𝗡𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 -𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚘𝚍𝚘𝚛𝚎 '𝙻𝚊𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚎' 𝙻𝚊𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎

Chapter 24

Paris, France. December of 1868.
"Where can that boy be?" Aunt March questions.
I shrug, "He is the most unreliable boy. I told you Auntie. You should have expected this."
Aunt marge rolls her eyes, "Oh please, last time I checked, you were the unreliable one out of both of you."
Amy giggles.
I cross my arms, "Don't even laugh, Amy. I can bring up things that you would rather forget."
Amy raises her eyebrows, "You wouldn't dare."
"Oh, I would." I assure her.
"When we were younger, you licked a swing!" Amy yells out.
John laughs, "I knew that one."
"When you were a baby, you had a big head." I expose.
Aunt March rolls her eyes once again, "Oh yes. You were so hard to hold."
"When you were six, you farted in class and blamed it on the boy next to you!" Amy shoots back.
          Just then, we all turn to the dining room door that opens. James walks in and quickly sits down. John is pressing his lips together and holding in a laugh.
        "I'm sorry that I'm late. I lost track of the time." James apologizes.
        "Typical." I mutter.
         Amy rolls her eyes, "I don't understand why you hate him when you were the one who broke up with him."
        Everyone's eyes snap over to her in shock. Since the boys arrived, there was a silent agreement not to talk about it.  I stand up and put my hands on the table.
        I narrow my eyes, "You're first words were 'Big head wants dolly'."
        John laughs, "Really?"
        Amy glares at him, "Don't laugh. Remember I lived with you for a year. I know things about you too."
       Any stands up too.
       "Bring it on." John dares.
        James clears his throat, "It seems as if I missed out on something."
        Aunt March sighs, "I'm just going to let you all hash it out."
         It's chaos while everyone shouts things about each other that we shouldn't know. It's one secret after another.
         "John, you gamble when your bored and I know I saw you steal my paintbrushes." Amy accuses him.
        "Amy, you had the biggest crush on James for like a year, even when him and Mary were engaged." John announces.
        "You know, I suspected that." I remark.
         Amy gasps,"You're one to talk. You had a crush on Mari and you were going to tell her, then your brother came over for Christmas."
       Now, it's James' turn to stand up, "What!"
       "James, don't act all shocked. We made it a competition to see who she would choose." John yells back.
      I look between both of them, enraged, "Well, now, I'm glad I chose none of you."
      "John wet the bed till he was seven." James gets involved now.
       "I was the one that dared James to dance with Mary." John confesses.
        "You brought us both down on that one." James scoffs at John.
         "So our meeting was a lie?" I question.
         Amy giggles, "That's not surprising."
         "Amy killed our neighbors cat." I expose again.
        "Mary's the reason Beth has Scarlett Fever." Amy fires back.
        "Amy!" Aunt March yells.
         "You were the reason that Jo never wanted to write again and the only reason she forgave you was because you almost killed yourself." I accuse.
        John looks at us, bewildered, "I don't know if this is fun anymore."
         "John, you ate yellow snow, because Mary dared you to." Amy puts the attention back on him.
        "Never mind, still fun." John shrugs, "Amy, you kissed me yesterday while you're still with Fred."
       "Holy Jesus." I exclaim.
       "John!" Amy shouts and then blurts out,"Mary was in love with Laurie, but when he confessed his love to her, she was already with James!"
"Amy!" I yell.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't think of anymore for John." Amy apologizes.
        "So that's why you broke off the engagement?" James turns to me.
        I shake my head, "No, I rejected him."
        James throws his head back, "Of course, you did. We should make a club of everyone you left broken hearted."
        "Trust me, it would be more than just you, John, and Laurie." Amy chuckles.
       I cross my arms, "You know what? At least, I had boys who wanted me. At least, I didn't go after my sister's fiancé."
       "No, you just went after Laurie, who Jo loved." Amy spits.
       I'm taken back, " I don't know if Jo loved Laurie, but Laurie loved Jo and then when he couldn't have Jo, he chose me. That's why I rejected him."
       "Okay, enough." Aunt March finally intervenes, "I have finished my dinner, so thank you for the entertainment. Now, you guys eat and not another word about anymore secrets. Trust me I have more gossip in my head then you'll have boyfriends."
         Aunt March leaves the table and the room. We all slowly sit down and picking up our utensils. We eat and get up to leave. Nobody wanted to be around each other right now. That's for sure.
