Pride and Prejudice, the High School Version.

Chapter 9

Her stay at the beach house wasn't as bad as she had initially thought it was going to be. Jane was recovering very fast, Liz guessed they could be home on the weekend and neither parent will be non the wiser. She dropped in at home in the morning to talk to her dad and pick up her sisters and sometimes in the evening just so her dad wouldn't start asking too many questions.

At the beach house, Liz was mostly left in peace. Charlie and Jane lived in their own bubble and so did Louise and Jake, although sometimes, Liz felt like Jake was in the bubble alone. Bill only appeared for meal times before disappearing to his room and Carol was hanging out with the popular girls at school and often arrived late at the house.

On Friday, in honor of Jane making a full recovery, Charlie ordered pizza and everyone gathered in the living room that night to celebrate. Liz was having a great time as she hummed to the music while completing her homework. She knew she won't have time to complete it during the weekend as the store will be busy, owing to the arrival of the foreign exchange students.

"Liz, what are you doing? Would you like a drink?" Jake offered while holding out a glass of champagne to her.

Liz smiled at him, "Thank you but I don't drink."

"Really?" Carol asked with a sickeningly sweet smile, "I didn't know you were a two goody shoes who only cared about books."

"That's an unfair and untrue assessment of my character. I like to do the right thing and I care about a lot of things, not just my books."

"Then why are you reading on a Friday night?"

"Because I need to complete my homework if I am to get any chance of going to college."

Carol glanced at her books, "Advanced Physics? Yuck. Why would you willingly take that class?"

"Liz wants to study Mechanical Engineering at MIT," Jane said proudly.

That caught the attention of everyone in the room, including Bill who gave her an unreadable look.

"She's really good at it too. She fixed the car she drives from an old piece of junk and made it as good as new."

Liz blushed and fixed her eyes on her books.

"Well, I have no doubt that she will make a terrific engineer," Charlie said.

When everyone was back to doing their own thing, Bill rose up from his spot on the couch and came to sit at the table with Liz.

"So, Mechanical Engineering huh? I must admit, you are full of surprises."

"Why is it a surprise? Because I am a girl?" Liz asked defiantly.

"No. Not at all. It's just that the way I saw you debate points in the Literature class, I thought you would be more of a political science person."

"That was not political. You have to admit that Emma is Jane Austen's best book. It's the only one where the main character is a woman with her own means and is not grovelling around looking for a rich man to marry her."

"But she still gets married to a rich man doesn't she? So what's the point if at the end of the day, it's the men calling the shots?"

"She gets the man to move into her house, at least she is calling some shots, if not all."

"You think by marrying a man sixteen years her senior, she is calling the shots?"

"He is her equal intellectually as well as socially, so yes, I think she is calling some shots, not the shots."

"So you are a believer that people should date within their social circle?"

"During Jane Austen's time, yes."

"What about now?"

Liz glanced at Charlie and Jane who were speaking animatedly about something. Charlie leaned in to kiss her nose and Jane giggled.

"I don't think social status should matter so much anymore. Unfortunately, it still does."

He nodded, "Yes. Unfortunately it does."

Carol chose that moment to interrupt them when she declared her seat was too uncomfortable and tried to sit in Bill's lap. He responded by telling her she was too heavy, which led to an argument when she accused him of calling her fat.

"I didn't say you were fat, I just said you are heavy."

"But you can't be heavy and not be fat, can you?"

"Actually weight is determined by borne density and..."

"Nope," Liz said popping the p as she pushed her books into her backpack. "If he says you are heavy, chances are, you are probably fat too."

Carol's mood shifted from playful to anger in a second, "Are you calling me fat?"

Liz stood up and winked at Bill, "Nope. I am not calling you fat. I am just saying, from a the point of view of someone who takes an advanced Physics class, that heavy things tend to be fat too."

With her last statement delivered, she walked upstairs to spent what she hoped was her last night at the beach house. She knew making an enemy out of Carol Bingley wasn't the wisest thing, but she couldn't help herself, the girl just rubbed her the wrong way.