Only Been Pretending

Chapter Four ~ First Impressions

Chapter Four ~ First Impressions

                It was a week after Marius had first invited Eponine to come to the Musain, and she was finally able to go. He had asked her to join him yet again the day before, and she’d said that she would go if she was able. That night, her father had come home very late and incredibly drunk. He slept past lunchtime, but finally got up and left with Madame Thènardier to participate in his scamming schemes. That left Eponine by herself and overjoyed that she would get to go to the meeting. She didn’t have to worry about anyone telling on her because Azelma had tagged along with her parents. Eponine tried to fix her appearance before giving up and going to sit on the front steps of the house to wait on Marius. She was waiting for a while, and the later it got, the more she began to think he’d forgotten that she would be potentially joining him. Finally, he appeared in the distance walking her way.

                “Marius!” she called as he got closer, a huge smile on her face.

                “Sorry I’m late, ‘Ponine. I got caught up at the university. I’m assuming you’re able to join me tonight?”

                She nodded, “No one’s home, so I can come with you.”

                “Good. We should get going. I don’t want to be late like I normally am,” Marius said.

                With that, the two made their way to the Musain.

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                Just as they reached the door of the Musain, Eponine hesitated. She reached out and grabbed Marius’s arm, keeping him from entering without her.

                “Marius, wait. What if they don’t like me or want me here?” she asked, looking at the ground.

                “Don’t be ridiculous. You’ll be very welcome here, ‘Ponine.”

                She nodded and followed Marius into the café. The bottom floor was empty, but once she followed Marius up the stairs, she saw the second floor was filled with young men; almost all appeared to be students. Eponine immediately knew she didn’t fit in there. A gamine like her wasn’t respectable enough to be in the company of a room full of students. She shrank back behind Marius a bit, suddenly wanting to dart from the room. Not noticing her trepidation, Marius grabbed her wrist and pulled her over to a table where someone was calling his name. The table was occupied by three young men. The first one had blonde hair and was wearing glasses. The next had darker hair and was dressed very nicely, and the last had a worried look on his face and was checking his pulse.

                “You’re actually early for once, Marius,” the man with the glasses laughed.

                Marius ignored the comment and pulled Eponine out from behind him.

                “I wanted to introduce you to my friend, Eponine Thènardier,” he said.

                The man dressed nicely got up and bowed slightly, kissing Eponine’s hand and making her blush.

                “Matthieu Courfeyrac, Mademoiselle. It is a pleasure to meet you,” he said with a dazzling smile.

                The man with the glasses rolled his eyes, “Don’t mind him. He flirts with anything in a skirt. I’m Nicolas Combeferre, and this,” he said, pointing to the man checking his pulse, “is our resident doctor, Joly.”