First Impressions: A Modern Pride and Prejudice Adaptation

Chapter 25

The morning dawned bright, bringing more snow and a pounding headache. Liz rolled over in the bed, catching herself with a lurch. So used to a single at home and in her dorm, she had almost forgotten she was sleeping in a double. With a sigh, she tried to drop her arm to the mattress but, with half her vision obscured by pillows, she clipped her fingers on the sharp corner of the nightstand.

She groaned and buried her face in the pillows.

Then she gasped deeply and sat bolt upright.

In her groggy haze she almost forgot—she was seething mad at Fitzwilliam Darcy and finally had a concrete reason for it: He was at fault for utterly destroying her sister's happiness. She sat up too fast, though, and her head started to spin. She put it down and it helped her feel a little less sick. Then she pulled the covers over her head for good measure.

She let her head pound in the semi-darkness for a few moments before she loosed her mind to think again. Darcy, really, truly, behind Chip's sudden disappearance over the summer... Suspicions aside, the confirmation had floored her. She had supposed his dislike to be general, not so pointed. Then again, how could anyone hold such a dislike, pointed or not, against her sister?

Jane, the sweetest, best tempered, most angelic human she had yet to meet! The separation of Jane and Chip was not a mark against Jane, or anything she had ever or was yet to do, but entirely against the boys involved. Chip for letting himself be so thoroughly blinded by the unkindness of his friend and Darcy for... Everything. For orchestrating the whole plot, for lying about Jane for... Liz was too caught up in her emotions to think of reasons why she hated Darcy, she just did. There was no concrete reason needed beyond his interference in Jane's happiness.

That and also for eternally tainting The Brambling Chronicles for her too. She couldn't forget that. It was funny; while she was less fiery about the book than she was about Jane—Of course she should be angrier about her sister than a book! That was about real lives and real people, not just a lot of characters on a page—she could feel a deep regret lurking somewhere in the back of her mind. A particular weight of sadness pressed on her heart when she thought about never reading about Wren again, never revisiting Brambling or the Kingdom of Aredia. All of it was tainted now.

She shut her eyes tightly and slowly lifted the blanket off her head. It grew a little brighter outside of her eyelids. Eyes still closed, she pushed the pillows away and clambered up into a seated position. Then, she opened her eyes again, blinking away sleep.

Even if she had not overslept hours beyond her usual time, even if there had not been a new five inches of snow outside, there was no way she would have been up for a run that morning. It was hard enough getting herself out of bed.

Most of the night, beyond Robert's revelations, was something of a blur. She did her best to keep her expression neutral and her opinions to herself. It was hard when Darcy would not stop looking at her. She did remember resisting the urge to shove him more than once.

Liz decided she had two options: Throw herself back into bed or get up. She decided to get up, dressing quickly and throwing her hair into a braid. Her eyes were too tired for contacts so she slipped on her glasses before leaving the bedroom.

Charlotte was still in her pajamas, sitting at one of the stools by the kitchen counter and reading the news off her phone. She sipped her coffee slowly and ran her eyes over Liz's clothed, but slightly more disheveled than her own, state. "How're you doing?"

Liz climbed up onto the stool next to her. "Ugh." She knew she was being overdramatic, but it was the best protection. If she was ill, maybe they wouldn't have to talk about the night before. Instead, she put one hand to her head. "I'm never letting you plan my 21st birthday party again."