Before It's Too Late

Two

That morning I woke up hungry, but I forced myself to ignore it. If I thought of it too much, it would only make things worse for me.

I got ready for a day in the streets. I tried to clean stains I had off of my dress and I also pinned my long dark hair up the best I could. I wiped off the dirt and June heat that accumulated all across my face. After a couple more little things, I was ready to go out. I kissed Clémence and my mama goodbye. And I was off.

You might say walking through the streets of St. Michele sounds fun, but it's more depressing than anything. Every corner you turn there's always a child or an elderly man begging you for bread. The worse part is when you have to say that you don't have any and watch their defeated faces deflate a little more.

I walked my fastest so that I wouldn't miss the speech Enjolras was talking about, and my pace soon turned into a slight jog. I was sure it was going be amazing; I wouldn't want to be late. I had to hear every word Enjolras and his friends had to say, even though I wasn't sure what they were even going to be speaking about.

"Adéle? Is that you?" A voice caused me to turn around. It was a boy. He walked closer and I realized who it was. Enjolras! I tried to stay calm even though I was exploding inside from joy.

"Bonjour à nouveau, mademoiselle," He greeted politely. "You look more beautiful than ever."

"Merci, Enjolras," I grinned.

"What are you doing here, my lady?" he smiled back.

"I have come to listen to your speech," I replied.

"You have?"

I nodded. Enjolras's face looked intrigued at me and there was an awkward quietness. But his face contorted, a serious expression replacing the happy one.

"That's great. We need all the believers in my cause as possible," he took my hand and kissed it lightly. "Excuse me, Mademoiselle, I must be leaving." He began to turn around, but I stopped him.

"Wait, Enjolras. Where is the speech?"

"In front of General Lamarque's home," And with that, he jogged off.

I didn't take it too personally, he probably had planning that he had to take care of. I guess his 'cause' makes people busy. I started walking again the way I usually took to work. If I followed this way, that meant I would get to General Lamarque's home where the speech was apparently being held.

After being stopped by two more children and one middle-aged man asking for bread, I was in the common area. I didn't usually come here a lot, but it was where most people sold their products of all kinds to make some extra francs. Most sellers don't normally do well since so many people here are too poor to even buy bread. There was quite a crowd. I was happy with the turnout for Enjolras's sake. As he said, he needs all the recruits he can get.

I shoved my way through the people to get to the front. I had a hard time trying to get through, but I finally managed to get to the edge of the stage.

"People of Saint Michele, an uprising is underway." The boy named Marius was talking now. After a while of talking, Enjolras concluded the speech.

"We'll cut the fat ones down a size!" hearing this, the crowd slammed their fists through the air and the shouting began.

"Vive la France! Vive la France!" the people started to chant. I joined them, punching my fists through the air, just as Enjolras was doing.

Then, police officers on horses began to disperse the people. I saw on man get the butt of a gun slapped against his face. I watched in horror as I saw him lay motionless on the ground. Blood was pouring out from his wound.