𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢 𝐜𝐫𝐲 [ 𝘫. 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘴 ]

9, un désaccord

Coming back to school made Eponine unnecessarily nervous. She loved seeing all her friends again, but she honestly didn't want to see Vergoux. She parked her bike on the farthest end of the bicycle parking, straightened her jacket and entered school grounds.

When Eponine entered the courtyard in their first break, two things caught her attention. First, Vergoux was nowhere to be found. She was very happy about that, and hoped that no one would make too big of a deal out of it. Second, all the boys were acting weird. They were huddled together, whispering and glancing at the toilets. Dupin and Joseph stood in front of the door, as if they were guarding it. A line of boys stood at the wall, one by one coming in and out of the toilets.

When the girls sat down, Simone and Michéle noticed too. "What are they all whispering about?" SImone wondered. "They're all so weird," Michéle grunted. Eponine nodded in agreement. She had a vague idea of what was going on, but knew nothing for certain.

"We could ask Pichon," Eponine offered. Michéle shot up. "Great idea! I'll go look for him." Michéle was far too curious, and was desperate to find out what was going on. Simone was about to stand up to tag along, when Eponine tugged at her wrist to sit her down.

"Stay, I've got updates," she whispered. "Okay, Michéle. Do tell us when he tells you!" she laughed. Michéle smiled. "Of course. Detective Magnan is off to work."

The moment Michéle turned around, Simone grabbed Eponine's hands. "Tell me everything!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Okay so this is going to be a long update," Eponine laughed, "But on the last day of school I went over to his house to work on our presentation and he was actually very nice!"

Simone's jaw dropped. "Descamps and the word nice in the same sentence? Unheard of. Tell me more."

Eponine resumed. "After we finished up work, we went outside for a smoke break—"

"--Did you share the cigarette?" SImone interrupted. "That we did," Eponine smiled. "Eek! Shut up! That's too cute!" Simone gasped.

"And he kind of wrapped his arm around my shoulder so eventually we were practically hugging on his back porch?" Eponine said. Simone laughed. "You're telling me you hugged Descamps?"

Eponine giggled. "Well, we later did a little more than just that." Simone gasped audibly. "Did you-" she asked with shock, and Eponine's eyes went wide. "No! God no, not like that!"

"Brace yourself," Eponine said. Simone squeezed her hands. "Just tell me already!"

"Okay so, after I came back from London, my parents told me they married me off to the son of a business partner to help boost the business—"

"-They did WHAT?" Simone's jaw dropped. "Yeah girl, I know. I've been ignoring them ever since." Eponine rubbed her neck.

"Well, you said no of course, right?" Simone asked. Eponine's eyes trailed to the ground. "I said yes under the condition they wouldn't do the same to my little sister," she explained.

Simone's eyes were wet. "Come on, Nine." She grabbed her shoulders, and pulled her in. "You didn't have to do that."

Eponine buried her head in Simone's shoulder. "But I did, Sime. Colette's only eight years old, I can't look at her knowing I could prevent her from having to marry someone she doesn't even know."

SImone sighed. "But now, you're stuck with a random guy that you don't love," she said. Eponine gently grabbed her shoulders. "Sime, do you want to know who I have to marry? Because I think you wouldn't mind it too much."