Fall For You [The Jane Austen Academy Series #1] Read Online Free Page A

classmates were behaving.
    They were still running up to each other, hugging and kissing each other’s cheeks. But then they sat in tight groups, furtively glancing around, giving coy smiles instead of gabbing about what they’d done over the summer. It was like the end of an era that she hadn’t even known was around the corner. Everything, everyone , had changed and she hadn’t even had time to savor how things had been before.
    A hiss of microphone static squealed through the speakers, and there was the rustle of students hurrying to their seats. Lizzie found herself glancing around for Anne—she usually sat in the front row, too—and finally spotted her in the back by the main exit. Why would she sit there? Did she think she’d have to make an escape?
    Lizzie’s gaze swept back to Dante a few seats to her left.
    He hadn’t moved an inch. He was still sitting up straight, with his ramrod posture, staring straight ahead. The cute boy who had grinned at her earlier and made her smile sat to his left with an easy slouch. He leaned across Dante to say something and she thought she saw the corner of Dante’s lips lift in a smile. For a moment, for one second, Dante was seriously good-looking.
    Then she was distracted by the guy sitting on the other side of Dante—definitely the best-looking guy in the whole room. Hot like an Italian model, with dark hair and green eyes. Green eyes that kept searching the auditorium—but not searching in a casual way, searching in a determined way for something specific—or someone specific.
    Then he went still and Lizzie followed his line of sight to…Anne?
    Sheepishly, Lizzie realized she was engaging in the same behavior she’d just judged in the other girls. She was wasting her time checking out the boys.
    Static hissed through the speakers, then disconcordant feedback pierced the air. The auditorium went silent as the speaker’s shriek softened to silence.
    Lizzie spun around in her seat to face Bergie who held the mic like she was hosting a reality television show.
    “Welcome, welcome!” Bergie began the annual address by welcoming back former students and welcoming in the new ones. She acknowledged the challenges the school had faced and thanked the students for being part of the solution and not the problem.
    Bergie paused and her gaze found Lizzie mid-eyeroll in the split second before she went on to introduce the incoming faculty.
    Lizzie rose up in her seat. So Bergie thought she was part of the solution? She did intend to be part of the solution—the solution to force the new owners to dialogue with the students. If the students accepted the current changes without question, who knew what else the new owners would change in the future? They had to realize that they were accountable—to the students, to their paying customers! They couldn’t go around doing things like changing the school’s traditions—especially not its name.
    This was the Jane Austen Academy, and Lizzie intended to see it stayed that way.
    “So I thank you, students,” Bergie said, “and we hope to see you at the Welcome Back dance this Friday.”
    Lizzie jumped up in her seat and yelled across the room, “Just one more announcement.” She cleared her throat, stilling her pulse as her classmates shifted in their seats to look at her.
    “No need for that now,” Bergie said into the microphone.
    “Headmistress Berg was kind enough to reappoint Anne as our chair for the school dance,” she continued. “Let’s give her and Anne a hand, shall we? Come on, make some noise,” Lizzie prodded as the applause slowly grew. “That’s right! Thank you, Headmistress Berg.”
    “You’re welcome,” Bergie said with a question in her tone.
    “You guys will be glad to know that Anne and I intend to throw the best Welcome Back dance ever!”
    A small cheer went up from some of her classmates—mostly her friends—and she took a little courage from it.
    “In fact, despite all the new changes