Dad's disapproval of Will played on my mind all the way back to Jenny's room.

I'd missed my chance to ask him if there was anything between us at all. We'd not had the time to discuss official terms for whatever our budding affection was. I didn't believe that I'd gained a boyfriend, not when Will hadn't made a point of stating as much. Besides, I wasn't sure that a boyfriend would willingly abandon his girlfriend the morning after she'd been assaulted by a money-hungry lunatic. However, if we were an item, it was hardly a promising start to the relationship if my father already hated him.

'Hey,' Jenny waved me in as I pushed the door open. 'What's the verdict? Are you staying?'

'Yeah, Dad said - wait - you knew he was going to let me finish the trip with all of you?'

'Mum hinted that she'd talk to him,' she said. 'They get along, don't they?'

'Yeah. When did that happen?' I asked.

'I don't know. We miss too much when we're away. Maybe they're secretly meeting to talk about us when we're not around.'

'I think they both have better things to do. Hey, Meg,' I greeted her when I noticed that she was sat on her bed.

Meg had been so vocal the previous night that I thought we might see a new, bold side to her. Now that the excitement had died down, she was back to her meek, shy self. Still, there was a hint of a smile when she nodded in greeting. I suspected that she would save that confident side of herself for special occasions in future. I certainly hoped that it wasn't the last we'd hear of angry, brilliant, confident Meg.

I dropped onto Jenny's bed and pushed my fingers through my hair. She sensed that something was on my mind and hit the nail on the head when she commented, 'It's too bad Charlie and Will had to leave. It was heroic of him to come all the way here to help, don't you think?'

'Yeah. Will really -'

'I meant Charlie.'

'Oh! Right. Yeah, that was so -'

'Are you into Will?' she asked.

'What? No,' I laughed nervously. I felt sweaty again. 'I hate him, remember?'

'I remember. But I thought you might have forgotten.'

I had.

I hugged my knees to my chest self-consciously. 'Is this how you feel when you see Charlie?'

'What?'

I shook my head. It was difficult to put it into words. Jenny raised a brow, encouraging me to continue. It made me sound like such a stupid little girl to talk about crushes, or even love. Jenny was my best friend. She'd never mock me for how I felt for someone, but I didn't know how she'd take it when even I couldn't process the idea properly.

I mean... this was Will Darcy, prat extraordinaire! The son of a wealthy family with more overseas homes than most people had socks, who was the desired future-son-in-law of just about every upper-class woman with an eligible daughter waiting to be thrown into his path. It seemed absurd that I should like him, never mind that I thought he might like me in return. I mean, I knew that he liked me if he still felt the same as he did in Paris, but a lot had happened since that night. He'd had the chance to meet my father and my insane friends. He knew what a waste of space my mother was, that I lived above a grimy garage, and that I could eat a burger and fries in under fifteen minutes.

It was no wonder he'd fled so early in the morning; he'd wanted to escape.

'Beth,' Meg breathed, 'are you in love with William?'

'You are?!' Lisa exclaimed upon bursting into the room without invitation.

Chrissy closed the door behind them. She hurried over to sit beside me on the bed, bouncing me on top of the mattress as she landed. 'Are you? Seriously?'

'I - I just don't totally hate him,' I said evasively. 'What are you all doing in here, anyway?'

'I told them we should come and find you.' Georgia joined us last. Thankfully, she maintained more control and decorum than the others. She closed the door gently behind her and leaned back against it. 'You're staying, right?'

'Yeah, Dad said it was okay.'

'My parents said that so long as I stick with you guys, I'm allowed to go out of the hotel,' Lisa announced. 'So, we can't do anything boring, and we have to buy loads of clothes.'

'You have enough clothes to open your own mall,' I said. 'And you've been cut off. What are you even going to buy them with?'

'Chrissy's paying,' Lisa said. 'I'll pay her back when my parents get over this whole cancelled credit card thing. They're being super dramatic over a little thing.'

'You could have died, you idiot,' I retorted. I pointed toward the bruise around my throat. 'This is something you're meant to be dramatic about.'

