Beginning, Previous Section Section III

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Chapter 25 ~ Perfection Through Silence

April 16th, 2001, Netherfield High

Elizabeth stared out of the windshield of her car. She had already seen Will since the driver's license incident but she was by no means more comforted by that thought than she was with being told she would have to catch flies with her tongue for her father's entertainment (which would make no sense whatsoever because her father would likely be highly embarrassed by such an ability as opposed to being amused by it). Though he did not ignore her or seemed disgusted by her obvious desire to make-out with him, she was still troubled by the fact that he knew.

She wanted to hit her head against the steering wheel but observed her sister flirting with John Willoughby instead. Jane had called her last night with the news of John's recent single status. This caused Liz to roll her eyes as she thought about it. John and Elinor breaking up. Inevitable. As inevitable as everyone whispering about it by the end of the week. As inevitable as Lydia attempting to make him her prom date only a few days after the split.

Alone at last
Together in a photograph

Elizabeth turned her eyes from Lydia's disgusting but highly successful display as she heard the strains of some punk rock band. Much to her own pleasure and chagrin, she was starting to recognize the differences between ska, punk, rock or a combination of all. The last few days of spring break had been spent worrying over Will's reaction, treatment of herself, his thoughts, or coming to know some of the bands he favored (which was pretty easy as he wore all of their shirts).

Our eyes are always open
Devoted to perfection through silence
What am I supposed to do?
Should I sit and wait for you?

Through the rearview mirror, she could see Will sliding his Mustang into a parking spot. She felt her stomach flip.

Listen to me screaming more
This story is old
Only to those that have no mold
The truth can be bought or sold
But what are we buying?
Nothing but silence
Fold the corners, break the silence*

He turned off the engine of his car, terminating the music as well. Elizabeth had to smile. Of course it was Will who was pulling into the junior lot with his music blasting. (Well, that wasn't entirely true but he was the only one who did that and listened to what he listened to.)

Adjusting her mirror, she settled back in her seat to watch his reflection. She was by no means going to restrict herself from staring at his butt but she wasn't going to be caught blatantly doing it as she had already been caught blatantly doing many other things. She noticed some of the freshmen girls running up to him. (And she used the term 'running' loosely by the way.) She was momentarily surprise that Lydia wasn't among the bunch but remembered that she was occupied with John.

Will hesitated. He also saw the flurry of girls heading his way. The usual crowd had died down as his relationship with Marianne progressed so he didn't understand why he was going to be mobbed today. He took a deep breath and was about to step out of the car when he caught sight of Liz staring into her rearview mirror.

He peered into his own rearview mirror, watching Liz intently. When she realized what he was doing, she gasped and quickly exited her car, hitting her head against the doorframe.

"Oh crap!" She grabbed her throbbing head and kicked her door out angrily. She ignored the looks from John and Lydia, grabbing her bag and quickly making her way to class.

Will sat in his car a little longer, contemplating the scene he had just witnessed. His contemplation didn't last long. A willowy blonde was knocking on his window. He smiled disarmingly and reluctantly exited his own car.

* Perfection Through Silence - Finch

Liz played with her keys as she waited for class to begin. Her intense concentration did not go unnoticed by her friends. Hazel and Richard exchanged looks. The latter arched his eyebrows in inquiry but Hazel only shook her head. Apparently Will hadn't shared his discovery with any of his friends. This made Hazel smile a little. Perhaps he didn't want to embarrass her. Or it didn't matter very much to him. Either way, she was proud of Will for not discussing his conquest over yet another girl's heart.

"Do you see Elinor pouting over there?" Hazel smirked, hoping to distract Richard from Liz and allow the latter to ready herself for Will.

The distraction worked perfectly. (After all, it was Richard.) He instantly turned in his chair to get a better look at the couple. Elinor was certainly dressed to impress but Ed refused to look at her. In fact, he was even chatting amiably with Annie. "Don't look at her," he laughed. "Look at Ed. The gumption on that guy."

"Wow, gumption, SAT word," Hazel paused as she took in Richard's sheepish smile. "What does gumption mean?"

"What does gumption mean?" Richard asked. "Why don't you know what gumption means?"

"I do know what gumption means!"

"Then what does it mean?"

"Why don't you tell me?"

"Because I'm waiting for you to tell me."

"Well, I guess I'll do the same."

They looked at one another for a few seconds, squinting menacingly.

"Because I don't know," Richard finally conceded. "I used it the wrong way, didn't I?"

