Outcasts | Joseph Descamps

Chapter 1

I woke suddenly to the rhythmic static of the radio. My room was slightly lit from the morning sun leaking through the curtains. I reached for the alarm clock resting on my nightstand, where the bold white letters read 6:57.

"I'm going to kill you Louis!" I yelled as I knocked on the wall that separated our rooms.

Louis had woken up early to hear the radio announce his win at the science fair. He learned all there was to know about space. He was fascinated by the planets, the stars and especially the moon. Louis always says that without the moon, the earth would be lost.

Finally, the static stopped, but I could faintly hear the recognizable morning show voice coming from the radio. Suddenly, Louis came barging in my room, parading the radio in his hands.

"Élodie wake up, you have to listen! He's going go say my name!" he exclaimed.

Louis grabbed my arm in an attempt to yank me out of bed, but I slowly sat up on my own. Louis sat at the end of my bed, placing the radio between us. His eyes were lit with anticipation as he flashed the crooked smile he always did when he was anxious.

"Next up is a big congratulations to our very own third grade science fair winner. He beat out 3 separate school divisions across the town, Louis Auclair!"

"I'm so proud of you Louis!" I said, with as much excitement as I could muster up this early.

His head dropped shyly but his smile got bigger.

"I still cant believe I got to hear my name on the radio," he said giddily.

"You deserve it Louis. But where's mom? You didn't wake her?" I asked.

"Well...I didn't want to bother her. I know she has a lot going on with the store and everything."

"Hey, don't you worry about that stuff, this is your special day."

"But it's yours too, it's your first day at school, aren't you excited?" Louis exclaimed.

"I am, I'm just a little nervous," I said quietly, "But it's nothing some pancakes can't cure!" I assured.

"Yes!" Louis yelled, as he sprinted out of my room and down the stairs to kitchen.

I turned to my vanity mirror to see a reflection of brown frizzy hair and fallen out rollers. My hair was beyond fixable, so I settled for a ponytail and a black headband. I then scavenged my drawer for my best pair of pantyhose with no runs or holes. I picked out my nicest blue skirt and my white blouse, decorated with a floppy bow.

I hurried downstairs to start Louis' pancakes before pausing at the bottom stair, when I saw Christophe making a pot of coffee.

"Are you going to ignore me at school today?" I questioned.

"No..." he replied defensively, "...but you better not make me look bad," he added.

"And how would I do that Christophe?"

"Just stay out of trouble Élodie. I want this to work out for you, I really do. You deserve to be there as much as all the other snobs," he assured.

Christophe is a year older than me, although we are technically the same age for two months of the year. My mother got pregnant with me a month after she had Christophe, which made us Irish twins. Christophe always pokes fun that I'm an "accident" but he tends to shut up when I mention we're pretty much the same age.

Mom came down the stairs and into the kitchen, dressed in her Sunday best. She wore a yellow dress with white polka dots and a white cardigan. Her hair was perfectly coiffed and her makeup made her blue eyes stand out. She was probably the most beautiful woman in our town.

"Good morning mum, why so fancy?" Christophe asked as he greeted mom with a kiss on the cheek.

"Don't you remember, I have a meeting wi-with...Mr. Beaufort." She stuttered.

"Right, I forgot."

A deafening silence fell over the kitchen.

"Louis' name was announced on the radio," I blurted, attempting to change the subject.

"Oh Louis honey why didn't you tell me?" mom replied, with a linger of disappointment in her words.

"Oh it wasn't a big deal mom," Louis assured, but doubt still wavered in his voice.

I quickly interrupted again, "I'm making pancakes, who wants some?"

After breakfast, Christophe and I made our way to school on our bikes. The summer air had dissipated into a crisp fall breeze, but the sun still warmed my face. The brick entrance of the school made me feel small, like it was taunting me, reminding me of my place here. I locked my bike beside Christophe's and alongside the hundreds of others.

"Good luck today, you'll be great," Christophe whispered, as his eyes darted around the street.

Before I could answer, he quickly jogged to his friends over in the courtyard. My eyes shifted over to a lone girl who was standing in front of the entrance. Her hair shone in the morning sunlight, highlighting its strawberry hue. I slowly walked over to join her and hopefully ease the anxiousness for both of us.

"Do you want to walk in together?" I asked hesitantly.

"Let's do it," she replied, with a look determination on face .

Together we walked, clearing a path ahead. Our footsteps hitting the pavement was the only movement in the courtyard. Every boy stopped dead in their tracks. Their mouths open, ready to catch flies and their eyes stationed on our every move. Suddenly my blouse felt itchy and my skirt felt suffocating. I could hear the whispers and mutters that flowed through the cliques of boys like a wildfire. Some stared like they were undressing me and some stared with a burning look of disdain. My eyes veered to three boys sitting on a bench, and my gaze met one with a sharp nose, curly hair and round glasses. I could almost smell his arrogance. We finally made it across the stretch of courtyard, stopping near the stairs to check our classes, yet the stares still lingered.

"I'm Michèle," the girl said as she took a deep sigh of relief.

"I'm Élodie, you don't know how glad I am that I saw you," I laughed nervously.

"Me too, I don't even want to know what they were saying about us," she chuckled.

"You're parents own the butchery right?"

"Yes they do," she replied shyly.

"My parents own- I'm sorry, my mom owns, the antique shop a couple streets over."

"I always pass by there, I've always wanted to go in it, it looks so cozy."

Suddenly, another girl with brown hair and blunt bangs appeared beside Michèle.

"I was starting to think we were the only ones," Michèle exclaimed.

"I waited for you guys to walk to walk in," she giggled, revealing her crooked tooth. "I'm Simone."

Michèle, Simone and I waited in the courtyard, sharing stories from our old schools until principal Bellanger gave his opening speech. He seemed almost proud to introduce the girls at the school, but I could still sense the discontentment seeping from crowd of boys. I saw Christophe standing beside his friends, stoically watching the principal. Eventually the bell rang and we were divided into our home rooms. The combination of cologne and arrogance engulfed the courtyard, ready to assert their dominance. There were 14 girls in a sea of naive, pubescent boys, what could possibly go wrong?

Chapter two coming later today...