Hey everyone. So at musical strike earlier this week i had to help this cute boy take out a large piece of wood that was shaped like a flag and along the way he started singing "Do you hear the people sing?" Things were great until people started staring at us...he blamed it on me and when i said he was the one who started it he said "well you kept going"...Oh well gotta count blessing as you get them
You know i really should be at my school prom but i decided to opt out of that in exchange for spending my night drinking homemade strawberry smoothies with the adorbale barricade boys and writing fanfiction!
Anway after much convincing from Les Amis i have come out of hiding! Gotta admit tho, it was nice hiding out with Enjy for almost two weeks.
Enjolras: I'm glad you enjoyed it because I'm just glad it's over
Me: You know you didnt have to come with me!
Enjolras: You were a walking target i couldnt just let you go off on your own!
Me: I could have done just fine on my own thank you very much! I just wanted to wait a bit to make sure it was safe to come back, I think the anger died down by now...
Please review and enjoy :D
"Why didn't you tell me?!" Shrieked a high pitched voice
Everyone had been sitting around the large center room in the café, laughing and generally enjoying their Saturday afternoon when the door bursted open to reveal a petite blonde girl. Eponine had barley taken a sip of her frozen lemonade when Cosette came flying into the room with a wild and confused look in her eye- the sight was so shocking Eponine had practically chocked on her drink and everyone one else jolted in shock.
Eponine turned her head to acknowledge her friend and gave her an indifferent look. "Tell you what exactly?"
"About what happened with Theodule?!"
Her face dropped slightly, "Oh that-"
Cosette kept on talking, effectively cutting Eponine off, "You know I had to find out from Musichetta! MUSICHETTA! And here I thought we were best friends!"
"Cosette of course we are. I-"
"Then why didn't you tell me?!"
"I-I haven't told anyone….come to think of it how did Chetta know?"
Cosette shrugged, "She heard from her friend who was the theaters on Valentine's Day. Apparently she saw the whole thing."
All the Amis leaned in closely; they had all been listening up to that point.
"Whoa whoa, wait! What exactly happened?"
Eponine flinched, This is exactly what I wanted to avoid…..
"Nothing happened you guys," she began, "I just had a slight falling out with Theodule."
Cosette jumped up and exclaimed, "Slight?! You threw your drink at him!?"
Eponine rolled her eyes and clenched her teeth together, "Oh crap…."
Marius took a hold of her shoulders and jerked her toward him, "You did what?"
"I may or may not have thrown the contents of a cup of Sprite at your cousin…" Eponine winced and took a deep breath before continuing, "I can explain! You see about two days ago, Valentine's Day if you want to be really accurate, Theodule told he was stuck out of town in college; so imagine my surprise when I run into him at a movie theater with his arm around another girl."
"Ouch…" muttered Courfeyrac while the others grimaced and looked at her with sympathetic faces.
"Oh it gets better, you see I confronted him about it and he in turn told me that a) he wasn't a one girl type of man and b) even if he was we were from two different worlds and it wouldn't work out. He said the only reason he went out with me, beside my pretty face, was because he thought it would help my self-esteem and his ego…."
Cosette looked at her with a trembling lip, "Oh Eppie…."
The guys all looked around one another sharing a knowing glance with one another. They all knew where were two things Eponine hated, pity and being used; both of which had been done to her thanks to Theodule.
Grantaire spoke up, "If throwing your drink at him was all you did then you let him off easy."
Eponine chuckled, "Well actually I cussed him out first. I think I was pretty level-headed through the whole situation. It wasn't until he called me 'Pony' that I snapped and threw my soda at him…."
Grantaire looked at her with admiration before giving her a low whistle and slowly clapping his hands together. Eponine rolled her eyes and struck her tongue out at him playfully before turning her attention back to Cosette.
The blonde girl gave a small gasp before throwing her arms around her friend and hugging her tightly, "Oh Eponine I'm so sorry!"