"I don't know. Probably. I don't know what gumption means either."

They laughed at one another but Liz was not amused. She wasn't in the mood to be amused and found their conversation to be trite when it would've otherwise been funny to her. She muttered more to herself than anyone else, "Does anyone know what gumption means?"

"It originally meant common sense but sense is little to be had and not very common at all. I don't think that's why its meaning changed, probably manipulation of language, from standard form to American, maybe, but now it is defined as courage or initiative," Will explained as he sat down.

Richard grinned at his speech. "Is that the Webster version?"

"No, the Darcy one. If you want the Webster-"

"No, that's alright, Darce," Richard replied, putting his hands up as though shielding himself.

"What? Are you trying to protect yourself from knowledge?" Will mockingly asked.

"Yeah, ignorance is bliss, baby."

Meanwhile, Elizabeth took the opportunity to slide down in her seat. Suffice to say, her attempt to disappear from notice was utterly unsuccessful. (One might think it was a good thing to be noticed by Will Darcy but everyone has his or her priorities.)

"Is your head alright?"

"My h-head?" Liz spluttered. "What about it?"

"Well, it looked like you hit it pretty hard this morning."

"Oh." Her eyes wide and her throat dry.

"It didn't hurt too much, did it?"

"No, I did not head my hurt. I mean, I not did hurt my..." Liz closed her eyes. "Maybe a little."

"It's bruising," he said, bringing his fingers up to her hairline where her skin had purpled up. He touched it gently, his face close to hers. "You don't feel light-headed, do you?"

"Um...no," she replied after a long pause.

"Mr. Darcy, what grade do you have in this class?" Mrs. Bryant barked.

Will swiveled around and smiled. "An A, I believe."

"What percentage do you have?" she replied, her eyes narrow.

"Er, I don't know," he said, confusion making him look adorably cute and huggable.

"And why is that?"

"Because you haven't posted our grades yet," he retorted matter-of-factly.

"Well...in that case, I'll inform you right now." Mrs. Bryant pulled out her grade book and opened it forcefully. She scanned it for a few seconds before muttering 'Eureka!' "It looks like you, Mr. Darcy, have a..."

Her voice trailed off as she stared at the grade book. She suddenly snapped it close and glared at Will. All traces of smugness gone, only anger. "It doesn't matter what grade you have in this class. You should be paying attention, or at least, be pretending to pay attention, not flirting with Miss Bennet. The bell rang..."---she looked at her watch--- "almost three minutes ago. I expect more respect than that."

Will simply nodded while a few other students snickered. When Mrs. Bryant turned to the board, Hazel leaned towards him. "What crawled up her butt and died?"

Will simply shrugged in reply. He turned in his seat one more time to look at Liz but she refused to make eye contact. She found Mrs. Bryant's bald spot to be particularly interesting today and nothing could make her break her line of vision for the rest of the period.

Chapter 26 ~ Nursery Rhymes

Will was mildly surprised when he walked out of class and Marianne was nowhere in sight. It didn't really matter because it was Liz he wanted to talk to but she was nowhere in sight either. It seemed as though she made a mad dash out of Physics (which she did).

"Where's your girlfriend, Will? She's always waiting for you."

"I don't know. I guess she had something to do. Anyway, I'm proud of you, man," Will smiled as he clapped his companion on the back.

"For what?" Ed asked, confused.

"For what you did back there, with Elinor."

"Oh," Ed blushed. "I just thought I should move on. I mean, if she only wants me when she can't have John, then I'm not going to be her second fiddly-de-do."

"Er, I think it's just fiddle. But good for you."

"Yeah!" cried Ed, puffing out his chest and then running into a football player. "Sorry, so sorry about that. Um, what's up with Mrs. Bryant though?"

"Oh, that. I don't know," Will shrugged.

"Maybe she's jealous," Ed mused.

"What?"

"I bet that's it. She's jealous of your attentions to Liz."

"My attentions to Liz? What are you talking about? Liz and I are just friends."

"You two aren't even friends," Ed said with a laugh.

This caused Will to pause. Weren't he and Liz friends?"

"Hey stranger!"

Will started and turned to see Marianne on his arm.

"Oh, hey."

"Where were you?" she asked as she punched him on the shoulder. "Why didn't you wait for me?"

"I didn't know where you were."

"Well you should wait for me next time," she said with a fake pout, her lips thick with ruby red lipstick.

