Gina Wickham couldn't have timed her break-in, and subsequent destruction, of the Bingley summer house better. Meriton Charter's prom was in a week. Finals began the following Monday. All classes were doubling down on review as those dreaded tests approached. And so Darcy didn't have to pay much attention the next day at school. Which helped, because she was barely conscious, to begin with.
Darcy hadn't been aware of laying down in her own bed the night before but she had been keenly aware of her alarm going off five minutes later. She let Charlie drive to school and she spent her classes trying to keep her eyes open. Or at least, make it seem like her eyes were open.
Darcy didn't need to review. Everything her classmates were reviewing Darcy had already reviewed and reviewed again during her long hours of free period.
Darcy only really became aware of the world around her when an office aide interrupted her economics class twenty minutes before the bell was due to ring for lunch and summoned Darcy to the office. Slip in hand, avoiding her economics teacher's death glare, Darcy grabbed her things and headed for the office.
The hallways were empty, her shoes echoing off the cool tile floors underfoot. And then suddenly, there was the sound of someone else was also making the trek to the office.
Eli and Darcy met at the glass doors leading into the office and Darcy entered first, Eli holding the door open for her.
Darcy paused in front of the wall of college slips, reading out every corner of the country Meriton's graduating class was headed. Her name wasn't going up there. And that thought made her smile.
Principal Longbourne was reading over a report and didn't bother to look up when he called out "Come in" to Eli's tentative knock on his door.
He greeted them with a "Miss Williams, Mr. Bennett, take a seat" while still perusing whatever fascinating information his paper in hand held. Eli and Darcy shared a glance after they had been sitting for a long drawn-out moment of silence. Longbourne cleared his throat and then finally set the papers aside.
"Thank you for coming. Let's make this short, shall we? No fighting words this time, if that's alright with you, Mr. Bennett."
Eli didn't respond and so forced Principal Longbourne to get to the point.
"I wanted to give the two of you an update on the status of your salutatorian positions. The two of you are still neck and neck and it seems it comes down to your term papers due in Miss Austin's literature class that will decide who will take the spot. Miss Austin has made it very clear-"
"I would like to remove my name from consideration for the position, Principal. If you don't mind."
Longbourne's small beady eyes stared at her from behind his even smaller round glasses. Darcy's declaration had stunned him into silence. She could even feel that Eli had temporarily stopped breathing.
"You wish to remove, your name...." Principal Longbourne tested each word as they came out.
"From consideration," Darcy finished for him.
"But, I, you, I don't... I don't understand. You have earned the right just as much as Mr. Bennett. Your grades as excellent."
"Thank you, sir. But Eli was right. The position is not mine to have."
"Miss Williams, is this some kind of joke?"
Longbourne was turning slightly red in the face. Darcy shook her head but it did nothing to help Longbourne's confusion.
"Colleges care about this kind of-"
"What colleges think about the salutatorianship has no effect on me. But it does for Eli. Besides, he's been here longer. He's grown up with these students. This is his community. I've merely had the pleasure of being a small part of it for a very short period of time."
"Darcy, you don't have to-"
"I want to."
Darcy met Eli's eyes and stared hard, hoping he could read everything she couldn't say in her gaze. She wanted to do this. For him. For what he had come to mean to her.
"Well, then, Mr. Bennett, the honor is all yours."
Longbourne relayed the news through a sigh. Eli nodded and reached out to shake Longbourne's hand, the gesture the most enthusiasm the principal could muster at the moment.
"Mr. Bennett, you are excused. Miss Williams, I would like a word with you about Miss Wickham."
"He can stay."
Darcy reached out for Eli's hand as he leaned over to grab his backpack. He paused then settled back into his chair. Longbourne glanced between the two of them, huffed another sigh, and turned his beady eyes to Darcy.
"Due to our honor code here at Meriton, Miss Wickham has been expelled due to her actions last night at your family home. She will be transferred to the public high school one town over where she will be finishing her senior year, most likely from home, due to her current legal situation. I ask you not to repeat this information, I am merely alerting you of it due to your involvement in the situation."
"Thank you, Principal Longbourne," Darcy said.
Longbourne nodded. "You both may go now. Congratulations again, Mr. Bennett."
Darcy and Eli slipped back out of the office, the bell ringing right as they entered the main hallway. A squeal rose up to match the pitch of the bell and Eli and Darcy both paused to search out the source.
