Author's Note: Okay, I haven't had a chance to proofread, so there are definitely some grammar errors, and I apologize in advance. Anyway, if you haven't noticed I like to have people in STEM careers because I want to be in a STEM career, so researching for these characters is also researching for me, so it's fun. Sorry, this is pretty much a week late, but I had three chemistry quizzes, a chemistry exam, and a history exam last week, so I devoted most of my time to studying. Anyway, please review! And thank you!

Chapter Three

Stephanie had only been working at the local Red Lobster for about a week, and yet somehow the worst day so far, was this day. A group of four people walked in the door, seeming like a double date situation, except only two people appeared happy to be there. A pretty blonde girl and an attractive guy who looked really good in his glasses glanced at each other in a giggly flirtatious way, blushing occasionally. The other two, however, looked downright miserable. One girl with frizzy brown curls who glared straight at a tall, handsome man with striking green eyes. The man looked extremely uncomfortable under the other girl's gaze, looking at her then quickly averting his eyes.

The greeter smiled as complaisantly as she could manage, and led them to a secluded booth. Stephanie walked up to the table, introduced herself, and got their drinks order. The man with glasses smiled politely as he told her, "just lemon water, thank you." She turned to the girl seated across from him, her blonde hair was braided and slung over her shoulder, "same for me." The girl sitting next to her had a mess of hair that looked was attempted be brushed, but defiant under her efforts. "just water, no lemon." She said taking her eyes off the man sitting across from her, smiled genuinely at Stephanie, who smiled back. The very handsome man was the last to order, and Stephanie looked at him expectantly. "coke zero, no ice" he said not looking at Stephanie but rather was reading his menu as if he was going to be tested on it later.

"Sorry, we only have coke or diet coke," Stephanie told him, attempting courtesy.

He looked very annoyed, looked up and got the girl across from him's gaze, and his face fell, "normal coke, then, still no ice" he said quietly, "thank you," he added.

Stephanie thought that she was paid too little to put up with all the bullshit that this job made her deal with. She sighed heavily as she made her way back to the kitchen to get their orders.

"I hope you like seafood, Charlie," Will said to his friend, "that's most of what they have..."

"Yes, well, it is a Red Lobster, Will" he replied nonchalantly, slightly annoyed to be taken away from his conversation with Jane.

"They have other things, too," Lizzie retorted, gesturing to the breadsticks, "since seafood is so vile to you," she had a sickeningly sweet smile, that bordered on sarcasm.

"I didn't say that I didn't like seafood," he tried to recover quickly, "I was just making an observation."

Lizzie scoffed audibly, and Jane turned abruptly to her sister and mouthed "be nice". Lizzie's face quickly fell, and she slumped forward.

Charlie watched the two sisters and decided to try to include Lizzie in their conversation to prevent her from verbally maiming his friend, "so, Lizzie, any luck finding a job?"

She brightened almost immediately, "Yes, well I haven't been hired yet, but I've had an interview at Caltech to assist in research on hydroponics and experimental agricultural practices, and I have an interview tomorrow with NOAA that one of my professors from Montana got me,"

"Sounds promising," Charlie said honestly, "What exactly are you hoping to do, anyway?"

"I mean, I wanted to save the planet," she said looking at her hands, "but I realize now that it's a bit cliché and not exactly possible; so I focused on sustainable agriculture and water management."

Will smiled to himself, and no one except Jane noticed.

"Lizzie has always been a tree-hugger," Jane smiled as she looked back at Charlie, "remember, when you camped out in that fir tree just so the construction wouldn't cut it down," Lizzie's face turned a bright shade of red, "she was only fifteen." Jane told Charlie and Will, who both laughed.

"They were going to put a bank there!" She tried to defend herself, "it was important to the ecosystem, and honestly, did Helena need another bank?"

Will and Charlie were both laughing, "how long were you up there?" Charlie asked her.

Lizzie turned even redder before Jane answered, "only two days before our father made her come down, the police got involved and everything,"

"I would've stayed up there longer," Lizzie told her sister in a weak voice.

"Yes, Lizzie, I believe you," Jane said lovingly, "but do you remember how long it took to get all the bits of fir needles out of your hair, because I remember three days of screaming as mom tried to brush it out."

"I'm tenderheaded..." Lizzie looked at her hands.

Will Darcy was intrigued. Being in the "old money" circle since he was an infant made him grow accustomed to meeting a certain type of person; usually sophisticated, educated, and never would camp out in trees to prevent someone from cutting it down. Lizzie Bennet was completely new, and he had never wanted to know so much about another person before knowing her. Beyond all that, he was confused by his own regard for this person who was pretty much a stranger. And he intimidated her, glaring often at him, for an unknown reason, and always contradicting everything he said. Lizzie Bennet, he decided, was completely different.

The conversation suffered from the lack of talking, and everyone sat around uncomfortably as they waited for the waitress to come back.

"So, Will," Charlie began timidly, "how's your sister doing?"

"Oh, Gigi," his face lit up with adoration, "she's a senior at Cornell now, pre-med, she's looking at Johns Hopkins or Northwestern for med school," he said, voice brimming with pride for his sister.

"Wow, what kind of doctor does she want to be?" Jane asked Will.

"She likes neuroscience the most, but she hasn't decided," he said, smiling to himself, he was proud of her, but ultimately, jealous of her freedom in choosing a career.

As he finished talking about her future at med school, Stephanie returned with their drinks and took their food order. The rest of the evening went smoothly for Charlie and Jane, both of which promised each other another date (both of them hoping it would be without their extraneous friend), and for Lizzie she decided that she hated Will Darcy more than when she had first met him. Maybe it was because he kept looking at her without expression that kept her on edge. Maybe it was because she clandestinely found him attractive, and needed extra motivation to keep her hatred fresh. Either way, she was determined never to see him again unless it was of the utmost importance (which to her, meant Jane). For Darcy, he vowed to himself that he would end his bud of attraction toward her, she was not the type of girl he was into, or the type of girl he was expected to be with. He looked at her one final time before Charlie and Will left, and felt all the potential energy of a relationship that could have been, and decided never to think of her again.

The next morning, Lizzie was making her usual cup of coffee as Jane sat on the kitchen counter, thumbing through her emails on her phone.

"Oh, I got an email from Caroline," she said in surprise.

"Who?" Lizzie asked, uninterested.

Jane looked up at her sister, who was staring longingly into her cup of coffee as she let it cool down.

"Charlie's sister"

Lizzie grumbled at this, "what did she say?"

Jane clicked on the email and skimmed the contents quickly before replying, "She's inviting me to dinner at her brother's place," Lizzie looked up questioningly, "Apparently, she is staying with Charlie and Will until her house is finished with renovations,"

Lizzie sipped the coffee cautiously, before scrunching up her face in pain as it burned her tongue.

"She'll probably want to go partying with you afterwards," Lizzie said as she recovered and her sister shook her head and laughed silently, "No, I'm serious, it'll be like ritzy clubs and stuff, but she is definitely the party type, so I recommend going prepared,"

"Well, she did plan it for next Saturday," Jane added, looking at her sister, "Do you think I should go?"

"Yeah, Janey," Lizzie sat the cup on the counter, "but you have to promise to bring back some of their delicious food, okay?"

Jane laughed again, "Okay, I promise," she paused for a moment, "Have you heard back from any of your interviews?"