Will's eyebrows scrunched up as he looked at her. "When did you start wearing makeup?"

"When did I start? I've always worn makeup, silly," she replied with a giggle.

Will gave her a doubtful look but remained silent on the subject. He walked into Calculus feeling pensive. He didn't want to think. But then again, who wants to think? But what he really didn't want to think about was his girlfriend. But all those thoughts flew out of his head as soon as he took his seat behind Ed.

"Hey, listen to this, Will. James and I just figured this entire thing out." Ed flashed a confused Will a hand signal that resembled a Wu-Tang gang sign. "Do you dare to ask me if I care? Because I don't care about your hair, whether or not it's fair. We're no longer a pair and there are a lot of things we no longer share. Why not use some Nair and get rid of all your hair?"

"Wait, there's more!" James exclaimed when Will's eyes started to glaze over.

"Yeah, a lot more!" Ed chimed in. "How does the rest..."

"No, you really don't have to go on with the rest of it. I get the point!" Will shouted.

"But this is really good stuff," Ed insisted. He opened his mouth to begin again when the bell rang.

Relief swept through Will. An audible sigh escaped him and the clouds receded from his eyes.

James laughed at his friend's reaction. "This is far from over," he threatened.

Will grimaced in return. It was at this time that Marianne moved her desk back and next to Will's (as she had done every day since they pseudo-declared themselves a couple). She caught the look on his face and let flow from her Red-6 encased lips an entirely gag-worthy endearment, "Honey poo?"

Will stared at her without blinking. Then he shifted his gaze to his two friends. James looked disgusted and Ed merely shrugged his shoulders. He slowly turned back to Marianne again. "What did you say?" he asked cautiously.

"You look upset, munchkin. Is there anything wrong?"

This time, James was bent over, laughing his head off and Ed snorted before dissolving into silent laughter.

Will was not amused but nobody looked sexier than he did when he wasn't amused. His lips at a pout, his eyes dark and smoldering. Though, when he smiled, he looked even sexier because his eyes would light up and he had the cutest dimples. And he looked really, really sexy when he laid on the grass, staring at nothing at all with his hair tousled by the wind. Or when he was... oh yeah, back to the story...

"Er, nothing's wrong," Will lied. He leaned over so the guys wouldn't hear him. "Only...could you call me by my name?"

"Are you going to break up with me?" Marianne squeaked.

"What?" Will was puzzled. How did a request to be called by your name become translated into a break-up speech? "Marianne, I just want you to call me by my name."

Ed leaned backward and started chanting, "Oh, she may be fair, but sometimes your hair you want to tear. And you have to wonder how can you bear to be a pair. And you start to compare all the other..."

Will dropped his head and covered it with his arms. Suffice to say, his attempt to block out Ed's poetry, Marianne's endearments, and James' laughing was insufficient.

Chapter 27 - And the Plot Thickens

We have digressed from the subject of running for quite some time, and while we are capable of entering into all sorts of venues, such as the romances of our main protagonist(s), we will remedy the neglect of long distance training at this time.

Due to the previous declaration, it would be no surprise to the reader that we find ourselves on the infield of the Netherfield track with the polo team. But I protest! It should be a surprise to the reader because the infield of a track would not be a sufficient location for the polo team. One has to ask himself or herself (to be grammatically and politically correct though that the latter has already been transgressed upon since the male pronoun appears before the female pronoun as opposed to appearing at the same place which would be literally impossible! Though special effects beyond my capability may be able to end our troubles but for now, I think we must accept that this sentence is simply politically incorrect and rather lengthy, no?) where are the horses to be stored? (Though I suppose one could use SUVs but then the dilemma of where all those vehicles would be stored within the field would be more problematic than horses.) And with the pole vault mat and the long and triple jump pits taking up half of the darn thing, where will one put the scoring posts? And most importantly, where are all the hot English guys in this story?? There are merely hot American guys with boring accents in "Dishwater."

Well, let us continue with the thickening of the plot without the polo team (sadly enough) but with the track team.

"This is a life or death matter! Need I remind you that Ro-"

"No!" exclaimed the entire track team, some in horror and some with a roll of their eyes. While they all had differing opinions of Coach Bennet (most of the distance team adored him for the tough love he showered them with while the rest of them were a little...well, peeved by his neglect...to put it lightly, they wanted to stick his head on a pole and use it as the passing baton), they all very much agreed with one another that he spoke of the rivalry between Rosings and Netherfield much too frequently. And I mean frequently. And I mean frequently. This guy spoke about it frequently. As frequently as he could. Which was like every second frequently. By the way, did I say frequently?