Down the hall, Charlie was jumping up and down, her container of cookies hanging on for dear life, her poster board having fallen to the ground, her balloons slowly ascending to the ceiling. She wrapped her arms around Jamie and her squeals were muffled by their embrace as students poured out of their classes to head to lunch.
Darcy looked from Charlie to Eli, meeting his eyes for a long moment. She wondered if he was remembering the night she had asked him to prom just as her own memories were flashing in her mind. She gave him a small smile, a weak attempt to cover up the blush rising to her cheeks, and turned away.
She didn't make it very far as Eli reached out for her hand and kept her from leaving. He spoke while she looked down at her hand in his. It took her a minute to realize he had asked her a question, just not the one she had hoped.
"My family's have a barbecue tomorrow. Will you come?"
Darcy looked up. Eli's eyes were wide and he had stopped breathing again. Darcy nodded. Eli's chest relaxed and a smile slid across his face.
*
Darcy was grateful for something to do that Saturday and worrying over what to wear to the Bennett's barbecue was better than stressing out over how her conversation with her parents about her college plans was going to go the next day.
Henry had talked about her decision to skip college as if it was a done deal the night before over dinner. His manner made it seem like their conversation was going to be simply working out the logistics of Darcy's plan rather than discussing the possibilities for Darcy's future.
Lois has to remind him that things were not yet decided. Fifteen minutes later, Lois told Darcy all about her exchange with Darcy's father and his plans to attend her graduation. During this share of information, Lois also exclaimed that it would be the perfect place to tell Marco the good news about Darcy's decision.
Deciding which pair of tennis shoes to wear was easier than trying to decipher exactly where her parents were at with her decision to work full time at the gallery and so Darcy spent all Saturday, running from her room to Charlie's and then back again, pulling her hair out with options.
"It's a family event, Darcy. That means casual. Leave your nice pair of tennis shoes and wear your old ones. They'll make you seen more chill than you actually are."
Darcy was grateful for Charlie's insight and perspective, going as far as to ignore her side comments about Darcy's personality.
It was as if she were walking into Meriton on the first day of school all over again. She followed Charlie's lead, leaving her car parked along the curb of a quiet suburban neighborhood not far from the heart of town, and heading towards a gate at the end of the long one-story house that led to the backyard.
The party was in full swing when Darcy and Charlie arrived. It seemed when Eli said 'family barbecue' he meant friends, family, and neighbors as kids of all ages were racing around the large back yard, and groups of grown-ups stood around chatting.
It was easy to spot Mrs. Bennett. She was short, round, with Eli's beautiful dark hair and eyes, her voice booming as she called out instructions to her group of helpers. Darcy had to guess it was Mr. Bennett standing behind the grill, an apron tied loosely around his tall frame, his glasses shining in the late afternoon. He smiled watching his wife race back and forth, inside then outside, always with something in her hand and a command on her lips.
Charlie spotted Jamie playing with his little brothers and left Darcy to fend for herself. While looking for Eli, she spotted Kit trailing behind his mother, clearly against his will, carrying load upon load of food out to the picnic tables lining the patio that met the sliding glass doors leading into the kitchen. Watching the two of them, Darcy realized that most of Mrs. Bennett's commands were aimed at Kit, and among them were scoldings in fast Spanish that Darcy couldn't understand but she had a feeling what they were about by the look on Kit's face.
Kit didn't need to get arrested for breaking into Darcy's house, his mother's reaction was punishment enough.
Darcy spotted Eli across the lawn and smiled. He spotted her too and started trying to untangle himself from the hoard of little kids that were clinging to his tall legs. Darcy left her sanctuary of the outskirts of the crowd to move toward him. It took Eli a few seconds to regain control of his feet and then he walked over to meet her.
"You have a lot of siblings," Darcy said, looking past Eli to the gaggle of small children calling after her to come back.
"Not all of them are mine but most of them," Eli said with a laugh.
"How many siblings do you have total?"
"Six. But you can meet them later. I want to show you something."
Eli didn't give Darcy a second to react. He grabbed her hand and led her away from the center of activity.
It wasn't until they were almost upon it that Darcy spotted a small yellow structure in the corner of the yard. It was the size of the shed but it was too nice to bear such a name. Eli let go of Darcy's hand but only to reach into his pocket and pull out a key.
"It's to keep my younger siblings out," Eli explained. With a smooth click and then a small tug on the double doors, Eli opened up and let Darcy in.
He stood back while she entered. It wasn't a shed, she had been right about that. The walls were too thick, the temperature too regulated. She had a feeling what it was and when Eli leaned over to turn on the only light, Darcy's suspicions were confirmed.
