A/N: This was published … but then I wanted to edit. Now it's back! :D

I am Elizabeth Maeve Bennet. My name is weird, I am weird, my existence is weird, and this story is just a tad bit weird. Weird.

I'm going to give you the rundown of my current life, okay?

The biggest part you should know right now, well, that would have to be the divorce. It's what caused everything, and I mean everything, you're about to read. My parents, Francesca and Mathew, who I always found to be in love, decided to split up last year. Sure, I didn't see it coming but we all have to be wrong sometimes. That I can deal with. I wasn't blind to the signs. We rarely are. I just choose to ignore them. They split up and I went to live with my dad. My mom didn't really want to take care of me at this point. She wanted to 'find herself' and 'cleanse her cluttered soul'. Why she couldn't wait until I was eighteen to go on this spiritual adventure, I'll never know.

The point is, for the last year or so it's just been me and dad. We've got our systems, our follies, and the occasional triumphs. It works. I like it. He likes it.

Mom doesn't.

See, she's finished with her cleansing and finding and she's back now. She doesn't seem to think her year long absence has put a dent in our relationship at all. That and she has this CEO of a boy toy clinging to her like a lost puppy. Well, he's her fiancé now so he can't technically be a boy toy anymore… but only technically. His name is Steven. I call him Stewart just to piss him off; problem is it only pisses me off because he doesn't care. He wants me to like him, he really does, and that's why I can't help but feel guilty. I mean, I've decided mom is pretty much public enemy number one, so that makes him public enemy numero dos by the transitive property… and that makes his son number three.

Yeah, he has a kid. A really, seriously, annoyingly, hopelessly arrogant kid submerged in his decadent lifestyle. His name is… pft….haha… FITZWILLIAM. Seriously, what kind of name is that? Doesn't just scream 'look at me- I'm rich'? Also- what kind of parents are that cruel?

But I digress. What I'm trying to say here is; I can't stand the guy. At seventeen, he's only a year older than me but eons less mature. He's a senior in high school and class president. Not to mention football team captian, baseball team star, and Harvard bound. Successful little Fitzwilliam. Everyone loves him and I hate it. Every time we talk, we don't. We argue and criticize. There is none of this 'talking' so to speak. That's about all I do in Steve/ Stewarts' house, argue with his son.

Yeah, I stay at their house now. It's only on weekends… and they have managed to monopolize my entire summer. It's seems like, if I have free time, it belongs to my mother and the Darcy's (The public enemy's last name).

You know what really sucks? Get this, my mother was ready to go to a custody hearing, guns blazing ,lawyers calculating, and my dad reasoned with her. He made this little deal up without even speaking to me. With the risk of sounding like a raging cynic, I guess I'm not too trusting of him either anymore. I feel like he was eager to get me out.. just like mom had been. Is this how it's going to be for the next two years, skipping from house to house? I don't want that. That's not me.

Don't get me wrong, the house is impressive. Impressive in a 'look how expensive and decadent we can afford to live' kind of way. The house has four levels, two decks, an outdoor pool (there are two Plexiglas sides you can see into the pool with- TWO!) , indoor hot tub, state- of- the- art kitchen, and countless other luxuries. I still get lost occasionally. One time I called it a mansion, which it totally is, and my mother got all upset. 'That doesn't matter Elizabeth! Don't think of it as a house, let alone a mansion, think of it as a home.' Have I mentioned recently that I dislike my mother? I have? Well just for good measure, I really don't like her.

I have a plan. It shouldn't be that hard, really, it's already set in motion. Fitzwilliam Darcy is my way out. You see, my soon to be step brother already can't stand me… I just have to make sure he feels miserable in this house. He has to hate me so much he doesn't want to come home. My mother and Stewart will have to let me live out the rest of my high school years with my father. His son was here first, that has to form some kind of obligation. Darcy has a right to be here, more than I. I just have to make them see that. As I said before, I've got a good start.

I am going to argue. I am going to tease and taunt and bicker and complain until his ears bleed annoyance. It's going to be simple. He's easy to get riled up; it's real great fun to watch him. Most of the time, I'm not even the instigator, he is.

Next time I talk to you, you'll get an earful about Darcy. See, I'm going home for the week but- next Saturday the war begins.

Lizzie OUT.

A/N: Get this guys, I'm going to try for a longer story. Like, over five chapters long- *insert gasp here* Scary, I know, but I'm going to try. It should be fun… right? This was kind of the exposition of sorts (?) . Haha, see you whenever I see you. (updates will be kind of sporadic)

And hey- tell me what you thought. Ok?