"Well, it sounds like you kids want to hear about it again!" he shouted over their moans and groans. "We have always been better than Rosings and that wrinkled smart-ass of a thing (and I say 'thing' because I assure you she's not human and she's certainly not a woman)..." Twenty minutes later... "But we haven't always shown that arrogant, conceited, rat-faced..." Thirty minutes later... "Since I've taken over this track team, a lot of things have been going right, such as..." Most of them had snuck off or dozed off by the time he reached this point of his speech. A few of them had gone to college and began a highly successful career that was completely unrelated to running and then, settled down, married, and had kids. "Next week, when we go head-to-head against Rosings, we're going to crush them like bugs, we're going to..."

Ed was curled up in a ball and sucking his thumb.

"It makes me want to punch him..." Chris muttered. "...and I will."

He punched Ed, who woke up with a start. "Mama! ...er, I mean, what's... going... on..., guys?"

Chazz choked back his laughter as he replied, "Well, we both missed a pretty eventful speech apparently. I slept up to the last ten minutes of it but I think Coach Bennet was mentioning something about Rosings, perhaps?"

"It's dark," Ed replied in a small voice.

"Don't worry, Ed. The Boogie Man won't get you," Chris said as placed a reassuring arm around his friend's shoulder. "But I may..."

Ed's eyes widen in true fear. "Don't even joke about that!" He blinked several times before his eyes could adjust to the coming twilight. "Hey, where's Darcy?"

"Oh sure...notice he's gone," Chris replied in a hurt tone.

"His girlfriend took him away," Hazel offered. Then, in a lower voice, muttered, "I wish I had a girlfriend who would take me away."

"Oh, do you?" Richard inquired, clearing intrigued.

Hazel looked Richard in the eye and smiled sweetly. Then she slapped him on the side of his head.

"Anyone up for a movie tonight?" James asked as he stood up.

"What about practice? We haven't even begun!"

"If you want to practice, Charles, go right ahead!"

Chazz shrugged. If no one else was going to practice, he wasn't going to either. They all started to walk up the stairs, toward the junior and senior lots. That is, until he noticed Liz wasn't following.

"I'll meet you guys later," he said, turning around. He ran back, waving his hands at Liz. "Hey, you're not coming?"

"Nah," she replied without looking up. Elizabeth continued working on her steps until finally, seeing that Chazz wasn't going to leave, said, "He expects us to be practicing."

"You mean, Coach Bennet?" he asked, confused.

"Yeah. He wastes our entire day, talking and talking about Rosings versus Netherfield and he doesn't even stay. He just expects us to continue on with practice."

"I know it must be frustrating..."

"I've become immune to it. Don't worry. It's just that-"

"Sometimes it gets to you."

"When I've had a bad day, yeah." Elizabeth looked up. "I love kicking the crap out of Rosings though."

"Yeah. And seeing de Bourgh's face twist up like a sour lemon when we do it," Charles replied with a laugh.

"You mean, Lady Catherine," she snorted, referring to the nickname the Netherfield team had given to the posh Rosings coach three years ago.

"Lady Dragon."

Elizabeth grinned. But it was a wicked grin. And Charles didn't understand it. But it was Charles. "Hey, Chazz...do you want to learn how to triple jump?"

"Er...sure."

Elizabeth showed him the steps. Right foot, right, left, land on both.

"Doesn't seem too hard," Chazz said, scratching his head. He took a running start and leaped off his right foot. Now, before we continue our narration of his triple jumping efforts, let us take a brief hiatus and observe some universally acknowledged truths about the male ego. As Charles is a male and being currently free from one Jane Bennet, presumed to have part of his residing ego participating in activity (after all, he hasn't gone crawling back to her...yet), we will assume that he will support such universally acknowledge truths. One: male ego wants to show off. Two: male ego will show off. Three: male ego will fail in its efforts. With that said, let us return to Chazz, who is in mid-flight. Having taken the leap off his right foot, he landed on it again. But being untrained in the arts of this particular event, his landing was slightly wobbly. But he continued anyway. Remember, desire to show off is sure to be followed by the act of doing so. He landed on his left and took a stumbling jump forward. His propulsion was off-balance and the force he put into such an off-balance propulsion caused him to fall forward after his awkward landing from his awkward jumping and it can be clearly stated that Charles Henry Bingley ate it. Our third truth, sufficiently fulfilled.

