. Big deal that you know the Darcys. I knew them long before you. As for m being here, this is my city. What are you doing here is the real question."
"I'm spending time with my childhood friends."
"They aren't some charity case that you need to come down from your little high horse to check to see if they are still lower than you. Go home. Can't you see no one wants you around."
Ricky's expression grew tight. It looked like he was fighting an emotional battle.
No one spoke. It was too awkward yet something had to be said, but what exactly and to whom.
It was Lizzie who finally spoke up. Even though she didn't like Ricky, George was pretty rude.
"George I think that was really rude and I think you need to leave."
Ricky puffed up his chest and looked confidently to George.
George shook his head, "Whatever."
Turning, he walked back out the door and soon the tension disappeared and everyone began talking again.
"Just as rude as described." Ricky spoke confidently now that his opponent was gone.
None of the girls gave any comment but decided to get in line to order.
Once they were seated again, Ricky spoke only to Lizzie who was already regretting saying anything.
The next day after school Lizzie was greeted energetically by the familiar voice of Ricky. With a sigh she forced a polite smile and said hello.
"Lizzie, for a while now I've been thinking about our relationship. I know you've been probably waiting for me to make it official by asking you out properly, but I had to make sure that you would be a loyal girlfriend and yesterday you proved that to me. I know that you are probably upset that I've been testing our relationship, but Mrs deBourge says that no relationship will thrive without trust."
"Huh?" Lizzie was still trying to grasp the first part of what he'd been saying.
"With our relationship and my family connections, your family won't need for anything and you can move out of that ghetto neighborhood. No rose should grow in a trash compound."
"Excuse me."
"I can see that you are transferred to a good school with a better reputation. Granted you aren't smart enough to attend my school, but rest assured I'll make sure you receive nothing but the best."
"Hold on for a second! Geez."
Ricky smiled brightly as he waited for her to speak. She really didn't want to do this but she had no other choice.
"Ricky, I never thought that we were dating and I never wished it. I'm happy where I am even if it is too ghetto for you. Yesterday, you just misunderstood what I was doing-"
"That's impossible-"
"Don't cut me off." Lizzie said sharply and Ricky closed his mouth, "What I did yesterday was only because I wanted to stop from you guys making a scene that would get us kicked out. Nothing more. I'm not looking for a relationship and I'm most certainly not looking for one with you."
Ricky frowned, his face reddening. He didn't say anything, but just walked back to his car and drove off.
Lizzie gave a sigh as she closed her eyes and counted in her head to calm herself down.
Date Ricky? That was beyond disgusting. It was unimaginable. Dating in general wasn't on her mind currently, and she definitely wasn't going to date an old childhood friend who she couldn't stand.
She need to talk to someone. She needed Jane.
Running inside the house, Lizzie found Jane curled up on her bed muffling her tears behind a pillow.
Lizzie forgot about Ricky and ran over to her sister's side.
"Jane, what's wrong?"
"Charles." Jane said in between tears, "He says he doesn't want to see me anymore."
A/N: My apologies on the slow uploads. But hey I found my first job!
So I'm trying something a little different with some of the characters. George isn't trying to be all nice and is more of a bad boy. In the original story this would've been the part where Darcy and Bingley come on their horses and see the Bennets talking to Wickham for the first time. Let's see how having the party early, introducing Wickham earlier and he and Collins meeting later changes things. I really don't like that I still paired Charlotte with Collins in Darcy's POV, seeing how she doesn't really like him all that much in Lizzie's POV. How should I swing it? Love reading your comments. Please review.
