Prom & Prejudice

by Elizabeth Eulberg

  "How can you be so thoughtful to someone who has been so unkind?"

  Will opened his mouth to speak, but we were interrupted.

  "Will?" Georgiana came out onto the roof. "Did you ask?" she said meekly as she leaned against his arm.

  He nodded. Georgiana looked like she was going to explode from happiness.

  "Can we come tomorrow?" she asked.

  "Georgie ..." Darcy elbowed her gently. "Be polite."

  "No, it's fine," I said. "Tomorrow works. You know what? You should take the ferry over. It's really pretty although it's ... actually, nothing. The ferry would be fun."

  I almost mentioned that the ferry was nearly four times more expensive than the train or bus to Hoboken, but realized that it probably wouldn't be an issue for them.

  After we figured out our plans for the next day, we said our good-byes. I still had trouble speaking to his mother, Claudia Reynolds, and tried my best to not completely gush again at her brilliance.

  As Mom and I headed to Port Authority to get the bus home, she grabbed my hand, like she used to do when I was little and we were visiting Manhattan.

  "Elizabeth, that was such an amazing evening. That Will is charming and very handsome. Why haven't you mentioned him before?"

  I tried to not laugh as I certainly had mentioned Will several times to my mother, but never by his proper name. Instead she'd heard the many names I'd given him, like "vile human being" and "pompous jerk."

  Now I lied. "I didn't really know him that well -- at least, not as well as I do now."

  It was only later, as I sat with that thought, that I realized that it wasn't really a lie, after all. It was the absolute truth.

  25.

  I WAS EXTREMELY ANXIOUS THE NEXT DAY AS I WATCHED THE ferry carrying Darcy and Georgiana dock at the 14th Street pier in Hoboken.

  Our greeting was a little awkward. I received a big hug from Georgiana, but when Darcy and I looked at each other, it wasn't clear whether we should shake hands, hug, or something else. So we simply nodded at each other. I'm pretty sure I heard Georgie sigh under her breath.

  I took them on a walking tour of Hoboken. We headed along the waterfront and viewed the Manhattan skyline.

  Georgie took out her phone. "I want to take a picture of you two." She held up her phone and motioned for us to get together.

  Darcy and I lined up against the railing. "No, I need you closer together to get you both in the photo," she instructed.

  I had taken countless pictures on the waterfront and I knew that if you were getting the skyline in the background, you didn't need to be that close.

  Darcy put his arm around my shoulder and we leaned in. I slipped my arm around his waist and noticed how easily I fit into the little nook in his side.

  "Oh, hold on, I'm having problems." Georgie played with her phone for a few moments while we just stood there in our posed embrace.

  "Georgie ..."

  She looked up at her brother and blushed. "Um, I think it works now."

  I felt Darcy's body begin shaking slightly and looked up to discover he was laughing. He leaned in and whispered, "She's very well meaning, if not subtle."

  My cheeks began to burn from the embarrassment. I decided to distract them (and myself) by talking endlessly about the history of Hoboken -- Frank Sinatra, On the Waterfront, anything that sprang in my mind while we walked around.

  We grabbed sandwiches at Vito's Deli and cupcakes at Sweet, then grabbed a picnic bench in Church Square Park. Georgie grilled me relentlessly about my music history, where I practiced, where I want to go to college.

  I turned the tables on her and brought up her own classes and music. "Why aren't you at Longbourn?" I asked.

  Her face fell. "I want to stay closer to home."

  I was horrified that I might have brought up a painful subject. It wouldn't be surprising that she didn't want to go to Longbourn, especially since Wick was a local.

  "Oh, well, there's one person here who hasn't gotten a grilling yet." I tried to salvage the conversation by turning the attention to Darcy. "Are you prepared for the third degree?" I challenged him.

  "I'll tell you whatever you want to know," Georgie offered.

  "Fabulous," Darcy deadpanned.

  "Okay, okay." There was so much that I wanted to know but was too afraid to ask, especially in front of him. "Most embarrassing Will moment."

  Darcy groaned while Georgie clapped her hands. "That one's so easy!"

