A/N: I'm trying out my first multi-chapter fanfic. Please review and tell me what you think!
After 5 years Éponine Thénardier is back. It wasn't that she wanted to leave in the first place, but it felt nice to be back. However, she wasn't coming back as Éponine Thénardier, but as Éponine Faulkner, the adopted daughter of Helen Faulkner.
At the end of Éponine's first year of junior high, she was forced to leave Manhattan with her parents and siblings to flee to San Francisco. The police in Manhattan were cracking down criminal activity, and Mr and Mrs Thénardier wanted to leave before they were caught. Although they had fled the police in Manhattan, within a year they were caught by the police in San Francisco. Éponine and all her siblings were thrown into the foster system and separated to different families.
After spending a year circling the system, Éponine's youngest brothers, Peter and Jack, were adopted into a small but caring family. Although it was sad to let them go, she knew that they would be guaranteed a much better life with loving parents, rather than with her. The next year, Éponine and her other two siblings, Gavroché and Azélma, were also adopted into a slightly larger family. Helen Faulkner had 2 children, Ruth and Seth, and they welcomed the three siblings into their family with open arms.
For the next 2 years, Éponine and Azélma attended Lowell High School with Ruth, and Gavroché finished elementary school at Lakeshore Alternative Elementary School with Seth. They made a lot of friends in San Francisco and Éponine and Ruth applied to many colleges, some around San Francisco, and others all around America. What they couldn't have anticipated was a string of coincidences which ultimately led to her meeting him.
It all started the morning of the first day of summer vacation. Envelopes arrived in the mail, 2 envelopes to be precise, and both had the Columbia University stamp on them. Mrs Faulkner handed one envelope to Éponine, and one to Ruth. The whole family was seated around the dining table, eagerly anticipating the news that was contained within the confines of the smooth, white paper.
"Who wants to open theirs first?" asked Mrs Faulkner.
Beforehand, Éponine had one a game of 'scissors, paper, rock' against Ruth, and insisted that she wanted to open hers after Ruth. Thus, Ruth put her hand up and commandeered silence at the table.
As Ruth slowly peeled back the sticky paper, all 6 pairs of eyes were glued to the envelope. Ruth pulled the pieces of paper out of the envelope, throwing it aside, and stood up reading:
"Dear Ruth, we thank you for your application to Columbia University. It is our great pleasure to congratulate you on winning a 50% scholarship into the establishment."
Squeals were audible all around the table as everyone jumped up to congratulate her. Only 2 people in the country were awarded this scholarship, along with 1 person who receives a full scholarship to Columbia University. Ruth had tears in her eyes as she thanked everyone. Both Éponine and Ruth had their hearts set on that particular university. For Ruth, it was the fantastic medical course there, and for Éponine, it was a way to get back to Manhattan and meet her old friends.
As the family settled down, Éponine repeated Ruth's actions, peeling the envelope open, retrieving the papers inside, and standing up to read her letter:
"Dear Éponine, we thank you for your application to Columbia University. It is our great pleasure to congratulate you on winning the Community Scholars full scholarship."
Instantaneously, everyone was jumping about, hugging Éponine. The two girls smiled at each other, the months of studying have paid off.
The next few weeks were quite uneventful. Éponine and Ruth gathered their school supplies and got ready to head off to Manhattan. Éponine was anticipating the great reunion with her elementary school friends, but deep down, she was quite worried. She had left during summer vacation, leaving only a note to say goodbye to her friends. She knew that they were not one's to hold grudges for long periods of time but, she was slightly scared that their old comradery would not be able to be rectified after 5 years of silence.
What do you have to be afraid of, Éponine? she silently wondered to herself, It's not your fault that you had to leave Manhattan. Maybe they won't even remember you…
Éponine shook her head and kept packing her clothes. Her flight to Manhattan was a week away, and if she wanted to start college off well, she needed to have her head in the game. She looked across to see Ruth packing her things into a bright pink suitcase. What was up with Ruth and pink, she didn't know.
"Hey! You ready to head off to the land of the unknown?" Éponine asked Ruth with a bright smile in her eyes.
"Pfft, you're gonna be there to help me, right? Why should I be scared?" Ruth replied back with a laugh.
They both burst out laughing, unable to stop, and that's how Mrs Faulkner found them when she opened the door to their room.
"Hey girls," she called out, "I have an announcement to make. Zél, Gav and Seth are already waiting on the couch. Care to join us?"
Upon looking at the small frown that was visible on Mrs Faulkner's face, the girls instantly stopped laughing and carried similar worried expressions on their faces.
"Ma, are you alright?" Ruth asked.
"Just come downstairs. It's better if I tell you all at the same time." Mrs Faulkner replied as she turned and made her way downstairs.
The girls shared a look of confusion before shrugging and walking down the stairs. As they approached the couch, they could see that the others had no idea what was happening either. They took a seat on the black, leather couch and turned to face Mrs Faulkner who began to speak.
"Guys, I need to talk to you about an important decision that I have to make. As you know, my job has been very insecure for the past couple of months. My boss has just told me that I either have to transfer over to Manhattan, or lose my job altogether."
There was a deadly silence across the living room. Éponine didn't know what to feel. Of course, it would be great to have her family in Manhattan with her, but that meant that she would never be able to spend her summers here, in San Francisco. It seemed like Ruth was thinking the same thing as she said:
"Ma, you know that we will stick by whatever you choose. It's gonna be hard to leave everyone behind here, but I'm sure we will manage."
All 5 children nodded in agreement. They were all happy to be able to stay together, but knew that they would have to say farewell to all their San Franciscan friends.
"When's the flight?" Azélma asked curiously as she lifted her gaze from Éponine's to Mrs Faulkner's.
"We will be flying off with Éponine and Ruth."
Cheers erupted from all 5 siblings as they smiled at each other.
"Oh, and Éponine, I know you had some friends over in Manhattan, would you and Ruth like to go and meet them on our first day there?"
"Yes, thanks mum that would be great!" Éponine replied with her signature dimpled grin, present on her lips.