Eponine jolted in shock and hesitantly patted Cosette's back "Don't be its ok."
"No it's not! Theodule is a total crap bag and to top it all off I wasn't even there to help you through it!"
But someone else was, Eponine thought happily, "There isn't really much you could have done. Besides I'm kind of relieved."
Cosette let her go while giving her a confused look and Joly anxiously shook in his seat.
"Well don't leave it there!"
Eponine chuckled slightly and shook her head at her anxious friends, "Forgive friends I would not dare. You see I'm kind of glad that me and Theodule have gone separate ways. Yeah he was hot and artistic but at the same time he was a bit too self-centered and egotistical for my taste."
Everyone around the room sat at the edge of their seat at looked at her with pleading eyes as if begging her to go on.
She did, "I mean on our first date I think we sent about 75% of the time talking about him and his interest. If things kept going the way they were I was gonna dump his ass."
Feuilly gave her a toothy grin, "Lucky for you now you got rid of him a lot earlier than planned."
Eponine gave a sad shrug, "Yea lucky me….."
Grantaire let out a hearty laugh and wrapped his arm across her shoulders, "Don't worry Tiger, you'll do better next time."
Eponine gritted her teeth together, "Thing about that is I don't know if there will be a next time…"
Everyone raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
"Well in light of recent events and my emotions state of before, I'm thinking to give up."
Cosette widened her eyes, "Give up on what exactly?"
"Give up on men," Eponine answered simply as she swirled her straw around her lemonade, "men, dating, the whole thing really."
Marius looked at her as if she grew horns "'Ponine you can't be serious?!"
"Oh but I am! I'm honesty just done. It's not just Theodule but the whole concept in general. I've been through a lot of crap lately and I really don't want to have to go through anymore, it's just not worth it; besides there is no one out there right now anyway."
"Well isn't that interesting." Called a voice from the doorway
Everyone was so preoccupied and shocked by Eponine's comment that no one noticed the door opening during her confession, no one looked to see Enjolras standing there with a pile of notebooks and pencils in hand, and no one notice his mouth twitch a bit as he heard ever word Eponine just said.
Without wasting another moment Enjolras readjusted the things in his hands and made his way over to the large table where everyone was seated. He set his stuff down and took a seat in between Eponine and Grantaire.
"So what has brought on this grand epiphany?" He asked as he took his seat.
"Life," she answered simply with a nod of her head, "Life and all the shit that comes with it."
Enjolras rolled his eyes as he dug through his backpack, "Is the swearing really necessary?"
She replied with an eye roll of her own, "Yea pretty much." She stated before eyeing the papers he had set in front of him, "What you got there?"
"Just some plans for the dance, it's in three weeks you know."
"Yes I am aware." She scoffed
Without warning Eponine snatched the papers from right under Enjolras nose and held them close to her. Enjolras reacted almost immediately and leaned to try to take back his papers but Eponine was quicker and she instinctually leaped out of her seat and right out of his reach.
"Eponine give them back!" He called
She ignored him and looked at the stack of papers in her hands, her eyes widening as he read over them. Enjolras attempted again to reach for his papers but Eponine foresaw his attempt and using her cat-like reflexes she slyly hoped out of his way and onto a nearby chair and then onto the table top to avoid him.
Damn it why is she so nimble!? He thought as she kept evading his grip
"Enjolras what exactly is this?"
"I told you they are plans for the dance."
"I know that! Just what exactly are you trying to draw here?" she asked as she turned the paper in her hand so that it faced him
"Those are my sketches for the floor plan and the poster design…."
She raised an eyebrow at him and pointed to odd arrangement of circles and lines on the paper with her finger. "Are these supposed to be stick figures?"
He gulped, "I never said I was a good artist…."
"Well obviously," she snorted, "these don't even look like stick figures! And here I thought you were good at everything."
"Well I-"
Eponine cut him off effectively, "Hey guys come hither! I found the flaw in our marble man!" She proclaimed playfully from her spot upon the table top.
