Fears

Chapter 20 |Ruby|

| Chapter 20 |

| Ruby |

We had all fallen asleep on the roof of the quaint little cafe. I woke up, checking my surroundings, smiling. We were really in Paris, and I was here with my favorite people. I smirked and chuckled at Lakota. I had heard her and Darren talking the night before, and known that she'd fallen asleep, but now she was almost hanging off the edge of the little roof, and the only thing keeping her from falling was her hand interlocked with Darren's.

I heard a yawn beside me and turned. Kathleen was sitting up and groggily rubbing her eyes. She looked up and gazed at the Eiffel Tower in awe.

"Morning, Kat," I said softly, trying not to wake the others up.

"Mmm," she mumbled. Her hair was a mess, jutting out in all directions, pink curls everywhere.

I looked over at Riley. He was lying in the middle, face down, and his bangs were on the wrong side of his face. He was snoring slightly. Then, I glanced at Levi. He laid on his side with his front to me, about a foot away. His usually tame, short brown hair was also spiking out. I smiled at our little group, full of fortunate misfits.

I heard a sharp inhale next to me and looked back to Levi from where I was staring at the tower. He was pushing himself off of the concrete, yawning. He had a scornful look on his face.

"Good morning, Sunshine," I laughed.

"Ugh," he groaned. "My back hurts."

"Suck it up, Princess," a voice said from behind me. I turned and Riley was sitting up, his brown eyes still closed. He ran a hand through his ruffled hair slowly. He opened his eyes slightly, and the chocolate colors bored into me. He looked... Sad?

"So who's gonna do the honor of waking up beauty and the beast?" He asked, gesturing to Lakota and Darren. We all exchanged looks until I felt three pairs of eyes on me. I sighed and crawled over to the pair, shaking them gently. Lakota's eyes opened, but drooped.

"Wake up!" Kathleen called then, and they both jolted upright.

I exhaled. "Geez, Kat," I breathed. "You scared me.

"Sorry," she apologized sheepishly. I shook my head, smiling. I was so happy--I felt free. I felt like I could do anything.

Then, I heard the sound of metal clanging, and whirled around. The waiter from last night came up onto the cafe roof.

"Ello," he greeted in his heavy French accent. "So, did you like ze fireworks?" He asked. He looked less tired and mopey today.

"Mmhm," Kathleen answered, nodding. "You were right...? Um, I don't think we got your name?"

"Oh! Mon nom est Auguste! My name eez Auguste!" He said cheerfully. Yeah, he was in a very different mood today.

"Okay, well, Auguste, you were right, the fireworks were amazing!" Kathleen said to him. I nodded.

Kathleen gasped. "We haven't introduced ourselves!" Hurriedly Kathleen went on, telling the waiter each of our names.

"Eetz, um, nize to meet you all," he said.

I could hear the effect that the french accent had on me--I was already thinking in it. Instead, I looked over his appearance. He looked like he was in his late teens or early twenties, and had shaggy, dark brown hair that covered his forehead. His face was small-ish, with a very narrow jawline. He looked... French, to say the least.

Then, as quickly as he came, Auguste retreated back down the ladder. Kathleen and I exchanged glances and shrugged.

~*~

"So where should we go today?" Riley questioned. "I say more food!" Lakota snorted a little.

"Actually, we haven't eaten today," Darren said. "That's not such a bad idea." I nodded, and RIley led us into yet another quaint looking restaurant. He inhaled sharply, the smell of fresh bread wafting out of the kitchen.

"Mmm," Lakota exclaimed. "Smells delicious!"

Then, a blonde girl skipped up to us.

"Bonjour! Je suis Lisette et je vais vous servir aujourd'hui," she spoke in fluent French, and I had absolutely no idea what she said

"Do any of you speak French?" I asked. The others shook their heads, all except for Riley, who looked cheerful.

"I do!" He exclaimed. "Eh, vee no speek vrench," he said in a terrible accent.

"Riley, that's not French, that's a French accent," Darren deadpanned. Riley looked defeated.

"Whelp, I got nothing, then."

"Oh," the girl said. "You're Amireecans!" She exclaimed. "I'm Lisette. I weel be yo serveer today!"

We all nodded. "Okay," Levi said.

"Let me leed you to your tabeel!" The blonde then turned and lead us around to a big, six seated round table. She looked to be about seventeen.

"Thank you," Darren said as she handed us each menus. Thankfully, they were in both French and English.

After a few minutes, Lisette came back and took our orders. As per usual, Riley ordered way too much food for himself. When our food arrived, we dug in just as enthusiastically as we did yesterday, and the food was just as good, too. I especially loved the bread.

So, after eating, we left the restaurant to explore the streets a bit. Kathleen and I often stopped to look at and buy clothes that we liked.

Suddenly, I heard a shriek. I turned from a pink sundress to the sound. Riley had screamed, and now he was hiding his face in his hands in terror. In front of him was a little flock of pigeons, feeding off of sesame seeds that were spilled on the pavement.

Then, there was laughing. I turned the other way and saw the waitress from before--Lisette, I think her name was--laughing at Riley's stunned form. Her medium length, blonde hair moved as her shoulders went up and down with her fits of laughter. Riley turned away and grimaced, putting on a mask of strength.

"They're only birds, Darren! Come on! Man up, bro!" He exclaimed as though we all didn't just witness what happened. Lisette only succumbed to another fit of giggles, putting down the grocery bags in her arms.

"Oh, you're too much!" She chuckled, her heavy accent barely showing through her laughter.

"It's not funny!" Riley whined. By now, the rest of us were also holding back our smiles. "It's not!"

Finally, I burst out laughing, Kathleen and Lakota following suit. A moment later, Levi started too, and Darren covered up his chuckles. Riley grimaced and stomped off, blushing, leaving the rest of us to our hysterics.