  "Don't you dare," he warned her. "The river is close by and I would have no problem throwing you in."

  She studied him for a moment. "I can swim," she stated, then turned to me. "Will used to have the greatest voice. He would sing in all these choirs and have solos."

  Darcy put his head on the picnic table.

  "Then one day," she continued, "his voice started changing in the middle of a solo during a Christmas recital at Lincoln Center."

  "You sang at Lincoln Center?"

  Darcy looked up from the table. "I don't think you could really call what I did singing."

  Georgie was giggling. "It was so awful. He just kept trying to sing and then a huge squeak would come out."

  "Okay, thank you." He swatted at her. "Now you have to say something nice about me to make up for that."

  Georgie didn't even hesitate. "He's the best brother in the world. He's always been there for me. Always. And ..." She looked at the ground.

  A knowing silence fell over the table. It was only broken by my cell phone's ringtone. I apologized while I reached for it and saw it was Jane. I walked away from the table as I picked up.

  "Lizzie?" I could instantly tell from the sound of her voice that something was wrong. "I don't know what to do. I need your help."

  "Of course. What is it?"

  Her voice was winded. "I can't find Lydia. She left a few hours ago, and the one time she picked up the phone she said she was with Wick and that she was sick of being treated like a child and was going to have some real fun. I have a really bad feeling about this. She isn't answering her phone. I know you said he can't be trusted, and I'm really worried about her."

  I'd never given Jane the full details of what Wick was capable of, and I started cursing myself for not having been firmer about Lydia's obsession with Wick.

  "I'm heading into the city now. Just keep trying her and tell her that she cannot trust him."

  I turned around and was startled that Darcy was right in front of me. "Is everything okay?"

  I glanced over at Georgie and kept my voice down. "No, things are not okay. It's Jane's sister, Lydia. She's gone missing ... with Wick."

  Darcy instantly tensed at the sound of his name. He clenched his jaw and straightened up his back. The calm, relaxed manner was gone, and the Darcy that I first met seemed to be back.

  "This is all my fault," I said.

  "Your fault?" Darcy pulled out his cell phone. "No, this isn't your fault. It's my fault."

  "But if it wasn't for me, Lydia would've never met him."

  Darcy's voice was very controlled, almost too controlled. "No, we should have put him away...." He glanced over at Georgie.

  "I have to go into the city. I don't really know what I can do, but I really need to be there for Jane."

  He nodded. "Let me talk to Georgie. I want to help you."

  "You really don't --"

  He cut me off. "Don't be silly."

  Darcy leaned down to his sister and whispered something into her ear. I didn't know what he said at the time, but she responded in a positive way. So I had to assume she had no idea Wick was involved.

  We quickly walked to the train station, and the short ride into the city felt like an eternity. I wasn't a good enough actress to pretend that I wasn't nervous, so I kept asking Georgie questions so I wouldn't be forced to lie about anything.

  When the train pulled up to the first stop at Christopher Street, we all got out. Darcy flagged down a taxi and put Georgie into it. "Have fun!" she exclaimed as the cab pu
lled away.

  "What exactly did you tell her we were doing?" I asked.

  Darcy hesitated. "I don't think you will be happy to hear this, but I figured the only thing I could think of that wouldn't have made her want to come along or get her suspicious was to tell her that we were going on a date." He flagged down another cab and we got inside.

  As we headed toward Jane's family's apartment in Tribeca, I studied him. He was so tense. I could tell that anger was bubbling up inside of him.

  "I'm so sorry," I said. "Darcy, I'm so sorry that I've brought him into your life again. I didn't know...."

  He stared straight ahead. "How could you know? I should have done something. It isn't your fault."

  "But I believed him. I thought he was like me. I was so stubborn and thought that we were similar, with the whole scholarship thing."

  Darcy handed the taxi driver the fare as we arrived at Jane's. Before he got out, he looked at me.

  "Lizzie," he said, "you are nothing like George Wickham."

  26.

  JANE WAS IN HYSTERICS WHEN SHE OPENED THE DOOR. BUT IT didn't take her that long to realize that I came with a guest. "Darcy?" she said in between sobs, glancing between the two of us.

