andante ❈ benjamin pavard

TWO

                 "I can't believe you're doing this."

"You mean you can't believe we're doing this."

Zoe shoved her head into Margot's pillows. Margot insisted that they had to crash Noelle Blanchard's party, because when else would they be able to rub shoulders with a World Cup winner? Who knew when Benjamin would come back to Maubeuge?

"Put this on," Margot said, throwing clothes at Zoe. Zoe caught them out of pure instinct. It was a pair of ripped black jeans and an engine red backless top.

"It's twelve. We wouldn't get to Noelle's until around one! How long would we stay?"

"Wow, if only we had houses in Maubeuge or something," Margot said, shifting through her closet. She grabbed a black belt, and popped up with a smile. "Oh wait! We do!"

"I have a really important meeting Monday morning. I can't miss it for the world."

And she wasn't even exaggerating. One of her bosses noticed how diligently she had been working and invited her to sit in on one of the meetings with the executives of Mercier. If she did well, she could already snag a firm job for the next four summers, and even for the rest of her life. It was a literal dream come true.

"Relax, we'll be back tomorrow. Or today, depending on how you look at it." Margot shrugged, examining a sparkly black tube top and an off white halter top. She ended up throwing both in her no pile. Zoe pursed her lips, watching Margot.

"We don't even know Noelle."

"I know Noelle's brother," Margot reasoned. Zoe frowned.

"You fucked Noelle's brother."

"Yeah, that's how I know him." Margot rolled her eyes. "Come on, lighten up Zo. I miss home. I'm tired of having to sip fancy wine in bars and talk about sophisticated things like art and cheese and wine. I wanna rage!"

Zoe let out a loud laugh, and threw a pillow in Margot's direction. Margot dodged it easily, and sent it straight flying back. It hit Zoe right in the face, causing her to laugh even harder.

Zoe wasn't lying. She, at least, didn't know Noelle. She was more in her brother's age group, and Zoe didn't really understand why a twenty one year old was throwing a random party in their parents house, but she didn't question it. It was free booze. Gabin had since left, without getting any toilet paper, of course.

"Fine," Zoe caved, and started to get off Margot's bed.

Margot looked up from her pile of clothes and smiled. "See, I knew you'd give in. And this time, I didn't even have to use bodily force."

Zoe rolled her eyes, but not before throwing a pillow at Margot again. That time, she didn't miss.

**

The drive to Noelle's was short and sweet. Many people were outside on her lawn, and Zoe wondered how the party wasn't shut down yet. She saw many people from her year milling around, probably courtesy of Noelle's younger brother, Lucas.

"Can you believe we'll probably never see these people again?" Margo asked as she filled into an empty parking space across the street. Zoe was too busy trying to remember all the names of her former classmates: she recognized Lily St. Clair, the Olivier twins, and Vincent Klein.

"I say thank God to that," Zoe said. She dropped her phone in between her seat and the divider, and it was too dark to find it without a flashlight, but Margot was already out of the car.