All the boys automatically fled over toward her and looked in awe as she passed around the papers containing Enjolras failed attempt at art. Some laughed and others looked in bewilderment between Enjolras and his sketches as if not believing he was capable of something that messy and poor.
Combeferre smirked at him, "You're really not skilled with a paintbrush are you?"
Enjolras narrowed his eyes at him, "I used a pencil not a brush."
"It's just an expression mon ami."
Eponine giggled as she moved to sit on the table, her long legs dangling off the side, "Don't fret Enjy, no one is perfect. Not even you."Enjolras opened his mouth to protest but Eponine kept going, "It's actually kind of reassuring to know even you have flaws. Makes me feel better about myself"
Enjolras snapped his mouth shut but continued to glare at her
"Oh you know we kid Enjolras," Grantaire teased as he slapped a hand on Enjolras' back, "But in all honesty, leave the drawing to Feuilly next time."
Enjolras was walking down the hall to his locker. It was the end of the school day but the beginning of a long weekend for him. The date for the dance had approached them quicker than he thought possible and before he knew it the Masquerade ball was right around the corner; had it not been that he was on the committee the date would have flown right over his nose. Now he had to stay after school for a quick emergency meeting for the dance and then he had to run to a speech meeting and an audition for senior speaker at graduation. Apparently they were all coming in the next day, even though there was no school for them, to decorate the building for the ball that was to be occurring that night. He was not really looking forward to spending all day setting things up and decorating but he knew he had to do it either way.
On his way down he couldn't help but thing of the weird conversation he had at lunch earlier that day. Eponine had not come yet again, where she went no one knew, but she did come up in conversation.
"I can't believe Eponine said she is giving up on dating." Courfeyrac thought out loud as he played with his French fry
"She is probably just having a hissy fit." Stated Combeferre without looking up from the book he was reading, "She will come around eventually."
"Nah, I don't think so." Commented Joly, "She seemed pretty serious to me"
"I think she might come around depending on who gets to her," Grantaire said as he looked at Enjolras from the corner of his eye and smirked, "Care to make this interesting?"
Courfeyrac raised an eyebrow at him, "How so?"
"How about we try to see which one of us can get Eponine to give-up on giving up on dating?"
"Sounds interesting…what are the stakes."
"First one to get Eponine to go out on a legit date with him wins. Loser has to pay for the winner's drinks at the café for a month" Answered Grantaire, "However my affections are for the other Thenardier girl so I am out. Who's in?"
Courfeyrac smiled, "I'm in!"
Enjolras didn't say long enough to hear who else was in, instead he left the table and headed for the library- he didn't want to be a part of their game. It wasn't brought up again and Enjolras didn't ask for it, everyone could tell it was a something he didn't wasn't to discuss.
He continued walking down the corridor while digging through his backpack for his keys when a sight in front of him made him stop short. He spotted Joly about 100 feet away talking amiably away with none other than Eponine. She was leaning against the locker adjacent to his casually with a big smile plastered on her face- Joly seemed to be asking her many questions as she continuously nodded her head and smiled at him. Enjolras couldn't help but feel the blood run to his face and his teeth clench as he watched the two of them interact and noticed how Joly looked like a giddy schoolboy and how Eponine kept touching his elbow.
Are you kidding me right now? Didn't she just give up on men after all that has happened to her and when the hell did Joly start having a thing for Eponine?!
Enjolras kept looking on as his blood pressure rose steadily and reached its peak when he saw Joly throw his arms around Eponine and hug her in an impulse before quickly running off in another direction. Enjolras slammed his locker shut and was about to turn away when he noticed Eponine look after Joly with a smirk on her face and a mischievous glint in her eye. The whole thing seemed odd in his opinion but he decided to simply brush it off and not let it get to him, whatever Eponine did was her choice. He was once again about to turn away on his heel when yet another odd situation caught his eye.
