A/N: I don't own anything that's from the original book. This is my first Jane Austen fic, so please read and review! Enjoy!

Chapter 1

A small, petite girl wearing a Boston Red Sox baseball cap bent down in the infield and scooped up the ball swiftly in her gloved hand. She flipped the ball to the second baseman, who caught it with her foot still touching the base and who in turn threw it to the first baseman, turning the double play.

"Good job, girls," the coach said. "But it needs to be faster."

The small girl suppressed a groan as a streak of lightning pierced the sky, an answer to her prayers. "On second thought," said the coach, "that's all for today. Go shower up, girls."

The cheers of the players echoed through the field, drowned out only by the roll of thunder. A taller girl soon joined the small girl as she was walking towards the gym. "What'd you think of that practice, Lizzy?" asked the tall girl.

Elizabeth Bennet was a small, petite girl with dark black hair and bright eyes. She squinted her eyes as she tried to make out the form of the gym in the rain that was just beginning to fall at the same time as she wiped her sweaty bangs away from her forehead with one swipe of her hand. "It was okay," she replied. "I'm dead tired, though. I didn't fall asleep until one last night. What about you, Jane?"

"Same," Jane Benson replied, tucking a lock of her golden blonde hair behind her ear. "About the practice, I mean." She cocked her head at Elizabeth. "My dad working didn't keep you up… did it?"

"Oh, no," Lizzy replied. "I just had a lot to think about."

"Oh," Jane said simply, choosing not to pursue the topic any further. "Can you believe Coach is making us start practicing before the school year even starts?"

"I can believe it," she snorted, "but that doesn't mean I like it or agree with it. But Coach has always been one for overachieving."

"True," her friend chuckled. "School starts tomorrow."

"Really, Jane?" Elizabeth replied, feigning surprise. "I hadn't noticed!"

"I'm just saying…" Jane said, as she pulled open the door to the locker room, allowing Elizabeth to enter before her. "It should be interesting. I heard we have a few new students."

"Surprising, considering we're starting our sophomore year," Lizzy said. "You mostly get new students during freshman year."

"Yeah, well…" she said, her voice trailing off. "I guess we'll see, huh?"

"Guess so," Lizzy said, as a few cheerleaders who had been attending their own practice stumbled in, giggling loudly. Seeing Jane roll her eyes at them, she whispered, "Just remember- real girls play softball."

RGPSRGPSRGPS

"God, I hate waking up early," Elizabeth muttered as she and Jane stumbled through the front doors of their preparatory school early the next morning.

"Tell me about it," Jane grumbled, throwing her bags down in one corner.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a girl whom they had both known since third grade, named Lydia approached them squealing, "Jane! Elizabeth! Did you hear?"

"Hear what?" Jane queried, allowing her curiosity to get the best of her. Elizabeth folded her arms, listening, interested as to what Lydia had to say.

"There are two new boys in our grade," she gushed, her curly blonde hair bouncing with the sheer force of her enthusiasm.

"Really now?" Elizabeth said, raising an eyebrow. "Where?"

Lydia led them to the hallway and pointed down the length of it to two tall boys standing near the side doors, surrounded by flocks of tenth grade girls. They were both quite handsome, though quite different in how they seemed to be handing the situation. "The one with the red hair… you know, the one that's smiling and friendly?" said Lydia, to which both Elizabeth and Jane nodded. "His name is Charley Bingley."

Glancing at her friend, Elizabeth was surprised to find that Jane seemed to be quite taken by Charley. Deciding that her questions for friend would have to wait, she pressed Lydia, "Who's the other?"

"The one with the dark hair who looks like he'd rather be somewhere else?" she clarified, and Elizabeth nodded. "His name is Will Darcy."

"Do they know each other?" Jane asked softly, still gazing at Charley. "They look like they do."

"They do," Lydia replied, nodding her head. "Caroline Bingley, Charley's sister, also transferred, but she's a junior." She glanced longingly at the crowd of girls surrounding the two boys. "Do you mind…?"

"Not at all," Elizabeth said and Lydia hastily scampered off. She looked questioningly at Jane. "Are you okay, Jane?"

"Hmmm?" her friend replied absentmindedly, her eyes darting between Elizabeth and the boys at the end of the hall. "Yes, I'm fine."

"Really," Lizzy said doubtfully, raising a single eyebrow at Jane. "You seem to be attracted to Charley over there."

"Well, he is good-looking, you have to admit that," she said, and Lizzy nodded. "But I don't really know him."

Almost as if on cue, Charley seemed to catch sight of them from down the hall. He turned and whispered to Will, his eyes scarcely leaving them for a second. The two boys somehow extracted themselves from the throngs of girls and made their excuses, heading down the hall towards Jane and Elizabeth.

"They're coming this way," Lizzy whispered quietly, sounding every bit as shocked as Jane looked.

When the two boys finally reached them, Charley grinned broadly and extending his hand to Jane, then to Elizabeth, saying, "Hi. I'm Charley Bingley."

Jane, surprisingly composed, replied, "So I've heard. I'm Jane Benson."

"Pleased to meet you," he said genuinely, his smile broadening. Turning to Elizabeth, he said, "And you are…?"

"I'm Elizabeth Bennet," she replied. Her eyes darting questioningly between Charley and Will, the latter of whom seemed to be more interested by his shoes than by the conversation.

"Oh, sorry about him," Charley grimaced, jerking his head towards Will. "This is my best friend, the arrogant jerkwad, Will Darcy."

"Say whatever you want, Charley," Will smirked, "but I'm quite sure no apology is necessary for my behavior."

"God, Will, can't you at least be decent?" asked Charley in exasperation. He turned to Jane and Elizabeth again. "Again, sorry about him."

"Whatever," Will grunted. "Look, Charley, I'll catch up with you later. I'm going to see if this place has half-decent food or not." With that, he left.

"What's with him?" Elizabeth asked, simply shocked by the audacity of Charley's friend.

"He's just used to a magnet school, so… this is all new to him," he replied. "I know he's really a jerk, but he's a good friend, when it comes down to it. You just have to get to know him."

"I wouldn't get to know him if it was a choice between that and gouging my own eyes out," she muttered.

"Lizzy," Jane hissed in a warning tone, stomping lightly on her foot to admonish her.

"Don't worry about it," Charley chuckled. "He gets that reaction from everyone."

"I wonder why," Elizabeth commented dryly.

Looking hesitant, Charley said, "Look, I better go catch up with Will before he offends even more people. But I hope I'll have some classes with you." His statement was meant for both of them, but it felt more directed towards Jane, given the expressive look he flashed in her direction. "So I'll see you around later. Definitely at lunch, okay?"

"Sure," Jane chirped happily, "see you then!"

"See you," Elizabeth said, not nearly as enthusiastic as her friend had been.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Elizabeth chuckled. "What?" Jane demanded sharply, whipping her head around to face her.

"Dude," Lizzy continued to chuckle, "you are so far gone, it's not even funny."