Matters of Chance

Chapter 9

The door of Elizabeth and Jane's shared room slammed open. One thing Elizabeth did not miss about living at home was her youngest sisters' tendencies to barge into her room without warning. Kitty ran into the room and grabbed Elizabeth by the wrist, dragging her out of bed.

Lizzie smacked her sister's hand. "Let go of me and use your words."

Kitty released her older sister's arm, unfazed by the fact that she was hit. "The bachelor party is here!" she squealed, "Come with Lydia and I to meet them."

Elizabeth believed that sometimes, sacrifices had to be made. The one she was making today was her morning work time to monitor her sisters to make sure they would get in trouble.

"Let me put on shoes, and I'll be right out," Lizzie turned back into her room to grab some sneakers.

Lydia and Kitty hauled Elizabeth out the door and pushed her towards the neighbor's house. A rental car sat in the driveway with the trunk open, and a few men pulled luggage out from the back. Elizabeth was ready to turn around and tell her sisters to go later, as this was definitely bad timing, when one of the men made eye contact with her and waved. Lizzie smiled politely and walked up to him, her two sisters giggling and following.

The man looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties. He was quite tall and wide, his arms thick. He sported a dark beard. Elizabeth couldn't help but think that he looked like a lumberjack. She held out her hand and he gave it a firm shake.

"I'm Lizzie Bennet, and these are my sisters, Lydia and Kathleen." Elizabeth gestured to the girls behind her. "We live in the house next door. We heard from our neighbors that a bachelor party would be coming over."

The man in front of her chuckled. "I'm Carter, the bachelor," he pointed his finger over his shoulder to the men unpacking, "and that's my party."

Lizzie peeked past Carter to see four men. All of them looked to be around Carter's age. Elizabeth could help but be brought back to her college days. The group of men looked like a small frat, just a little bit older. The men were goofing off with each other as they brought their luggage inside. Once they brought all of their stuff inside, they came back out and greeted both Elizabeth and her sisters.

Kitty and Lydia chatted with the men in the front yard of the house. Lydia twirled her hair and leaned in close to one of the men she was talking to. Elizabeth gasped and marched towards her flirty younger sister. She gently pushed Lydia away from the man and gave her a stern gaze. Lydia just shrugged and walked off to talk to somebody else.

"I am so sorry about her," Elizabeth said, "She's a stupid teenager, she doesn't know when to stop."

The man looked at her and smiled, "It's alright, the guys here are all super respectful, we won't lay a finger on her."

Elizabeth nodded, "Thank you."

The man held out his hand and Elizabeth took it, shaking it.

"George Wickham," he said.

"Lizzie Bennet," she responded.

George Wickham was a man of a tall stature. He had light brown hair that tousled in Meryton's midday winds, and blue eyes that complimented his pale skin. He looked the youngest out of the group of men. His smile revealed straight, white teeth.

"So, what are your bachelor party plans?" Lizzie asked.

"Well, my Seattle is the big man's hometown." George flicked his eyes over to Carter. "He basically wants to show all of his boys around Seattle before he gets hitched."

"So, the rest of you guys aren't from around here?"

He nodded. "Most of us met Carter in Oakland, where we all live."