Not A Good Day

Eponine relaxed and felt herself melt. It didn't matter that her lips were dry and chapped. It didn't matter that she wasn't ready. It didn't matter because they never kissed.

Thank god Mrs. Caballero called "STOP!" right before their lips connected. Eponine turned around, facing away from Enjolras. She sighed quietly. She was safe. Everything was alright. Thanks to her teacher, the kiss had been successfully evaded.

"Eponine, are you alright?" Enjolras asked behind her. She felt his hand touch her elbow, and she refused to turn around. Warmth spread throughout her at his touch. Her cheeks started heating up, and she tried desperately to calm herself. What was happening to her? She had not acted around him like this before.

"Yeah! I'm fine! Just need a breather. That was one of longest performances, I think, so…" Eponine told him, still facing the other direction.

She felt his warm hand leave her elbow. "I guess," he said. "You did great."

She pressed a hand to her cheek to cool it. Spinning around, she offered a smile. "I think you did amazing, too! I never knew you were interested in acting. Seems like you're a natural."

He shrugged. "You know, we're different from the people we were in middle school."

"Yeah, yeah…" Eponine agreed. She couldn't help but feel a bit of sadness. Did he mean they were too different to be friends? Did he mean that she became somebody he didn't like anymore?

Mrs. Caballero flipped through her pages of notes. She looked up at the two of them and put a finger up to her chin. A feeling of nervousness washed over Eponine. She observed them intensely, and both of them kept glancing at the other. The people around them were busy doing their own jobs. Drills and the cutting of wood could be heard from backstage. Eponine heard the beating of her heart. Did Mrs. Caballero know about her and Enjolras's history?

Eponine could faintly hear Musichetta screaming at someone who teased Bossuet, but the world seemed to stop when Eponine heard the sentence that came out of her teacher's mouth. The drills seemed to stop. The actors awing over their costumes seemed to stop. The sound of people talking seemed to stop. Even Eponine's heartbeat seemed to stop.

"I need to see you two actually kiss! Long and passionately, too!"

A panic alarm went off in Eponine's head. A short, sweet kiss was okay, but a long, passionate one? She would have preferred kissing Enjolras for a couple of seconds than make out with him. It's like the world let her relax and then threw a 100 pound bowling ball at her head just to spite her. She bit her lip, glancing quickly at Enjolras. He stood there, stiff and unreadable. This was going to be a disaster.

"You two do realize this is professional acting, so it does not matter," Mrs. Caballero told them. She wrote down notes in her book as she spoke. "It will not affect any sort of relationship you two have, whether it be friendly or romantically. I believe you two are mature enough to realize that, and so to capture the moment and emotion, I think a passionate kiss would be perfect!" She made a gesture that looked like she was gathering something and held it to her chest.

"I think a short sweet kiss is okay!" interjected Eponine. Enjolras nodded frantically, a small blush forming on his cheeks. "I mean, I think they're pretty innocent people!"

Mrs. Caballero laughed. "They're far from innocent, Ms. Goodman. You know that. We'll proceed with my version of the kiss."

"Wait, right now?" Enjolras asked, panicked.

"No, no… Next practice. People need to feel the- the horror they had seen. They need to see that these two want company and comfort. They've been through a lot on this adventure."

Gesturing, she sauntered to the stage and walked between them. Their teacher began checking out the props and costumes. Eponine clenched her jaw. It was like Mrs. Caballero wanted to pair them up and ruin their friendship. She felt anger towards the teacher she was beginning to respect.

"Eponine," Enjolras addressed her. She turned around to face him. "Please, tell me if you're uncomfortable about this. I'm sure we can work something out…"

"No," Eponine sighed. "She's right. We have to be professional about this. It's not like it's Eponine and Enjolras kissing. It's Vera and Lombard."

Enjolras nodded along, and Eponine hoped that she had not mistaken his expression for disappointment. Why would Enjolras want to kiss her? Did she, herself, want to kiss Enjolras? Why would she want to kiss him? He was her childhood friend! He wouldn't want that and neither would she. Why would she want to kiss his sweet, pink lips that almost every girl in school has dreamed about kissing at least once? Why would she want to kiss him and run her fingers through his golden curls? Why would she want to do that to her friend? It's not like she saw him as a potential boyfriend.

"You're right. We're mature people acting. Nothing more," he announced.

"Yep. Nothing there. Nope. Nada!" Eponine rocked back on her heels then on the balls of her feet. She pursed her lips, letting the silence fill in all that was unsaid.

