Posted on Monday, 12 February 2001
Hi everyone, this is my first story on the DWG, but I've been playing with the idea for some time. I'm going to explain a little first. This is Pride and Prejudice set at Brigham Young University where I am a student. To explain a few things in this story BYU is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes referred to as Mormons) and over ninety percent of the student body, administrators, faculty, etc. are LDS. This story is going to have a lot of Mormon culture in it and before each chapter I will post explanatory notes on anything that I think might be confusing. But bear with me, since I've grown up in the LDS culture I may miss some things, if you have any questions tell me and I'll include an explanation at the beginning of the next chapter. Also if I don't say that a character is not LDS assume that they are. Plus if you can think of a name for that section tells me, it will be the dictionary until I think of a better one. Please tell me what you think!
RM -- returned missionary
ward--a church congregation, larger than a branch, my BYU student ward has about 170, but that would be on the small side if we had families.
The honor code--the Y is funded mostly by the church and so all students have to agree to live the honor code to attend. It includes a dress code that basically says be neat and modest, the standard do not cheat, some rules on housing (no living with members of the opposite sex unless you are married to them or they are close family.) And states that it is expected that you live in accordance with the churches teachings.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that any young man recently returned from a mission, must be in want of a wife. This idea is so firmly fixed into the minds of those whom he comes in contact with that they often neglect to ask his opinion on the subject.
It was a warm day in late August, with less than a week before the first day of classes at Brigham Young University. Elizabeth Bennet was headed back towards her apartment with several hundred dollars worth of textbooks when she saw three very nice cars pull in the parking lot outside of her complex. As she walked past Elizabeth noticed the occupants of the cars who had obviously been driving together. Two of the cars held one fairly good-looking man each and the third held two rather underdressed girls. Elizabeth shook her head as the driver of the girl's car latched herself onto one of the guys and started complementing him on his driving.
'I pity whoever is in her apartment. I wonder if the two of them are living here, this complex is right next to the Y and a bit far from UVSC. Of course they could have misread the dress code portion of the honor code.'
Shaking her head she went up to her apartment.
When she arrived she found that the other three girls were there performing small moving in chores. Elizabeth's older sister Jane--majoring in elementary education because she loved children--was unpacking in the room at the far end of the hall that the two sisters shared, Charlotte Lucas--a grad student in elementary education because it had seemed like a good major to attract guys--was doing some breakfast dishes while waiting for her cinnamon rolls to finish baking and Maren MacAlister--majoring in graphic arts because she loved it--was making the necessary chore wheel.
"Hey, I home," Elizabeth walked through the kitchen towards her room to put her books up.
"How was the bookstore?" Charlotte asked.
"Classes start on Monday, which is three days from now. How do you think it was? The line was winding all the way through the store. Though it was kind of funny when the girl holding the 'the line starts here' sign started singing "If You're Happy and You Know It" into her microphone."
"Did anybody start to sing along?" Maren asked.
Elizabeth laughed, "of course and everyone who could did the actions."
Elizabeth dumped her books on her bed and went for a glass of water. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Not really," Charlotte told her as she put the last dish in the dishwasher. "The dishes are done and we've got this place pretty clean. The only things left are getting our rooms in order."
"I'll go help Jane, then," Elizabeth headed back to her room.
The two sister were also best of friends, with less than two years age difference between them despite their different personalities. The two worked together for fifteen minutes before heading to the living room to talk with their other two roommates.
It was then that the door opened. From her vantage point Elizabeth couldn't see who was entering immediately, though she could see Maren quickly glance away. The two girls from the parking lot stepped into the room followed by the guys carrying boxes.
She quickly sat up and smiled at her new roommates.
Jane was already walking towards them with a huge, genuine smile on her face. "Hi, I'm Jane and this is Lizzy, Charlotte and Maren," she pointed the other girls out to the new girls. "What are your names?"
The taller of the two girls glanced over the other girls and pasted a fake smile on her face. "I am Caroline Bingley and this is my sister Louisa." She then turned to the guys. "You can take those to our room and we'll go get some more things."
Jane immediately jumped in, "that's okay. If you want you can just leave the boxes here and we'll move them into the room. It might be faster that way."
Both guys followed her suggestion. The shorter of the two smiled at Jane. "I'm Charles--Caroline and Louisa's brother--this is my old friend Will Darcy. And you were Jane?" he shot her a great smile
Jane blushed and bit back a smile. "Yes, Jane Bennet. Lizzy and I are sisters."
"I really need to finish unloading my sisters' things so Will and I can get to our own stuff. Maybe we can talk later?" he looked hopeful.
Jane nodded, "Of course. Do you live in the complex?"
"Yes we do. We're all in the same ward actually."