The red bulb in the lighting fixture shed a low glow over everything in sight. Darcy moved with slow, deliberate steps as she approached the long workbench that took up most of the space. She recognized the equipment. Her dad had a similar setup. Her fingers hovered over the familiar trays and racks.
She had to duck to avoid the string strung from one end of the room to the other, small clothesline clips empty and waiting. She stopped in front of the left side wall, her eyes roving over the wealth of images.
Eli hadn't moved from the entryway. He was leaning against the door frame, watching her as she moved. He could hear when she spotted the picture because her breath caught.
It was her. Right there in the middle. And she was scowling. Darcy could see behind the sunglasses covering her eyes. She didn't need the deep frown on her face to tell her her eyes brows would have been pulled low and her eyes squinting.
Her head was tilted back, looking up at the structure in front of her. Darcy knew what day it was when this photo of her was taken. The smart pantsuit told her that. Charlie would be just out of frame. Eli had captured the moment just as Charlie had finally headed into their new school and Darcy had taken one last look at the place she would have to graduate from.
"I got a call from your aunt."
He spoke low, to respect the stillness of the darkroom and so as not to startle Darcy out of her contemplation of the photos he had taken of her, the one from her first day of school only the first of many.
At Darcy's look of confusion, Eli clarified.
"Your great aunt. She called me. About the scholarship fund."
"Oh. Yeah? What did she say?"
Eli stood up straight and slowly moved inside, closing the space between them.
"I'm one of the finalists for the scholarship. It's down to me and Missy Collins, apparently."
Darcy couldn't help the laugh that escaped her mouth.
"Figures."
Eli smiled but it faded into a concentrated frown too soon.
"Apparently there's a clause in the scholarship agreement."
Darcy's heart stopped. Her stomach dropped. Her vision started to narrow.
She had forgotten about the clause. She should have remembered. How had she had forgotten? That one clause had kept Gina from getting a hold on her family's money only a year ago. It was what protected the scholarship foundation from being manipulated. It was extremely important. And Darcy had completely forgotten.
"Yeah," she finally managed to utter. "There is."
She didn't need it explained but Eli needed to say it.
"It says that anyone related to the family, by blood or by relationship, is not eligible for the scholarship."
"No," Darcy swallowed hard. "They're not."
She had given up her study of Eli's photographs and instead focused on inspecting the antique wood flooring. Eli moved even closer. The darkroom wasn't that big. With both of them inside, there was little room to breathe.
"Your aunt asked me if I was in a relationship with you. She had seen the two of us talking at her dinner."
"What did you say?"
Darcy wasn't sure how she had the breath to speak.
"I told her that I was not."
"Oh. Of course. Yeah. That makes sense."
Eli took a long pause before speaking again and Darcy was starting to wonder whether or not she would be able to stay upright much longer or if she was going to faint.
"Because I'm a finalist for the fund, your aunt asked me to promise that I would never be in a relationship with you."
"What did you say?"
Darcy's words were barely a whisper.
"I told her that was a promise I couldn't make."
Suddenly Darcy was standing at the top of a mountain, fresh air coming at her from all sides, her lung expanding as if for the first time. She looked up and found Eli smiling at her.
"I'm so sorry, Darcy. For everything. All the horrible things I said, believing Gina, the way I've treated you..."
Eli's eyes dropped to the ground. Darcy waited for them to meet hers again.
"Please. Forgive me."
Darcy smiled and it spread to Eli.
"I do. You weren't completely wrong about everything. You were right about some things. But for the things you were wrong about, I forgive you. Of course, I do."
They stood with little air between them. Eli didn't have to raise his voice above a whisper for his next words to be heard.
"Ask me again, Darcy."
He didn't have to prompt her twice. He didn't even need to tell her what question to ask. She knew. The question had been popping up in her head ever since she had watched Charlie ask Jamie.
"Eli, will you go to prom with me.
"Darcy, I'd love to."
Just as they leaned in towards each other, Mrs. Bennett's booming voice could be heard from across the lawn, calling everyone to dinner.
Darcy followed Eli to meet his family, her hand held tightly in his, both of them smiling as if they had eaten the sun.
A/N:
Ahhhh!!! It's too cute I can't look!!!!
Darcy and Eli are literally 😍😍. Totes adorbs.
Also! Shout out to that quick cameo of Mr and Mrs Bennet!! Had to sneak them in somewhere.