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Will Darcy paces back and forth in his room one Saturday evening in the fall of his junior year at Ithaca College in New York. He is attempting to calm his nerves before joining his roommate Chaz Bingley, who is expecting him to head out to a party he has no interest in attending. Chaz is an affable scholarship football star (Will refuses to call it soccer) who he’d been lucky to be paired with since Will’s arrival on campus two years prior. They are an odd couple but somehow their friendship works. Will would have been truly lost without Chaz helping him navigate his new American life after his parents relocated for work and Will chose to come along to stay close to them and his little sister Georgie. Of course, she is having the time of her life in NYC while Will feels he doesn’t fit anywhere – with an American father and British mother, he didn’t really fit in back in London, and he still isn’t sure he could be happy here.
Will pulls a bit at his hair and shakes his head, ready to tell Chaz he is going to take a pass on the party and stay in to study. He opens the door, draws a breath to speak, but Chaz leaps toward him. “No, no, you’re not backing out tonight, Will! I know that face. It’s your ‘don’t make me be social’ face and I’m not having it tonight. You’ve blown me off twice since school started and you’re coming tonight. I met this gorgeous girl after practice and she told me she’d be at the party too. She rooms with her sister who’s coming with, so you can be my wingman while I get to know Jane better.” Will sighs. “Alright, I’ll come. But you owe me, because this is not my idea of fun. It’s going to loud and noisy and full of drunk people I don’t want to know or deal with.” Chaz, ever the optimist, chucks Will on the shoulder and says, “You never know, maybe you’ll meet the love of your life tonight.” Will snorts and they head out.
The party is in full swing when Will and Chaz arrive. The place is mobbed and students have already spilled out onto the lawn. They head inside, while Chaz scans the place for the lovely Jane. Not seeing her right away, he veers Will into the kitchen to grab a couple of beers. Chaz of course knows a few people, guys and gals, and he’s welcomed with high fives and inviting smiles. Will, just as tall and fit as Chaz, tries to make himself invisible but can’t avoid some speculative glances. A couple of giggling girls bump into him and try to get him to dance with them. They smell like smoke mixed with heavy perfume and an overlay of some kind of too-sweet alcohol. He flinches away from them and shudders inwardly. This is why he hates college parties. You have to shout over loud music and other people shouting to try and have a conversation – it’s impossible he thinks, frowning. Suddenly, Chaz grabs his arm and points to a couple of girls on a large back patio. The music is even louder out there, with a thumping bass beat on the song. Continuing to pull Will forward onto the deck Chaz shouts, “It’s her, the blonde, and I think it’s her sister she’s talking to. You gotta come with me, talk to the sister while I get to know Jane a little better. I want to ask her out!” Just as Will turns to look past the beautiful blonde, he hears a braying laugh and a shriek. His eyes go wide, the girl turns and laughs at Jane. Unlike Jane, she’s wearing all black, a roomy hoodie, cutoffs, and black tights finished off with a pair of black Doc Martens. He catches her staring at him, eyes (quite a beautiful green color) smudged with black, and black fingernails running through a short mop with red streaks dyed in. Will grabs Chaz and shouts, “No way am I going to talk up a girl who looks like Orphan Annie and brays like a donkey” just as the song ends and the whole deck hears his shout in the break before the next song. A few people snicker but go back to their shouted conversations as the next banger starts up. Will wishes the earth would open up and swallow him whole. Chaz gives him a hard stare and walks over to the girls, clearly to apologize. Will turns on his heel and flees the scene.
A few hours later, Chaz finds Will moping on the couch in their shared living room. “You really put your foot in it this time, Will.” Elbows on his knees and head in his hands, Will makes a strangled noise and doesn’t look up. “Jane was really understanding after I told her how uncomfortable you are at parties, but Lizzy – that’s her twin sister, they couldn’t be more different, right?! – Lizzy thinks you’re an arrogant jerk. What was with calling her a donkey? That wasn’t her – it was some obnoxious drunk girl standing behind them. Lizzy is really nice too and super smart. She wants to make movies and be famous. Jane is sweet but more serious. She’s in the architecture program. And we have a date for next weekend, no thanks to you, Mr. Jerk.” Will’s head is throbbing now. Chaz could really rattle on when he got going. “Anyway, Will, you need to come with me next week and apologize. Don’t try to get out of it.” Will groans, watching Chaz head into his room. He knows he has must go and apologize to this Lizzy, the goth with amazing eyes. His mother would be appalled if she knew what he’d done. She’d drilled enough manners into him that he knew he couldn’t disappoint her, even if it never got back to her.