  Darcy took over, asking Jane where Lydia was last, what she had said, where she liked to hang out. Then he did probably the hardest thing -- he told Jane the truth about Wick.

  I looked down at the floor when he recounted the story he had e-mailed me. He kept control of his voice, but the one time I dared to look up, his hands were balled up in fists.

  "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you this sooner," he said to Jane. "But the only reason I'm telling you this now is not to make you feel worse, but for you to understand what we have to do next."

  Jane and I were both confused.

  "We have to call around to hotels to see if they checked in anywhere."

  "What?" Jane exclaimed. "She's fourteen years old!"

  "Does she have a credit card?"

  "Of course."

  He studied me for a second. "Lizzie, I need you to start calling hotels."

  "Like the Waldorf?" I had never stayed at a hotel in the city in my life. There were thousands of hotels, and I had no idea where to start.

  "No, Wick would want the trendiest hotels." He thought for a second and then rattled off about a dozen hotel names to me. I grabbed a pen and paper out of my purse and started writing them down.

  "I have a phone call to make, excuse me." Darcy exited to the kitchen.

  I got the phone numbers for the hotels and started calling them one by one. First asking for Lydia, then Wick. Nothing. I was distracted watching Jane repeatedly try to call Lydia. When the fourth hotel operator said, "One moment, please," and then the line started to ring, it took me a second to realize what was happening.

  "Darcy!"

  Darcy came running out of the kitchen right when Wick picked up the phone.

  "This better be about why our room service is taking so long," Wick slurred on the other end of my phone, loud enough for all of us to hear it.

  Darcy grabbed the receiver. "I'm just calling to confirm the room number, sir," he said in an unrecognizable voice.

  "What? Didn't you just call the room? How can you call a room and not know the room number? Didn't you have to dial room four two seven?"

  Darcy quickly hung up. "I don't think you guys should come," he told us. "I can handle this on my own."

  Of course, Jane and I ignored him and followed him out the door. Darcy didn't protest, he just sat in the front of the taxi and was on his cell phone the entire time.

  Jane was practically shaking. "I can't believe how irresponsible Lydia is. They are clearly drunk, and she has the nerve to use her credit card to get an expensive hotel room to do who knows what. I'm the worst sister on earth!"

  "Jane, how is any of this your fault? Lydia should know better."

  She leaned back in the seat and put her hands over her face. "And here I thought everything was going to be okay, now that I was with Charles. Of course I couldn't be that lucky." I'm sure it didn't help that Charles was away with his family in Greece for the break.

  We pulled up to the hotel and none of us waited for the bellman to open up the door. We hurried inside and a tall, muscular gentleman in all black approached Darcy.

  "We can't gain access to the guest room floors without a key card. I didn't want to call security until you arrived."

  "Security?" Jane was panicked.

  "I'll handle this," Darcy assured us. He walked to the front counter and spoke to a manager. The guy stood guard near us, but didn't speak a word.

  "Let's go." Darcy motioned us toward the elevator. He slid a room key into the elevator and pressed the button for the fourth floor.

  "How did you get a key?" Jane asked.

  Darcy ignored her. I could tell that he was trying to control himself. When the door opened to the fourth floor, he blocked the elevator door with his arm.

  "We need to do this my way. You guys stay outside and I'll get Lydia to you. Let me handle Wick."

  We approached room 427 and could hear blaring music coming from inside before we even rounded the corner. The man in black leaned against the wall next to the door and folded his arms. Darcy guided me and Jane to the other side of the door.

  He tapped on the door. "Room service," he called out.

  There was giggling coming from inside.

  Wick's voice came from the other side of the door. "Did you forget something, because you were just here...." The door swung open and Wick stopped in his tracks when he came face-to-face with Darcy. Wick's shirt was unbuttoned, his face unshaven, his hair a complete mess. His eyes were bloodshot and swollen.

  Darcy pushed Wick to the side and entered the room. I instinctively followed him, even though he'd told me not to.

  The room was in shambles. There was an empty champagne bottle on the coffee table and an open, nearly empty bottle of wine next to it.