He pushed himself up on his elbows and started spitting the accumulation of sand he ate in eating it. Elizabeth was on floor, laughing her head off.

Chapter 28 - You Won't Get a Lemon

April 21st, 2001, Mt. Sac Relays

"Your marks weren't half-bad."

"Thanks, Dad," Liz replied in monotone. She pulled off her spikes and wiggled her toes. She despised spikes. They were not made for people with wide feet.

"I hate spikes, don't you?" Will said as he sat down and pulled them out of his bag.

Liz stood up, startled by his presence. He arched an eyebrow at her sudden movement, causing her to become even more nervous.

"Er, those are interesting spikes," she said, reaching for them. "They are...er, blue on one side and white on the other."

Will nodded in confusion. What in the world did she mean by that? "Sort of like yours," he said slowly, pointing at the one shoe still on her feet. "Red on one side and white on the other..."

"Yeah, neat, huh?" she said quickly before dropping the spike and turning away.

Coach Bennet began talking to Will, saving Elizabeth from further embarrassment. Or so she thought. Lucy Steele sauntered over with Carol Orange (and yes, it is meant to be a cheesy allusion, metaphor and symbol). They were both sprinters and jumpers for the Rosings team and though Lucy, usually staring at guys on the sideline, wasn't very good, Carol had always been competition. Long-legged, sporting a fake orange (yes, also a cheesy allusion, metaphor and symbol) tan, and never caught breaking a sweat, Carol was always out for a victory. Of any kind.

"Eliza," Carol said with a fake smile. "It's so good to see you."

"And your friend over there," Lucy added with a giggle.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. She hated it when Carol called her Eliza. How would she like it if she called her Car-O or Car or Arol or Stupid? Or Ugly or Rat-faced or...

While Liz was thinking of all the mean names she could possibly call Carol, the aforementioned Rosings duo found themselves occupied by the dashing sight of Will Darcy. They were disappointed, however, that their ostentatious display of their legs (which included the rolling of the shorts into the resemblance of Speedos) failed to capture his attention.

"Eliza."

Liz decided it was best not to acknowledge Carol.

"Eliza."

She held firm to that belief.

"Eliza," Carol continued to whine.

"What?!" she finally erupted.

"My goodness, Eliza, what's the matter with you?" She pursed her lips and added, "Your marks were better than usual today."

Liz narrowed her eyes. Why didn't Carol just add, Not as good as mine, to be sure, but still adequate. Oh, that was right...Carol couldn't say something like that because she probably didn't know what adequate meant.

"They weren't the best but I think they were suitable," she replied through gritted teeth.

"Suitable for third place. I got first, you know. Thirty-three, seven-and-a-half."

"Don't you have better things to do?" she snapped.

"Actually," Carol replied, licking her lips. "I do, but you'll have to introduce us."

"Excuse me?" Liz responded with a lift of her eyebrows. Anyone with eyes could see that Carol was eyeing Will like a hawk. But she wasn't about to make an introduction between her arch nemesis and her Will. Her Will? Oh crap...

As Liz collected her thoughts and tried to compose herself (despite the electricity that seemed to sizzle between herself and Will...okay, it was probably just body heat but her thoughts were not exactly coherent where he was concerned), Carol and Lucy made their own introductions.

"Are your legs tired?"

Carol frowned when he didn't reply. She repeated herself. He was still tying his shoe. Lucy finally cleared her throat and he looked up to find himself cornered by the two girls.

"Er, hello."

"I was just asking you if your legs were tired," Carol said with a sickly sweet smile.

"No, I haven't even raced yet."

"Oh, really? You've been racing through my mind all day."

Will and Liz grimaced simultaneously while Lucy interjected with, "But you just met him!"

Carol glared at her friend (and I use that term rather loosely) before returning her gaze to Will. "Don't you think it's time we've met?"

"Er, who are you?" asked a very confused Will.

"Carol Orange," she said, sitting in-between Liz and him. She held out her hand. To her surprise, he didn't take it. He merely looked at it and then, back at her.

"Hello." He then turned to Lucy and politely asked her for her name.

Lucy squealed with delight. Someone...some very hot one, as a matter of fact, overlooked Carol. Overlooked Carol and looked at her instead! Well, at the very least, we can allow her to think that. Will couldn't care less about either girl. They both seemed a little too silly and superficial for his taste. He bit the inside of his cheek as he thought of his girlfriend as he made his assessment of the pair. Not the type of association that one would want his or her significant other to make.