Will decides to tackle the mountain of schoolwork he needs to complete, so he stays out in the sitting room and turns on the college radio station for company. A real insomniac, he often stays busy well past midnight. This late, he never knows what he’ll hear because the student DJs seem to turn over frequently. Tonight, he is pleased to hear a quite lovely jazz piano piece by Thelonious Monk. His mother being an accomplished concert pianist meant he’d been exposed to all the classics and more. He and Georgie both take after their mum in musical talent, but while he followed in her footsteps to get a degree in music performance, he prefers jazz piano. Suddenly, the most beautiful voice comes on the radio, and Will is riveted. A woman announces herself as Elle, of the Midnight Hour show. She laughs like a pretty jazz chord progression as she admits her shift is midnight to 3am but she likes the singular as a call back to the Wilson Pickett song. Will finds himself smiling and nodding in agreement. Over the week, Will finds himself listening every night that Elle spins the midnight shift. He loves her fun personality that comes through as she introduces new music or comments on the history of the tune or sometimes her history with a song.
The weekend comes around too quickly for Will, knowing he will be following Chaz over to Jane’s apartment so he can apologize to Lizzy. Saturday night he stands awkwardly in Jane’s sitting room holding a small bouquet of autumn wildflowers tied with a yellow ribbon. Jane looks at him with sympathy as she takes the flowers and says Lizzy is not available currently to hear his apology in person. She heads into the small kitchen to drop the flowers into a jar she fills with water. To Will’s horror, the ever-optimistic Chaz suggests – in what Will silently refers to as his “stadium voice” – that they could have a double date soon to set things right. Before Will can backpedal from that nonsense, a shout comes from a closed door off to the side. “As if! Will Darcy is the last person on earth I would date!” Jane blushes and mutters, “Lizzy.” She hustles the boys out the apartment door and is kind enough to give Will’s arm a squeeze. “Pay her no mind. She’s still salty about last week.” Jane and Chaz walk away toward the town center, heads already together in friendly conversation. Will heads back to his place, resolved to forget the frosty Lizzy. He immediately breaks his resolution by wondering how her amazing green eyes might flash and spark at him.
Over the next weeks, Will continues his midnight study sessions with the lovely Elle and her great music choices for company. She certainly has eclectic tastes and changes out the kind of music she spins. One night she plays only songs by artists with H surnames, from Howling Wolf to Hozier. He was tempted to call in and request Handel but he only laughed to himself. Another night she spun only songs from films she admired and he was pleased to find that their taste in movies and music aligned so well. He is surprised one night when Elle complains about a math class she is struggling with and jokes about any listeners or vampires who might be awake to help her out. Will decides to call in and offer help but when the call connects, he surprises himself by becoming shy when she answers and asks his name. He is silently panicking when Elle says, “Hello, you there caller? Did you have a request?” He rushes to offer his middle name – William Alexander Christopher Darcy – “Uh, it’s Alex, yeah. I can help you with statistics.” Elle whoops, “Yes! Gonna put you on hold while I queue up a long song – hang on and I’ll be back in a tick!” Will almost hangs up, his heart beating a mile a minute, when Elle picks up. “You’re a lifesaver Alex! I have an exam in a couple days and I cannot figure out statistical inference models. Ugh, why do they make film majors take Statistics?!” Will laughs lightly and tells her not to worry, he can walk her through it. A few questions and explanations later, mixed in with holds while Elle announced the next song, found the two wrapping up for the night. “Alex, I can’t thank you enough! You were so nice to call in to help and so patient helping me untangle the process. It’s much simpler when you explain it – are you going to be a math professor someday?” she jokes as she finishes. “Anytime Elle, no thanks necessary but would you mind playing another Thelonius Monk piece? Ruby, My Dear – the Coltrane version if you have it,” he ventures, a little shy. He can hear the smile in Elle’s response. “Sure thing Alex, I’ll find it for you, my friend!” As he rings off, Will feels a bit uncomfortable that she thinks of him as Alex, but he pushes the thought aside and kicks back to enjoy some Monk.
Over the next weeks and into the new year, Will keeps listening to Elle’s show. Chaz and Jane are still a couple but they seem to have an unspoken agreement to never mention Lizzy again to Will. He continues to call in to make a song request or just chat with Elle during songs. They find they have similar likes and some clear disagreements on favorite bands and style of music. Will, still Alex to Elle, introduces her to new music and she introduces him to her favorite art house films. One night Elle is moaning about her statistics class again and Will offers to help anytime. Over some big band swing music in the background (Elle is going through 40’s big band phase), Elle says suddenly, “I know Alex, we should meet in person! It would be so much easier if you were sitting next to me helping me work through the sample covariance and standard deviation exam questions. Let’s meet at Rosie’s, you know it right? That little all-night diner just off west campus. If you come at 10 tomorrow night, we can work through some practice problems before my Midnight Hour shift starts.” Will freaks out a bit but knows he’d love to see Elle in person and explore their friendship further, maybe even for something more. The time he’s spent with her has become an important part of his life here. He’ll fess up about the fake name. Of course, she’ll understand. “Uh, okay, sure. How will I know it’s you?” Her musical laugh warms him all over. “In the back table with a giant Stats book, silly! You can come with a single red rose so I know it’s you. Just kidding! We’ll probably be the only ones there that late. Uh oh, song’s just done, see you then!” She rings off and Will can’t help his fingers tapping a lively jazz piano progression on his study table in the apartment, a huge smile on his face. He’ll even bring her a red rose, just to make her laugh.
