ribbons 🎀 ~ Vassili Schneider (on hold until summer)

Part 1

August 1964, France

Rain drummed down onto her soaked hair, running down her face to her chin, her eyes heavy from the weight on her lashes.

She looked ahead, down the now empty cobblestone alley, dimly lit by a single lamppost emitting a soft, yellow glow.

She could feel the uneven ground beneath her flats and her shoulders slumped into herself; her suitcase clasped tightly in her hand began to feel more weighted by her side.

Her frown depended, but she refused to show any other reaction. With closed eyes and a breath, she found herself again, holding her chin up high and turning the other way, walking to the station.

-

September 1963, Lille, France - Lycée Faidherbe

Tuesdays seemed to always drag her through the mud, today happened to be no exception. Her hands tugged at the hem of her skirt as she strode to mathematics, her flats echoing across the wide hall.

Her pace came to a halt as she reached her class, the door slightly ajar. As she opened it, Mr. Altier halted his teaching to focus his attention on the late student, "Mademoiselle, school has only resumed weeks ago, I hope bad habits are not arising this early on in the year," he said with a questioning look.

"No, Mr. Altier, I was just dismissed late from Latin," she breathed, "Right then, have a seat."

With that, Antoinette nodded with a quick apology before glancing around the class for an empty seat. She found one near the center and strode to her newfound spot.

Her thoughts were still occupied by last night. Her admission request letter had now been racking through her brain for months and it was not nearly ready. She needed it to be perfect, which meant that she would often find herself devoting time to that rather than sleep or other activities.

She blinked a couple of times, shaking it out of her head for now as she put her attention towards the lesson.

-

Theo had his attention up front with a neutral expression written on his features.

He had been lazily writing down the notes of his teacher as the door opened. It took him some time to look up as he had focused on getting the last equation down before sparing a glance.

She was late, and she usually wasn't.

He went back to his notes as she took a seat some rows in front of him.

Minutes passed and he smelled honeysuckle. He looked up, then looked back down.

-

Antoinette sat with her classmates at a table, listening to Nadine, drone to her friend about all the events of the morning, which had seemed to be much more than Antoinette had anticipated.

"That got him detention for the next month at least," Nadine finished, pointing over to Louis. He rolled his eyes and huffed, "Madame Toussaint has a fucking stick up her old ass," this brought laughs out of some of their classmates.

"She has had it out for you since first year, she's always watching you too it's really weird," Mathieu commented, "she's obsessed, or in love?" He snickers with brows, which makes Louis shiver with disgust, almost coughing up his bread.

Nadine then turns to Antoinette, "How was your morning? You two share a class right?" she asks, turning to Theo and back to the girl next to her.

Antoinette turned her gaze to Theo who had his chin resting in the palm of his hand, "Yes, pretty boring morning," he stated. Antoinette nodded before bringing her attention to her abandoned food.

She doesn't talk with Theo as much as she might with their other friends, nor is she as involved in his life as she was with Nadine or Louis. The two have been friends since first year, but some people don't match as well she guessed.

She had not noticed him today in class in her hurry for example, and he probably reciprocated that.

Antoinette listened to him as he talked with their friends, and she started to wonder why he rarely spoke only to her.

The thought was lost as Nadine clapped her hands together.

"Speaking of, my brother wrote me and said he could send some over," Nadine said contently, "now that he's graduated, it seems he has a lot more free time on his hands. Not living on campus helps with staying out of trouble too."

Nadine had two older brothers who used to attend their boarding school. Antoinette had only really known one of them, but they were both friendly.

The girl however had not been paying attention to the start of the conversation so she was slightly lost as she asked what Nadine had meant.

"When's the last time you got drunk, Antoinette?" Mathieu butted in with a look of mischief written across his face.