"I hear that you're Netherfield's leading man," Carol said as she put a hand on his thigh.

Will stood up with a grimace. "Not really. I mean, there's Richard and that's only the distance team we're talking about."

"Oh, I'm sure you're only being modest," Carol replied, also standing up now that he was.

Will didn't know what to do. He felt trapped. Or as though he was about to be set up in one.

Elizabeth, finding it funny that Will looked like a caged animal but sorry for him nonetheless, came to his rescue. "Will, shouldn't you be warming up about now?"

Will looked at Liz in confusion. His race didn't start for another two hours. "Um..."

"Oh, do you have to go already?" Carol whined.

"Yeah, we've just met you," Lucy added.

"Yes. I have to go," he responded mechanically.

"What event are you running? We'll be sure to cheer for you," Carol interjected.

"Er...I don't remember. But thanks." Will gave the Rosings girls the most apologetic look he could manage at the moment. (It looked like a grimace.) He smiled slightly at Liz, took off...and tripped over the bleachers and ran into the railing.

Liz grimaced while Lucy cried, "Oh, thank goodness it's not the face."

Before anyone could rush to his help, he signaled for them to stay where they were. "I'm alright," he managed before he ran off again, a little more cautious about where he was going.

"He's kind of a dork," Carol said with a pout.

"Sort of reminds you of Ed Ferrars," Lucy said dreamily.

Both Liz and Carol seized at the thought. Ed Ferrars was by no means a Will Darcy. They looked at each other with disgusted expressions contorting their features. Then, realizing that they actually agreed with one another on a subject, they turned and ran away from each other with a little shriek.

Liz happened to run and shriek straight into Hazel Lee.

Taking her by the shoulders, Haze put a halt to Liz's frantic behavior. "What are you doing?"

"I don't know how it happened. I just don't know! But...I came into agreement with Carol Orange," Liz whimpered.

"What?!"

"I know!" Liz whined.

"This calls for some serious junk food."

"7-Eleven?"

"Of course," Hazel replied, giving her friend a comforting hug.

"Can I have the Super Big Bite?" Liz asked the man behind the counter.

"I'll just have the regular, thanks," Hazel added before turning to her friend. "Do you want to head back right now or just sit on the curb and eat?"

"Though I enjoy taunting everyone who hasn't finished their events, maybe we can scarf them down right now and then watch the rest of the meet. I want to cheer Kitty on. I can't believe you guys managed to convert her into a distance runner," Liz said, shaking her head.

"Well, you have to admit, there are a lot of incentives for a young girl in the world of long distance. James Wallace, Richard Fitzwilliam, Charles Bingley, John Willoughby-"

"John Willoughby?!" cried an appalled Elizabeth.

"What about John Willoughby?" Hazel asked as she selected relish for her hot dog.

"You just implied that John was...well, worth something."

"Did I?" replied an equally horrified Hazel. She ate some relish to calm herself down. "I must have started naming the entire team. I think I need to add some cheese to this. Cheese always help."

The girls commenced piling on various condiments and animal lard onto their animal lard...er, hot dogs. Hazel sprinkled on onions and added a strip of cheese. She grabbed packets of ketchup and mustard and stuffed tomatoes and relish into the side of the bun. Liz simply drowned her hot dog in cheese and chili before grabbing random items and completing her masterpiece. Forks and plenty of napkins in hand, they paid for their food and sat down to eat it in a way that paid ample tribute to shot putters.

After they were finished, they bought slurpies and returned to the meet. They watched Kitty run the mile at a respectable time of 6:03. Jane finished in third place at 5:36, her times improving as her time away from Chaz increased. After the girls completed their cool-down, they joined Liz and Haze on the sideline.

"Oooh, slurpies!" Kitty squealed, grabbing the refreshment from Liz's hand.

"Your welcome," she said with a wry smile.

"What flavor is this?"

"The yellow is banana, the red is cherry, the blue is blueberry, I think, and that brown stuff is Coke," Elizabeth replied as she pointed at the swirl of colors.

"Coke, as in Coca-Cola?"

"Yeah, Coke as in Coca-Cola."

"Ewww...." Kitty nearly tossed the drink back to Liz before she spit the offensive soda slush on the ground.

