FicWad

Eliza opened her eyes and stretched, sitting up on the bed. She reached a hand to her head and groaned as she felt the messy tangles of her red curly hair. She fell back lazily into the bed, smiling in a rather guilty manner. Malory Towers had always been the sort of place that didn't stand for any nonsense, and laziness of any kind was considered quite a sin, but somehow Eliza had never gotten rid of this particular fault of hers. Glancing at the window, she saw the sun was shining brightly. She smiled and finally got out of bed, deciding to go for a morning walk. Years of trying to make her hair look slightly presentable later, she got dressed quickly and made her way downstairs.

She opened the door and stepped outside, breathing in the fresh air. The view of the outdoors was truly beautiful, and she was seriously considering going back to get her sketchbook when she heard a voice behind her.

"You're up early today, Eliza."

Eliza spun around and almost fell over as she came face to face with the hearty, mannish looking mistress. And she was smiling that irresistible smile again.

Oh, God.

"You're usually not out of bed till ten o'clock on Saturday mornings. Miss Potts has always found that rather shocking, you know" she went on, a teasing tone in her voice. Eliza rolled her eyes, laughing. It had become rather a joke amongst the staff the way Miss Potts always pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows disapprovingly when she saw Eliza rushing to the dining hall, looking guilty and rather sheepish.

"Well, I was going to have a few more minutes snooze, but I decided the day was too nice to miss out on" she replied, pulling at a strand of her red hair as she always did whenever she was nervous. She seemed to do that all the time whenever Jane was around. Eliza by nature was a rather shy person, but the other teacher always made her feel even more self-conscious. She felt the familiar blush creeping up her cheeks and looked down. Jane noticed this and laughed slightly.

"What's down there?" she asked, smirking. Eliza looked up, a look of slight confusion on her face.

"What do you mean?"

"Down there. What are you looking at?"

Eliza's face turned an even deeper shade of red and she cleared her throat, racking her brains for something to say.

"Just, er…grass. Very, um, green. Nice to paint. And flowers, also" stuttered Eliza, wincing to herself.

Great, Eliza, great. Nothing is more attractive than your stupid clumsiness, thought Eliza angrily. Jane chuckled softly and spoke again.

"Well, I'm going riding. Want to join me? We could ride over to where the hills are. Plenty of green grass over there for you to paint. Flowers, also" said Jane, and she winked as she held out her arm. Eliza laughed and took the other woman's outstretched arm, her face nearly matching the color of her hair by now.

They walked up to the school stables, where Jane's dark, big horse was waiting, with an expectant and rather impatient look on his face. Eliza laughed and reached out to stroke his black mane.

"It's almost as if he was expecting you" she said, reaching into her pocket for a peppermint to give him.

"Oh, he was. He always knows when I'm coming. He hates waiting though, he's very impatient. Hang on, I'll just get him and one of the school horses saddled up" she replied, walking over to where the saddles were.

"He's beautiful" murmured Eliza, stroking the black horse softly while he gobbled up the peppermint. Suddenly, he lowered his head and gently nuzzled her neck. Jane saw this and laughed.

"He likes you! He doesn't usually do that to anyone except for me. I'm quite jealous."

They saddled up the horses and began to ride, rather slowly at first, for Eliza hadn't ridden in quite a long time. She said so to the other woman, as an explanation for her unsteadiness.

"How come you stopped riding?" asked Jane, riding alongside her. Eliza hesitated.

"Well…to make a long story short, my stepfather didn't exactly approve of women riding horses. Thought it was unladylike. He didn't approve of many things, come to think of it. And after that…well, I guess I just got out of the habit" she replied, trying to sound casual, but surprised at the tone of bitterness in her voice, which wouldn't really be very bitter for anyone else; but Jane, who was used to hearing the mistress speak in a gentle, soft voice, noticed it at once, and glanced at her.

"Well, I'll make sure you get back into the habit now" replied Jane lightly, smiling warmly at the other woman. Eliza smiled back and they rode on.

They were putting the horses back into the stables when Jane turned to the smaller woman and smiled that smile again at her. "We should do this again soon. I enjoy having some company while riding, and it doesn't seem like Mam'zelle is up to it anytime soon".

Eliza giggled and nodded enthusiastically, and then kicked herself mentally for seeming a little overenthusiastic. She cleared her throat, racking her brains for something cool and casual to say. "Yes. I'd like that." Cool and casual, cool and casual. "I'll have to check my schedule". What? Noooo. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

"Your schedule?" Jane replied questioningly, raising her eyebrows and smirking slightly.

"Er…yes. For…painting…you know…" she trailed off, feeling extremely mortified.

"…grass? And…flowers, also?" suggested Jane, a teasing glint in her eyes. Eliza blushed, feeling like a complete and utter dunce. Seeing her embarrassment, Jane laughed loudly, and patted her shoulder. "You are one strange person, Miss Linnie." And with that, she walked away, leaving a blushing and embarrassed Eliza staring after her. The art mistress groaned and covered her face with her hands. Curse Jane Peters and her charming mannish ways. Curse Jane Peters and her warm, beautiful smile. Curse Jane Peters and her amazing ability to turn Eliza into a love-struck, idiotic featherhead. And curse her own self for falling in love with her.

A/N: I hope you liked it! Please review! Next chapter should be the last one, and hopefully longer :)