"Psst."
He was walking down the concrete path up to the large brown doors at the entrance of the school, his brown leather satchel on his right shoulder and his red folder in the other arm.
He looked around the empty space, the garden area outside of the school completely deserted. He was early, it was expected. His eyes scanning the grass with a confused frown, he carried on up the path.
"Psst."
This time he knows he heard it. There was no mistaking it. Somebody was making noises, and it sounded as though it was coming from the side of him. Looking around again, to the right this time, he almost jumped when he saw a petite girl leaning against a large tree on the grass.
Her hair were dark brown and her coat looked too big for her. Her eyes were on his, but her body was turned away from him. He thinks it is supposed to make her look nonchalant, but it didn't really work since he knows for a fact that she is trying to get his attention.
"Excuse me?" He's still stood in his spot, planted firmly on the path, startled eyes on her.
"You're Grantaire's friend, right?" Her head has moved now so both her eyes and head are turned his way.
He frowns a bit. "Y-yes, why?" He feels curiosity prick inside of him. Her eyes light up and she motions for him to move over to her. But before he moves, he repeats himself. "Why?"
She shifts a little. "I have a problem."
He feels something drop inside of him, it could be his stomach or his heart or anything, but from the smirk forming on her face he thinks it's bad news.
Nonetheless, he walks towards her. He thinks he has seen her before, but since they've only been at their new school for a week and a half, he shouldn't really know everybody by name yet.
She's pulling her coat around her body, her arms wrapped gently against her stomach.
His eyes widen when he gets closer to her, watching as she stands up straight and faces him. "What-what is your problem?"
She keeps her eyes on his as she opens her coat slightly and shows him something he never expected to see.
Inside her coat was a small black kitten, large green eyes blinking up at him. It meows quietly and he lifts his eyebrows. Her arms are cradling it through her coat and she smiles as she looks down at it.
"She's called Sparkles."
He looks at her and raises an eyebrow silently.
She looks affronted. "What? It's a nice name for a cat."
He rolls his eyes and just looks down at the cat again. "Wait, I don't see how this is a problem."
"Our school doesn't allow pets in dorms."
He nods. "Yes, and?"
She lifts her chin and frowns at him. "Maybe you're not the guy Grantaire told me about. He did say blond hair and blue eyes, but he was supposed to be quite smart. You are the one with the weird name, right?"
"...Enjolras."
"Yeah, yeah! Angel-whatever, you know the rule about no pets in dorms." He makes a small noise in the back of his throat. "And you know that I currently have a kitten in my coat." He nods. "How did you get straight A's, yet can't work out what is happening right now?"
That's when it dawns on him. He straightens up. "Oh no."
She nods, her eyes widening. "You have to help me. Sparkles has nowhere else to go."
"I can't, I could get in trouble."
"I don't want you to keep it, I just want you to help me smuggle Sparkles inside, that's all."
"You know, next time you want to convince somebody to do something completely safe and harmless, try not to use the word 'smuggle'."
She shakes her head and rolls her eyes. "Fine, whatever, I need you to help me sneak Sparkles inside."
"Slightly better."
"Whatever! Will you help me or what?"
He looks into her eyes. Leaves her hanging for a while even though he already knows that he's going to end up doing it anyway.
"Fine."
She squeals a bit, grinning up at him and he thinks that getting in trouble will be worth it just because of her reaction.
She raises an eyebrow at him. "Okay, so how do you wanna do this?"
"Can you not just carry it in your coat?" She frowns at him. "I mean, that is what you're doing right now."
"Oh, come on. If they see me looking the least bit sketchy, they will know I'm up to something. You, however, are the school's golden boy." He raises his eyebrows. "Or so Grantaire says. I've never really seen you around before."
He lifts his chin, easily towering over her. She raises an eyebrow again. "Fine, here's how it's going to happen..."
They end up putting the cat in his satchel and walking in separately, for appearance's sake. They don't know each other, so walking in together would be too out of the ordinary to be normal.
He walks in with his usual confidence, nodding at the secretary as he walks past, keeping his head held high and his usual fierce demeanour in check, all the while constantly afraid that the kitten in his bag will start meowing.
Éponine follows behind, her large coat open as to show that she has nothing to be afraid of, that there is nothing she could possibly be doing wrong. The secretary rolls her eyes as Éponine walks past, typing furiously on the keyboard.
They meet around the corner. It's still early, so the halls are bare, but the clock is ticking, so they have to rush. He follows her, his hand placed protectively over the bag over his shoulder.
"So how come you don't live in the dorms?" She whispers even though there is nobody on the stairwell they are currently trekking up.
"My friend and I share an apartment off campus."
She nods, a smile forming on her face. "Oh, you're one of those guys." Her eyes are alight with entertainment, and he frowns.
"Excuse me?"
She chuckles. "You know, Grantaire did say that your were quite overprivileged and la-di-da, but I didn't quite believe it. Now, however-" she continues to laugh. He follows her down a hall filled with numbered doors.
"What's wring with living off campus?"
"Nothing, nothing."
He frowns and goes to carry on the conversation, but she's already stopping before a door. It's green and there are a few scratches on it and some of the paint is peeling off. She unlocks the door, not even checking to make sure he's behind her before she asks in and takes the jacket off.
He walks in slowly, never having entered a dorm room before. It's not as small as he expected, and there is actually a lot of space to do useful things. His eyes zero in on the large bookshelf in the middle of back wall, full to the brim with some books piled high next to it.
Grantaire is sat on his bed waiting for them, his earphones in and a sketch book laying on the bed, colours scattered on his crumpled blanket.
As soon as he sees them, he rips his earphones out and jumps up, his hands clenched excitedly. "How'd it go? Did you get through?"
Éponine laughs. "Yes, of course! Pretty boy, here, waltzed straight past her, not even a raised eyebrow or a tilt of the head."
Grantaire nods appraisingly. "Damn, Apollo, Ép' and I get quizzed almost every time we enter the doors, she must love you."
"Well, I have to admit, doing my homework and maintaining good grades does have some benefits, if not only for my academic career."
Éponine blinks at him, then turns to Grantaire. "Seriously, where did you find him?"
Grantaire lifts an eyebrow, giving him a side glance as he looks at Éponine. "He's a friend of a friend. You know how sometimes I go to those little meetings-"
"-The ones with Marius."
"-yes, those. Well, this little posh boy gives speeches from time to time. I knew that, just from the language he used, his impeccable diction, and his well-to-do clothes, he would be the perfect guy to help fulfil this task."
Enjolras doesn't day anything, just opens his satchel and let's Grantaire run over to him. Éponine crowds around him as well, and the smile on her face as Grantaire gently pulls the kitten from his bag is so bright he has to look away.
"Oh, he's so cute." Grantaire cradles the kitten to his chest and Éponine giggles beside him. "You can leave now." Grantaire doesn't even look up from the kitten, so Enjolras assumes that is his command to leave.
He looks to Éponine. She glances up at him and nods. "Thanks, see you around." She immediately goes back to looking at the kitten, stroking its head with small movements.
He walks towards the door and opens it with a creak, stepping around it and closing it behind him. He stands there for a few seconds, just processing what the hell he just did. Sighing, he shakes his head. A door opens from down the hall and he takes off, trying to work out how to get out of the building.