The following day, after spending his daily practice time completely distracted and then trying on four different outfits at home before going back to the first one, Will is ready to head out. Thank God, Chaz is out at Jane’s so he won’t have to explain where he is going and who he is going to see. Time enough to tell him after, hopefully with a plan for a real date to follow. He grabs his laptop in case they need it and the red rose he can’t wait to give her and begins the short walk to Rosie’s. Soon enough, he is at the diner door. He takes a calming breath and enters, walking toward the back with a smile. He sees a lovely brunette with a jaunty little pink scarf holding her hair back, her thick lashes a contrast against porcelain skin. Pink nail polish and a pair of pink Chucks finish the look. Her Stats book is propped up on the table. “Hey Elle, it’s me,” Will says shyly, holding out the red rose with a soft smile. She looks up with a smile, beautiful green eyes warm until they narrow at him. “You. Jerkface Darcy. Where’s Alex? Is this a joke?” Will takes a step forward, recognizing those green eyes. What happened to baby goth? Anyway, time to fess up. “Uh. William Alexander Christopher Darcy. At your service.” Good grief, could he be more of a knob? “Please, let me explain, l was nervous when I first called and….” Elle/Lizzy interrupted him. “Get lost, Jerkface. I’m busy.” She waves at him in a shooing motion and pointedly hides behind her Stats book. “Elle. Lizzy. I’m so sorry,” Will says before leaving, chucking the rose into the landscaping outside the diner door and heading home.
Will spends the next week moping around the apartment, leaving only for classes and practice time. He isn’t eating or sleeping well. He thinks about writing a letter. He thinks about going up to the radio station. Georgie asks him what is wrong during their weekly call, but Will can’t bring himself to explain. He gives it all up for a loss and plans to spend the rest of his life alone. Chaz works the full story out of him, shakes his head at Will’s missteps with Lizzy and tells him to quit being such a drama queen and sort it out with her. Chaz and Jane meanwhile are trying to convince Lizzy to give Will another chance. Jane tells Chaz that she knows Lizzy is being stubborn because she doesn’t want to admit she overreacted to Will’s insult at the party and was too proud and rude to not let him apologize. Jane also knows Lizzy has been talking about her late-night caller Alex, saying how much fun they have when he calls in, and she was excited to meet him finally in person. Jane tells Chaz that Lizzy made extra effort with her looks that night because she was hoping for the start of something more with Alex. Together they decide to convince Will to make one more try with Lizzy.
It takes another week for Chaz and Jane to talk Will and Lizzy to agree to meet again. Once again Will arrives at Jane and Lizzy’s apartment, only this time he carries two dozen gorgeous pink roses. He takes them directly to the sofa where Lizzy is seated, kneels on one knee, and lays the roses in her arms. “Lizzy, lovely Elle, please allow me to tell you how sorry I am that I didn’t take the time to meet you properly in the fall. I am an idiot to judge on first impressions and not try harder to know you. When I called into Midnight Hour, I should have given you my first name, but please know that the Alex you know from our late nights is who I am. Can we start over, lovely Lizzy, amazing Elle?” Lizzy’s green eyes look a bit watery, and she smiles at Will. “C’mon, get up off the floor and sit next to me, ya big jerk.” She winks to let him know she is joking but she isn’t going to let him off too easy. “First, I need to apologize as well. I hung onto my first impression for too long, and I didn’t give you a chance to show me a better person because it was easier to keep you in that box. Seeing that you were Alex threw me off and I could have let you explain. I had so much fun with you, Alex. Will. Ugh, whatever! I guess you’re not so bad after all. The roses are definitely a good move. Let’s start again.” Impulsively, Lizzy leaned in and kissed Will’s cheek. He blushed to the tips of his ears and leaned in to whisper in her ear, “Happy Valentine’s Day, Lizzy.” From that day on, Will and Lizzy are inseparable and a year later they are engaged. Despite their disastrous first impressions, Will always looks back fondly on that crazy party when he met the love of his life.