Pride & Pre-Med Curriculum

Chapter 6

"Lizzy, I won't tell you again.  Put that book down and let's go!" 

"But Jane, the volleyball game doesn't start for another hour and a half.  Can't I just meet you there?  Go ahead without me.  I know you need to be there soon; I don't want to hold you up."

"Elizabeth Bennet.  Who do you think you are talking to?  This is your sister and I know you too well to believe that.  You will either blow me off or conveniently loose track of time.  You have been studying for over an hour since you got home.  You need a break."  Jane frowned, checking her watch.  "You are going to make me late if we do not leave right now, though.  Come on." 

Lizzy groaned, setting aside her text and grabbing a light jacket.  She checked her reflection in the mirror by the door.  Her messy updo was passable, she didn't want to take the time to style her hair.  She noticed how pale her features were, making her dark hair contrast more than usual.  Her dark brows looked like an artist's dark brush strokes on a pristine white canvas.  She idly wondered if she should go to a tanning booth and lend some color back to her pale complexion.  But that would mean taking time away from her studies.  She sighed, thinking she would just have to remain pale.  Maybe on winter break . . .  

Her musing was interrupted when Jane, already dressed in warm ups and her volleyball uniform underneath, reached through the door and grabbed her arm, yanking her into motion.

******

She was fuming.  Good grief, she wished she had braved Jane's wrath and brought her book.  So what if her sister had expressly forbid it?  She was a very forgiving sister.  Lizzy sat in a corner of the gym, watching Jane and several of her team mates warm up, doing stretches and pre-game drills with the rest of the team. 

She had already been to the concession stand and bought two large popcorns and now she sat, utterly bored, throwing the kernels at a nearby trash can.  She remembered why she had not pursued basketball as she watched most of the buttery morsels bounce off onto the floor.    

The gym started to slowly fill, the noise of the crowd building to a steady drone.  People rushed past and many people she knew greeted her, their surprise evident at finding her in this unlikely setting.  Still, her melancholy was plain because just before the game started, the gym was near capacity and still there remained a buffer of empty seats surrounding her.  She continued to listlessly throw popcorn, trying to make the wastebasket and failing more often than not. 

"That's littering, you know."  A haughty voice chastised her. 

Her eyes widened involuntarily, looking up into Will's unforgiving frown of disapproval. 

"Not to mention a waste of perfectly good popcorn!" Charlie Bingley interjected.  He leaped over the barrier to land beside Lizzy with a stumble and a flop.  And promptly grabbed the remains of her popcorn from her grasp, starting to eat with gusto.  "You don't mind if we sit here, do you?  We don't know anyone else here but you."

"Actually-"

"Thanks, Lizzy.  You know, I practically had to drag Darcy here, kicking and screaming." He indicated his tactiturn friend, still on the courtside of the barrier separating the seating from the court.  "He just doesn't know how to relax and kick back."  He laughed and Will frowned even more deeply.  

"I do not scream and if I had kicked you, you would be walking with crutches, Charlie."  He gracefully leaped the barrier in one smooth motion, landing neatly beside his more jovial companion.  He settled himself stiffly, staring straight ahead.   

Even though Elizabeth had been enjoying her private pout, she was soon coaxed into a better mood, laughing and giggling at Charlie's antics.  He was quite entertaining making fun of the team, the officials and even himself.    Even when Will spoke in quipped, abreviated responses, she did not notice the lack of conversation, she was so caught up with the other man's humorous stories.  He kept up a constant chatter, talking enough for the three of them and cheered loudly for Jane and her teammates.