Did you hear about the new update? The one where you can include four characters now instead of only two? Whoo!
It had been a hot, summer day, and Eponine had been walking home from her temporary job as a dog sitter, she had had enough experience from handling Azelma and Gavroche. She was only nine, and worked for very cheap people who only paid her $1.50 an hour for walking, bathing, playing, and feeding their dog, a crazy poodle.
Sweat was starting to form on her forehead, the droplets of water running down the side of her face. Eponine was thankful that her clothes were awfully thin. Her long, dark hair swayed in the movement of the light breeze.
Eponine had tried to take the longest route possible back home. Coming home faster would mean having to put up with her father. The downfall was leaving eight year old Azelma all by herself having to take care of four year old Gavroche, for their mother usually just sat around.
The sidewalk was all gray and broken, with weeds growing out of the cracks. The path that Eponine took passed Barricade Hill, a place that was a perfect sledding location in the winter, and a wonderful picnic setting in the summer. If you climbed to the top, you could see neighborhoods and parks, all viewed from above. A tree at the top provided shade, and if you dared, you could climb it.
Eponine decided to stop by the hill and relax for a minute or two, it wouldn't hurt. Slowly, the place came into view, and the tree slowly became visible. It felt like it was coming towards you, not you coming towards it. Finally, Eponine set her foot on a bench at the bottom of the lush, green hill. She lowered herself down, sitting on the painted wood.
The bench looked like it hadn't been painted for years now, the light blue coating was peeling off. The metal was rusty, and the supports were wobbly. Eponine didn't mind at all, she felt at home there. A pattern of footsteps sounded from behind her. She shipped around to find herself face to face with a freckle faced boy a little older than herself.
"Hi." she managed to squeak out. The boy grinned widely, showing a set of perfect teeth. Eponine had straight teeth too, luckily. Her family couldn't afford braces.
"Hi! My name is Marius. My last name is Pontmercy, although I prefer just Marius if you're one if those who call people by their last names. Say, what's yours? I'm eleven years old. How old are you?" he danced around Eponine until she laughed and answered simply.
"Eponine. I'm nine years old." The boy smiled even wider if that was possible.
"What's your last name?"
"You don't want to know."
"I think you can trust me with something you don't trust yourself with. I won't think of you any differently. Can I sit here?" Eponine nodded and Marius plopped down beside her. When he looked at her, she was caught in his green eyes. He smirked when he caught her looking at him, and she looked away.
"So… Are you going to tell me?" Marius asked with impatience lingering in his voice. Eponine could have laughed at how childish he was acting.
"Thenardier."
"Bless you!" Marius exclaimed. Eponine stared at him in confusion. Then it hit her.
"That was my last name, not a sneeze, you nitwit!" she cried, and playfully smacked Marius' arm. He laughed in understanding. Eponine liked the sound of his laugh, it sounded so merry and joyful. She caught herself. Was she falling in love with this boy she hadn't known for an hour? It was too dangerous, based on her friendships with Montparnasse and her relationship with her abusive father. Eponine couldn't trust love and friendship, she had grown up learning that. But Marius was different, he didn't have the same disguised harsh tone as Montparnasse, or that fake, sweet, sarcastic voice like her father used these days.
Marius stood up, leaving Eponine all alone on the flaky bench. He hadn't taken a step before something flew straight into the poor boy, knocking him over into the soft, green grass. Marius cried out in surprise, obviously not expecting the sudden interference. Eponine ran to help him, grabbing both his arms, and yanking up. However, Marius was heavier than she was, ending up in her toppling over his head. She landed with a soft thud. Both children looked over at the person who had ran Marius over, while laying in the grass, head to head. The person lay a few feet away, the grass couldn't disguise the mop of black, curly hair laying in the top of his head. They scooted closer. It was, in fact, a young boy Marius' age.
The boy was fiddling with a piece of long grass, his fingers working the strand into a knot. Eponine could tell that he got distracted easily, based on the way he was running into someone one minute and playing with grass the next. How he survived in school, she didn't know. Marius poked the side of the boy's head.
He looked up at the freckle faced boy, annoyed.
"Watch where you're going!" Marius yelled. Eponine nodded, trying to help with the situation. These words seemed to anger the darker haired boy, who turned red.
"Well, excuse me, but you were standing in my way!" he cried.
"You're the one who didn't look where he was going, then! I was just minding my own business." Marius exclaimed haughtily. Suddenly, another dark haired boy appeared, waving. Marius and the other boy looked in his direction, dropping the heated argument they were having earlier.
"Hello, Combeferre!" Marius shouted, while the other person of the sane gender said something very similar.
"Hi, 'Ferre!" Both boys looked at each other. They both knew the same person? But how?
"You know... Then do I know you? Wait, no… How do you know Combeferre? Honestly!" both boys said with the same time, speed, and tone. The person named Combeferre and Eponine smiled in amusement.
"So, Courfeyrac, I see you've met Marius. I knew I was destined to join you two together one day, you seem to be making good friends." Courfeyrac and Marius scowled at each other. A blonde haired boy ran up behind Combeferre, dragging another brown haired guy. Eponine took note in how attractive the blonde was, however, she didn't feel the same way she did when she saw Marius. Marius was cute in his own way, a way only Eponine seemed to see.
The boy who was being dragged by the blonde looked tired. All of them looked about Marius' age.
"Grantaire, how many times do I have to tell you to not drink coffee? Caffeine is a drug, you know!" the statement was directed at the tired looking boy from the blonde. He shrugged.
"Does that mean that my mother is going to get arrested? She has extra coffee anyway, says that she doesn't want to waste the extra."
"That doesn't mean give it to you, Grantaire!"
"Calm down, Enjolras."
The blonde, Enjolras, sighed. Eponine had grown to like Grantaire, how he talked back to the so-matter-of-fact Enjolras. Marius cut into their argument.
"Do you people want to play on the hill? It wouldn't hurt."
"We only met each other! How do we know if we can trust one another?" Enjolras said. Everybody grinned, thinking along the same lines.
"Charge!" Courfeyrac shouted. Everybody ran forward and tackled Enjolras to the ground, the poor boy looking at them with wide eyes. Everybody laughed, and so did he.
Eponine had made great friends that day.