Aamir and Margerite had known each other before either of them spoke English. The primary school that they were planning on attending, contacted both of their families, telling them that there was another child who was attending third grade who came from abroad. They insisted that they contacted each other, believing strongly in communication. They overlooked the fact that neither Aamir or Margerite actually spoke any English, so by suggestion of Aamir’s mom they communicated over email, using images and the few English words they knew to communicate.It wasn’t the most foolproff communication but it was better than nothing. When they entered the second grade, they found themselves searching for something to say. You couldn’t use images to express how you felt in the real world. Their relationship may have ended, if it wasn’t for Aamir’s Mom insistence that he made friends. Over the summer, he learned a little French, and used what little French he knew to talk to Margerite. That was Margerite’s first sign that Aamir truly cared about her.
The two teenagers stood in the hollow crook of the old oak tree, taking advantage of the cramped space, to cuddle close together. Margerite rested her head against Aamir’s chest, and turned her neck lightly to look into his dark brown eyes.
“Hey. You and me? It’s for real this time? You broke up with Hillary for real?” She brushed her hand against his dark wrist, trying hard to cover her French accent that never seemed to go away.
“Of course. It’s just you and me, mon sucre d’orge.” Margerite heart fluttered at the term of endearment while trying not to laugh at his horrible accent.
Margerite rushed to class while trying not to run, remembering the last time that had happened. It had resulted in the pileup of 4 students and one teacher, in the middle of the hallway, and a stern talk from the principal about paying attention to where she was going. But Margerite couldn’t function before noon, she wasn’t a morning person, or a night person for that matter, sometimes she didn’t even feel like a person at all. Those were thoughts that were better off to be left aloe.
Margerite reached her class, retreating to the back of the classroom. She sat at her usual seat, and looked to her right, to see Hillary smiling at her. Margerite smiled right back to her, glad to know that she wasn’t angry at her.
“So I was thinking, we haven’t hung out in awhile, so I thought that the perfect way is to have a girl’s night in. We can watch 10 Things I Hate about You, Mean Girls, and maybe even Pitch Perfect, if I’m feeling generous. I have a date with Aamir, but you can come over at around 9.”Margerite smiled at Hillary offer, but then stopped at the mention of Aamir’s name
Wait, I thought you and Aamir broke up?” Hillary’s face faltered at Margerite’s words. Seeing Margerite so sad, brought physical pain to her heart, as it always did
“ Did he tell you that?” Hillary whispered.
“No I heard it from some dumb girl.It was just a stupid rumor.” Hillary nodded, unconvinced, but willing to end the conversation.
Margerite didn’t get angry, sometimes she was pissed, sometimes she wanted to kill everyone in her vincity, but she never showed it. She knew that if she did, everyone would see her for what she was, and would hate her. She used her words carefully, not wanting people to judge her for her country of orgin. If she got angry, she wouldn’t be able to use her words the way she liked to, with care. But there was a certain point in life when you realized that if you didn’t get angry, it would always be kept inside. This was one of those moments. She had been able to ignore all of Aamir’s flaws, as long as he had twice as many qualities, but she couldn’t ignore this. As soon as she got out of school, she rushed to his house, opening his door without knocking,as she had been doing since she was 8. She went to his familiar messy room, and waited. When he arrived, she pounced on him, forgetting about carefully choosing words, and keeping her cool.
“ How dare you lie to me? You promised me that you had broken up in Hillary. You promised me and I believed you, because I’m stupid like that.Hillary is not some girl that you can just throw around, she’s my friend, and your girlfriend. You can’t just drop girls without telling me. You can’t lie to me like that. You fucking cheated on her, without my consent. I really thought you were different.” Margerite paused catching her breath, and her tears. Aamir approached her,and reached to touch her but Margerite turned away.
“Look Margerite, I’m sorry. I’ll break up with Hillary tonight, I promise. And then it will be just you and me. Sucre D’Orgre.”
“ Don’t call me that, ever again. I think it’s a little late for that.” She turned to leave, but he grabbed her arm.
“ Look, you’re not like other girls..” Margerite didn’t let him finish.
“And what so may I ask is wrong with other girls?” Margerite ran down the stairs, and out the door, unsure of where she should go. She found herself going to Hillary’s house, unsure of what she should tell her. She knocked on the door, wiping the tears from her eyes. Hillary opened the door, and beckoned her to come in, seeing her tear stained eyes. She ushered Margerite to come upstairs to her room.
Hillary room was clean, if that was one way to describe it, another way would be devoid of personality. Margerite saw no trace of Hillary’s obsession with Heavy Metal, or anatomy, but she was too troubled to ask her about it.
“ What’s the matter?” Hillary asked, motioning for her to sit on the white bedspread next to her.
“ Aamir cheated on you.” Margerite said, turning away to avoid seeing Hillary’s devastation.
“ With you?” Hillary choked.
“On me.”
“ I thought you were my friend.” Hillary said, spouting venom that Margerite had never seen before.
“ I am, I would never hurt you. He told me he had broken up with you, and I foolishly believed him.I’m so sorry.” Hillary’s venom washed away replaced with pure hurt.
“How could he?” Margerite didn’t know the answer, instead she pulled Hillary close to her, ignoring her pounding heart, and focusing on her friend’s pain. She ran her hair through Hillary’s knotted hair, and rocked her back and forth. Hillary’s tears eventually ceased, but she stayed in Margerite’s arms. She smelt the scent of Hillary’s apple shampoo mixed with something that smelt a little bit like potato chips, and tried to cease the heavy beatings of her heart. Hillary pulled away, and turned to face Margerite.
“ Can I kiss you?” Margerite found herself nodding without even thinking, realizing that it was what she wanted.
Their lips found each other, neither of them pulling away. She felt the same explosion, she felt when she had kissed Aamir but this time there was nothing wrong with it.It made sense, and was 100% pure. They pulled away at the sound of the doorbell ringing, smiling at each other.
“Come on, let’s go fuck some shit up.”Margerite smiled at the profanity, pulling her into another kiss
