Fanfiction VS Kunaigirl Part Three! Will I ever -with this new program I'm using- get my Author's notes with spaces in-between?! O.o
Disclaimer: I do not own Les Misérables.
Concrete Angel.
Chapitre Quatre.
With a heavy, but resolved mind Éponine rode side by side with Azelma to school. The ride was pleasant, the breeze wasn't as cold as the last few days and the sun bravely fought off the clouds which threatened to conceal her shining form. A weak smile tugged on Éponine's lips. Miraculously their parents had been out the day before, and hadn't bothered to show up in the morning either. All was peaceful. Her smile disappeared as she thought of the mission which lay ahead of her. Getting out of Les Amis.
Ascending staircase after staircase she wondered if they'd already be there. She'd heard once that some people worried they spent entire weeks in that classroom, so she hoped there'd be someone present.
As she pushed open the door to the room she found that only two people were already there. Enjolras -how couldn't he be?- and Courfeyrac.
"Ah, bonjour Éponine." Courfeyrac greeted her with a warm smile as she entered the room "Strange to see you here so early."
Éponine nodded, her eyes involuntarily seeking out Enjolras who just glanced up, and nodded at her direction. Aparently he'd been occupied with something for he put down a bundle of papers and a pen.
"So what brings you here?" Courfeyrac, not missing the strange interaction between the two students who seemed to have gotten of a pretty rough start, asked.
"Well." Éponine began, walking up to him to where the blonde was seated atop one of the desks, feet up on the stool in front of him. She frowned.
"Shouldn't you keep your feet off the chair?" she asked, her tone cold.
"Nah." Courfeyrac said, his smile widening "It's Grantaire's."
Éponine couldn't entirely fight off the smile that crept up onto her face at that comment. It seemed Grantaire had a lot to pay for.
"What was it you wanted to say?" Enjolras asked, breaking through the silence that Courfeyrac's comment about the chair had brought over them.
"Well, I wonder if it is possible for me to withdraw from Les Amis." Éponine spoke, turning towards the dark haired student who looked her straight in the eyes. It annoyed her. It felt like a bolt of electricity went through her when he did that, and she wasn't sure she entirely liked the feeling. On the contrary, it made her feel like she had to prove something.
"Why would you want to leave?" Courfeyrac asked, and as Éponine looked at him, she saw -to her surprise- that he was looking a tad bit sad at her question.
"It's just that I do not have much free time to begin with. And it wasn't exactly going to apply for Les Amis either way." Éponine said in all honesty. She did have a very busy schedule after all.
"I only came here to bring Anne..." she continued, hoping either of the boys would say something. Anything. But instead they kept silent.
At last Enjolras let out a deep sigh. He'd seen it coming. She'd only joined them for one meeting, but from the start it had all been Grantaire's idea... He felt complied to let her go.
"The problem is..." Courfeyrac started.
"You can go." Enjolras said, to which Courfeyrac turned to him immediately, a shocked expression on his face.
Éponine felt her world light up for a short moment. She could go!
"Hold on just a sec'!" they suddenly heard Grantaire speak up from the door where he leaned against the door frame. "I'm afraid you can't."
"What?!" Éponine let out, turning to face the brown haired boy whose greenish eyes were looking at her with a playful glint she'd come to fear.
"Why not?" she retorted, closing in on him in such a violent way that alarmed Courfeyrac. The said boy leapt from his seat towards Éponine's side, putting a calming hand on her shoulder.
"Let's just hear what he has to say." he urged the dark haired girl on, after which he looked expectantly at the mentioned lad.
"Because, my dearedy dear Éponine, you signed a contract." he spoke, and as if to emphasize his objection he raised the said document.
Éponine's eyes turned dark as her anger rose. "That document was signed under your mental pressure! I do not think this is legal."
Grantaire's smile only widened, giving him a rather wicked look. "This seal here..." he said pointing at the sign of the school "Clearly shows that this is a legal document." He turned the first page to reveal the second. "And I do believe this is your autograph." He smiled widely at her while she grumbled, her fists balled.
"So...Enjolras...is this a legal document yes or no?"
Éponine turned to Enjolras with silently pleading eyes.
"It is a legal document." he stated, looking away from the dark-eyed girl as she looked at him horrified.
"As such." Grantaire continued, happy with his plea "You stay."
"For how long?" Éponine asked through clenched teeth, looking at the ground in defeat.
