"It is a universally known fact that all high school girls must attend at least one of their school dances."

Aunt Lois's voice rang in Darcy's ears as she slipped between the parked cars of the school parking lot, her neat black heels clacking against the asphalt underfoot.

Charlie was the only thing keeping her from turning and running right back to the car, even stooping so low as to slip off her heels and run barefoot in tights across slushy pavement if she had to. Instead, Darcy Williams tightened her grip on her friend's hand.

If Charlie Bingley noticed, she didn't say. Her face was bright, excited, her dark auburn hair shining in the yellow lighting of the outdoor flood lights as the two of them followed the crowd into the squat building of Meriton Charter Academy.

It looked different in the nighttime then it had the Monday before. You could see the faded red bright in the morning light, spot where the snowplows had left their loads to clear away the parking lot. What had once been snow was now piles of dirty grime. They looked like mounds of dirt in the dark.

As Darcy looked up at the school's facade, slowing to prolong entering into a group activity she had no interest in attending, the long red brick building almost looked tall, regal. But it was the shadows playing tricks on her eyes. Darcy knew that. She also knew that it was nothing compared to Netherfield Prep.

It was Charlie's tug on her hand that forced Darcy to keep moving. She didn't want to let go of her only tether to sanity and yet that tether was pulling her ever closer to the gym.

Darcy was grateful for Charlie's boundless energy and excitement. It had helped keep Darcy distracted while they had spent the day getting ready. That and trying to help Charlie do her hair up for the dance. All Darcy had to do was slick back one side of her jet-black short hair and put her only accessory in place: a shining crystal butterfly clip that glistened when it hit the light.

It didn't exactly match her black dress, or her black tights, or her short heels for that matter. It would have been hard for something so glittery to match the outfit Darcy had been wearing to all of her college interviews. But Charlie had insisted Darcy wear something that matched the occasion. The butterfly clip was all Darcy had that fit the criteria.

The gym was as bad as Darcy had expected and she could feel her heart squeeze inside her chest as Charlie led her into the humid room. The wooden floorboards underfoot were already slick with sweat and Meriton Charter's Valentine's Day dance had only just begun.

What had been a mediocre gymnasium now looked as if someone had ingested too much love and romance and then had to throw it up all over the walls. Bright, cheap pink and red hearts were everywhere, perfectly matching the pink and red paper tablecloths that were doing a poor job of covering up the folded tables and chairs that sat around the perimeter of the dance floor.

Not a thing in sight even close to resembling the elegant formal dinners of Netherfield Prep. Darcy's heart ached while her stomach threatened to follow the lead of whoever had decorated the gym.

"Come on, Darcy. It's not that bad."

The way Charlie's smile spread across her face, anyone would have thought she had never been to a dance before in her life and that this was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Darcy knew both were false and rolled her eyes at her god-sister.

"Hey! Look! They've got food! I'm starving."

There Darcy drew the line. As Charlie pulled on her hand to take her past the crowd of swaying bodies, Darcy finally let go. Her feet would not let her get even an inch closer to the crowd of dancers.

"I'm good. You go ahead."

When they were little, Charlie might have asked if Darcy was sure, double-checking just in case. But Charlie and Darcy had grown up together, lived in the same house since they were infants. Charlie didn't have to ask if Darcy was sure.

Darcy was always sure.

With each step she took backward, away from the pulsing mass of people, Darcy's breathing eased. Her face would never have betrayed just how fast her heart was racing, nor how shaky her hands were. They were clenched in fists so even Darcy wasn't sure just how bad they shook. But she could feel them tremble nonetheless.

The old rickety wooden bleachers on either side of the gym had been pulled out a few levels to allow for extra seating. It was there Darcy decided to set up camp. She sat three levels up, her back straight, her face set at neutral, her legs crossed and her hands clasped tightly in her lap.

She focused on her breathing. She kept her eyes moving, never focusing too long on the crowd of bodies all pushed together, almost moving in sync to the beat that pulsed through the tall black speakers that bordered the DJ booth set up at the far end of the gym.

Every now and then Darcy caught a faint whiff of that sickly sweet sweat smell that gyms were famous for. It at first brought her comfort, bringing to mind all the fond memories she had made in a gym at Netherfield. Even remembering with a smile the first few days of gym class she'd already had at Meriton.

It had been the only bright spot in her schedule, gym class. All of her classes were taking finals that she had already aced at Netherfield so Darcy was forced to either read in class while her peers worked on review or sit in the library and read while her classmates took their tests.

