On My Own

Chapter Three - The Color of Desire

My classes went by very slowly that whole week. For some strange reason, I couldn’t stop thinking about Éponine the whole time. It’s weird. My whole life I have never been bothered by the presence of a female, but ever since I met Éponine, things have started to change. I’ve been feeling much more nervous around her and sometimes I am at a loss for words. I worry about my appearance, and when I see her in the streets I feel my heart pound faster. My palms get sweaty and when she comes near and I can’t help but get lost in a trance when she looks in my eyes. “Enjolras, I think you are falling in love with Éponine.” I thought, finally admitting my true feelings to myself. But I know that she wouldn’t ever consider feeling the same way about me. She loves Marius, and that’s who she will always love.

My feelings were pushed aside though, for there was a meeting today at the café, and if any of them ever found out about my newfound feelings, I would never hear the end of it. There was no time for love, anyways. I had to focus at the task at hand. I started my Monday morning at home, collecting my papers and stuffing them into my bag. For once I have actually woken up on time.  The time was 12:30pm, so I was able to wander around town until I had to go to the meeting. I grabbed my bag and swung it over my shoulder, walked out the front door of my apartment, and made my way into the streets. My stomach growled and I stopped at a nearby food stand on the side of the street. I picked up a red apple and handed the cashier a franc. As I took a bite out of it, I felt someone tap on my shoulder. I turned around and found Éponine looking up at me. My heart began to beat faster as she started speaking to me.

“Good afternoon, Enjolras. How are you?” She greeted, smiling at me.

“Bonjour, Éponine! I’m fantastic, how are you?” I replied, trying not to be as flustered as I was for the past week.

“I’m okay. Have you seen Marius around?” She asked. My heart sank. Of course she would ask for Marius.

“No, I haven’t seen him.” I said, disappointed that she only came to talk to me to ask about Marius. We stared at each other for a while in silence, not sure what to say next. This was the first real conversation I’ve had with Éponine without Marius with us and so far it’s not going well. “Well, if that’s all, I guess I should be on my way.” I said quietly as I began to walk past her, taking a bite of my apple.

“Wait!” Éponine called from behind me as she sprinted to catch up with me. “We can still walk with each other. I mean, we are friends after all.”

I smiled. She actually wanted to spend time with me and not find Marius. But I still cringed at the word ‘friends.’ That’s all we will ever be. “Okay. Shall we walk over to the café? I have to get some stuff done before the meeting.” I replied as we both began to walk with each other.

“Sure.” She said. We both weaved our way through the busy streets to get to the café when we bumped into a man with a beer bottle in his hand. Éponine froze dead in her tracks, and her eyes filled with panic. The man smiled, baring his dirty yellow teeth. 

“Bonjour, my little Mademoiselle.” The man sneered. He reached his filthy hand out and clenched Éponine’s arm, his untrimmed nails digging into her skin. Éponine tried to pull away with all her might but couldn’t shake his grip.

“Let me go!” Éponine cried, struggling even more to break the man’s strong grip. His beer bottle dropped to the ground and shattered into tiny pieces.

“Shut up, you brat!” He yelled, slapping her across the face. The man started to drag her down the street. I ran after them. When I caught up to the man, Éponine was lying on the ground, writhing in pain. I punched the man with all my might and he fell to the ground. I helped Éponine get back on her feet and we both began to run. We ran all the way to the café, and after we knew we were safe, we both sat down.