  "What the hell do you want, Will?" Wick stumbled as he backed into a couch.

  "Lydia?" Darcy called out.

  Jane ran into the room and grabbed her stomach as she took in the scene.

  We heard moaning from the side of the couch. Jane ran over and found Lydia nearly passed out on the floor. It looked like she was about to be sick.

  When Lydia looked up to see what the noise was about she smirked at her sister. "You're not the only one with a boyfriend." She hiccuped. "You think I'm such a child, but look at me. Fancy hotel room, hot boyfriend, champagne."

  "See." Wick moved toward Lydia. "She's fine. We were just having some fun, blowing off some steam. No need to call the trust-fund police --"

  It all happened so fast that I didn't even realize what was going on at first. Darcy grabbed Wick by his shirt and threw him up against the wall.

  The man in black entered the room and stood at attention. I wanted him to get between the two of them. I was scared for Darcy.

  "Get off me, Will." Wick tried to push Darcy off him, but he wasn't moving.

  "Jane," Darcy said evenly. "Get Lydia out of here. Take her to my room."

  The man in black handed Jane a key. I helped Jane pull Lydia up from the floor. Her body was limp and she smelled of alcohol. Lydia groaned and tried to push us away, but she didn't have the strength or motor skills to fight us off. "I don't want to leave. I want to party. Why do you have to ruin everything for me?"

  "Shut up, Lydia!" Jane screamed at her.

  Lydia, shocked from Jane raising her voice, stood up, and tried to gather herself. (Even I was a little frightened in that moment -- Jane yelling was more jarring than Darcy having Wick pinned against a wall.)

  "Come on." Jane pulled Lydia from the room.

  I found myself frozen. I knew I should've followed Jane, but I was too scared to leave Darcy alone with Wick.

  "Typical Will, coming in and ruining my fun," Wick said, a slow smile starting to spread across his lips. "You never seem to approve of my girlfriends
, do you, Will? It's just like the last time you got in the way. That one loved me almost as much as this one. What can I say? I seem to have a way with the ladies."

  Darcy threw Wick on the floor. He landed with a thud.

  "Don't you dare ever talk about my sister that way." Darcy was shaking. "Wick, I'd like you to meet someone. This is Mr. Meryton. He's head of security for my father's firm." He motioned toward the gentleman, who had remained silent and at attention this entire time. "He's already familiar with your work."

  Wick looked up with such hatred in his eyes.

  Darcy continued. "He's going to be taking you to his office to go over with you what your very limited options are. He's also going to be discussing the various restraining orders that will be issued on behalf of my family, Jane's family, and Lizzie."

  Wick got up from the floor so that he and Darcy were only inches from each other.

  "Typical Will, hiding behind Daddy's money." Wick sneered.

  Darcy leaned in closer. "No, I made the mistake of hiding last time. Now we're doing this out in public, and you're not going to have anywhere to hide. Everybody will know what kind of person you really are."

  Darcy left Wick speechless as he pulled Mr. Meryton aside and started giving him instructions.

  Wick, who was a complete mess, swayed back and forth. He looked over at me, perhaps realizing for the first time that I was in the room.

  "Lizzie, how could you? Will Darcy, of all people. You even said yourself that he's a spoiled snob, right?"

  I froze, horrified that Darcy had heard it, and repulsed with myself for not only thinking that of him, but saying that to Wick.

  Wick approached me. "He thinks he's so much better than us."

  "Don't lump me in with you."

  "So you finally learned what I've been trying to tell you. These people aren't really worth anything, except what you can get from them. The funny thing, Will's sister wasn't even worth it." He chuckled slightly.

  Something in me snapped. I stood there and watched this horrible person make fun of taking advantage of Darcy's sister.

  He grabbed my arm. "I knew it was only a matter of time before you saw things my way. Don't stand here and pretend that you're better than me. You want in on the game, too, don't you? You know that it's not enough to play the piano. You're at Longbourn because you want to play the best pianos in the best places. That's nothing to be ashamed of. But you're fooling yourself if you think that you can get by on talent alone. You need connections. Talent and connections. You've got the talent part, but do you have it in you to get those connections, no matter the cost?"