"I still can't believe you're taking Senior French in Junior year." Ruby told Belle as they walked down the science hallway. Lunch had just ended and their 5th period classes were in the same hallway.
"AP French is only one year ahead. Why is that so surprising?"
"These past two years, you've been taking Latin. Now suddenly you want to dive into your first year of French, and you choose to take AP?"
"My mom speaks French, so I already know the language."
"Then why are you taking the class? Easy A?"
"Well, that and the fact that if I take the AP class, the school pays for the AP test."
"Ugg, AP tests."
"You're taking AP Chemistry."
"Speaking of." Ruby walked into her class.
Belle didn't understand why the French class was in the science hallway. The language classes were just scattered around like that. Chinese was in math, Spanish was in English, Latin was in history; the school's organization system was messed up.
She walked into class and took her seat. She began reading the posters on the walls. A Restez calmes et conjuguez made her smile slightly. There were also diagrams of cartoon people with every body part labeled and an elaborate show of the names of colors, days of the week, and months. That was typical of any foreign language or kindergarten classroom.
"Bonjour class. Je m'appelle Madame Maleficent. Nous avons-" she was interrupted by a knocking at the door. Annoyed, she walked over to open it.
A boy with dark glasses and a cane cautiously walked into the room. He moved slowly, using the cane to feel the ground in front of him like a blind man.
"Est-ce que c'est la classe de francais?" he asked. Is this French class?
"Asseyez vous, Monsieur Or," The teacher commanded. Sit down, Mister Gold.
He threw up his cane, caught it in the middle, and proceeded to walk over and take the seat next to Belle. Madame Maleficent continued to speak to the class. He's not blind, Belle realized; he's a showman. He's also kind of cute.
"You sure you can find your way to your next period?" she whispered to him while the teacher was writing on the board.
"I have no way, and therefore want no eyes." He said in a mock British accent. He flicked his sunglasses up for a split second, revealing bloody sockets where his eyes should have been.
Belle put her right hand over her mouth, but it did little to muffle the squeal of fear. Madame Maleficent glared at her with eyes of fire, almost as frightening as Monsieur Or's, and turned back to the board.
"Relax," he whispered to her, taking his glasses off completely. She looked down at her desk, not wanting to rest her eyes on that gory sight once more, but his fingers lifted her chin up and moved her head until she was staring directly into his brown eyes.
"It's fake." He closed and opened his eyes slowly a few times so that she could see that it was only stage makeup coating his eyelids creating the illusion that his eyes had been gouged out. "We're putting on King Lear, and I'm playing-"
"Gloucester," Belle finished. She had completely forgotten to whisper.
"Taisez-vous, Mademoiselle Francais" the teacher snarled angrily and loudly, without even turning around. Shut up, Miss French.
They both stayed silent for the rest of the period while Madame Angry Dragon Lady lectured about verb conjugation and the importance of the French language in modern day society. She spent a good ten minutes explaining explicitly that si vous voulez parler, vous devez parler en francais. If you want to talk, you must speak in French. English will not be tolerated in French class.
After the bell rang and she started walking out the door, Monsieur Or came up after her.
"You left your book in your desk." He told her as he handed it to her.
"Merci, Monsieur Or."
"Rumpelstiltskin," he introduced himself, reaching his hand out to shake hers.
"Belle," she replied, taking his.