'You're right,' Lisa agreed. 'We'll have to buy you a scarf or something otherwise it'll look super ugly in all our end-of-year dance photos.'

'Do I really need to slap you right now?' I asked. 'And what even makes you think you'll be able to go to the dance? You haven't studied once for your exams. If you flunk, you're banned from the dance.'

'I'm going to wing it,' she said stubbornly. 'I always pass. Mostly.'

'Or,' Jenny suggested, 'we could go back a couple of days early and lock you in the library.'

'God, you're so mean!' Lisa complained. 'Do we have to talk about exams now? I want to know about the person Beth loves.'

'Like I said,' I threw a pillow at her face, 'I don't love him! I just like him a little. He's still a Darcy, and that makes him a snob.'

'You're a snob,' Georgia countered. 'You take offence to people just because they're rich. It's not like they can help it.'

'I - I don't -'

'Hey, can I ask something?' Lisa interrupted. 'Why did Gideon think that you were the same and whatever?'

'He was just trying to get me on his side. It didn't mean anything.'

Jenny winced. 'That's not totally true, is it?'

'What?'

'Beth, just because you don't have as much money as the rest of us, it doesn't mean we're different. I mean, we might have started out just being friends because we were sharing a room. But now, it's more than that. I think you know that, otherwise you wouldn't have flown out here to help when I called. Society, class, and those kinds of things don't matter. If we're friends now, we always will be.'

I smiled. 'That was beautiful. I feel sick. Like I just ate a whole bag of sugar. But still, thanks.'

'Idiot,' Jenny laughed. 'I was trying to be nice.'

'No, I got that,' I said. 'Is it okay if I cry?'

'Shut up!'

The laughter faded into a sigh and I confessed, 'I don't like letting the wall down too much. I love you guys. If I didn't, I'd be surfing back home right now, but I know that we're not all going to end up in the same place when we leave school. My own mother left me because of money. It just wouldn't have surprised me if that came between us, too.'

'We wouldn't ditch you for that,' Lisa said. 'Maybe for not coordinating your accessories. But never because you were poor.'

'Thanks, I think.'

Chrissy hugged my arm tightly. 'You don't let loose enough, but that doesn't mean we hate you or anything. It just means that we're different. Different isn't bad. We're people, not clones.'

'Excuse you,' I said. 'I can let loose. I ran around Rome trying to save someone's scrawny backside, remember?'

'That was an emergency. I'm talking about having fun.'

'Watching Amanda wipe out Gideon was pretty fun.'

Meg giggled, 'His face when he hit the water...'

'He deserved it,' Lisa decided. 'All of it. As if I would seriously run away with someone so ugly.'

'Oh, he's ugly, now?' I teased.

'Older guys always are. They have hair in their ears.' She shrugged. 'I don't know what people see in them.'

'Me either,' I agreed. 'Then again, most of my guy friends are older than me, so -'

'Are they hot?' Lisa asked eagerly. 'Your friends, I mean. Are they good looking? Are they single?'

'I don't think you should be looking for a new boyfriend any time soon,' Georgia said.

'But if they're Beth's friends, then they've got to be better than Gideon.'

'Only if you like greasy mechanics and surfers,' I muttered.

'Oh, they'd be so sweaty and gorgeous,' she almost swooned.

'Okay. I think that's a sign that someone needs a little air,' Jenny said.

The others laughed while Lisa fanned herself, her cheeks flush with the excited notion of meeting buff surfers and rough-around-the-edges mechanics. Money and reputation were the farthest things from my mind while I was surrounded by my friends. It was just like being at home with my equals because they were my equals. We were equally silly, sarcastic, bright, fun, young, and happy in one another's company. If I kept equating my friends with their monetary value and letting that be a barrier to our friendship, then I was no better than someone like Chantelle or Gideon.

All I wanted was an honest, open relationship with the girls who surrounded me in that hotel room. Maybe we would grow apart one day, as people were wont to do as they headed off into their own lives and followed their own paths, but that day wouldn't be for a long time hence. Until it arrived, I would try to live in the moment, and I would care for them as they did for me, without prejudice or expectation.

With a sisterly affection that transcended the division of wealth and society.

With love.