Worst Impressions

Chapter Nine

For obvious reasons, one of the new rules announced at the start of term was that boys were not permitted to enter a girl's dorm room. Given the circumstances, I thought I might be forgiven for temporarily ignoring this rule. I wasn't keen on the idea of hauling Jenny's freezing carcass to our room by myself.

There was no avoiding waking our friends when we barged through the door and turned on the lights. I was relieved, at least, that no one in our room slept naked and that we didn't have bras and underwear flung all over the floor. Lisa had a habit of missing the hamper at the foot of her bed when she undressed of an evening. This was one of the rare occasions that she'd managed to tidy up after herself. Not that I suspected she'd have minded having William Darcy getting a good look at her underwear.

'What? Fire?' Chrissy asked in a daze. She sat up in her bed and squinted against the harsh intrusion of the light.

'Go back to sleep,' I instructed.

'Which one's Jenny's bed?' Charlie asked.

At the sound of his voice, Lisa sat bolt upright. She squealed, 'There are boys in here! Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! Beth, what is this? A secret date?'

I tried to disentangle myself from William as I hurried to explain, 'No! It's not a - God, you are so stupid! Jenny's is that one.' I pointed the empty bed out to Charlie. 'William, let go of me! I keep telling you, I'm fine.'

'You can't keep walking around, you're exhausted and soaked through.' The boy was as stubborn as I was. He didn't let me go until we were at my bed and carefully eased me down until I was sat on the edge.

I muttered a bitter, 'Thank you,' to him and rubbed my arms to warm them up.

'We should call for a teacher,' Charlie decided.

'I'll go. You stay with her,' William ordered.

It might just have been that William couldn't stand being in my company any longer than he had to be, but I suspected that he knew that Charlie would hate to leave Jenny's side when she was so ill. She hadn't opened her eyes since he'd carried her inside. My own heart was thrumming wildly in my chest with panic and concern, so I could well imagine how Charlie felt.

He held her hand tightly in his and pressed his other against her cheek. His voice trembled when he said, 'She's so cold.'

'We should have called an ambulance.' I rubbed my sleeve over my face to dry it. It would have helped if I hadn't been wearing soaking clothes in the first place. All I did was make it worse.

Meg peeked out from under her covers. 'Is she hurt?'

'Just a little sick,' I said. There was no need to panic the others unnecessarily. Not until we knew just how unwell Jenny was. 'Pretend to be asleep, all of you. I don't want you getting in trouble for this.'

'What, and miss something?' Chrissy asked.

'Do it!' I barked. My nerves were utterly frayed.

The girls settled just in time; the boarding mistress soon arrived. She was in a hideous thickly woven night-gown and had pulled a gaudy pink robe over it to protect some of her modesty. Ms Weatherby ushered Charlie away and checked Jenny's condition without uttering a word.

'What on Earth were you girls thinking by playing out in the rain at this time of night?' she demanded of me.

'Sorry, Miss,' I said. I wasn't inclined to correct her assumptions of the situation. It didn't seem important to tell her every detail when we didn't have the time to waste. 'It was my fault. I didn't think Jenny would get so sick.'

'You're lucky you brought her inside when you did. I dread to think - well - she'll have to go to the hospital.'

'I can call an ambulance,' Charlie volunteered gallantly. 'Can I go with her?'

'It's bad enough that you boys are in this dorm!' she exclaimed.

'That's my fault too, Miss,' I lied. 'I asked William and Charlie to help with Jenny.'

William didn't say a word, so it was difficult to discern what he thought of me while I covered for him. I wasn't doing so for their sake; they both had parents who could potentially harm me, the school, and maybe Jenny if I got them into trouble. My father wasn't worried about upholding his reputation or his relatively low position in society and I could be transferred to another school without suffering for it.

I had the least to lose by taking all the blame on myself.

Jenny, on the other hand, had a respectable family who wouldn't like it known that their daughter had been gallivanting across the grounds in the rain at night.

'Elisabeth Bennett, I will make sure someone has a serious conversation with your father about this. For now, you boys go back to your rooms,' she ordered. 'I'll see to the girls. Elisabeth, apologise to them both before they go.'

I forced myself to my feet and bowed my head to the pair of them. As sincerely as I was able, I said, 'I'm sorry for causing you both so much trouble. It won't happen again.'

'Beth -' Charlie began.

'Leave, both of you,' Ms Weatherby barked. 'If I catch either of you in this dorm building again, it will be a month of detention.'

'Yes, Miss,' they said in unison. William had to drag Charlie out by the wrist, his eyes still lingering on poor Jenny as she wheezed and groaned on the bed.

Whatever the consequences might be, I would accept them all graciously.

So long as Jenny was well again, then I could be kicked out of the school, and I'd make my peace with it.