Love Rivals

Abigail's pen flew across the paper, skimming the surface like a swan gliding across a lake. Her brow was furrowed as she pulled a face of intense concentration, working hard to solve the difficult polynomials question that lay in front of her.

Twice she felt the urge to gaze lovingly up at Mr Darcy, and only once did she manage to resist the temptation. She loved him more than anything else in the world. Everyday he came to class, so stable and unchanging, the only thing that Abigail could rely on in her chaotic life.

She snuck a look backwards and suddenly felt a ripple of jealousy crawl up her spine. Sje wasn't the only one watching the maths teacher that lesson.

Johanna, the teacher's pet. The beautiful one, the one that submitted extra homework and stayed back after class to have lengthy discussions with Mr Darcy.

Her love rival.

Abigail sometimes stopped to wonder how two very different people, herself and Johanna, had come to fall in love with the same man, let alone a seemingly undesirable man to the rest of the world. Abigail had no idea why Johanna was in love with Mr Darcy, she had never asked him and knew that she could never bring herself to. It was very true that Abigail was quite close to Mr Darcy, they had a relationship that seemed to be the purest definition of Amigos Parra Siempre- Friends for life. But she could not, and would not, bear to ever lose him to Johanna.

Noone else knew about Johanna's crush, they just all thought that she was just a brown nose. Abigail wished. Johanna was not as innocent as she looked- she was scheming, rude and manipulative, who preyed on innocent, married men. The only reason that Abigail had recognised it was by the look in Johanna's eyes when she was talking to Mr Darcy- it was a mirror image of the soul-searching, devoted look that she gave him herself. Abigail respected and feared Johanna, for as much as she was a model student- well behaved, polite, and courteous-Johanna was also beautiful, with looks that made grown man gasp and fall all over her. She was very aware of this fact, and used her sexuality to her full advantage. In a word, she was dangerous.

It wasn't as if Abigail herself was 'bad' looking, she just didn't shine the way that Johanna did. True, like Johanna, Abigail had blue eyes, but they were the color of the sky rather than a vivid turquoise like Johanna's. Her curly hair did not shimmer in the sunlight like Johanna's and it was a sort of non-descript brown color. Abby did have her own fair share of admirers, but how could Mr Darcy ever choose a Courtney Cox over an Elle McPhearson?

Besides, even then, the two of them had another rival for his attentions- his wife. She did give Abigail a sense of hope, for when she had seen her she had discovered, with joy, that she was not striking in her looks or discourse. Obviously Robert Darcy was not shallow, and therefore less likely to choose Johanna over her. But, by the same token, he was also less likely to leave his wife for a younger model. Abigail knew that if Johanna did succeed and steal him, that after a few months she would tire of him and break his heart. So Abigail and Johanna entereda new rivalry, the rivalry for the best marks in Mr Darcy's class. One test, Johanna would beat Abby by one mark, the next, Abigail would beat Johanna by five. This meant that Mr Darcy's praise was lavished on one or the other , leaving one of them moody and sullen for days afterwards.

And Abigail knew that on more than one occasion, Johanna had turned to vicious backstabbing to try and discredit her from Mr Darcy's favour...