fin de siècle ; mixte 1963

chapter 13 ; but strangely she feels at home in this place

Gisele was not a person who got easily surprised. She might not be the most observant, not one who would be watching others from the sidelines, instead usually being the one directly in the centre of every messy incident that could possibly take place, but she had usually at least partially predicted anything that was about to happen.

What she did not foresee however, was Michele Magnan coming up to her with an inquiry to talk.

"Yeah, sure," mumbled Gisele, giving her unfinished cigarette to Joseph, who was looking at the blonde girl with hostility. He did not like her and Gisele could not really blame him; none of them did after the whole eye incident.

Michele led her a little further from other people, in a place that they could still be seen by everyone, but not heard. Gisele was wary; she had no idea what the other girl could need her for.

"So?" she asked, curious. "What did you want to talk about?"

Michele bit her lower lip thoughtfully, then sighed.

"Do you know Yves?" she asked finally, no hesitance in her voice.

"Yves? What Yves?" replied Gisele immediately, playing dumb. "I know lots of Yveses."

Michele rolled her eyes, then looked at her, irritated.

"Yves from the races," she murmured, once again checking their surroundings to make sure no one could hear them. "I know that you know what I'm talking about, Gisele."

Just where the hell did she know him from, thought Gisele, trying to come up with an answer. There was no way Michele could have met them; she was certainly not that type of girl and she would not seek them by herself. Or maybe? The girl did come up to her and Annick to ask about what made the boys go deaf, after all.

"If I knew him..." started Gisele, looking at Magnan cautiously. "What would you have with that? That's none of your business."

Michele's eyes widened for a second, but the girl quickly composed herself. She took a step towards Gisele, raising her hand slightly, then hesitated; just what the hell was going on?

"They're dangerous, Gisele," said Michele, looking at the other girl sternly. "You should not see them again or-"

Gisele couldn't stop herself from bursting out laughing. What Michele just said was plainly ridiculous; she had no idea where her classmate even met Yves or the others, but calling them dangerous sounded pretty fucking hilarious.

"What's so funny?" asked Michele, displeased. She probably didn't expect a reaction like that one.

"Just..." Gisele wheezed. "Who the fuck do you take yourself for?"

That definitely threw Magnan off.

"You come up to me," started Gisele, calming herself. "You ask about people I have no idea where you even know from. People that I am friends with. And then you call them dangerous? That's fucking ridiculous, Michele."

"They are your friends?" asked Michele, surprised. If she's been thrown-off before, now she went into a full shock.

"Yes," replied Gisele curtly, a sharp look in her eyes. "So don't you dare say such things about them again. And enlighten me, please, how did you get the chance to meet them?"

Michele visibly lost her previous momentum, taking a step back and starting to fidget with her hands. The girl seemed to feel awkward, embarrassed even, but Gisele didn't care; now that she knew that Michele had something to do with her friends, she wanted to get to the bottom of it.

"Uh, I was talking with Laubrac when Yves approached him," she explained, not quite meeting Gisele's eyes. "And he started saying something about the races, and Laubrac didn't want to say what it was all about, and I was annoyed that everyone kept treating me like a child and-"