Hello! I'm BurnetteTexan, and this is my first story. I'm really excited to share this with y'all, but just be warned:
I DO NOT SPEAK FRENCH, I'VE BEEN USING GOOGLE TRANSLATE, AND AM AWARE IT IS INACCURATE SOMETIMES (A LOT).
If you know a better way to say something, let me know and I'll try to fix it. That said,how you enjoy the story!
Astrid had been in Paris for about a week now. Her French was no where near perfect, but she could get her point across and kinda carry on a conversation. Currently, Astrid was grocery shopping, stocking up on fruits from a fresh fruit stand ten minutes from her apartment. It might be a little far, but a it was a nice walk through the cosmopolitan city. She was selecting kiwis when she felt someone tap her shoulder. She was nothing short of appalled when the stranger kissed her the moment she turned around. As soon as she could pull away from the lips entrapping hers, Astrid swung her purse, hitting him in the face and sprinted off into the busy street. Once she wove her way through the crowd and was confident she lost him, she headed for the métro station, one that conveniently headed towards her home in the Latin Quarter.
Five minutes prior...
"Pardon!" (Sorry!)
"Excusez-moi!" (Excuse me!)
As Henry pushed through the crowded street, he glanced over his shoulder, yelling apologies as he knocked people over. He spotted his pursuers, getting closer with every block. Making a mental note to never again insult a Frenchman's baguette, he narrowly avoided an old lady carrying her groceries as he continued his getaway down to too-busy French boulevard. Leaping over a crate of oranges and quickly turning a corner, he strolled deeper into the alley, thinking he had lost the pursuers. A "Il était là" (There he is!) is all he needed to know he was wrong. He once again sprinted farther into the alley, knocking over trash behind him in hopes of slowing down the baker and his assistants. Three of the five assistants eventually tripped over something, but the other two assistants and baker were hot on his trail. Turning onto a busier street, he sprinted from the entrance of the alley. With the little energy he had left, he tapped a nearby girl on the shoulder. As she turned around, he leaned forward and smack, kissed her right on the lips. He held their position with a firm hand on her lower back until he heard the baker yell something tasteless a few blocks down. He pulled away, immediately met by a purse to the face. Stunned and out of breath, he just shook it off as the girl he just kissed ran of.
"Pardon!" he yelled after her. It's not like I'll see her again, he thought, turning and walking back to the métro.
Once he was on the subway was when he started to feel the aftereffects of his "run." Noticing an empty seat, he sat down next to someone who looked around his age. He heard a gasp, and noticed who he was sitting next to. It was the girl he had just kissed. And she looked mad.
"Qu'est-ce que tu veux? Pourquoi me suivez-vous? Et pourquoi m'as-tu embrassé?" (What do you want? Why are you following me? And why did you kiss me?)
"Quelle? Oh, est-ce que je t'ai juste embrassé? Désolé, mais merci, je vous dois. Je m'appelle Hiccup." (What? Oh, did I just kiss you? Sorry about that, but thanks, I owe you one. My name is Hiccup.) Hiccup offered Astrid his hand, but she just looked at it suspiciously.
"Comment est-ce que je sais que vous n'êtes pas un soucis qui veut simplement," she paused for a second, trying to think of the word in her less than perfect French lexicon. "Me violer ou quelque chose comme ça?" (How do I know you're not some creep who just wants to rape me or something?) her accent was getting worse from fear. Who is this guy? Is he following her?
"Pardonnez-moi si je me trompe, mais vous ne sonnez pas comme le français est votre première langue. Préférez-vous l'anglais? (Forgive me if I'm wrong, but you do not sound like French is your first language. Would you prefer english?) If you don't want to or can't, I'm sorry. Je peux revenir à parler français." (I can go back to speaking French.)
Astrid let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Speaking a different language to a total (well, almost total) stranger was harder than one would think.
"Oh, thank the gods. But really though, are you a creep or a weirdo or something? Why just run up and make out with me?" Astrid unconsciously gripped her purse tighter, and glanced up at the map. Four more stops til hers.
"I swear, I'm not a con-artist or a creep or anything. I'm a student at École Polytechnique. As for the making out, that's a little more complicated. Let's just say, never insult a Frenchman's baguette." While laughing at the event, he didn't notice her pulling back for a punch. "Ow! What was that for?!"
"Was that some kind of weird sex joke? I knew you were a creep." She made to get up, but something stopped her. She glared at Hiccup who was holding her arm. He let go cautiously as she slowly sat back down.
"I don't want to scare you. You seem like a nice person. I literally meant, don't insult his baguette, as in a long loaf of bread. I went to a different place for breakfast this morning and was surprised by the bread. It tasted different from what I usually eat. Sorry if I scared you."
Astrid smiled sheepishly and relaxed. He did seem like a nice guy who doesn't mean any harm. And it could come in handy to be friends with a native Parisian. "You're good, I'm just a bit jumpy, ya know, after getting randomly made out with on the street, by a stranger." She said, once again glaring at him. Hiccup apologized once more before he had an idea.
"How long will you be in Paris? Pardon me, but you sound American. If you want, I can be your personal Parisian tour guide. I'll take you to all the museums, monuments, restaurants, all the places you should go to while you're here. And just so you know I'm not some 'con-artist,' I'll pay your admission." Looking at her expectantly, he waited for a reply.
"Ok." Astrid answered with caution. "But if you try anything funny, I'm going straight to the police. And, we meet at a restaurant, not a house."
"Deal." Hiccup offered his hand once more. This time, she accepted it. "So how long will you be in Paris? What's the time frame?"
"I'm a student, like you. I'm studying at Universite Pantheon-Assas Paris II to become a lawyer." Noticing it was her stop, Astrid stood up right as the train stopped. Bad idea, she lost her balance, and fell straight into Hiccup's lap. He quickly helped her up and stood himself, avoiding eye contact. He apologized quickly and bolted. "Wait!" Astrid called after him. She looked around, and noticed him walking close to the wall, towards the stairs. Quickly, she squeezed through the crowd, and tapped him on the shoulder. Hiccup spun around, confused. Who was tapping him on the shoulder. Oh, it's that girl again. Wait, what's her name?
"Where are we going to meet? You know, for the tour-y thing?" He thought for a moment, then motioned for her to follow him to a map.
"We are right here, right?" He pointed to the subway stop where they were. "We're right on the edge of the Latin Quarter. This is Île Saint-Louis. It's a small island in the Seine." He glanced at Astrid to make sure she was understanding. "Cross the bridge that is in from of Notre Dame and meet me at the restaurant on your left. I believe it has a red awning. I'll be there at 10 tomorrow morning. We can eat breakfast and I'll tell you about the plans for the day, and we'll go from there. Sound good?" Astrid nodded. As she was walking away, she heard him call her one last time. "Wait! I never got your name."
She thought for a moment. "It's Heather."
"See you tomorrow Heather."
Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you thing of this, I'd love to hear! (Also, sorry if my grammar/punctuation/spelling is really bad) :|
One last thing: I'm really bad at updating, so sorry in advance, just hang in there. :-)
