The school system is loosely based on the British system, as it is the only system I'm somewhat familiar with, aside from the Danish system. Please excuse any hiccups. Also, I believe the story in based in the UK, though I haven't officially written it anywhere. Most people turn 18 during their last year of Sixth Form, which is why Eponine is able to work at the Café.
She met Grantaire during his first year of Sixth Form.
She was a year younger than him, still in the 10th grade at that point but her school was a comprehensive joined with a Sixth form, and the students mixed left and right. He was new, having just moved to town to live with his aunt, and he was cute in that rugged way that she never could resist, which was probably the reason why she first spoke to him.
She had found him sitting on the curb outside the school, a cigarette resting lazily in the corner of his mouth, unlit, and with his head bend down, staring into the pavement beneath him.
She didn't say anything for a while after she sat down beside him, nor did he. She would look at him, and he would look at the pavement. At some point he gave up whatever he had been doing and straightened his back to look at her as she sat beside him, on the cold ground. Releasing a sigh, he pulled out a crumbled pack of cigarettes from his back-pocket and held it out towards her in an offering.
"Call me R," he had said, before finally lightening his own cigarette.
It later turned out they had a lot in common.
A harsh upbringing had gifted them both with a sardonic and dark look upon life and society (Grantaire had a much more cynical view than she did, but she agreed with him on many of his points, which that was more than what most did, and she knew he appreciated that in her.) They nourished the feelings in each other, got lost in their friendship, together with alcohol, spliffs and fags.
But they also helped each other.
Whenever Eponine's home life became too much, which was more often than not, she would simply text Grantaire, crawl out her window and a few moments later he would be there.
Sometimes they walked aimlessly around, trying to kill the time before morning came, huddling together on a bench in the park or hiding underneath a tree if it began to rain. Other times they would go the Grantaire's aunt's place. She owned a café, Le Musain, and while she was a stern woman, who often dedicated herself more to her work than to her charge, she was one of the few members of Grantaire's family who actually cared about the boy's wellbeing, and that she had decided that his well-being now included Eponine.
The two years they had together while Grantaire went to Sixth Form, were two of the best years of Eponine's life. They shared everything together, and it all seemed to blur together into one content world when she was with Grantaire, a colourful world that made real life seem much easier to deal with.
When Grantaire was accepted into the nearby university on an art scholarship, Eponine's heart was broken. Sure, he would still be staying in town – in fact, Le Musain was closer to the university than it was to their Sixth Form, and they almost always hung out there anyway, so that wouldn't be much of a change – but that didn't matter very much to her during the day.
They would still get to see each other, of course they would, but not going to the same school, not walking the same hallways and entertaining each other during lunch in the common-room, it simply wasn't the same. Their lives were separate now, and even though Eponine had only known Grantaire for two years, the thought terrified her to the very bone.
Eponine's final year of Sixth Form was quickly coming to an end and she needed to start saving up now if she ever hoped to go to uni, and Grantaire needed extra money for classes, so they both began working for his aunt. Almost every free moment they had, was spent in that café at the corner of a small street, a stone-throw away from the university campus.
Most of their customers were students, and Eponine soon felt as if she was as much as part of the university life as Grantaire was. This wasn't saying much, because she didn't think he was much part of it at all, it seemed like he was with her at every moment possible, and didn't actually seem to know any of the students in the café, no matter how frequent they were there.
It was [edit: 'was AT'] the café that Eponine first met Marius.
He sat by himself, hunched over some old dusty books, that she was certain he had snuck out from the library, a cup of black coffee with two sugars left forgotten by his side.
She thought he was absolutely stunning.
His hair was a redish-brown, his skin light and covered in freckles, and Eponine decided that it would look perfect against her own ebony coloured skin. A perfect contrast.
He didn't pay her a lick of attention at first. Not even as she offered to top off his coffee, which had gone cold by now, he simply waved her away, not able to remove his nose from where it was buried inside the books.
"Getting a crush are we?"
Grantaire, was on bus-boy duty today. They swapped every week, it made the job more interesting and nobody got stuck doing only the shitty things. He was wearing a dirty apron and a pair of pink latex gloves, his sleeves wet and his hair sticking out in all direction. He looked absolutely ridiculous.
Eponine secretly thought that he was in no condition to tease her about anything right now, but decided to go for denial instead of counterattack.
"I have no idea what you are talking about," she stated with a small huff, reaching up to tighten her ponytail by separating the hair and pulling it to two different directions, "don't you have some dishes to clean?"
Grantaire pulled at face at her, but turned back to the dirty dishes nonetheless. Of course, Eponine knew she wasn't in the clear. Not by far.
"We don't even offer top ups here."
She could feel the blush spreading on her cheeks, and quickly busied herself with brewing a new batch of herbal tea, instead of looking towards her best friend, who she was certain was sporting a grin by now.
Finding herself in a lack of words to respond with when she heard a chuckle coming from the dark-haired devil standing behind her, she instead opted for chucking the nearest dishtowel at him – which was wet and hit him in the back of the head with a satisfying slap – muttering curses under her breath.
Only, of course, to look up and see the boy from before standing in front of her at the counter, a slightly terrified look on his face. In his hands he held a now empty cup out towards Eponine, and she couldn't help but think it was the cutest thing she had ever seen, and that she would ruin this boy if he ever came too near her.
"Uhm," he stuttered, scrambling for the words to say, "I would like that top up now, if you please."
The laugh Grantaire let out would most defiantly be punished later on. As soon as Marius left, so he wouldn't think she was some sort of crazy, abusive woman.
Anymore than he probably already did, that is.