"A year."
Her nails dug into her hand as her anger rose. A whole year?! How was she supposed to cope with schoolwork, delivering papers, working at the diner and working as a member of Les Amis for a whole year?! Not able to contain her anger, and afraid to do something she might regret later on she dashed out of the room, pushing Grantaire not too gently out of the way as she went.
The said guy just smiled broadly as he watched her leap down the stairs.
"Did you really have to say it so harshly?" Courfeyrac asked, his expression clearly showing that he didn't approve of Grantaire's methods.
"With girls like Éponine, yes." the guy said, sauntering into the room. "She doesn't know it yet, but she has so much potential."
"Potential?" Courfeyrac asked, raising a sceptic eyebrow.
"You, my friend." Grantaire said, dropping down in one of the sofa's, one foot on the table "Still have a lot to learn."
"Grantaire." Enjolras' voice suddenly echoed through the room. "You do know that Les Amis are there to protect people, right."
"Of course I do!" Grantaire objected.
"Then why do you use our knowledge of law against one we must defend?"
Grantaire sighed. Their leader was fearless, genius and handsome, but he did not possess the ability to think outside of the box.
"You'll see, my friend. You'll see."
The bell rang and Éponine leapt to her feet. She'd not only been able to stay away from Montparnasse, but she'd also been able to keep away from Grantaire who seemed to look for her every single break time. He annoyed her! He really did. Why didn't he just let her out of Les Amis? What was she of good to them?! She was not a companion, she was a charity case! She was just like the other kids whom they'd had to help in the past!
She leaned against her locker, her eyes scanning the ceiling. 'What have you gotten yourself into, Éponine?' she scolded herself. She sighed and tried to think happy thoughts. Tomorrow she would get paid at the diner. Yes, that really was good news. She'd get to fill the emptying envelopes hidden in her closet. She'd get some extra food to hide as well. Yes, happy thoughts. Her eyes widened as the happiest of them all came through. Working with Marius!
'Of course.' she thought bitterly 'Grantaire's here as well'
As if he didn't realise she was angry with him, the said boy walked towards her, and put an arm around her shoulders. She sighed deeply at his actions, but she didn't find the strength to push him off. If she did, she was sure to do so much more. Like kick him in the nuts or something.
'Happy thoughts.' she replied like a mantra in her head. 'Two more years.'
"Grantaire let's just get to work." Joly said when he closed the door. Surprisingly it was only them tonight. Enjolras and Courfeyrac were doing their own part of chores, as were Combeferre, Lesgles and the rest of Les Amis. No one really knew what Grantaire was doing, but Éponine thought it best not to ask him why he, a last year student, was hanging around them who still had to do two years. It was highly thinkable that neither Enjolras and Courfeyrac or Lesgles and Combeferre could stomach him today. Or he hadn't met up with them yet, or he had been chased away after a few of his pranks.
This thought brought a small smile to Éponine's lips.
"He'd just get in the way." Marius suddenly whispered into her ear as Grantaire walked over to annoy Joly a bit.
"What?" Éponine brought out, butterflies dancing in her stomach at his proximity.
"Enjolras and the rest." Marius cleared out. "They're performing the exact same duties as us at this moment, but they always put Grantaire on the 'Checking up on everybody' list."
"Why?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, he's a really good and bright kid, but..." Marius felt silent. "A bit too loud, if you get what I mean."
"So, what you're saying is, they want him in the group, but they don't?"
"Not entirely." Marius said, smiling broadly. "We really want him along, but administration and Grantaire don't go together."
"So he's here to make this whole ordeal...fun?" Éponine guessed.
Marius pulled up his shoulders. "Who knows."
"Will you two lovebirds come and help out?" Joly asked, looking straight at the two, a mischievous smile tugging on his lips.
Éponine immediately blushed while Marius just laughed and walked up to him. Trying to compose herself Éponine did the same.
'Stay cool 'Ponine!' she scolded herself. It was not like she was a child anymore.
"You sure we got all the names?" Joly asked rather sceptically.
"Like I said, we do." Éponine said, throwing a quick glance at her watch. After Anne had walked in they'd been paired up, and she got into a team with Joly, which earned her a worried glance from Anne. Like she was going to steal her beloved...the girl should know better.
"If you say so..." Joly wondered out loud.
"Look Joly, don't sweat it. All the names are there." Éponine said, putting her hands on her hips. "I've been to this class, getting everyone's names."
