Éponine has never forgotten the events of that night, but now she's not sure if its nothing more than a dream. Did she really see that boy or was he just a figment of her imagination. That was two years ago, and her life really hasn't changed much.
"Éponine!" He father called, "get over 'ere" she quickly made her way over to her father. He grabbed her by the hair and started dragging her up the stairs to their filthy tenement. The one room apartment was shared by her, her parents and her sister but Éponine rarely stayed there. She was usually out on the streets or, if she could he would stay in a dingy inn. Her father slammed her to the ground, "where's the money Ép? It was your job to pick-pocket today!"
She looked at her father defiantly, "I didn't get any, I guess it just slipped my mind".
Her father's face contorted into one of pure rage and fury. His foot reared up and kicked her in the stomach. She curled into a ball in a useless attempt to protect herself. His foot changed its aim and went for her back, sides and head. Soon she was just a bloody heap on the ground. "Teaches you to mess with me brat" sneered her father. He turned around and left her on the ground.
When she was sure he was gone she started crying. The pain was unbearable, she could tell that some of her ribs were broken, but then again, she thought when weren't they. She heard footsteps coming from the side of the room, it was her sister Azelma. Éponine turned away from her, although Ép loved her sister, she couldn't trust her. She was always on her dad's side, no matter what wrong he did she always saw him as a saint or martyr.
"Ép, you should really listen to dad, if you did it wouldn't have to be like this. Dad would be kinder, and more caring if you didn't make him angry all the time!" She scolded Éponine.
Éponine scoffed, "if you really think things will change if I start doing what dad wants, you crazy! He'll never change Az! The sooner you see that the better!" Éponine attempted to get up but she could feel her legs slip out from under her. Before she knew it she was on the floor again.
Azelma rushed over to her and brought her to a chair. She started to examine Éponine's wounds and went to fetch a wet piece of cloth. Éponine started examining herself and saw what a mess she was. Bruises were already forming on her face and arms. She was disgusting! Her hair was matted down with blood and dirt and her dress had been torn apart from her life. She was a true "street rat". All she did was cause trouble! The only reason she hadn't tried to kill herself again was because of the boy. She felt like she made an unspoken vow to him that night that she would try to stay alive for him, to show that she was worth saving, but was she. Was she really worth his time and effort to save? No she wasn't. She wasn't worth anything. She felt a single tear roll down her face and for once she let it go all the way to her chin and fall off.
Azelma came back with the cloth and started to clean Éponine off. The there was a knock at the door. "I'll get it, you finish cleaning up." Said Azelma. She opened the door and there stood Marius, Éponine's best friend.
"Hey Azelma is Éponine home?" He asked.
"Yeah she's here, I'll go get her" reply Azelma sounding bored. "ÉPONINE MARIUS IS HERE!" She yelled and Turing back to Marius, "she'll be here in a minute".
"Thanks Az!" He said with a smile.
Éponine quickly finished cleaning herself and looked in the cloudy mirror in the corner, she really liked Marius, even more than actually liking him as a friend. She wanted to look nice, well as nice as she can look. She fixes her hair, as nice as it can be. She got most of the blood out and made it look decent. She turned to see Marius's smiling face at the door. "Let's go." She said grabbing his arm and leading him out of the tenement.
She always looked forward to her days with Marius, he distracted her from her awful home life and he made her laugh and smile. He was one of the first people to actually be nice to Éponine in the past two years, and maybe that's why she liked him. His eyes, his smile, everything about him was inviting and all these little things made her love him more and more.
Marius stopped walking for a minute and looked shocked.
"What's up?" Éponine asked.
"I forgot I had to go to the café tonight, I have-um-I have a meeting with my friends".
Éponine's smile disappeared, "oh yeah it's fine go ahead" she started to walk away but he grabbed her arm. A smile slowly crept onto her face as she turned around.
"Come with me" he said, "then after we can hang out. Please?"
"Of course!" She answered, "I'll come to the meeting."
Marius smiled and Éponine's heart soared "Great! Lets go!" He lead her to the café Musain, the café she saw the boys in two years ago.
They walked in and Marius lead her into the group of guys, he seemed to be looking for someone. "Marius, you're late" said a boy behind them. "Sorry Enj, I lost track of the time." Said Marius. Éponine turned around to see who Marius was talking to and she froze. She knew that face, those eyes, that hair, it was the boy! And his eyes were locked on hers.
YOU ARE READING
Not a Dream
Fanfiction"One rainy night in Paris, there was a girl running. The brisk wind cut through her wet, tattered dress. She felt like she was running for hours through the slums of the city, when in fact, it was only minutes. She knew he would send someone after...