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"Alright. I have called you all here in light of what happened yesterday at dinner." Aunt March looks at each of us, "I want you all to work it out and Preston will let you out when you do."
Aunt March hurries away before any of us can ask questions. The butler, Preston, goes with her and I hear locks turn. They locked us in until we get along.
"What are we? Kids?" I yell at them, "You can't ground us to a room!"
"I think she just did." John sighs.
James shakes his head, "Maybe we should just forgive each other."
"Oh, can it, Cosette." I say, hoping everyone knows the reference.
"Are you comparing me to a sweet femme?" James questions, "Cause if so, then I gladly accept the compliment."
"She was saying you are too nice." Amy clarifies.
"Whatever, Èponine." John laughs.
"Are you saying I'm everybody's second choice?" Amy asks, insecure.
"Shut up, Marius." I say to John, who insulted my sister.
"At least, he's not Enjolras like you." James rolls his eyes.
"Are you calling me a charismatic leader? I'm glad finally you admit it." I smile.
"Whatever, you're more Cosette than James is." Amy speaks up.
"How?" I ask.
"She basically leads Marius on the whole book." Amy explains.
"Yeah, but in the end, she marries him." James defends.
"Okay, can we stop using book characters to talk to each other?" John begs.
"Fine. I'm just gonna say that last night honestly made me less homesick." I smile.
"That's what it's like at your house?" John asks.
Amy nods, "Oh, for sure. Don't you remember Christmas, James?"
"You know, now that you say it, everyone was staring at me then. Especially that Laurie guy. I guess now I know why." James shrugs.
I roll my eyes, "Hush up, James. Laurie and I had nothing going on. We were best friends and yes, he told me how he felt and that he never loved Jo. But I was with you and maybe at one time in my life, I loved him. But that was not the reason for our break up. I wasn't ready to get married. I was barely 19."
"Yeah and I was 21. I was ready to get married and I wanted to marry you." James says while plopping down on the couch.
Amy and James, already sitting next to each other, look at each other with wide eyes. I stay standing, but I turn away from trying to unlock the door. I look at James and fake a smile.
"What happened to 'Ill wait til I'm 27 if it means I can marry you.' when I told you that I wasn't ready?" I bring up the facts.
John's jaw drops, "I'm finding out more here than just with James."
I cross my arms, "And if you're so ready to get married, I would assume that you would've proposed to another girl. I mean it's been 2 years. So where is she?"
"Well, I meant what I said when I told you I would wait for you, but that was before last night, when Amy told me that another guy confessed his love to you." James fired back.
         "It's just Laurie. We aren't even friends anymore and if I was in love with him, I would be with him!" I shout at him.
           Amy starts pouring tea for her and John while still looking at the fight going down in front of them.
         "Well, you said you loved me and then broke off our engagement." James claims.
          Both John and Amy take a swig of their tea. I walk towards James.
           "You have no right to tell me that. I was 19 and being married wasn't what I wanted. " I am close enough to James that he can practically see the steam coming from my ears, " Everyone in my life was pushing me to get married because I'm a woman."
            James scoffs, "What did being a woman have to do with our marriage?"
        John chokes on his tea as Amy looks between both of us. I take a seat in a chair on the other side of James and across from Amy.
          "Oh, it has everything to do with marriage, because as a woman, I have no way to earn enough money for me and my family. Amy and I are pressured to get married well, because we will have to be the ones to keep the family afloat. Marriage is an economic proposition that I felt everyone was pushing me towards, so don't tell me that me being a woman has nothing to do with marriage." I finish my speech.
         John and Amy put down their tea. Amy smiles and nods her head. John runs his hand through his hair like he's just now thinking of what marriage is to women.
           James clears his throat, "Well, I guess I see your point of view."
I look him up and down, "Good."
We sit there in silence until John speaks up, "Did anyone find that hot or was it just me?"
Amy and I look at each other as James shakes his head. John scratches his neck and nervously laughs.
"Oh, little Johnny Appleseed, close your mouth. You'll get flies." I shrug.
Just then, Aunt March walks in, "I hear laughing so I assume everything is okay?"
"I think that was pretty good for everyone. Don't you guys?" I ask them.
They all nod as Aunt Mach smiles, "Good. You may leave."
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Who do you guys ship more with Mary? James, John, or Laurie?