XXXX
Eponine laughed to herself as she watched Joly run off down the hall. He had the step of a giddy school boy and it just warmed her heart to see him so happy, from the first time he set on eyes on her Eponine knew Joly had developed a crush on Musichetta, so when he came to ask her for help impressing her Eponine was only slightly shocked. Apparently every since she helped set up Cosette and Marius together she had taken the honorable title of 'group matchmaker'- it wasn't exactly what she wanted to be labeled as but she knew they weren't wrong in giving her that title, she earned it. Joly had flagged her down and said that in his defense he tried to talk to Musichetta on his own and ask her to the dance, but he ended up choking and the most he got was her laughing at him a bit and calling him cute. Joly felt as if he completely failed and came running to Eponine for help. When he came up to her after school he looked completely in disarray- his hair was wild and his eyes looked desperate. Eponine agreed to help him nonetheless, he was so happy he hugged her tightly before running off to go to the meeting they were all having soon.
My love life may be absolute crap but not everyone else's has to be.
Once Joly was out of sight Eponine shifted positions on her toes and was about to head for her locker when her path was blocked by something or more specifically someone.
"Why hello there 'Ponine" Sneered a dark voice
"'Parnasse" Eponine acknowledge, looking at him straight in the eye as she did so
He gave her a wicked grin, "Why are you so cold darling, aren't you happy to see me?"
"Not particularly."
"Oh feisty aren't ya?"
She rolled her eyes and gave him a death glare, "What do you want 'Parnasse? I'm in a hurry and I am not in the mood for this."
He huffed, "It pains me that you don't have time for a friend 'Ponine."
"You aren't my friend."
"Shame…." He sighed, "But none the matter."
"I am going to say this one more time so listen closely, 'what the hell do you want'!?"
He acted as if he didn't hear her, "The dance is tomorrow."
"Yes I'm aware."
"I was just stopping by to ask what time I should pick you up."
She raised an eyebrow at him, "For what?"
"For the dance, you have the honor of being my date." He stated as she wrapped his arm around her shoulders
Eponine's mouth dropped and she flinched back from him and flung his arm off, "Excuse me?! I don't think so!"
"Why are you so against it darling? Do you have a better offer?"
"Well I-I…."
"I'm sorry Alain but Eponine won't be able to accompany you to the dance." Called a voice behind them; Eponine turned her head to look back and let out a sigh of relief as she realized it was Enjolras, "She already has a date."
Eponine looked at him in shock, "I do…"
Montparnasse didn't believe him, "She does?"
Enjolras nodded, "She is going with me."
Again Eponine was shocked, "I am?"
"She is?"
"I AM!" Eponine yelped as realization struck her. She slipped her arm into Enjolras and looked at Montparnasse in defiance, "Sorry Monty but Enjolras here is taking me."
Montparnasse looked over the two of them as if he wasn't buying it, but after staring down Enjolras he didn't question it any further, instead he let out a gruff and walked away, leaving Enjolras and Eponine alone in the hallway. Once he was out of sight Eponine unraveled her arm from Enjolras' and let out another sigh of relief. She turned to talk to him but once she faced him she found she just couldn't look at him straight in the eye, she decided to look at the floor instead.
"T-thank you for that" She managed to mutter coherently
He shrugged it off, "No problem."
"You don't have to do it you know."
"Pardon me? Do what?"
She looked up at him, "You know, take me to the dance. I know you said that to get Montparnasse out of my hair so I don't expect you to actually be my date. To be honest I wasn't even planning on going."
Enjolras felt his stomach drop slightly but he ignored the feeling, "You're kidding right? You basically planned the whole dance single handily, you have to go!"
She scrunched her nose, "But dances aren't really my thing."
"Hey we will all be there to accompany you; it will be just like a day at the café."
"Only instead we will all be dressed up and crammed into the school gym and courtyard."
"Doesn't that sound amazing?"
Eponine giggled, "Got to say you make a convincing argument, and seeing as Musichetta and Cosette will not possibly let me stay home I guess I'll be going to the dance."
