Pride and Prejudice and Teenagers.

Chapter 11.

"How much longer?" Lydia moans, falling onto her bottom on the floor. I stand, hands on my hips, staring down at my sister.

"Lydia, get off the grass, it'll be here in a minute." I remind her, rolling my eyes and offering her my hand to pull her up. We've only been waiting for the cab for ten minutes or so. When she grabs my hand to get up, she ends up pulling me too hard and makes me fall over. I burst into giggles as we swap places, her standing over me whilst I lay in the grass. I'm more sober than her but I'm still tipsy.

I stare up at the night sky for a moment, appreciating the barely-visible stars as they glisten down at me. A shadow suddenly falls over my face and I blink a few times. A hand stretches out over my face and I take it.

"Will?" I find myself asking.

"Um, no. Not quite." An awkward voice asks. I take the hand and allow myself to stand up, my vision clearing as I recognise the face to belong to Colin. I look to my left and see Beth and Lydia standing in the doorway of the house and staring at us.

"What's up Colin?" I ask.

He forces a chuckle and rubs the back of his neck. I notice that we're almost the same height, and I'm usually considered short. "I wouldn't have usually asked, but I guess you could say I had some persuasion." He admits, looking at the doorway where Beth previously stood. Conveniently, she isn't there anymore. "So, what I wanted to ask, was-"

"If Beth put you up to this I don't think it'd be a good idea to-"

"Well admittedly she did persuade me, but she isn't the only reason I'm asking... You see, I've been watching you over the past few days, and I think I'm really starting to like you. You're smart, modest, witty-"

"Thanks Colin but-"

"Maybe a little too modest. Anyway, back to what I was saying. I've never really liked a girl before. Or had a girlfriend. And I was talking to Cathy the other day, and she thinks I'm in a really good place to have one, so I guess you could say I've been looking for one. And in looking, I saw you. I'd really like to get to know you better Elizabeth. Cathy would be very impressed if I brought you to see her." I'm dumbfounded by his words, and trying my hardest not to laugh at him. In doing so, I miss my opportunity to stop him from stepping closer to me. I only notice what he's doing when I feel one of his hands touch my neck. "You're very special, Elizabeth." he says, and suddenly swoops down, catching me off guard. Luckily, I manage to escape his lips, meaning they only hit my cheek. I feel my cheeks inflame immediately and not knowing what to do, I leap back and slap him in the face.

My eyes dart around, looking anywhere but at him so I can't see the humiliation I've just pinned onto his face. My eyes fall behind his shoulder, where I see in the doorway Beth and Lydia. Beth is grinning and Lydia looks confused, along with the person behind her. Will's face is twisted. I realise to the three of them, it must have looked like I just made out with Colin because of the way we're standing. Beth's face implies she's immensely pleased, presumably because she thinks Colin just took my first kiss. Luckily for me, he didn't - but Beth would see this as unlucky if she knew the truth.

I don't know whether to be more embarrassed or angered. I'm angry at Beth, embarrassed by Colin and scared of what Lydia is going to say. But most of all, I feel humiliated, there's something in the eyes of Will that makes me feel ashamed, like I've done something wrong. Sure, if I had kissed Colin it would have been weird, but it's nothing to do with Will if I had. He has no right to look down on me - so why am I feeling so ashamed in front of his gaze?

Perhaps it's because I hate him and I don't want to have any weaknesses in front of my enemy. Maybe it's because I'm scared he'll somehow ruin my life with the click of his finger like he did with George. Either way, when I hear the taxi pull up and honk from behind me, I turn around and practically sprint to the cab. I hear someone call out my name, but I don't know or care who it is.