FALLEN ─ marvel

V. A Jane Austen Complex

Chapter Five
Josephine

Aunt Shuri has outdone herself. The ceremony hall is decked out in white and gold balloons and streamers, with holograms projecting the night sky on the ceiling, illuminating the dance floor better than any disco ball could. Aunt Shuri is obviously handling the music, which mostly consists of pop music. Our whole family has very strong opinions about what genre of music is the best and argue about it often, but Baba doesn't have a favorite, he just listens to whatever we do. He's dancing with Dad to a Katy Perry song right now, which I requested, she's my favorite. Stevie, like me, loves a mix of pop, dance, and rap music, but the rest of our family doesn't have a particular taste for it. But despite that, everyone is on the dance floor, even Aunt Soroya and Uncle Bucky, who still listen the music made a hundred years ago.

I'm currently eating a piece of the chocolate cake, which is absolutely delicious. Next to me is Livy, who is drinking some wine. Since she lives in America she can't drink because the legal drinking age is twenty one, but here it's eighteen. This is her third cup. I have a few ideas about why she's drinking so much.

"If I didn't know you better I would say you were trying to get drunk." I comment.

Livy gestures to the celebration going on around us. "It's a party, you're supposed to get drunk."

"Could it be because of Zy's girlfriend?"

Livy glares at me, taking another sip of her drink. We all met Jennifer half an hour ago. She's a tan, blonde haired, doe eyed business major from Florida tech. She's pretty nice, but that doesn't really matter when it comes to Livy. Though she will deny it, Livy never likes the people Zy dates. That's only one of the indicators that Livy is in love with Zy, she also stares longingly at him, gets flushed whenever he touches her, and gets very defensive whenever I bring this topic up. He's the same way.

They both have been getting very annoyed with my attempts to get them to admit their feelings for each other, but someone has to push them together or else they'll never act on their feelings. Livy is clearly in denial about loving Zy, so she acts like she's okay with his relationships when she clearly isn't. Zy isn't in denial, I can tell he's excepted his feelings. But since Livy is denying her feelings, he dates all these people to get over her, and her insistence on being okay with these relationships, makes him think she doesn't feel the same way, even though she clearly does. Those two have the emotional connection and history of Fanny Price and Edmund Bertram, with the stubbornness of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. With a complex web of feelings like they have, it's no wonder they haven't admitted how they feel. I'm trying to change that.

Livy finishes her drink and shakes her head. "You're really being a pain in the ass. Stop harping on this delusion of yours."

"Oh come on, I'm not stupid. Everyone can see how you two feel about each other, the question is why don't you? Why are you in denial?"

Livy's frustration reaches a new level. "Knock it off, Jo. And don't you even think about setting me up with someone."

"I was never going to, I just said that to get a reaction out of Zy and I did. He's in love with you, Livy, and you're in love with him. Stop being afraid and tell him how you feel." I plead.

Livy slams her empty cup down on the food table and stalks off, disappearing into the crowd. I hope that her agitation turns into action, sometimes that's all someone needs: a push. It's what Elizabeth Bennet needed, and its what Livy needed.