Enjolras smiled, it was the kind of smile only Eponine ever saw, "Glad to hear it, now let's go and plan for this dance."
Grantaire moaned as he sat in the passenger seat of Enjolras' car. It was 11 am on Friday –still pretty early for Grantaire- and there was no school, but they had to come in early to help decorate for the dance. Enjolras had swung by to pick him up and they were now sitting at the drive-thru of a McDonalds. Since the two of them were already running late thanks to Grantaire everyone had texted them asking if they could make a coffee run- or in some cases tea and smoothies. They had already gone to Starbucks and Dunkin Doughnuts but Enjolras had insisted on stopping by McDonalds to get a frozen strawberry lemonade for Eponine.
"How do you even know she likes it? She didn't ask for anything." Grantaire asked as he played with the air conditioning knobs.
"Every time we go to McDonalds she gets it." Enjolras replied apathetically as he pulled up to the window, "And if we are getting something for everyone else it's only polite that we get something for her too."
"Oh yea…" Grantaire muttered under his breath, "You are doing this out of politeness."
"What was that?" Enjolras asked, a tone of death in his voice
Grantaire looked out the window, "I didn't say anything."
"That's what I thought."
After picking up the lemonade and all the other drinks they finally pulled into the West End High parking lot and made their way into the gym, the sight was chaotic. People were running around putting up streamers and doing other various things all in preparation for the dance. Enjolras knew a lot went into planning and making it happen but he never imagined it would be like a war zone. He only had a moment to contemplate before everyone spotted him and rushed over to claim their pick-me up. Enjolras and Grantaire did not know how to react and instead stretched out their hands and hoped people weren't desperate enough to hurt them. When everyone grabbed their order the two of them finally allowed themselves to react and let out a sigh of relief. They suddenly heard someone clapping slowly and from the corner of his eye Enjolras saw Eponine standing by them with a devilish look in her eyes
"You see this is you need to come on time." She teased
Enjolras did his best to contain a laugh when he took in the sight of her; she was wearing old jean overalls with a blue t-shirt underneath and her black converse, her hair was pulled back in a messy braid and she had paint splattered all over her clothes, she had been hard at work.
"Well we would have been had Grantaire not overslept and made us late."
"I am sorry!" called Grantaire looking appalled, "but I was up late playing a very important game of Call of Duty. I was on roll."
Eponine rolled her eyes, "Well I'm very happy for you but unless you get to work you will never have a chance to play it again."
"Fine then," Grantaire stated as she grabbed a paintbrush and commenced to help Jehan with whatever he was painting.
Enjolras looked back at Eponine and gave her the lemonade he purchased for her. Her eyes widened like a child on Christmas morning as she saw it and again Enjolras had to sustain a laugh. She took from his hands and gently took a sip as if to savor the moment.
"Enjolras you are the best." She said through the straw
He smirked at her, "I try."
After a few more sips Eponine set the drink down on the table nearby and walked back to a ladder to set up a banner that she left half-way done. Enjolras walked over to help Combeferre pin up some poster but as he passed by Eponine's ladder a bird flew in from the open window and decided to fly right into Eponine's face. Eponine didn't even have time to flinch as the bird hit her straight on and made her loose her balance on the ladder, the next thing she knew she was falling backwards and panic made her stomach drop. However instead of breaking her neck on the hard floor she felt herself surround by something soft and warm; she opened her eyes and found Enjolras cradling her.
Eponine's eyes widen as she realized their position and Enjolras' cheeks turned slightly red as well. Without another word he set her down on her feet and Eponine tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. They both looked at each other for a second before sharing a laugh and getting back to work, neither wanting to admit to the tension they just felt.
Neither noticed Grantaire and Azelma watching them from the distance either. They shared a knowing glance to one another. They knew something was going on between those two whether or not they wanted to admit it and so help them Grantaire and Azelma were going to do something about it.
Up next i'm going to have a little surprize for you in my author's notes