Prom and Prejudice

"I understand. I don't like being in the same room with him, either."

Charlotte suddenly exited our room. "Lizzie ... Jane needs you."

"Listen, can I call you back?"

"You better."

I ran back into our room and found Jane curled up on her bed.

"Jane, what's wrong? You know nobody will be talking about that stupid video in a week."

"No, it's not that." She handed me her phone. There was a text from Charles.

Can't make it tonight. Things are hectic. I'll be in touch.

"Oh." I didn't know what to say. It seemed very unlike Charles to break off a date, and to be so terse in doing it. He was completely smitten with Jane. He'd spent most of his party at her side and doted on her. "I'm sure it's nothing. Let's go grab di

As Jane and Charlotte got ready, I quickly called Wick back and explained the situation. I was not at all surprised when he said he completely understood. When they were set, I hung up and together we headed down the long staircase toward the dining hall.

Caroline was heading out the main entrance door with Cat. When Caroline saw us, she turned to Cat and said loudly, "I'm so glad you're coming out tonight with us. I really think you and Charles will hit it off." Jane stopped dead in her tracks. Caroline continued, "You know how important it is to protect your family name. When you're a Bingley, like a de Bourgh, you have to be careful about the people you associate with. I would think that most Longbourn girls would know that well." She glanced toward us. "Or at least the ones who have a reputation worth preserving."

Cat nodded absently as Caroline walked out. Cat followed obediently behind her.

"Jane ..."

The color rushed out of Jane's face. "So that's it. I've been replaced."

"That's ridiculous. I'm sure there's an explanation for --"

Jane turned around and headed back upstairs. "I'm not hungry."

"Jane!" I rushed after her. "Anybody who has ever seen you two together knows that Charles is crazy about you. Please, if Darcy looked at Caroline with even half the affection that Charles looks at you, she'd be walking around campus with her prom dress on."

Jane smiled. "Really?"

"Are you kidding me? There's no way that he's going to be able to stay away from you."

Fifteen

I'D BEEN WRONG ABOUT A LOT OF THINGS IN MY LIFE. BUT one thing that I would have bet my life savings on (as paltry as the sum may have been) was that Charles would be back to pursuing Jane in a matter of days.

But I was wrong. Dead wrong.

Two weeks passed, and nothing. It was heartbreaking to watch Jane stare at her cell phone, wishing it to ring. She wasn't the only one confused by Charles dropping off the face of the earth. It didn't make sense.

And to add to the list of boys with confusing behaviors, Colin refused to admit that he'd bought me the coat, and had dropped off the face of the earth as well. Or at least he'd stopped visiting me at the Junction.

And then there was Wick. Wick would visit me occasionally at work and flirt (at least I thought he was flirting), but he hadn't asked me out on another date.

What made it even worse was that Valentine's Day was approaching. And if there was anything more a

It was bad enough to see the red balloons and heart signs sprouting up in town and infiltrating campus. I was trying to shield Jane from all the puppy love as much as possible. That night, I even volunteered to run to the dining hall to grab us di

"Oh, hi." She seemed u

As we walked down the staircase, I saw Colin waiting in the entrance hall. "Oh, no. What does he want? Can he not take a hint?"

"Lizzie." Charlotte slowed down. "He's here for me."

"Oh." I tried to not sound so shocked.

"I didn't know when to tell you, but I'm going to prom with Colin."

I laughed. "Are you joking?"

Charlotte's face fell. "No, I'm not. Are you shocked that he could recover from your rejection?"

"No, not at all." I didn't know which one of us should have been more offended -- her for my thinking she was second to me, or me for Charlotte's thinking I'd be so egotistical. "I know you really want to go to prom, and I couldn't be happier for you. Really."

Charlotte smiled weakly. "I don't blame you for being surprised, but I'm not a romantic, Lizzie. I'm practical. I want to go to prom, and he asked."

"I'm sure you are going to have a great time. I can't wait to see your dress."

"Thanks. Well, I better ..."

"Of course, have a great night."

I watched Charlotte as she ran down to greet Colin, who had a heart-shaped box of chocolates hidden behind his back. They both seemed happy, albeit a little awkward with each other. Colin tried to go in for a double kiss on the cheek, but ended up kissing Charlotte's ear.

I went to the dining hall, collecting food to take back to the room. Since the "Lydia Incident" (Lydia, of course, wasn't embarrassed about the video; she was happy that people knew who she was), both Jane and I had been going through the motions.

The upcoming long weekend for Presidents' Day was a welcome respite. Most of the campus would be empty. While my parents were hoping I would come visit, I wanted to get my work done and knew the Java Junction would be slow, so it would be a great way for me to earn money and get some reading done.

Plus, Mrs. Gardiner had a surprise for me that Friday during my piano lesson.

"I think it is time we had a little chat about the spring recital," she said. She had a mischievous grin on her face, which I knew meant trouble.

I nodded. "I assumed I'd be playing the Rachmaninoff." We'd been working on the eighteenth variation of Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.

"Yes, I think you should play it -- but the whole thing, with the orchestra. You'd be the featured performer."

I was stu

Mrs. Gardiner got up from her chair beside the piano in the music suite. "You aren't going to be able to do it if you don't think you can do it. You can! And you will!"

This was why I was at Longbourn, to challenge myself. She was right. I needed to believe in myself.

"Elizabeth, I've never had a student as gifted as you. I want your performance to be the wonderful coda of the year."

"Okay." I flipped through the entire piece, studying the runs. "I can do this."

She clapped her hands together. "Excellent! That's the spirit I was looking for. I was getting worried about you."

"Why were you worried about me?"

Mrs. Gardiner gave me a weak smile. "You just haven't seemed like yourself the last couple of days. I know you have had some difficulty adjusting, but you seemed to finally get your stride."

"Oh," I replied. I couldn't think of anything else to say. I'd always tried to leave whatever was going on in my personal life behind during my lessons -- but clearly I hadn't done the best job of it.