The Heroines of Paris

Chaper 1: First Impressions

I am woken up suddenly to seeing my mother, teary-eyed, shaking me. "Brianne, {Brē-AN} hurry. Grab everything that may seem valuable and get downstairs!" It was smoky in my room, I could hardly breathe. It was like someone had put a cloth over my small, cracked lips over the night.  My family of three then rushed out of our beloved home, my father carrying me. I remember looking back in horror seeing my house in flames. Those deadly flames crackled, crumbling the once-stacked stones before my eyes, devouring my surroundings, destroying everything I once knew as my beloved home....

That was 11 years ago

    I am an only child, and I was five then, but now I'm 16. I live in Paris, in a stacked home, bottom half is a bakery that my parents own, and the top is where we live. Paris, unusually, is a quiet town, no violence. No vandalism, no bulling, no robberies, nothing. No one knows how, and no one has seen anything like this happen before.

   I climb up my trap door that leads to my room after a long day at school. As I drop onto my bed, something creaks. I bolt straight up, almost frightened to death. I stealthily lift my mattress up, very hesitant.

    What I found, it was nothing like I had never seen before.

    It was... I don't even know how to explain it... It looked like...
A jewelry box?

     I carefully took the box into my hands. The box was teal with little black dots on it. It was worn, some of the paint had chipped off along the edges, but it was so...  Perfect.
I reached my hand up to the top, and... "BRIIIII, The new neighbors are hereeeeeeeeeee! Come down and greet them!" My mom shouted up the ladder to my room.

 "Okay! I'll be down in a second!" I quickly placed the wooden box on my dresser, next to the picture of *sighs* Clayton....

   Clay is only the most perfect guy in the history of guys. He is only a few measly inches taller than me, he has dark, straight hair and the edges are shaved. His eyes are blue, sparkling eyes that resemble the stars..... He is sooooo handsome. He is more than handsome. He is like that feeling that you get when you open your present, and it's the exact thing you wished for. The only thing is whenever I get near him, I freeze. My insides melt, clot, and my heart just stops. I can't say any actual words other than 'Hi' or I just sit there like a dummy. Soooooooo embarrassing!
This was the paragraph my cousin wrote^ (9*-*9)

     I walk down the narrow ladder, tripping and falling down the last few and landing right in the middle of the adults conversation. Wow Bri, nice first impression. I smile nervously as I get up off the bakery's dusty ground, brush my hands off on my pants, and stand there awkwardly as I am introduced into the parents of the new neighbors.

What I didn't expect of these 'new neighbors' was that they had a daughter my age. Her name was Olivia and as I was standing there in my ripped jeans and dirty t-shirt making a complete fool of myself, she was standing quietly behind her parents, acting quite sophisticated. Wow, underdress much?  First impression fail.... Again.

She was wearing a tank top with a little overthrow sweater with intricate designs on it, which I think suited her well. Her hair was long, blonde but almost brown, and wavy and she had wide, hazel eyes which were surrounded by a million freckles. The parents left us to go and look around our -for once- cleaned house, which left us by our own awkward selves.

We kinda just sat there for a few seconds, deep in our own little inside worlds of thought. My mind was racing, She's not saying anything..... Should I start? Ugh, this is soo awkward. She's just standing there, what should I do?! I feel like I'm about to break into a sweat. I wonder what she's thinking.... Probably thinks I'm a freak. I decided to go ahead and make a move. "Hi, I'm Brianne.... You're Olivia, right?" She instantly freezes and nods quickly like she is scared of something. Okayyyyy, that didn't work...

    I went ahead and said it, "So, would you like something to eat or drink?" She looked up slightly, just enough for me to see her face clearly, she thought for a second, then nodded and quietly said sure, thanks. I slid behind the counter and unlocked the showing case to get her something, and she walked up to the counter as well, but took a seat on one of the old, ripped stools at the counter. "Is there anything in particular that you want?" I tried to act casual, but that's hard for me.... She looked stunned as I looked at her. I didn't notice how she had that blank, expressionless look on her face. I wonder if she's ok.... I asked, "Uh, are you ok? You look kinda..... awestruck." She mumbled sorry, which were the first words I had ever heard her say, and looked down again. "Anyways, back to the question..... Is there anything that looks good to you?" She only glanced at the show cabinet in front of her then looked away again. She said in a shy, almost afraid voice, "Um, can I just have a cookie?....... Please?"

"Yeah! Of course!" I handed her one of the cookies in the top shelf and she took it, thanked me, then the parents came waltzing back in.

    "So," my mom said, "how'd it go with y'all?" as we waved goodbye to the new neighbors that left loaded with treats. "It was ok, I guess.... I don't know, she's really shy." I replied while walking back up into my room.... I feel like there is something she is hiding. Something big, like something that she's keeping from everyone, even her parents..... Something...

Hey! So how do y'all think this is so far? I am open to suggestions/corrections always!!!!!! Thanks!
Chapter dedicated to BrianneCarlson for being my inspiration.
~Hanne :3