Mariette reached into her schoolbag to fish out her pencil case and flash cards. It was a big day for her. It was the day that she would finally be taking her first German examination. After weeks of practicing with Christian, it was finally time.
But Mariette was feeling the pressure.
"Ich bin eine -" she paused as she tried to recall the words in German. It appeared to her that stress was not something she could handle very well. She learned the hard way that with stress comes panic, and with panic comes a very bad memory.
Mariette sighed just as Christian waltzed into the room holding a giant bowl of ice cream. He stopped at the door, glancing at the flash cards in her hands.
"Is your test today?" He asked curiously.
She frowned, "I told you yesterday."
He chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "I must have forgotten."
She laughed. Mariette wasn't surprised that her boyfriend didn't remember. He did have a rather poor memory, just like her. So it still baffled her why she decided to take up German despite being heavily underprivileged when it comes to memory.
Christian took a seat at the foot of the bed, indulging in his ice cream. She shifted herself to be beside him. "Why are you eating ice cream? Don't you have a game tomorrow?"
He looked at her guiltily before putting another huge spoonful inside his mouth. Mariette laughed, playfully giving him a light shove. "Very cheeky, Chris."
"Anyway," she picked up her flash cards, "I need your help with this."
He watched as Mariette began writing furiously on one of the cards. "Marie, why are you doing this again?" Christian asked, picking up one of the flash cards to examine.
"What, learning German?" She asked, her eyes fixated on her flash cards.
"Yeah," Christian said, "I know we're in Germany, but I can speak good enough German for you. Besides, aren't you going back to France soon?"
She looked up from her cards. "I want to be an independent woman! And even if I am going back to France, I'll still end up here because of this," she poked his nose cheekily.
Christian was probably the primary reason she had decided to take up German. When they first met, she had only come to Dortmund from Marseille for a school programme. Fast forward six months later, she was still there with an American boyfriend who could speak German way too fluently.
And so the secondary reason was because she was jealous.
"In that case," he said in between the final bites of ice cream, "you should teach me French, then." Mariette raised her eyebrows, impressed by his sudden interest in learning her mother language.
"So we can be fluent in both German and French," he nudged her, grinning widely.
She laughed, "that's a pretty good idea, actually. Maybe when you come to Marseille with me one day, you'll be better at French then me."
At that moment, her phone beeped. Oh no, she swiftly grabbed her phone. It was an alarm set at 12:30 PM, an hour before her test. It meant that she had to get to class as soon as possible.
"Damn, I have to go," she sulked. She hurriedly stuffed the flashcards into her schoolbag as Christian watched on. He had never seen her that nervous before. As she stood up, he grasped her hand. "Hey, you'll do great, Marie," he smiled reassuringly.
Her boyfriend always knew what to say. Just his words alone made her feel a million times better. "Thanks, Christian," she smiled back. She quickly leaned down to peck his cheek before racing out of the apartment.
Time seemed to fly by as she made her way to school. Before she knew it, it was already 1:30 PM.
Mariette sat at her table, slowly putting away her books. She was about to pull out her pencil case when he eyes widened in horror. She hadn't placed her pencil case back into her bag.
She was frozen to her spot, completely unsure of what to do as everyone around her were slowly getting ready for the test. She was so overwhelmed by panic that she forgot she could have easily borrowed someone's pen.
At that moment, the invigilator called her name, breaking her out of her daze.
"Mariette Mathieu? I have something for you," he called. Mariette anxiously walked over to the invigilator, her heart racing. As she got closer, she noticed there was something very familiar in his hands. "Your pencil case?" He asked.
She almost jumped for joy when she saw her black pencil case in his hands. She took if from him, thanking him repeatedly before running back to her seat.
As she placed the pencil case on her table, she realised there was something on it that hadn't been there before; writing in French. Mariette smiled, recognizing the handwriting almost immediately.
Bonne chance, mon amour. ♥️
"Good luck, my love," she whispered to herself, beaming from ear to ear. If her boyfriend could learn her language in one hour, then she could definitely ace this German test.
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Christian is basically an adorable little puppy that deserves to be loved and cherished two hundred percent forever and always <3
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football | one shots
Fanfiction[closed] ❝the world is but a canvas to the imagination.❞ - Henry David Thoreau
