Hopelessly Devoted ☆ Pierre Gasly

XXIV

The past

It was the first school day after Pierre's race. He was hoping so badly Juliette would show up at his race, but she didn't, she didn't even call... Despite the most disappointing and frustrating feeling, he drove an excellent race. However, he got hurt by Juliette. There was just one thing she promised, and she didn't show up. She let him down in many ways.

Pierre decided to ignore Juliette all day long - if she even considered coming to school since she wasn't there the first period. For a split second, he started to doubt the way he felt about Juliette; perhaps Sara was right all along. No, no, no, I won't accept that. He was looking outside, scanning the cars that passed the school. Why even would she do this? A deep, loud sigh rolled over his lips. It's so complicated.

The class got interrupted by knocks on the door. The teacher stopped his story and looked at the door, just like all the students who were wondering who it could be. After a few seconds, the door swung open, and the principal entered the classroom. He walked over to the teacher and said something. Nobody could hear what it was, but it looked serious. The teacher was nodding and looking at the door; his facial expression softened. When the principal left the classroom, someone else entered the classroom.

"Hey, listen up, everybody," the teacher said to the class. "Juliette had a small accident, she fell on the stairs. It looks worse than it is. Juliette is doing fine, and she trying to follow the classes. That's all you need to know."

Pierre's eyes fell on a fragile girl who showed up. His eyes crossed Anthoine's eyes, and they both looked the same; worried. Pierre looked back at Juliette, and their eyes met for a brief second. Her jaw was purple, her eye was swollen, there were multiple bandages above her eyebrow, and she was walking limp; it looked like something had happened to her right leg. A weak smile was playing on her lips when she faced her class and stumped to her table in the back of the class.

The silence wasn't feeling comfortable to Juliette, she wanted it to stop, just like the worried looks she got. She doubted going to school in the first place, but it was one of the last few days before the finals. When she arrived at her table, she struggled to sit down on the chair. Juliette pressed her lips into a thin line and held in her breath when she was about to sit down. She looked to the teacher and gave him a nod, signing he had to continue with the lesson. Juliette swallowed hard and looked down.

"...which make my story come to an end. You can work on your assignments and discuss them with your classmates. If you need help, I'm here to help you," the teacher said and gave the class the sign they could start on their assignment.

Pierre and Anthoine didn't hesitate for some moment and got up from their chairs. They dragged the chair to Juliette's table and sat down across and next to her. Even though Pierre said to himself he wouldn't talk to her today...it changed after seeing her like this.

"My goodness, Lulu..." Anthoine whispered worriedly. "This looks so bad..."

Tears filled Juliette's eyes, and she looked outside, avoiding Pierre and Anthoine. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

It broke Pierre's heart to see her like this. She was so fragile...so broken... "For what?" His voice was soft.

"For not being at your race."

"That's the last thing we need to worry about, Jules." He warmly smiled to make her feel comfortable. "What happened?"

"I was walking on the stairs, texting you I was about to leave, and I tripped. Lesson for the next time: don't text and walk on the stairs at the same time," she weakly smiled, trying to make it sound light. "I...I fell on the stairs. My head made an awful smack. I luckily only have those bruises on my jaw and eyebrow, on my face. My hip is bruised, my knee bands are weak due to that fall." Juliette looked at Pierre. "I was unconscious for a couple of hours. My mother was doing the groceries, she found me when she came back. She called the ambulance and... I'm sorry I didn't call you."