"Oh, c'mon," Liz lamented before rolling her eyes in Jane's direction. "Don't tell me you got her into this too!"

"Got her into what? Not drinking soda?" Jane frowned at her cousin. "You know, you should try it yourself. You're not missing much and it's good for you. Who needs the extra caffeine?"

Liz arched an eyebrow. "Are you actually lecturing me on my daily intake of caffeine? If I remember correctly, you visit Starbucks...how many times a day?"

"That doesn't mean I always buy a white chocolate mocha frappuccino with a shot of espresso and extra whipped cream every time I go in there," Jane shot back. "There happens to be a guy who works there..."

Hazel nodded, not really interested in the conversation. She liked the different colors that would present itself every time she spit.

When Liz finally noticed that Hazel would drink her slurppie to the brink of a painful brain-freeze like any normal adolescent but then, spit it on the floor, she queried (not merely asked but actually, made a query, showing her avid interest or perhaps fulfilling a morbid curiosity because with Hazel Lee, it was always morbid curiosity), "What are you doing?"

"Spitting," Haze replied matter-of-factly.

"But why?"

"What color do you think I'll spit out next?"

"I don't know!" Liz exclaimed.

"Exactly! Neither do I. It's a mystery every time."

"Can't you taste it?" Kitty asked in confusion. Kitty knew that Hazel was well...but she really didn't know.

"Well..." she began before Will bumped into her.

"Sorry," he muttered, pushing through them.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He had a bad race," Kitty replied with a shrug.

"A bad race?!" Jane snorted. "He had a horrendous race. I don't know what happened but I think you guys," she continued, turning to Liz and Hazel, "missed the burn-out of the century."

Hazel paused in mid-spit and pulled up to wipe her mouth with a sleeve. "What?"

"2:19."

"What?!"

"That's what everyone has been saying. You should've seen the look on Catherine de Bourg's face. I wanted to slap that smug-"

Elizabeth did not hear the rest of Jane's speech. William Andrew Darcy was walking away at an angry pace and she intended to follow him.

Chapter 29 - At the Stars

Posted On: Sunday, 26 January 2003, at 12:56 p.m.

Will considered himself a cross-country runner at heart. He was a good track runner, a better track runner than a cross-country runner perhaps, but he never considered track as anything more than training for the next season of true distance running. But it still hurt. It hurt to know that poor performance could mean poor performance later, and it hurt to know that all the effort that he put into running was all for naught. Not to mention his knee felt like it had been hit was a sledgehammer.

He grabbed his bag from the stands, ignoring words of comfort and obligatory 'good job's, and headed out of the stadium. He passed by the trainer and got a bag of ice. He could've gone home; his Mustang was across the street, in the lot but he turned left instead. He walked along the curb, and turned down a badly paved road. It led to one of the toughest courses in the nation, the legendary Mt. Sac course.

He walked to the intersection of two major marks on the course: the base of a steep 200 incline known as Poop Out and the bottom of Reservoir, which denoted the final 800 meters left in the race. He began jogging up the back of Reservoir despite the pain it inflicted upon his knee. He favored his left leg because of it and leaned to his left as he collapsed at the crest of the hill.

Rolling up his pants from the ankle cuff, he exposed a shapely leg (yes, the authoress realizes that shapely isn't the conventional terminology when one refers to a man's leg but she's just trying to be funny). He placed the ice over his knee and pulled out his headphones.

Standing in the rain, a broken window pane
The raindrops fall upon my head
Nothing left to do, repetition's turned me blue
And all my thoughts are dead

Will wanted to forget everything at the moment, especially the race. But he couldn't help thinking about it, thinking that if he pushed himself harder, through the pain, through the... He laid on his back and looked at the darkening sky.

I can see for miles in every direction
I can see your hell in your reflection

Elizabeth kicked Will lightly. He sat up in surprise and pulled off his headphones.

"Hey, there," she said with a nervous smile.

"Hi," Will responded, trying to give her his most winning smile but failing.

"Sorry I missed your race," she began as she took a seat next him.

"Glad that you did," Will muttered.

A tense silence ensued. Elizabeth started drawing patterns in the dirt. In her peripheral vision, she saw Will pulling his headphones back up.

"What are you listening to?"

Will grinned. "Guess."

Elizabeth shook her head, refusing to make a fool of herself by trying to solve the mystery that was William Darcy.

He poked her. "Guess." When she shook her head again, he poked her again. "It's an easy one."

"I don't know!" Elizabeth cried in consternation. "RX Bandits?"