Will--who had not done more than nod at the girls--and Charles then left the room to go and get their next load while all the girls moved their things into the room that the Bingley sisters would be sharing.
Charles Bingley headed back towards the girl's apartment to see if any of them--Jane--wanted to go out for dinner. He and Will were the last people to get to their apartment. The two of them shared a room and Charles thought that he would like their other roommates. Thomas--Tom--Hurst seemed rather sedentary but he had just moved in himself and was probably tired; William--Billy--Collins seemed eager to please and to be a good roommate; Ryan Fluss was engaged and the wedding was scheduled for Thanksgiving; and James Denny seemed like a good guy.
When he arrived his sisters were in their room while the other girls were spread out over the living area. "I was going to go out to eat, and I wondered if any of you would like to come with," he asked looking at Jane.
Jane wanted to go, but not alone with a boy she had never previously met. So she glanced at Elizabeth who spoke up, "I would like to go. Jane?"
Jane shot her sister an appreciative look, "I would love to go. Where were you planning on going?"
Just then Caroline entered followed by Louisa. "Who's going where?" she asked.
Charles looked at his sisters. "I'm going out to dinner and I wanted to see if anyone wanted to go with."
"We'll go," Louisa told him.
Caroline grabbed their purses, "Is Will waiting outside?"
"No, he didn't feel like going out tonight. He said something about being tired from driving all day. Why don't we go to Brick Oven?"
The girls agreed and the five of them set off in Charles's car--with Jane riding shotgun.
Posted on Friday, 23 February 2001
Dictionary
UVSC -- Utah Valley State College, its on the other side of Provo from BYU and has over 20,000 students but I am not sure how many are full time. I put Caroline and Louisa there because BYU is tough to get into and they don't strike me as people who spend much time with books or studying. (Nothing against UVSC or anyone who goes there.)
Other notes: BYU's undergrad enrollment is just under 27,500 and graduate is about 1,700. Provo has a population of about 100,000. Though I know of several students who do commute.
"So where are you two from?" Charles asked Jane and Elizabeth.
"Wisconsin. We've lived their all of our lives," Jane answered. "Where are you from?"
Caroline and Louisa smirked. Charles ignored his sisters. "Outside of Seattle."
"Is this your first year at the Y?" Elizabeth asked.
"No, I had a year before my mission, so this is my second," Charles decided to answer for his sisters. "Caroline and Louisa are at UVSC. Caroline's a senior and Louisa's a sophomore."
"Its my third year at BYU--I'm almost a senior," Jane told him. "It's Lizzy's second year but she's a junior--she got a year's worth of AP credit in high school. Where did you go on your mission?"
"Venezuela, Barcelona. Have you ever been there?" Jane shook her head and Charles continued. "It is wonderful there. I loved it, I think that one day I will go back there. The people are great."
Caroline and Louisa rolled their eyes, "Charles you have been home for six weeks, we do not need to here about how wonderful Venezuela is again." Caroline was very bored by that subject, or any other subject that she could not relate back to herself. "I am majoring in music--piano emphasis. What are your majors?" she asked.
"Elementary Ed. I want to work with third or fourth graders. I am also minoring in Spanish." Jane said, with a smile at Charles.
"History, I plan to get an MBA and work in business," Elizabeth told Caroline.
Louisa looked toward the Bennet sisters, "my major is interior design."
Charles smiled back at Jane, "I'm pre-med; I want to be a pediatrician. I plan to get a Spanish minor as well if I can work it in with pre-med."
Elizabeth almost wished that she hadn't agreed to come along. It was obvious that Jane had decided Charles was an okay person.
"What made you want to work with children?" Jane asked.
"I've always wanted to be a doctor and to help people. There's nothing worse than seeing a sick child and so I decided that I wanted to help them get better. Besides I love kids, they can be a lot funnier than adults. What about you?"
"I love kids. And I have wanted t be a teacher since I was a little girl. I don't know why I chose third and fourth grades but I have enjoyed working with that age group."
From then on the conversation was dominated by the subject of Jane and Charles's mutual love for children.
"So when you get married how many children would you like?" Charles asked.
"At least four--but I think that five to seven would be a good number."
"I think you're right. I have always wanted a large family. There's only three of us in mine," Charles agreed.
"I'm the eldest of five sisters."
"Really? I'm the middle child. Caroline's a year older than I am and Louisa's two years younger."
"Lizzy is sixteen months younger than I am. Our other sisters are in high school. Mary is a senior, Kitty a junior and Lydia a sophomore."
Charles nodded. "So your all pretty close together."
Jane shrugged. "I couldn't imagine things otherwise, or if we didn't have one of my sisters."