"Sure there were no students absent. I thought I remembered there to be more students in this particular class."
"Look Joly, it's not such a big deal if we miss someone. The teacher is going to do a final check when everyone's gathered. He'll tell us if we missed someone or when we've gotten a name wrong."
Joly looked doubtful at the names on the list. "If you say so."
"Why do we even have to bother making these lists ourselves?" Éponine asked, looking over the list Joly was still holding on to. "Couldn't we just ask the teachers for them? They have attendancy lists of their own, right?"
"We could." Joly replied "But wouldn't it be annoying if you knew your data was so easily given to a group of students? In our way we asked them beforehand if they wanted to give us their names."
"Then it doesn't make any sense you worry about not having a name or two." Éponine brought in.
"That's not true. It could point out a problem." Joly replied, tucking the list into his bag.
Éponine raised an eyebrow at this. "Such as?"
"A lack of faith."
"Still not following you." Éponine said as the brown haired boy straightened.
"If you introduce yourself as a council of sorts to the people whom you're supposed to help, and they're too weary of you to give them their names, it could point out a lack of faith. And we, as a group of students appointed to come to their aid, shouldn't leave it at that. They all have the right to call upon us when the need arises, but for them to do so, they must trust us."
Éponine looked somewhat unsatisfied. "So, what if you notice someone hasn't put up his name?" she asked. "You just barge into the classroom where the said person is demanding an explanation?"
Joly chuckled at this. "Now what good would that do? Don't you know the saying of The Wind Runs When Chased?"
Éponine tilted her head. She didn't know that one.
"It's useless dealing with something delicate in a brutal way. We go to see the person in question yes, but we do so in a way that they're allowed to be comfortable. If they really do not want the option of calling upon us in times of need, we'll let it pass. But we need to be sure they're aware of the possible consequences."
"I see." Éponine mumbled. Though they were all rich boys they sure had put a lot of thought into this. "Do you need to talk to students often?"
Joly seemed to think back. "I think we needed to do so two to three times."
"And?"
"Well, normally we sent either Enjolras or Courfeyrac to go talk to them, but Grantaire always tags along, and in the end, it's he who gets the student to drop the barriers and talk about the exact reason why they didn't want their help in the beginning."
"So Grantaire is of use." Éponine muttered bitterly under her breath, remembering how he had acted with the document she'd signed.
Joly smiled down at her. "He may look extremely annoying, but he has a good heart, and a fairly good brain."
Éponine allowed herself a smile. She'd seen Joly annoyed with the brown haired guy before, but it looked like they all seemed to have a certain respect for the lad. She couldn't even begin to try to respect him though. To her he was just an annoying brat who kept her extra occupied.
"Say Joly, I know I'm supposed to help you until the end, but I'm..."
"Tight on schedule?" he filled in with a smile. "I understand, I'll take care of the rest."
"Thanks Joly you're a lifesaver." Éponine said with a happy smile before she dashed out of the room.
"Weren't you with Éponine?" Prouvaire asked as Joly met up with him and Anne in the hallway.
"She left." Joly replied, coming to walk next to his friend.
"Again?" Prouvaire asked as they ascended the last stairs leading to the classroom.
Anne frowned at this. She really liked Joly, but whenever she was in the same room with him it seemed like he didn't even notice her. Instead he went on about Éponine with Prouvaire. She started wondering whether or not she should even bother trying to get his attention. She sighed, trying to shake it off. She knew Éponine was only interested in Marius, so she shouldn't get jealous because of the attention she'd gotten herself. She was pulled from her reveries as she heard the conversation between the two friends go on.
"Did you get all the information?"
"Yeah I did." Joly replied to Prouvaire's question. "Though I'm not sure why Grantaire wanted it in the first place."
"Well, it doesn't seem like anyone's going to be able to figure out the way Grantaire thinks." Prouvaire said, a smile tugging at his lips.
They burst out laughing at this.
"What's so funny?" the said guy asked as the two boys entered the classroom.
Prouvaire wiped away some stray tears and shook his head. "Nothing my dear friend. Nothing."
Graintaire pulled up an inquisitive eyebrow, but let go of it. "Joly, have you lost our beloved female friend along the road?"
"Well, she was in a hurry, so I offered to wrap things up."
"How nice of you." Grantaire noted, standing up from the sofa, and walking over to her.
"Do you have what I asked for?"