Darcy's only social interaction with her classmates her first week had been during gym. It was volleyball week, a blessing Darcy took hold of and ran with. Her history as Netherfield's volleyball team captain and state champion came through her first day as Darcy sent spike after spike over the net.

It took two days for her teammates to approach her.

It was in the locker room, while they were getting ready to head out to the courts. Darcy was tying her sneakers and strapping on the knee pads she had brought from home. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a group of girls approach, one of them pushed out from the fold.

"Uh, hey, Darcy, right?"

"Can I help you?"

Darcy stood up straight and found herself several inches taller than the girl who had approached her.

"Yeah, well, we were wondering if you could maybe, I don't know, tone it down a bit?"

Darcy didn't speak and let her confused scowl do the talking.

"You know, during the games," one of the crowd added for clarity.

Darcy's scowl didn't lessen.

"This isn't the NCAA championships. You can, like, chill out."

This sent a ripple of giggles through the crowd and Darcy could easily spot which one had made the comment by the smug smile she wore on her face. Lucky for Darcy, that girl was on the opposing team.

Darcy didn't have time to respond, not that she was planning to. Their PE teacher hollered at them to head for the courts. Darcy did not 'chill out'.

She had been robbed of the chance to play at the championships with her team from Netherfield because a stupid pipe had decided to burst over the holiday break. Darcy played like she would have at the NCAA championships and earned herself no new friends during the rest of gym class.

"Hey, Darcy."

Darcy's eyes followed Carson as he skipped from one level to the next to plop himself right down next to her.

"Carson."

"As expected. Darcy Williams is grumpy at a party. Mom would be disappointed."

"Lois said I had to go. She said nothing about enjoying myself."

This released a huff of amusement from Charlie's brother. He leaned back against the bleachers and settled in next to Darcy.

"It's not like you have to obey her."

Darcy didn't bother to shoot Carson the look she would have shot anyone else. He knew how she felt about his mother.

"Yes. That's how I'll repay her kindness for taking in me, and my brother, when she already had a one-year-old and you to deal with. I'll rebel."

Carson let the subject drop. For all his attitude and all the trouble he worked so hard to make, he couldn't pick apart the fact that when his mother's best friend had died, she took in her two kids without even a second thought, raising them as her own.

"How are you liking Meriton? It's a big change for you. Slummin' it with us townies. No more prep school. You're one of the people now."

Darcy couldn't help her reaction as her eyes sought the ceiling, her head shaking as she tried not to smile at Carson's ridiculous view of things.

"It's certainly not Netherfield," Darcy replied.

"We're as far from Netherfield as you could possibly get."

"You've managed to fit in well here."

"You have me wrong there, dear god-sister of mine. I was forced to find my way here. I had no other options. You did."

"Yeah," Darcy scoffed. "An all-girls school three hours away that was only sleep-away. I think not."

"Well, then. Welcome to the middle class."

Carson's voice forced a tune of condemnation and disgust as he looked out onto the crowd of their peers but Darcy had been watching him the last week. He fit in here. He liked it here. He had found a group of people here with just as much a love for mischief as himself. He was happy. Finally. It had only taken three private schools and one military academy to get here.

"Incoming," Carson warned.

Darcy followed the nod of his bright red hair down to where Charlie was emerging from the crowd of dancing bodies, the hand of one boy tight in her hand while another trailed not too far behind.

Charlie met Darcy's eye and waved, waving her down off the bleachers. Darcy compiled, forcing Carson to follow, which he did, but with no small amount of complaining.

"Darcy, Carson, this is Jamie."

Charlie beamed up at the tall boy alternating his gaze between Charlie's glowing face and his shoes. His soft brown curls fell into his face each time he looked down and his only free hand had to push them back when he looked up.

"Nice to meet you."

Darcy struck out a hand of greeting, which seemed to catch Charlie's friend off guard for a long second.

"Yeah, you too. Charlotte's told me a lot about you. And you must be her brother. Carson, right?"

"Charmed, I'm sure."

Carson met Jamie's still extended hand and briefly shook it before letting it drop half a second too early. The smug smile on his face barely reached the edge of his lips.

"Jamie and I have calculus together."

"Charlotte's a genius in both. Already the smartest in our class."

Darcy and Carson nodded, used to the praise heaped upon Charlie's head wherever she went.