Will smiled and handed her headphones over to her.

I can see you with your back to the wall
I will be there when you finally fall
Nothing witty seems to come to mind
You can't weasel out this time
I can see you with your back to the wall
Cornered with your back to the wall

"Cornered," Elizabeth said proudly.

"It's one of my favorite songs."

She was about to agree with him but stopped herself. What am I? His shadow? "I prefer What If."

"Noted," he said with a grin that faded quickly. "You're missing the end of the meet."

"You've been having a lot of problems with your knee," she countered softly.

"It's serviceable." He made a show of bending it, hoping she didn't hear the cracking of his kneecap. "See?"

"You're a really good runner, Will. You should take care of that knee."

"Sometimes you need to make sacrifices for what you want," Will said, standing up. He offered her a hand, smiling down at her and cracked, "Sorry. I didn't mean to sound so trite."

She placed her hand in his and smiled. "I actually love clichés. It's sort of a guilty pleasure."

"Guilty pleasure?"

"Hey, don't laugh! I just bared a part of my soul to you."

"Did you? Then I'll refrain from laughing but I have to admit that your soul humors me."

"My soul humors you?" she replied in a mixture of confusion and amusement.

"Indeed it does, so don't be embarrassed about your guilty pleasure. It...brings light into my world."

"Was that supposed to be a cliché?" Elizabeth laughed.

"I don't know," Will said with a shake of his head. "How about I try again?"

"Okay, go for it." Elizabeth crossed her arms over her chest and arched her eyebrows at him.

"You don't think I can do it," William accused.

"I'm just waiting to be completely 'wowed' by your cliché. C'mon, William Andrew Darcy, wow me with your triteness."

William grinned and stepped closer to her. Elizabeth almost stepped back but decided to retain her position. Why should she be scare of him anyway? Just because the mere sight of him made her uneasy. Just because she wanted to run away from him as much as she wanted to run straight into his arms. Just because...

"Yours eyes are beautiful."

Elizabeth almost averted her gaze but she was somehow mesmerized by his dark eyes. "Is that it?" she replied, hoping that her voice didn't sound as shaky as the rest of her. "Is that the best you can do?"

"They're as clear as the night sky, but you can't read them. You can see the stars twinkling in that dark blanket but you don't really understand it but it's incredible to see them light up anyway," he continued without really thinking about what he was saying. "Are those stars your soul shining through?"

"I don't think I've heard that one before," Elizabeth breathed. She looked at the floor. "I'm not saying that I don't like it...I mean, I like it...I mean, it was good. Real good..."

"Liz?"

"Yeah."

"Was there ever something you really wanted to do but knew you shouldn't?"

"Of course."

"What do you really want to do right now but you know..."

"Uh..." Elizabeth knew what she wanted to but she shouldn't do. She felt it. But she wouldn't allow herself to acknowledge it. She couldn't. She allowed her mind to go into a blank. It was the safest thing to do. Utter blank. Utter blank. "Utter blank."

"Excuse me?"

"Uh..." Did I just say 'utter blank' out loud?

"Liz..." Will paused. He really shouldn't. He really shouldn't. "I want to...."

"Yes?"

"I would really like to..."

"Uh huh?" she asked eagerly.

"Run down this hill at full speed and scream. And maybe at the end of it, tumble down. Just let myself fall and lie at the bottom of it."

"Oh..." That was certainly not what she expected. There was a moment, wasn't there? Elizabeth stared at him. There was a moment! Or was it just her? "There was a moment," she asserted quietly to herself.

"Yeah..."

"Excuse me?" Elizabeth's unfocused gaze at Will snapped into a more clarified view of the guy in front of her. He was grinning slightly, almost sadly really.

"Are you going to let me embarrass myself alone?" he asked quietly.

"Um, no..." Elizabeth replied, not entirely following their conversation.

Only after he grabbed her hand and began running down the hill did she understand what he was doing. She tried to resist but he was holding her tightly, practically dragging her with him, and already screaming at the top of his lungs. Elizabeth gave up and joined him. They ran as fast as they could and at the last turn, they tumbled down the dirt and at the base, laid there for a moment before laughter enveloped them completely.

"You're an idiot!" Elizabeth screamed as she playfully hit him.

"Shhhh!!" he said, still shaking with laughter. "Just stop."

"What?"

"Just stop and look at the stars," he said, looking into her eyes. "Aren't they beautiful?"