"Yeah." Joly replied, opening his bag and retrieving a sheet of paper. "Though I'm not sure what you need it for."
"Secret, my friend." was the only thing he said before strolling off again, leaving Joly and Prouvaire a bit confused.
After work Éponine rode back home, but what she met made her heart sink. There were five cars parked close to her house. That meant her fathers' 'gang' was present. As silently as she could she parked her bike against the outer wall of the house, praying that her siblings had been able to dash for their room. She quickly walked towards the front door and looked through the glass. Though it was old and wasn't as regularly washed as Azelma wanted, she did see the group of men sitting in the living room, all bent over a chart. This couldn't be good. She had to pass them to get to her room, but she realised well enough that would be impossible without being seen. How would she get through them?
Her stomach rumbled and she cursed herself for being hungry at a moment as this. She needed to be as silent as a mouse, even quieter if she could, but now her stomach started rumbling. It's not like she hadn't noticed she was getting hungry before, but she was working and just tried not to think about it, but now she cursed herself for letting it get so far. It could get her in trouble after all.
Taking a deep breath she walked in, got out of her jacket and carried it nonchalantly in her arms as she strolled in.
She nearly got to the stairs when a voice called to her.
"Bonsoir 'Ponine."
She resisted the urge to lash out. "Bonsoir Montparnasse."
"Where are you off to so quickly?" he asked, getting the attention of her father and his friends.
"It's been a long day, so I'm going to grab some Z's." she said, taking the first few steps of the stairs.
"Then why don't I come along?" he offered, grabbing her by her wrist, a sick smile on his face. "I'm sort of tired myself."
"Then go home." she said with a brave smile.
"'Ponine, don't talk to 'im that way!" her father snapped at her.
Though she wanted nothing more than to make a snarky remark, she knew that that was not in her best interest. Instead, she kept quiet as her dark eyes snapped from her father and his companions to Montparnasse who still grinned at her like no tomorrow.
"I'm sorry Montparnasse, not today." she said before pulling her arm out of his grasp, quickly ascending the stairs. She could still hear his remark though.
"Must be on her period."
"Damn that man!" she cursed as she threw the door locked.
Azelma and Gavroche looked up from their work. Gavroche was working on his Math schoolwork while Azelma was clearly stitching up the torn jeans of one of the youngest. From everyone in their family she was by far the most handy one. She'd sew a perfect cocktail dress with that old sewing machine of hers if she had the fabrics, but instead she kept repairing their old clothes as good as she could, even trying to make some new garments from old ones. She'd once made a cool skirt for Éponine from old shorts, just using some leftover cloth and her machine. Éponine loved that skirt, but skirts made her feel vulnerable, so she practically never wore it.
"Are they still there?" Azelma asked as she continued her work.
"Yeah. How long have they been here?" Éponine asked as she sat down next to Gavroche.
"A few hours. Guess they're up to no good."
"Stealing again?" Éponine questioned. "They're really going to get us all into trouble!" She cursed under her breath.
"Papa's not going to let him get caught so easily." Gavroche spoke, wiping out a wrong answer and writing down what he thought was the right one.
"Let's just hope so. The last thing we need is more trouble."
"Which reminds me." Azelma said, looking up from her spot on the floor. "You'll get paid tomorrow right?"
Éponine nodded. "Yeah. Why? Did something come up?"
"Sort of." Azelma replied "We need some new clothes for the youngest, he's gotten a growth spurt."
"You've got to be kidding." Gavroche said. "Again?!"
Azelma nodded with a sad smile. "There are limits to what I can make of old jeans."
"Don't we have any clothes left from Gavroche?" Éponine tried, but Azelma shook her head immediately.
"No, we have not."
The two brown haired siblings sighed deeply. There was no other choice, once more it was 'pay up time'.
"Well it shouldn't matter too much." Gavroche said after a thick silence. "Saturday's my first day on my new job, I'll be able to bring in some extra cash."
Éponine, albeit reluctantly, nodded. "Yeah, luckily."
Translation Notes.
Bonsoir: Good Evening
Hey everyone! I hope you liked the chapter! As I said in the last chapter I don't really have a set out plan for this story, well I do have a plot which I really, really, really want to write, but I just go with the flow actually, so I have no idea how everything will turn out myself. Anyway I hope you've enjoyed reading my story so far, and I'll try to update as soon, and as regularly as I can. ^^