Prom and Prejudice

What made it even worse was that Valentine's Day was approaching. And if there was anything more annoying than a Longbourn girl obsessing over prom, it was a Longbourn girl freaking out over Valentine's Day. Especially since I'd found out that Valentine's Day was the most popular day for Pemberley boys to ask Longbourn girls to prom.

It was bad enough to see the red balloons and heart signs sprouting up in town and infiltrating campus. I was trying to shield Jane from all the puppy love as much as possible. That night, I even volunteered to run to the dining hall to grab us dinner, for fear they'd be serving a red meal on heart-shaped plates. I ran into Charlotte on the way there.

"Oh, hi." She seemed unnerved to see me. "Heading to dinner?"

As we walked down the staircase, I saw Colin waiting in the entrance hall. "Oh, no. What does he want? Can he not take a hint?"

"Lizzie." Charlotte slowed down. "He's here for me."

"Oh." I tried to not sound so shocked.

"I didn't know when to tell you, but I'm going to prom with Colin."

I laughed. "Are you joking?"

Charlotte's face fell. "No, I'm not. Are you shocked that he could recover from your rejection?"

"No, not at all." I didn't know which one of us should have been more offended -- her for my thinking she was second to me, or me for Charlotte's thinking I'd be so egotistical. "I know you really want to go to prom, and I couldn't be happier for you. Really."

Charlotte smiled weakly. "I don't blame you for being surprised, but I'm not a romantic, Lizzie. I'm practical. I want to go to prom, and he asked."

"I'm sure you are going to have a great time. I can't wait to see your dress."

"Thanks. Well, I better ..."

"Of course, have a great night."

I watched Charlotte as she ran down to greet Colin, who had a heart-shaped box of chocolates hidden behind his back. They both seemed happy, albeit a little awkward with each other. Colin tried to go in for a double kiss on the cheek, but ended up kissing Charlotte's ear.

I went to the dining hall, collecting food to take back to the room. Since the "Lydia Incident" (Lydia, of course, wasn't embarrassed about the video; she was happy that people knew who she was), both Jane and I had been going through the motions.

The upcoming long weekend for Presidents' Day was a welcome respite. Most of the campus would be empty. While my parents were hoping I would come visit, I wanted to get my work done and knew the Java Junction would be slow, so it would be a great way for me to earn money and get some reading done.

Plus, Mrs. Gardiner had a surprise for me that Friday during my piano lesson.

"I think it is time we had a little chat about the spring recital," she said. She had a mischievous grin on her face, which I knew meant trouble.

I nodded. "I assumed I'd be playing the Rachmaninoff." We'd been working on the eighteenth variation of Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.

"Yes, I think you should play it -- but the whole thing, with the orchestra. You'd be the featured performer."

I was stunned into silence. The entire Rhapsody was nearly twenty-five minutes long. "I don't think ..."

Mrs. Gardiner got up from her chair beside the piano in the music suite. "You aren't going to be able to do it if you don't think you can do it. You can! And you will!"

This was why I was at Longbourn, to challenge myself. She was right. I needed to believe in myself.

"Elizabeth, I've never had a student as gifted as you. I want your performance to be the wonderful coda of the year."

"Okay." I flipped through the entire piece, studying the runs. "I can do this."

She clapped her hands together. "Excellent! That's the spirit I was looking for. I was getting worried about you."

"Why were you worried about me?"

Mrs. Gardiner gave me a weak smile. "You just haven't seemed like yourself the last couple of days. I know you have had some difficulty adjusting, but you seemed to finally get your stride."

"Oh," I replied. I couldn't think of anything else to say. I'd always tried to leave whatever was going on in my personal life behind during my lessons -- but clearly I hadn't done the best job of it.

"I don't mean to pry," she said apologetically.

Most teachers at Longbourn enjoyed the student gossip as much as the girls. But Mrs. Gardiner was the only teacher who seemed to be looking out for me.

"It's fine," I told her. "It's just that my friend is going through a hard time right now."

"Okay, dear." She patted me on the back. "Have a good long weekend. And by a good long weekend, I mean you should practice as much as you can. This piece is going to be a killer."