"Well, I'm going to- ah- you know…" Eponine gestured behind her.

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah." He nodded his head, and they parted awkwardly.

Eponine turned around immediately searching for Cosette who was better in situations like this than anyone else she knew. She spotted the girl in the middle of the stage, helping Marius screw two pieces of wood together. Rushing to her, she pulled the girl aside to the very back of the stage, ignoring the yelp from Marius when the planks of wood fell down with a loud thud. Eponine pulled the curtains around the two of them with Cosette in front of her. She looked at her friend, her eyes wide and worried.

"Goodness, Eponine. What's wrong?" Cosette asked, concern lacing her tone.

"I need to kiss Enjolras 'long and passionately.' I can't do this!" Eponine panicked. She wrung her hands in an attempt to release her anxiety.

"But, I thought that it was just a kiss…" Cosette whispered.

"Well, apparently not anymore!" Eponine started hyperventilating. "What if she's been paid by Colette's father to ruin our friendship? I mean, that is possible! Considering the relationship between the two, can you blame me for thinking that?"

"Calm yourself down!" Cosette demanded. Eponine started to relax a bit. "I don't see what's so wrong. If your relationship is mutual and platonic, I think you're fine! Nothing will be wrong!"

"You're right. Maybe I'm just being a bit paranoid. I'll be fine… I think."

Cosette offered her a small smile. "Just go with it for now. I'm sure you two will still be friends after."

She patted Eponine's arm before returning to Marius who was still struggling. Eponine bit her lip. She crossed her fingers and wished that everything would be fine.

Enjolras insisted on walking Eponine to her house. She finally gave in because she wanted to leave the school as soon as possible. Bed and some cereal sounded incredibly appealing to her after the day she went through.

"So, the dance. You're going with Montparnasse, right?" Enjolras asked Eponine as a blue car sped by the pair.

She jumped, forgetting that she was walking home with the one person she wanted to avoid at the moment. She knew she should not be mad at him. If anyone, it should be Mrs. Caballero that she was mad at. Just the thought that her life seemed to be crashing around her because of Enjolras and their past frustrated her. It wasn't the most pleasing thing, but Eponine supposed that was just their friendship.

"Yeah. Are you going with the rest of the boys?" Eponine asked him in return.

Enjolras nodded. "We've been going in a group since sophomore year."

She nudged him with her elbow. "I didn't think dances were your type of thing."

"They're really not. I go as a makeshift chaperon for the boys, actually. I make sure none of them get into too much trouble. Plus, with the cold weather, anything could happen." He cleared his throat before looking straight at her. "Do you want to come with us?"

Eponine paused in her step. Everything was crashing around her. Was she going crazy? First the kiss was made longer, and now Enjolras wanted her to go with the group to a dance? A powerful gust of wind hit them, blowing hair into her face. She licked her chapped lips which reminded her that Enjolras would have to kiss her there. She hugged herself to keep warm, and an image of Montparnasse at the dance holding her waist appeared. A voice at the back of her head told Eponine it was a bad idea to go to the dance. Something seemed odd with Montparnasse being incredibly nice and different. Too different, actually.

She hit herself internally. You're jumping to conclusions, Eponine! He just wants to invite you along, probably to save you from an awkward night with 'Parnasse.

Nodding her head, Eponine agreed. "Sure. I'll tell Montparnasse. I'm sure he'd be glad about it."

They resumed walking, and soon Eponine's house drew nearer.

"Thanks, Enjolras, for walking me. We need to catch up more often," Eponine offered as they stopped. She fiddled with the end of her red scarf.

"No problem." He shrugged. "We could meet up and practice our roles sometime if you would like…"Her eyes must have bulged because he immediately took it back. "Not the kissing scene- I mean the end scene! Just the normal parts. You don't have to! I was just wondering."

Eponine shook her head. "Yeah, yeah. Sorry, I wasn't alarmed about that. I just remembered- I have a bunch of homework." Lies. "I better get inside. I'll take you up on that offer." Lies, again.

He offered a pained grin before walking away. As soon as he was out of sight, Eponine slumped against her door. The day just kept getting worse, and she felt her plans for the next weeks were not going to go well either.

A/N: Hello! I think this was an okay chapter, but please tell me what you think! Sorry about any mistakes.

Please review and give you opinions. I'm welcome to any advice! Thank you for all the support!

~Franky