"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there" Eponine stared up in shock at the boy who had just knocked her to the ground. He was tall, much taller than she was, and that was saying something considering the fact that, even at ten years old, Eponine's poor mother had to buy her teenage clothes. Eponine also noticed his mop of blonde curls, which framed his face like a halo- even now, the boy standing before her was clearly handsome. Eponine, unsure of how to react, flinched as he offered her his hand to help her up. Why is he acting so polite? Eponine wondered. Ever since her parents lost the inn and the Thenardier family was forced to move, nobody had shown the slightest bit of interest in Eponine. The boy in question smiled kindly. "I'm not going to hurt you, you know" he assured her. "What's your name?" He enquired of the strange girl with a mass of dark hair who lay on the ground before him. "Eponine- I'm new here" the girl replied, finally accepting help and taking the boy's hand "who are you?"
The boy was about to reply with his name- Enjolras- when a familiar voice interrupted the two of them. "Ponine!" cried the freckled boy as he ran towards his friend, "there you are- I've been looking for you everywhere! I see you've met Enjolras" the boy laughed. So that's his name Eponine thought. "You know Marius?" Enjolras said, disappointed. He liked Eponine already and had been looking forward to introducing her to his friends. "Yeah, I've met Freckles- he's in my class" Eponine replied, smirking at Marius's reaction to the dreaded nickname. He pouted and solemnly informed her that he had a name, thank you very much, and he'd appreciate it if she used it. Eponine laughed and gave the boy a gently shove. "You know I'm only teasing" she grinned, before Marius decided to get his revenge by running off with her hat, which she swiftly retrieved, able to run faster than any boy she had ever met.
Enjolras sulked as he watched the two of them chasing one another around the playground. For some inexplicable reason, he felt jealous of their friendship and decided to regain attention by offering Marius a handful of Haribo sweets. "Hey, I want some too," Eponine pouted. "I haven't eaten yet today, you know!" Enjolras surveyed the girl- she was extremely thin and fragile-looking- he expected he could snap her in half if he tried to. "Here you are, Eponine" he grinned, taking her hand and placing a Haribo ring on her finger. Eponine's eyes lit up and she immediately leaned forward and gave Enjolras a quick kiss on the cheek, causing him to blush furiously.
"Ponine kissed a boy!" the whirlwind of auburn hair which was Azelma, Eponine's sister, shrieked. Now it was Eponine's turn to blush. "Who's this?" Enjolras asked, looking amused. Eponine glared at Azelma before stating thatshe was her sister but that Enjolras mustn't judge her based upon the actions of a silly little seven-year-old. Azelma, indignant, skulked off to join the boys of her class, with whom she spent the majority of her time.
As soon as Azelma left, a tall, stoky eleven-year-old came sauntering over to Eponine, Enjolras and Marius. "You can't play with boys; you're only a stupid little girl!" He sneered. Eponine was furious. "I can do what I want, Montparnasse." She replied coldly, giving him a basilisk stare. "Including this" she added, before kicking Montparnasse in the groin. He screamed in pain and ran off, much to the delight of both Eponine and Enjolras, who burst out laughing.
"Who's this, Enjy?" A dark haired boy with a mass of curls asked. "This is my new friend, Eponine" he informed the boy. "Eponine, this is Courfeyrac" he explained. Eponine and Courfeyrac smiled shyly at one another, before Enjolras grabbed her hand and began leading her toward a large group of boys. He introduced them all one by one. There was: Combeferre, who was very timid and hid behind his thick glasses, Grantaire, who had a mass of hair similar to Courfeyrac's and was constantly hyperactive, Joly, who always seemed convinced that he had a deadly disease, and was quickly labelled the "resident hypochondriac", Bousset, who was notoriously unlucky, Feuilly, who loved arts and crafts, particularly fan making, and Bahorel, who wasconstanly making awful jokes. Eponine also noticed a pretty girl with a mass of red curls and a cheeky smile. She was introduced as Musichetta. "We're the Amis" Enjolras grinned "nobody knows why, we just decided we liked the name- I'm French, so I knew what it meant." He explained. Eponine laughed. She was fluent in French as well, having lived there until the age of eight. She explained this before cartwheeling off to find Azelma.
At the end of the day, Azelma and Eponine began to walk home together. "Let's be quick or Montparnasse will catch up with us" Eponine urged her sister. It was no secret that Eponine despised Montparnasse. He was her next door neighbour and constantly teased her- he was always around, as well, seeing as his father was part of the Patron Minette. "Ponine, wait for me" Montparnasse cried as he ran down the road to greet the two girls. Eponine rolled her eyes "run", she instructed her sister, and they did. The Thenardier girls were faster and stronger than any boy, despite their fragile-looking exteriors, and were easily able to outrun Montparnasse and hide in the park until he had gone. "Why can't Maman and Papa pick us up from school like they used to?" Azelma groaned "I hate Montparnasse, I hate walking home and I hate this place!" She exclaimed, sitting on the ground and refusing to move. Eponine sighed. "You know why- Maman is working and Papa is with those scary men again", she explained patiently. By "those scary men", Eponine meant the Patron Minette, who she had swiftly (and wisely) taken a disliking to. Alzema gave in and got up, and the two girls continued to walk side by side, singing softly as they did so.
Little did they know they were being watched. Enjolras had to walk through the park in order to get home and was intrigued by this strange, mysterious girl and her sister. She still has the Haribo ring he mused. I may ask if she can come round to play soon- she's more fun than Marius…