Prom and Prejudice

"I still can't believe a Longbourn girl has agreed to be seen with me in public," he said after I'd told him more about life back home in Hoboken, and the switch to Longbourn. "The prima donna police have probably sent out a search party."

"Not likely. They're probably changing the locks as we speak."

"Still" -- he gave me a smile that made my stomach flip -- "you're a brave one."

"Believe me, the bravest thing I'll be doing this evening is entering my dorm. The goal is to try to get back to my room without someone throwing something in my face. But you're all too familiar with the treatment of our kind."

Wick played with the wrapper of his straw. "Actually, things weren't that bad for me at Pemberley."

"Really?"

For the first time since I'd met him, I didn't know whether or not to believe him. I couldn't comprehend that the guys at Pemberley would have any compassion for people like us.

"Really. I even had friends, if you can imagine that."

"Wow, that's impressive. I have Jane and Charlotte, but that's it. Jane is always trying to get me to go out more, but every time I do, the evening ends in either bodily or emotional harm. She's pretty relentless, though. I've already agreed to go to this party on Saturday night, despite my better judgment."

"Charles Bingley's party?"

I was surprised. "Yes -- how did you know about that?"

"You don't give us townies enough credit. We find out about the parties, and a few of us usually crash. With all the students around, nobody seems to notice."

"Please tell me you're going to come on Saturday." I tried to hide any hint of desperation in my voice. Having Wick there would make it bearable. Plus, I wanted to spend more time with him.

"Now you've put me in a tough spot. If you're going to be there, how could I not show up?" Wick smiled at me, but then his smile faded. "Sadly, I have a feeling someone else will be there, and there's no way I'd be welcome." Wick hesitated. "There's something I want you to know, and I want you to hear it from me."

"Okay ..." I leaned in.

"It's about why I got kicked out of Pemberley."

"Wick, you don't need to --"

"Yes, I do. I'm surprised people haven't started trying to turn you against me yet."

I hadn't really told anybody about Wick. Jane knew I'd met someone from town, but I hadn't told her he was a former Pemberley student. I didn't know why, but I wanted to keep Wick to myself.

"I don't care what anybody thinks of you," I told him now. "You should realize that I would know better than to believe anything anybody at Longbourn or Pemberley would say to me."

Wick nodded. "I'm so thankful my caffeine habit brought you into my life."

What a clear, powerful emotion -- thankfulness. It hadn't occurred to me in a long time that I could be someone that another person would be thankful for. Not for anything I'd done or said, but simply for who I was, and who I had the potential to be. After spending the school year in a world of torture (at worst) and indifference (at best), to have such open thankfulness expressed to me gave me something I hadn't felt in a long time: hope. Maybe this semester was going to be good after all.

"Okay." Wick took a deep breath. "Here's the story. I started last year as a sophomore. Met a lot of cool people, and the fact that I was a scholarship student wasn't an issue. I knew a lot about the students at Pemberley from being a townie, and Darcy and his family's reputation preceded him. I was looking forward to meeting the infamous William Darcy and we hit it off really well. We were friends from the moment we met.

"Darcy took me under his wing. It was only a few weeks into the semester, and he brought me into the city to meet his family. I fell in love with them. His dad is this incredible man, which is why I don't like saying anything bad about Darcy, because his father is a kind, generous person. He even arranged for me to have a summer job last year at his law firm. That would have set me up -- not only with a way to earn money, but to get experience that would have been amazing on my college transcript. Things were going well for me. And Darcy couldn't take it. He loved having me under his wing, having some sort of control over me. But he didn't like seeing me fly by myself, making things happen without his influence. He became increasingly competitive with me. And when he thought he might lose, he stabbed me in the back. Before I knew what was happening, I was being escorted off campus."

I gasped. "Darcy got you kicked out of Pemberley?"

Wick nodded, the color draining from his face.

"I don't believe it. How could anybody be so awful?" A knot formed in my stomach. "Why would he do that?"