"Yeah, I couldn't imagine no having one of my sisters around."
As Charles and Jane continued their conversation Elizabeth, Caroline and Louisa began one of their own. Elizabeth decided that they were likeable, though she could not see herself becoming great friends with them.
When they got back to their apartments Charles decided that he should walk them back up. When the other three went ahead of them Jane thanked Charles for driving.
"Well I thank you for accompanying me, I hate dining alone. To tell you the truth I just got the car for my twenty-first birthday and I'm still looking for reasons to take it out. Do you and your sister have cars?"
"No, we don't. Our father did not think one necessary," Jane told him.
"Well, then any time you need to go somewhere come up to my apartment and I'll be glad to drive you," Charles mentally thanked his parents again for the car.
"Wouldn't your sisters need to use it as well?"
Charles shook his head, "Caroline has the car that she got for her twenty-first birthday here. Louisa prefers driving Caroline's car over mine."
They finally made it to Jane's apartment, where Charles stayed until he could no longer think of any more reasons to stay longer that night.
When Charles arrived in his room later that night Will was getting ready for bed.
"You really should have come along tonight. Caroline's roommate Jane is amazing. She's an elementary ed. major and she is so nice and sweet and the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life. She's minoring in Spanish too. We spoke together in it while we were at her apartment. Her Spanish is really good."
Will nodded. "Charles, you do realize that you have only known her for less than twelve hours," he headed towards their room.
"Of course I do. I think I'll go over there tomorrow and see if they need anything."
Posted on Thursday, 5 April 2001
Dictionary
Moroni -- pronounced more-own-I, is the name of two people recorded in the Book of Mormon. Captain Moroni was a great military leader greatly revered for his courage, faith in God and righteousness. The other Moroni is the last writer in the Book of Mormon who eventually hides the brass plates that the Book of Mormon was recorded on in the Hill Cumorah in upstate New York.
In honor of the last Saturday night before school started the apartment complex management held a dance party in the courtyard area between the guys' and girls' apartment buildings.
Savage Garden blared from the speakers near the designated front of the courtyard as Charles led Will into the party.
"See I told you this would be great!" Charles gestured at the scene in front of them. The sun was still set so they had a fairly clear view of everything going on. There were some people playing volleyball in the pool while a couple more relaxed in the Jacuzzi while the were snacking from the food table or dancing near the speakers.
Will shrugged, "Its alright but not a big deal."
"Just let yourself have fun for once in your life you're only in college once. Why don't you go and try to mingle and meet our new neighbors." Charles gestured to the crowd
"If we must. How long does this thing go 'til?"
"Midnight," Charles told him, "And don't cut out too early or I may be forced to call you by your entire name Fitzwilliam Moroni Darcy, in front of a very large group of people. Hey! There's Jane!" Charles went off to say hi.
As Will moved to the sidelines Caroline ran up to greet him. "Oh Will, I am so glad to see you here," she half whispered as she latched onto his arm. "Can you believe that all these people call this a party? There's no taste or refinement to it at all. I don't know how I am going to endure living amongst these people for the entire year. Why couldn't you and Charles pick out a nice condo? Louisa and I could have still gotten one in the same ward. Then we wouldn't have to go through things like this. They're serving hamburgers and hot dogs over there by the grill and everyone's eating them. Isn't that disgusting? I could never eat a hot dog or be seen with someone eating one. The only non-generic brand snack foods are the sodas. It is obvious these people have never seen a real party, like the ones your mother hosts. Her parties are wonderful, but not everyone can have her magnificent taste and talents. She really should write a book to try and tell others how she does it."
Will took some deep breaths and tried to find a polite way out of his unfortunate situation, there wasn't one that wouldn't be too conspicuous and Caroline was hanging on his arm expecting a response. "Are you insinuating that my mother is a poor writer?"
Caroline looked confused for a few moments, "of course not. I was merely referring to the difficulty others have in learning. Some people just can't recognize subtle hints."
'Like yourself, Caroline?' Will thought. His eyes roamed the courtyard until he found the group Charles was in, only about eight feet away. He assumed the girl with dark blond hair was the famous Jane, since Charles was as close as he could be without them physically touching. He watched them for a few minutes while Caroline jabbered on about something or other. Then the refreshment table and grill caught his attention and he got a devious plan to possibly get rid of his personal leech for a few minutes.
"Caroline, will you excuse me for a moment? I'm going to go over and get a hot dog."
He had to give her credit for being an excellent actress, as she shifted her hand on his arm and hid her look of disgust by smiling up at him, "I'll go over too, I need a diet soda."
Will looked at his watch 7:58. It was going to be a long night.
