carpe diem ⊶ joseph descamps

43 | overnight sensation

[fourty-three]
glowing like the cherry on my cigarette
—

There were a lot of regrets Sadie had about the trip so far, but the biggest one had to be ruining her first experience with the Louvre. There were a lot of deciding factors that had contributed to this, and she was going to make sure to eliminate every single one of them. To start it off, she had to be disciplined.

For this first step, she had to have a good night's rest. So unlike her first night, she had made sure to go to bed at a reasonable time, refusing her friends' offer of partying it up with a bottle of schnapps they'd bought while shopping down the Champs-Élysées. It took a lot out of her to resist the good old-fashioned peer pressure, especially when they'd brought out a Bee Gees vinyl—which was just cruel of them. But she remained strong!

Second step, have a good breakfast. She was the one to suggest where the dean take them for breakfast that morning. Felbec, despite his best intentions, had truly scarred Mr. Bellanger with his poor choice of food place, and led the man to jump at the opportunity for anything else. This wasn't too hard, as there were multiple different cafes along the way to the museum that were willing to take such a rush of students. They were so busy, they hadn't noticed when Sadie snuck some treats in the side bag she'd worn that day.

The teachers were grateful, as breakfast had been wonderful without any complaints or roughhousing—granted, this wasn't her form, so that could also be a contributing factor. But it was delicious and peaceful, nonetheless, letting them continue toward the museum without a hitch.

Which brought us to the third step, avoid any blonde bombshell tour guides. She had made sure to steer clear of any beautiful people with name tags on their busty chests. Marcelin and Le Goff would be the chaperones at the museum this time around, which made it easier for her to get away with ditching the tour, so long as she arrived the same time as they did. Which she did, showing up with the entire group and being allowed to go in ahead of them to beat the tour. Things were looking up from there as she walked through the entrance and started her merry way to the first set of stairs for the Denon wing. And that wasn't a pun!

There weren't a ton of people inside yet since Marcelin had done a good job of securing one of the earliest time slots of the day for the group. So walking up the stairs, anticipation building inside of her as she slowly approached the Samothrace Landing, helped remind Sadie of the initial excitement she'd felt when it was first announced her year would be coming here.

As she ascended the cut-stone steps and slowly breathed in the air of the aged museum, Sadie could feel a childish smile start to creep up her lips. She was alone today: no stupid students who spent more time messing around, no pretty women telling her what to do, and—best of all—absolutely no immature boys who made her inexplicably angry.