Why am I posting on Sunday? I rarely post on the weekends! There must be something funny with my head or that I’m severely muddled, right? Nope.
I’m participating in the Teens Can Write Too! August Blog Chain. (I’m second on the list. I feel special now. *stupid face*) Sorry, back to the topic of blogging on a day that I normally don’t blog on. Olivia (Olivia’s Opinions) suggested that I join in since I was already writing a short story that fitted the prompt.
What’s the prompt, you may ask? It’s to rewrite a fairytale, myth or legend, or in my case, a classic novel. It’s my first story that I wrote with dialogue… Hahaha.
I’m rewriting Pride and Prejudice, one of my favorite books of all time! Here’s my version:
Liz looked at the boy in front of her. He was her boyfriend. Liz liked the sound of that word in her mouth. It flowed smoothly, and when Liz had told her mother that she had a boyfriend, her mother’s face lit up with joy. Another daughter with a boyfriend! Now Liz’s mother didn’t need to worry for her daughters’ futures! What great luck!
How had things become like this? If someone had told Liz earlier that she was going to be Darcy’s girlfriend, she would’ve had that person committed. Like that song Liz heard on YouTube, let’s start at the beginning to make sense of the end.
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a teenager in possession of a mind must be very angsty. Liz had gathered as much from the way teenagers were portrayed in the media, so very, very emotional and not very rational. For the most part, Liz thought herself to be very, very normal in her family of women, except for her father, who was obviously not a woman.
Liz’s mother was very, very normal. Liz’s sister, Jane, didn’t have a boyfriend, but their mother , Mrs. Bennett, was so very worried for Jane’s future, so their mother tried to introduce Jane to every boy in an attempt to get Jane to date someone.
That was how it all started, with their mother trying to get Jane a boyfriend. A new family, with the last name Bingley, moved into their neighborhood and Mrs. Bennett took it upon herself to visit them. Mrs. Bennett had insisted that Jane come with her to make an impression on the new family’s son, but Jane smiled docilely and said that she was busy. Mrs. Bennett pouted for a little while and then went on her way.
The following day, Liz’s math teacher announced that there was a new student. Liz didn’t pay much attention, but the thought of “this isn’t new student central” came to her head. The new student’s name was Fitzwilliam Darcy, Liz’s future boyfriend, though she didn’t know it at the time. Liz’s math teacher made Darcy sit next to Liz, since they were both juniors in a class of seniors.
Fitzwilliam is one old name…Liz had thought. She had an urge to snicker.
“Hi I’m Liz. Nice to meet you,” Liz introduced herself. Fitzwilliam ignored her.
Fitzwilliam turned out to be in Liz’s literature class too. He again, sat next to her. It was the only available seat.
“Hi, Fitzwilliam…? I’m Liz from your math class…” she started to say, drifting off. Fitzwilliam paid her no attention.
Darcy followed her to her history class. Was this guy a silent creep? Again, he sat next to her, since it was the only available seat in the class.
Liz tried one last time. “Hi Fitzwilliam. I’m Liz from your math class and literature class.”
Fitzwilliam looked up. His eyes looked straight into her face. If he wasn’t so surly and broody, Liz would’ve thought he was very, very good looking. In the words of the media, she was supposed to say, “What a hawt boy.”
“Yes, I know. Yes, I know. You’ve told me that this morning at precisely 10:53 am during math class, then you told me that again, at precisely, 1:04 pm during literature class when I was concentrating on a problem, and finally now, at 1:54 pm,” he replied, bored. “Oh yeah, it’s easier if you call me Darcy. No one calls me Fitzwilliam.”
Liz was taken back. “What a cranky, stuffy 17 year old!” went through Liz’s head.
“You’re very precise. Do you pretend to be Sherlock Holmes in your free time?” joked Liz, trying to salvage what was left of the situation.
Darcy’s mouth twitched. “No…” He went back to his work.
What happened after that, dear reader? Liz thought, as the memories came back. Liz turned to her boyfriend and asked teasingly, “ So what made you fall oh so desperately in love with me?”
Darcy looked at Liz, smiling. “You want to me to pinpoint the exact date and time that I fell so irrevocably in love with you?” he asked.
“Humor me,” replied Liz.
“When I rang your doorbell and you answered the door,” spoke Darcy.
“That’s so corny! That’s the worst answer ever!” laughed Liz.
“You’re the one who asked a corny question!” retorted Darcy, laughing also.
