Hi guys. More of this story, yay. This is so much fun to write :D.
-Marseillaise
The rest of the week passed pretty much uneventfully. Cosette met Éponine, a nice-if underprivileged- girl with four younger siblings. Their names were Azelma, Gavroche, and then the twins, in first grade, who didn't really have names but went by whatever they pleased. Currently, it was Star Wars, and they were Luke and Han.
At last, Saturday arrived. The weather was, as Jehan had predicted, wonderful, and classes passed uneventfully.
Bahorel took them all in his enormous SUV. It was a little crowded, but the thirty minute drive was made both cheesy and slightly more bearable by Courfeyrac and his ridiculous road games.
"This is it. I've had enough trying to find a clothesline!" said an exasperated Feuilly.
Courfeyrac just nodded wisely and insisted that there would, in fact, be a clothesline. There wasn't.
Cosette wasn't quite sure what to make of everything, but she laughed along with the rest until Jehan, from the navigator seat, announced that they were there.
At the launching station, Jehan fitted them all with life vests, helmets, and paddles and got them into the raft.
Combeferre and Feuilly sat up front, Bahorel and Courfeyrac in the center, and Cosette with Jehan in the back of the raft.
They all paddled the first mile or so, narrowly avoiding injury by Courfeyrac swinging his paddle animatedly. He stopped that after whacking Feuilly in the head and making a dent in his helmet.
The first rapid was a class two. Courfeyrac yelled the whole time, insisting that this was the best thing ever.
Combeferre asked him at one point if he was sure that he was in high school, to which Courfeyrac replied, "I could be a very handsome five year old, you have a point."
Cosette laughed, and she didn't see the next rapid. Still weak from laughing, she forgot to brace herself and tumbled out of the raft.
The life vest made her float right up, and she sputtered for air briefly before a hand reached out and grabbed the straps of her live vest. Jehan yanked her up, reaching back with his left arm. Cosette looked up, and saw thin, faint scars there. Averting her eyes and not mentioning it, she allowed herself to be pulled back into the raft.
"You fell out of the boat!" exclaimed Courfeyrac, like it was the best thing ever.
Cosette nodded warily. "I fell out of the boat," she said.
Combeferre, on the other hand, seemed very concerned. "Are you alright?"
Cosette nodded, a little breathless but otherwise fine. "I'm great."
Bahorel gave her a high five, and Feuilly a thumbs up. Courfeyrac kept congratulating her.
The next rapid, Cosette held on. Courfeyrac, not to be outdone, made a huge display of "accidentally" falling out of the raft, pinwheeling his arms and shouting. He landed with a splash, and, coming back up, hooted.
"That was awesome!" he yelled.
Jehan rolled his eyes, saying he wasn't helping Courfeyrac back on the raft. Courfeyrac pretended to look hurt, but did a flip underwater and smiled, clambering back onto the raft.
"Way to fall out of the boat," said Combeferre dryly.
Bahorel, grinning, said innocently, "whoever makes the biggest splash falling out of the raft on the next rapid wins..."
Combeferre, very exasperated, muttered something about not wanting to get wet. Jehan laughed, saying that he should have guessed this would happen. Cosette looked a little relieved that she wouldn't be the only one falling out.
The next rapid, Jehan forbid anyone from jumping off the raft. "It's dangerous," he said seriously, "there's a big rock shelf, and you can get sucked under it and drown."
Courfeyrac nodded.
After the big dangerous rock shelf, the next rapid was a literal slide, with projecting rocks on either side.
Jehan smiled and said, "this is called Le Toboggan de la Mort."
"The Slide of Death? Why?" asked Combeferre worriedly.
Jehan laughed. "It's a misnomer. It's actually quite fun to slide down, and the current carries you to the bottom and back in about five seconds."
Bahorel and Courfeyrac grinned at each other and, at the same time, jumped out. When they got to Le Toboggan de la Mort, they shot down the chute and into the water. Five seconds later, their heads popped up.
"That was the best. Thing. Ever!" cried Courfeyrac.
Bahorel nodded. "It was," he said.
This prompted Feuilly to remark, "according to Courfeyrac, about a bazillion things are 'the best thing ever'. And that's not even proper grammar."
Courfeyrac wiggled his eyebrows. "I'm a very handsome five year old," he said.
Climbing back onto the raft, they continued their journey. Everyone fell in, accidentally or not (or, in Combeferre's case, shoved from behind), and they all had a pretty amazing time.
"You actually get paid for this?" Courfeyrac asked skeptically at the end.
Jehan nodded. "It's the best job ever."
As they took off their life vests and helmets, Feuilly picked up a styrofoam cup off the ground and made an upset noise.
Cosette looked up and Feuilly explained, "I just really hate it when people throw trash on the ground and put chemicals in the air and water and stuff. I grew up on the streets after my parents died when I was eight and until I was found or whatever, and it's just horrible. The water used to be clear, but now it's all murky. And people waste so much even without realizing it. I just don't like when I find trash on the ground."
Cosette nodded.
The drive home was not in the least quieter. After Courfeyrac described his falling out of the raft for the fourth time, Bahorel reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a roll of green duct tape. Handing it to Feuilly, he gave Courfeyrac a look.
Courfeyrac eyed the duct tape warily, then decided it wasn't worth it. He shut up.
After the trip, Jehan had invited their entire group of friends over to his house, so everyone, with the exclusion of Marius, was there.
Enjolras sat on the couch, furiously arguing with someone about something on the Internet. Upon seeing this, Courfeyrac snatched his phone away and typed his own response, keeping Enjolras' phone out of the blond's reach.
"I...LIKE...FLUFFY...BUNNIES!" Courfeyrac cheerfully read aloud as he typed.
Then, he shut the phone off and put it in his pocket.
"Talk to your friends!" he said.
Grantaire smirked at Enjolras and took a sip from his ever-present unlabeled water bottle.
Cosette watched the exchange amusedly when Luke ran into her and panted, "PONINE! Wait, you aren't Ponine." Then he zoomed back off.
Cosette grinned. Then, remembering something, she went off to find Combeferre.
Combeferre was discussing a book on World War Two he had recently read with Feuilly. Looking up, he saw Cosette and asked what she wanted.
"Um, when you're done, I have a question for you...I mean, I don't really know who to ask but...yeah," she finished lamely.
Combeferre nodded. "Feuilly, I'll be right back."
Cosette led him to a corner.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Jehan...This is so awkward. Um. So, when he pulled me out of the river, I saw scars on his arm, and I was wondering if he cut, because if he does he needs to stop and maybe you all didn't know and I don't want to be mean and tell you but if he is he has to stop and well I just thought I should tell someone." Her words came out in a rush.
Combeferre frowned, obviously not expecting that of all things. "Yes, he used to cut," he said at last. "In our freshman and beginning of sophomore year, he was bullied and teased a lot. And he didn't really have any friends. Courfeyrac got him to stop. That's all I know, but if you really want to know then ask him yourself."
Cosette winced. "I just...it's such an awkward thing to talk about."
Combeferre nodded sympathetically. "Jehan likes you. He's not one to hide things, and if you mention it, I'm sure he would tell you. He's gotten over it by now."
"He likes me? Like, likes me?"
Combeferre reddened slightly. "No! I mean, he likes you as a friend."
Cosette relaxed slightly. "Oh. Okay, I'll ask him."
Nope. Not even Jehan is perfect! I loooooove writing this story, you don't even know how much. Cliffhanger! I hope you all still enjoy this although it is mostly fluff?
Until next time,
Marseillaise