Roses I Send to You (Beauty and the Beast)

Amelie the Beautiful

My name is Amelie Simon and I live in a Paris suburb with my mother, Clarice, and my father, Maurice. My mother was born wealthy and my father likes to invent things. He's often thought of as odd, but no one ever voiced these opinions because my mother was thought of as being the most beautiful woman on the planet.

I look exactly like my mother. She and I both have blonde hair while my father has brown hair. I have pale skin and a smooth complexion. Because my family had a lot of money, I was dressed in fancy silk clothes.

I didn't like being fancy. I preferred sewing my own clothes, often feminine-looking shirts and trousers, and I played in the woods with my friends who felt the same way about material things. We enjoyed the things that didn't have prices. We liked the flowers, the trees, the rivers, and the birds. My favorite memory came when I was thirteen. 

"Come on, Amelie!" my friend Madeleine yelled as the two of us climbed a mighty tree that stood on the edge of a creek. I wasn't as fast as she was, but I did my best to keep up. When we were about twenty feet above the surface of the water, she closed her eyes and jumped off of the branch. I didn't want to be left behind, so I jumped right after she did. 

The water was comfortably warm, and the two of us paddled around for hours before our skin became painfully wrinkled. We left the water and we walked down the rose-lined path that took us back to the village. As we walked, she picked the roses and made a small bouquet. 

"Why are you picking those? I thought roses always poked your fingers?" I asked her. It was true. She didn't like to touch roses because she was never lucky with them. They poked her and stabbed her. 

"They're pretty. What other reason do I need?" she said. Madeleine always liked to pretend like she was deep, but she had shallow reasons or doing things. All I had to do was look at her and she would know that I didn't believe her.

"Alright, fine. These are for you. Put one in your hair. It'll impress Chandler," she said as she tucked a single, thornless rose behind my ear. Chandler was a boy from town who I fancied, and Madeleine always said he fancied me.

Shortly after, I got to my house and Madeleine continued on her way. I removed the rose, changed into a blue dress, braided my waist-length blonde hair, and I put the rose back in my hair. The sun was still up, so I walked outside and I strolled around the street. Chandler, the brown-haired boy across the street, peeked out his window and smiled. Seconds later, he appeared at his front door.

"Hi, Amelie!" he said nervously. I was just as nervous as he approached me.

"Hello, Chandler," I blushed. The two of us stood in silence for several seconds before I said "what brings you outside right now?"

"I...uh...just wanted to say that......" he stuttered before pausing. His face was turning red. "You look pretty!" he blurted. As soon as he said it, he looked like he wanted to take it back. 

"Thanks. It's a nice day, so I figured I would treat myself. I'm glad you like it!" I said. Smooth, Amelie. Real smooth.

"Cool," he said.

"Cool," I said back. "Well, I have to go....to the......thing," I mumbled as he nodded. "I'll see you around!" He smiled and went back inside his house as I walked to Madeleine's to tell her the news.

"I told you!" she screamed as we both jumped up and down. "Now you know to be more confident. I actually have to make dinner tonight, so you should probably get going,  let's meet at the creek tomorrow!" she said. I agreed, and I walked back to my house.

That was the last good memory I had with Madeleine.