How could Liz forget? She had returned to school that day, after spending nearly the whole day sitting next to Darcy, fuming, only to find out that Darcy was coming over to tutor her sister, Lydia.
How angry Liz was! Originally the plan was to hire Charles Bingley, but Charles turned down the offer, recommending his friend. This placed Mrs. Bennett in an awkward position, but she had no choice but to hire his friend, Darcy. Mrs. Bennett pouted angrily, her master plan in ruins.
Liz had answered the door that day, to find Darcy standing in front of her. She was so surprised and annoyed. The annoyance was due to Darcy’s intolerable personality and his avoidance of her.
“Am I going to have to tutor your sister out here or are you going to let me in?” Darcy had said. Liz had wanted to shut the door in his face and tell him to that it was a mistake but Liz let him in.
Liz grimaced at the memory. How wrong she was! She turned to Darcy, “You were so mean to me when I opened the door!”
“I didn’t even know you then! I’m not every good at talked to people I don’t know…” replied Darcy.
“That’s fair… I was such a horrible person when I turned down your offer,” mused Liz.
“Well it was perfectly logical considering the circumstances,” answered Darcy.
Liz allowed her memories to come back to her. How terrible she was when Darcy asked her to homecoming!
“Er… Do you want to go to homecoming with me?” Darcy had asked her, awkwardly biting his lip, surprised that such words would come out of his mouth.
“Sorry, what? You are such a terrible person! You chose to ignore me after I introduced myself three times, acted so cold to me when you were tutoring Lydia, and most of all, you told Charles not to date Jane because of your so-called observations that she didn’t like him? Are you insane? After being such a dreadful person, you want to go to homecoming with me? ” retorted Liz. She was fuming.
“Maybe I am insane,” was Darcy’s only answer. He had walked away.
Liz remembered the memory, “Ah! I was so mean!” She grimaced.
“It wasn’t like I was the nicest person,” answered Darcy.
“But after all that I said, you still helped Lydia! She’s doing great in math class now, thanks to you,” rejoined Liz.
“It made me rethink everything, to be honest,” he replied. “Everything I did after that was because I wanted to make up for the things I did before.”
Liz thought. He was so terribly nice to her afterwards and he had even gotten Charles and Jane together. Slowly, she realized that she was had misread him. When prom season rolled around, Liz thought about asking him to prom, but Darcy, ever the gentlemen, asked her. Liz was surprised, after all the things she said.
That’s the story of Darcy and Liz, their adventures. Sorry dear reader, we’re going to have to stop here. Time is running out, and Liz and Darcy are going on another date.
——
Here’s the schedule for the blog chain:
August 4 – http://musingsfromnevillesnavel.wordpress.com – Musings From Neville’s Navel
August 5 – http://crazyredpen.blogspot.com/ – Crazy Red Pen (me!)
August 6 – http://lilyjenness.blogspot.com – Lily’s Notes in the Margins
August 7 –http://oliviasopinions.wordpress.com/– Olivia’s Opinions
August 8 – http://snippetsandslicesandscenes.blogspot.ca/ –Snippets, Slices, and Scenes
August 9 – http://markobrienwrites.blogspot.com – Mark O’Brien Writes
August 10 – http://onelifeglory.blogspot.ca/ – One Life Glory
August 11 – http://www.astoryofadreamer.blogspot.com/ – A Story of a Dreamer
August 12 – http://weirdalocity.wordpress.com/ – Life, Among Other Things
August 13 – http://maybeteenauthor.blogspot.com – Blog of a (Maybe) Teen Author
August 14 – http://theteenagewriter.wordpress.com/ – The Teenage Writer
August 15 –http://scribblingbeyondthemargins.wordpress.com – Scribbling Beyond the Margins
August 16 – http://otherrandomthings.wordpress.com – Dragons, Unicorns, and Other Random Things
August 17 – http://kirstenwrites.wordpress.com/ – Kirsten Writes!
August 18 – http://laughablog.wordpress.com –The Zebra Clan
August 19 – http://miriamjoywrites.wordpress.com – Miriam Joy Writes
August 20– http://allegradavis.wordpress.com – All I Need Is A Keyboard
August 21 –http://incessantdroningofaboredwriter.wordpress.com–The Incessant Droning of a Bored Writer
August 22 – http://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com– Teens Can Write Too! (We will be announcing the topic for next month’s chain)