Jane smiled at Charles as the beginning of (Everything I Do) I Do for You came from the speakers. He had rarely left her side the entire night and she was enjoying his attention. He was definitely the sweetest, most handsome, friendliest, kindest man she had ever met.
"Jane? Would you excuse me for a moment? I need to say something to my friend Will over there. After that would you like to dance with me?"
Jane smiled, "Yes."
Elizabeth had gone to the side when the slow song started, she didn't feel like asking another boy to dance and when all the ones who she'd seen ask girls to dance were dancing she decided to get out of the way. Charles's friend Will was standing a few feet away from her and he had apparently lost his arm decoration for the time being. Then Charles left Jane and headed towards them, stopping at Will. She was close enough that she could easily overhear the conversation.
"Come on! Stop standing around, why don't you find a pretty girl and ask her to dance."
"I'm not interested in any of the girls here."
"My sister would be disappointed to hear that, but come on. Its one three minute dance not marriage. And there are lots of pretty girls here."
"You've been dancing with the only really pretty girl that I've seen all night," Will rebutted.
Charles smiled, "Jane's an angel and I look forward to getting to know her better. Over there's her sister," Charles nodded towards Elizabeth. "Her name's Elizabeth though Jane usually calls her Lizzy. She's quite pretty and I can't imagine she'd be hard to get along with."
Will looked over at Elizabeth. "She's okay, but not enough to tempt me. Besides if she's so wonderful why hasn't anyone else asked her to dance? Don't waste your time with me. Go back there and enjoy Jane's smiles."
Elizabeth felt slightly hurt at his comment about her appearance but quickly decided she didn't care what he thought. He was cute but it was obviously all frosting and no cake. She laughed quietly at the thought and went to tell Charlotte about what had happened.
Will watched as Charles walked back to Jane looking slightly dejected, though he brightened up as soon as the two started dancing together. The Will looked back at Elizabeth, she seemed to be eyeing him and then he saw her laugh. Was she laughing at him? It looked like it. Will decided he didn't care what the little girl thought as he watched her walk over to a friend. After talking for a moment both looked at him and laughed again. He wondered what brought that on, and had the uncomfortable thought that maybe she'd heard what he said.
Caroline was searching for her man. She had excused herself for five minutes to go to the ladies' room and now she couldn't find him. She scanned the dance floor to make sure some brat hadn't trapped him into dancing with her. To her relief he was no where to be seen on the dance floor.
But where had he gone then? Caroline shook her head slightly. She always remained exactly where he left her or made sure she was highly visible when Will had to go somewhere at parties and she couldn't come along so he could find her again. Hadn't she even loyally stayed on his arm while he ate that disgusting hot dog? When they were married she would make him give those up. They were so...lower class, not something that a Darcy--whose father was the majority share holder and the CEO of a multi-million dollar company combined with a family fortune in the millions to fall back on in rough times--should be seen eating. She had nearly died when he went back for a second one and the man at the grill asked if she wanted one. Did she look like the type of person who ate such food? She refused as politely as possible under the circumstances and continued to sip her caffeine-free diet Pepsi at Will's side as he prepared his second one.
She pulled herself back to her search, they could discuss taste and loyalty after they announced their engagement. As she looked through the courtyard, lit with street and pool lights with small, covered halogen light in one corner, she saw Elizabeth looking at someone. Following her gaze Caroline discovered that that someone was her Will!
'The tramp! I knew I couldn't trust her from the moment I met her. What type of a person is she to go after her roommate's boyfriend?'
Caroline was even more upset when she saw Will watching Elizabeth walk towards Charlotte and continue watching as the two spoke together. She quickly hurried towards him to remind him of their unspoken commitment.
"Will!" Caroline cooed in her best sugar-coated screech. He winced as she yanked on his arm to reattach herself.
"Caroline," he muttered as he wondered if she'd torn any muscles or ligaments in his shoulder, it was bound to happen sooner or later. As he pondered the ache in his shoulder he wondered if that would be such a bad thing. It would throw him off in basketball for a while and most other sports and could possibly leave him dealing with twinges of pain in it for the rest of his life, but if he could get a restraining order out of it, it would be worth it.
As he considered the idea he smiled slightly, and Caroline took that as encouragement to continue whatever she was saying. Then he realized that it would probably be rather difficult to get the restraining order, especially since Caroline would claim it was an accident, and he admitted it would have been since she spent most of her time trying to get his attention. No, most likely he would have to deal with her trying to nurse him back to health while he tried to have her thrown out of his room. He wondered if under those circumstances he could convince a jury that it was justifiable homicide.
Will glanced at his watch again, he'd been in this torture session for nearly three hours. It was time to tell Charles--now dancing with Jane to a fast song--that he'd had enough and was going back to the apartment.