L'été

Chapitre Onze

Sorry for the long wait. It's a short chappie, but I felt I had to write something. @RiverWillow, if there are any errors, just tell me on monday. :) Also, just a heads up, this has not been editted whatsoever.

Chapitre Onze

Janie crawled forwards on her hands and feet, through the tunnel that lead to her secret spot. Looking up, she saw him.

Click.

Janie smiled as she saw Etienne hunched in their cove, camera in hand and grin upon his face. “Put that thing away.”

Etienne lowered the camera, and peered at her. “So, what’s the plan for today?”

Janie smiled. “I’ve got some stuff to do alone. So I’m going to go do that stuff, and you’re going to stay here.”

“Mhmm... And what am I supposed to do here hidden all day?”

“You have two options.” Janie swiftly pulled a colourful cube from her satchel, “You can either solve this complex thingamabob.”

“Rubiks cube?”

“Yeah, that. Or you can stay hidden here and imagine what it is like to live the life of a bug. You can secretly take pictures of peoples feet.”

“Can’t I come with you?”

“No!” Janie shook her head fervently, “I must go on my own... And don’t even consider following, it’ll just show that you really are a stalker!”

“I’m not a stalker.”

“Just wait!” And with that, Janie crawled back out of the living hollow, and stood. Half of her hoped that the boy would indeed follow, it would prove her point even more so. The other half of her wished he would actually listen and finally solve the Rubiks Cube that had been collecting dust since she had gotten it.

As one should know, Janie’s mind works in strange ways, so in order to supposedly shake Etienne off her trail, she ran in a circle twice before walking off. She was going to prove that Etienne was indeed a stalker.

Her destination was a book store not far from where she was. Janie had spotted it not more than a week back and had since been intrigued. Her footsteps were quick and she quickly reached the small shop.

Walking inside, Janie was met by the magnificent scent of books-- something she quite adored. Her eyes adjusted to the dim light slowly. Blinking thrice, she began to scour the book selection, searching out the nonfiction, searching for dictionaries. Janie found a few-- a French/English dictionary, a French dictionary and an English dictionary. Finally, Janie grabbed a small French thesaurus.

She paid in the far reaches of the shop, exchanging Euro with a middle-aged man wearing rectangular glasses.

As she walked out of the store, Janie heard something. It was faint, but distinctive. Click.

Under her breath, she whispered, “I know you’re their!” Quickly, she formed a master plan. Her feet brought her to a place she had visited once before-- Chez Ashlynn. She sat at the table closest to the door.

Ashlynn herself had laughed, after inquiring why she had come to her restaurant all on her lonesome. Janie ordered herself a slice of chocolate cake and watched the door closely. No one else was there. After about five minutes, the door crept open and Etienne walked in, quickly glancing around.

“Stalker!” Janie exclaimed.

Immediately, Etienne raised his camera in front of himself, as if trying to hide.

Click.

He peered around his camera carefully, before pulling up a chair as if no accusations had ever been tossed around. “How’re you?”

“You are a stalker!”

“No, I am not!”

“Then... Why are you here?”

“I... came for a slice of chocolate cake?”

“But you were following me.”

“N-no.”

Janie raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Then what are you?”

Silence.

“Look here.” Janie pulled her new books from her bag. She flipped the pages of the first dictionary-- all English. “Stalker: A person who stealthily hunts or pursues an animal or another person. I am a person. You are attempting to stealthily pursue me.” She grinned. “Must I go farther?”

“I was not... pursuing you.”

“I specifically told you not to follow. Where’s the Rubik’s cube?”

Etienne laughed, “Oh, those things are easy-- that took only about two minutes.” He handed the coloured block back to Janie. After careful inspection, she noted that the cube had infact been correctly completed.

“You still followed.”

Another silence on his behalf.

“Accept it. You are a stalker. Come to the truth within yourself.”

Etienne shook his head.

“Please?”

“No. I am no stalker.”

“What do you call it then?”

He swiped the thesaurus across the table towards himself  and began flipping through the pages. After two minutes, the boy sighed. “Fine. I suppose I am.”

    “You are what?” Janie prompted.

    “I am... a... stalker...” He was quiet and hesitant.

    Janie let out a loud whoop, covered her mouth, and proceeded to stuff her face with cake, while Etienne chuckled quietly.

    In the back, Ashlynn was also laughing.