Darcy's left side kept tensing from the presence of Jamie's companion who had yet to be introduced. He didn't seem to mind standing there, only halfway in their little circle, his hands relaxed in his pockets, his hair curly like Jamie's but more contained, his eyes the same shade of green but brighter.

Darcy's discomfort peaked quickly, forcing her to address him.

"And you are?" She asked.

He looked at her and then down at the hand she had again extended. He took his time removing his hand from his pocket to meet hers but when it did, it was just as firm and authoritative a grip as Darcy's, nothing like the wet limp fish Jamie's had been.

"Eli Bennett, Jamie's older brother. We have English together."

Darcy nodded as if she now remembered him but she didn't. She hadn't noticed any of her classmates, having to sit in the back and not participate.

"Well, then. Nice to meet you."

"Isn't this party fun?" Charlie asked, her eyes searching for equal enthusiasm in the expressions of her companions. Only Jamie met her energy.

"Oh, yeah. Loads of fun. Isn't it, Darcy? Darcy loves to dance, don't you, Darcy?"

Carson had dropped a lazy arm over Darcy's shoulders which she quickly shrugged off.

"No, actually. I don't."

"You don't like dancing?"

Eli asked the question and Darcy met his questionable gaze with a hardened look of her own making.

"No. I don't."

"Then why come to a dance?"

"It's an essential rite of passage for all high school students," Carson answered for Darcy. It was better than Darcy's 'my godmother made me'.

"Charlotte told me what happened at your old school. Your gym flooded?"

Jamie looked to Charlie for confirmation, who nodded in reply.

"The gym, tech lab, arts wing, and the library." Darcy corrected.

"They had to shut the whole school down for the rest of the year to do repairs," Charlie added.

"Oh, no. Not the arts wing."

Darcy met Eli's gaze and found his was smirking at her, laughing to himself. Darcy's eyes were narrowing and her mind was trying to find something, anything even slightly intelligent to respond, when an all-too-familiar laugh floated over the heads of the students and met Darcy's ears.

Her whole body froze, except her eyes, which flicked from face to face, head to head, searching for those long blond tresses.

Darcy couldn't see anything. She breathed, deeply, convincing her mind it was a ghost of a sound, nothing more. Nothing real.

When she regained her senses, Eli was looking at her, this time confused. Darcy hoped her face hadn't betrayed her burst of panic but he seemed to have sensed her sudden change in mood.

"You guys wanna join us?"

Darcy realized that Charlie was speaking. Had been, Darcy had just missed the beginning of it.

"We're good," Carson answered for the both of them.

"Your loss," Eli replied. He took the first steps away, breaking their little circle, Jamie starting to follow. Charlie hesitated, meeting Darcy's eye.

"You sure, Darcy? Come on, come dance with us."

Charlie rarely nagged Darcy to do something she didn't feel comfortable doing. Charlie kept looking over her shoulder to where Eli and Jamie were waiting for her just a few feet away.

"I'm sure, Chuck."

The use of Charlie's childhood nickname wasn't fair, as it invoked forced sympathy in Charlie, bringing her hopes down to realistic expectations by force.

"Eli's cute. And a good dancer. I think you'd like him."

What Charlie meant, and what Darcy could now see was true, was that Charlie liked Jamie. A lot. And wanted Darcy to like someone too. Eli just happened to be there.

"Sure, he's cute. But not cute enough to tempt me. Go. Enjoy your time with Jamie. I'm fine here with Carson."

"Okay. Fine. Love you, sis."

Charlie gave Darcy's hand a tight squeeze before heading to where Jamie and Eli stood. Following Charlie's departure, Darcy realized just how close the two of them had been standing. Her heart needed no prompting, it was already racing at the thought that Eli might have overheard her.

He was following Jamie and Charlie back out onto the dance floor but sent one last look over his shoulder at Darcy. He had definitely heard her, Darcy's social anxiety determined.

It was the end of Darcy's first week at Meriton. She still had the rest of the semester to suffer through. If this was how it was starting, she had a long four months ahead of her. Graduation couldn't come sooner.

A/N:

Hey hey, everyone!!! How's it going?? Long time no talk!!!

I am so FREAKING EXCITED to get this story started. I haven't been this pumped about a book in a WHILE.

I hope you guys enjoy it. And for the author's notes on this book we will be doing..... wait for it....

Pride and Prejudice memes!!!

If you haven't seen the movie from 2005 or read the book, put this book down, go do that and then come back so you can understand these memes.

And appreciate my new adaption of Pride And Prejudice.

Enjoy!!!